//------------------------------//
// Inception - Another T 
// Story: My Little Rider: Friendship is Joker 
// by lilAngel 
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Another part of this story. Another time, so long past that she no longer remembers walking through a crystal-decorated tunnel alongside a glittering, sparkling stream that seemed to spring straight from the heart of the earth. She was young then, and had no fear of the unknown. The biggest worry she had now was of disappointing her family.

She’d heard that a long ago miner had found this stream, and taken it as a good omen. They’d built their home right above this point, surrounded now by a flourishing farm. She’d heard the legends, that if you made a wish on the stream it would give life to the brightest emotions in your heart, and allow you to change the world. But as a child she only wished for stupid, insignificant things that nopony else would  care for, so she knew she wouldn’t be the one to unlock the power of the spring. All she wanted was to live forever, and to change the world.

“Rose!” a voice echoed through the tunnels, causing her head to jerk around in a futile attempt to follow the sound. It wasn’t a friendly voice, but angry or worried. So often it was hard to tell the difference, especially when it came to family. She hurried along the passage, towards the spring itself. She didn’t want to be caught down here, where she knew she shouldn’t be right now. But exploring alone was the only tiny sliver of joy in her strictly-regimented life right now, and she wouldn’t give that up for anything. The dark stone gave way to walls of pure crystal. Sparkling, ever-changing rainbows reflecting in all directions around where the spring gushed out. It was beautiful, something her parents had never seemed to see as they talked about the value of the stone and the virtues of a simple life. The many colours of the light here played across Rose’s coat, letting her forget for a moment her own colouring, so pale it was almost grey.

“Rose!” the furious voice yelled again, and the filly knew there was something wrong more than just missing her work. She turned around and started to trot reluctantly over the natural crystal, leaving the treasure chamber of the geode spring. But in her haste she stumbled and fell. A sharp edge of prismatic stone pierced her thigh as she tumbled right into the sprint, and she screamed for just a second until her head struck the bank.

“Rose Quartz!” another shout, panic deepening further. By the time her sister reached the geode chamber, all their practical skills couldn’t save her. And the story would have ended there, if not for an experiment, a daring attempt. A sacrifice that might even be able to drive away death.

“ETERNAL!”





A strangled yelp, a gasp of surprise. Confusion for a moment, at the shock of finding herself in a familiar room. She was in Ponyville, of course, where she had lived her whole life, but it took a few terrible seconds to remember that. She hadn’t risen from the dead as a monster. She was just a good pony waking from a nightmare that just wouldn’t stop coming back. She didn’t know if it had a grain of truth in it, or if it was the thing that terrified her most. But if she couldn’t stop these strange dreams about a family she’d never had, her friends would notice soon. She needed to do something about that.