//------------------------------// // Chapter 4 // Story: Persona: Equestria // by scriptshatter //------------------------------// Excerpt from Everfree Dissonance by Starswirl the Bearded (This section had not been read by Spiracle): Today I saw another pony inside the Everfree Dissonance, a Unicorn. They looked tired, and their pupils dilated. Still, I approached them, while still being ready for anything tricky it may pull. They looked to be a mare with a mint green coat, and a cyan mane and tail with white streaks. When approaching the mare and introducing myself, she simply mumbled my name along with one “Twilight Sparkle”, as well as the word “nerd”. Looking at her cutie mark, it was clearly a lyre, but for whatever reason it appeared slightly… warped. I told her that I could get her home, back into Equestria, but she refused, saying that I wasn’t the “right way out”, and that she was still waiting. When I asked how long she had been waiting, she only said one thing: “Longer than you think”. My eyes open as I yawn, stretching. I climb off of Thorax, my eyes focusing. I remember what happened last night, and I can’t hope but smile. A home, not just a place to live. I wonder why I didn’t receive a dream tonight. Unless yesterday's visit to the Velvet bar was some sort of heat induced trip, which is entirely possible considering yesterday. I look to my side to see another bed that wasn’t there when I fell asleep. Zecora must’ve made another for her to sleep on. Looking ahead I could see Zecora using a mortar and pestle to grind up some ingredients, presumably into a potion. I nudge Thorax awake, his eyes groggily opening. “Zphmb… morning already? I’ll get farming in a bit… just a little… while… longer…” I openly laugh, nudging him again. “Thorax, you don’t have to do any farming. We’re not in the hive anymore, remember?” His eyes open slowly, and he lets out a soft yawn as he sits up, looking around. Before getting out of bed excitedly. “Hah, excited about finally getting to go to a proper town?” I asked him as he beamed with glee. “Oh, you bet! I bet the ponies there are gonna be really nice! I’ll be able to make more friends!” He’s so excited he’s flying at this point. Both me and Zecora chuckled a little at the display of what can only be described as pure joy. We were about to head out the door when Zecora stopped us. “You’re forgetting about your pony Identity. I’d hate for you two to get in trouble because of an accusation of you being some evil entity.” Zecora said, leading us back inside. We both gave sheepish smiles, and Thorax quickly dawned a disguise. His changeling form burned away into a dark cyan Pegasus. He flew down and landed. “How do I look, Spiracle?” Pony Thorax said, the stallion turning to look at me. His mane was straight for the most part, though it curled at the back of his neck. His tail wasn’t very long, reaching to about his ankles. His eyes were the same color as his coat, a dark cyan Pegasus. He was still the same size, which was to be expected. The mark on his flank was what appeared to be a comet exiting a loop. “You look good. Then again, you are a changeling, as am I. And our magic is kinda themed around changing so… it’s to be expected. Still, like I said, you look good.” Thorax’s overly joyous smile was dialed back to something more normal looking as he shrugged. “Fair enough. Now, my name… I can’t go as Thorax, I don’t think that’s a normal pony name from what I heard around the hive… How about ‘Timid Comet’?” Thorax wasn’t too timid, though he did often try his best to avoid confrontation whenever possible. And he did choose the form of a Pegasus. “I think it’s a wonderful name, Comet,” I said, chuckling lightheartedly. “Now what about you, Spiracle? Will you choose something that makes sense, or something satirical?” Zecora said, looking at me. I thought for a moment, humming. I went with whatever felt right, and apparently that was a unicorn stallion with a coffee colored coat, a somewhat short light brown mane and tail with one crimson and one cinnamon stripe. styled about as straight as can be. The strangest thing was I didn’t get to choose what mark my disguise had, it had already been chosen for me. It was a magnifying glass, which made sense I suppose, and a leather book. A leather book with that same star pupiled eye on it, surrounded by what looked to be six different sparkles. My eyes open as I let out a brief sigh. And, then, in a burst of red flame, I was a unicorn. I laugh a little, since the prospect of telling human me that he would become a shapeshifting bug horse in the future was absolutely ridiculous. Then again, so is going into a world of peoples minds to change their hearts, so I suppose this wasn’t that weird. I shake my head, before looking up. “So, Comet, how do I look?” I asked him. “I think you look great, Spiracle! What’ll your pony name be?” I’d been thinking for a little while now, but