//------------------------------// // Chapter 1: Waking World // Story: Twilight's Element // by Lorhelei //------------------------------// <”Where… Where am I?”> She said, her voice echoing. The only thing she could see was an absolute darkness. The black and silent world she was in made her uncomfortable as it overwhelmed her. All her attempts to open her eyes seemed to be futile, <”my body… I-I feel it, I feel a blanket over me, but why can’t I move?!“> She struggled to move her limbs and wings, to scream, even just to open her eyes, but none of her attempts did anything for her. < “Did I… Did I Die?”> As she questioned this, her mind began to shift to her most recent memories, but all she could remember of her last minutes before now was deep and crippling sadness, followed by a sharp and extremely intense pain in her head. “ she exclaimed with a  laugh, <"Of course it is a dream!"> <”Is anypony there! I need some help! Please!“> Her voice echoed through wherever she was. <“Hello!? Shining?… Are you there? Cadance? Princess Celestia? Princess Luna?… Girls?…“> Every word she desperately screamed, was replied by the same oppressing silence, no matter what she said nor how much she screamed, it was always the same. Oppressive. Absolute. Unending. Silence. As she filled with terror her pleas turned to shrieks and screams. Her thoughts turned to desperation, she couldn’t tell if second, minutes, or even hours  had passed. The only thing she knew was that she was alone and that the silence... the oppressive and disturbing silence was slowly consuming her dulled senses and weakened mind. If there is a limbo she mused, it could easily be this. At some point a glimpse of light appeared before her. Almost as a divine sign. A sign of her beloved Celestia perhaps. Could it be?... she thought, her eyes full of the hope that she had always had in her former teacher. Once again Celestia was her light, her lighthouse; Guiding her through the darkness to the safety of her warm and kind embrace. Her eyes were misty, at the edge of crying and her heart pounding in anticipation. <“Celestia? Is that… You?“> The shimmering light slowly became brighter as it started to engulf her vision completely, blinding her with its shine. At first, the light caused her eyes to struggle to see what was in front of her. She blinked a couple of times, or so she thought, until she was able to see colors and shapes. These slowly turned into her surroundings, yet she was still unable to move her head to see everything properly. The morning sun warmed and brightened the room. There was a clock, a rather unknown kind of clock hanging over a nightstand in her vision, it read seven in the morning, and the light in the room supported that time. <”W-where am I? Princess? I-I can’t move…”> It was certainly not a hospital room as she thought it would be, instead, it had a very distinguished style: Wooden furniture combined with a polished stone ceiling and brown painted walls adorned the square room. She tried her best to look for anything that could tell her where she was, unfortunately, the the only thing she could see was the outstanding clock over the wood nightstand. The room didn’t have common furniture, or at least, not the kind she knew, but in the end it was clearly just a room, not unlike any other room in a house, much like the one she shared with her parents in her old home in Canterlot, except hers was more colorful. She looked at the clock with curiosity, as it seemed a rather unique piece of machinery. She hummed at how instead of hands pointing to the hours, it had rings and gears moving a few centimeters above a metal plate, showing the time with a reflection of light that created the illusion of numbers floating in the middle of the circles. She still was unable to move her back legs. She tried desperately to move her forelegs instead to touch the clock, but just like the rest of her body, they ignored her every command. Her eyes were no exception nor her lips as she couldn’t move them either. Her sight was fixated into the clock as she recalled some theories about the manipulation of magic fields that could mirror the behavior of the mysterious device in a similar way, but again, those were only speculations and theories. <”Did they managed achieve the manipulation control of the static magic field while keeping the mat—”>. “Argggh, Why do I have to wake up early on a Saturday morning!?” a soft and sharp, slightly drowsy, maybe sleepy, yet clearly feminine voice echoed in her head. The voice sounded clear and close, yet she couldn’t see her. Desperation grow as she tried to scream since her body had failed her once again. <”Wait… Who is there!? Hello!?“> She asked once again, trying to reach the owner of the voice. But just like before, she receive no answer, <”Can you hear me? Hello? I can’t move!