//------------------------------// // Prologue – Island in the Sea of Mind // Story: Evenfall // by Yinglung //------------------------------// It was a quiet night in Canterlot. The sun has long gone, and the gentle moon strewn the night sky. As the royal capital of Equestria dimmed and went into sleep, the wild yonder above was adorned by countless brilliant stars, forming a dreamy landscape with the towers and spires that strutted by. A lone purple mare trotted briskly across the dark corridor of the Canterlot castle. She was carrying something in her saddlebag. As winds flipped up the thin cover of her bag, its content was exposed in the night air. It resembled an ancient tome, but upon closer inspection, it was pieces of thin weathered metal strung together with rings. The metal tablet was not inscribed with any text. The only parts on it that were not covered by rust revealed a shiny reflective surface. She gritted her teeth, as she felt a dullness in her head and heard the murmuring again. The voice was gentle and sounds amiable. It apologized for causing the purple pony distress, and again implored her to bring it out of the dilapidated, forgotten caverns. She had first heard this mysterious voice a year ago, as she sobbed in the Royal Canterlot Garden after failing a small test. It was just some unclear murmuring at first, and she paid it no heed. But it has grown increasingly louder and clearer soon afterwards. She had thought about telling this to her teacher, the beloved sun sovereign of the nation, but she eventually decided to simply take the matter into her own hoof and located the source of the anomaly, which was the elaborate caverns under Canterlot. The purple pony had initially worried about that the book contained some sort of malevolent spirit which would cause great harm if let out. However, the voice that emanated from the book was strangely comforting for her, despite causing some malaise at first. It was self-effacing and had a self-deprecating sense of humor. Moreover, it was incredibly knowledgeable, and taught her a great deal about magic, the world and even ponies. She was sometimes befuddled by how a forgotten tome in the deepest mountain cave could have such a deep insight of magic and pony interaction. Her magic study was greatly helped by the patient tutoring of the old tome, who had initially just sent its voice via telepathic magic. It seemed to understand her underlying concern and had been content to just sit under the rocks of Canterlot for the moment. As time went on, she has grown to be attached to her private, sympathetic listener, who seemed to accept her unreservedly despite her social awkwardness. And although the voice was reticent about its identity other than being a presence that lived in the tome, it has also expressed increasing fondness for the purple pony. They even grew to tease with each other playfully and engaged in long conversation about the Canterlot life, which sometimes earned strange glares from the purple pony’s personal assistant, a purple baby dragon. Thus, the strangest of friendship was born between a purple mare and her book. Then on one night, exactly a year after they began to know each other in earnest, the voice pled the purple pony to bring it out of the caverns. It would not state its reason or purposes, but she could hear great forlorn in its voice. Although her rational mind thought it dangerous to physically consort with an ancient book spirit, she could not bring herself to abandon her dear little tome. She decided to actually sneak into the capacious caves under the palace for once to retrieve the book. The purple pony galloped into the Ivory Tower, and then treaded lightly on the stairs to prevent waking up her baby dragon. She then reached the top of the tower, and taken the tome out of her saddlebag using her unicorn magic. In a purple glow, the tome floated in front of the purple pony. It spoke to its friend in an unsteady voice, as if it was close to tears. “I thank you, Twilight Sparkle… I never thought I could actually talk to somepony, and I believed my only fate was to rust and crumble beneath these hills. But you have rescued me from my eternal solitude. I – I could not ever repay you enough for your help.” “Now you’re finally out of the caves, your life can begin anew.” Twilight smiled and comforted her friend, who simply emitted a quiet gulp. “It’s not that simple, my dear friend.” The voice said in apparent defeat. “I never told you, didn’t I? I came into being owing to the abundance of magic below the city. Before that, I was merely a… repository of knowledge. Think of me as a… library of sorts.” “What?!” Twilight gasped and then grinned widely. “So you’re a talking library? Why don’t you tell me earlier? This is magnificent! No wonder you know so much! So what’s the problem? Oh, I can’t wait to prep you up