I couldn’t come up with anything that I liked… and then I remembered my past visit to the velvet bar. “Fifth Wisdom”. Has a nice ring to it. I think I’ll use that. “Fifth Wisdom. My pony name will be Fifth Wisdom.” My voice spoke with confidence, and Zecora gave a small smile. “I must say, I do think it’s a fitting name. I think it has the potential to bring you great fame,” She said, nodding to the two of us. “May we please go explore the town now?” Thorax said with a bright smile, and Zecora nodded. I followed suit, waving to her from behind. Then I realized I had no idea where I was going. Zecora walked up behind me and pointed in the right direction to the town. “Just remember, don’t provoke the poison joke. And stay out of trouble, I don’t want to have to pull you out of any metaphorical rubble,” She warned. I nodded in understanding, and she smiled. She wished us a safe trip, and before we knew it, we were off to the first pony town we would ever see. It took about thirty minutes of trotting along, or rather flying in Thoraxes', or rather Comets’ case, until we reached the edge of the town. “We’re here! Spira- I-I mean Fifth, we’re here!” Said Comet, flying around excitedly and nearly barreling into town alone, before he caught himself and went back to me, sweating. Not from effort, he wasn’t panting, it seemed more like he was nervous. “What’s with the sudden return?” I asked, raising an eyebrow to him. “I umm… I-I didn’t realize how hard it would be to talk to ponies… I-I mean, what if they find out our secret? W-what if they don’t like us… W-what if they… they…” Comets' voices quivered a little. I had never been the one to do the comforting… but I guess there’s a first for everything. I pulled his head in front of mine and looked him in the eyes. “Hey, Hey. Comet. You’ll be alright. You don’t have to worry.” That backfired. Seems like pulling his head towards mine caused him to start hyperventilating. So I let him go and just kinda let him breathe. In an attempt to do anything to comfort him, I just kinda started to pet his back while reassuring him that everythings going to be okay. I was awkwardly saying it, but it still seemed to work regardless. His breathing slowed, and he started to relax. It didn’t take long before he had fully recovered. He gave a long sigh, before looking at me. “Thanks, Fifth. I don’t know what I’d do without you.” I let out a sigh of relief while wearing a small smile. “Don’t worry about it, Comet. And on another note, I’d prefer it if you called me Wisdom instead of Fifth. I like the way Wisdom sounds,” I said. “Ok, Wisdom. Now, let’s go. Together.” I nodded, putting my hoof around his shoulder for a brief moment. “Together,” I simply said, before taking my hoof back, and trotting alongside him into the rest of town. Trotting along, we could see ponies doing their normal chores. It was comforting to not have a ton of them glaring at me as if I was some sort of mistake. The first pony we actually ran into was a pink one with a poofy mane. She stopped in her tracks upon seeing the two of us, and I could almost hear the metaphorical cogs turning in her head. Things were getting a little awkward, so I decided to speak up and break the ice. “Hello there, My name is Fifth Wisdom, and this is my step brother, Timid Comet. What’s your na-” Before I could finish my second sentence, the pony let out what I can only describe as a vacuum like gasp, before running off. Comet began to hyperventilate, but I calmed him down by doing the petting thing again. That seemed to work. “What’s up with her?” I said, confused. I felt a tap on my shoulder, and turned my head to see a yellow Pegasus with a pink mane, one of her eyes covered. She seemed to be in a rush, but I couldn’t tell what for. “Oh! Did you need me for something? My name’s Fifth Wisdom, by the way, and this is my step brother Timid Comet.” The yellow mare attempted to respond, but her voice was so quiet that I could barely pick up on it. I felt something stir inside me, not anger or annoyance, just a sort of… weird tingling, similar to how I felt whenever I used telekinesis. The mare seemed dazed for a moment, before regaining her senses. I shook my own confusion off, and decided to see if I could see what she said. “Umm… could you please speak up? I’d really appreciate it,” I said while giving a kind smile. “Oh… umm… the summer sun celebration is coming up, and I need somepony to bunny-sit Angel bunny here so that I can focus on helping the birds practice…” She picked a rabbit out of hiding in her mane and displayed him to the two of us. He looked at the two of us bitterly. “You don’t have to. If it comes down to it, I’m sure I could take care of him.” I shook my head, I wasn’t about to leave this pony between a rock and a hard place. “I’ll accept your offer…” I eluded to me wanting to know her name. It didn’t take her long to figure out what I was asking of her. “Fluttershy…” She