//------------------------------// // Chapter 1 // Story: Persona: Harmony // by sorakun555 //------------------------------// *Monday, 8/14* *Morning* Twilight Sparkle was pacing outside of the large marble double doors of the Princess's throne room. She had been summoned by the Princess herself and had arrived early from her home at the library. However, she had gotten there quite early due to anxiety at getting the summons. She had already been there ten minutes waiting for the appointed meeting time to finally come around so as not to seem disrespectful of the Princess’s wishes. She noticed the sun in the cloudless sky through one of the windows next to her, telling her it was almost noon. She took a moment to relive yesterday’s events, to remember Celestia's figure inside the glowing sphere. That image during each Summer Sun Celebration was something Twilight looked forward to every year. She sighed heavily as memories surfaced, bringing a smile to her face. She turned away the next moment, facing the large doors. The sun's light touched the white marble and made it shine before Twilight's eyes. Each bit of white was sparkling with brilliance, dimmed only by the few small gray streaks running through like veins and allowing anypony looking at it to not go blind. The beauty of it helped Twilight relax a bit, although she still felt nervous despite being used to getting summoned by the Princess. Sometimes it would be just to review what she had learned; sometimes she was invited to just hang out. However, that normally happened in places such as the schoolhouse or one of the recreational facilities, where it was appropriate. Being summoned to the throne room meant that something big was happening, or has happened. The level could vary depending on the amount of ponies invited and their status, but even the most casual visits to the throne room ended with a heavy burden on anypony involved. Being summoned to the throne room was a big enough deal, but the fact that only Twilight was invited made her all the more tense. Something huge was about to happen to her today and she wasn't sure if she was prepared. Twilight double checked the time, noticing that it was finally noon. She swallowed her nervousness, finally noticing the lump in her throat, and walked towards the palace guards in front of the doors with her letter from the Princess levitating in front of her. They bowed to her and opened the doors without question. Before her was a short hallway with a wide red rug leading to the throne atop of a dais. The dais was a few inches high atop a small set of steps; it forced the Princess’s audience to look up at her with their undivided attention. Twilight galloped up to her regal mentor, who was sitting with such grace on her throne, and bowed her head low to her. The Princess returned the bow, her kind smile glowing even brighter at the sight of her faithful student. Twilight looked back up at her mentor and all of her brilliance, the sun shining through the stained glass windows and showering the room with a variety of colors and sparkles that made the princess look like that of a dream. It was only in this room that Celestia's elegance was shown off to its fullest, even though Twilight couldn't believe that the princess could be more elegant than she already was. Her regal appearance alone finally calmed Twilight down enough that she was ready to face the Princess and whatever she was going to tell her. "Twilight," Celestia's soft yet confident voice echoed through the hall, "my faithful student. There is something important that I must have you do. It involves your studies." "Yes, Princess," Twilight's eyes showed confidence and anticipation, something the princess always liked to see from her student. "I want you to go out and study abroad. However, this studying will be mainly on one subject. As it stands now, this is one particular subject you wouldn’t be able to pass if tested." The princess seemed to grow more serious as she spoke, not something Twilight liked to see from her mentor. "What do you mean I wouldn't be able to test on it?" Twilight asked a little hurt at the shot to her intelligence, "Haven't I been a good student? Haven't I tested perfectly on everything?" "Yes, Twilight Sparkle," Celestia giggled a little despite Twilight's obviously hurt face, "but that's exactly why it's this subject you wouldn't do too particularly well on." "What is it, Princess?" Twilight's eyes betrayed her face as she tried to hide her nervousness, "I'll do anything to further my studies. What is it I'm leaving to learn about?" "Twilight Sparkle," the princess spoke a little louder in declaration, "I hereby send you to Ponyville to learn about the magic of friendship!" There was a bit of a pause as Twilight's face went from intent listening, to surprise, then to confusion and calculation as she put the words together, and then a final, loud, "What?" "Twilight, I do enjoy the fact that you study so hard for your exams and that you take your lessons seriously, but you can't just live your life holed up inside books.” Celestia stood up from her throne and stepped off her dais as she said this, taking each step down and passing Twilight. The unicorn followed her teacher with her eyes as she looked out one of the windows through one of the clear pieces used as a border for its design. A small smile crept over her lips as she watched her dutiful guards patrol her garden and borders, and then at the bustling city just past them filled with hundreds, if not thousands of ponies going about their daily schedules. She continued speaking to her student, never