//------------------------------//
// The First Chapter - Part One: Welcome to Ponyville 
// Story: My Little Game: Friendship is Glitching 
// by Time Reaper 
//------------------------------//

Twilight opened her eyes to be greeted with darkness surrounding her very being. The sky was dark, her surroundings were dark, even the floor was dark to the point that it was impossible to see it even though she could rest her hooves on something solid, yet cold. No matter where she looked at or what she touched, there was only darkness surrounding her. For a brief moment, she felt something was looking at her, so she decided to scream, hoping to make contact with someone she knew.

She looked to her left.

"Spike! Rainbow Dash! Applejack! Fluttershy!"

She looked to her right.

"Rarity! Pinkie Pie! Princess Celestia! Anyone!"

But nobody answered her. Even though she felt watched, she couldn't see anyone nor anything in the vicinity.

Twilight looked around, but she couldn't see anything, so she tried to remember what was the last thing she did. With a loud voice so she could ignore her apparent loneliness.

"Let's see, I have managed to defeat Discord's spell on my friends, we found the Elements again, we managed to join together and were about to strike Discord with the power of friendship so he could be turned into stone once again and then..."

Her mind drifted off, trying to ignore the strange oxymoron sensations surrounding her. One being of completely loniless and the other of being watched.

"Then Discord started to act strange, he started to say weird stuff about 'not wanting to suffer this once again' and then everything surrounding us started to act strange" -. She thought well what she just said and who was she talking about before correcting herself. - "Well, even stranger than what Discord was already being."

She looked around once more, trying to see from where was she being looked at, she looked up hoping to find something different but she only saw darkness.

"Then he did a strange spell, Spike tried to protect me and then... and then..."

Twilight couldn't remember anything else. She tried her best to remember or to see what else could have happened but nothing came to her mind, she tried to concentrate but that strange feeling of being watched was making it even harder for her to think. She needed to know who or what was watching her.

"That's enough!" - The impatient unicorn proclaimed. - "Who's there watching me!?" - Nobody responded. Twilight started to feel anxious. - "I know you're there, I can feel it, please" -. She started to tear her eyes. - "I don't care who you are by this point, if you are there, please talk to me. I don't want to be alone" -. She started to sob. - "I'm scared, I don't know where my friends are *sob* I don't know where I AM *sob* please talk to me."

A deafening silence followed then as Twilight started to sob, the feeling of loneniless and hopelessness filling her being when...


Hello


Twilight looked around, trying to see who was the one responding with such  voice that felt direct but reassuring, but darkness was the only thing greeting her. Nonetheless, the idea of being talked to filled her heart with joy.

"I heard you! Where are you!"

Once again, silence followed through but the response came faster this time around.


It's complicated


"What? What do you mean?"

Silence was her only answer.

"Is it some big secret you don't want to tell me?"


Sort off...


Twilight gave it some thought, she really wanted more answers but she felt she wasn't in a position to ask around.

"Alright, fine, can you at least tell me who are you?"


What do you mean?


For some reason, Twilight started to feel some anger to this question even though there was nothing wrong with it.

"I mean something like your name, is that so complicated to tell?"


Sorry


Twilight then felt some compassion going through her once more, as if the emotion was being forced into her, so she tried to make her words to follow through.

"It's... ok... don't worry I also shouldn't have gone through like that."

"But, anyways, can you at least tell me your name?"

In that moment a big silence went through as Twilight waited, and hoped as well, that this voice would answer her at least this. She was wondering what was taking him so long when, suddenly, the voice started to answer back.


A
n
t
o
n
i
o


It felt weird having it spelled but then the voice pronounced it completely.


ANTONIO


It was a strange name for sure.

"Well, alright Antonio, do you know where I am?"


Sorry, but no


"Well, that's too bad. Do you think you could help me getting out of here?"


Sure


Twilight felt relief washing over her body as the answer came to her and with a pleased smile she responded.

"Alright! Why don't we go, then..."

She looked around and remembered that only darkness surrounded her.

"But... where do we go."

In that moment, she felt a strange sensation on her body. It was as if something was compelling her to move right in front of her even though she had no desire to move in general. It was completely abnormal and she was trying to fight it off.

"What is this!? Why is my body trying to move on its own!?"


Don't worry


"Antonio! Is this your doing!?"

She felt in rage, why, and how, was this thing telling her where to go?

"Why are you trying to move me around?"


It's complicated...


"You know that you can answer that so far before I get sick of it, right?"

She only heard silence but, at the same time, there was no more influence over her body telling her what to do so she tried to move on her own and found herself unable to move.

"What? Why can't I move?"

She tried her best to move her body but, as hard as she tried, she couldn't move herself but then the strange feeling came back and her body could finally move again even though she wasn't completely agreeing on the direction being taken. Suffice to say that Twilight Sparkle was feeling frustrated at her reality.

"Alright!" - She exclaimed. - "You can move me but only as long as I cannot move on my own. Once I regain control over myself, no more control. Understood?"


Ok


So Twilight finally started to move with Antonio's help to, from what Twilight could tell, right in front of her. She thought that it was dumb to move in the middle of the darkness with no direction in mind but she wasn't in any position to complain by this point.

Eventually, though, something started to appear on their direction: A door. 

It was a tall, wooden door with Twilight's cutie mark being brightly blazoned on the top with her friends's cutie marks on the lower parts of the door while being colorless and off. It had a simple, golden looking, handle but nothing Twilight couldn't open.

"What is this door doing over here?"

She asked to no one, which would, hopefully, explain why Antonio didn't answer back to her as she tried to analyze the door itself.

"I wonder where do this door leads to, it doesn't seem to be connected in any way to anywhere else."

She felt her body being moved again to the door, although she didn't try to rebel this time around.

"You want me to open the door? Alright, it's not like we have any other choice."

