//------------------------------// // Endless Shards of a Human Mind // Story: A Skitch in Time (Revised) // by GreyGuardPony //------------------------------// The silence in Golden Oaks Library was oppressive as Twilight stared at her spellcrafting efforts. The memory detection spell, cobbled together from three others, lay upon the reading stand where she had written it. It’s usefulness was now in question, as the pony she was going to cast it on had pulled a runner. And then there was the other news that Fluttershy had brought. “And you’re sure that Manny doesn’t remember her at all?” She asked again, her analytical mind tearing away at the problem. “Well...I can’t say that I’m *exactly* sure. But he certainly didn’t seem to remember her.” Fluttershy answered, shrinking back slightly, “I’m sorry. I just wanted to tell you as soon as I could…” “No,” Twilight sighed rubbing her forehead. “You’re right Fluttershy. We need to deal with this. Can you...,” she sighed again, looking back to her spell. “Just get the others please.” She felt Fluttershy lean against her side a moment later, the pegasus wrapping a wing around her body. “It’s not your fault.” Twilight shook her head, her stomach churning. “I should have started working on this spell a week ago. We would have had our answer and I could have started to work on a solution!” She cursed, kicking the bookstand. “And now she’s somewhere in Canterlot, doing Celestia knows what!” “Twilight.” Spike sighed from his seat on the stairs, “You’ve been working plenty hard on this. It’s not your fault all those other detection spells told you nothing. What else could you have done?” Squeezing her eyes shut for a moment, Twilight sighed, “I could have said ‘Forget the Flight Championships’ and finished the spell.” “But she thought taking a break was a good idea too.” Fluttershy pointed out. “Yes, because she was on such an even mental keel!” “Stop it,” Spike demanded, walking over to his friend. “We can sit here and beat up on ourselves, or we can do something about it.” Twilight peered at her assistant for a moment, a slight smile crossing her muzzle, “That your comic books talking?” “Maybe a little.” Twisting in Fluttershy’s wing hug, Twilight glanced at the clock on the wall, “Nine thirty. If we hurry we can catch the last train to Canterlot and be there by midnight.” Slipping loose, she rushed upstairs for her saddlebags, grabbing her completed spell along the way, “I can test our own memories on the way there.” - - - - The private train cabin was crowded with six ponies and one baby dragon crammed inside; the ponies sat on the padded seats, while Spike sat on the floor, resting his back against the wall under the window. But the cramped conditions had been quickly forgotten as Twilight had brought everypony else up to speed. While all were concerned, some were more upset than others. “I should have watched her better!” Rarity moaned, flopping sideways against Pinkie Pie in a melodramatic swoon, “She was so scared, afraid of losing what was left and I should have watched her better!” Her moan was cut short as Pinkie wrapped a leg around her friend, pulling her into a hug, “It’s okay Rarity! We’ll find her and fix everything! I promise!” “So, Twi,” Applejack nodded towards the unicorn’s saddlebags. “Gonna cast that spell? Ah reckon it’s time ta get some kind of real answers here.” She idly scratched her head, frowning at her lack of hat. “Yeah,” Rainbow Dash nodded, her jaw set into a furious glower. “I want to know what’s going on here.” Twilight nodded, digging the scroll from her saddlebags, “Okay everypony. This is going to be kind of a rush. It won’t remove the false memories completely, but it will kind of...highlight the differences, really.” “Enough with the explaining, make with the casting!” Dash urged with an impatient hoof wave. With a roll of her eyes, Twilight began to cast. She wove the threads of the spell around her friends and herself carefully, taking great care to layer the strands of magic carefully on their heads. They formed a lattice of light upon their brows, and as she finished the spell off a brilliant glow sprung to life in their eyes. And the world fell away: Twilight watched as events from the last two years played out all around her, each memory contained within its own spotlight. Skitch was a central figure, or at least present in all of them, her familiar voice ringing out again and again as the multiple versions of her spoke over each other. “Winter Wrap-Up, Winter Wrap-Up!” “I hear that zebras can hex you with their hoooorriibblllee miiiinnndd pooowweeerrrsss!” “I know! I’ll make an illusion of Princess Celestia and-” It was a surreal, watching all of these events play out at the same time. But then the situation grew even more dreamlike. The copies of Skitch-Sketch began to fade away, becoming more insubstantial and see through, her voice echoy and tinny...most of them, at least. “Hi! I’m Skitch-Sketch! What’s your name?” Twilight twisted towards the memory that hadn’t gone quiet. Far older than the others, the scene was from her time at Celestia’s School for Gifted Unicorns, over one of the many lunch periods that she had spent in the back corner of the cafeteria. A filly Skitch-Sketch had hopped right up to Twilight’s table, wide grin on her muzzle, tail rapidly swishing back and forth. “So I did know her...” Twilight whispered. The spell ended suddenly, leaving the