turning her head, “You have to go out and experience everything yourself. That is why you are going to live at the place where the Summer Sun Celebration is going to be held next year. It's a small, quaint town where practically everypony knows everypony. I thought it would be a great place for you to start your studying on friendship." Twilight could only stare at her princess’s back in disbelief, "But Princess, I still don't understand! What possible form of magic could come from simply knowing others?" Celestia paused for a moment as her smile faded, though it went unnoticed by Twilight, "That is part of your studies, Twilight. I expect to hear about all that you've learned by the next Summer Sun Celebration. Now go pack your things, you leave first thing tomorrow morning. You are dismissed." Twilight was about to retort, but shut her mouth in defeat. She bowed her head, thanked the princess, and headed out the door with her head held as high as she could manage, the new weight making that hard to accomplish. She turned left and down the hall, back where she came from her library home. The farther away from the princess she got, the heavier her head felt. Her pace slowed to match, and the clip-clopping of her hooves echoed louder and louder around her. Twilight looked upon the marble walls and was disappointed by their suddenly dull appearance, the sun hiding behind the one hanging cloud in all of Canterlot. Confusion weighed on her mind even heavier as questions from every angle entered her mind, distracting her concentration and setting her body on autopilot *Afternoon* "Twilight, dear!" Twilight's mother, Moondancer, opened the door to be pleasantly surprised by her daughter's unannounced arrival. Twilight didn’t even remember the walk here, or even deciding to visit her mother. Her mind was still filled with “why” and not a single satisfactory answer arose to calm her down. Her mother immediately noticed her daughter’s unusual behavior and gently pulled her through the front door and to a couch in the living room. A teapot in the kitchen behind them began moving on its own, flying over to the faucet for water and setting itself down on the already hot burner of a stove. Twilight continued to maintain silence as her mind refused to place her back in the present, her brain gnawing on any sort of hint or clue to enlighten her to the princess’s reasoning. Her eyes noticed a small cup and her mouth automatically responded, opening to let the contents of the cup in. When the hot tea hit her tongue she yelped in pain, and then tasted one of the bitter flavors of her childhood. It was an old remedy in her family for life-changing events: tea filled with some of the bitterest herbs you can find in a grocery store. Twilight could feel her thoughts scatter from the impact, allowing her to reorganize them in a much more manageable order. When she was ready, she turned to her mom, who was sitting patiently next to her with an intent look on her face, and began telling her of Celestia’s most recent. . . lesson for her. When she was finished, she then went off on what she had been thinking about on the way here. “It feels like a slap in the face!” She threw her hooves up in the air, “I’ve been studying under her for what feels like my entire life, acing every test she’s come up with and learning every spell and lesson she’s been kind enough to teach! Now, I’m suddenly off going to a strange place I’ve never been to, surrounded by ponies I’ve never seen before, to make friends! This has nothing to do with magic!” She crossed her hooves and slumped on the couch, “If this is a joke, the punch line is terrible.” Moondancer simply stared at her, not a single word coming out of her mouth. Twilight took another sip of tea, the bitterness working its magic again, and sighed. Her hooves unfolded and hung at her side, “I know, I know. The princess is better than that. She would never set up a lesson just to end it on a joke unless that joke was part of the lesson somehow.” Her mom smiled sweetly, sipping her own sweet tea, "She does make a valid point. You spend a lot of time in those dusty, old books." "But what's the point of making friends?" Twilight shouted a little too loudly, "They'll just distract me from my studies!" Moondancer giggled to herself, knowing full well that it was upsetting her daughter. “Oh, Princess Celestia, you’ve done it again. Just as I think you’ve done everything impossible, you manage to actually stump my daughter this hard!” Twilight did her best to hold her frustration at her mother’s outburst, though it was no good. “You act like I’m the only pony in all of Equestria who’s completely clueless on this!” Moondancer had stopped her giggling by then, but her smile still never left. She reached out a hoof to Twilight and brushed aside a strand of purple hair that found its way on the other side of her ear. She levitated her cup onto its saucer and finally spoke her voice, “Your teacher is a marvelous pony. Her duties and responsibilities keep her busy all hours of the day and yet she still manages to make the time to teach but one pony herself.” She paused for a moment to let her words sink in, “You’ve grown into a wonderful mare, Twilight. I can hardly consider you a child anymore. Do as the princess asks, Twilight. Take it from me; it will be one of the best things to ever happen to you.” Twilight stared at her mother, feeling that same defeat she felt from Celestia earlier, and nodded her head. She slid off the couch, dismissed herself and began walking out of the room before pausing. She turned back to her mother and gave her a