It was nighttime on the Zebrafrican plains. Torches were lit in a circle around a roaring bonfire. Zebras danced wildly around the bonfire and wove their paths around the torches as they danced. They played the drums and made loud, ululating cries. The dancing and noise built to a crescendo and the flames of the bonfire grew in size and brightness until they became a white-hot flare. Every zebra flinched, turning their sights away from the blinding light.
Every zebra, except for one. Pernoa stared at the blinding flames unflinchingly. Invisible lines of force flowed between him and the conflagration. As Pernoa stared, a black hole in the very center of the white-hot flare suddenly appeared, like a plastic sheet burnt by an open flame. An invisible force rushed out of the hole, flowing along the lines of force connected to Pernoa. Pernoa collapsed to the ground and the bonfire immediately died, taking the light with it.
The sun rose the next morning on a scene of gruesome carnage. Vultures circled overhead. Every zebra that had been dancing was now dead, having succumbed to lethal injuries during the night.
Every zebra, except for one.
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Pernoa wandered through the empty village, mumbling to himself. "Have to get them before they get me. They're all just watching, waiting to see me make a mistake. Then they'll attack. But I'm too smart for that. I'll get them before they get me! Hah!"
A villager lay still on the ground near him, her lifeblood pooled on the ground around her. The villager stared at nothing as the rambling lunatic walked past.
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Pernoa lay on the ground, dead. Two heavily injured zebras slowly walked away from the site of the battle.
That night the two zebras went to bed. The next morning, one zebra ensured he would be the only one to wake up.
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A year later, that zebra languished in a prison cell. He rocked back and forth on the ground, talking to himself.
"I get it now!" he said. "Pernoa saw the truth of things! You have to strike hard and fast, before anybody can touch you. You can't let yourself have any weaknesses! I see the blinding light! I accept the truth of Pernoa! He died because he wasn't strong enough, but I am! I deserve the name! I'm Pernoa! I am Pernoa!"
Pernoa sobbed to himself in his jail cell.
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Three years later, Pernoa killed himself. Several days after that, his jailer snapped and took on the name Pernoa.
And so it went. Another death, another mind fractured. Over and over. Until finally, many miles away and many years later...
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Paranoia's breath came in ragged gasps. He had managed to escape the guards, but not without taking some damage himself. He limped down the back streets, his wounds opening up again. He couldn't let anybody else get near him. He had to-
A soft light glowed in the nighttime darkness. A female unicorn stood nearby, her horn glowing a soft magenta light.
"Risky? Is that you?"
Paranoia snarled and dropped his weight onto his hind legs, ready to attack the unicorn.
"It's me, Feather Touch. You don't have to be afraid of me. You're safe here. Remember the promise we made?"
Paranoia snarled again, confused. He shook his head, as if to clear his thoughts.
Feather Touch slowly walked towards him.
"We promised we'd always be there for each other. Remember when we made that promise? We spent hours at the beach together, just the two of us. And when night came, we cuddled up next to each other and kept each other warm. I never told you this, Risky, but that's when I knew I loved you."
Paranoia stiffened at this. Feather Touch took advantage of his hesitation to close the remaining distance between the two of them and kiss him on the lips.
"I love you, Risky," she said, tears streaming down her face. "Please come back to me."
Asterisk groaned as an invisible force lessened its grip on his mind.
"Please... get out of here," he said haltingly. "I don't want to hurt you."
Feather Touch wrapped her hooves around his neck and held him in an awkward hug.
"Shhhh," she said. "I'm not going anywhere, Risky, so you had better just beat this thing, you hear me? I love you, Risky, and I'm never letting you go."
Asterisk Lulamoon charged his horn with magic and pointed it at the ground. His charged horn flashed several different colors, quickly cycling between white, black, and an unhealthy bright green color. There was a bright flash of light that knocked Feather Touch to the ground. Asterisk collapsed to the ground, exhausted. On the ground in front of him was an amber sphere that briefly shone with runes covering its surface then went dead.
"Risky! Risky!" Feather Touch shouted panickedly.
Asterisk groaned and responded, "I love you too, Feather."
Feather Touch hugged him again and kissed him repeatedly.
"Don't you ever scare me like that again, mister!" she said between kisses.
Asterisk Lulamoon chuckled. "I'll see what I can do."
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A bell above her rang as Twilight Sparkle entered Trixie Lulamoon's magic items shop. The shelves on the walls were packed full of odd items; crystal globes, scrolls, potions, and dozens of pieces of assorted junk. There didn't seem to be any order to the placement; several scrolls were piled up next to a rubber chicken, and both sat on a large coil of rope.
Twilight wandered around the room, idly inspecting the merchandise on display, when Trixie emerged from behind a door in the back of the room.
"Greetings!" Trixie cried. "I, the Great and Powerful Trixie, am selling ancient artifacts and magical wares! Behold: the magical omelette of Wazindaland!"
"I think you mean, 'amulet,'" Twilight said skeptically.
"It's that too!" Trixie said, levitating the object for Twilight's inspection. Against all odds, it did appear to be a fried egg made out of metal and placed on a necklace.
"Fair enough," Twilight said. "To tell the truth, I'm just browsing. I'll let you know if I see anything that catches my eye."
"Nonsense!" Trixie yelled. "Everything here is the most beautiful, lovely, and powerful magical item you've ever seen! No matter what you look at, it should catch your eye! That is, unless you're too stupid to know great magic when you see it."
Trixie got right up in Twilight's face and eyeballed her.
"You aren't too stupid to know good magic when you see it, are you?"
Twilight scoffed and turned away. Unfortunately for her, as she did so her hoof got tangled up with Trixie's and they both fell over. As Twilight fell she bumped a short white grecian pillar that held up an amber sphere. The pillar fell over and both the pillar and the globe made loud *thud* noises when they hit the ground.
"Ah hah! Ah-hah, ah-hah, ah-hah!" Trixie yelled gleefully. "You break it, you buy it!"
Twilight yelled inarticulately in outrage. "I didn't break it!" she yelled. "And I wouldn't have knocked it over if you hadn't tangled me up!"
"Doesn't matter! You break it, you buy it!"
Trixie pronked over to the fallen pillar and inspected it for damage, looking disappointed when she didn't find any. Then she inspected the amber sphere.
"Ah hah! There it is, plain as day! You broke the priceless antique heirloom, so now you have to pay for it!"
Twilight looked closely at the sphere.
"What, that? That's a hairline fracture. You can barely even see it!"
"Doesn't matter! I can't sell it now, so you have to pay for it."
Twilight fumed, then handed over the bits and left the shop with the sphere. Once Twilight left Trixie giggled to herself and said, "Thank God. I thought I'd never get rid of that ugly old thing."
Then Trixie thought about it for a second and added, "and the amber globe is gone, too!" and giggled again.