said timidly, her voice quitting down again. “I’ll accept your offer, Fluttershy. I’m sure you’ll be plenty busy with your song, after all.” I gave a small smile as I took the rabbit up in my magic and set him on my back. He tried to reach for her, but I gently stopped him with my telekinesis. Fluttershy looked sorry for him. “Oh, I’m so, so sorry Angel, but you know how important this is! And I wouldn’t be able to spend any time with you, and that’s just not fair to you.” She gave me a book with a picture of a carrot on it, and I took it up in my magic, same as I would do for any other item I was given. “That book has everything you should need to take care of Angel for the next few days. I’m glad you came around. I don’t know what I would do if I had to take care of Angel and prepare for the summer sun festival at the same time. I have to go help the birds practice more now. I’ll see you after the celebration.” She mumbled the next few lines out before trotting off, leaving me with Angel. I opened up the book and started reading, before Angel face palmed and painfully pointed my ears to a bench. “There’s got to be less painful ways to get my attention,” I said flatly. Angel rolled his eyes, and I walked over to the bench, sat down, and opened the book. The hoofwriting was neat, so it wasn’t at all hard to read. Comet flew over to where I had sat down and read with me. He wasn’t much into reading, but I guessed he was looking for something to do that involved me. So, we sat there and read for a while. Angel grabbed my ear again. I had kept him from walking right off back to Fluttershy with my magic, and after a while he gave up. I look up from my book as he jumps down from my head and onto the bench. His stomach grumbles as he points to his mouth. I take a long sigh, and flip to the chapter on Angels' feeding habits. I scoff looking at it, since most of what he “ate” were what looked to be gourmet dishes made for rabbits. I shoot him a small glare as he sticks himself up. I roll my eyes at the display, scoffing yet again. A mare with a mint green coat came into view. As soon as she saw me, she let out a gasp comparable to what the pink pony gave me. “Y-y-you’re…” I raised an eyebrow at the unicorn. “Yes? I’m… what?” I said, confused. “You’re… Sitting like a human!” Ok, I have so many questions. How does this pony know what humans are? How can she tell I’m sitting like one? Can she tell I was once a human? Does she know about where I’m from? I shake my head, clearing the thoughts out of my mind. I highly doubt sitting like this is going to cause another pancakes incident. For now, I feel like it’s best to just play ignorant. “I… what?” I give a nervous laugh, and fortunately the mare seems to get the message and dials herself back a bit. “Oh, sorry for making you uncomfortable, I get a little too enthusiastic at times is all. My name is Lyra. Lyra Heartstrings. And you… Wait, did you actually accept the offer to take care of Fluttershy's needy bunny?” Angel acted insulted at the gesture, I rolled my eyes at it. “Yes. I don’t think it’ll be very hard. As for our names, even if you didn’t ask for them. I’m Wisdom, Fifth Wisdom. And this is Timid Comet, my step brother. Now, is there something you need to tell me?” I said, a little annoyed that she had run up to me the way she did. “Huh? Oh, yea! You should go to the Town square! I heard there’s a…” She takes a moment to look at the mark on my flank, scratching her chin with her hoof. “I heard there’s a free book… uh… thingy.” I decided to help her out with her word choice. “A free book hoofout?” I replaced hand with hoof. That’s usually how these things went. Heartstrings didn’t seem to mind, so I was probably fine. “Yea! Here, follow me and I’ll show you where it’s happening!” She said, and I picked up Angel and followed after her, along with Comet. It wasn’t long before we arrived at the Town square, since we hadn’t walked that far away from it in the first place. There wasn’t a free book hoofout or anything of the sort that I could see. And that’s when what was actually happening was revealed. Confetti cannons fired all around us while a large amount of ponies came out of bushes and from behind buildings yelling ‘Surprise!’, startling me and Comet. “Uhh…” I started, confused. Comet was hiding behind me, very much frightened by the loud sounds. I did the patting thing again, and he peeked at what was actually happening, which ended up being a party. The town hall was decorated with the banner “Welcome to Ponyville Timid Comet and Fifth Wisdom”. “Surprise! Hi there! My name’s Pinkie Pie, and I threw this party cause you’re new in town and I know you’re new in town cause I know everypony and I mean EVERYPONY but I didn’t recognize either of you and then you said your names Timid Comet and Fifth Wisdom and was like ‘I don’t know those ponies!’ and I also realized that your gait indicated you were excited to be in town and make friends at least to SOME degree so then I decided the easiest way to make friends was to throw you a party but then I realized that you might not even TALK to anypony so I sent Lyra over to go get you since I got the feeling you two would be good friends but I wasn’t entirely sure since I feel like the friends you’ll make here aren't actually here yet which is weird but HEY is that Fluttershy's pet bunny angel I bet you two will be great friends don't ask me how I know I just kinda have this feeling that you two will mesh really well know what I mean?” My head is spinning. “Uhh- yeees?” I say with a strained smile. I’m not entirely sure what she said, all I know is that her name is Pinkie Pie, and that this party is being thrown as a welcome to Ponyville party for us. Assuming Ponyville is the name of this town. “You actually got all that?” Comet whispered to me, to which I shook my head. “All I got was that her name is Pinkie Pie and that this is a welcoming party,” I said to him, shrugging. “Well you got the important parts, and that’s what counts! Sorry for going on a bit of a tangent there, I’ve just had all these thoughts bubbling in my head and, well, I had to let them out somehow!” I gave a brief laugh, shaking my head. “It’s quite alright, Pie. I don’t blame you for being excited about something that clearly motivates you,” I said with a soft smile. Pie looked at me inquisitively, clearly confused about something. “Pie? Why are you calling me by my last name? I mean, you can if you want, it’s just I’ve never seen a pony do that before,” she said as she tilted her head. Jeez Zecora is already starting to wear off on me. “It’s just a thing everypony did where I’m from,” I said, giving a small chuckle. Pie simply shrugged, seemingly not bothered by me using her last name. “Oh, ok! Enjoy the party then, you two!” She bounced off to a group of ponies playing ‘pin the tail on the pony’. I shudder to think of the moral implications of that. Which are probably none, but still. To me, that seems like it’d be playing… I don't know, ‘Pin the hair on the human’, or ‘pin the wings on the changeling’. Ok on second thought that last one makes a little bit more sense. Still, it’s gonna take me a little while to get used to everything here. “Hey, Wisdom? I… umm… there’s some cake over there, and I kinda wanna try some of it. Since we never got any at… where we used to live.” I shrugged. “Then go have some, It’s your party too,” I said, Comet fidgeting his hooves. “I’d… err… I’d like it if you came with me. I don’t know many of the ponies here and I’d be a lot more comfortable if you came with me,” Thorax said, huddling near me. “I’ll go with you in a moment, there’s some greens over here and Angel’s gotta eat,” I said, walking over to the salad bar, where I found Fluttershy looking nervous. “Hello Fluttershy. Is there something bothering you?” I asked politely. Fluttershy looked at me and seemed to relax a little, angel peeking out of my admittedly short mane. I picked up some salad and arranged it in a slightly fancy looking pattern. I handed it off to angel and he reluctantly accepted it, letting out a large sigh. The spoiledness of this rabbit was so potent I could literally taste it. The taste was of spoiled milk if you were wondering, the ‘perks’ of secretly being a changeling. “I was just worried about Angel. I’m happy to see you’ve been taking care of him.” I raised an eyebrow. “I’ve just been keeping an eye on him while reading the book you gave me. He appeared to be hungry, so I got him some food. Simple as that.” Fluttershy nodded in confirmation. “Oh, that’s really all you need to do. Just make sure he’s at least a little entertained, and you should be fine,” She said softly. “Understood. Thanks for the clarification! I’ll see you later, alright?” Fluttershy nodded, and went about her day. Me and Comet on the other hoof, went over to the cake that was set out. I cut out two slices with my magic, one for both of us. I gave Comet his slice, and he enjoyed it. As for me, I didn’t enjoy mine as much. It tasted bitter, and not in a good way, as in it tasted similar to beans whenever they’re left on the vine for too long. It can’t be because I’m a changeling since Comet likes his, so it probably has something to do with genes or whatever. Way to ruin another thing for me, Tyrant, even while I’m this far from the hive you still find ways to ruin things. I set the plate down and let out a sigh. I look around and see some bite sized apple fritters. I go over to the stand, which is being run by an orange mare wearing a cowpony… hat… this… this is the same mare from that show. I had nearly forgotten about it, it had been so long but the resemblance is undeniable. I snap myself out of it. Besides, I’m meeting a cowpony! An actual cowpony! I couldn’t help but gush at the idea. Enough fanboying, time to talk. “Hello there!” I gave a light bow