group in a stunned silence for a few moments. Her stomach twisting, Twilight looked to each of her friends, reading their expressions. Rarity’s was ashen, her lower lip trembling. Pinkie Pie, meanwhile, was more perplexed than anything else, her face scrunched up in confusion. “I never threw her that party…” Applejack and Rainbow Dash were sharing matching angry glares, Dash’s wings twitching like she wanted to punch something. Fluttershy was hiding behind her hair, a deep frown crossing her muzzle. Spike was just rubbing the side of his head in confusion. “Woah...that’s heavy,” he finally offered. Everypony jumped at the loud 'thwack' sound that echoed through the cabin as dash punched the wall. “She put those memories in my head.” Rainbow Dash growled, “I feel violated.” “W-we don’t know…” Fluttershy countered, her voice trembling, “Why w-would she tell us a-about being a human if she was behind it?” “Ah don’t know Fluttershy.” Applejack grumbled, flicking her tail, “But ya gotta admit that it doesn’t look good. Even more now that she ran off.” “She was asking for our help!” Rarity suddenly exclaimed, her expression livid, “I refuse to believe that she’s behind this!” “Yeah!” Pinkie chimed in, “Forget all those spooky, shaky see through thoughts! ‘Sides, the princesses are all supery dupery powerful right? I don’t think that Skitch could give them bad memories.” Her eyes darted around the cabin, “Right?” Twilight sighed, looking out the train window at the dark landscape rushing past. “I don’t know Pinkie…I don’t think she could. At least…” A soft rapping sound filled the cabin as Twilight began to nervously tap her own hoof against the wall. “They’re very powerful...maybe if they were ambushed…” She shook her head. “But it doesn’t make any sense! Skitch-Sketch’s cutie-mark is art based! She can do illusion magic. Teleporting shouldn’t be possible for her, let alone enchanting the princesses!” “So, what’s the plan Twi? Go straight to the princesses? Search the city for her?” “Actually,” Twilight bit her lip, “I’d like to go to the library first.” Everyone exchanged glances at that, Spike the first to speak up. “Umm. Twilight? I’m not sure this is the time for that.” “But it is!” She fired back, suddenly perking up, “Not all of my memories of Skitch were fake! There were a few from my time at Celestia’s School for Gifted Unicorns that were still real! Like during the entrance exams!” “Go on darling.” “She was taking the test ahead of me. I figured she was a shoe in, since she already had her cutie-mark. And she was so happy when she left the room!” “What happened when she showed up fer lessons?” “Well, she approached me in the cafeteria one day. She wanted to be friends.” Twilight frowned, “It was a Friday...she wasn’t in classes again on Monday. I never saw her again.” She shook her head, “Anyway, the Canterlot Library has old newspaper archives, so I was thinking that maybe we could find something. Some kind of clue or hint at what was behind all of this” “Ah suppose that makes sense.” Applejack rubbed her chin, “But it’s the middle of the night. How are we gonna get in?” A grin split Twilight’s muzzle, her chest puffing out with not a small amount of pride. “I have private access to Canterlot’s Royal Library. Courtesy of Princess Celestia.” “We put in so many hours there, the night guard knows us by name.” Spike added, “Sends us Hearth Warming cards every year.” “Only you Twilight,” Rainbow Dash shook her head. “Only you.” - - - - The ancient back door to the Royal Library creaked open at the touch of Twilight’s horn, revealing the short entrance hall that the staff and preferred members of the library used to access the building. A small hat and cloak rack stood just to the right of the door, currently occupied by one battered brown gatsby cap, while a warm and inviting looking red rug ran up to a thick wooden desk. An older stallion was resting there, snout buried in his forelegs as he softly snored away. “Mister Binder?” Twilight called out, trotting to towards the desk, “It’s Twilight.” The stallion slept on, oblivious to her greeting. Rainbow Dash flew forward, lightly poking the slumbering pony on the head. He grunted, shifting his position slightly, but did not wake. She glanced at Twilight with a shrug. “He’s down for the count Twilight. He usually this sleepy?” “No.” She shook her head, “He’s usually wide awake and alert. We should be careful, she might be here.” “Which way, darling?” Rarity asked, jerking her head towards the spiral staircase. “Down. The papers are in the basement.” They trotted down the staircase, the sound of their hooves (and claws in Spike’s case) on the stone steps softly echoing in the confined space; Twilight lead the way, her horn aglow as the interior lights were not lit. Hitting the bottom of the stairs, her light spilled into the room beyond, revealing the old shelves that groaned under the weight of so much paper. Moving into the room the rows and stacks of papers became almost claustrophobic as the group continued along, glancing at the shadows for any sign of Skitch-Sketch. Twilight continued to lead the way, straining her ears for movement. “The section we’re looking for should be just ahea…..” She trailed off as the sound of frantic muttering mixed with the occasional flop of something hitting the ground floated towards them. “Where is it? Where is it? Come on…” Lowering the glow of her horn, Twilight