> Solipsism
>  by Shadowed Rainbow
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

> Three Words
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Bloodshot eyes fixated on the words before her, Twilight Sparkle was going about her usual beloved hobby of reading through the various books at her disposal. She had propped herself into a reasonably comfortable position on the polished wood floor and read peacefully, letting her thoughts drift to the silence of the night and the words on the pages.  The book was illuminated by the flickering candlelight nearby as well as the magenta glow of her horn.  

This time, she wasn't reading the escapades of Daring Do, Sherclop Pones, or any of those other adventurous explorers and detectives.  Rather, her focus this night was a bit closer to reality, but still, in a sense, centered around a creation of the mind.  In fact, it was all about the riddles of existence and perception, something that the physical-inclined unicorn wasn't used to investigating.

She flipped to another page to read the next chapter, strained eyes scanning over the wordy text of Branching Out: the Pathways of Equine Philosophy.  Twilight read on, even as her wearied eyes began to glaze over the words and her head threatened to droop down and crinkle the book's pages in an exhausted stupor.  

Twilight herself had to admit it was an unusual subject, and upon trying to explain the concept to her dragon assistant, Spike, he had met her gaze with a look of incomprehension which seemed to suggest that anypony who tried to understand what Twilight was talking about would have their brain turned into spaghetti.  

Still, Twilight scoured the text of the chapter, trying to absorb as much knowledge as she could about these psychological profiles and viewpoints.  No matter how ludicrous the ideas seemed, they were quite thought-provoking.  Many resolute unicorns had created spells and disciplines of magic through their research on the workings of thought and soul, and as such, Twilight figured it couldn't hurt to follow in their hoofsteps.  Even if pondering some of these concepts did stretch her scientific beliefs a bit.

Despite her fascination, another, smaller part found the thought utterly terrifying.  Continuing to read, she would occasionally glance over at an aspect of her library—a bookshelf, the various tomes upon it, her desk, parchment and quills... she held her gaze on the lone flame of the candle, the fire dancing as much as her thoughts.  Questioning… pondering.  

The words of the chapter danced around in her mind as she processed them.  'Consciousness', 'lucid dreaming', and many others.  She comprehended the terms, of course, but the context in which they were used baffled her.  Was she just imagining their existence, or were they real manifestations which she herself had brought into being as her readings had implied?  The possibility made Twilight's head spin.  

As this chapter concludes, really ponder it — can you be certain that everything around you is in fact as real as you are?

The words seemed to stay with Twilight, as if she was inclined to obey the book's words.  Even the candle flame's movements appeared to slow as the finality of the thought resonated in her mind.  Time itself seemed to slow to a crawl as Twilight's mind moved at a pace all its own.  The images around her library began to distort into blurred shapes.  Her eyelids drifted shut.  

What a notion... everyone and everything I know being fake?  It's too crazy to even consider seriously... 

Just when her mind was beginning to drift into the unconsciousness of sleep, a burst of a white light encompassed the room.  Its beams illuminated the books on their shelves as rays shone from the center. Twilight opened her eyes in curiosity at the sudden light.  She felt a hazy sensation of both surprise and unease come over her, seeing the sphere as luminescent as the sun itself.  There was only one being who was powerful enough to cast so much illumination—her mentor, Princess Celestia.  But the Princess, visiting her now at such a late hour?

The bright orb of light grew in the center of the room with an ever-increasing brightness, prompting Twilight to shield her eyes. Just when it reached its apex, a familiar figure walked forth and the glaring light dimmed away.  Twilight rose to her hooves.  

Princess Celestia stood before her in the library's main room, her mane and tail flowing with magic.  However, her face was not the warm expression she usually showed her faithful student.  Her expression, much to Twilight's confusion, was dulled and ashen, as if a large amount of life and energy had been drained from her.  It was like the aging that the alicorn had resisted for so long was catching up to her within a span of minutes.