and bring you to the princess now!” “Oh dear, no, Twilight…” “Eh? Why? I’m sure I can weave a story-” “It’s not that.” The voice became unsure. “The magic in the caves is… not quite ordinary magic. It is volatile and nebulous, for it was transmuted in the thousands of years from countless evil unicorns who were banished into the caves.” It drew in an audible breath even though it had no mouth. “It was dark magic, Twilight. Ambient magic I bathed in and inadvertently shaped with my signals for eons, but this twisted dark magic was what had born me, this… obstructing presence of consciousness. Its taint on me was plain.” The tome spirit sounded defeated. “I’m sorry I never told you, I… I was afraid that you won’t be my companion anymore if I told you this. I never found anypony… or anyone who could be talked to, and I was too fearful if you lose trust in me after I come clean.” “… I’ve known all the time.” The tome spirit let out a muted noise, but then it sighed. “… I’m not surprised. You’re among the brightest minds and best magic users I’ve seen over the ages.” “You’re flattering me again.” Twilight blushed, and then quietly explained. “From the first moment we talked, I’ve sense traces of dark magic over our link. But dark might it be, it never carries a drop of malice. And you’re kind, forthright and patient, not at all like a malicious spirit who’s trying to butter me up.” The spirit chuckled. “You’re such a sweet mare, Twilight. I really don’t deserve you.” Twilight eyed the tome with a sad look, and the voice slowly began again. “I never knew why I’m like this. The corrupting influence of dark magic should be maddening, but it had done nothing of that sort other than fashioning my consciousness from nothingness. Perhaps that’s enough of a dark, twisted joke in itself. After all, what’s crueler than giving me a lucid mind and stuffing me in somewhere where no one could reach or talk with me?” “Don’t say that…” It chuckled wryly, but it swiftly turned into a sigh. “Twilight, I still bear the sin of their forbidden crafts. My mere presence is dangerous, for the dark magic within me could flood out and terrorize others nearby. I want nothing of this sort to happen to the innocent dwellers of this city, but my longing for you is deep, and my insolence wins over my rational mind.” Twilight bit her lips and continued to listen silently. The voice gulped and said with a shaky voice. “I simply wanted to see you and meet you in person, for you’re the only pony I’ve ever truly talked to. You’re the first and the only mare I truly loved and cared about.” Twilight widened her eyes. For a moment she lovingly looked back to the metallic tome, but then her brows became knitted with doubt and questions. “Really? After all those years hearing about so many ponies’ lives? T- They were all somepony with hopes and dreams and lives of their own, weren’t they?” “… I know, and I’ve observed many lives that ignited, glowed bright and faded. If you count those that I recorded before my mind came on by accident, then it had to be more than sands in the Saddle and water drops in a thunderstorm. But there is a difference between passively recording and attentively watching. And there is an even bigger, unsurmountable difference to be actively engaging with someone’s life – like now.” The voice paused as if in thought, then its voice grew mirthful. “History might sometimes be a symphony of heroic tales and progress, but it is mostly a slew of regret and missed opportunities. I’ve always wanted to put forward my two bits to help in my small ways. You know, Twilight, I’m so glad that you’re willing to talk with me. I…” “Hm…? “It’s a bit embarrassing to say, and I mean no offense to Mister Light, b… but, dear, you’re like a daughter to me.” Twilight shot up with a stunned look. This was the first time the tome so candidly described its own feelings. The tome had often sounded firm and demanding, even blunt at times, and she had not realized that how fondly and attached the tome had thought of her. “I’m willing to give it my all if it means making your life better. And now that I’m physically here, there is a way for me to contribute to you substantially other than my inane ramblings.” “Your teaching is not-” The voice chuckled and shushed her off. “It’s obvious that if the dark magic within me is to be discovered, my destruction would be swift. It will be a welcoming reprieve from my unnatural existence. But I want to leave you, my only friend in this world, something valuable, that’s why I wanted you to take me out and then dispose of me with a specific method.” “You will not be destroyed, burned or harmed in any way under my watch.” Twilight vowed resolutely. “The Ivory Tower is now your home from now on.” “Twilight, you shan’t be impetuous.” The voice lightly chided. “Do you not remember what I talked to you about what a