hug, the best one she could manage through her still crowded mind. She could practically feel an aura of calm as she held her, spreading all around her until she wore her first smile that day. Twilight broke the hug after a while and revealed her quiet smile, letting her mother know she was OK now, “Thanks,” Twilight started, “for everything.” “Don’t think you’re going anywhere without me, young missy!” Moondancer mockingly scolded her, “We have an entire day of planning and preparation to do! I can’t wait! We need to get. . . .” *Evening* Twilight practically collapsed on her bed when she arrived at the library. It was just about midnight and she hadn't even packed yet. Never had she been so irresponsible and unorganized, but she didn't care. She had spent the entire day looking for things to bring along with her to Ponyville, including clothing, new china, even her own lavender-themed tea set! Not a single book, however, but even with that it turned out to be a great day. They even caught her dad just as he was getting off of work and spent the rest of the evening with the both of them. It was a perfect goodbye. Twilight forced herself up and went to pack her things, throwing in her new things along with her favorite books that she bought herself. She also made sure to pack her scientific equipment. She'd only started chemistry recently, but she was always fascinated with how magic could affect certain objects even after being simply levitated between locations. She folded up her telescope from the balcony and placed it in its carrying case, setting it aside her now packed suitcase. She scanned the room one last time to make sure she had everything. Her eyes came across a raggedy pony doll, one of its button eyes hanging loosely. She brought it over to her and her eyes filled with tears as memories of her foalhood surfaced in her mind; her and her Smarty Pants doll conquering the many monsters of the night and their endless hours of studying together. She'd forgotten how much she really loved this doll. She looked over at her bag and back to the doll, paused, and placed it on her bed just to flop down next to it. Tonight was the last night her old self would be alive. When she arrived at Ponyville, she decided she would be a new mare, friendly and welcome to new eyes. And since this was going to be the last night for Old Twilight, she figured she could indulge herself in her foalhood one last time. She snuggled herself under the covers and held Smarty Pants tightly in her hooves, as if securing the last piece of her old self from any harm. Twilight started to turn in her sleep; her mind telling her something was amiss. She tried to ignore it but the feeling kept nagging at her. Finally, she opened her eyes, slowly at first, and then shot them open when she realized her strange surroundings. Everything was blue; the sofa, the china cabinet and the china in it, the lamp above her, the chair she sat in, the table in front of her, the floor and rugs, everything was blue. A dim light was coming in from a window on the far right wall, giving everything a little distinction while at the same time putting Twilight on edge at the mysterious shape of the objects around her. This looked like a room she would find in the castle, maybe a guest room or something. She heard a chuckle and turned her head directly in front of her. A balding, grey stallion with a long nose and white mane was chuckling in a raspy voice into his hooves, keeping them together as if he was plotting something. His eyes opened and Twilight recoiled at how small his pupils were: merely small, black dots in a sea of white and red veins. He stared back at Twilight for another moment before finally speaking. "Welcome to the Velvet Room," the stallion's voice made everything heavy; a sort of gravity filling is words with a sense of foreboding. "My name is Igor," Igor turned to his side and waved a hoof at a grey pegasus mare with a blonde mane, "This is my assistant, Derpy Hooves. She is a resident of this place, much like myself." "Hello!" Derpy waved energetically to Twilight, a complete opposite to her master and the room. "It's been a while since we've had a guest," Igor resumed speaking, "Please, tell us your name." Twilight didn't want to answer this strange pony, even a simple question like that, but she felt compelled to anyway, "Twilight Sparkle." "I see," Igor paused, then proceeded to describe the room and leaving Twilight to keep a strange feeling in her gut, "This place exists between dream and reality, mind and matter. Only those that have made a contract can enter this place. Such a fate must await you in the near future." Igor took another pause, "Do you believe in fortune telling?" He waved his hoof over the table and blue cards with black and white masks arranged themselves in a circle with one in the middle, "Each reading is done with the same cards, yet the result is always different. Life follows much of the same principles, doesn't it?" Igor took one on the far right and flipped it over, "The Tower in the upright position represents the immediate future. It seems a terrible catastrophe is imminent. “The card indicating the future beyond that is. . ." Igor flipped over a card on the far left, "The World in the upright position. How interesting. This card represents the world as a whole. It seems that you are about to tap into something only thought of in dreams, and the fate of those around you hang in the balance." Igor paused again, "In the coming days, you will enter a contract of some sort, after which you will return here. The coming year is a turning point in your