//------------------------------// // Explanation Through the Eyes of Another // Story: The Story of a Madman and his Box // by Crimson_Moon //------------------------------// Don't blink, Don't blink, Don't blink! Those two words constantly echoed in the young mare's mind, remembering the words of wisdom from the ever vacant Doctor. It took her at least one whole hour to remember that the image could change, but she could never be attacked due to the special frame the mural was held in. Once that truth made its way back to her mind, she started to calm down. Upon further inspection, the statues weren't that menacing. Sure, they could kill you somehow, but it's like they're trying desperately not to be scared. Their whole look reminded Twilight of her mentor, who wore that face when trying to look threatening or at the very least, serious enough to talk to. Another trait that the mare admired about the Princess. "But why? Why destroy your crown, why leave? I know Discord has some level of control over you." She glanced over to the golden regalia once adorned on Celestia, still sitting cold, silent, and mostly broken in its sad pile. "But, why do I feel like it wasn't him? Discord is nothing more than a bored teen at best, but the one i met... He felt like evil in its purest form." Grunting in frustration, she bucked one of the walls, causing most of the glowing portraits to lose their magical glow from the Princess' horn. "It's like the more I learn, the less I understand!" Suddenly in the middle of the hallway, appearing just above Celestia's golden regalia, was a perfect hologram of Celestia, except a lot younger. In fact, exceptionally younger. She only had pink in her mane, and it was no longer majestically flowing, but the thing that stuck out the most was the fact that there were no wings. In fact, she even looked shorter than Twilight! "Initiating Emergency Protocol 71." It looked around, before gazing into the eyes of Twilight's shocked face. "Hello. This is an emergency broadcast sent in case either The Doctor or one of his companions is in perpetual danger." it said in Celestia's voice. "By hitting the wall, you triggered a self-defense mechanism shut down eons ago to redirect power. Once activated, the systems reactivated, and opened this interface. Ask any question, and I will be happy to assist!" For all it was worth, at least the hologram wanted to sound sincere. "Where exactly am I?" Twilight wondered aloud. All these portraits, and now a strange projection of Celestia? This just keeps getting deeper! Oh Celestia, please be okay... "Unfortunately, my database can't answer that for you." The answer... shocked the mare to say the least. Wondering aloud with a magical projection is never a good option for sanity. She put that thought into the "Don't do" pile of her mind, which was quite small to be honest. Well, might as well see if this works... Clearing her throat, she prepared to ask another question. "Do you know what happened to Celestia?" "What do you mean?" it responded quizzically. "You know, alicorn like me, has-had a crown, crest and boots. Raises the sun..." It still was confused. She grunted in frustration. Calming down, she asked another question. "Okay, who is the pony you are currently disguised as?" It smiled. "I am currently using the scanned image of Sol Invictus, but the logs indicate that this form had a nickname: 'Sunny'." It smiled again. "I find that name most pleasing! You may call me Sunny, companion of The Doctor." "O-kay, 'Sunny'. The pony you scanned is a lot older now. In fact, ages older. Do you think you can find her?" "Well, of course. Just tell me what she looks like!" The personality that this entity had seemed cheerful and serene. Must be how she was back in the day... Twilight thought. Upon looking closer, there was no false smile, or even any trace of a facade to hide behind. Most important of all, the sadness that was always in her eyes was non-existent, and this all brought up a new question. "What happened, Celestia?" It was almost like a whisper, and it just felt...wrong. She knew her smile all her life, and yet Twilight saw an entirely different pony in front of her. An idea popped up suddenly in the young alicorn's mind. "Sunny, i-is there a chance you can somehow gather data? New memories?" The hologram thought for a moment, actually pondering on if it was able to do it. "According to regulations in my code, it should be possible to extract data from an individual, yes. Why do you ask such a thing?" "I-I can't really describe 'Sunny'. There are too many variables that might have changed over the years..." Just thinking about her mentor's usual self almost caused her to go to the brink of tears yet again. "I can remember her plain as day, but... It's like if you painted a picture, but then other artists painted over it so many times that it's hard to recognize the original." "Sunny" nodded in understanding. "I understand. The Doctor has changed so many times since the birth of my programming, but sometimes the data is hard to keep up with. Regeneration likes to make it hard to 'keep up with appearances' so to speak." It said, waving its hooves for emphasis. "Very well, I will scan your memories. Just stand still and-" Sunny was interrupted by Twilight. "All except the new ones! I don't want you to remember her that way..." A look of confusion spread onto the hologram's face.She-she doesn't want me to scan recent memories because, I-I might not like what i see? It baffled Sunny. *Chuckles* Huh! In all the years I've been activated, I have never been shown such kindness and humanity, save for Him! Smiling, she agreed to the terms. "Very well, then. Hold still, and I will scan your memories." "U-up until I arrived in this hall of stories, please." It nodded in agreement. Once the conversation ended, the hologram's eyes glowed pure white, and scanned Twilight's memories of all she knew about the Princess. Delving into more recent memories, it was clear that something changed. No more smile and cheer. Sunny, or "Celestia" nowadays, was completely different. Wait a minute... Something is terribly wrong! It thought. Once the scan was complete, questions arose in Sunny. "She is... Not what I was expecting. What happened to her?" she asked the purple mare. "H-her smile is gone! And her eyes- her eyes only showed darkness and regret." Trembling, Twilight finally got the answer that, regrettably, she knew was coming. "I-I knew it. My entire life I've seen her like that. I was just a small filly back then, but I knew something was wrong." Tears started to form in her eyes, glossing them over. "All those cold nights I would spend with her in the bedchambers as a small filly, she would have Nightmares. Tossing and turning, she'd soak the sheets, the covers, even the pillows, in her own sweat. Once every few bouts of mumbling, I would catch a word or two in my ears. They were always-" Doctor... The word terrified the hologram. Nightmare... Every word uttered made Sunny cower in fear. Chaos... When the last word was spoken, Sunny's eyes were like pinpricks. Mural... The last one terrified her the most. All evidence pointed to the stories contained in the murals, all of which stopped glowing since Sunny's arrival.