Is that what's going on?  An age spell gone awry?  With the Princess's sudden appearance in the dead of night, and her empty expression, Twilight's chest grew tight with unease.  It was usually Celestia's sister Luna who would be the one to observe the night.  Yet here Celestia was, and as dreamlike as the situation seemed, Twilight felt certain that she was indeed wide awake.  Whatever the reason for the Princess paying her a visit, Twilight knew it couldn't be just to say hello.  But despite her concern over why Celestia was there, one question stood out above the rest: Why did Celestia appear so grave?

"P-Princess? Wh-What are you doing here?" Twilight stuttered, unable to keep the surprise out of her voice at Celestia's unexpected arrival and her worn-out appearance.  

There was a heavy silence in the air, as if time in the world had completely stopped, before the alicorn gently replied.  "I've come to deliver a message to you."

Twilight paused, half-expecting a scroll to appear in the air, surrounded by the golden glow of Celestia's magic.  Perhaps it was a message that for one reason or another, needed to be written rather than said?  Maybe a spell that was dangerous if spoken, and there had to be a certainty that nopony would see it but Twilight herself?  If that were the case, why couldn't the Princess have sent the scroll from Canterlot like usual? 

"I don't mean a scroll," the Princess said with a weighted tone, seeming to have read Twilight's thoughts.  "This was a message I had to come and deliver to you myself.  Privately, with no interruptions from anypony else.  Not even my sister or your friend Spike could be here." 

"Why?" 

The Princess sighed.  "I figured that interaction between anyone who we were incredibly close to would risk corrupting the connection and not allowing you to wake up properly." 

Twilight's face twisted into an expression of utter confusion.  "What do you mean?" 

"There would be too much of a potential for disruption and something might go wrong," Celestia went on.  "You've been immersed for a very long time so any interruptions could be risky."

As Twilight looked on, Celestia grew as still as a statue in the Canterlot Gardens.  Her eyes appeared glassy as if holding back remnants of tears, expression revealing to Twilight in an instant a turmoil that Celestia was going through but reluctant to say aloud.  With an unusual tone in her voice, an inflection of regret that Twilight didn't understand, the Princess looked grave before uttering three words. 

"Wake up, Asteria."

"Huh?"

Twilight blinked as those words were uttered from the being she had practically worshipped since her awareness of the world and the heavenly bodies.  This had to be some sort of prank, a joke.  Just the Princess pulling her leg.... right?  Maybe the Princess has somehow fallen ill and she's delusional? 

Twilight let out a nervous laugh, attempting to ignore Celestia's completely serious expression that chilled her nerves.  "Um, Princess?  My name's not Asteria.  It's Twilight, remember?"  

There was a pause that felt like it lasted forever to Twilight before Celestia responded, her face looking even darker.  "I thought the trigger phrase would work," she murmured quietly, her head tilting downward as if she were about to admit an unwanted truth.  "It was supposed to bring you back without any trouble."

"Trigger?"  Twilight eyed Celestia's face carefully, searching for any sign that her mentor was not fully herself.  She was hesitant to take a step closer to her mentor, unnerving thoughts beginning to slowly surface in her mind.  "And what do you mean 'bring me back'?  Back to what?"

"Your true life."

"True life?"  It was moments before a second possible option arose in Twilight's mind aside from sleep overtaking her, and she forced out a shaky laugh.  "Alright, you got me, Discord," she deadpanned, looking into the carnation-hued eyes she was familiar with for any sign of the gaze of the yellow-eyed draconequuus.  "Stop pretending with your little mind games.  They're not funny!"

The tense seconds passed.  There was no chortle of a trickster, no shifting tone of voice, no sign of a transformation to signify that the form of the sun princess was anything other than what she appeared to be.  Celestia shook her head sadly, her face just as bleak as before.  "I'm not joking around this time... this is serious."  The alicorn let out a low sigh, her expression even.  "Your time here in this world is up."  Her gaze was turned briefly to the floor.  "I think we let you stay too long.  We were afraid that you'd become too immersed in this one."

Twilight felt as if she was hearing the words from far away.  The rhythm of her own heartbeat sounded erratic in her ears as she listened to Celestia's words.  