paused; looking to Applejack and Rainbow Dash, she pointed to row to the left of the one she heard the muttering come from, before pointing back to the first one. Nodding, her two friends began to creep around to the other end of the row. Jerking her head towards the rest, they moved towards the near end, taking in the scene. Skitch-Sketch sat in the middle of the isle, newspapers scattered all around her in a frenzy. She snatched another from the shelf with her magic, the the pages flipping past in a blur as she searched for something. So lost in her search she was, she didn’t notice that she was being surrounded. Settling on a page, her eyes lit up as she found what she was looking for. And a shocked yelp escaped her lips a moment later when Twilight yanked the newspaper away with her own magic. “T-Twilight?” She stammered, her eyes darting from pony to pony to dragon. “Spike? Girls? What? NO!” She shouted as Twilight began to read the same page she had been a moment ago, “Don’t read that!” “Skitch...this is the obituaries…” Her eyes narrowed, her voice growing very quiet, “And your name is here…. Killed by falling construction equipment.” “Why?!” Skitch-Sketch moaned, nervously rubbing a foreleg, “Why couldn’t you have just left it alone? We could have just been friends! It would have been like nothing was ever wrong!” “‘Cept that you came to us fer help.” Applejack countered as she and Rainbow Dash closed in from the other side, “Talkin’ about how you were somethin called a human. Not ta mention yer somehow here, despite bein’ dead.” A manic laugh escaped Skitch’s mouth, her eyes bugging wide. She was cowering now, pressing herself against the stacks. “It’s complicated! Just...please. Let’s just put the paper back and walk away! We can go back to Ponyville and everything will be nice and normal! We’ll go and have all kinds of adventures! D-doesn’t that sound good? Adventures!” Another manic laugh, “Besides, it’s not like that human will ever say anything again.” “What did you do?” Fluttershy snapped, taking an uncharacteristically assertive step forward, “What happened to her!” “I...Fluttershy…” “Tell me.” “I...replaced him. He’s gone...” She winced. It was quiet for a moment, the impact of those words hanging heavily in the air, before Fluttershy spoke up again, her voice trembling with anger. “How dare you.” She took another step closer to Skitch-Sketch, “How DARE you! You think you can just...murder somepony like that? Can you imagine how scared he must have been?” “P-please! His species are m-monsters! If you’ve seen what I’ve seen, you wouldn’t be so quick to be crying for the poor human!” “And did you see him doing horrible things?” Fluttershy shot back, advancing again till she was almost right on Skitch-Sketch. Skitch winced, flinching away from Fluttershy’s accusation as she continued, “How could you do it? Why would you do it!” “Because! It just...it wasn’t fair.” She responded, hanging her head, “I mean, look at Applejack there.” “How the hay do I figure in to yer decisions?” Applejack blinked. Skitch’s smile was more of a bitter grimace as turned to address Applejack. “You’re kidding, right? Those scars? You get into a fight with some kind of monster and live? I was walking home from school! Some moron didn’t secure a load of wooden beams, they fell and they broke my neck!” She rubbed her eyes with the back of a hoof, fighting down tears. “I wasn’t any older than your sisters.” She nodded to Rarity and Applejack, “I had just gotten my cutie-mark a few days ago. I had a long life ahead of me. It just...wasn’t fair.” “So you take somepony elses?” Rarity asked, her voice trembling. “Never a pony! But his people...I mean…” “It’s over Skitch.” Spike frowned, “Maybe if you come with us willingly the princesses will be lenient.” Skitch looked around again, her eyes pleading as she looked to every creature around her before settling on Twilight Sparkle. She threw herself past Fluttershy, falling to her knees before the unicorn. “Please Twilight, please, please, please. Don’t do this to me. I just wanted to live again! You...you remember me from the School of Gifted Unicorns! That has to mean something!” “Skitch...you killed somepony. You magically interfered with the memories of all kinds of ponies, and I’m pretty sure that there’s more going on here, since I doubt you could have created all of this yourself.” She shook her head, “You’re coming with us.” “NO!” Skitch shouted, her horn beginning to glow, “Everfree, Everfree, Everfre-” A white blur lashed out before she could complete the spell. Rarity’s hoof slammed into the side of Skitch’s head, knocking the unicorn sideways from the force of the strike. Her eyes rolled up into her head with a groan and she collapsed to the ground. Hauling the unconscious form of Skitch up, Rarity draped her across Applejack’s back. Angrily flicking her mane back, she made for the stairs with a huff. “Twilight, Princess Luna should be holding night court again, yes?” “Yes, she should.” “Then it’s time to pay her a visit.” - - - - Princess Luna fiddled with her black and silver torque as it slipped slightly, dropping an inch or two lower on her neck; the piece of jewelry was still too large for her but she still refused Celestia’s offer to have it refit. She would properly grow back into it, and show no weakness until then. The main hall of Canterlot Castle was currently empty, save for a handful of her Lunar