“> she said while struggling, <”Why is nopony here? Why they are ignoring me!? Help! Please!... Somepony...”>. Still, she was unable to move any part of her body. Yet, for some reason, she yawned. Loud and profoundly, like a corpse back from the dead. Not by her own will but her body’s. And just like that, her forehoof took the clock without her moving it. The moment she saw her arm, something sunk in her, something dread. Desperation grew in a moment as her pupils shrieked. She saw in fear how her lavender coat was now bright green from her forearm all the way up to her body. <”Wait, what!?“> Her body started to move again. First it took of the white blanket that covered it and with a hoof it scratched her eyes. <”Argh, What is happening to me!“> Her body moved again and stretched. She could feel how every inch of her body was now waking up. Her wings spread as if they were about to fly, her limbs became sensitive once again and a loud yawn came out of her. Then, without her permission, her body jumped off from the bed in a quick move as she heard an “Eyup” coming from her own muzzle in the form of the same sharp voice that she had heard before. Then it glided slowly across the brown room and through a wooden door into a soft pink colored bathroom. The sound of the hooves on the wooden floor caused her ears to peek up and her fur to crisp due to the sudden contact with the cold air in the room. The cold wooden floor, the soreness in her left wing, every twitch of her ears, even a small pain in her back legs as she walked. The sensations were too vivid to be a dream and too real to be her imagination. She saw and felt everything, like a passenger of her own body, a mere spectator. <”Come-On!“> she exclaimed while using all of her concentration to stop her own body. <”Why-You-Don’t-Do-As-I-Say!“> repeated with a lot of effort in her tone. “I guess I should see if Lily is okay. She took the worst part in that… ‘landing’… Oh boy… her dad will be mad if she had even the smallest of scratches…“ The voice was less dizzy, but clearly still sleepy. <”You, whoever is talking! Hello!? Argh, Why is nopony listening to me!?“> Her body kept moving through the soft pink room before stopping in front of a crystalline frame adorned with golden trinkets showing various different shapes and forms that reminded her of Thorax’s horns combined with the two sisters seal and some others signs that she didn’t recognized. The pristine surface showed a young mare with no more than eighteen years with a golden mane and bright green coat, her yellow eyes was fixed on the mirror, looking at her as the mare adjusted her mane a bit so it wouldn’t look as messed as it was. She spread her wings widely, displaying them in all their splendor. Her wings, carefully preened: Her feathers, almost perfectly aligned and clean. She moved her head and wings to her left side to see clearly what seemed like a small bruise in her left wing that was causing her to stumble every now and then. It should be because of that landing… thought as she touched the sore limb with her mouth, Doctor Percival should fix me up. The green mare then opened her mouth to see her throat and checked on her eyes for something that were off. Finally, she took a small piece of cotton with her right wing and cleaned carefully her ears, finishing her morning routine while happily humming. In that moment she realized that she could hear and feel the cotton rubbing against her ear in the exact same way as the mare on the frame. It took her a few seconds before she realized it. <”I can’t move my body… I can’t talk… Her voice is identical of the one I heard in my head before and let’s not forget the fact that I am feeling what she’s doing right now…”> the gears aligned a second after, leading her to the despicable truth, <”Wait. WHAT!?“> she shrieked, sharp and loud enough to break all the Crystal Empire, except she couldn’t make any noise. The mare in the frame did a small jump spooked by the outburst. That caused her wings to spread out and her fur to crisp instinctually. “Who said that!?” yelled the green coated mare to no one, her eyes darting from side to side. “Show yourself! Whoever you are!” <”Who are you!? Why are you in my body!? Wait… I think I’m in your body. Why I’m in your body!?“> “What!? What are you talking about? Where are you!?” asked the green mare while looking below the sink and behind the mirror. <”In you! I mean, not physically of course, that would be weird. But I think I can see and feel everything you do, It’s quite fascinating, but that’s not the point! Where is MY body!?“> The mare arched her brows, “how am I supposed to know!? Get. Out. Of. Me!” she yelled while recklessly shaking her head. “” “Get-Out!” yelled the green mare as she swung her hoof into her head repeatedly. <”Stop that! It hurts!