"Your true name was the code that you wanted for yourself after you came into being and started doing the experiments for philosophical analysis."  The princess's tone was heavy.  "Something to shock you into really waking up in case we thought you were too far into the Trial Life."

'Philosophic analysis'?  'Came into being'?  'Trial Life'?  What in the world did Celestia mean?  Twilight stepped backward, knocking into her desk and causing a gold-plated ink bottle to spill in her haste.  She took no notice of the ink staining the polished wood floor as she looked at the Princess in complete disbelief.  The weight of the statement finally impacted her as she came to terms with the fact that the Princess was being entirely serious, meaning every word she said.

But she couldn't be... the Princess's words didn’t make sense...

"My name is not Asteria," Twilight said.  "It's Twilight Sparkle!"  She stepped forward, directly meeting the Princess's eyes.  "You remember who I am, don't you?"  She wasn't normally one to question the Princess so harshly, but the severity of the alicorn's expression and words weren't having a positive effect on Twilight's nerves.  What if Celestia was suffering from some mysterious form of amnesia that was suddenly causing her to confuse her pupil for somepony else?  "Do I look different to you?"

"No more than you're supposed to here," Celestia admitted with a sigh.  "I know it's hard, but you have to believe what I'm saying..."  

Twilight's mind raced, frantically, trying to think of some way to prove that the Princess's insistence was a cruel joke, or that she was dreaming.   Granted, Celestia liked to have a little fun, but not like this.  This kind of joke that made Twilight feel cold from with and without.  Her eyes  darted as she tried to think of something.  "Just ask me something only I would know!"

Celestia arched her brow, appearing hesitant and uncertain.  "You really want me to ask something only you would know?"

Twilight nodded firmly, attempting to stop her hooves from trembling.  

"The true you?"

"Yes."   In her mind, she ran over the possible questions that her mentor could ask her, hoping and praying that it would be something that she could answer, that this was her true life and this supposed alternate lifestyle was simply that of a dream.  She just had to hold on to the firm conviction that she was exactly who she believed she was.  What spells are found in the Star Swirl the Bearded Wing of the Canterlot Archives?  What category of books are placed on the third shelf closest to the right of the library's door?  What caused Discord to be reformed?  In what year did—

"What is the slogan by which Capsule lives by in line of philosophical standings?"

"Huh?"  Twilight's mind was thrown into confusion.  What kind of question was that?  She had no idea who or what 'Capsule' was.  Is it the name of a pony?  A business production?  An organization?  

The way of which Celestia spoke of it seemed to suggest that her third assumption was the closest, but Twilight still had no idea what it was no matter how much she tried to rack her brain to think of it.  "I'm sorry, I, I don't understand, I can't remember anything about that..."  Her face clearly expressed distress at the thought of not knowing something which the Princess seemed to insist she should know.  Twilight's chest tightened as her horn instantly lit up, books levitating off the shelves at a frantic pace almost of their own accord as she attempted to find any mention of this "Capsule" which Celestia spoke of.  

Celestia recognized the look of incomprehension written on her student's face.  "It seems trying to jog your memory of the place you came from didn't work either..."  The white alicorn began to pace back and forth, looking visibly distressed, as if she were about to do something that she knew she would regret.  "I hoped that the transition would be easier than this..."

"What do you mean?"

Celestia's gaze bore into Twilight's as she replied.  "Our slogan is, We transcend identity, for it is malleable..."she said.  "It was also what you said to us in one of the earlier days of your true life, before we even told you our slogan."

As her mentor spoke, Twilight felt her muscles tense up as a memory seemed to spark in her mind.  Or, rather, the fragment of a memory.  Like a dream she once had years ago that was only just now beginning to return in her subconscious.  The confusion seemed to be visible in Twilight's eyes as Celestia gently placed a hoof on her left shoulder.  "Nopony exists here but you... and you are but a thought,"

A cold dread advanced within the unicorn's chest, clenching at her heart and threatening to freeze it to ice.  The words resonated within the deepest parts of her memory, like a long-forgotten sealed door that she had only opened once.  "I..." she forced herself to take a deep breath.  "I don't understand..."