concentrated blast of ancient dark magic can do? It would not only cause physical destruction, it might even corrupt minds. This must not be risked in any situation.” Twilight looked grim, but she reluctantly gave the tome spirit the attention it required. The voice then said. “Listen, you must mix a stone of phoenix oil and a dram of dragon draught and set me alight.” Twilight gasped in horror, but the voice continued regardless. “Remember the thirteenth theorem of Star Swirl? Magical knowledge and magical potential can be bridged in a superimposing ethereal flux. If I am to be consumed by a strong magical fire, the arcane knowledge I gathered from all the wisest unicorns over the years will crystallize into a viewing stone. I’m very sure, because I witnessed with my very own ‘ears’ that a highly magical unicorn did exactly the same thing.” Twilight was aghast. “S- Somepony back then set himself on fire?!” “… Twilight, history is a murkier matter than we thought. But I digress, this method ensures that the dark magic I carry with me will be no more. So it’s an excellent way to wrap this up.” It paused for a moment and muttered very quietly. “The other things in my repository… I doubt that they are at all relevant to this world that brims with magic. Nor is my opinion important anyway.” The voice then grew somewhat enthusiastic. “Anyway, I beckon you to do this, dear Twilight. Hopefully my moderate amount of magical knowledge can help you achieve whatever that you’ve wanted to achieve. You can be the greatest unicorn-” “No!” Twilight yelled, and then weakly whimpered. “I can’t do this… There must be some other ways?” “Being with you in person was my only wish. Now my life is full.” The voice said with a mirthful tone. “Now go grab the ingredients before something untoward happens. From what I overheard, they’re stored in vases in the treasury, but unguarded and plentiful. You know well, to end my life by being blasted into oblivion by an angry princess is the last thing I hope to see.” Twilight bit her tongue. She knew the tome explicitly wanted to be destroyed. But she would be murdering her friend and her second mentor with her very own hooves. Dark magic or not, his mind was nothing but sympathetic and nurturing. That would be a sin she would never be able to bear with herself. She had grown so attached to the tome that it would pain her immensely if she ever had to separate with it, but to destroy it and erase its existence? Twilight could not imagine she could do it in a million years. It was also apparent that the tome had some reservations to reveal all that he knew to her. Twilight knew not why, but she had planned to pry it open with her words eventually. To destroy it now was like reading one book from an ancient library and then setting fire to the whole building. For the book-loving Twilight, this was a completely horrific idea. She closed her eyes and quietly said. “This is not all, isn’t it? You could have asked me to put you back into the cavern. Why would you suddenly want to…” The voice fell silent for a long time, and Twilight patiently waited. Eventually, the voice spoke up. “…To tell you the truth, Twilight, I could take this no more. I’ve been sitting in the caverns and buried in the midst of rocks for untold amount of years. The earth lifted and the seas dried. Nations rose and fell. If I’m not cursed with a sentient mind, then perhaps it might be tolerable. But I’m already fed up with being all ears but just ears.” “… So if you have a chance in life, you’ll take it?” The voice chuckled. “Why, of course! I’ll give my everything I have just for a shot at a life above surface, to live amongst others and feel the sun, moon and stars, to laugh and cry and experience the emotions of ups and downs. ” Twilight then pat the tome gently. “Hey, I can just transform you into a movable form, and then you can live in here and talk with me!” The voice was silent for a while, and then it said plainly. “Twilight, every being in this world is by nature monist. Just like every pony is supposed to have one cutie mark, one consciousness is always connected to one frame. Any magical transfiguration is merely transient and at best has to be constantly reinforced. It’s like how turning a pony into a dragon with spell would not really stick.” “I- I don’t mind pumping magic into you once and a while!” The voice turned authoritative. “Clover’s second law of transfiguration, Twilight, did you forget about something that basic?” Twilight gasped, and sheepishly said. “… To maintain a transfiguration, the amount of magic that needs to be put in increase logarithmically as time increases.” The voice let out a muted grunt, and it continued. “Even that was not prohibitively difficult, it was not the biggest problem. You see, I’m technically… created, not born, I lack the vital impetus that is present in every living