A Test for Aita

by AizakkuHorooee

Chapter III

Throughout the caves, as I search for any of the students who need help, Smoulder is helping out Ocellus, so they’re alright. Yona sounds like she’s befriended something that squeaks, so she doesn’t need help. As for Sandbar, he’s only worried; it’s nothing too escalatory. Just in case though, I decide to enter, only to find him in the distance, running away with Rainbow Dash and Rarity. I sprint to catch up to Sandbar and talk.

“Sandbar! What’s going on?” I ask in a rapid pant.

“Oh! The dream walker!” Sandbar exclaims, turning his head to me while running. “I’m so glad you’re here! Where’re my friends?”

“They’re still in the cave! Do we need them?” I say, to which he nods.

“That’s what I’d prefer, if they were here. My professors and I on a really important friendship mission!”

Okay, I can instantly see what Sandbar fears: having to decide between his friends and his role models.

I gasp. “I recognize this situation! Rainbow Dash has had the same dilemma several times regarding the Wonderbolts and Shadowbolts!”

Sandbar sighs and facehoofs. “Of course! She always told us stories like that in class!” He and I now stop as he stamps his hoof on the ground. “Okay!!! Enough!!! I’m not going anywhere without my friends!”

Rainbow Dash and Rarity turn around, the former zipping to face us as we begin to head the other way. “So you don’t care about anypony but your friends?!? Are you REALLY that selfish?!?”

“Honestly, you really are such a disappointment,” adds Rarity.

I don’t think that’s how Rainbow Dash and Rarity would act, and neither does Sandbar.

“I’ve always looked up to you,” he scolds. “You would never turn your back on each other, and that’s what makes you strong. Now I have a group of friends that I think is every bit as amazing as yours. If I have to give up on them to make you proud, then you aren’t the ponies I thought you were. I don’t care if I disappoint you; you disappoint me.”

With Sandbar’s speech, Rainbow Dash and Rarity let out a warm smile before flashing out of sight. I rub my eyes, trying to process what just happened.

“That illusion really needed work. Something tells me that didn’t sound anything like Rainbow Dash or Rarity.”

“Couldn’t agree more. Besides, they tried to get between me and my friends. Thanks for the help, uh…” Sandbar pauses when he draws a blank on my name.

“Aita.”

“Right. But now,” he continues. “we have to get out of here before the grate closes.”

---

When Sandbar and I finally make it to the cave directly beneath the library, everyone else is already there, although Yona is surrounded by spiders. Wait, I thought she- oh, whatever. That was probably her test.

Sandbar is the first to try and get out, but he stops when we all see a glow from behind. It’s the tree of harmony again.

“You! You’re not just a mirage of Twilight, are you?” Sandbar questions, to which she shakes her head.

“The tree of harmony…” I confidently clarify.

The tree nods at my answer. Like all living beings, I change as I grow. As I have grown, so have my abilities.

“I’m a bit rusty on pony history,” Gallus prefaces before his expression sours. “But since when does the tree of harmony trap creatures in a cave with their biggest fears?!?”

You chose what you saw in my roots. Not me.

Sandbar gasps at the tree’s revelation. “Our friendship got us past our fears!”

The tree nods. You were more concerned for each other’s wellbeing than your own. You were strong when your friends were weak. You let each other in, and showed that you would be there for each other no matter what. Friendship IS in your nature.

Unfortunately, the grate isn’t freed just yet, and the tree is still here. This is starting to feel a bit awkward. However, there is a concern that needs to be known: the dream walking changeling known as Aita. The group of friends next to me share their confusion. She expresses origins where she has befriended those who, here, pose an endangerment to friendship.

All of us gasp, surprised at the tree’s words.

How were they not where you come from, little nymph? What happened differently?

I look at Sandbar and his friends, then back to the tree. “To summarize, Chrysalis’ research made her think of Carve and my mother. And because of her and Twilight’s defense of me against human Spitfire, Cozy Glow altered her way of thinking out of inspiration, but needed us to set her on the right path.”

I see… Unfortunately here, the changelings you mentioned were thrust into another world and never returned. As a result, Spitfire’s human counterpart is still free, and Chrysalis never received the spark that you described. While in this dream, Aita, be weary of Cozy Glow’s behavior, but don’t hesitate to intervene if you believe her behavior goes beyond what you think she was like before your influence.

“Well, how am I supposed to do that?” I ask.

Wait. Isn’t that exactly what Cozy said to Scootaloo during her assignment?

The tree closes her eyes. If you remember why your old caretaker first ascended, there is something similar to what she did that you could try. This dream is set to play identically every time it starts, locking Cozy Glow in it until she’s freed of this linearity spell. Remember her for who she is in the waking world, and rest assured she is safe in your hooves.

One last time, the tree flashes white before disappearing. And instead of taking us to another test, she actually releases the roots from blocking the grate, which means we can all get back to the library.

On the way up, Gallus looks behind at me. “I can’t believe all that just happened.”

I hold back laughter as he and I make it into the library.