“Where were you all evening?”
Arc looked up from the books around him and saw his grandpa in the doorway. “What’s that?”
“You didn’t come home for quite some time, Arc,” the elderly stallion repeated.
“I was just reading some new books I found, that’s all.”
He nodded and craned his neck around to see what his grandson was reading. “Reading up on some good old-fashioned history, eh? I guess you have been into history more than I usual as of late. This one isn’t even in the main library, where’d you get it?”
“I found this one in the Annex.” Although he was a bit ashamed to admit it, it was the truth. Ever since he had first gone in there he had been much less scared of the place and had dared to go into it more often.
“What have I told you about going into the Annex, son? I’m not even allowed to read some of the information that’s in the books back there, and you just waltz in and start picking out books for yourself?”
Arc sighed in defeat and slid the book away from himself. “Okay, take it back to the library.”
His grandpa lightly pushed the book back. “It’s alright, son. One book wouldn’t hurt. Just don’t go in there anymore, alright?”
“Yeah gramps, I won’t.”
Grandpa quietly coughed before speaking again. “When do you think that you’re gonna leave on that big quest of yours? You’ve gotta have enough money to at least be comfortable on your way by now.”
“Sooner than I’ve expected is all I know,” Arc answered without looking up from his book.
“Ah, you getting impatient with me? Tired of my old bones?”
“No, not at all. It’s just that I’ve found a new reason to leave home, so I’ve got even more motivation to go out the door and into the world.”
“Alright, that’s fine and dandy. G’night, Arc.”
“Goodnight grandpa.”
The old pony moseyed out of Arc’s room, failing to shut the door behind him. Once he was sure that he was gone, Arc let out a sigh of relief that he hadn’t gotten in too much trouble.
Your grandpa’s a pretty nice guy, Arc.
Em? Are you already done searching in there?
Hah, not even close. I just decided to take a break for a second.
Could I come see you for a bit?
Sure thing, you can come visit any time you want. Remember to just focus on me.
Alright, I’m coming over.
------
After the usual blinding light cleared Arc found himself in a very different place than normal. Rather than in a long, grassy plain he was in some sort of fancy living room-looking place. The walls and floor were lined with red drapes and carpet, and there was a roaring fire in a nearby fireplace. From somewhere a quiet piano was being played, but there wasn’t anything else in the room that could have been playing the music. In the center of the room was a table with a white cloth over it and a bottle of wine with two glasses beside it.
“Like the change?”
Arc turned around to see Em standing almost directly behind him. “Do you ever say hi or hello before you start talking to ponies?”
“Yeah, just not to you. You never even seem to notice me whenever you come in.”
“That’s because you’re always behind me.”
Em lightly trotted over to the table at the center of the room. “Want a drink?” she asked.
Arc slowly approached her while picking up the wine bottle with his magic. “Is it real?”
“No, it won’t actually make you feel any fuller. The most it will do is give you the same taste.”
“Will I get drunk if I drink too much?”
“I should hope not.” Em sighed and sat down at the table, a silky blue dress appearing around her as she did so. “I’m just starting to get my mind magic to really work, and this is just a test right now. I was also hoping to have some more casual conversation with you, since we’ve only been talking about our plan of action for the last little bit and not how life is.”
Arc sat down opposite her and began to pour drinks. “Nice dress,” he complimented.
Em smiled at the remark. “Nice tie.”
Arc looked down to see that he now had a white dress shirt and a red tie on without even putting them on. “How…?”
“Again, I’m just playing around with my magic. It’s really like a wonderland to me.” She paused to take a sip of her false wine. “But I still wish I had a real body and was in the real world.”
“Why is that? You could have anything you want in here,” he punctuated his question with a drink.
“I want to be able to go out and experience what the world is like. I can see it through your eyes, but I can’t actually feel it with your body. I need my own to do that.”
“That’s a shame. I can’t imagine not having a body, to be honest.”
“I couldn’t either, until it happened.”
The two both drank simultaneously. “So did you find out anything really important in the back of my head? That seems like it’s the place where I put things I have – or wanted to – forget.”
“Not really. The most interesting thing I found was just who your childhood crush was at Celestia’s School for Gifted Unicorns.”
Arc’s face reddened, making Em giggle. “Twilight Sparkle; she was a pretty filly, wasn’t she? That purple mane and those shimmering eyes, just how smart she was…”
“Shut up…” the embarrassed stallion murmured.