being. It is this vital force that maintains a sense of constancy despite any change in form. For me though, any alteration of my form would just erase me out of existence at best, or at worst cause the dark magic within me to burst out.” Twilight looked crestfallen. “H- How… Why…?” The voice again pled, almost sounding desperately. “Please Twilight, I know this is hard for you. But you must do this for the good of you and me. I’d rather be a part of your fond memories than a menace to the good ponies in Canterlot.” Twilight frantically searched her mind to find a way to preserve the tome and persuade it away from self-destruction. Suddenly, she thought of something. “… Okay. I’ll do this.” “R—Really?” The tome momentarily trembled, as if emotions were felt even within those metal leaves. “I—I… thank you.” “Shh.” Twilight lowered her head, “Let me grab the stuffs. It’s night so there should not be too many ponies around.” Not long after, Twilight returned with a jug and a flask. She carefully set down the liquid on the desk. “Twilight, the time with you has been the happiest time in my life… Thank you.” Twilight’s lips quivered. “… Say no more.” She poured the content of the small flask into the jug, and then carefully smeared the tome with the mix. Twilight lit her horn. A brilliant light briefly engulfed the top floor of the Canterlot Ivory Tower. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Twilight emitted a dull groan, but the tome yelled out with a startled voice. Only this time, it was not through her ears, but in the space of her mind. “Wait, what are you doing, Twilight?!” Twilight did not answer, as she powered up her spell even further. The tome was at first still burning with a strangely violet glow, but it gradually disappeared into particles of light. A few minutes had passed, and all light in the tower ceased. The legs of the purple pony buckled and she knelt down on the floor. The tome’s voice rang in Twilight’s head, but this time it was much louder and clearer than ever before. ‘… Twilight, what you’ve done was folly.’ “It’s no folly if it means saving you.” “I’d admit, you’re one of the most talented unicorns in Canterlot’s recorded history. I don’t know how you did it, but you managed to transcribe my essence and dispose of the dark magic at the same time. This is like swimming across the sea and not getting wet. I honestly never thought it was possible, nor did I think it ever happened before.” Twilight smugly said. “Actually, if you cast a protective —.” The voice interrupted the purple mare. “Twilight, do you even realize the severity of your action? If you think having a voice in your head earns you weird looks, you now also have to practically share a life with someone else, with no privacy whatsoever.” Twilight blushed but retorted. “B- better than having you gone!” “Fine, this is a ‘small’ issue for you. But far more threatening is the unpredicta—” “Gah!” Suddenly a splitting pain struck in Twilight’s head. She felt disoriented and strange, her memories were starting to be blended with completely foreign ones. She felt like two ponies but she knew she’s only one. Reality itself seemed to be bent out of shape as strange imageries flooded her head. Both converging consciousnesses in her head agonized not only at the confusion, but at the intense magic currents surging through her mind. “Hmph! Wh—what is it that I’m seeing? Are these ships of metal and stars?” The voice sighed. “… Those are the records from my repository. Unfortunately, my worst fear came true. Your body cannot hold two minds separately at once. Anything goes at this point, and I can only hope that no lasting damage will be done.” Twilight did not speak. The voice became surprised when it felt a strange emotion of explosive curiosity. It did not come from itself, but became intertwined in its mind with the continued blending. The voice suddenly realized something. Or rather, it discovered Twilight’s intention. “Wait, I… grr, no, you knew it from the very beginning?” “Not exactly… I never envision the merge to be this complete and this quick, but I was desperate to save you. I also admit I’ve always want to know what you hadn’t told me, and what’s a better way to do that? I’m not going to let…” Twilight’s words was cut off by the new information flooding inside her mind. “You are an alien artefact?!” “You… you… you shouldn’t have ignored me just for your selfish purpose!” The voice paid no mind to Twilight’s exclamation, and simply exclaimed in frustration. Twilight’s heart pained for a moment. “It’s not all! You said you want a chance at a normal life, right? Now I will give part of mine to you, I mean it!” The voice gasped, as it understood Twilight’s emotions and thoughts at the same time. “Twilight… I—I… have no words to express my gratitude. But you’re playing fire with your individuality and very