Guard, her court assistant and herself. Shifting in her throne slightly, Luna turned to her assistant. “Lavender, what is next on the agenda for tonight?” Lavender Lights turned her attention towards her check list. She was a younger thestral, full of energy and a desire to impress her princess. Her dark purple eyes roamed over the page for a moment, before she nodded. “Next is the administration of the oath of office to a few new judge appointees to Canterlot’s night courts.” “Ahh yes!” Luna beamed, puffing up in her throne, “The appointing of new bailiffs is a just and righteous cause! How many shall we be bringing into the fold? Three? Five?” “Twenty, actually.” Lavender corrected, chuckling at Princess Luna’s shocked expression, “We had a round of retirees recently and Canterlot’s population keeps on growing.” “Oh, yes,” Luna blinked. “We forgot about population increase. Very well, gather-” “Princess Luna!” The Lunar Guard near the entrance moved to block Twilight and her friends as they rushed towards the throne, the unconscious form of their friend Skitch-Sketch sprawled out on Applejack’s back. Luna raised an eyebrow at their expressions. The last time she had seen them looking this angry and determined, she had still been Nightmare Moon. “Stand down,” Luna commanded, stepping off the throne and striding briskly across the hallway. “Twilight Sparkle? What is wrong? Why is thine friend unconscious?” Her sister’s student was already channeling a spell as she drew near. “Don’t resist my spell princess! It’ll make the explanation easier.” Luna blinked but nodded, putting her trust in the element bearers. She felt the twists of magic settle upon her as Twilight finished her incantation. She felt the spell probe and prod, search and seek and lay the truth bare. “We see,” She said, looking to Lavender. “Lavender, please reschedule the oath for another night, we must go wake our sister.” She then looked to her Lunar Guard, “Escort the element bearers to the dungeons. Place the green one in one of the anti-magic cells until we arrive.” “By your command!” - - - - “It is hard to believe,” Celestia sighed, sadly looking down at the unconscious unicorn in the cell. “I know.” Twilight agreed bitterly, her ears slicked back, “But it’s true. I saw the old obituary and well...we saw the end result of the spell.” She stared at her hooves, shuffling them nervously. When she looked back up at Celestia, her eyes were were almost pleading. “I wasn’t fast enough.” “Twilight…” “She kept saying that she wasn’t who we thought she was, and I didn’t listen!” Celestia draped a wing across her student’s back. “Twilight...I was fooled by the false memories as well. You can’t tear yourself apart like this. It is...a disturbing revelation. Even more so the implication that a young filly could be behind it.” “I don’t think she is,” Pinkie chirped up, ildy rocking back and forth. “Why’s that?” Spike asked. “She said that she saw what humans had done. If she was a ghostie, how could she have seen them? Sides, the other Skitchy...she came from somewhere.” “Princess?” Twilight asked, looking up at her mentor, “Please tell me there’s something we can do? I...I promised the human I’d help her. She can’t really be completely gone, can she?” Celestia and Luna exchanged glances, the younger of the sisters speaking up. “All may not be lost,” Luna explained. “If her will was strong enough, she might have been able to hang on, buried deeply in within the subconscious realms of the mind.” “And the original Skitch deserves to be questioned as well.” Celestia nodded, looking to Twilight and her friends. An impish smile crossed her muzzle. “And you still wish to help the human, if possible?” Twilight rapidly nodded, “Yes! I...I promised I’d help her and that’s what I’m going to do.” “Yes.” Rarity agreed, “We can’t let this travesty happen.” “I’m in!” Dash added, “I want to find out who’s behind all of this.” “Ah agree.” “Yeah! We’ll fix all of this and throw a ‘You’re not dead!’ party!” “I’ll come too. I’m just so cross at Skitch right now.” Celestia nodded motioning to Spike with a wing. “Come with me Spike. I’ll require your assistance in collecting some items.” “Sure thing princess!” - - - - Celestia and Spike returned a little while later, the princess carrying the chest containing the Elements of Harmony, Spike a large black candle bearing Luna’s cutie-mark. “What’s that thing supposed to be?” Rainbow Dash asked, jabbing a hoof at the candle. “Tis one of our old creations!” Luna answered, ruffling her wings, “It contains a portion of our power.” “Yeah, but what’s it do?” “We created it before our banishment.” She explained, floating the candle out of Spike’s arms and over to her, “In case we’d ever have to bring members of the Night Guard along with us into the mindscape.” She coughed, an embarrassed flush creeping into her cheeks. “It shall also give us the power to dreamwalk again, as we have not yet recovered fully from the the use of the Elements upon our personage.” Princess Celestia nodded, passing out the Elements to each bearer. “The magical nature of the Elements will allow you to use them in the mindscape. I am...hoping that the spirit of the original Skitch will consent to leave the body on her own. The poor dear deserves to properly rest in peace.” The solar monarch sighed, her ears drooping, “If she refuses, however, you must use the Elements of Harmony to sever the connection