Twilight then got close to the door and opened it. In that moment, a huge light started to surround her, forcing Twilight to close her eyes as the light vanquished all the darkness and bringing clarity to her environment. When Twilight opened her eyes, she found herself in shock at seeing that she was now on her room back when she lived in Canterlot.

"What!? What Am I doing here on Canterlot!?"

She looked around and, sadly, she found herself unable to find her number one assistant.

"s*@/%? Where are you?"

Twilight then quickly realized that she could no longer pronounce Spike's name.

"s*@/%? Why I cannot pronounce his name? Antonio, do you know any reason why I can no longer pronounce s*@/%?"


No, sorry


Twilight looked down to the ground worried for Spike's well being, hoping for him to be fine.

"Alright, Twilight, don't worry" -. She told to herself. - "You still need to figure out what happened as well as figuring out what happened to s*@/%, I only hope Applejack and the rest of the girls are fine." 

She smiled on her inside as she realized that she could still pronounce the name of at least one of her friends, so she decided to look around and started to think of a solution.

"Let's see, Discord is probably behind this, so all I have to do is make some research over him to figure out what was that spell he did when we were about to defeat him."

So she moved, on her own, gladly, and grabbed one of her spell books in hopes to find what she was looking for, she didn't expect what the book told her.



There are three types of magic on Equestria:

Light magic, which is divided on the usage on defensive spells like cure, heal, protection, revival, buffs, etc. and offensive spells, which focuses on attacking the enemy with spells like fire, drain, status ailments like poison, etc.

Dark Magic, which can work the same way as Light magic but it can also bring extra benefits to the user at a cost.

The third type of magic, is a secret to everyone.

Twilight Sparkle is a neutral magic user, which means that she can use both light and dark magic. You can find more magic users with bigger affinities to either dark, light or the third type of magic as you progress on your quest.

Take note that the usage of either type of magic on combat will not affect your relationship with others but it will be affected the how you use it outside of combat.



Twilight moved all the pages on her book and saw, to her displeasure, that it was all she could see on her book. No matter how hard she tried, this was all she could see.

"That's strange, I don't remember this book having stuff like this written. Maybe another book will help."

She moved to another book in the hopes of finding what she was looking for.



There are three types of statistics that you should be aware about: Combat Stats, Friendship Stats and Attribution Stats.

Combat Stats are those designed exclusively for combat against enemies. This are divided on Hit Points (HP), Magic Points (MP), Attack, Defense, Magic Attack, Magic Defense, Speed and Luck. This statistics increase whenever a character level up.

Friendship Stats are for non-combat. This are made to develop your relationship with other characters and depending on how you distribute them, it can influence on how you interact with certain characters. This are divided on Charm, Empathy, Cleverness, Confidence, Awareness and Conviction. This statistics increase whenever a character level up.

Attribution Stats are statistics exclusive to your character that reflect their personality and physical being. This stats can only be altered under very specific circumstances and after fulfilling very specific conditions and they can influence both your Combat Stats as well as you Friendship Stats by boosting them up. This are Strength (Attack/Defense) Constitution (HP/MP), Dexterity (Speed/Luck/Cleverness), Wisdom (Magic Defense/Awareness/Conviction), Intelligence (Magic Attack/Charm/Confidence) and Charisma (Luck/Empathy/Charm/Confidence)

There are three statistics that aren't related to them, Evasion, Accuracy and Critical, how this three works are kept secret but both the combat and friendship Stats can influence them.



Twilight looked at the cover of the book and her mind freaked out when she read the title being How to Treat your body Well but all she could read was the same paragraph over and over again.

"This doesn't make any sense, why is this right here instead of actually talking about a pony's physiology?"

She tried to remember and, over and over again, she was sure that the book never said stuff like that last time she read it and every book she read followed the same trend.

The book titled "The Secrets of Pony Biology":



Each character has abilities that will help them on their quest. While some will share the same abilities, others will be unique to said characters and it will give them special advantages that other characters cannot have. You will only be able to equip one ability at a time but you can equip more if you fulfill certain requirements.



The book "The Types of Ponies":



There are four known form of ponies.

The Earth ponies: strong and with a build capable of taking out jobs that require more muscle than strength. Their stronger physique gives them a huge defense as well although they can be quite slow with some exceptions.

The Pegasus ponies: Fast and capable of hitting  good attacks thanks to their wings that gives them an edge on multiple areas. They have a very weak physique, which makes them very easy to take out by a strong enemy.

The Unicorn Ponies: Capable of making magic as well as having a high magic attack and defense at the expense of having a weak physique and been very slow. They can be quite elitist as well.

The Alicorn Ponies: Capable of using earth, pegasi and unicorn magic. They are all around with their capabilities, making them very strong. Avoid confrontation with them at any cost unless you have an alicorn on your side or a very powerful magic attack.

 

All of this books were either talking unrelated topics or were somewhat accurate about what it was talking about but not in the way it should be and so on and so forth, it didn't make sense to Twilight at all.

In the end, she couldn't hold her frustration when she realized that all of her books were now useless to her, so she threw them around her as she screamed with her lungs how frustrating this was and how she desired for an explanation of why everything was going so haywire, so she decided to take advantage of her actual position in Canterlot and go to ask Princess Celestia herself. Perhaps she would know what was going on as well as give her a hint of where Spike was but, in the moment she opened the doors to leave her room, she was greeted by guards who were looking at her on a serious manner.

"Oh!" - She said in a worried tone. - "Hello there, what are you doing in here?"

"We come here in the name of Princess Celestia to-"

"Good!" - Interrupted the overly excited Twilight. - "Because I need to ask her about some strange things I've encountered recently."

The guards quickly gave her a letter which was opened by a curious Twilight and, to her shock, it was the same letter Princess Celestia sent to her long ago, when Twilight herself made the warning about the coming of Nightmare Moon and she responded by sending her to Ponyville to overlook the preparations for the Summer Sun Celebration.