destiny. If you are not able to tap into your true power, your future may be forever lost. My duty is to provide assistance to our guests to ensure that does not happen," Igor swept his hoof over the cards again and they vanished, "We shall tend to the details another time. Until then, farewell." Twilight tried to talk, but her body was rejecting any movements she made. She felt her vision grow dark, and she lost consciousness. *Tuesday, 8/15* *Afternoon* Twilight's mane flapped against her face and trailed behind her with no shred of grace. But she didn't care. She loved this rush of wind against her face as she rode high above the ground in one of the princess’s flying chariots. She was by no means a sports pony and didn't have any want to participate in any races, but she loved this feeling all the same. It didn't even matter that the dream she had last night was the weirdest thing she had ever experienced. Every time she went out with the princess anywhere in her royal chariot the beating wind filled her body with energy. The pegasi guards pulling the chariot always seemed to be nice, too. This feeling alone made her forget all about last night. This small chariot wasn't nearly as glamorous as the royal chariot, but it made little difference to Twilight when the feeling was the same. The air slapping her face was cold even though it was the middle of August. They even accidentally ran through a cloud, dousing Twilight in all the moisture inside and giving her the feeling of being an icicle on the hottest summer day of the year. She always loved this feeling and always had. Twilight looked towards the far mountains to see her destination in sight. The rising sun gave a quaint quality to it. It really was a small town, maybe about half the size of Canterlot, and all the buildings were made of wood and the roofs of straw rather than the metal and stone buildings back at her home. Normally this would disappoint Twilight, making her feel like she had been downgraded in class, but that was the old Twilight. New Twilight loved this small town already and she wasn't even in it yet. They passed over the small river and bridge separating the town from the road and began to descend, the buildings starting to become more detailed. She could see a tower-like building in the very center of town and some windmills in seemingly random places. The houses really weren't that much smaller than the buildings in Canterlot, though the largest ones stood only two floors. She spotted a building shaped like a carousel, and another one that looked like a gingerbread house. There was an apple orchard to the far west of town and a dark, dense forest looming next to it. To the north was a huge range of mountains, making the bridge over the river the only connection to civilization for the small village. Twilight had to admit, for such a small town there sure was a lot of variety to it. Nothing like what you'd find at Canterlot. The chariot finally lowered to ground level and stopped in front of what Twilight assumed was the library. It was a tall tree, bigger than the rest of the buildings, though Twilight guessed it was still only two floors. There were several windows around the door and a porch up high right below the leaves. The door was basic with a candle that served as the porch light in the center. Twilight took her stuff, bowed in thanks to her chauffeurs, and walked through the doors of her new home. The bookshelves stood tall, almost reaching the ceiling, with books taking up any available space the shelves had to offer. She quickly glanced over them to find out they were in the usual alphabetical order, though many books were placed far away from their intended location. Any order the previous librarian intended seemed to have been forgotten over time. In the very middle of the room was a circular table with a large horse head standing tall in the center, providing a sense of privacy for those who would decide to read or study here. Looking left she found a set of ascending stairs with a door at the top while the right side had a door leading to a set of descending stairs. She quickly chose downstairs on a whim and, after dropping her bags at the front door, explored her new home. Opening the door to her new basement, she could see a huge, bare room with a few shelves void of books being the only decoration. The room looked dusty, probably unused for a while. At the back was a small, narrow hallway leading to the kitchen. As Twilight entered the kitchen the brightness of the fancy marble counter against the light from the light bulb caught her attention immediately. The sudden change in style caught her by surprise, almost feeling like a culture shock after the old-style of carved wood as the décor for the rest of the house. She didn’t mind, though. After all, it was free on her part. Satisfied with her exploration of the basement, she decided it was finally time to look at the second floor. After hiking back up the stairs to the first floor, Twilight magically carried her bags from the front door up to the second floor with her to prepare her new personal quarters. To her surprise, the second floor was a lot nicer than she thought it would be. A large part of it was used as a recreational space, once again with some book-less shelves covering the walls for personal use, while the other side had a small set of stairs winding upwards and leading to a comfortable-looking bed with plenty of more space for personal belongings. Up there was the balcony that she saw earlier. The sunlight pouring in from the glass windows on the balcony door reminded her that the day