Celestia's gaze was solemn, her voice distant as she stepped back.  "You really don't remember who and what you actually are..."

"I don't know what you're talking about!" Twilight protested, trying to keep any sense of alarm out of her tone even as A cold sweat broke out on her skin and her muscles seemed to turn to jelly.  "I know who I am!  I'm Twilight—"

"You only think you are..." Celestia's eyes narrowed slightly, causing Twilight to feel even smaller under her gaze.  The alicorn's expression, however, was not filled with anger, but sadness.  "Soon you're going to wake up in a world you will not recognize, Asteria." The voice was so sudden and so close, it almost sounded as if it was inside Twilight's own head, despite it having been the Princess's own voice that the sentence was projected in.

Before Twilight could ask what Celestia meant, the world began to shift and distort around her.  The sphere of light appeared once more as Celestia vanished without a word.  As the light of Celestia's departure faded, the library's interior blurred together and caused everything to look like a muddled watercolor painting.

"W-Wait!"  Twilight said, her own voice sounding to her as if it were being heard from underwater, distant and not fully belonging to her body.  But that was only the most minor indication that something was amiss.  The world around her began to lose color and form, changing rapidly like an old monochromatic painting before the very shapes each object was made of began to morph into an unfamiliar disarray.  "Princess Celestia!"

There was no answer.  Twilight found herself completely alone.  She caught movement out of the corner of her eye and watched out her window.  Her mouth dropped open as she watched the formerly deep blue sky breaking up into a disjointed checkered pattern, then into lines as it broke apart.  The entire world took the form of a coloring book devoid of color, only lines and the opposing shades making up the world as she had known it.  The lines crisscrossed the former sky as an inky blackness remained, the degeneration steadily occurring in the rest of the landscape as the blanched ground became indistinguishable from the forms atop its surface.  The black lines that outlined their forms like a sketchbook appearing to vanish before the ground cracked to send the white shards tumbling into the endless dark expanse below.  

Twilight's stomach twisted into a cold knot, as if she had accidentally swallowed a quick-acting poison, her mind in a haze.  Everything was breaking apart, dissolving, fading into oblivion.  Town Hall, ponies' houses, the Ponyville residents... all gone, all vanishing.  Nothing was remaining but the dissolving assemblage of monochromatic blocks and the empty grid surrounding them.  

Twilight managed to finally tear her gaze from the horrifying landscape as her eyes met the interior of her home once again, the stairs in her library melted like fresh tar.  Her heart suddenly jolted as a warning bell rang in her mind.  

Spike!

Her mind a whirl of panic, Twilight teleported upstairs, rushing to Spike's bed in an attempt to rouse him.  Her assistant was one of the few things around her which still retained his complete form, a constant within the broken and shattering world.  

"Spike!" Twilight cried out, lifting the young dragon from his bed with her magic.  "Spike, wake up!"

Spike blinked his eyes open at her words, barely registering the sensation of his friend hoisting him onto her back as the world swam into focus.  "Tw-Twilight, what's going on?" he asked as he rubbed his eyes.  

"I don't know!" Twilight exclaimed, charging out of her room and down the stairs. Spike became instantly alert to the pencil-sketch environment.  "I was just talking to the Princess and then everything started getting like this!"

The pair reached the library's door, which had nearly  vanished.  They were met with a sight that nearly caused them to tumble off the island which the library now stood on. 

Everything had either vanished into the endless expanse of black abyss with luminescent gridlines stretching on forever, or fell away from them, already growing smaller and smaller in their view.  Twilight's ears pricked up as she thought she heard the screams of several ponies before they were silenced.  

"T-Twilight!"

Twilight had become so frozen in shock that she almost didn't hear the cry from her companion.  She turned and saw Spike beginning to dissolve before her.  Her eyes shot wide open, her pupils shrinking to pinpricks as the dragon gripped her leg. 

"T-Twilight!  Help!" 

Spike's color beginning to drain away from his body as the monochrome-drawing appearance took over him.

