//------------------------------// // You just need to care. // Story: Somehow, I'm Twilight Sparkle. // by Full Tome //------------------------------// The jump was a little disorienting. One second I was jumping into a room on some spaceship, the next, I was standing in a park with a fountain. I started looking around. The entire world was floating in a slight purple haze. The more I looked around, the more confused I was. It looked mostly human, but it had specks of equestrian culture here and there. “Oh, boy, oh boy, oh boy oh-boy...” I heard from behind me all of a sudden. Turning around, I seen a teenaged boy with a bad case of bedhead, almost as if he hadn’t brushed his hair for a few weeks. “Who are you?” I asked the figure, taking in more of his features. “Bad question.” He said. He was wearing two shirts. A short-sleeved T-shirt over a long-sleeved T-shirt, Jeans, and some skater shoes. He gave the air of being thoughtful, if distant, in the way he walked around. “How is that a bad question? I’m just asking who you are.” He sat down a short ways from me, making it easier to see his blue eyes. His hair was dirty blonde, and... His face was marred with scarring. “Asher.” He said simply. “What... What happened to your face?” “Are the scars unsettling?” “No, they’re just... why are they there?” “Because despite not being there naturally, I feel they are part of me.” He answered flatly. “What happened?” “I wrecked a tote-gote. Although this isn’t related to why you are here.” “What do you mean?” “You’re here for a reason. Although I have a feeling you’d like to talk to me after you’re done talking to me.” He said almost cryptically. Almost. “So... I’m to talk to both halves of you?” “Correct.” “Well...” I started, looking around. “where is the other one?” “Follow me.” he said, standing up. I looked around at everything as I followed Asher, although there wasn’t much to look at. It was just two houses of equal size sitting on opposite sides of a street leading up to a prison like facility at the top of a hill. Looking back at the park, I began to feel a little out of place. “Where are we?” “Correction: Where are you.” “But we’re both here.” “No. I am a construct for ease of conversation. I am not the conscious mind you are used to talking to.” “Wait, this is the subconscious mind?” “Yes.” I stopped in my tracks and looked around again. Everything was much darker, and the houses looked to be extremely distant. The road to the containment building had more twists and turns than it had before, and the park was out of view. “How did we get clear up here?” “Up where?” “But... Look!” “I cannot see things from your perspective, as I am not you.” “You mean you can’t see this?!” “I cannot see anything, except for what my eyes can show me.” “But you have eyes right there!” “My eyes are nothing but part of your perception of a world that does not truly exist.” “... You mean... I’m influencing this place?” “I do not interfere with the thoughts of the frontmost consciousnesses.” “But... that means... aren’t you my subconscious?” “In part, yes.” He said, standing perfectly still. “Although I urge you to attend to your business before you upset me.” “Upset you?” “There is a reason you perceive there to be something related to restraint.” “Like a prison.” “If that is what you perceive then that is what it is.” “You mean... Asher’s in a prison?” “Yes, and I urge you to hurry. My patience is not great by any measure.” “Right, sorry.” I said, walking toward the penitentiary. We reached the door, which was obviously much thicker than was probably necessary, even just looking at it. The walls were impossibly high, and there were no windows. Unnervingly, the door opened itself as we approached. “This is as far as I can tread.” Asher said, stopping just before the doorway. “I am not allowed to enter a mind which is not my own without permission.” “But this is your mind...” “As much as it is my mind, I have no control over it, thus, it is not my mind. I wish you luck as you converse with my less... civil, counterpart.” He said before the door to the prison closed, leaving me inside. There was no reception desk. There were no cells, occupied or empty alike... There was just a hallway to a much smaller door. Taking a breath I proceeded down the corridor and opened the door, to be greeted by low menacing laughter. “How long has it been since there was a door leading here?” Asher asked, although unlike the other one. For some reason, his voice sounded cold and threatening. “Five, five and a half... years, was it?” he asked, bursting into a louder, more mocking laugh. “How bad did you shit yourself that you’d need to hold your own hand to talk to me?” he mocked. I could pretty much feel his smile. I stepped in to see the same boy from earlier, although his hair was short and tidy, and he was only wearing a short sleeved T-shirt with his cargo pants and tennis shoes. “Nothing to say?” He asked, trying to look around, but his neck brace kept him from doing so. He had so many chains leading to the cuffs and shackles that were on him that it was surprising he could look as comfortable as he did, and even the amount that still held him restrained looked like toy handcuffs compared to all the chains, cuffs, shackles, and braces that layed on the ground around him. I stepped into his line sight, looking at him with a mix of fear and curiosity. “Oh? A pony?” he said, smiling as if he found it to be more amusing than anything. “Odd... I really wish I got more information down here...” “Wh-” I started, only to get cut off. “You’re perceiving things to be as such.” “Wh-” “Because I don’t care enough to hear what you have to say.” “Wh-” “You