and send her soul to the Elysian Fields. Do you understand?” “Yes princess.” They responded with a nod, save for Rainbow Dash. “Can’t we just use the Elements on her now, while she’s asleep?” “Here, you would be effecting both of them with the Elements,” Celestia responded. “And I am honestly not sure what they would do in this situation.” Dash blinked, tilting her head in confusion. “I don’t know what the elements might do with pieces of an alien mind when a pony’s occupies the same body. They might decide that the unfamiliar thing needs to be banished.” Celestia elaborated, motioning to Skitch with a wing, “But if you go into the mind, you can target Skitch directly, if it comes to that.” “Oh, okay.” Luna extended the candle back towards Spike. “Spike, if thou would be so kind to provide us a light?” The young dragon happily obliged, spitting a small gout of fire onto the wick of the candle. As it sputtered to life, Luna pulled the cell door open and trotted inside, motioning for the bearers to follow. Carefully placing the magic candle before Skitch’s head she began to point with a wing. “If ye could sit in a circle around Skitch, we shall begin.” Twilight and her friends did as they were told, settling into a loose circle around the form of their “friend”. “Now,” Luna began, as she started to summon her magic power. Focusing, she ran the spell to the candle, to Skitch-Sketch, back to herself, and then to Twilight and her friends, “We shall be journeying into the depths of the subconscious. If the consciousness of the human is buried and scattered, there is a fair chance we will encounter fragments of the mind.” “Fragments?” Pinkie questioned, “Like when you crumble bits off a chocolate bar for cookies?” “Well…,” Luna blinked, smiling slightly. “Thy analogy is appropriate. Though this will be less delicious than sweets. Now, prepare thyselves!” The magical power reached a peak, crashing together as the candle flame violently flared brighter, shifting to a blue color in response. The eyes of the group grew heavy, the spell pulling them down into a full, deep, sleep. Spike bit his lip as he watched his mentor sink to the floor of the cell. “Will they be okay?” He asked, looking up at Celestia. “My sister may not be at her full power yet,” Celestia smiled warmly back. “But no pony I know is more adept at understanding the myriad permutations of the sapient mind than my sister. She will lead them through. Now,” She gently guided Spike away from the door, “It is late and you are still young. Get some rest and Luna and I shall make sure that everything turns out alright.” “But…” “Spike. Trust us. You can’t help here.” “Okay princess, if you say so,” he grumbled, as he was lead away. - - - - The world was a chaotic blur to Twilight, a mismatched clash of colors and shapes dancing through the air. She violently shook her head, clearing the fuzz from her brain, before taking another look at her surroundings. They were standing in the front yard of a home. Or at least that’s what she thought it was at one point. Now it was more of a floating slab of rock and grass, barely connected to the front wall of a house; what was beyond before had fallen away. All around them, other shards of buildings, items, and even half formed images orbited around the base of an impossibly large mountain that bore ordered rows of Ponyville buildings on its slopes. The mountain was topped by Canterlot Castle, somehow as clearly visible as it would be at the golden entrance gates, despite being separated by leagues of apparent distance. The sky was an angry purple color, occasionally split by bolts of lightning. She looked around again, checking to make sure everypony was okay. Princess Luna was nowhere in sight as her friends stumbled back to their hooves, shaking the cobwebs from their own minds. They took in the landscape as well, with varying reactions. Applejack and Rainbow Dash both looked suspicious, their eyes darting to each piece of the landscape like it was about to explode. Fluttershy and Rarity were more concerned, searching those same landscape bits for any signs of the human personality. Pinkie Pie...well… “Wow!” She gasped, hopping around the yard, eyes as wide as dinner plates, “It this what all minds look like? This is sooooo weird!” “Great,” Dash rolled her eyes. “If Pinkie thinks this place is weird, how worried should we be?” “She really isn’t wrong. This mind is in great turmoil.” Came Princess Luna’s voice from above their heads. Swooping into view, she neatly landed before the group, tucking her wings against her body as she stopped. Twilight and her friends couldn’t help but notice the changes in her appearance. She was closer to Celestia’s size now, her coat darker blue and her mane and tail were now a shimmering, wavy starscape. “Princess Luna?” Twilight asked, her eyes wide. “It is alright Twilight Sparkle.” Luna comforted, raising a silver shod hoof, “You are simply seeing my true self. How I looked before I became Nightmare Moon.” “Ahh!” Rarity perked up, picking up on the implications, “Because we’re in a mind, we resemble how we think of ourselves?” “You are correct Rarity. It is also why I no longer speak....archaically. We are in direct mental communication.” “So, now what?” Applejack asked, looking up at the mountain, “She could be anywhere around here.” “Which is why I scouted ahead while your minds were recovering from the transition. I believe