sense of self!” Twilight suddenly chuckled. “That’s why I like you. You always think of others and place no importance on your own self. Isn’t time for you to have a taste of happiness as well?” The voice spluttered. It fervently thought to distract itself from its selfish desire, and then exclaimed. “M- My world is too different and grisly even to the worst of times in Equestria! There can be no good by imparting those information to you.” “Now that’s just a poor clichéd excuse. The world of yours… it was complex, grisly and yet stunning. Ponykind can certainly use some of the good ideas regardless. Your reservation might be well-intentioned, but wouldn’t your reluctance to change the world using your knowledge ultimately work to prevent the world from ever becoming ready? In any case, I will not let you go no matter what.” ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ The voice fell silent. Just when Twilight felt she had finally convinced the tome, the voice again spoke up. “No, I can’t allow that. My conscience will doom me to a life time of regret for stealing somepony else’s life, even just a slice of it.” Twilight could feel that the newly introduced essence begin to struggle and try to extricate itself from its position. She gasped. “No! Don’t do that! The mental space is still highly unstab—” Without warning, the singularities of consciousnesses collided. Twilight felt as if she was punched right in the stomach. ‘Argh! W—what happened?!’ Her vision quickly grew dim and wavy, as she felt like she was launched up into the night sky. As her mind flew to space and dimensions unknown, time seemed to be literally bent. When she again found the balance and focused her gaze, she was somehow floating across a strange lightless space full of differently-shaped crystals. Twilight groaned, but she immediately realized something was wrong. She could no longer sense a sliver of her dear friend’s presence in her mind. She immediately panicked. Tears fell off her cheeks. She looked around, and realized that she suddenly could look out in all direction, which caused her to cry out in surprise and fear. One shard of crystal stood out particularly in front of her. It was shaped just like her cutie mark, a six-pointed star. Without thinking, she immediately scrambled towards the crystal. However, she felt a strong resistance, as if she was dragging herself through mud. Still, after a round of struggling, she got into contact with the shard, which then sucked her in like a vortex. She blinked, and she was in a dark room. Before she could exhale in relief that she got back into her library residence, she noticed that something was out of line with her room. Every surface in the room was reflective like flowing quicksilver. When she walked on the floor, it rippled like the surface of water. She had no mind to appreciate the beauty though, as her heart was burning with anxiety for her missing friend. But suddenly, a wall suddenly lit up in vivid colors. She turned her head to the source of light. To her shock, it was her galloping across the courtyard of Canterlot, brushing through her acquaintances in a hurry. “That’s me…?” ‘... defeated by the Elements of Harmony and imprisoned in the moon. Legend has it that on the longest day…’ Twilight watched in stupefaction as the purple mare in the vision talked to Spike about some unknown threat and a mission to a village called Ponyville. ‘Is this the future?’ She pondered with a stunned face. It was like watching a film, but somehow at the same time, the imageries burned into her mind as if she actually experienced the scenes herself. She desperately searched her mind to find something she had learnt that could explain this strange and alien situation. She could only surmise that it was not her home world or dimension, possibly within the realm of minds, and the fact that she was trapped there with no means to escape. She sat there, speechless, as another panel of the wall was illuminated. This time, the she in the vision and Spike got off the Twinkling Balloon in what was presumably Ponyville. The she in the moving picture fumbled and bumped her way forward, but eventually she made friends out of the five mares from Ponyville. As the storybook-like imageries unfolded scene by scene in front of her, she became strangely fixated. Life quite literally flashed before her eyes, but it was a life that she didn’t yet get to live. And there she was, sitting on the floor breathless as she watched what was like her own biopic and lost track of time completely. Appearing repeatedly were the five friends she would have made in Ponyville, who had grown to be her dearest friends in this strange and yet familiar future. Of course, an abundance of other ponies also appeared, some of them were known by Twilight, but most of them were completely new faces. In this world of strange