Personas of Harmony

by EricStarstorm

Chapter 2: Hidden Meaning

Applejack glared up to the top of the tree. Her eyes were narrowed in determination, and a drop of sweat rolled down her cheek. She licked her lips.

"Come on out, ya varmint," the farm pony muttered. "Yer gunna hafta come outta there eventually..."

The tree remained motionless. Applejack stared at it for another minute, but nothing happened.

"Consarn it!" she exclaimed. "Ah've had enough!"

Applejack turned around so that her back was to the tree, looked over her shoulder, and slammed her back hoof into the trunk. This caused a single fruit bat to fly out of the leaves that had concealed it. Applejack acted quickly, grabbing her lasso in her teeth and throwing it at the bat. The bat was trapped in the rope coil, and she pulled it down and shoved it into her saddlebag.

"Yer s'posed ta stay in the west fields," Applejack said sternly, not caring whether her words were understood. The bat squeaked sheepishly. With that, Applejack began to walk towards the west orchard.

"There you are, Applejack!" a familiar voice shouted.

Applejack turned towards the source of the voice and saw Spike approaching. "Howdy there, little fella!" she replied, her frustration fading. "C'n we walk 'n' talk? I gotta take this little critter over ta th' west fields where 'e belongs."

"Sure," Spike replied. The two began to walk together. "Twilight sent me to ask you something."

"Well, what's she wanna know?"

"Did you have any strange dreams last night?"

"Strange dreams?" Applejack thought for a moment as she walked. "Well...I did have a dream where Apple Bloom was a unicorn, and she was usin' them fancy magic powers they get ta' bring the apple trees ta life. Does that count?"

Spike held back a chuckle. "I don't think that's what Twilight is thinking of."

"Why does Twilight need ta know what I been dreamin' about, anyway?"

"She told me she had a dream last night where she was told her life would change soon by some guy with a really long nose. I guess she's trying to find out if there's anything to it."

Applejack took a second to process this. "A really long nose?" she said, a chuckle escaping her lips as she said it.

"Yeah, I don't get it either. I think she's reading too much into this, but I do want to help her put her mind at ease, y'know?"

"Yeah, I getcha. Y'all would know better'n anyone how she gets when this kinda thing happens, though."

"Why do you think I'm here?"

"Fair point."

Spike turned around and waved. "I'd love to stick around, but I still need to ask Fluttershy. Thanks anyway!"

"Y'all come back now, y'hear?" Applejack shouted as Spike ran off.

---

"Nothing, huh?" Twilight asked, sadness in her voice.

"Terribly sorry, darling," Rarity replied. She was talking to Twilight as she cleaned up her workroom. She wore her glasses, and her mane was out of shape, as if she'd been working on dresses all day. "I usually don't remember my dreams, but I believe I would be able to recall one so vivid."

"Well, it's certainly not your fault...I was just wondering if there was some meaning to this dream."

"It's not impossible. We live in a world with at least two portals to alternate worlds sitting right where anypony can get to them, after all. Receiving a message through your dreams is mild by comparison."

"Well, thanks for your time." Twilight turned to leave. "I still need to ask Pinkie and Rainbow about this, so I should go."

"Darling...I know what you're thinking here. If this dream were a message for us, would we all not have had it?" Rarity put a hoof on Twilight's shoulder. "Assuming it is more than a dream, it was a message for you and you alone. That's what I believe."

Twilight didn't have a rebuttal for that. "Yeah...I guess you're right."

"For now, though, don't worry about it! You just come with me to the spa. We'll take some time and relax."

Twilight smiled sadly. "Thanks, Rarity...I think I could use that."

Rarity took off her glasses and placed them on her desk. She then took a look in the mirror and jumped in surprise before turning back to Twilight. "Eh heh...I could as well, it would seem."

---

After eating a late lunch with Rarity, Twilight decided to just head home. The sun was already starting to go down, turning the sky a heavily saturated blue. As she walked, she saw Rainbow Dash moving a few clouds around. Rainbow apparently saw her, and she turned back to her clouds for a moment, as if debating whether or not it was okay to leave them unattended. After a few seconds, she shrugged and flew down to meet Twilight.

"Hey, Rainbow," Twilight said with a cordial smile. "Is it gonna rain tomorrow?"

"Tonight, actually," the brash pegasus replied, hovering just in front of Twilight. "It'll stop before the sun comes up. We're actually gonna start the water works in another hour or two, so you might wanna clear your schedule."

"I was just gonna go straight home today. There's a book waiting for me that I'd like to finish."

"All right, then. Sorry I can't stay and talk to you, but I gotta move the rest of the clouds into place. We'll catch up later, okay?"

Twilight nodded and smiled. "Of course."