that she is hiding in Canterlot Castle. The mindscape became...quite violent when I climbed too high up the slopes.” “Let’s go then!” Dash sprung into the air, making a few inches of progress before Applejack grabbed her by the tail and yanked her back to the ground. “Slow down Dash. How are the rest of us gonna get up there? We can’t fly.” “This is the mind, fair Applejack,” Luna smiled. “Thought rules here. Simply think about the direction you wish to travel in.” Applejack opened her mouth to question just how true that was, when Pinkie Pie floated past overhead. Doing the backstroke in mid air, the pink pony giggled with unrestrained joy at her wingless defiance of gravity. “Come on Applejack!” She beamed, “This is aweeeesomeeee!” Applejack didn’t look convinced, biting her lip as she watched each of her friends lift into the “air” in their own ways. “Ah just don’t know….It’s just weird is all.” Fluttershy flew to her friend’s side, taking Applejack’s pastern in her hooves. “It’s okay Applejack. I’ll help you fly.” “Ah’ll right.” The pair rose into the air again, joining the group as Luna looked towards the summit. “It will be difficult, but if we move quickly, we might be able to rush past the changing landscape and winds-” “Nope!” Pinkie Pie interrupted. “What?” Luna blinked, looking to the Element of Laughter, “Why not?” Pinkie shrugged, pointing towards a spot on the lower slope of the mountain. “We need to go that way.” “And why is that?” Luna asked, raising an eyebrow. “Weeeeeellllll…I got an itch on my back, a pinchy feeling on my sides, and a my tail is all twitchy-twitch. See!” She presented the appendage, which was indeed rapidly twitching back and forth. “Ahh yes. Your Pinkie Sense that Twilight wrote my sister about. What does this particular combination mean?” “That there’s somepony that can help us that way of course!” Pinkie grinned, doggie paddling towards the mountain. - - - - “Ah think that’s the third copy of Quills and Sofas we’ve passed.” Applejack observed as they followed Pinkie’s bouncing progress through the cityscape. “She was young when she died, yes?” Luna asked continuing when Twilight nodded an affirmative, “Young minds tend to have a smaller pool of references to pull from.” “Princess?” Twilight asked, looking at the buildings around her, “If we’re in Skitch’s head, her human self is scattered, and the original personality is in the castle...who can Pinkie be leading us to?” “Most likely a piece of the human personality. An aspect of the mind made manifest.” “Oh...” Fluttershy blinked, “That sounds...strange.” “A little, yes. Hopefully, it’ll be a positive emotional aspect. The negative ones can be…difficult at times.” “Well, then I’ll be ready to kick flank if need be!” Rainbow Dash boasted. “Quiet!” Applejack hissed, pointing to a copy of Sugarcube Corner, “Ah think it’s in there.” The sounds of rummaging and items being knocked too and fro floated from the half open windows, punctuated by occasional munching and gulping. “Sounds like they’re pigging out in there,” she observed. “Duh! Why wouldn’t they be! I don’t care if it is just in Skitchy’s head, Sugercube Corner’s cakes are the best!” Pinkie grinned bouncing towards the door, “Let’s go introduce ourselves!” “Pinkie!” Twilight shouted, running after her, “Wait for us!” Pinkie burst through the front door with her usual explosion of energy and glee, skidding to a halt as she and the creature that was tearing into the rows of cakes and pastries caught each other’s eyes. Pinkie, despite her upbeat attitude, froze. She had never seen a creature like this, even in her wildest dreams. It was a biped, like a minotaur, but covered in a red shell, almost like a changeling. Where a minotaur had hands and feet, this creature had claws. And four tendril like...things, hung in front of its mouth. Even more bizarrely, it was dressed like a doctor. A white labcoat was pulled overtop a blue shirt, complete with matching blue pants. It screamed. Pinkie screamed. Her friends screamed as they entered the room behind her. The creature screamed even louder. “ENOUGH!” Luna shouted, stamping a hoof. The whole building rattled from the impact, the creature wincing. “Alright, alright already!” It shouted in very male voice, raising his claws to protect his head, “Enough with the yelling and the anger. I just wanted a snack, why not?” Without waiting for a response, he casually reached over to the one of the racks of muffins, snatched one up with a claw and crammed the whole thing into his mouth with a series of noisy slurps. Twilight and company took in the wrecked interior while the creature ate. The “snack” seemed to have consisted of most of the store’s stock. “Please tell me this isn’t what humans look like.” Rarity flinched. “I think she would have mentioned the shell.” Twilight winced. “Human? Me?” He gave a deep belly laugh at the idea, “No, no, no.” “Hey there!” Pinkie beamed, hopping onto the counter, “My name’s Pinkie Pie! What’s yours?” “Zoidberg. Doctor John A. Zoidberg.” He smiled, holding his head high. “Neato! Think you could show us a way to the top of the mountain?” A horrific screech escaped Zoidberg's mouth, the very thought of the request seeming to terrify him to the core. Diving behind the counter, he snatched up a baking tray, brandishing as if it were some manner of shield. “I can’t! She’ll hit me!” “She?” Twilight asked. “The person in the castle with her