"What? But.. this doesn't make sense..."

"As we said" -. Interrupted the guard. - "We came here by orders of Princess Celestia to take you to Ponyville."

She tried to argue with the guards about her necessity to talk with Princess Celestia, about how Nightmare Moon was already stopped, about her friends, about how Discord but the guards took none of it and put her on the move to Ponyville, much to her regret.

"I don't get it, why did I go back to my room in Canterlot? Why did I receive that letter again? Where is s*@/%?"

She looked around the mountains as she was going back to the life she thought she had just a couple hours ago. She looked up, remembering the eternal gaze from the invisible voice constantly following her.

"Antonio, are you there?"


Yes


"Do you think I'm going crazy?"


No


Relief washed over her mind as she knew at least there was one... thing... who was trying to make as much sense as she was right now. Although her mind couldn't stop the thinking that it wasn't normal to speak to invisible voices but that was a problem for another day.

"Well, at least I know someone who doesn't think I'm getting crazy."

She let a few seconds pass before she decided to make another question.

"Do you have any idea of what is going on?"


Not sure


Twilight wasn't sure if that was the answer she was waiting for.

"Oh, I see..."

"So, do you have any idea of where s*@/% is or why I cannot pronounce his name?"


No


"I see."

"Wait, you know who I am talking about, right?"

This time though, a big silence came as Twilight waited for Antonio's answer, long enough for her to notice that she was taking quite a while to get to Ponyville. Last time it took them quite a few minutes but now at least the double of that time has already passed and they were still on the air and, when she decided to look at Ponyville, little air was covered but, before she could ask about that, she received her answer.


Yes


"Huh? Wait a minute... how do you know s*@/% if the first time we've met was on that dark place? And don't tell me 'it's complicated'!"


It's not an easy question to answer Twilight


"But what is so complicated about telling me what do you know?"


Its because #"$()$._-


Twilight was now in the middle of Ponyville as the royal guards were going back to Canterlot. She tried to remember when did she left the chariot or what did Antonio tried to tell her but there was a huge gap that was blocking her from knowing and that frustrated her to no limit. It made no sense, there should have been at least a memory of her getting to Ponyville but there was nothing, the last thing she could remember was Antonio answering her question and then everything jumped to Ponyville.

"I don't get it. When did I reach Ponyville?"

She looked around and saw that everything was just like she remembered it the first time that she went to Ponyville all those months ago when the Summer Sun Celebration was happening even though the Summer Sun Celebration already passed and that was only another bit more to the mystery of what was happening to her.

Still, it didn't stop her from feeling a sense of nostalgia from getting back to Ponyville after who knows how long it was and this was the best moment to present the town to her newest friend.

"Oh well, Antonio, welcome to Ponyville, the place I like to call home."


It looks very nice


"I know, right? Would you like me to show you around... That way I can go and check on my friends to see how they are."


Sure


"Alright! Follow me! Let's go first to Sweet Apple Acres so you can meet Applejack."

Once again, she felt that strange sensation on her body telling her where to go but, thankfully, it was going through where she actually wanted to go, and on they moved but, as she was passing through the market, Twilight stopped at a strange sight, one she wasn't used to see on her life. A fox.

This was more than a common fox though, it had a brightly red coat with its eyes very closed, making it impossible to see its pupils, it had a very long tale moving to side to side as it waited for someone to talk to him and his paws were all on the ground giving an air of authority and respect but the one thing that stood out of this fox was the fact that it was wearing a business suit and it was constantly smiling although never by showing its teeth.

"Huh? That strange" -. Commented Twilight. - "I don't remember ever seeing a fox on Ponyville."

So they decided to get closer to the fox only to be greeted by it once they got close enough. Its voice was male and sympathetic, with a slight tone of cleverness waiting to find someone who would give him the deal of his life but with the audacity of knowing what kind of customer he was dealing with at plain sight and with an accent that could only be described as 'slick'.

"Ah! A potentially new costumer, my apologies but, as you can see, we're not open yet. Please come back after midnight. By then, we may be able to give you the proper treatment you deserve."

Twilight looked around and saw that the fox was nowhere close to a new shop or store where he could say that he could sell anything of value to her.

"But, where is your store?"

The fox only increased its grin with his teeth starting to become visible.

"Do not worry over such menial detail my dear customer. Once the store is open, you will know for sure."

With a slight worry on her features, Twilight just nodded and decided to go on to Sweet Apple Acres with the hopes of meeting with Applejack. As she trotted over, Twilight couldn't stop worrying over how strange all of this was. She was sure that she already knew what was going to happen but it looked as if there was some slight variation that put her off from this experience, in example, she didn't remember that fox, she hadn't met Pinkie yet and she still wanted to know where was Spike.

When she finally got into Sweet Apple Acres, Twilight couldn't stop from smiling as she saw Applejack doing her chores, forcing her to trot over to her and give her a huge hug as one of her best friends was finally with her.

"Applejack! I'm so glad to finally find you!" - She didn't noticed Applejack's worried face as she strangled her with her hug on a way that would give Pinkie Pie a run for her chocolate. - "Everything has been so strange lately since we encountered Discord. I was sent back to Canterlot, my books doesn't say anything normal and I cannot even find s*@/%. I need your help right now, please gather the girls and-"

"Lady" -. Said the farm mare in a very controlled tone of voice. - "Mah' apologies but Ah feel you are talking to the wrong mare."

Twilight tried as hard as she could to understand what she was hearing but her mind couldn't comprehend the idea of her friend not recognizing her but Applejack kept talking.

"Now, you see like a good feller so Ah won't take it hard but unless you have something to do with the Summer Sun Celebration or you are here to help with the chores then Ah ask you kindly to go away."

Twilight stood there as her friend was leaving her alone to continue on her chores when something clicked on Twilight's mind as she searched on her Saddle Bag to show Applejack how she did have something to do here.