Rainbow Dash turned around and flew back towards her clouds. She began to spread them out, arranging them so as to form a light shower. Twilight watched for a bit as she walked back towards the library. Before she could get much farther, though, she saw another pony. It was an Earth Pony mare, a few inches shorter than Twilight. Her coat was dark grey, and her mane was straight black and unkempt. The other pony just stared at her, glaring. From the angle she was at, Twilight couldn't see her cutie mark.

"Um...hello?" Twilight asked pensively. She had never seen this pony before.

The other pony didn't react. Her eyes never left Twilight's frame, even as she turned to leave. She walked away, leaving Twilight speechless.

"Hmm...wonder who that was," Twilight said to herself after a moment of tense silence. She continued walking towards home, trying to push the encounter out of her mind.

---

Twilight had made it home in fifteen minutes. Spike was making dinner when she got there, and they talked about their findings--or lack thereof--as he worked.

"So you didn't find anything either?" Spike asked as he stirred up something in a pot.

"That'd be a no," Twilight replied. "I dunno, Spike...do you think I'm just worrying over nothing again?"

"Honestly? Yeah." Spike put down his stirring spoon to let the mixture simmer. "You really shouldn't worry, even if this dream does mean something. You're awesome at magic, you're a princess, and you've got great friends to help you. No matter what comes along, you can handle it!"

Twilight's cheeks turned rosy at the praise. "Thanks, Spike. You always know what to say to make me feel better."

Spike turned back to his little project. "Looks like dinner's ready. You hungry?"

"I had lunch late today. I'll just read until I get hungry, I guess."

The little dragon rolled his eyes. "You've been on that same book for a week now. How long is it, anyway?"

"About 2000 pages, I would guess. But it's not like I haven't read longer books."

"Yeah...I remember you were stuck on that philosophy book for a month. You didn't even stop to sleep!"

"That book was a lot longer. Besides, that was a long time ago. I'm not about to skip a night any time soon." Twilight got up and started to leave the kitchen. "Turn the burner down and keep that stuff warm for me, okay?"

Spike gave Twilight an overly dramatic salute, and she couldn't help but laugh for a second before retiring.

---

The next morning brought a smell that Twilight always recognized during the rainy season: the more pronounced aroma of tree sap. Drops of water lingered on the bedroom window, which formed sparse and faint shadows on the reading desk. Twilight climbed out of bed and looked outside to see if it was still raining. It wasn't.

"Spike, time to get up," Twilight said gently, using her magic to lift the dragon into the air and nudge him awake. Spike, being used to being awoken this way, opened his eyes with no struggle.

"Morning, Twilight!" he said, smiling. It always amazed Twilight how Spike never seemed to be groggy during the morning nowadays. "Did you have another dream?"

Twilight shook her head as she released Spike from her hold. "Not another one in the Velvet Room, at any rate."

"See? I told you." Spike nudged Twilight with his elbow. "So what do you want for breakfast?"

"You can pick this time."

Just then, there was a rapid-fire series of knocks at the door. It sounded like someone had put a rock on the end of a sewing machine needle and turned it on. Twilight and Spike exchanged confused glances, and Spike descended down the stairwell to answer the door. As soon as he turned the doorknob, the door shot open, throwing Spike into a bookshelf. The books immediately fell from the shelf, completely covering the poor dragon. More than a little surprised, Twilight turned to see an extremely distressed Pinkie Pie.

"Pinkie, what's wrong?" she asked. "You look like you saw a ghost."

"Twilight, Spike, c-come quick, please!" Pinkie stammered. "S-something happened!"

"Breathe," Twilight said as she came downstairs. "It's all right. Take a second."

Pinkie complied. She turned around and breathed heavily, saying something to herself on her exhales that was too fast for Twilight to understand. After a good thirty seconds, she turned around again. Her expression was much more calm, but it was filled with sorrow instead of panic.

"There's...a dead body in the well," she said softly, tears surfacing in her eyes.

The color drained from Twilight's face. "WHAT?!?" she screamed.

Pinkie fought back the urge to cry. "Please, follow me...I'll explain when we get there."

Pinkie turned around and galloped off, headed for the well. Twilight glared and used her magic to pull Spike out of the pile of books.

"Did she say what I think she did?" Spike asked.

Twilight nodded and hastily put Spike on her back. "Let's go. We've got to do something about this."

"Yeah, I agree. Lead the way!"

Twilight ran out the door to the library and then took to the air, chasing after Pinkie.

Comments

[nukestar]

Looks interesting, I'll read it later.

[shinigamisparda]

Ok. You've caught my interest. Let's see where this goes.

[sonicfan21]

Two? I only know of the mirror that goes to Canterlot High, what is the other one?

[Kauetheadventurer246]

4318421 the second one is the canterlot statue in the human world.

[Spaisugaru]

Rarity acting sus