memories, Twilight did not feel the need for sustenance. She just lied there, as if days and weeks passed by, simply taking in the wondrous and yet mystifying images in amazement and uneasiness. In the Hall of Memories, a name she gave to this observation tower of fate and time, she saw great adventures, sad departures, and also terrible villains whom she had to overcome. She looked at them as if she had lived through them, and while she was elated to see the colorful life ahead of her. But when the story became more and more intense, culminating in a momentous fight between her and a certain magical unicorn, something unexpected happened. The jealous and vengeful unicorn, hell-bent at wanting to alter the past, casted numerous spells at the other Twilight and her friends. For each of her attacks, the visions became dimmer and blurrier, and the voices were mere murmurs towards the end. Eventually, just as she caught a glimpse of an Equestria having been laid waste, everything dissipated in a shockwave-like motion. The veil of darkness returned to the mirrored room, as she slowly processed what she had seen. Subjectively, it was like years have passed by, but she knew that it was not true. Was this destiny’s twisted way to persuade her to abandon her folly? Or was it all just a freakish occurrence due to her reckless experiment on mind and consciousness? Her experimentation of mind and body led her here, that’s for certain. After all, souls is sacred in this world, they form the individual thread of its firmament, like notes of a great song. Messing with them, like what the tome said, could lead to a glitch in the framework and consequently stuck her in a limbo of superposed uncertainty. A divine punishment of sorts, she wryly thought to herself. Twilight thought back to the life of the Twilight Sparkle she saw. Was that how her life would have played out? It was certainly not complete, but it foretold a life great and filled with great and precious achievement. She was stunned and amazed at how her life could have turned out, what great friends she could have made. Even though the end of the visions was an abrupt stop with uncertain outcome, she was convinced that it would turn out fine for that Twilight Sparkle, for she had friendship, harmony and magic by her side. However, at no point of her viewing did the tome or the voice come up even in implication or passing mention. The Twilight in the vision knew not a tome who had been her great mentor and friend whom she would share a life with. Twilight gritted her teeth. Although she had seen those near-real imageries and she saw that most details in the little biopic that she saw matched with what she knew, she must dissent. She must dissent, because this future was not hers, and she had not forgotten the friend she wanted to save. It was not that she found her soon-to-be exploits to be repulsive. On the contrary, she was overjoyed to see herself make such brilliant friends, elevate to princesshood and serve Equestria. However, that pony, even though splendid and rightfully celebrated, was somepony foreign to her, because that pony didn’t have one peculiar friend. A loving mentor and companions, who even though was made utterly dispirited by its life under the rocks, still had only the best wishes for the inhabitants of this alien world, and especially her herself. Was she being punished then? Shown how happy and fulfilling her life could have been, and then abandoned in a twisted mockery of the reality she had been in, just for the desire to keep her most treasured friend and know more about its origins? She slapped her hoof on one of the now pitch-dark panels and angrily shouted, “So what if I become the queen of the entire darn world, if I can’t even save a dear friend from his self-destructive urge?!” Her punches landed on the panels repeatedly, and they made waves on the silvery surface. Still, the waves soon calmed and she sank to her hooves, sobbing at her inability to save her friend even using a desperate mean. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Twilight’s tears had long dried. She sat there gazing emptily into the wall. A surface that once gave her the view of the life of a familiar and yet strange pony. She should have perished from deprivation long ago, especially given her unrestrained show of tears and sadness. But compared to Equestria, this world was much colder, indifferent, and above all, had a cruel sense of humor. She never had to replenish herself here, even sleeping and drifting into the blissful realm of unawareness was something not permitted. Magic was no use. Any escape lead back to the same room. All she could do was staying in this twisted mockery of her living space. The purple mare was convinced that if she stayed here any longer, she would grow delirious from a maddening mix of loneliness, hopelessness and