"Excuse me" -. Twilight said in a very confident, almost smug, tone. - "But I do have something to do here."

Applejack was about to tell her off but she then saw Twilight's letter which made her the Canterlot envoy to check everything was alright for the preparations of the Summer Sun Celebration.

"Well Ah'll be. You are in charge."

"Yes and I would appreciate it if you could allow me to see how the food preparations for the celebration are going."

In that moment a very familiar event happened to Twilight as Applejack called all the family for dinner and invited Twilight to eat. Something the unicorn mare didn't try to refuse this time as she was more appreciative of the idea that this might be her last dinner with Applejack.

Once Twilight was out of Apple Acres, she decided to search for Rainbow Dash but not without trying to interact with Antonio while she was making the trot from Applejack's home to Ponyville.

"And that was Applejack. What do you think of her."


She seemed quite nice and honest to me.


Twilight chuckled at his answer but not before noticing how specific were his words but, after remembering what happened last time she tried to dive into that, Twilight decided to let it go this time.

"I know, right? But it worries me that she doesn't remember me. Not only that but it truly looks like I'm back to the day Nightmare Moon was released and that worries me even more."

She stopped to see if Antonio had anything to comment on but, as he remained silent, she decided to continue.

"I think Discord must have used a time related spell but something must have gone wrong because I remember everything and s*@/% is gone, which means I must figure out what kind of spell he used, where it went wrong and how I can use it to bring back s*@/%. Does that sound good?"


Sounds good to me


And, with a smile on her face Twilight started to move closer to Ponyville as a little thought started to cross her mind.

"Antonio."


Yes?


"Do you think other ponies can hear you or that's just me?"


I'm not sure either


"Do you think I should try checking over?"


Not on this moment


"Because, if not, ponies may think I'm crazy?"


Yes


"Alright then" -. She said as she started to enter Ponyville and her voice went lower. - "In that case I'll just lower my voice a bit. Can you still hear me?"


Yes


"Good. Now, what do you think we should do, go for Rainbow Dash or go to the Library?"

"Excuse me."

Twilight looked up just to find Rainbow Dash resting on a cloud, looking at her with strange looks.

"But I would like to know why are you searching for me as well as why are you talking alone."

Twilight was starting to panic when Antonio gave her an idea.


Stay cool and act as if nothing happened


Twilight felt relief washing over her body as she simply took the paper that designated her in charge of the Summer Sun Celebration and showed it to Rainbow Dash.

"Greetings. My name is Twilight Sparkle and I was sent by Princess Celestia to see how are the preparations for the Summer Sun Celebration going along and I will guess you are Rainbow Dash. The one in charge of the clouds?"

Rainbow couldn't stop from making a smug at this.

"The one and only but you didn't answer my other-"

"Well" -. Interrupted Twilight as her hoof moved to a lone cloud in the sky. - "While I see that you have been doing a good job so far, I've noticed that there's one cloud that you haven't removed yet."

"What? That? Pfft. I'll do it later."

For the first time, Twilight smiled as she felt happy that she could take some advantage over her knowledge of the past.

"Alright, it is sad because the Wonderbolts are looking for good recruits and-"

"What did you say!?"

Rainbow Dash was at less than 1 inch from Twilight's face as she was talking, nonetheless, she managed to keep her composure.

"As I said, the Wonderbolts are searching for recruits and one thing they search for the most are recruits that can fulfill their task when asked instead of whenever they fill like it."

In the moment Twilight said that, Rainbow moved as fast as she could and removed the cloud in almost less than ten seconds just so she could return to Twilight's face with a smug grin.

"Do you think the Wonderbolts will take note of that?"

Twilight remained calm and gave her an honest response.

"Yes, I can assure you that they will appreciate candidates like you if you show that level of dedication. Now, if you excuse me, I must search for Rarity."

And Twilight left Rainbow right before she realized that the unicorn never answered her second question and now she wanted to know how she knew about her admiration to the Wonderbolts.

As Twilight felt relieved once again for Rainbow Dash being fine and for not getting diagnosed as crazy yet, she decided to not interact with Antonio for now as she was sure that nopony could hear him. She moved to Rarity's to make sure that she was also fine with the dread of knowing she probably wouldn't know her.

So, as she entered into the Carousel Boutique, Twilight decided to enter as if she were a complete stranger and hoped that this would go smoother than her encounter with Applejack or Rainbow Dash as she opened the door and saw her unicorn friend turning away from her chores as she saw Twilight entering with a shy face.

"Oh? Welcome to the Carousel Boutique, where we can make you a dress that will be in everypony's mouth. I am Rarity, how may I be of service?"

"Hello, my name is Twilight Sparkle and I was sent by Princess Celestia to supervise the preparations for the Summer Sun Celebration and-"

Twilight's voice was interrupted by a shriek coming from Rarity as she got close to Twilight and started to ask about her life in Canterlot, which was fairly much how she remembered when she met her for the first time but, for some reason, Twilight couldn't escape the feeling that Rarity was speaking slightly faster and sometimes it even felt as if her speech was cut before she went to her next phrase. At the very least the conversation was much faster than she remembered.

And so, as Twilight was ending her conversation as well as getting a new design on her mane, she was preparing to leave when Rarity decided to do something Twilight was sure didn't happen last time they met.

"Oh, darling. Before I forget, please also keep this, as a gift, from me" -. She then delivered a small mane clip of a purple star surrounded by blue sky. - "I hope you enjoy it, at the very least, it'll defend your mane from getting attacked by the wind. Now tah-tah!"

And just like that, Twilight was out of Carousel Boutique with something new that she has never seen in her life. Regardless, since it was a gift from Rarity, she felt compelled to put it on her mane as a sign of good wishes to her, which only left Twilight with two mares to meet left: Fluttershy and Pinkie Pie.