out of pure habit from my old life. Even after all this time… old habits die hard. “Uh- ya don’t need to bow, sugarcube,” She said in an awkward tone. I quickly corrected my posture and stopped bowing, a little embarrassed. “S-sorry, miss. I just got a little carried away I guess. Umm… What’s your name?” I’m trying to be as polite as possible, proper posture, and asking appropriate questions. And I am making the cowpony uncomfortable. And I just remembered how overbearing my fans could be. Again, been awhile. I think I’m being overbearing. I should probably stop. “Mah name’s Applejack, pleased to meet ‘cha! Just… try not to be so… eccentric. It’s kinda creepy.” She said, rubbing the back of her head. “Right, right, of course. It’s just that cowponies are rather popular where I’m from, and I guess I just kinda… lost control. I apologize for making you feel uncomfortable,” I said, and she seemed to relax at that. “Right, would you like a fritter? It is you and your step brother's party after all!” She said, offering one to me. I took it in my magic and took a bite. The taste was something indescribably heavenly. I never considered myself to have a favorite food, and usually stuck to whatever was popular at the time. Now though… I believe I’ve found something that meets the criteria of ‘Favorite Food’. I quickly scarfed the thing down, And before I knew it it was gone. “Ah reckon you’re a fan?” She said, giving a slight chuckle. “This has got to be the best thing I have ever tasted,” I said, slightly awestruck by the taste. Jack… that doesn’t seem right… I think I’m supposed to say her full name. Applejack… that sounds better. Applejack just laughed a little. “Glad to hear it, Fifth! Feel free to have some more if you want, it’s your welcoming party after all!” She said, smiling. “After the party, is there a place where I can purchase them? Once I get a job, of course,” I asked, eagerly awaiting an answer as I grabbed another. “Well, we don’t normally sell ‘em like that. We’re more in the market of sellin the apples themselves, but ah can teach you to make ‘em at some point! How’s that sound?” I nodded vigorously, which is something I seldom do. She laughed again, shaking her head. “Ah got a feeling you and I'll be good friends!” She said with a chipper tone. I grabbed two more fritters for the road. “I’m sure we will. I should probably experience more of the party now,” I said, waving a hoof as I went to go see other attractions. “It was nice meetin ya, and Ah’ll see ya next time!” She waved back as I trotted away. I look around looking for something else interesting, and find a Pegasus with a rainbow mane talking to pie. Comet seems to have gone back to Fluttershy to talk with her, so he seems fine for the time being. I trot over to the Pegasus, but as I approach pie waves to me vigorously. “Hello Wisdom! Wanna join the conversation? We were just talking about how awesome dash is!” The ‘Dash’ in question flys above and looks proud. I raise an eyebrow at the display of pride. “You know, they say hubris leads to downfall,” I say in an attempt to cool her current ego down. She flies down from the sky and lands on the ground, looking a little annoyed. “Wha- hey! That was kinda uncalled for, man. Like, I understand if you were trying to cool someone down if they were being a jerk about it, but I was literally just showing myself after pinkie gave a compliment. What gives??” Pie looked a little disappointed too. I’m definitely getting culture shock if I wasn’t before. Still, I should probably explain myself. I’ll just not mention how I was a human to keep them from thinking I’m insane. Or to keep them from questioning the heck out of me. “Oh, sorry. I’m still getting used to the culture around here. Where I’m from, being so… boastful is considered extremely rude.” Pie looked at dash with a concerned look, while dash still squinted her eyes at me. “In that case, you should probably steer clear of me for now. I tend to be pretty ‘boastful’” I nodded in agreement, and Pie jumped in. “N-no wait! You can still be friends! It’ll probably just take some getting used to!” She said in a vain attempt to inspire friendship in us. “Pie, I appreciate the effort, but I think dash is right. I think we simply won’t get along, at least not until I become more adept at how things work around here. Maybe someday, but that day is not today.” I thought she would be disappointed hearing that, but instead she seemed to wipe sweat from her brow. “Wewh, ok. As long as you two become friends in the future, or at the very least are ok with being around each other, then it’s fine. I just don’t want you two hating each other,” She explained. “I said ‘steer clear of me FOR NOW’ Pinkie, not ‘steer clear of me FOREVER’. I’m sure we’ll become friends at some point, don’t worry.” Dash smiled at Pie, and I smiled at her as well. “I’m sure that at some point in the future we’ll be able to put our