guards. I can’t!” “Come on!” Dash shouted, “Where’s your back bone?” “My species doesn’t have backbones.” “I didn’t mean literally!” Luna sighed, ushering the group over to a corner of the building. “What the hay is going on here?” Applejack asked, confusion wrought on her features. “It’s...a remnant. The mind is splintered enough that memories and bits of personality are blending and mixing together. The subconscious drawing things he’s observed and read, most likely. Fiction is one of the things that has a strong hold on the mind, after all.” “And you’re sure that this...thing...can help us Pinkie?” Dash asked, motioning to Princess Luna, “I mean, we have a princess with us. Can’t we just smash our way up there or something?” “That would be ill advised.” Luna countered, glancing back over at the doctor, “While it is well within my power, I would prefer to minimize stress inside the mind. Things will be dangerous enough if Skitch decides to fight, rather than leave. That was why my initial plan was just to fly as fast as possible towards the summit.” Shaking her head slightly, Fluttershy trotted to Zoidberg’s side, who had returned to sneaking sweets. “Excuse me, Doctor?” He looked down at her, half a blueberry muffin sticking out of his mouth. “I know that you’re scared. But you don’t have to lead us all the way. Just show us the path. We won’t say that you’re involved. Please?” Zoidberg stared at her for a few minutes, the rest of the muffin disappearing down his gullet, Fluttershy staring right back with a soft and warm smile. His shoulders sagged with a sigh as he stood, “Alright. I’ll show you the way.” He motioned with a claw, “Follow me.” - - - - The entrance to the pathway was a squat, boxy theatre building. Constructed of tan stone and glass, it stood markedly apart from the rest of its fellows; even more so with the posters plastered across the facade displaying their own images. Rarity observed the posters with a measured disdain. “I really don’t think these capture our good sides at all…wait,” She squinted at one of the others, “Is that supposed to be Princess Celestia? She’s pink!” Their guide motioned to the doors. “So, here it is. It’s the only place that didn’t change when everything else did. Should lead you right to the top.” “It’s a movie theatre.” Rainbow Dash observed, rolling her eyes, “How it is supposed to lead anywhere?” “Oh, so now you know everything about this brain, miss big shot? It’s a corridor in there. You follow. What’s so hard to understand about that?” “Fine. You just better be right about this. Or we’ll come back and find you.” “Whatever. Now, if you’ll excuse me there were some cakes back there that I hadn’t gotten to yet.” Without another word, he turned and ran off into the city again, whooping as he went in a rather bizarre display. A confused silence settled over the group for a moment before Rarity spoke up again. “Well, that was...interesting. Shall we darlings?” “Indeed.” Luna nodded, pushing her way into the movie theater. Unlike the theater that Twilight and her friends were used to seeing in Ponyville, this one really was a single long corridor lined by doors. Faded placards bearing names such as “Call of the Cutie” and “Over a Barrel” jutted from the walls, marking each door with a name. And the final touch of weirdness to the scene, was the way the corridor itself sloped upwards, cutting diagonally through the mountain itself. In keeping with the odd laws of reality that ruled inside another creature’s head, they found it quite easy to walk along the carpeted path. They climbed higher and higher, Twilight glancing at each door title as they passed. “I wonder what’s behind these doors….” “We shouldn’t tarry, Twilight Sparkle.” Luna said, glancing at the ceiling. Low rumbling sounds echoed high above; presumably the mountain and cityscape above continuing to re-arrange themselves in an attempt to keep intruders away. “They’re our shows, duh!” “Why’s that Pinkie?” As an explanation, she jabbed a hoof at one of the doors. The sign above it clearly displaying the words “Sonic Rainboom” in blocky letters. “Just like she was trying to get Dashie to do!” “Oh! That must be why it’s still here!” Twilight realized, suddenly perking up, “With Skitch being dead for years, she would have needed some kind of reference point for interacting with us! That must be why she needed a fan of our show!” “Ah dunno sugarcube.” Applejack responded, “We got other friends in Ponyville. Why not just take one of their bodies? Why go to the trouble to take some kind of creature from another reality?” “Oh,” Twilight let her head droop, “Well, it was a thought at least.” “We’ll find out the truth soon enough, I think,” Luna observed, pointing towards an opening just ahead. “I believe that is the summit. We should remain on guard.” Stepping out of the tunnel, the group emerged into a well maintained duplicate of the Canterlot castle grounds. From the statues, to the neatly trimmed hedges, it looked just like the actual thing...at first glance at least. “Missing some statues I see,” Luna casually observed, trotting forward. “It seems that her knowledge of Canterlot is out of date.” An angry thunderclap split the sky, a semi-transparent head forming into view above the castle towers. “HALT!” Skitch-Sketch’s voice boomed out, her visage becoming more distinct, “Princess Luna, you and the Element Bearers need to vacate my headspace, now.” “It’s