Fluttershy wasn't hard to find but, Twilight realized, it would be very hard to make her open up without Spike's help, so she started to think of ways to get closer to her without making her panic, so she decided to make a slow approach as she was practicing with the birds.

Twilight could listen the cheerfulness in her voice as she was wondering what she could do. She thought of talking but she felt it would be rude to interrupt her (like last time) but, in the end, she felt that the best choice was to simply wait until she was over with he practicing. This meant spending a couple of minutes in hearing the beauty of Fluttershy's birds singing a very melodious tune that harmonized with the environments as it reflected the cheer coming from those who preferred to live under the warm-loving sun than the worrying night.

Twilight was so focused on the tune, that she didn't notice how one of the birds decided to fly on top of her head and sing in there which made Fluttershy turn and finally notice, making all the other birds stop which lead to Twilight noticing Fluttershy finally seeing her.

"Oh, uhm, sorry" -. Tried to vocalized the pegasus that made a life out of her name. - "I always tell him to not stay on top of other ponies or animals because its rude... but it doesn't matter if its ok to you but I apologize if it isn't ok but-"

Twilight simply made a small laugh as she simply waved off Fluttershy's fears.

"Don't worry, I enjoyed that singing so much that I don't mind" -. This made the yellow pegasus to release a breath of relief as Twilight continued. -"Well, from what I can tell, you must be Fluttershy, the pony in charge of the music and I feel safe to say that the Summer Sun Celebration will have one of its best music performances in years."

"Oh, no, I'm not so sure" -. Responded a blushing pegasus as she tried to hide her mane from the embarrassment. - "And I don't mean that the birds are bad, I mean that there has probably been better performances and I doubt we may be among the best ones but-"

"Relax" -. Interrupted Twilight once more. - "Trust me, you'll do great but, could you please tell me how you did it? I'm sure Princess Celestia would like to know considering she has many birds on her garden."

The change in conversation made Fluttershy change her aptitude as she was now talking with Fluttershy how to take care of the birds as they were walking back to Ponyville's Library, where Twilight was more than sure she was finally going to meet Pinkie Pie which became true as Twilight opened the door and she was greeted with a huge surprise coming from all of Ponyville celebrating her coming to the little town.

"Wow, for me?" - Asked Twilight as she was trying to fake a surprise which was quickly answered by her pink friend.

"Sure, every newcomer to Ponyville always get a 'Welcome to Ponyville' Party even if this isn't the first time you have come."

"What?"

"And I'll always be glad of making one or two new friendships even if I already know you."

"What?"

"But don't worry, because once a pinkie friend you'll always be-"

In that moment Rainbow Dash put her hoof on Pinkie Pie and started the party as Twilight was trying to understand how it was possible for Pinkie to be able to tell the difference of whether or not the two of them had already met. Was it the Pinkie Sense? Did she remembered? Was she aware of Antonio? She needed to know but, at the same time, she was sure that Pinkie Pie would simply act as if nothing happened and that frustrated her mind to no end.

"Hey, egghead!" - Twilight turned to see Rainbow Dash with the other girls asking her to join. - "Come in and join the fun."

As Twilight walked, she could hear them talking about her.

"Rainbow, don't be so rude. Calling her like that is not from a mare."

"Speak for yourself, is the best I could come up with that wasn't aiming at making her sound wacko."

"Rainbow!"

"Its true, I saw her talking alone when she was walking through Ponyville."

"I have to agree with Rainbow there, sugar cube, she acted fairly strange when we met. Even talking to me as if we already  knew each other."

"She didn't acted like that with me, she actually was kind of nice, not that I want to interrupt you or anything..."

"Do not worry Fluttershy, I agree with you, she was a fair mare with me and acted properly."

"Maybe she was so excited to make a new friend that she saw in the future of how good friend we would become and maybe she wasn't talking alone, she was just thinking out loud the same way I do whenever I think of whether or not chocolate is better mixed with milk or mixed with sugar which, I know it doesn't sound important but it is because cocoa alone is itsy bittier so the right mix can hmhmhmhmhmh-"

"Alright" -. Said Rainbow as she put her hoof on Pinkie's mouth again. - "I'll give her another chance. Besides, there are some questions I would like to ask her on private."

In that moment they all turned around to see that Twilight was right beside them hearing the conversation, making them all blush.

"Sorry, darling, it was rude from us for talking about you like that."

"Do not worry, I know I'm not the usual kind of pony" -. Twilight felt compelled to say, which was strange because it wasn't what she was planning to say at all, making her wonder who was the one talking for her in that moment. - "Hum, sorry girls but I think I need to go to the bathroom."

"Oh, don't worry, we all go through that after drinking too much on a Pinkie Party, if you don't mind me answering..."

Twilight didn't mind Fluttershy and decided to go to her private room (which this time around had a bathroom, something else she didn't remember having last time) and finally decided to have another talk with Antonio.

"Antonio."


Yes?


"More than once today I have been acting on ways that feel more as compelled instead of thought by me. Tell me, was that you?"


Maybe


"Look" -. She started to put her hooves on her eyes as frustration was growing. - "I don't know why are you doing it but could you please stop it?"


Not sure I can


"What?" - She almost shouted. - "Why?"


Not sure I should say it


"OK! Fine!" - She shouted in anger. - "Don't tell me anything but could you at least try to let me be? I don't like getting told what to do!"

"Alright, now I'm sure that you were talking with someone!" -. Rainbow Dash opened the door as she started to look at Twilight with a predatory eyes. - "With who are you talking with and what do you mean with all of that of somepony controlling you?"

Twilight started to feel tense as panic raised for her lack of knowledge over how to solve this new problem she never faced on her life.

