//------------------------------// // Chapter 1 Part 1 // Story: Fabricated World // by Brolkier //------------------------------// In the early afternoon, under a grey sky… Twilight made her way to the art gallery in Canterlot. “It sure was nice of Princess Celestia to send me an invitation to the new art exhibit in Canterlot.” Twilight spoke to herself. “I always enjoy learning new things, and I have to admit that I’ve never heard of the artist before.” “I’m sure to have a pleasant time!” Twilight walked up the steps to the gallery and presented her invitation to the guard at the door. Since the exhibit was being presented for only one day in Canterlot, the rich and elite had decided that only ponies with an invitation could gain access. Twilight entered the gallery doors. It had been a long time since she had visited the gallery. She had first visited it with her parents when she was just a filly. The overall architecture had remained the same, but the walls, ceiling, and floors were all painted a flat white as part of the exhibit experience. Twilight could hear some ponies playing classical music throughout the gallery, adding a more upper-class touch to the plain setting. Twilight walked past the receptionist desk, levitating one of the pamphlets on the counter over to herself with her magic. She read it aloud to herself, as she began making her way through the lower level of the gallery. “Welcome to the Guertena Rice art exhibit.” “Please enjoy all of the painting, sculptures, and other models of art created by the amazing Guertena. “We ask that you please refrain from any flash photography, as some of the works are delicate to sudden flashes of light, and as a means to preserve the uniqueness of the art from reproduction.” “We also ask that you….” Twilight accidently bumped into the ropes surrounding one of the pieces on display, sending the pamphlet gliding to the ground on the other side, and causing her to almost fall onto the piece itself. She quickly collected herself, and made her way around the painting to retrieve the pamphlet. Upon passing, she noticed the title of the painting on the placard in front of it: “Abyss of the Deep.” She saw what appeared to be a very strange looking fish, with sharp teeth and an eel-like body. The water surrounding it looked very dark and deep, possibly symbolizing that this particular fish resided in the deepest waters of Equestria, if it existed at all. She picked up the pamphlet with her magic and placed it in one of the nearby bins for trash. She then began making her way through the rest of the bottom floor. Twilight saw many different paintings along the walls as she walked. Pictures of faces, foods, sceneries, and other strange objects. There were even stone columns on display, indicating that the artist may have worked as an architect as well. She rounded another corner, viewing more pieces of art along the way, and spied an interesting piece at the end of the hall. As she approached, she could see that it was a sculpture of a giant red rose. The rose was covered in thorns, and there were a few petals strewn about the floor around it. The title on the placard read: “Embodiment of Spirit” Beautiful at a glance, but if you get too close, it will induce pain. It can only bloom in wholesome bodies. A young colt was standing in front of the ropes next to her, trying to reach out with his hoof and touch the sculpture. “Now now.” Twilight told the colt. “You shouldn’t touch the artwork. A pony went through a lot of effort to make that, and you might hurt yourself if those thorns are sharp.” “Aww, you’re no fun.” The colt replied, going back to just looking at the sculpture instead. Twilight gave a giggle at the young pony, and decided to move on to the rest of the exhibit. She made her way back towards the reception desk and instead went up the stairs to the side, leading to the upper level of the gallery. Upon reaching the top, Twilight looked around to see other ponies admiring more of the art and soon made her way around herself. She looked off to her right down a hall. She could see a few headless mannequins, each wearing a different color dress; one red, one yellow, and one blue. She looked further down and spied what looked like a white couch embroidered with some red fabric along the top. Twilight turned her head then to the left and discovered something, or rather somepony, whom she had never expected to ever see in an art gallery of all things. There, wearing a blue denim flight jacket, with a rainbow colored mane and tail, was her friend Rainbow Dash. “Rainbow!” Twilight called out to her friend, catching her by surprise. Rainbow Dash jumped at the sound of the familiar voice. She turned to see her friend Twilight and immediately began trying to come up with a story to explain why she was there. “Oh, uh…hey Twilight! What…uh…what are you doing here?” Rainbow Dash replied, trying to give an innocent smile. “I didn’t know that you were a fan of art. I guess all of your reading has opened your mind to new things, huh?” Twilight asked Rainbow Dash. “Oh, you know me. Always trying new things…heh