differences aside and become good friends. For now, though, I think it’s time I go meet somepony else,” I stated. “Okie-dokie-lokie! Me and Dashie will be here if you ever need anything!” I walked away from the two, and spotted quite the posh unicorn sitting at one of the tables while eating some cake and drawing on something. I came over to see what she was doing, while keeping at a friendly distance of course, and saw she was designing a dress. She looked over at me and smiled. “Oh, hello there darling! Enjoying the party I assume?” she asked, smiling at me. I gave a friendly nod, trotting over to the table and sitting down beside her. “Indeed I am. Many of the ponies here have been very welcoming. The only one I had an issue with is Dash. She was a little too boastful for my tastes,” I responded. “Oh, tell me about it. But, there is certain charm to it once you get used to it. I’m sure once you’ve gotten used to life around here you’ll take a liking to her. I mean, at least she actually lives up to her boastful claims. I can’t imagine how insufferable a pony would be if they were as boastful as she is without the achievements or abilities to back it up. Oh! My name’s Rarity by the way, it’s a pleasure to meet you, Fifth,” I nodded, giving a kind hearted smile to Rarity. “It’s a pleasure to meet you, Rarity. And I concur, Rarity. I do think that we’ll warm up to each other as time goes on, but as for right now, I think it’s better that we steer clear. Would hate to burn the bridge between us before it’s even been built.” Rarity nodded in agreement at that. “Oh, I agree, darling. I would hate for that to happen. Now, I have a question for you.” She held up the design sheet in front of my face, showing it to me. “Do you think this looks good? Or is it too gaudy?” Rarity showed me a depiction of a princely pure-white regalia with red accents, a pony version of my outfit when I used robin hood in Sae’s palace, right down to the red, long-nosed mask. “I designed it when looking at you, since you give off a sort of detective prince vibe. Whenever I see you I just see this… detective fighting for justice no matter the cost, doing drastic things for the sake of what he thinks is right! … I may have been reading a little too much Shadow Spade, ehehehe…” I’m a little baffled by the accuracy to say the least. But, by all standards, it is a good looking outfit. “I’d say it suits what you were going for! It’s almost uncanny how much you managed to capture me in it.” She beamed, seemingly wiping the sweat off her brow. “Oh, thank goodness! I was worried I had gone a little too far with the design, I’m happy to hear you like it!” She said, smiling. I lightheartedly laughed a little in response. “Any time, Rarity! I’ll be sure to visit your boutique at some point in the future. Speaking of which, where is your boutique?” I asked, tilting my head at her. “Oh, it’s just over there!” she said, pointing down a path leading to a white and purple structure. I nodded in response, before getting up. “Well, I’d say it’s about time I head out.” I said, waving goodbye as I trotted away. “Goodbye, dearie! I’ll see you later!” Rarity said, waving goodbye at me before continuing to work on her design. I trot back over to Comet, to see him and Fluttershy wrapping up their conversation on how easy it is for them to get overwhelmed in small crowds. It’s nice to see he made a friend for himself! “Yea… it’s still so crazy, though. I didn’t think it would be so stressful being around so many ponies at once but… that’s how things turn out, I guess. Still, it hasn't stopped me from having fun around here! Especially with Wisdom here to help me out in stressful situations,” Comet said as I walked up. “I’m glad to hear I help, Comet. Now, there’s something I’ve been wanting to check out ever since we got here… or, rather, something else. We wanted to meet the ponies here, and, well, I’d say we’ve already done that!” Comet got startled for a moment, but quickly recovered after. “Oh! Ok, Wisdom. Is it about the book?” He asked in response, “Yup, I wanna see what this spell does,” I answered. “What spell? There’s a spell in there? Are you sure it’s a good idea to use an unknown spell?” he questioned. “Of course! Besides, what could possibly go wrong? I know what I’m doing,” I affirmed. “Somehow I doubt that,” Comet retorted under his breath, but I paid no mind to it. This was obviously the metaverse, with that whole line about every mind being there, even if it was going to be a bit different, so what was there to worry about? Worst case scenario I’d have to protect Comet with Hereward. Still, even if Comet didn’t want to, he was already following me, waving goodbye to Fluttershy. “I’ll see you later, Comet!” Fluttershy said. “You too!” Comet responded. And soon, we were off. From the looks of things, the party was wrapping up anyway, so nopony missed us all that much. Mostly since we said goodbye