//------------------------------//
// IV. The Game 
// Story: Sanctuary 
// by Kaidan 
//------------------------------//

	Twilight awoke in a prison. She lay on a cold, marble four-poster bed. The unicorn slid out from underneath a sheet and examined the room. It was almost offensively white, each surface polished to a glimmer. Above her, a single light illuminated the miserable space. The only object of interest was the faint outline of what appeared to be a stone door. Twilight took a few steps forward as she investigated the space. The lonely clatter of her hoofsteps added to her growing sense of paranoia and claustrophobia.

She spoke, hoping the voice would hear her. "Wow, this is getting really old. I assume you have sent me here to mess with me again."

"Do you even know where here is? You asked to see your memories, they're all around you. Good luck sorting them out."

"And the game?" Twilight slowly approached the door, wary of what was on the other side.

"It's a simple game. When you find me, I shall ask you one question. If you get it right, I will answer one of your questions honestly. If you get it wrong, you'll stay here with me."

Twilight took a moment to contemplate the rules. Can this voice really trap me here? I suppose I first need to figure out where here is. "Alright, I accept."

Small cracks formed in the door as golden light shone through. One letter at a time, a simple word quickly blazed into existence: Ingressus. The loud rumble of stone grating against stone filled the room as the heavy door slid into the floor. 

Beyond the new entryway was an atrium lit by beams of sunlight. Twilight stepped through the doorway and looked up, shielding her eyes. It was impossible to make out the sun, or the windows overhead. The light blanketed the atrium evenly from every angle. It was blinding.

Returning her gaze to the ground gave her watery eyes a respite. A deep purple rug covered the floor of the atrium. Adorning its edges was gold trim that ran along the featureless white walls. Twilight advanced into the middle of the room, dwarfed by eight marble pillars. Four adorned each side of the square atrium, fading as they rose into the light.

The loud sound of stone grinding on stone snapped Twilight out of her reverie. The door behind her slid back into position. The seams of the opening slowly melted into the wall until no sign of the door remained.

"Don't spend too much time admiring the scenery."

She approached the pillars on her right. They cast no shadow, and between each of them were identical doors. Twilight wandered past each door and watched as familiar golden lettering formed. The first portal had Timidus engraved on it. The next she passed formed Memoria. The third door refused to form a word. She raised an eyebrow and put a hoof against the sealed entryway. The seams vanished into the wall like the earlier door had.

Eerie laughter rang off the sides of the room. "Trust me, you wouldn't like what is in that room."

"It's not like you left me with a choice." Twilight returned to the second door. "Memoria is Latin for memory, so I'll start here."

"I was hoping you would; you'll love what you did with the place."

Twilight approached the door and touched it with a hoof. She stepped back as the door began to glow brighter than the sun. Closing her eyes did not stop the yellow light from saturating her vision. The light quickly faded, and she opened her eyes to find herself in a different room.

Stale, dusty air filled her nostrils causing her to cough. Every wall of this space was lined with books stacked haphazardly on mahogany shelves. Parchment and scrolls were scattered across the floor, torn and weathered from the passage of time. Filing cabinets and mounds of neglected tomes formed a mountain range through the center of the obliterated library. Singed literature sprinkled around the room gave a faint smell of smoke to the air. Amongst the dust and debris rested a purple ledger with a blue stripe on the binding. This book had no dust on it, so Twilight picked it up to examine it.




Memories of friends - F1
Pinkie Pie – F1.001
Applejack – F1.002
Rainbow Dash – F1.003 



The list went on to cover the entire layout of memories stored in the library. Several pages were missing, and nothing on the directory was of particular interest. 

A shadow was cast across the room as something scurried across the wooden floor. Twilight's ears tracked the echoes, and her head soon turned towards its source. By the time her eyes reached the far corner of the room, there was silence in the library.

"Hello? Is anypony there?" Twilight carefully crossed the room to investigate the sound. The pile of books shifted as she scrambled over them. Making her way past a splintered bookshelf revealed a hallway out of the room. This was the only exit from the room, so she stepped through.