was still young and the town had yet to be experienced. She didn’t even bother setting up her room before bolting back downstairs and preparing her saddlebags to leave. Just as she was about to leave, her stomach rumbled, telling her it was time for lunch. Looking picked up her bag of bits and counted her money. She’d earned money working as the Canterlot librarian when not learning Celestia’s latest lesson, though that still left her with little spending money of her own. At least she wasn’t going to be paying the usual bills as long as living here was still arranged under the princess. She had enough for some local dining and then some grocery shopping, but not much more. With her plan set, she set out the door and into her new setting. Convenience immediately hit Twilight when she sighted an outdoors diner right at the end of her street, not more than five minutes away if she was slow. Happy at her luck, she trotted up and was quickly lead to a seat and looking through a menu. Just as she ready to order and waiting for her waitress, she picked up a conversation from two passing ponies. "Oh, Fluttershy, I must thank you for taking care of not only Opalescence, but of Sweetie Belle as well. You have no idea how important that order was and I needed all of the time I could get to make the outfits just right." A white unicorn with a coiled purple mane was talking to a yellow pegasus with a long, flowing pink mane; both of them seemed to dazzle in the sun's light, their coats looking fresh and beautiful. "Oh, not a problem Rarity," The pegasus responded quietly, almost too quietly for Twilight to even hear her, "We had a lot of fun with the other animals. Even Angel played with Opal." "Well, as thanks I'm going to treat you to your favorite place." "Oh, you don't have to" "Oh, but I must! It's the least I could do for what you've done for me. Oh. . . ." The unicorn trailed off as she looked around the restaurant. Twilight took a look herself, realizing that the place was full and that she had taken the last table. The unicorn ushered over a waiter to ask him something, then frowned at the answer she got, "Oh my. . . . Well, thank you anyway." She turned to her friend, "Well, I suppose that's that. Maybe some other time, Fluttershy." "Alright then Rarity. See you later.” Twilight watched as the two ponies began to walk away. Before she could stop herself, an impulse took over her. "Hey!" The unicorn and pegasus turned to Twilight, looking surprised at her outburst. "Do you want to sit with me? There's plenty of room!" Twilight motioned to the rest of the empty table. The two ponies looked at each other, shrugged, and sat down with her. "Well, that's very kind of you, . . . umm. . . " The unicorn waited for an answer. "Twilight Sparkle." "Twilight. What a lovely name. Thank you very much Twilight. My name is Rarity and this is my best friend Fluttershy." Rarity turned her hoof towards her left to see the lack of a yellow pegasus. She looked down at her shaking friend and pulled her back up. "H-hello. . . ." Fluttershy sounded even quieter to Twilight despite being much closer. Her face was deep inside her mane, almost completely out of sight. "I don't think I've seen you before., Rarity mentioned as she put a hoof to her chin. "I'm new here, from Canterlot." Twilight said with as modest a smile as she could. She felt like she had a status symbol placed on her when she said "Canterlot", especially when Rarity gawked at her. "Canterlot? Oh, I'm envious! The glamour, the sophistication! I've always dreamed of living there! You must tell me all about it!" "Well," Twilight blushed a little at the attention, but this was exactly what she had to do to understand Celestia’s lesson: talk to other ponies. "it's not all that different from here. . ." Twilight couldn’t even say that with a straight face, “It's so different! The city buildings are made of marvelous stone, each one taking so much care to construct. My parents' house is considered low class there, but here I'd be the fanciest pony around! And the sun shines off of everything so spectacularly! And there's always something going on! There's always a party being held by one of the aristocrats there for some occasion, no matter how small it might have been. Not that I ever went to any of them. . . ." Twilight was suddenly looking down at the table instead of Rarity. "What's the matter, darling?" "That's the reason why I'm here instead of there. Pri-- my teacher at the School for Gifted Unicorns was concerned that I was missing something in my life. I always tested 100% on all of my tests, was never late for a homework assignment, and was always diligent in class. But she would always see me inside the Canterlot library, studying away instead of outside with my friends. That was because I don't have any friends. So, she sent me here to learn what it's like to have friends." Twilight recoiled as she realized she had been doing most of the talking, "Oh, I didn't mean to make this my life's story. I'm not begging you or anything to---” "We'll be your friends." Twilight, and even Rarity, turned to Fluttershy, who reflexively shrunk at the attention, "That is, if that's okay. . . . " "Do you mean it?" Twilight felt a little off making friends this way, but at least she was getting what she wanted. "Of course!" Rarity seemed more than happy about this, "No pony should have to go through life without a friend or two," The waiter brought food for Fluttershy and Rarity. Apparently they had ordered while Twilight was telling her life's story, "And as a testament to our new friendship, I'll hoof the bill." "Oh, but