//------------------------------// // ChApterrrrrr 1 // Story: THe GLiTcccH // by Compass The Pegasus //------------------------------//         The wall opened up and swallowed Twilight’s body whole. All she could see was a bright light and tons of binary code flying around an infinite tunnel of madness. Pain shot throughout Twilight’s body as she squirmed around. This isn’t real. This shouldn’t be happening. Her muscles ached and her head spun. She kept seeing visions of these boxes with light streaming out of them. After a few minutes, the numbers began to distort and her vision blurred. Her vocal chords strained as she screamed as loud as she could, and then there was nothing. 01001000 01000101 01001100 01010000 00100000 01001101 01000101         “Spiiiike! Go get my quill please! I need to write a letter to the Princess.” Twilight yelled as she pulled a blank scroll from a drawer. It’s been a pretty strange day so far. Nothing seemed… okay. There was something off with just about everything, but she wasn’t sure. The feeling you get when you’re at home, it wasn’t there anymore. This place felt alien. Somehow, this wasn’t the same library as before. It looked like it, but it just wasn’t the same. Somehow, even the sun itself looked a bit peculiar. It… was changing color? The sun jumped between being yellow and orange almost like it couldn’t decide. Well, it didn’t seem to be harming anything,         “Spike? Spike! Where are you?” Twilight felt something tap her shoulder, so she turned. Spike stood there, lazily tapping her. He looked normal, but there was just something off.         “I’m hEre Twilight. hEre’s YOur Q-Q-Quillll and Ink.” He said as he put the quill down on Twilight’s desk.         “Um, are you okay Spike? You seem sick or something.” She asked as she tilted her head and inspected Spike all around.         “Hmm? What? What are you talking about Twilight? I feel just F-F-F-Fine. Well, I finished my chores, so I’m off to go play with Sweetie Belle. Bye!” Spike left quickly, leaving a confused Twilight in the middle of the room.         “What’s going on today?" 01001001 01110100 00100111 01110011 00100000 01101110 01101111 01110100 00100000 01110011 01100001 01100110 01100101 00101110         “Hi there, Fluttershy! How’s it going?” Twilight decided to swing by the grocery store to pick up some snacks for later. She coincidentally bumped into fluttershy in the vegetable section.         “W-W-why H-hello there Twilight. How are you tod-d-d-d-day?” She asked, putting on a smile. “I needed to pick up some C-Carrots for Angel. He w-W-W-W-W-W”         “Uh, Fluttershy? Are you okay?” Fluttershy had halted in place, but she was making extremely jerky movements. Her pupils shot left and right almost like a metronome, but much faster. Then suddenly, it stopped as soon as Twilight had reached out and touched her.         “Wanted me to make him a salad. Well, it was good to see you Twilight.” She said as she walked away with her bag of carrots. Wait, was that there before?         “Alright, bye-bye Fluttershy.” Twilight’s head ached. She was fine before she touched Fluttershy, but now it felt like she’d been hit by a train. “Whatever, I guess I should go home and get some rest.” 01010010 01010101 01001110 00101100 00100000 01011001 01001111 01010101 00100000 01010111 01001001 01001100 01001100 00100000 01000100 01001001 01000101         Ding Dong! The doorbell resonated around the tree. Wait… doorbell? The tree never had a doorbell. Spike walked lazily over to the door. His feet scraping the ground as he walked. He opened the door, stifling a yawn.         “Hey the-e-e-e-Re RArit-y. Twilight! Rarity’s here!” He yelled.  Rarity? Why is she here? thought Twilight as she trotted down the stairs. “Oh hello Rarity, what brings you here? Oh come on in!”         “Oh ha ha, very fu-fu-fu-fu-funny Twilight. You know why I-I-I-I-I-I-I’m here. We had a lunch date today. Remember? You told Spike to ask me this morning.”         “Spike? What? I never told him anything this morning. Spike, why did you make that up? What have I told you about lying?” Spike gave a confused look.         “But, look! I’m not L-L-L-Lyi-ing. You gave me this list of things I needed to do while I was out.” She handed Twilight a piece of paper and Twilight took it.         “Huh, strange. I don’t remember writing this, but this is definitely my calligraphy. No doubt. Woaah. Spike, you look different.” Spike’s scales grew out to look longer and his body shape changed a bit.         “Who ya callin SP-P-P-PIke? What? Do I look like a boy to you?” This was the last straw. Twilight backed up slowly, her breathing getting heavier and heavier. Beads of sweat formed on her forehead. Her eyes darted from Rarity to ‘girly Spike’. This isn’t right. Twilight pushed Rarity aside and ran as fast as she could out the door and into the woods. 01001001 00100111 01001101 00100000 01010011 01001111 01010010 01010010 01011001 00101110 00100000 01001001 01010100 00100111 01010011 00100000 01010100 01001111 01001111 00100000 01001100 01000001 01010100 01000101 00100000 01001110 01001111 01010111 00101110 00100000 01000111 01001111 01001111 01000100 01000010 01011001 01000101 00101110 There is no forest. It’s just gone… Twilight screeched to a halt and fell onto her haunches. “No! Why is everything changing? The AP-P-P-ples! Maybe Sweet Apple acres is still normal! ERROR_NO_SUCH_GROUP Where Sweet Apple Acres once was, is now an abandoned farmhouse and a dilapidated barn. A ‘For Sale’ sign hung by one side off of a broken wooden post. Under it, it was written “Property of the Flim Flam Brothers” “I H-H-Ha-ave to get back t-to the Tree hoU-ou-ou-ouse nOw!” Twilight screamed as she threw herself into a full sprint back to the Golden Oaks Library. She ran through the town, which just felt much darker overall. She saw ponies she knew, and ponies she didn’t know. They all turned to watch as she ran as hard as she could. Her breaths staggered and her heart pumped battery acid through her veins. Twilight arrived and burst through the door of the library, but… it was full of ponies. It was a party! No, not just any party. It’s the party that Pinkie Pie threw for Twilight when she first arrived. There she was standing and drinking hot sauce. ERROR_NO_SUCH_USER         The wall of the library split, revealing a bright white light streaming out of it. Twilight felt the vacuum pull her in. This was it. It’s over. WARNING: SYSTEM FAILURE. STARTING REBOOT.