The next segment of the repository was in slightly better condition. Fewer pieces of parchment littered the floor, and most of the furniture remained intact. A few beams of sunlight fell upon the ground from high in the rafters. Towers of books and empty shelves gave her the impression the room was in the process of being cleaned up. Twilight walked up to a filing cabinet and pulled out a scroll.




Morning of the Entrance Exam:
Shining Armor knelt down to meet your eyes. "Good luck, Twiley. Make me proud."
You leapt up to hug him. "Thanks, BBBFF. I will!" Releasing your brother, you headed back inside to find your parents.
"Mom, dad, hurry up! If I'm late to the exam they might not let me take it at all!" After fidgeting with your saddlebags for a few minutes, your parents finally head down the stairs from the second floor.
"Alright Twilight, let's go get you into the school for gifted unicorns." Your mom and dad smiled, and together you headed towards the castle.




"This is one of my memories, which means the rest of the files in here are too. You destroyed these rooms, didn't you?" Twilight slammed a hoof on the ground at the realization. "I can't remember what is real and what's fake because you destroyed it!"

"I'm just a tenant here. You should blame the landlord. She's reckless and irresponsible; she chases unrealistic hopes and dreams."

"And that justifies defiling a library? You can't just destroy my memories like this."

"I get the distinct feeling you're not listening to me. Go ahead and tear up that piece of parchment. Once you have, you'll realize that I'm telling the truth. I can't destroy your memories, only you can."

Twilight gazed down at the dried yellow slip on which a brief memory was recorded. If the voice was telling the truth, tearing it up would erase the memory. If her memories were so easily destroyed, perhaps a manifestation of her illness had done all this.

Slowly ripping the parchment in two brought a tear to Twilight's eye. Bits of the dialogue faded from her memory. Stacking the two halves on top of each other, she tore them into four pieces. The image of her parents walking her out the door faded. Twilight looked down at the paper just as a teardrop landed on it. With a deep breath, she quickly tore it into as many pieces as she could. A cold feeling filled her mind as Shining Armor's smile and the rest of the memory vanished.

Twilight looked at the bits of paper in her hooves. "What was I doing? I'm not going to find anything useful on tattered bits of paper." She dropped the torn parchment and continued forward. "There are plenty of them still intact."

A deep laughter reverberated off the walls as she approached the next filing cabinet. It was labeled "Celestia's school for gifted unicorns." Pulling the drawer open, she flipped through files until she found one titled "My new room."



First day in the castle, new bedroom:
"This will be your new room. I have asked your parents, and they have agreed to let you live here with me as my protégé." Celestia stood aside to let you enter the room.
As you raced in, you noticed that the room was larger than your house. A golden bed with thick sheets took up half of a wall. Large dressers and empty shelves waiting to be filled adorned the rest of the bedroom. Across the room you saw a balcony, and couldn't resist running over to it. As you burst out onto the balcony, you took in Canterlot from hundreds of feet in the air.
"It's amazing. . . Celestia, the city looks so beautiful from up here!" You turn around to face your mentor with a smile on your face.
"Thank you. It was built over many decades as thanks for the defeat of an old foe—perhaps your first assignment can be on the history of Canterlot."




Twilight placed the memory back into the filing cabinet and flipped through the rest of the files. They were all lessons learned in school, triumphs at casting spells, and even her graduation. Eventually she reached a filing cabinet about moving to Ponyville.

"How come all these memories are intact? What was on the destroyed ones?"

"Perhaps if you win the game, I will tell you."

"And can any of the destroyed memories be brought back?"

"One question, Twilight."

Twilight bent over to the lower drawer of a filing cabinet when she heard the distinct scurrying sound of hooves running across the floor. Her head shot up more quickly this time, tracking the object and catching a glimpse. A black shadow barely a few feet high skittered behind a table. She quickly trotted over to the table and looked under it, seeing the shadow dart out and weave through nearby cabinets.

"You can come out. I'm not going to hurt you."  Beside the table were tall filing cabinets forming a hallway through the abandoned library. There was no quick way for Twilight to get around the table and reach the other figure. Frustration filled her as she tried to squeeze under the table, wishing it would just get out of her way. Her magic misfired at the thought, and a purple glow surrounded the table. It had levitated ten feet into the air before she realized it. Panicking about losing control of her magic, she promptly dropped it. The legs shattered from under the table.