“Don’t worry, it’s okay to have a crush when you’re that age,” Em sighed and leaned back in her seat. “I remember mine; Prince Lucian. Oh boy, he was the cat’s meow back in the day.”
“Was he Princess Allucina’s son?”
“Yeah. He was the younger of two.”
“Who was the second?”
“You might know her as Princess Cadenza. She moved away from home a long time before the Ethereal empire was attacked by Eksago, so she managed to stay safe – until the Crystal empire was attacked too. She escaped that too.”
“Princess Cadence? She just got married recently.”
“Seriously? That’s great news! Who’d she get married to?”
“Twilight’s older brother and captain of Celestia’s royal guard, Shining Armor.”
“Oh, it really is a small world, isn’t it?”
For a while the two were quiet as they drank and thought to themselves. The silence was broken when Arc noticed something about what Em had said earlier. “Now Em, you said ‘back in the day’ when you were talking about Prince Lucian.”
“Yeah?”
“How old are you?”
Em paused for second before bursting into laughter. “That’s a good question, Arc: I have no idea! My mind is just as old as it was when my body was taken, so I’m around 20 years old. My true age has got to be over a thousand years old.”
“Will you be over a thousand years old when you get your body back?”
“I hope not. I’d be an old geezer; in fact, everyone would be. That wouldn’t be a very miraculous recovery, now would it?”
“Hardly. I want to see your face just as youthful and happy as it right now when you get your body back.”
“Me too, Arc… will you promise me that you’ll get me back?”
“I promise, Em.”
“Thanks.”
The two snapped out of their small trance to find their hooves clamped together over the table. They exchanged sheepish grins before pulling away from each other.
Arc decided to quickly change the subject. “Does my body rest up while I’m here?”
“Yep, to everypony else you just look like you’re sleeping.”
“Or dead.”
“Yes, or dead.”
“Does this mean I can stay with you for the night?”
“Sure, I don’t see why not. While you’re here, could you explain what’s been going on recently? I must have missed a lot in the recent years.”
For the remainder of the night Arc explained – or at least tried to - what she had missed while locked up in the Lexicon over their little drink. She knew some bits and pieces of the recent news because of her search through Arc’s knowledge base, but he still had to teach her quite a lot. Most of it included their advances in magic and technology over the years, but some of it really concerned her.
“So you mean that your crush from all that time ago is now a bearer of one of the Elements of Harmony?”
“That’s right. I didn’t believe it when I first heard it either. Her five best friends are also bearers.”
“Lucky. I wish I had some sort of inner power like that…”
The longer that Arc spoke of the outside world the more he started to realize just how much Em missed having a body. Her eyes were slightly misty, but otherwise she was standing strong. It made him sad once he noticed, and soon decided that he had to stop. “I can’t tell you any more, Em…”
“Why not?” she asked, seeming a bit disappointed.
Arc inhaled before explaining. “I can’t stand seeing you so longing and sad. The more I tell you, the sadder you get. I can feel it in my heart that you really want to be out there in the world.”
Em seemed to feel a bit guilty and leaned forwards. “I’m sorry if I made you feel bad.”
“It’s alright; it’s not your fault. It’s not your fault that you lost everything to that evil Eksago and had your home destroyed,” Arc dismissed her apology with a wave.
He could tell that he had really hit a sore spot there, as now her eyes were tearing up again. She moved around to sit by Arc and rested her head on his shoulder as she slowly began to cry. Through her tears she thanked the stallion for being so courteous to her over all this time, and started to realize how close she had come to him over time.
------
For several weeks things went according to plan. Arc fed Em the information she needed via reading the many books he worked with at the library and raised up the money that they would need on their search for the Ethereal ponies, while Em came up with their “plan of attack” and searched for information regarding their adventure through Arc’s head. They met regularly ever night to discuss how things had been going on both sides, although their conversations usually ended with Arc teaching Em about the new world and basic small talk.
Time passed and both ponies got the things that they needed; Em got what info she needed and Arc saved up his bits. Soon Em had decided on a plan of action that they were going to carry out.
------
The two were back in the rolling meadows that they had first met each other in. Em had called Arc in to discuss what they were going to do as the first step of their operation. The turquoise stallion lightly trotted over the hills to find his friend and talk to her.
