//------------------------------// // Chapter 9 // Story: Broken // by Bicyclette //------------------------------// He was alone. Was that his fate? To be forever alone? Shining shook his head.  “No,” he said aloud. “I need to find my way out of this...this nightmare.” Stepping forwards to the window beside the bed, he looked out over the Crystal Empire. Empty. No one in sight as far as he could see. “Now, this is getting weird,” he murmured. “Didn’t I wake up…?” “Maybe,” a voice said from behind him, and he leapt back in surprise, twisting his body to see who spoke.     “Flurry?” he blinked in surprise. “Did you just...speak?”     “Flurry?” the filly looked at her own body. “That is this body’s name, right?”     “You’re not her.” It was a statement, not a question.     “Of course,” the filly smiled, and her lips curled upwards unnaturally. “I’m just taking the shape of someone you recognize.”     “I need the key,” Shining said. “Do you know where it is?”     “I do,” ‘Flurry’ inclined her head. “But the real question is; do you?”     Shining stared at her. “That doesn’t even make sense. If you know where the key is, can you tell me? I want to get out of this,” he gestured around him. “Dream, or nightmare. Whichever it’s supposed to be.”     “Tell me something,” ‘Flurry’ tilted her head. “Do you know where you are?”     “My home?” he answered. “The C-” he frowned. “Crystal- I don’t know. That’s weird, I was sure I knew just now…”     “You can’t remember, can you?” ‘Flurry’ asked sympathetically. “Your memories aren’t working well.”     The sentence sparked something in him. “Twilight,” he muttered, before looking at Flurry. “My sister. She told me that my memories weren’t all there.”     “Very good!” ‘Flurry’ clapped her hooves. “You remember a little! Now, where can we find your memories?”     “Uh-”     “Think carefully,” ‘Flurry’ advised. “Dig deep. Find your memories, and you’ll find the key.”     Shining closed his eyes, rubbing at his temples. “This is giving me a headache, could you give me a clue-” he opened his eyes to see an empty room. “Figures.”     Shining sighed. “What do I remember…?” he stomped a hoof on the ground. “I wish Cadance was here. She’d know what to do. I’m useless, even my horn is gone…” his eyes drifted up to his broken horn.      “The library.” He straightened upright. “Twily always went to the library whenever she didn’t know anything-” he cried out as a stab of pain was felt in his head.     “Guh,” he managed weakly. “That hurt. I...I didn’t know that earlier. Does remembering make it hurt?” he frowned. “Is that why I can’t, or rather, don’t want to remember?”     Nothing answered his question.     Shining just sighed as he proceeded to the door, pushing it open to reveal an empty corridor. He trotted down it, wandering aimlessly. “Where’s the library…?” he wondered out loud.     “Wherever you need it to be,” a familiar voice suddenly said, and this time Shining didn’t jump as he looked around to see a white-colored alicorn with a rainbow-flowing mane.      “I’m sorry,” Shining tilted his head. “Who are you, again?”     “That doesn’t matter,” the alicorn shrugged. “What matters is who are you?”     “I’m Shining Armor. Husband of Princess Cadenza, brother to Twilight Sparkle-”     “No, no,” the alicorn interrupted him. “Who. Are. You?” She punctuated every word with a jab at him with her hoof.     He looked at her weirdly. “What do you mean?”     “That is for you to interpret,” the alicorn rose to her full height. “Your choice to think.”     “You just said-”     “Your choice. Think on it.” And with that, the alicorn faded away, leaving nothing but dust where she had stood.     “Very helpful,” Shining muttered. “Who am I? Find your memories? Next thing I know, they tell me to piece together some puzzle-”     “That was exactly what I was about to say.”     “I’m not even gonna bother to turn around this time. What message do you have?”     “A message? You wound me. I expected better of you!” the voice sounded disappointed. “Am I that boring?”     Shining raised an eyebrow. “That voice…” he turned around to see a grinning draconequus. “Discord.”     “Shiny, Shiny, Shiny,” Discord chided. “You should know by now the rules. We’re not who we are! We’re constructs of your imagination, here to fulfill the role of giving you answers you already know!”     “Then tell me,” Shining challenged. “Where are my memories?”     “As you already know, where you need it to be,” ‘Discord’ said simply. “But that’s not why I’m here. You have to solve the puzzle.”     “What puzzle?”     “The one that you’re in.” ‘Discord’ replied. “Solve it.”     “How can I, if I don’t know what it is?”     “You do,” the draconequus grinned. “You just have to solve it.”     “You’re not being helpful.”     “Why should I?” ‘Discord’ peeled a banana open and threw the peel into his mouth. “It’s your puzzle. I can’t do anything.”     “I have to know who I am?”     “Now you’re getting somewhere,” ‘Discord’ said with satisfaction. “Who are you?”     “I’m a brother. I’m a husband. I’m a father.”     “And yet none of those are who you truly are,” Discord said gently. “Who did you want to be?”     “I…” Shining’s throat went dry as he blinked. “I…”     “You’re getting it,” Discord nodded. “I look forward to seeing you in the real world, my friend.” With a snap of his claws, he was gone, but Shining didn’t notice.     Who I wanted to be.     Memories of him watching the Royal Guard tromping past his home flashed, and he stumbled. “I-”     A door popped into existence in front of him. Warily, he pushed the door open, revealing a library filled with books. As he trotted into the library, he gazed at the titles.     Where’s the Key? He read. Every book had the same title. All except one.     The Key. It read.      “It can’t be that easy, can it?” he wondered. Taking the book, he put it on a table.     “Time to find out.” He opened the book, and all he saw was a bright flash of light before he was consumed in darkness.