Reflecting on the levitation spell, Twilight realized there was no pain nor fluctuation in the flow of arcane energy to her horn. Since the normal laws of magic did not seem to apply here, she was confident that her magic could be controlled. With renewed confidence, she levitated a filing cabinet out of her way. Twilight soon had six filing cabinets in front of her floating high in the air. A wide grin spread across her face at the ease with which she was casting spells. Seeing no place to set the filing cabinets down, she flung them into the distance. A wave of cold flowed over her mind, interrupting her victory.

"I'd be careful what you throw around down there."

"I can use magic here, and I can control it! I'll do whatever I feel like doing." Twilight ran forward and used her magic to clear a path through the debris.

The black shadow sprinted and dove through a doorway. The door quickly rose, blocking Twilight's path. Her horn glowed purple as she tried to force the door open, yet nothing happened. Green light shone through cracks in the door, forming the word Appetitio.

"I'm afraid that isn't your room. Neither you nor I could enter it if she didn't want us to."

"Who is she?" Twilight roamed along the wall looking for another exit from the room.

"What part of 'one question' do you not understand?"

"The core concept." Twilight tilted her head, waiting for the voice to retort. After a few seconds she heard faint laughter.

"Clever pony. I wish you were this entertaining all the time. The exit you seek is ahead."

True to its word, two doors were lined up on the wooden paneling ahead. Twilight looked back into the library one last time. There were so many events from her life stored here. Just a couple hours and she would be able to deduce what was in the destroyed room. Her memories were laid out here before her; all she had to do was stick around until the answers revealed themselves.

Something deep inside brought her focus back to the doors in front of her. Twilight was not meant to be in this room, not like this. She would come back and sort through her memories after defeating her nemesis. The contents of the rooms were fragile, and would take time to organize.

Approaching the doors caused a familiar process to begin. Scanning the doors revealed two paths ahead: Acceptio,  Noxius. From experience, she deduced the golden lettering was intended for her. Extending a hoof she touched the door and nothing happened. It refused to respond as she continued tapping.

"Looks like you're not ready to go in there. Why don't you try my path?"

The door labeled Noxius vanished into scarlet smoke that rose towards the ceiling. Beyond it was a black void, and the glow of her horn did not help. Slowly, she stepped through the blanket of darkness and found herself back in Canterlot.




A stallion strode through the front door, slamming it behind him. "Enough is enough! She needs more help than we can give her!"

A mare wiped a tear from her cheek as she addressed her husband. "Please, Midnight, she's our daughter. We can't just send her off to a hospital!"

"So we should keep her here and just hope she stops trying to get back into Celestia's school? She just shattered Shining's femur! Her own brother is in the hospital now with over a liter of blood pooling in his leg. The doctors don't know if they can get the swelling down before they have to amputate!"

"It was an accident. She loves us and we love her. We can't throw our daughter out, and that's final!"

"I'm tired of arguing with you. I've already talked with the court. They say she can be admitted to an asylum with only one parent's approval, due to the 'violent' nature her spells have taken as of late."

"You wouldn't dare! Celestia help me, if you try to commit her you'll never see me again!"

"Is that supposed to be a threat, or an invitation? You've brought nothing but trouble to my life since that whelp was born. If I never see either of you again, it'd be too soon!"

"Midnight. . ."

"Shove it. I'm admitting her, and that's final. You might as well start packing up your things. I don't want to see either of you again."





The visions faded, replaced by the well-lit atrium. Twilight found herself lying on her side, crying.

"Tell me, do you ever feel guilt for your actions? Have you ever once stopped to admit you did something wrong? Let me answer that one free for you. No. You never accept responsibility. You hide in your fantasies and ignore me."

"No—" Twilight curled up into a tight ball and began weeping. "Please no—no more, you win—I don't want those memories anymore." She tried to take a deep breath between sobs. "If that is my real life—then I quit. Go ahead, end this."

Twilight lay there unaware of the passage of time. Guilt and tears flowed freely from her as the vivid images continued to swim through her head. Her parents had divorced, and she had been admitted. The voice had told her that she was a failure, and it was correct.

"Twilight?" A young cheerful voice caused her to uncurl and look around. She felt a small hoof rub her back. "Are you ok?"