“Hey Arc!”
Arc turned to the voice and galloped off to its source. There he found the lustrous mare herself standing upright in all her illusory beauty. “I think I know what we should do first,” she stated as he slowed to a stop in front of her.
“What’s that? Is it big?” he asked, excitedly swaying on the spot. He couldn’t contain his joy for finally leaving Canterlot.
“Do you remember that filly from Celestia’s School for Gifted Unicorns?” Em replied, a slight smirk appearing on her face as the words escaped her lips.
Arc was becoming a bit weak at the knees. “T-Twilight?”
“That’s her. Well, turns out you read some list of Celestia’s choice students in the library some time ago. I found it at the back of your head and it seems like Ms. Sparkle’s running an impressive library in a small town called Ponyville.”
“I knew that, but what do you need from there?” he asked her.
“Twilight would seem to know a lot about mysterious happenings like this because of her adventures as an Element of Harmony and she might have some good advice. Besides this, her little library may have some info that our Canterlot archives just don’t have,” Em held up her hoof and an apparition of a ticket appeared over it. “Pack only what you really need, because we’re going to Ponyville.”
------
Arc wasn’t too thrilled about visiting his foalhood crush again. He was worried that something bad might happen, but it wasn’t because he still had a thing for her. It was that he was afraid that the visit might kick-start emotions that he wanted to forget like regret, frustration, or even old love that could compete with his new feelings for Em. Or she might just treat him like any other pony, but what if she remembered something he did back as a foal? Like something embarrassing or stupid? These dumb and childish worries broiled in his mind for a few days, and either Em didn’t want to tangle with him about it or she didn’t notice them at all.
Of course, these childish fears wouldn’t stop him from helping out his best friend get her body back.
He had packed only what he needed – some hard earned bits, a few books and tools, only the bare necessities. With the snatch of a ticket he was on a train to Ponyville and going towards both an important part of his quest and a terribly nostalgic pony.
------
Okay, look for a big tree that’s been made into a house.
The golden-maned stallion stepped off the train and onto the main platform to gaze out at the quaint little town of Ponyville. The air smelled fresher and felt cooler on his coat than in Canterlot, and he decided that coming here maybe wasn’t such a bad idea at all.
Are you serious? That’s so cliché it hurts, you know.
You can criticize your crush’s home once you get there, Arc.
I don’t like her any more, Em. Can’t you get that?
Arc stepped out onto the dirty cobblestone path to notice just how barren Ponyville was compared to Canterlot. Sure it had some ponies walking about and a few home-made vendors set up with the chatter of birds in the background, but it was nothing in comparison to the bustling and loud streets of the city. He wandered down the roads for a while before finally seeing it – the canopy of something like a massive tree rising out of the middle of the skyline (not that there was much of a skyline in a quaint little town like this).
There it is. Head straight over there and don’t let anything distract you, you’re just here for her.
“SURPRISE!!!”
When Arc heard the shout he instinctively yelped and created a protective shield around himself. “Help me!” he covered his eyes and ducked down in panic, the defensive reading he had read over all these years finally coming into effect. But it wasn’t exactly time to protect himself from a monster.
Arc peered up from behind his hooves to see a striking pink pony gazing down at him through his white force field. “What are you doing there, silly? I was just trying to give a new welcome to the newest pony in all of Ponyville!” she exclaimed with a grin.
The frightened stallion disabled his shield and stood up on wobbly legs. “Please don’t distract me; I’ve got some business here for a bit and then I’m leaving as soon as I can,” he pleaded with the smiling mare.
She looked a bit upset and slumped down onto her rear when he finished talking. “Oh, so you’re not moving in?”
He shook his head. “If you really want to help me, could you take me that tree-library-thing over there?”
“Well alrighty then!” The pink pony had a stupendous mood swing and darted over to Arc’s side, slinging her arm over his back. “I know pretty much everyone in Ponyville and I’ve never seen you in all of my days. What’s your name?”
Arc lightly pushed her arm off of himself and started to walk down a path, the mare quickly moving in front of him to lead the way. “I’m Archaic Text, but most ponies call me Arc. What’s your name?” She was about to speak before he cut her off. “Don’t tell me – you’re named Surprise.”
The pony laughed at his guess. “Nice try, but that was my name a looooong time ago. I’m Pinkie Pie, and I’m the party pony in this town!” she introduced herself.