"Look" -. Rainbow continued with a serious but worried face looking at her with a desire to know more. - "I understand if you are worried but you must explain if you don't want me telling how wa-wa-wa-wa-wa-wa-wa-wa-"

Twilight was now going through panic to complete terror as she saw one of her best friends shaking out from one side to the other on the most unnatural way she ever saw but, before she could even scream or react, the world then started to shake and, when it calmed down, she was now on the Town Hall waiting for Princess Celestia to raise the sun. Twilight looked left and right just to find Rainbow Dash not too far away from her but she couldn't even get close to her as the music began and the curtains were opened just to reveal that there was no Princess Celestia to raise the Sun.

In that moment everything went just as she remembered with Nightmare Moon appearing in the middle of the Town Hall and her telling everybody who she was (although she was now wondering who was the one making that decision) which was then followed with her now having to go the Castle of the Two Sisters to find the Elements of Harmony so she went to her library to find any resource she would need for her quest and it didn't surprise her to find her friends entering into her library although she was now wondering how different it would be this experience.

"Alright, tell us what do you know and if you are, somehow, related to the disappearance of Princess Celestia then I'll-"

"Rainbow" -. The farm mare said as she pulled Rainbow's tail to give Twilight some space. - "Ah know that you have your suspicions of her but this is not the way to show it."

"I have to agree with Applejack here, darling. Just because she acted like that it doesn't mean that we can just burst into her house and act like abusive brats."

"What? But... look. I know what I saw a few hours ago when I was in that cloud."

"Cloud?" -. Twilight was curious, Rainbow didn't remembered what happened not too long ago? - "But what about-"

"Enough talk, each moment we pass here is more time that eany meany Nightmare Moon is doing something to Princess Celestia."

Twilight was baffled at seeing Pinkie being the voice of reason for once but she was right on that. Twilight wasn't sure of what was going on but one thing she could be sure, if she was repeating her story, then she would eventually meet again Discord and she was going to prepare herself to face him and rescue Spike from him. 

"Hum, excuse me but, how are we going to face Nightmare Moon when she is this big alicorn that can rival Celestia when we are just normal ponies?"

"The answer is simple, Fluttershy" -. Continued Twilight. - "With the Elements of Harmony."

It didn't take Twilight too much time to explain her plan and, once again, everything was looking as how it should but, as every time Twilight thought that everything was going according to plan or how she remembered it, she was then struck with a new "obstacle" at the entrance of the Everfree Forest: A fox.

The same fox she met earlier back, with the same smile, the same closed eyes, the same paws on the ground and the same slick voice.

"Ah. I see you are about to finally begin your journey."

Twilight and her friends looked at each other trying to make sense of what they were looking at right now. Twilight wasn't sure how to feel on the fact that not even her friends were looking to be familiar with the fox.

"This is the best time to offer you my services then."

Rainbow got close to the fox as she was feeling a little exasperated.

"Look, I don't know who are you but this isn't the time for any craziness or doing business of any sorts. We are on a mission and you are being an obstacle right now."

The fox kept his smile as if nothing happened and continued talking.

"Hello, I am John and this is the Item Store from F.O.X. Inc. Ready to help you out on your most basic necessities."

"Mah apologies" -. Applejack responded with a slight annoyed tone of voice as she was trying to see if she could just go through the fox. - "But this isn't the time to sell us your stuff unless you have the Elements of Harmony with you."

The fox remained the same, ignoring the second interruption.

"While we are aware that you lack of the funds to buy from us, here at F.O.X. Inc. we are prepared to give you piece of what we have as a demonstration of what kind of goods you can benefit from by accepting our services."

His professional tone was something worth recognizing but by this point even Rarity was losing her temper.

"My apologies good gentle...fox. But this isn't the time for it, we must go to the forest and save Equestria and if you aren't going to move then perhaps we should be the ones moving you."

John the fox remained calm and kept looking at Twilight as his professional voice remained the same.

"Do not worry for time, for you have all the time you need to take this decision. All you have to do is say 'Yes' and you will be given our first batch of selected goods that will certainly help you out on your first adventure."

"Wait" -. Even Fluttershy was starting to lose her shyness... sort of. - "First adventure?"

"Twilight, could you please tell this fox to beat it so we can go and rescue Princess Celestia? I'm getting really impatient here."

"Yeah! I may like free stuff but this isn't the time for this... maybe if you have chocolate."

Twilight was about to say no and shut the fox off but she then felt that same compelling force telling her what to do. She tried to fight it as she wanted to reject what the fox was offering but her mouth gained control of its own and said in a very abrupt and forced manner.

"N-Yes."

This was followed by a chorus of perplexed mares.

"What!?"

Before any of them could say something, John the fox decided to speak and finish the transaction as his smile grew, showing off his pearly white canine teeth.

"Great. Thank you for accepting the services of F.O.X. Inc. here are the items you will be given for this adventure. F.O.X. Inc. notifies that any restock of previously given items will be charged with the bonus of being able to stock more than what you were given by us."

In that moment he moved his paws behind his body and took out a series of items on a fashion that everybody thought only Pinkie Pie could pull off. This items were an Apple, three bottles with a red liquid, another three bottles but this time with a blue liquid, a small book, a small bouquet with a small diamond in the middle, a ribbon shaped like a butterfly and a big piece of meat.

As the mares looked at the piece of meat, they were feeling disgusted by the gift. In the end, it was Rarity who, by sheer force of not puking, responded what all her partners were thinking.

"Sir, I'm sure you must be aware that none of us are carnivores, right?"

The fox kept his smile and said on a tone that should have felt dark or sinister but came out as nice, warm and familiar.

"This piece of meat isn't meant for you to eat."

Twilight simply picked the items as she was trying to suppress her anger at Antonio for doing it but not before making a simple question that all of her friend were having.

"Alright, but the rest of these items, what are we supposed to do with them, what do they do?"

The fox kept his tone and responded as if everything happening right now was natural or normal with his smile still adorning his face.

"Do not worry about it, you will know what they are when the time comes."