"Who are you?" She wiped her tears off and sat up. Before her sat a young filly, a perfect replica of the filly she had been when applying to Celestia’s school.

"I'm you. . . or at least a part of you. I suppose you can call me Sparkle, if it makes it less confusing." The child smiled, melting away the sorrow from Twilight.

"Sparkle? Do you know who the voice is, or who was running away from me?"

"Well. . . I was the one running from you. I thought you were her, or worse—I don't wanna talk about it." She trembled slightly as she answered Twilight.

"Okay, then can you help me? I'm lost and I think I'm in my own mind somehow. I asked her to bring me here. My memories are damaged, and I need your help to fix them, Sparkle."

"Oh, I'm not sure I can. . . but I can help you get out. If you protect me from her, I'll help you escape."

"Well, well, well, what have we here? This changes the game. 'Sparkle,' aren't you going to introduce me to your guest?"

The bright light that was flooding the atrium began to dim, turning a deep purple and fading to black. The pillars twisted and the walls began to ooze ink. Words of hatred and anger coalesced on the marble surfaces. The carpet began to smolder, turning into ash. Twilight felt the heat rising and smelled sulfur in the air.

"I do love to make a good entrance."

Something was stepping out of the shadows in front of her. It had the shape of a pony, but before she could examine it further she felt tugging on her leg.

"Twilight! Come on we have to run! Follow me!" Sparkle ran ahead towards an empty spot between two columns.

As the pair neared the wall, green letters burst forth. The word  Spero cast a brilliant emerald light into the darkness. The ink running down the nearby surfaces was repelled by it as the door swung open. Twilight risked a glance back to see a furious unicorn, highlighted by the green glow, charging them.

"Twilight!" The filly yanked her leg and the pair tumbled through the door.

"Fools! You cannot hide from me forever!

The door closed and the room lit up. Twilight could hear something hammering at the barricade from the other side. The wall was vibrating from the concussive blasts being thrown at it from the other side. The door sealed shut completely, turning into a featureless barricade. Profanities and shouts of rage were slowly muffled as the wall ceased shaking.

"Are you okay?"

Twilight turned to face Sparkle. "Thank you. What was that?"

"That was. . . it was her." She looked back towards the wall as it slowly disappeared.

The two ponies followed a dirt road up the side of a hill. The chirping of birds filled the crisp, clean air. Waves rolled through the grass as a gentle breeze passed through it. There was not a single cloud in the vast, blue sky. Feelings of euphoria and peace came over her, easing the pain of recent events. Ahead of them was Sweet Apple Acres.

"Sparkle, we're in Ponyville?"

"No, it's a memory of Ponyville. I never let her in here. Even—" Sparkle glanced over towards the Everfree Forest. Her tail tucked down between her legs and her ears flattened against her head.

"What's wrong? You look terrified." Twilight pulled her gently against her side.

"I tried to tell her—I saw something, something that shouldn't have been able to get in here. It has always been the two of us. Me, and her. She didn't believe me when I told her I saw another, one who could go anywhere it wanted." The filly looked up into Twilight's eyes. "When I followed it to the library, I thought it was you."

"Don't be scared, you're safe with me. Do you think it destroyed the library?"

"I don't know. I never really cared about remembering lots of stuff. I just like my memories, the ones where we are happy."

"Well, whatever it is, I won't just leave you in here with it and her. Having one of those monsters bouncing around in my mind is bad enough."

"You mean it?" Sparkle looked up at her with wide eyes and a smile. "—But I can't come with you." The filly returned her eyes to the ground.

Twilight hugged her gently. "Then I need you to take me to her. I'll beat the voice at her game; I'll prove to her that the monster you saw in the Everfree is real. I'll make sure you're safe when I leave here."

Sparkle returned her gaze to Twilight and hugged her. "Thank you. You've always been so kind to me. You always want to keep me happy, but the—the voice just makes me sad. She always tells me I'm not allowed to do things."

"Well, I think visiting Applejack and having some apple pie would cheer you up."

"Yeah! Let's do it!" Sparkle sprinted towards the Apple's home.