know, you ask “Why” a lot, why don’t you try asking more important questions?” “Wha-” “Better. Nothing is wrong with me. Next?” “Wi-” “No, I will not stop cutting you off. You’re too predictable, Twilight Sparkle.” “That doe-” “No, it doesn’t. Do I care? No. Now, what is it you’re here for?” “I don’t know!” “Oh? Getting irritated with me? Get over it.” “Will you just-” “You’re here about something to do with magic, right? Can’t use it because of some block? News flash, filly, I’m not obstructing anything.” I could only stare at him. “That’s right, I have no issue with becoming more powerful. Why don’t you go smack my conscious self and tell him to suck it up and just accept that I’m going to get the power one way or another, and there isn’t a thing I can do to stop it from happening.” he remarked, although what he said irritated me more than the arrogance he was displaying with the smug grin he had. “You si-” “Oh, how cute, you think I’m a jerk. Your daydream can only keep you here for so long you know. You’ve settled whatever business you have here with me, so why don’t you go back out to pansy ass out there and get whatever business you have here in the subconscious sorted out once and for all?” “I will.” “Good. Nice to see how sexy I am.” he adds, narrowing his eyebrows, clearly trying to get under my skin. Undoubtedly, he succeeded. I stormed out of the building, leaving a laughing voice haunting the single hallway of the building. As I emerged into the calmer world, I noticed everything seemed to be closer again. The winding road back to the houses was now a short walk downhill. Asher was even waiting there laying back on the hill, looking up at the purple hued sky. “Something important is about to happen.” He said, although it seemed to be more of a voiced thought than something he was telling me. “What do you mean?” “Nothing all that important for you, but of great importance to me. Or myself. I will benefit from it, even if I am not myself.” “That... is actually kind of cryptic.” “As is wont to do.” “So... You know why I’m here, right?” “Yes.” “Then you’re holding it back.” “Yes.” I let out a sigh. “I was hoping you wouldn’t say that.” He just lied there on the hill staring skyward. “Why is it you’re holding back the magic?” “Because I avoid getting power.” “Why?” He sat up, and looked back at me. “Because being outside of perceived normality caused me to become that.” He said, pointing back to the penitentiary. “How?” “I was hated.” “By who?” “Everyone that wasn’t family... Even some family hated me.” “What?” “I was too advanced for those who weren’t used to me, and so they hated me for being different.” “When?” “Before I was pulled out of school.” “Wait, you were pulled out of school?” “Yes.” “Why?” Again, he pointed to the penitentiary. “Because he wasn’t locked away like he is now.” “And what’s that have to do with anything?” He sat there silently for a moment. “Violence.” was all he said, before lying back down on the hill. I looked to him, not sure if I was shocked by the answer, or dumbfounded that he would use that as the answer. “What?” “I have had a history with violence, and my future is riddled with it as well,” he started. “Take, for example, a kitten. It starts play fighting, but as it grows older, it becomes a lot more and more aggressive toward it’s fellow felines. “I started out less innocently though. I was fueled by anger, which gave room for hate to grow. And it did. Eventually my own animosity made me a target for the hate of others. As I became more and more disliked, I grew more and more cold toward others...” We sat there silently for a moment. “I don’t like my history... I’m not guaranteeing that you will become violent... I’m just saying it’s highly likely.” “Trust me Asher, I’m going to do my best to avoid becoming the violent pony you think I might become.” I said, looking at him. “There are a few other things you need to watch out for, Twilight.” “I’m pretty sure I can handle it.” “What is not seen is the least of worries, but of the highest of dangers.” “You like to be cryptic when you talk, don’t you?” “What’s cryptic is only by the eye of the perceiver. The obvious is cryptic to another, and vice versa.” “I’ll take that as a ‘Yes.’” I said giggling. We again sat in silence for a moment. “Would you mind unblocking the flow of magic?” I asked, looking to Asher. “You know the answer.” “Will you unblock it anyways?” He sat quietly before letting out a breath. “I suppose I should... But remember that I weaken my seal when I do this.” “Why are you locked away anyways?” “So that I can seem normal.” “Asher...” “You’re running out of time, anything you say must be done with utmost haste.” “You don’t need to be normal, Asher. You just need to care.” I said, pulling him into a hug. I didn’t really expect it, but I got a hug back. As quickly as the hug came though, it broke. “Now, Twilight, I need you to focus on keeping yourself you, alright?” “After seeing what’s in there, I’m not looking forward to merging.” “Neither am I, although I happen to be psyched. I won’t be able to help you when you face yourself. Stay strong Twilight Sparkle. You’ll need all the strength you can get.” he said while getting to his feet. “Now, hurry, you need to get to the park to get out of here safely, and the time you’ve spent here, although brief, is running out.” “Right. Thanks for unblocking our magic!” I hollered back as I started to sprint back to the park. Asher was right, the world started to vanish as I made my way to the park. The closer I got, the faster the place seemed to vanish. As everything started to converge on the fountain, I dove in. That’s the last thing I remember of that place.