I--” Twilight went to object. "Ah! No buts! You're new in town so you need to save all the bits you can get until you get a proper job, and I owe Fluttershy a favor from earlier today. It's only right that I do at least this." Rarity metaphorically put her hoof down on the matter and would have no objections. Twilight decided not to argue the point anymore and just let the kind gesture reach her. Together with her new friends, Twilight enjoyed her lunch, the most delicious meal she ever had. Lunch had ended and, unfortunately, Twilight had to say goodbye to Rarity and Fluttershy. Twilight headed towards the shopping district after asking them where it was. Rarity insisted on getting her food as well but Twilight wouldn't have it. Rarity had already done enough for her as it was. Once there Twilight became overwhelmed at the countless carts, stalls, and shops in the shopping district, not to mention the large crowd of ponies moving from place to place getting their merchandise. She decided to just check out the carts one-by-one as a start. But there were so many different carts and each one sold a different thing. One sold all different kinds of vegetables, one sold different fruits. Another sold flowers, one was a lemonade stand, another was a juice vendor, and another sold just apples. Twilight remained focused, however. Turning chaos into organization was her talent besides magic, and she could do this, too. Twilight dashed over to the closest cart, the vegetable cart. She took a little of everything and threw in a bit for each item as listed. She then hopped over to the hay cart to grab a cube, then the fruits to do the same as the vegetables. Soon, her bags were getting full and her coin purse thinner, but she was doing it. Finally, she made it to the last cart in line: the apple cart. Twilight pulled herself out of the crowd, tumbling and landing on her front, using her horn to miraculously save her bag from certain doom. She got up to see an orange mare with a yellow mane and tail chuckling a little at her expense. Twilight was about to walk away in a huff when she noticed the mares face go from laughing to sad. "What's wrong?" "Oh, nuthin'." She said in a southern drawl, "Sales have jus' been low this season. Maybe it's 'cause all our cider's already been served and it's so close to zap apple season, but as it is we're goin' to have a hard time come winter." She paused a second before speaking again, "Sorry 'bout laughin' at ya jus' now. It's been one of the few things Ah've been able to smile about lately. Here," she picked up a shiny, delicious-looking red apple from her bunch in the cart and dropped it in Twilight's bag, "have one fer yer troubles." Twilight stared at the new lump in her saddlebag for a few moments, contemplating her next move. Eventually, she levitated a few bits out of her purse and put them over in the bit box. "I'll have a few more, please." The salespony smiled and completed the transaction. "Thank ya kindly fer the sale. Sorry fer getting' ya down wit' mah troubles. Ah'm Applejack." Applejack put a hoof out to Twilight. "Twilight Sparkle." Twilight returned the gesture. "If you ever wanna drop by, come by Sweet Apple Acres over thataway," Applejack pointed to her side and at a dark, dirt road a little ways away reaching over a hill, "We'd be happy ta have ya." "I'll remember that. See you around Applejack!" Twilight turned and bravely ventured through the crowd of ponies again, somehow not losing her bag before reaching the other side. With her shopping done, it was time to head home. The sun was already starting to set, setting everything aglow and telling everypony that it was time to head back home. Twilight yawned, only now realizing how tired she was, and trotted her way back to the library. *Evening* Twilight dragged herself up the stairs to her room after putting all of her food away in the kitchen. She barely made it up the stairs and to her bed before collapsing. The feeling was suddenly familiar. She would have to stop staying out late, even though it wasn't that late and most of this tiredness was coming from all of the earlier activity. She remembered about the reorganization of the library and reminded herself to do it in the morning. She was just too tired to do it now. She pulled the covers over her and, sooner than she expected, was out. Twilight felt herself turning in her sleep for the second night in a row. Her body was telling her something again, but all she wanted to do was sleep. Giving up, Twilight opened her lazy eyes- why were her eyes so lazy if her body wanted her awake?- and came face to face with something she had never seen before. "Ahh!" "Ugh!" Twilight jumped higher than should have been possible out of bed and landed flat on her back on the floor. She slowly raised her head up over the bed to see that thing again. Its purple scales, the green spines on its cheeks and the ones running down its back to its tail from its head, its green, lizard-like eyes, its. . . small stature? It was quite small, probably couldn't even reach the top of Twilight's leg if it stood its tallest. Feeling a little easier about the creature before her, Twilight decided she may as well try to talk to it. "Uh, . . . hello?" "Hi." Its voice sounded like a young male's, maybe about the age of ten, at oldest thirteen. There was a long silence. Twilight thought she heard a clock ticking. "Who are you?" the thing spoke again. "Twilight Sparkle," She automatically responded. Something clicked in her head and she almost snapped back at the thing, “Wait a minute, why am I giving my name away? I should be asking