Twilight struggled to keep up as the pair ran through the apple orchard. Everything was exactly as she remembered it. Wicker baskets sat beneath the rows of trees. A short wooden fence divided the segments of the farm. Ahead were the large red barn and the home of the Apple family. Applejack, Applebloom, Big Mac, and Granny Smith were already setting food out at an outdoor table. It was as if they were expecting Twilight and Sparkle to arrive.

"Howdy, Twilight, Twilight—" Applejack glanced back at the adult Twilight. "Uh, since when are there two of ya?"

"Hi, AJ! This is Twilight. She is just visiting me and looking for some lost memories. You can call me Sparkle. It's less confusing."

"Well ah reckon stranger things have happened in Ponyville. So you must be the mare in charge, huh?"

"Hi, and I guess I am. I mean, if I'm right on my assumption that I'm in my own mind and not just inhaling paint fumes from the room Pinkie recently built me. . ." Twilight tried to remember if the paint had still been wet, but decided it didn't matter. She had a good idea what the voice was and what it wanted. The game would end soon enough.

"Do you want to stay for dinner?" Applejack waved to the empty spots on the bench.

"Well, we're kind of in a hurry."

"Please, Twilight!" Sparkle looked up at her with misty eyes and a fake frown.

"Oh all right." Twilight sat down and immediately grabbed an apple fritter. She tossed it in her mouth and spit it back out. "Ouch, that's hot!"

The ponies laughed at her. "Of course it is, honey, ya gotta let 'em cool first." Granny Smith sat at the far end of the table, slowly cutting up her own fritter.

"So, you spend a lot of time here, Sparkle?"

"Yep. This is my favorite place to go, especially after the voice is mean and tells me I can't have any fun." She poked at her slice of apple pie with a fork and glanced down.

"Well, as long as you're happy, I guess it doesn't matter if none of this is real—" Twilight hadn't meant to be so harsh and quickly added, "I mean, if it's a memory."

"It's real to me! I don't get to leave like you do, I live here, and so does the voice!"

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to say the things here weren't real. . . it's just all so confusing. My memories are mixing together until I can't tell them apart from delusions. The harder I try to prove I'm sane, the crazier the situations I end up in."

"Maybe you can make your own reality, like me!" Sparkle hopped onto the bench and waved her hooves around at the orchard.

Twilight let out a soft laugh before responding. "You can't just make reality. There's only one reality and I need to figure out which one it is."

"Perception is reality." Big Mac looked up from his food at Twilight.

"Huh?" Twilight lifted an eyebrow and looked at Big Mac.

"You're making the classic mistake of assuming reality is something tangible and objective. It is, in fact, a completely subjective construct of our perceptions."

"Alright, first, when did you start talking so much, and second, when did you get so smart?"

"Twilight, that's not a very nice thing to say. Big Mac is just humble." Sparkle crossed her forelegs and glared at her. "He's like my big brother."

Twilight sat there trying to figure out whether her memories of Big Mac were wrong, or if this little filly was just re-writing them for her own entertainment. "Alright, I'm sorry. Please continue, Big Mac."

"Let's assume for a moment Celestia could preserve somepony's brain in a magical vat. The brain would be suspended in a nutrient fluid, and the magic would provide it all the electrical impulses it would receive if it were still in the pony. To the pony's brain, it would be impossible to tell if it was in the pony or in the vat."

He took a sip of tea and wiped off his muzzle. "The brain's only way of interacting with the outside world is through those electrical impulses. Perhaps you should stop looking for reality, and instead try to fix your perception of it. Then you'll be able to figure out what is real and what is a figment of your imagination."

Twilight took a moment to close her gaping jaw and formulate a coherent thought. "Um. . . thanks?" She leaned over to Sparkle. "You're sure this is our memory of Big Mac?"

"Why wouldn't it—" The conversation was interrupted by a loud screeching sound. The sky darkened and the images around them started to flicker. Sparkle latched onto Twilight's flank.

Applejack rose from the table. "Ah reckon it's time you get goin', gals."

"Sparkle, is this the thing you found in the Everfree?" The filly nodded her head up and down against her stomach. "And can we fight it?" Sparkle moved her head side to side.

Big Mac and Applejack were walking into the orchard. "Applebloom, take our guests to the cellar."