"NO!  S-SPIKE!"  Twilight screamed.  She held on to Spike with her hooves and magic, clinging tightly to him to save him from disappearing as well.  But it was to no avail as Spike’s body became as drawing-like as the rest before vanishing into thin wisps of smoke.

"No!"  Twilight's eyes filled with tears as her only remaining friend was snatched away from her, the rest of the world vanishing just as rapidly.  All she was aware of was a whirlwind of pencil-sketch shapes and a grid-like void, feeling distanced from her own body as her breath came out in choked gasps.  Her tears simply fell through what little ground remained.  

And then, every part of the library began to crumble to dust like grains of sand being blown away, joining the vanishing blank void of the outside world.  In her whirlwind of horror, Twilight realized that at this point, even she too was fading, though at a far slower pace.  She was stable enough that she was capable of movement, as if the force of gravity which held the fabric of space and time together was concentrated on her alone.  

As her physical form began to erode and fade just like everything else, all the memories that Twilight had accumulated in her lifetime became buried within the recesses of her mind.  Like rocks tumbling down a canyon, the world and her memories as she knew them dissolved into disjointed fragments.  

And then, there was nothing.  No sight, no sound, no perception of having physical form.

There was only a flash of memory of who and where the being had once been before everything vanished completely.

"Wake her up."
> Waking Up
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Nothing felt familiar.  In fact, the being forced into awareness could barely "feel" anything at all, let alone see.  There was nothing but darkness, sensation, and disembodied thought.  All 'it' was appeared to be patterns of thought and dulled senses, but it possessed a sense of perception.  'It' could still think and be aware.  But in that moment, its memory was a blank slate.

Who am I?  Where am I?  What happened to me? 

The trapped being searched through its stream of fragmented consciousness, words and thoughts and concepts that it recognized, the who and what and where.  Trying to remember anything from its past that came to It.  But finally, what it assumed to be memories dimly resurfaced.  The recollection of there having been a life before this emptiness, a full life, a detailed life... but what had it been in that life?  What was it forgetting?  Why was the only thing that came to its mind a perception of merely existing?  It closed its eyes that it realized it possessed. the action somehow helping it focus.  What could it remember...

Twilight, it—or rather, she—thought, the recollection growing strong in its mind, my name is Twilight.  That, at least, she could remember clearly.  She focused her mind again, attempting to call forth more memories, trickling back on the fringes of her consciousness. My name is Twilight Sparkle, and I live in Ponyville.  I have five pony friends, a dragon assistant named Spike, and I am the student of Princess Celestia.

It was as she thought the name "Princess Celestia" that the previous events came flooding back into her mind.  The memory of the Princess arriving in her library at night.  Stating in a completely serious tone that Twilight herself was living in a world of non-existence and she needed to "wake up"... the terrifying sight of everything as she knew it breaking apart and vanishing in a monochromatic blur, Spike forcibly snatched from her hooves in the same terrifying fashion...

It must have been sleep deprivation, she pondered, trying to convince herself.  That must have made me have a bad dream when I fell asleep...  It was the explanation that her rational mind was attempting to convince herself of.  She wanted to deny the reality of those final moments, but her mind was nagging at her to observe the facts.  The conversation had felt too real to have been an illusion brought on through lack of sleep.  That had to have been real, she couldn't be just... a mere thought in the void of empty space and time.  

"Brainwaves... erratic..."

Twilight struggled to strain her awareness.  She thought she had heard voices, just barely there...

"Too long... wake her up!  Now!"

More voices again.  She thought she recognized this one.

As a more complete awareness began to return to her senses, she could sense that she was propped upright, her body feeling as if it had been stretched out beyond its normal remembered length.  Perhaps it was just her perception being warped as she steadily came back into wakefulness, but her hind hooves felt at least a foot farther from her front hooves than she was accustomed to. She felt more disjointed and warped than her ordinary unicorn form, as if somepony had tricked her mind into believing that a rubber hoof was attached to her body.