what your name is!” “My name is Spike.” “Spike” crossed his arms and eyed Twilight with annoyance. They continued their stare-off, both getting more and more annoyed by the other. "Why are you in my library, in my room?" She asked the lizard sternly. "Your library?" Spike suddenly got defensive, "Your room? I think you have this backwards. I live here! I've never even seen anything like you before!" "I think you have this backwards. I was given this place by Princess Celestia and I demand that you leave before I report you for breaking and entering!" "Okay, first: what are you? Two: why are you here? Three: who is Princess Celestia? Four: get out!" "Why are you the one that’s confused?" Twilight could feel her face redden in anger, "You're the one who's in my house! Ugh, forget it!” Twilight turned around and walked away, just wanting to think a little before continuing to talk in circles. It was then she realized her surroundings. Everything was dark; almost pitch black if it weren’t for the light coming from the window and glass patio door. The shadows she could see stretched above her on the ceiling rather than on the floor like the normally would. Cautiously, Twilight looked out the window and gasped. The world was flipped. The sky was the darkest void she had ever seen, not a single star decorating it. Instead, they, along with the moon, were on the ground, casting shadows from below and giving a very foreboding atmosphere to the outside. The moon was huge and seemed to take up almost half of the ground, the craters forming the shape of a familiar pony of legend, Nightmare Moon, with an intimidating effect. Twilight backed away from the window, her whole body shaking and eventually giving way and forcing her to sit down. Spike suddenly got all tense and looked around quickly. He ran to the window, gasped, and ran back to Twilight. "C'mon, we have to get out of here." Twilight barely heard him through her stupor, "What?" "We have to go!” Spike grabbed her hoof and pulled up as hard as he could, trying to get her to stand, “They're here!" "What's here?" "Look, there's no time! Just follow me if you want to live!" Spike swung open the door to the stairs with unnecessary force and ran down before Twilight could say anything. Unable to think of a better option, Twilight raced down the stairs herself and saw him making his way to the basement stairs. "C'mon! We have to get down here! If we're lucky, they won't find us!" Just as he reached the downstairs door, the front entrance burst open. Three black and white-striped spheres entered and rose to the ceiling. Twilight looked on in horror as they rolled vertically around to reveal red slits almost split them in two. The slits parted and let a large tongue roll out of their mouth, slithering in the air and coiling around their own bodies. Saliva hung in strings from their teeth and dripped all over the floor, some even dripping from their tongues. They floated and moved with no visible aura, defying everything Twilight knew about basic physics. She noticed some of the saliva landing next to her and emitting steam; a few seconds later there was a hole in the ground. She looked back at them, staring into their mouths, their impossibly large mouths with impossible throats inside. Everything was impossible. One of the spheres reared back and lunged at the unicorn, aiming to put her out. Its black hole of a throat flew closer and closer to her, ready to consume her before she had a chance to scream. “Do you want to die? Get moving!” As if recovering from a trance, Twilight blinked and jumped off of the set of stairs down to the lower floor. The sphere crashed into the stairs, barely missing her. Just as she thought she was safe, she felt a burning pain in her hind leg. The pain caused her to flinch, making her landing rough. She crashed into the table in the center in a heap, though staying relatively unharmed. Twilight looked up in time to see the horse head statue wobble back and forth, then fall behind her, landing on her burnt leg. The horse’s muzzle made a hard impact with her leg, forcing a scream of pain from the unicorn. When the pain subsided enough, she looked up to see the second sphere take its turn at her, lunging at her the same way its partner did. Twilight reflexively lit up her horn and put up a purple shield around her and braced for impact. The sphere crashed into her shield, sending the her into the wall while the shield managed to stun the sphere, but not damage it. Recovering from the attack, Twilight attempted to stand and run until a shot of pain ran through her leg, the same leg the horse head landed on. Though it wasn’t broken, it would make running on it painful and difficult. After her second attempt at running, Spike finally ran to Twilight’s back and pushed as hard as he could. More pain shot through her as he carelessly put pressure on her leg, but she muscled through it as best she could. Together, they dodged another attack from the spheres and made it through the basement door. Twilight paused for a short second at the room she was in. This was not the basement of the library. The large rec room was replaced by a long, purple hallway leading to a single door at the very end. Spike continued to push her down the hall, just making it through the door as the door to the first floor bust open behind them. This room seemed like a storage unit, a lot of boxes and random objects taking up about half the room. She found Spike hiding between a few of them and fit herself next to him. They buried their faces into the other’s and waited, praying that the monsters would just turn