//------------------------------// // Chapter Six // Story: Placebo // by Sepulcher //------------------------------// Twilight pulled out a book, seemingly out of nowhere, entitled '101 Things You Wanted To Know About Sleepovers But Were Afraid To Ask'. Rather apt title, I thought. She started hoofing through the pages with interest. After several minutes of this and no response from Twilight, I decided to think about my future, and more importantly, about the cryptic remark Princess Celestia made. How could I have already repaid my debts to Celestia? I wondered. I've just met her and her student and they were acting like they've known me for much longer. Do they treat everyone this way, or am I a special case? Looking back to Twilight and seeing her still engrossed in her book, I zoned off in my abstract thoughts. Of course I'm a special case, I appeared out of nowhere, dressed in flying gear with no memory of anything related directly to me. I still knew what I was and how to speak, and now I've been enchanted somehow to resist any magic directed at me, and a by-product of that changed my very eyes and enabled me to see the connections of life. My thoughts turned to darker questions. How bad of a pony was I that someone made me forget everything about myself? What could I have possibly done to deserve such a punishment? Am I just a pawn in the grander scheme of things? No, I'm sure Princess Celestia would have noticed any evil taint about me, not to even mention the fact that she's letting me observe unfettered her most faithful student and her closest friends. So engrossed in my thoughts, I didn't hear Twilight until she cleared her throat. "Sorry Twilight, I was thinking, what did you say?" "I said that I found a game that I wanted to try. I was going to do it with Rarity and Applejack, but never had the time. It's a game called '20 Questions'. Want to try?" "Sure," I said, glad to put my dark thoughts behind me. "How do you play?" "Oh it's really simple," Twilight assured me. "One of us thinks of a person, place, or thing and the other pony can ask twenty questions about the thing in question, with the goal being to figure out what thing the pony is thinking of. Do you want to guess or shall I?" I grinned and said, "It's your sleepover Twi. I'd be happy with either." Twilight ended up guessing first. I picked an apple pie, hoping she would think I picked something abstract and difficult to find. "Is it a person place or thing?" "Thing." "Is it a type of plant? "...Not anymore." "Is it a material?" "No." "Is it edible?" "Yes." "Can it be eaten alone or with other foods?" "Either." Twilight thought intensely. "When would you eat it?" "Dessert." "Is it made with apples?" "Yes," I replied with a sigh. "Is it apple pie?" I was thoroughly confused how easily she got it. "Yep. Your turn to guess." We played '20 Questions' throughout the night, without either of us ever using up all allotted questions. By the time I finally called it quits, the score was 13-13. Twilight begged me for one more tie-breaking game. "C'mon, one more game! It'll only take a few minutes..." I shook my head in exhaustion. "I'm sorry Twilight, but I can barely keep myself from falling asleep." My statement was punctuated by a yawn. "There's always tomorrow." Twilight gave in. "Alright, but you owe me a tie-breaker tomorrow. We shall see who the better 20 Questions pony really is..." I snuggled into my sleeping bag, looking forward to the next day. Just as fell asleep, I heard Twilight whisper, "You awake Ryder?" "I am now," I replied sleepily. "Why'd you ask? I thought in a 'sleepover' we were supposed to sleep after the fun and games..." I could hear Twilight twist in her bed. "I was curious about something and I can't sleep when I'm curious." Oh well, I thought. I guess it can't be helped. "What are you curious about, Twilight?" "I was just wondering," she said quietly. "Do you have any family, or... anypony special that you remember?" I debated calling her out on her shyness, but thought better of it. "As far as I know, I have no family. As for anypony special, the only people that I know and have met are you, your friends, and Princess Celestia. Does that answer your question?" Twilight sighed. "Yes, I suppose it does." I could sense that something was still bothering her, so I decided to ask. "Is there something wrong Twilight? If it's something I did or said, I'm sorry. If it isn't, can I help?" Twilight sighed again. "No, it's nothing you did. It's just...I always felt a little distant from my other friends. I know they love me, and I love them too, it's just..." I swore I heard a sob come from her. "I never considered them my intellectual equals. I thought the only pony I could relate to was Princess Celestia, but since I've come to know you..." Through my eyes, I could see the bonds between us grow even stronger. I had no idea what to say, so I kept my mouth shut. "I wish I could see you every day. Talk to you, discuss things with you, have you all to myself. And I feel awful about it, because I know Celestia gave you an assignment to spend time with everypony and my jealousy shouldn't change that." I had to say something, so I picked the safest option I could. "Twilight, don't feel bad. I have an assignment to do, but that doesn't mean we can't still be friends. And for the record, I barely know you, but I feel like I can talk to you about anything. Know this Twilight Sparkle: no matter what, we will always be friends." My statement seemed to do the trick. Hearing a contented sigh from Twilight followed by a adorable sounding snore, I laid my weary head to rest. I drifted off to sleep thinking how event-filled tomorrow would be, if tonight was anything to compare it with. In the mind of Twilight Sparkle, sometime during the night Twilight had a dream. In her dream, she was in a massive tower, with no windows or doors. The tower was filled with books, scrolls, letters, notes, and everything else she enjoyed reading. The only light source was a line of candles, each a differing colour, which brightened the tower. Twilight was content to stay in that tower forever, soaking up the information like a sponge, letting the light warm her. Some small part of her knew she was in a prison, but the rest of her ignored that small part and continued to read. She read until she could barely focus on the words in front of her. Only until she couldn't read any further did she focus on her surroundings rather than the books. She saw she was chained, rooted to the very spot, unable to move farther than her never-ending pile of books. She consigned herself to her fate, knowing nopony was coming to save her. As these dream thoughts coalesced, the flames of the multi-coloured candles twisted and morphed into a dark blue pegasus with rainbow coloured eyes. The pegasus smiled and broke her chains, freeing her. Twilight tried to express her gratitude, but he was gone, melting back into the candle lights, without so much as a goodbye. The dream Twilight cried softly, wishing she could have thanked her liberator for freeing her from her prison. That particular dream ended and the dark embrace of deep sleep took her.