not your head!” Rarity snapped back, angrily stomping a hoof, “And it’s time for you to pass on.” “I’m warning you.” Skitch shouted back, “I control this mind now, and I’m an artist. Anything I can remember, anything I can think of, can happen here! If...if you don’t leave, I’ll be force to unleash them on you! Besides, there’s nothing you can do anymore. He’s gone.” Twilight Sparkle stepped forward next, her head held high. “And we aren’t prepared to just give up on some creature that needs our help! We have the Elements of Harmony, Skitch. You need to let go.” Skitch’s head frowned. “Just remember. You brought this on yourself.” Her visage vanished, leaving Luna and the element bearers alone in the grounds again. They crouched down, eyes darting around them as they searched for places where the attack would come from. “Where the heck are these things. She can’t just up and threaten-?” Dash began, trailing off as she looked down at her hooves. Cool white mist was coiling up from the ground, billowing into full, fluffy white clouds that began to rise past their withers. Twilight reared, losing track of her friends in the sea of white. “Rarity? Fluttershy? Luna?” She cried out, stumbling through the fog. They had been right by her side a moment ago, “Where is everypony!” Shapes flitted past the edges of her vision, some pony shaped, others sporting more bizarre morphology. They never stayed still for long, dancing into view long enough to catch her attention, and then gone again in a moment. Odd mocking voices began to echo through the landscape now. “I know what you’re trying to do!” She called out, pushing forward with slow, even steps. A chill was setting in around her pasterns, the shadows growing deeper, “You’re trying to scare me off! But it’s not going to work. If there’s one thing I learned from Pinkie Pie, it’s how to ‘giggle at the ghosties’!” The mist suddenly parted and Twilight found herself nose to nose with Skitch-Sketch. “So quick to treat me like another Nightmare Moon, are we?” “Well, if you’re not, stop acting like it.” Twilight glared back. “I’m not some kind of storybook villain! I just want to talk! I just…” She stomped a hoof, her face twisting into a mask of frustration as she took an unsure step back. It was an expression that Twilight was familiar with, having worn it plenty of times herself when she couldn’t figure something out, “Just listen to me! Please!” “...Okay. What do you want to say?” “Please let this go.” She begged, “I don’t want to fight you. I just want to be friends!” “Skitch…” Twilight sighed, shaking her head. “Why help the human over me? I was the one who approached you all those years ago, and he’s just some kind of mons-” “You don’t know that.” Twilight cut in, anger washing across her own features, “You keep saying that, but you don’t know it!” “It was shown to me!” “By a reputable source? Was it the same pony who put you here? You do realize that he could be some kind of necromancer, using you as a pawn for some other plan, right?” “Twilight…” She flinched away from her, “Please. I’m afraid. When my grandma died, my mom...” Her eyes flicked towards the mist covered ground, “She talked about how she was in the Elysian Fields now. But...I’m scared.” Twilight blinked, tilting her head slightly. Suddenly, it all clicked in her mind, things that Celestia taught her coming to the forefront. “Pinkie didn’t realize how right she was. You weren’t just dead...you were afraid to move on and if that mixed with enough anger…” She trailed off, letting the implication hang between the two of them. Skitch-Sketch’s ears drooped, shame clearly etched upon her features. “I won’t become a wraith again, Twilight. If you keep coming after me, I’ll have to push you out of here.” The fog recoiled suddenly, Skitch flowing away with it as it pulled back into Canterlot castle. As the fog vanished, Twilight found her friends and Luna by her side again. The Princess was crouched down, wings spread wide, her horn glowing; her eyes darted every which way, searching for the next group of attackers. “That was a tragic conversation, Twilight Sparkle.” She stated, muscles tensed . “You saw that?” She blinked. “Yes. I wanted to see what she had to say.” Her eyes flicked towards the castle again, “And I believe that is the second part of her answer.” Dark gray fog rushed from the building, this time coiling together into tight shapes in two rows between them, and two separate figures behind said rows. Growing more distinct and solid with each passing moment, the gleam of golden armor became apparent as two ranks of Solar Guard finished snapping into being. The remaining figures condensed next. The first one a powerful mare with a dazzling white coat and burnished armor the golden color of the high noon sun; the other a gray coated stallion with a truly impressive beard and belled wizard hat. Princess Celestia and Starswirl the Bearded. “She sure doesn’t mess around when askin’ for help.” Applejack observed with a roll of her eyes. “Oh Luna…” The Celestia doppelganger shook her head, “Turned to darkness again. And this time you drag the element bearers down with you? I take no pleasure in doing this.” Luna tensed up with a sharp intake of breath, her eyes narrowing into an angry glare. “You tread on ground you shouldn’t Skitch. I’ll take that personally.” “Take them!” Starswirl shouted. And the two sides threw themselves into battle.