In that moment the fox finally moved from the entrance and allowed the mares from entering. The mares started to enter into the forest as they all looked at the fox with a mixture of worry and suspicion in their eyes as well as with a desire to hoof his face. A few trots later, Twilight decided to dispel one piece of doubt she had about all of this.

"Girls, have any of you ever seen that fox before?"

All of them said no but that only gave Rainbow an opening to show her anger.

"And why did you said 'yes'? You had no reason to listen to it and no reason to trust in that fox, so why did you accepted?"

"Rainbow" -. Voiced Rarity. - "This isn't the time for-"

"No, Rarity, Rainbow is right" -. Responded Twilight with a sure tone of voice. - "And, in fact, I don't trust in that fox and I wanted to say no, but it was as if something forced me to say yes."

"Something? Twilight, are you sure of that because Ah saw that fox just like the rest of you and Ah saw nothing strange on it."

"I know Applejack, it's just that- look, I don't know how to explain, it's just that there's something wrong with that fox and I don't know how to deal with it."

"At least we can all agree on that."

And with that said, they all decided to continue their journey.

After that, the journey was much more somber as the girls went through it and they weren't sure of what kind of dangers they were going to face already. Of course, Twilight knew what kind of dangers were ahead of them but that didn't stop her from worrying over the possibility that this time something different may arise. The same way, she was mad at Antonio for forcing her to make those decisions and even more for probably hurting her relationship with her friends but, as she moved forward, she started to think about the items given to her by John and wondered if they could be useful to her, after all, perhaps they were useful and she wasn't aware of it and it would be dumb of her to not use them so she opened her saddlebag and decided to see what these items were.

"What are you doing?" - Asked Rainbow Dash as she saw Twilight taking out those items. - "Why are you still holding that stuff? We don't even know if it's safe."

"That is why I'm checking on them, Rainbow. I need to know what they are and what they do."

So she decided to take out the small book first and saw what it contained. To her surprise, it contained some magic theory that she found very useful so she decided to keep it for later, she also decided to take a look at the bottles.

"What do you think they are Twilight?" - Asked Applejack. - "Ah'm not so sure we should even be drinking those."

Twilight gave it a brief thought but she stated to feel a negative emotion compelling her to not drink any of the bottles's content, by this point already feeling apathy for those compelling emotions.

"I agree with you there Applejack" -. Continued Twilight. - "I have a feeling of what they are for but I would rather research them first before determining what they are and what they do."

She then took out the Apple which prompted Applejack to give it a closer look at it. As she inspected, what originally was a suspicious glance turned into a curious and even bewildered one.

"Holy nelly! What is this apple?"

"Applejack, what is it?"

"Twilight, Ah don't know what did that fox did but this apple is very well made. In fact, I thought only the apple family was capable of making such a good looking apple. Twilight, can I keep this apple to check it again later?"

Twilight saw no problem with it, after all Applejack was the apple expert, so she let her take it.

They then decided to take a look at the bouquet that held a diamond and, much the same way that Applejack found interest in it, Rarity noticed that there was something off about the bouquet itself that made her wanting to investigate it further while Fluttershy decided to keep the butterfly shaped ribbon because it looked so cute.

After that, and noticing that there was nothing of interest for Rainbow or Pinkie Pie, the group decided to continue forward as planned and, to Twilight's surprise, everything went, more or less, as well as she remembered. She almost fell to a cliff like last time but some of the things she used to hold herself out almost disappear when she tried to grab them. When they faced the Manticore, this time it was more ferocious to the point that Fluttershy alone wasn't capable of calming it down. It went so far that one of its claws swipe Twilight and made a huge opening on her flank, forcing her to drop her saddlebag and put out the meat which, once the Manticore saw it, was eaten by the monster and it helped to calm him down enough for Fluttershy to ease it and made it go away but at the expense of Twilight being hurt.

"Oh no! Twilight, are you ok?" 

Asked Rainbow Dash frenetically as Flutteshy repeated 'oh dear' and tried to think of something for her lack of medical supplies as Pinkie Pie tried to keep everyone on a better mood by trying to think on a solution. As Twilight was suppresing the pain caused by her wound, she once again felt the compelling force moving her to the saddlebag, by this point Twilight no longer cared what Antonio did with her body and just went along with it but that didn't stop her friends for worrying as well.

"Twilight, don't move, Ah cannot help you if you move, it could make your wound worse."

Twilight wanted to retort but she was starting to get curious as she saw "herself" getting the red potion given to her by the fox.

"Twilight, dear, I'm not sure this is the time to use mysterious items."

Twilight's body obviously didn't listen and drank the potion, thankfully it didn't taste bad but it would be better with sugar. Surprisingly though, as soon as she drank the potion, she could feel her body getting well rested and all of them boggled their minds as Twilight's wound started to heal up by itself. In the end, it was Rainbow Dash who made the best response anyone could ever come up with.

"How expensive do you think those potions are? Because I think I want a few of them."

After that everything remained smooth, Rarity helped the river snake to cross the river, they faced a spooky forest and Rainbow Dash managed to defeat the temptation of the Shadow Bolts. Everything was going almost as she remembered, Twilight would never miss how some parts of the forest or the animals started to phase out or dissolve even in front of her friends but they would remain unfazed, letting her clear that they could not see those strange occurrences but, putting that aside, all of this was only, not only, making her happy but it was also improving once again her relationship with her friends but she was once again faced with something neither her nor her friends were expecting that was waiting for them at the entrance of the castle: a fox, more specifically, John the fox was waiting for them besides the entrance of the Castle of the Alicorn Sisters.

As they all saw him waiting, it was a simple impulse to gather up and make a small reunion to discuss what they were about to do.

"Alright, girls" -. Began Rainbow. - "I want to be sure of this. Does any of you have any idea of how did it catch up to us? Because I'm sure that we left that fox back at the entrance of the Everfree and it's impossible for it to catch up to us so fast, even less get ahead of us."