heh.” Rainbow Dash replied. “Well it’s great to see you’ve broadened your horizons, so to speak. By the way, that’s a nice jacket. Did you get it while you were at the Wonderbolt Academy?” Twilight asked. “Oh, this? You bet!” Rainbow Dash replied, sticking her chest out in pride. “I got it when I won the title for Top Gun of all the fliers during training. And…” Rainbow Dash began to pull her pride back a bit. “That’s actually why I’m really here.” “Oh?” Twilight asked, confused. “Yeah, you see. The Wonderbolts actually performed for the opening of the gallery, and I tagged along to see their performance. They saw me and managed to get me a VIP pass to see the exhibit. I was gonna follow them around, but the crowd got to them first and they disappeared. I’ve just kinda been wandering around since then.” Rainbow Dash told her friend. “Well, it’s still nice to see you admiring the art, instead of sleeping on a cloud all day.” Twilight replied. “Don’t get me wrong. I actually tried to sleep on that couch over there, but the guards kicked me off before I could get too comfortable.” Rainbow Dash told Twilight. “Oh Rainbow Dash.” Twilight replied, rolling her eyes. “Well, I’m going to check out the rest of the gallery. Would you like to join me?” “Nah, I’m good Twilight. I DO have a reputation to uphold you know, and if I start wandering around too much in an artsy place like this, then somepony might recognize me.” Rainbow Dash replied. “Fine, suit yourself. Still nice seeing you though!” Twilight replied, before starting to walk away. “You too Twilight!” Rainbow Dash called back, before going back to looking at a picture of a pony hanging onto a rope. Twilight went back to admiring the rest of the gallery. As she walked down the hall, she could see more paintings like the ones below. Some were bright, others with complex, and a few looked very odd. She rounded a corner to see more sculptures and hanging pieces. A big pink ball with brushes sticking out, what looked like a rainbow colored wind-chime, and a giant blue pony wearing a black dress, her eyes looking off to her left. Twilight turned one more corner and found herself in a long empty hallway, with a single giant painting off to her right. The painting appeared to have been drawn in crayon, and depicted a black landscape with several colorful land masses in the foreground. She made her way closer to look at the placard. “Fabricated World.” She read aloud. Almost as if on cue, Twilight could hear the classical music begin to fade out, and the lights start to flicker. “Hmm? That’s strange.” Twilight spoke to herself. “I wonder if this is part of the atmosphere of the exhibit.” The hallway became dead quiet, as if all sound had been muted from the world. Twilight began to make her way back towards the entrance, hoping to find the cause of the sudden stillness. As she rounded the nearest corner, she saw that there was nopony around. “Where has everypony gone?” She thought. As if in response to her thought, Twilight began to hear hoofsteps approaching down the hall. “Hello?” She called. The hoofsteps began to get louder and louder and Twilight hoped that somepony would round the corner any second. When the steps reached their peak, Twilight expected to see a pony, but was instead greeted with nothing. The hoofsteps then seemed to begin again, sounding far away once more. Twilight made her way back to the staircase, heading down to the entrance. Upon reaching the bottom of the stairs, Twilight discovered that not a single pony was in sight, and the lights now dimmed themselves darker. The hoofsteps could still be heard, but they sounded like they were on a loop that would never arrive. Twilight walked over to the window near the reception desk and saw that it had suddenly grown dark, like the Princesses had lowered the sun and raised the moon early and quiet abruptly. She tried to make her way out through the front doors, but found that they wouldn’t open. Not even her magic could pry them open, it was as if they had been sealed shut. “What’s going on here?” Twilight asked aloud. Twilight turned around and began to wander around the floor of the gallery, looking for anypony or any sign of what was going on. As she approached the painting that had been situated on the floor itself, Twilight heard what sounded like a pony coughing down the hallway to her right. She quickly took off after the noise, hoping to find the pony that the cough belonged to. When she arrived at the corner, she looked to see that there was nopony there, only a desolate, dimly lit hallway. She could still hear the continuous approaching hoofsteps, almost as if they were taunting her at being unable to find any answers. She did her best to ignore them as she wandered the rest of the first floor. After being unsuccessful at finding any clues on the first floor, Twilight decided to try searching the second floor. She had not gone down the other hallway after things had gone quiet, so just maybe there would be something there instead. She made her way past the painting on the floor, past the reception desk, and began walking up the stairs to the