“You changed your own name?” he asked.
“No, Mrs. Faust did it for me.”
“Who now?”
Pinkie pointed a hoof at the tree-building in front of them and smiled. “I hope you find what you’re looking for here! And if you need any parties or pastries, come down to Sugarcube Corner!” With that she was gone, hopping off down the street humming to herself.
Well this has been exciting so far.
No kidding. Let’s hope that the run-in with Twilight goes as well as the encounter with “Pinkie” went.
Arc raised a shaky hoof to the door of the building before lightly knocking twice. He hardly waited for anyone to answer it before starting to walk away. “Oh well, looks like she’s not home. Guess we’ll have to think of someone else to get information from.”
No we won’t, you’re trying that again. Arc felt a pdo itcing pain in his head and flinched at the shock.
How did you do that?
It doesn’t matter. Just try again, and knock harder this time.
Fearing another brain-piercing session courtesy of his inner mind, Arc knocked on the door once more, this time with a bit more force. The door was answered by something that he didn’t expect.
“Hey there, you need something?”
Arc expected to be face to face with somepony, but instead had to peer downwards to see who had answered the door. It was a light purple reptilian that stood on two legs and had bright green eyes that stared up at him with youthful curiosity.
It took him a while to respond. “You’re a dragon, right?” he asked the lizard.
“Yeah, what’s it to you?” the young dragon answered, puffing out his chest slightly.
Arc nodded at him, not really thinking through what he had said. “Just interesting. I don’t think I’ve ever seen a real dragon before.”
“Anyone from around here’s met good old Spike, so that means you’re not from around, are you?”
Why does everypony know each other here? It’s a bit weird.
I guess in a smaller place you see people more often than usual.
“Spike, let whoever’s at the door in.”
Arc felt as though his heart had turned into lead when he heard the voice. It was Twilight, wasn’t it? It was a worse reunion than he had thought – just hearing her voice made him cringe in nervousness.
“Alright, come on in,” the dragon, presumably Spike, motioned for Arc to come through the door.
The room that he entered was completely made of the oak of the tree that housed the library and books lined all of the shelves along the walls. Circular windows separated them, their sunlight streaming down onto a familiar pony that gave Arc a rustle.
“I don’t recognize you, are you from around here?”
Arc couldn’t move for a second. The lavender and purple mare stood before him with her dragon assistant at her side, smiling brightly at him. The pink highlights in her hair contrasted wonderfully with the rest of her colors, and he didn’t remember her being so short. He also never expected that it would feel so good and yet so bad to see her again.
“N-no.” The words struggled up through his throat and limply spilled out onto the floor as he spoke.
Smooth moves, buddy.
Shut your invisible mouth.
Twilight seemed a bit weirded out by his approach. “Do you need anything in particular?” she asked, a slight tone of uncertainty in her voice.
Why was this so hard for him? “Y-yes, actually. I need to see a book on apparitions and illusion spells.”
Why didn’t you ask for a history book?
If we’re ever gonna get her to believe us, we’re gonna need some proof. I’ll just seem like some lunatic if I just say “Hey, I’ve got a voice in my head that says it belongs to an ancient race and we need some advice on adventuring.” If I can get a good illusion spell then maybe I can project you out into the room for a while.
Good thinking, I guess.
“Alright, I think I’ve got something like that over here.” The awkward feeling of the room had disappeared as soon as Arc had finally spoken up, and it was very relieving. He followed the lavender pony to a shelf where she pulled a book out with her magic.
“This should do it. Come see me if you’re not satisfied,” she said with a smile as she left him to study it.
For a while Arc simply scanned through the book to look for the spell he needed with no luck. He was about to give up when he found one near the back of its pages.
Does this one look good to you?
Sure thing. Just quickly try it out on something easy, like a book or a box.
Arc studied the circle and the text around it for a moment before deciding to give it a shot. He braced himself and concentrated his energy into his horn. He thought hard about something simple, an apple to be precise. Within a few seconds a beam projected from his horn and onto the table, creating a holographic image of a red apple. It was blurry and not very red at all, but it would do.
“How did you do that?”
The turquoise pony turned to see Twilight peeking around him. He lost all focus and the apple disappeared along with the magic from his horn. The nervous sweat returned to him and he cleared his throat in preparation to speak.