While her and Sparkle headed towards the cellar, Twilight just looked around in confusion. "I don't get it, why not just stay and fight it? I at least want to see what it is."

"It's not safe! Who knows what will happen if it catches us." Sparkle ran back to Twilight. "Come on!"

"We can't be afraid of some unse—" Twilight was cut off by screaming in the orchard. She imagined it was Applejack, but couldn't quite tell over the booming of trees being uprooted. Big Mac howled in fury. The ground began rumbling. Something flying through the air caught her eye. An orange leg landed a few feet in front of her with an apple cutie mark on it. She stared for a second, then sprinted towards the cellar.

Applebloom had reached the cellar and opened the door. "Hurry, in here!" Sparkle ran down into the cellar, forcing Twilight to follow. The door shut closed behind them, and the two found themselves in a dark, musty basement. The cellar shook and dust fell from the ceiling. Loud booming continued overhead from the orchard.

Twilight was pacing around in circles, shaking from what she had just witnessed. "What in the hay is going on? We need to find a way out of here!"

Sparkle circled in front of her. "Calm down. If we reach the voice, then he can send you back before it catches us."	

"How are we supposed to get out of this cellar? We're stuck!" Twilight marched up to the dirt wall and pounded it for emphasis. "Unless we dig our way out."

A lavender light lit the small cellar as a door appeared right where she had tapped the hardened soil. A new word blazed itself onto the wall, Confundo.

"Whoa, I've never seen one like that before." Sparkle shuffled up to it slowly and gazed into the lettering. "I just wish I could read them. It would be so much less confusing."

"It's simple really; it's just a dead language that most modern languages, such as Equestrian, are based on. If you loo—" Twilight's lecture was cut short by the thunderous noise of the barn above them collapsing, knocking loose a few of the cellar's support beams. She hit the door again, causing it to open, and leapt through with Sparkle before the cellar collapsed.





Sparkle stood up slowly and dusted herself off. She noticed the sterility of the environment around her. Worn linoleum tiles ran down the hall beneath grey walls. The doors were labeled by number, and overhead a florescent light flickered. Her eyes followed the corridor over to Twilight, who was looking out a window.

"Twilight, are you okay?"

"Yeah, but where are we now?" Twilight was looking out the window at Sugarcube Corner. Pinkie cantered out carrying a box of cupcakes, chatting with Fluttershy the whole time. She turned her head, and looked down a hospital corridor. "I can't be in the hospital and Ponyville at the same time, unless Spike mixed up the sugar and lysergic acid diethylamide again."

"This must be why you're so confused. You can't decide which memories are real, and they're all mixed up."

"Yeah, I guess it's something like that." Twilight advanced to the next window and looked out. This window showed a view of a balcony over Canterlot. A pink sphere surrounded the city as black specks rammed against it.

"If we can find a door back to the lobby, I can take you to her. I think you've been here long enough."

"I think you're right. I never thought I'd end up lost in my own mind." Twilight walked down the hallway towards a common area. "We'll have to pass as many doors as possible, and hope we can find the atrium again."

As they went down the hallway, images of Equestria filled the windows and dozens of words lit up on the doors opposite them. None of them translated to anything useful, and a few seemed to suggest repressed memories were hidden behind them.

"Do you know what word you're looking for?" Sparkle followed along behind her, taking in the many interesting scenes out the window. Images of an underground cave filled with sparkling gems were outside the current window.

"No, but I'll know it when I see it." The pair continued forward in silence, noticing the sound of ponies ahead of them.

Walking around the corner revealed most of the ponies from Ponyville enjoying a casual get-together. In one corner Vinyl was chatting with a pony dressed up like a mummy. Lyra and Octavia were playing a lovely arrangement of classical music. A nurse and two orderlies were pinning Mayor Mare to the ground. The cutie mark crusaders were there, chasing each other around with syringes full of medicine.

Twilight spotted Applejack walking towards her. "AJ, I thought you died back at the farm! I'm glad you're all right."

"What? Twilight, are you feelin' okay?" AJ pulled a stethoscope out of her jacket and tried listen to her lungs.

"Hey! Whatever is wrong, it's not with my lungs. What is everypony doing here?"

"It's the summer sun celebration; we let the patients mingle until lights out."