around and forget about them. Those prayers were not answered as the door before them was smashed like the front entrance was. They didn’t even dare to look, focusing only on hiding. They could hear their deep growls, and the hissing of the saliva melting the floor around them. Twilight tried to stay calm, trying to keep her heartbeat down to make as little noise as possible. Suddenly, there was silence. Twilight and Spike opened their eyes and moved a little in the confines of their hiding space. Spike kept his breathing even and held on to Twilight. She took the hint and copied him. Moments later, one of the spheres crashed into the pile of boxes, narrowly missing its prey. Twilight let out a scream and brought her face down to her hooves, covering her eyes from her fate. She was going to die here. Here in this mysterious place, where she felt like she didn’t belong. She waited for the inevitable impact of her death. "I am thou." The voice rang in Twilight's head, echoing and disrupting any thoughts she had. The strange world she was in, the monsters before her, her death, all of it silenced. Her brain automatically focused on the voice, the only thing that seemed to comfort her since her arrival. "And thou art I." Twilight's mind was suddenly clear, calm and serene. The monsters before her didn't scare her anymore. The strange place she found herself in that resembled her library, the voice, nothing made her feel anything anymore. The only thing that she felt now, was her own, overpowering confidence. Twilight felt herself be engulfed in energy, a bright light shining around the room and stunning everything in it. She felt weight on her head, something that wasn't there before. A gold crown circling her head with a large purple jewel resembling her cutie mark had appeared and was the source of her sudden power and confidence. Her breathing grew heavy, her body feeling so much stronger, and prepared to face the creatures before her. She focused her mind, and the jewel on her crown responded by shining brilliantly. "Whoa! She's burning up!" Spike gasped in amazement. "Per . . . so . . ." Twilight felt her energy rise, "Persona!" Her crown shot forth a bright light in the form of a tall rectangle. The rectangle's light seemed to melt off as a picture was revealed, one of a pony being followed by a dog at the edge of a cliff. Twilight recognized the backside of the rectangle, blue with a black and white mask in the center, as one of the cards Igor used in her dream the other night. The card shattered and a stallion in a leather jacket leapt out. The remnants of the card dissolved into the air as the stallion made contact with the ground in front of Twilight; his hooves let off a crackle of electricity with each step, his set of claws conducting the currents. He met the monsters with his steely, yellow gaze, the mask on his face narrowing his eyes and making him even more intimidating. He towered over Twilight defensively against the creatures who would dare hurt his summoner. Twilight could feel his thoughts connect with hers. She knew he was a weapon, one who could easily be rid of these things before them with a swift kick of his sharp, blade-like hind legs, or tear apart their flesh with the claws on his fore hooves. He didn’t even need to draw the sword on his back, the long sword that could devastate anything around him with a swift strike. He had the power to annihilate these things on his own. The floating spheres finally grew out of their stupor brought on by this new presence and charged forward at Twilight, sensing her sudden threat. The stallion quickly reached back to his sword. The jaw on his mask opened and grabbed the hilt with a powerful grip. He reared back and made a wide sweeping motion, sending the monsters flying across the room in different directions. They all slammed hard into the wall, one of them exploding into a puff of purple dus. The monsters didn’t even get a chance to recover as the stallion would never give them the time. He stood up on his hind legs and stomped the ground below him. Electricity erupted from his hooves and struck the remaining monsters in the blink of an eye. They too exploded into dust, never to bother their prey again. Once the coast was clear, the stallion faded away and the light on Twilight’s crown dimmed, revealing the purple, six-pointed star once more. Spike started jumping and screaming around Twilight, his excitement more than obvious. "Ohmygosh you were so amazing! Where did you get that crown? And how do you have that power? Oh, it doesn't matter! You're awesome!" Spike looked at Twilight again and gasped, "You're awful!" Twilight was lying on the ground, sweat rolling down her face and dripping on the floor. Her breathing was heavy and hot, like she had just run the distance between Ponyville and Canterlot. Whatever she did took all of the energy she had, but she did it. She did her best to stay focused so she could properly think about her situation, but her brain ached every time she even thought a word. All she could do was catch her breath while being circled by a panicking lizard. "I'm. . . alright." Twilight panted out between gasps. "No, you're not. Here, let me take you upstairs. You need to rest." Spike hoisted as much of Twilight's weight as he could on him and began their ascension back to the bedroom. She suddenly started to lose grip of her senses and felt numb. Her brain was shutting off, telling her to rest. As dangerous as this place was, Twilight was in no position to argue. With no resistance, Twilight allowed her vision to disappear and slipped away from consciousness.