“Don’t you read your own books?” He desperately hoped that sounded more joking than insulting.
“I do, but never that one. I’m not really one for illusions myself,” she explained with a giggle.
Unlike Em’s laughs, this giggle didn’t fill Arc with joy and peace – it filled him with panic and worry. “Yeah, well I am. These kinds of spells are sort of my thing, so I get a hang of it pretty easy.”
Twilight’s smile disappeared and she lightly squinted at him, examining his features. “Say, weren’t you in one of my classes at Celestia’s School for Gifted Unicorns?” she asked.
Arc swallowed, wishing deeply that this wouldn’t be too terrible. “I think so. You’re Twilight Sparkle, right? That one filly who was really good at everything?”
She slowly nodded, searching in her mind for the identity of this stallion. “I can’t quite remember you, but I do recognize your face a bit. Are you Tarot Card? Halogen?”
He let out a sigh of relief. At least she didn’t remember him that well. “Nope, my name’s Archaic Text. I think we had senior levitation classes or something along the lines of that together.” He smiled weakly, waiting for a response.
It took her a while to get one. “Yeah, I think I remember you. You were obsessed with adventure novels and the teachers would always get on your rump about it.”
Well, it isn’t exactly what I wanted her to remember, but I’ve had worse things in my past.
“If you’re wondering, I didn’t just come here for friendly chit-chat,” Arc said, deciding to cut to the chase.
Twilight was getting nervous again. “Oh really?”
“Yeah really. I have a big problem, and I mean a big problem. It’s one the same scale as the Nightmare Moon and Discord problems, if you catch my drift.”
The lavender mare didn’t really buy it and even laughed a little bit. “I hope you’re kidding, because if it really was that big then why hasn’t Princess Celestia told me about its presence?”
Arc gave her a glare, the confidence flooding back into him as the seriousness of the situation started to reveal itself. “It’s because she doesn’t know.”
Twilight’s eyes widened. “She doesn’t?”
“No. Only I know about it…” he looked down at the ground as he decided to continue further. “And somepony else does too…”
“Who is it?”
“Her name is Empyrea.”
“Where is she? Can I see her?”
“No, you actually can’t.”
“Why not?”
Your secret’s being revealed, Em.
I know, just keep going, I don’t mind at all.
“She doesn’t have a body of her own.”
At this point Twilight was truly dumbfounded. “Are you just kidding with me? Because if you are, it’s not funny at all.”
“I’m not kidding Twilight, just hear me out.” Arc’s horn began to glow as he decided to show this pony what he had been hiding.
You ready for this?
Absolutely.
“What you’re about to see you can’t tell the Princesses, no matter what. It’s a hologram of Empyrea herself, projected from the inside of my mind.”
Twilight sighed in both wonder and doubt. “This is ridiculous. You could just be showing me some sort of illusion that you made to convince me, not a real pony who doesn’t even have a body.”
“Calm down Twilight. I can assure you that it’s real. If you don’t believe me, you can check my mind with a scanning spell that I hope you already know.”
Arc fired a beam at the floor that erupted into a bright light. Both ponies were shocked that Spike didn’t see or hear all the commotion and come running from upstairs, but hoped dearly that he wouldn’t. The white light formed an equestrian figure that soon became clear as day, an image of Em herself.
“Wow Arc, it actually worked!” Em happily exclaimed and turned to look at him.
Twilight still didn’t seem convinced and flailed her hoof through the intangible vision of Empyrea in front of her just for entertainment. “Are you sure that you’re not just going bonkers and you’re having fun with your magic to try to tell me something crazy?”
“He isn’t insane, I can assure you. I’ve spent my life in his mind for at least ten years, Ms. Sparkle,” Em piped up with a cheeky smile. “Have you ever heard of the Ethereal ponies?”
“No, and they probably don’t even exist – just like you, Empyrea,” Twilight smugly replied.
Arc stomped his hoof on the ground in frustration with the lavender ponies’ ignorance, causing her to turn to him in shock. “Twilight, get it through your book-blocked brain! This is real, and you’re going to scan my mind for proof just so that you can know the truth.”
She was stunned by his determination to make her believe him. “Alright, I’ll give you a quick check. Don’t say I didn’t tell you that you were crazy when I find no mares living in your head.”
Arc disabled his spell and sucked the white light back into his horn. “Try me.”