before-hoof. We walked up to the entrance of the everfree forest. I could feel Angel shivering underneath my mane as we sat there. I took a deep breath, feeling my magic start to come to life. I came to the realization that I must've accidentally used a spell on Fluttershy before, which would explain the feeling I had, but now was no time to dawdle on that. I took out the book, and started reading the spell depicted on the first page. “In the Everfree, lies every mind But within this place, they are all blind. Where they lie there are different rules Magic can only be used with tools. But if you break free And let your mind see You will gain a unique ability The will to form a great utility!” “Uh… Wisdom? Are you sure that’s a good- Woah- woah- woah…” Comet’s question was interrupted as the familiar feeling of entering the metaverse washed over me, only instead of red filling my vision, I could see myself entering into a forest of black and green, heading deeper and deeper in, until… “OOMPH!” We all landed on top of each other, but luckily, I could still feel my mask. Looks like we’ll have nothing to worry about. I was so reluctant to enter here before, mostly because I was worried I’d be forced to do something with it, but if I can just do whatever I want instead of listening to someone else, and I’m free, then I can… I can…… I’ll probably just end up helping people like Ren did, to be honest. I Got up from under the pile, or tried to. My magic couldn’t grip onto Thorax or Angel anymore. Wait… I’m a changeling again, and so is Thorax… And Angel is… what looks to be some sort of hyperkinetic rabbity-thing. I end up having to gently crawl out from under the two with my magic not working, and it definitely doesn’t help that Angel is surprisingly heavy now. The two of them start to wake up soon after. Angel is the first to wake up, His eyes slowly opening. “Eugh… Where… am… I? What kind of stupid magic thing did that bone-brained know-it-all of a ‘detective prince’ do…?” Angel had just talked. Which is… not all that surprising considering my past experiences with animals and the metaverse. Still, his voice sounded very throaty… and raspy. He got up, shoving Thorax to the side from on top of him, and looked at me with wide eyes. “Don’t panic, please. For your own sake. We’re the only ones with magic, and therefore probably the only ones who can get you out of here,” I said in an attempt to calm him down. “Oh, so you’re trying to random me for my own flesh or something, you fuckin INSECT? HMM?” And said, pointing a finger at me. “Wha- no. For one, we eat love, not flesh. And two-” “AH-HA! SO YOU ARE TRYING TO SCAM ME! Well, this bunny ain’t no fool! I’ll find my own way out eventually, and when I do, I’ll- wait, did you just understand me?” “Yea, it’s a side effect of the metaverse. At least, I think this is the metaverse.” Angel raised an eyebrow. “What? Metaverse? What is this, a cheesy sci-fi novel? And why are you so much smaller? I’m like three fourths your height now!” Angel was starting to get a little nervous. “I’m not smaller, you got bigger. You're now some sort of… rabbity thing,” I said to him, Angel now looking himself over. “Heeeyyy… I don’t look half bad! And now I got opposable thumbs! Fuck yea!” I am assuming this use of forbidden words is a habit because nopony else could understand him besides Fluttershy, and Fluttershy never scolded him for it, meaning he never had any reason to not use them. I am now jealous of a rabbit. Hooray. “Mphmmgph… Where… where are we…” Thorax said as he got up drowsily, wiping the dust from his eyes. He quickly started to panic as he looked around. Which was fair. If I ended up in a forest with a dark green sky surrounded by trees of an unknown type with no context, I’d probably panic as well. “Thorax! Thorax! Don’t worry, as long as you stay by me, we’ll be fine,” I said, attempting to ease his nerves. “How in the WORLD can you be so sure of that Spiracle?? I-I know you’ve done some stupid things in the past, but this? THIS?? How and Why in the world would you cast a spell with unknown effects? This is ridiculous! I can’t believe… I…” I rubbed him on the back, and it helped a little. “Ok, ok… please, show me why we’re going to be fine. Please, ease my nerves,” He said, and I smiled. “Not a problem, ol’ buddy of mine! Watch this! Ahem, PERRSOOONAAA!!!” I took off the mask, and the familiar bout of blue flame erupted from my face, forming Hereward… but something felt different. After just summoning him, I started to feel tired… like, really tired. I collapsed to my hooves, and Hereward followed suit. The blue flame of my persona diminished, along with the getup on my body. My phantom thief clothing, disappearing as the blue flame collected around my neck as a black and red striped scarf. I pant for a moment, catching my breath, before saying “Well… there goes that idea… I guess I really didn’t know what I was doing.”