second floor. Almost reaching the top, Twilight saw what looked like a dark figure pass by the window in front of her and continue on past the next one. She hurried to the window, hoping to catch a fleeting glimpse of the figure, only to find nothing. She gave a sigh of disappointment as she started to look away from the window. “BANG BANG BANG!” came a pounding on the window she had just looked through, causing her to jump back in fright. She looked again to see the cause, but once more found no sign of anypony or anything there. Twilight could feel her heartbeat begin to escalate and called upon the old trick that Princess Cadence had shown her to calm her nerves. She closed her eyes, took a deep breath, and then moved her hoof across herself, exhaling at the same time. The trick worked, as she began to feel herself calming down. Her demeanor in check once more, Twilight continued on her way down the hallway that she had taken when she came upstairs the first time. She glanced off at where Rainbow Dash had been standing previously and hoped that she was alright. While she wanted to make sure that everypony else was safe as well, she did care about her friends just a little bit more. She once again walked down the hallway that she had previously admired, seeing the same artwork displayed, but none of the ponies admiring them. She saw the same sculptures and figures down the next hallway, and even the same paintings beyond that. Twilight walked past the giant painting that she had viewed before things started going strange and noticed something different about it. Looking closer, she saw what looked like blue paint leaking out of the bottom of the painting. “What could cause paint to leak through like this?” She thought. “Perhaps this is what the pamphlet meant by delicate to flashing lights.” Thinking back to when the lights flickered earlier. As she started to walk away, blue letters quickly began to appear on the floor, making a slapping sound like a glob of paint hitting the floor. Stepping back to try to read the letters, she found they spelled out: “Come Twilight.” “Who…what did this?” Twilight asked aloud, starting to get a little scared. She turned her head back towards the giant painting and discovered that the leaking blue paint had been replaced with a small message. She looked over and read: “Come down below Twilight. I’ll show you someplace secret.” Twilight, now more freaked out than from the sudden words appearing on the floor, hesitantly started walking away from the painting, hoping that was the last of it. She walked to the end of the hall and sat down against the wall, looking back down the hallway. She could hear her breathing getting heavier, but didn’t attempt to try the calming trick again. Instead, she tried to focus her mind on what the message had said; “Come down below…” She figured the message meant back downstairs, so she gathered herself, stood up, and began walking back towards the stairs. She made her way back downstairs and decided to try the doors again. Perhaps the message meant that they were unlocked now. She tried to open them once more, but again found them sealed shut. She began to walk away, until she noticed the window she looked out before. It was now oozing a dark red liquid, which sent a shiver went down her spine. “It’s…it’s just paint again.” Twilight told herself. Twilight walked back past the reception desk and towards the room with the painting on the floor. Approaching the painting, Twilight noticed that a few of the rope barriers had been removed and that there were a couple blue hoofprints walking into the painting. She walked over to where the prints were and stared into the painting. The water depicted in the painting seemed more lifelike now, like she could just reach out and feel its wet touch. Curiosity overtook her, as she reached out with her hoof and touched the edge of the painting. To her surprise, her hoof felt something wet and a small ripple was formed that spread to the rest of the painting. “This…this is impossible.” Twilight thought to herself. “I’ve heard of magic charms and objects with magical properties, but how could a painting like this become so lifelike? I’ve never heard of a spell that could do this.” Twilight continued to look upon the impossible painting and thought back once more to the message that she had read before: “Come down below Twilight. I’ll show you someplace secret.” “Is this what the message was talking about?” Twilight thought. “Down below. Inside this painting?” Twilight considered all the possibilities once more, before deciding on her course of action. “Only one way to find out I suppose.” Twilight told herself. She poked the painting once more, making sure that it was indeed a liquid now. Twilight moved a few steps back, took a deep breath, and then jumped, diving headfirst into the painting. Water splashed about as she dove in, forming ripples that reflected off the sides of the painting. The ripples soon dissipated, as the painting came to a calm once more. The approaching hoofsteps in the distance finally ceased and the gallery resumed an eerie silence.