"Forget mingling, where are the Wonderbolts?" Dash walked out of the crowd, frowning. "I was supposed to be showing Spitfire a sonic rainboom and instead you invite me out to this lame party, Twilight."

"Dash? Is everypony alright?"

"Hmm... well Fluttershy and Rarity are acting weird, Pinkie is being Pinkie, and I think Vinyl is drunk."

"Can you define weird?"

"Well Fluttershy is upset I dragged her out of her cottage. She has never liked parties. I may have implied that dragons were going to migrate over her cottage tonight. And Rarity keeps screaming about germs anytime somepony tries to get near her."

"And Pinkie?"

"Oh she's just playing ten instruments at once. Say, do you want some punch?" Dash pulled a glass of fruit punch out of nowhere.

"No, I'm kind of busy." Twilight started walking away with Sparkle.

"Hold on! I still think I should take a look at you, and you should probably get some rest." Applejack followed behind her, determined to figure out what was going on.

"I don't have time for this, AJ. You're just a stray memory, and I have a game to win!"

"Now see, that right there! I think you're a little stressed."

Twilight turned around and glared daggers at her. "We're in my head, not yours, and I say what happens around here!"

Applejack was about to respond when the lights to the common room shut off. Vapor escaped her lips as she exhaled into the now frigid air. The calm music and conversations vanished. Darkness filled the room like ink and flowed over the floor, ceiling, and walls. The overhead lights shattered one by one as the darkness advanced down the hallway.

"Whoa, calm down, Twilight. Let's not do anything you'll regret!" Applejack backed away slowly from the expanding abyss.

Twilight stared into the darkness, and felt the darkness staring back. "That's not me—we've got to run!"


Applejack glanced back to her. "For once I agree. I don't think this is one of your hallucinations."

The trio turned and fled from the void. Twilight lead them, weaving through the hallways. Any door would make a suitable escape, yet none formed properly. Just as letters would blink into existence, they would sputter and fade back out. The doors began to melt, dripping onto the floor. Walls tilted and teetered overhead, threatening to collapse on them. The hospital was imploding around them at the whim of an unknown entity.

Applejack sped up her legs as years of medical training tried to justify what her eyes were telling her. "If we're in your head, make this stop, Twilight!"

"I wish I could!"

As they rounded another corner, a crack in the floor caused Sparkle to trip. "Twilight!"

"Sparkle!" Twilight turned to go back for her when AJ stopped her.

"Just get out of here!" Applejack dove forward and grabbed the filly, tossing her towards Twilight. When the tide of darkness hit AJ, she vanished without a trace.

Now two ponies remained, sprinting down the hallways. They dodged tiles that floated off the floor. Wiring fell from the ceiling, threatening to entangle them. Finally the pair found a door that hadn't been damaged, and dove towards it. The word Arbiter had barely formed when they collided with it, falling through into the next room.





"Well it's about time. For a moment there I thought you were content to hide with the naive child until you fell into a coma."

Twilight stood up slowly and looked towards the source of the voice. A duplicate of Twilight sat on an ebony throne. Beneath the throne was a statue of a blindfolded pony with a balance scale on her back. A staircase, made of small shelves packed with books, lead up to the throne.

Her gaze turned to the walls and ceiling, which formed a giant dome. An image of her room in the library was broadcast overhead. She could make out the blankets, hear her soft breaths, and even watch as she rolled over in bed.

"You're calling yourself Sparkle now, right? Come here."

The filly began to walk towards the voice. "Sparkle, you don't have to listen to her." Twilight gazed up at the owner of the voice. "I'm going to win the game, and you're going to leave her alone!"

"You may win the game, but none of us will ever exist without the others. No harm has happened to her, nor will it ever. Were it not for me, you probably would have already injured yourself trying to please her every whimsy.

Twilight paused for a moment as she had an epiphany. "You're both metaphors, everything here is. It seems real because I am here now, yet when I'm conscious I can't perceive you."

"You might just win this game after all. Even though you can't perceive us, we still influence every one of your decisions. Now, enough stalling. You will answer my question or forfeit."

The doppelganger descended from her throne and walked forward until she stood inches from Twilight's face.

"What am I?"