regret. She stopped counting the time long ago. Without any watch, clock or even cues of celestial bodies, her circadian clock was completely out of sync. Though, she was certain that the last time she saw any living soul was like moons ago. Although she was tempted to lay blame on the tome for triggering her dimensional displacement by its desperate struggle, she couldn’t really bring herself to do so, nor could she hate the tome itself. It, until the very last moment, was self-forgetting and upright. It only wants to leave her life for herself despite her magnanimous invitation. She was still bitterly remorseful about her friend, because she could not save it. Sometimes though, perhaps due to the growing delirium, she couldn’t help but imagine. Could the tome have actually survived somehow, say, in the real world in her body? She was embarrassed and mortified with that thought. If that’s really true, she’s also worried by how the spirit in the tome would handle being her. Ponies would certainly think that she had become mad, if she went around and told everypony that she was not Twilight but an ageless tome spirit. Twilight wanted to sigh, but for some reason, it came out as a maniacal grin. A rare moment of clarity came through. She realized on the edge of her remaining sanity, that she was about to go over that very edge. All of a sudden, loud pounding sounds emanated from all the walls, floor and ceiling of the room. Crackling sounds reverberated. Some low murmurs passed through the barriers she futilely banged on and cursed through her entire imprisonment. Her hiss of surprise came out almost like a screech. She put her ears to the vibrating wall. ‘—’ The sound was hard to make out, but due to the prolonged sensory deprivation, any disruption was like milk and honey to her ears. The walls began to crack. Twilight gasped as some liquid began to seep through the new crevice. The fluid looked alien in appearance. If she was forced to describe, it sort of looked like a liquefied form of an Ursa’s hide, with its irradiant blackness and occasional sparks. A flicker of magical sparks, eerily reminiscent of what that last adversary of the Twilight in her visions casted, briefly lit the crack. And with the brief show of light, came more encroaching darkness. She yelped as she realized what that was. Wherever this place was, it was being reclaimed, the black liquid ate away all substances it flowed upon. Without warning, the entire wall collapsed like faltering sea wall. The black liquid closed in on the purple mare like ferocious wolves. ‘Is this the end of me?’  Barely another thought of regret and bitterness was formed in Twilight’s mind, when she was yanked up abruptly by an incredibly strong force. ‘’Twilight!’ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ “Twilight!” The purple mare was jolted awake. She opened her eyes, and she was at first disappointed to return to her quarter. However, she was immediately overjoyed and almost accidentally shot a magical blast out of her horn from her elation, that she was back to her quarter. The real one, not the accursed imitation. She immediately went to the clock and calendar in the room. To her utter bewilderment, barely a minute had passed since she went out and stayed in the pocket dimension. “Wait, wh—where is it?” Twilight cried out and looked around. She swore that she could hear the call from the tome before she was pulled out of the pocket dimension. Was it that it saved her? Where was it then? Twilight again gasped as she thought of the worst, that the tome spirit might have spent itself entirely in a bid to bring her back. Twilight rubbed her eyes, but to her surprise, her cheek was already wet. ‘Wa—what, huh? Oh dear.’ A moment of confusion reigned as pieces of memories appeared in Twilight’s head, some of them belonged to a purple mare, some of them belonged to an ancient tome, but all of them were now hers. She thought of the strange cries, until she suddenly realized. She blandly muttered. “What a silly question that was.” It was herself. Or rather, it become herself now - the lone voice calling her own name in desperate cries when she was gone. The tome spent its own integrity in a bid of last resort to pull Twilight out of the strange oblivion in between the threads of time, subsuming under her consciousness. She was alone. “Wasn’t that what I had wanted? Shouldn’t I be happy now? We have united, I have returned. I am armed with more information about the future, the world and myself than ever.” Despite her uttered words, the purple mare’s eyes still welled with tears. Her conflicting emotions were amplified by the added perspectives of two. If anything, she was surprised that she wasn’t driven mad by the admixture of minds, but merely infused with unfathomable sense of guilt and regret.  “… It’s going to be a lonely ride for a while.”