"Ah have to agree with Rainbow. That fox is grating mah nerves and Ah don't feel so safe with it here. Ah mean, Ah thought only Pinkie could pull that kind of stuff out."

"Yeah, so did I and I'm sure that he doesn't have my Pinkie Sense."

"And what do we do darlings? I'm quite sure that it will talk to us if we decide go further and, no offense Twilight, dear, but I don't think you are the best negotiator here."

"Don't worry Rarity. I say that we ignore it and go ahead. Deal?"

They all agreed and decided to move by ignoring John but, as soon as they were about to cross the door, and without even turning its head, John the Fox decided to talk to the mares, once again, with its slick voice.

"I do not recommend you to go ahead, you don't know what kind of danger you may be facing. Perhaps it would be better to have a reminder of what's at stake here, why don't you talk to me so we can solve this issue?"

Rainbow Dash got closer to him and was about to tell him off when the fox turned to his sides and simply said.

"I would prefer to talk with the one known as Twilight Sparkle, if you don't mind, for she is the one that has the capabilities to solve this issue."

Rainbow Dash stopped and, to the surprise of everyone, backed down and looked at Twilight as if inviting her, with a desperate face, to talk with the fox. As Twilight got closer, Rainbow Dash passed by her and simply said 'I don't know what was that, but there is something off with that fox, be careful' so when Twilight got face to face with John, she simply asked.

"Alright, what do you want with me?"

John the Fox kept smiling although his voice started to sound slightly sarcastic.

"You? My apologies but it isn't exactly you the one I want to talk to" -. He then looked at Twilights friends and, as he put his face close to her ear and used his tail to cover his mouth from Twilight's friends, he whispered. - "The one I wanna talk to is the one who you represent, the one truly in charge of this, aren't you mister?"

Twilight's coat started to get pale as she started to think on the connotations of what John said while the fox kept staring at her with his huge grin.

"Now, since you have progressed a lot so far. We thought that it would be much better for you if someone recorded your progress so far and since you don't have an assistant to help you out with that" -. Twilight started to shiver as her mind raced on overthinking at those words. - "F.O.X. Inc have decided to allow all of its representatives to record your progress whenever you encounter one of us and you so ask for it, that way we'll always have a record of what have you bought from us, when, how and where. But, in the case you cannot find any of us and still need to record your progress, all you need is a parchment and ink to do so, we're very sure you have plenty of it on your library as of now."

Twilight was already shaking as she looked at John's closed eyes and her mind was trying to make sense of the information bomb she was getting right now. She wasn't crazy, Antonio was real, the fox was real, her friends weren't familiar with the fox, she truly was back in time and something strange was happening in Ponyville and perhaps even Equestria and she was feeling that beyond Discord, this company was probably related somehow.

"So" -. John the Fox said as he took out a scroll and a quill to write. - "Do you want me to record your progress?"

Twilight knew who he was talking to now so she gave little to no resistance when her lips moved on their own and answered 'yes' as she felt losing weight and how her mind was feeling lighter. The fox moved his paws at the speed of lightning as he wrote everything faster than Twilight ever could even dream off.

Once the fox was done, he thanked her and started to look at what was in front of him as if nothing happened but Twilight was too shaken to even move, which prompted all her friends to surround her, Rainbow Dash threatening the fox as he assured them that he did nothing wrong to Twilight Sparkle.

"Twilight, sugar cube, please react, you are worrying us."

"Darling, I don't know what that brute must have told you but you can be very sure that we are here to help you, please react."

"Twilight, please, you are worrying me."

"Twilight, I know you must be feeling uncool right now, but we need you to react. We can take care of the fox later but we need to save Equestria first."

"Twilight, come on, don't listen to that meany pants. React out of this and I promise you to make a cake and I'm NOT lying about it."

No matter what they told her. Twilight wasn't sure of what to feel, she wasn't sure of what was going on or what was going to happen. Her mind wasn't able to process any of this and all she wanted to do now was to curl up and cry.


Twilight


As her friends were talking to her, she managed to hear his voice.


I promise we will talk about this once this adventure is over but please react


Her mind stopped once again, processing this time the promise of a sort of explanation of this. It wasn't much but it was what she needed to finally run her mind once again how it should.

"Alright girls. Let's do this."

Having alleviated her friends with her sudden recovery. They soon moved into the Castle and did exactly what Twilight remembered happening last time they encountered Nightmare Moon and, as expected, something changed but it wasn't exactly something Twilight thought was going to happen. What happened went beyond what even she considered normal among all the things that were going on around her.

As The Elements of Harmony were surrounding Nightmare Moon, Twilight started to see how the world around her started to shake around as Nightmare Moon's scream were now sounding like a broken record and then, she heard it, Nightmare's voice distorted screaming in agony.

"This cannot be happening again, no, I will not allow this to happen again. I will succeed and release myself from this oppressing chains that force this cursed fate upon me."

Everything around Twilight started to shake, the light started to grow so much that Twilight had to cover her eyes even further until, after a huge quake, everything went quiet. Twilight opened her eyes just to find that the throne room looked slightly the same with the only difference that now, where Nightmare Moon was supposed to be, there was now a giant multicolored hole that seemed to be from outside of the world. Twilight looked besides her only to find her friends static in place, unable to move or even breath and there was only one figure Twilight could now rely now.

"Antonio, can you hear me?"


Yes


"Do you know what is going on?"


No


She looked at the giant hole where Nightmare Moon once were.

"Do you think we should be going in there?"


Probably, I see no other option


"Just what I guessed."

She looked at the hole and, no longer feeling worried, jumped right into it wondering what was going on and if this was going to lead her to an answer she desperately needed and, as she was crossing the hole, she started to feel herself being reshaped as her eyes started to look at ones and zeroes.