“> “Why do you think I’m doing it!?” she said without stopping her hoof, causing her to feel increasing pain on her head. <”Calm. DOWN!“> she screamed, but the mare refused to stop her self-assault, <”STOP!“> Suddenly, the green mare’s hoof stopped in mid-swing, and with a dumbfounded face reflected on the mirror, she said: “How… How did you do that?…” <”Do what?“> “What do you mean with ‘Do what?’?” <”I mean I couldn’t have done anything, as I am not capable of doing anything at all.“> “Then… What… Was that…” The green mare looked at her hoof, uneasy of the fact that her hoof stopped by itself. She took a few seconds before she continued, “Okay, it’s nothing. I’m sorry. I think we should… I don’t know… Start again?” <”That… That would be perfect.“> she smiled, even if the mare couldn’t see her. <”My name is Twilight Sparkle, nice to meet you.“> Hmm… I think I have heard that name before… But where?... I should ask her later. Nice to meet you, Twilight Sparkle. My name is Emerald Dusk.” <”Just Twilight, Emerald Dusk, and thank you for stop hitting me eh- you… Stop hitting yourself I mean… Gosh, this is weird.“> “Yeah, sure… You welcome, I guess. Just Emerald it’s okay, Twilight. Now, tell me. Why are you in my brain again? Not that I don’t like you and all but, you know, I don’t remember letting another pony inside of my head,” Emerald sat on her haunches as she scratched a freshly formed lump on her head with her wing. Every time she touched the lump, it sent a jolt of pain, followed by a warm feeling to Twilight. <”I… I don’t know… I just woke up here, I mean here: inside your brain, mind, wherever this place is.“> “‘This place?’ What does that mean?” She asked while rubbing her forehead softly. <”It’s like a dark and empty room-“> “Yup, seems like my brain,” she shrugged. Twilight chuckled, <”It’s not quite like that… I can feel every one of your senses. I can even tell you how my- your left wing hurts. And that you are really hungry. It feels, weird. To say the least…“> “Well, everything is true though… I’m starving. That doesn’t explain why are you in my brain,” she stood up and stretched her wings, sending a comfortable sensation to Twilight once again. <”I’m afraid I don’t have the answer yet… This has never happened to me before, neither have I heard or read anything like this before. It could be a dream, an advanced spell, or something like that.“> “I can assure you that I’m not a dream, oh well,” she then spread her wings and moved her mane, “maybe I am, but also I am very real.” Twilight laughed loud enough for Emerald to hear her, and with a warm and bright smile she replied, her eyes fixed not only in the reflection of her bright golden eyes on the mirror, but into them Almost like if she could see Twilight in them, “I’m glad you feel better, Twilight.” she said, noticing a brief shimmer in her eyes afterwards. <”Thank you, Emerald, I… I needed that…> Twilight sighed in relief, her heart now calmed and her mind soothed. She felt like the situation got a infinite better, as if, at least, she had a friend and somepony else to rely on. She took a few seconds before resuming in her usual scholarly tone, <”besides, I have been through worse. Once I went to another dimension and transformed into a human teenager for a couple of days, by Celestia, those humans have a really bad hormone system. I thought I would die in a mix of feelings that made absolutely no sense!“> Did she say… Celestia?“Really? Do you mean, worse than mares?” she asked, genuinely concerned. <”Waaaay worse.“> “How do you know?” <”Well, I myself am a mare and I can tell you that they have it a lot worse… I guess it’s fair for you to doubt since you can’t see me at all… Can you?“> “No… And that’s pretty unsettling to be honest,” she chuckled while she began to preen her wings carefully. The sensation was no unknown to Twilight. It was pleasant and revitalizing for her to have a known sensation even in her situation, as she started to felt relaxed and comfortable. “That would be perfect,” she plucked one last feather, causing a jolt of pain coursing through her wing to her body and to Twilight. “Sometimes it just feels kinda good, right? And how do you know that?” she said as she spat out the feather. “Can you explain me after the breakfast, I mean, if you are fine with it. I really need to eat something. “Wonderful! Let me fix myself up and then we can go downstairs for some food. Then you can tell me your story and maybe we could see what happened to you. Maybe if you remember something else we can start searching?” <”Wonderful! I’m hungry too… I mean, of course I am since it’s your body and. Gosh… This is weird.“> “You tell me girl… You tell me…”