//------------------------------//
// Chapter 6 
// Story: All an Illusion 
// by D Historian 
//------------------------------//

	Chapter 6:
The Path Goes On

"Hi! I'm Party, Party Cannon!" An over exuberant voice screamed at a summery yellow filly, whose green and bright gold striped spiked hairstyle was cropped in a tomboyish yet feminine way, her polished fur glistening with sweat from a hard day of work, reeking of apples and sweat. The earth pony blinked her emerald like eyes, which glittered in the remnants of the eternal evening, looking at the other filly with a growing smile.
"Well, howdy, Party! Mah name's Apple Reinette Jewel! Yah can call me Apple Rein for short, a'course, but welcome ter Ponyville! Us Apples have been expecting yah!" The filly grinned at her excitable cousin, eyeing her curly hair and light coat, speaking with a brisk and accented voice, clipped slightly due to the fork in her tongue. Her only other draconic features were her slightly slit eyes, and her reptilian tail, which was curled to a side A hearty shake was delivered to Party's front hooves, making them rattle in their sockets.
"Yup! I know! Mommy told me my cousin was a farm filly!" Party Cannon smiled at the rough treatment, giggling and bouncing up and down next to Apple Rein, who nodded vigorously in approval of the other filly's enthusiasm, offering a yellow hoof to lead the way. Party grabbed it, dragging her Cousin along the path of the rustic train station, making her way through the crowd, quite forgetting her aunt, who trailed silently behind. Maud rolled her eyes, looking down at the dusty ground, or more specifically, at the pebbles that littered the area. She looked back up at the pair. They trotted along, making small talk, their chat punctuated with the occasional hearty laughter. Rein’s hoof draped around Party’s happily, answering her queries about
Maud readjusted her blue frock about her, wrinkling her muzzle as a newly hung, but weathered piece of parchment broke free from its binding pin that held it in place, flying freely to the wind.
Maud twisted her head to stare at the crumpled poster, it's edges yellowed and frayed, fluttering with the wind, making soft rustling noises as it was buffeted up and down by invisible air currents. The bright piece of coloured paper drifted away, out of Maud's gaze, but not before she spied three flashing silver words marked on the poster in bold letters. 'Opening Tomorrow Night!', proving it was made before the malfunctioning of the celestial bodies.
It was surprising how daily life in Equestria still progressed despite Celestia’s death, showing just how independent the kingdom had grown, which was an accomplishment in Maud’s opinion. Maud then realised her sister’s only daughter was missing, and the pony leading her was nowhere in sight, either. Maud sighed, trotting forward, angling her head to look around, hoping to catch sight of the bouncing curls of her niece.
“Where’d they go?” She wondered out loud, monotonously.
~~~
Thump thump thump!
The world was a blurry haze of purples and pink, the hue dull, but the colours seeming to clash anyway, imprinted on a fogged red backdrop, the colour of reddened blood, swirling slowly and nauseatingly, making bile rise at the back of her throat in revulsion at the sight. The air she managed to get down her throat tasted like foul sugar and sour cream, tasting bitter and rough, seeming to scratch her throat raw as she breathed. The ground under her wobbling hooves was willowy and sponge-like, as well as being freezing to touch, a slightly sticky residue coating the road, which vibrated, the shudders going through the earth being highly unsettling.  
Thump thump thump!
The ever increasingly loud thump, the sound of her heartbeat ringing in her ears, which twitched in time to the rhythm, the sound making her head throb, in a flaming agony, each thump delivering a blow stronger than a sledgehammer could, not giving any physical pain, but making her mind crack under the intense pressure, the overbearing amount of order, threatening to overwhelm her with a hiss.
Thump thump thump!
Her neck and vision constricted simultaneously, fogged black dots Swimming like fish across her eyes tauntingly, mocking her situation by flaunting their freedom. This irritated her for some reason. A flurry of shapes oozed to her, wobbling like jelly, distorted yellow eyes glaring at her in anger, shrieking that she was too orderly, their barely corrigible voices rising to a screaming pitch, when they sudden were blasted apart, thrown to the edge of her vision, bare pricks on the nightmarish landscape.
Thump! Thump! THUMP!
The frightened gelatinous creatures dissolved with hollow yells, split apart by a pure beam of golden light that hurt to touch. It cut cleanly through her, making her chest ache. The light faded, but the creatures stayed cowering, whimpering and inching away from a black shadowy mass, with razors splayed atop its head, clearly the source of the agonising light.
A distinctly hoof-shaped limb jammed under Illusion's chin painfully and forced her disorientated head up feverishly, such that she would meet its gaze, a gaze of swirling purples and whites, a whirlpool of horror, the hypnotising scene freezing Illusion, a terrifying jolt shooting through her. The eyes consumed her vision, eating away at her. She opened her mouth, wanting to work up the courage and ability to force a scream out her dry throat.
THUMP THUMP THUMP!
Illusion's eyes flew open, in time with her wings, as she fell out of her bed with a hard knock. She felt heavy, crashing into the hard wooden floorboards of her room, the material reducing and absorbing the impact, but it was shocking nonetheless. The ringing in her ears faded, as she realised that she was thoroughly drenched in cold sweat. The stench of fear ventilated throughout the room. She had no idea why. She strained to remember, but the answer vanished quickly, leaving her mind blank. The dream, the nightmare, had been so…vivid. The harder she tried to reach the corner of her brain that hid the memory, the fainter it became. It was soon non-existent, like an old horror that never was real. She felt reflexive shivers claw down her spine as she got up and plodded out of her room, ignoring the two snoozing weasels curled in slender piles atop the strained vanity, the newly knocked over pins littering the floor, but the mirror catching her eyes with a flash of red. She walked over to it, breathing a calming breath of cool air, relaxing her tense nerves.
The small jewel around her neck felt strangely hot for some reason.
~~~
Thump! Thump!
The loud knock made Twilight sit up quickly, groaning as she moved out of her comfortable warm nest of blankets, which she had been dozing in moments before, feeling the impatient thumping of hooves on doors radiate through her skull uncomfortably. Her head complained, like her mouth did, walking to her door drunkenly, her stiff limbs not fully awake.
"Coming! Coming! Yeesh!" Twilight hollered, scratching the bottom of her chin with a yawn. Blinking sleep out of her eyes, she cantered to the door and navigated herself through several crystalline hallways and threw the front door open, sighing and wiping her purple eyes, which focused themselves on the pony that stood in the shadows, her face covered by the darkness. Any distinctive features were blurred by the hood of the black cloak. The eyes, however, remained visible.
The twitching turquoise eyes of princess Luna peered back at her, utterly unamused and serious. Her eyes sparkled, but grimly. "Twilight, assemble the other elements."