She attempted to get a bearing on her surroundings, to stretch muscles which felt that they hadn't been moved for ages.  But to her horror, she remained immobile, as if frozen in stone.  Why couldn’t she move?  Why did her form seem so strange?  She couldn't move her hooves, and they felt almost disjointed.  Not so much like phantom limb pain and more like a patchwork creature put together all wrong.  She tried to use her magic, but no magenta glow accompanied her efforts.  It took a great effort to even open her mouth to speak.  “Where am I?”

She felt her heartbeat briefly cease as the sound of her own voice reached her eardrums.  Why did her voice sound different?  The tone and pitch were the almost the same, but sounded somewhat deeper, older.  The sound itself was distant, hollow, like it was only hanging on the fringes of existence.  As if it had broken away from the orderly plane of an earthly life and was mingling with a chaotic dimensional void…. She attempted to convince herself that it could just be the acoustic properties of wherever she was... but where was she, anyway?

"Get her out of there!" said another voice, louder this time, more urgent than the others.

Twilight's perception experienced further confusion as a thin but bright sliver of light entered her vision, throwing her senses into disarray at the sudden visual stimulation, and voices assaulted her eardrums.  She became aware of a tall cylindrical chamber around her as the metal confinement began to slide apart horizontally with a barely audible whir.  She was still incapable of movement, or seeing herself, but she was able to see the plates of cold aluminum on either side of her slide open before grinding to a halt.

The forms of ponies stood before Twilight, appearing to be veiled in shadow as their primary features were obscured, the only distinctive aspect being the shape of their faces.  A tall mare flanked by a pair of stallions, and it was the mare alone whom Twilight recognized as her eyesight adjusted.

It was the mare Twilight had known as Princess Celestia.

As the subject of their gaze squinted, Twilight realized from the angle of the overhanging light source that the ponies weren't truly obscured in shadow, but merely wearing black suits to conceal their identities.  Twilight thought she could faintly make out mechanized constructs behind them if she focused her vision, but the lighting was so focused on her specific placement that it was almost impossible to make out anything beyond herself and the three ponies whose gazes were fixed on her.

At last, Celestia stepped forward slightly, and it was her voice that really froze the perplexed being to the spot.  Not so much what the alicorn's voice in question sounded like in itself—gentle yet authoritative, as was a common tone for her—but rather what the alicorn said:

“Asteria?"

Twilight's heartbeat stopped once more, her body freezing up.  A frantic beeping accompanied her shock.

"Are you okay, Asteria?"

That name again.  That unfamiliar name Celestia had used as a "trigger"... 

A series of clicks indicated the clamps around her limbs were being unlatched.  

The other ponies made a move to release her from her confinement, and the moment Twilight was free from her firmer bounds, she crashed to the ground, still ensnared by a tangled mess of wires and circles that stuck to her skin, the room spinning as her head made contact with the silver-tiled floor. 

The scent of fresh cleaning solvent on the floor nearly caused Twilight to gag, but her breath came out in nothing more than choked gasps as she realized that, indeed, her body wasn't at all composed of the same structure she had known it to be.  Twilight dimly managed to steal a glance at her body in her delirium, daring to figure out why she felt so strange physically, panic aside.  

The sight only sent her into a further panic.  She felt as if hallucinatory shapes were swimming before her eyes as she tried to hold on to consciousness.  She couldn't go back to the dark again, not when she had so many questions...

"Somepony help her up!"  An unfamiliar voice resounded in Twilight's eardrums, only adding to the pain in her head as her disjointed limbs were supported by ponies on either side of her, trying to untangle the choking wires from around her.

"She's not going into shock, is she?"

"Her heart rate's increasing—" 

"Asteria, stay awake."

"We need to cut the—"

It was the last Twilight heard before her awareness went black.





"Asteria?"

It was like hearing a voice through water.

"Asteria?"  A beam of harsh light reflected through glass shone into Twilght's eyes as the medical stallion searched for any indicators that she was coming out of her shock.  He saw her eyes blink twice, still bleary.  "Asteria, can you hear us?"

Twilight dimly was aware of her own head nodding, almost a reflex as her mind began to race.  What the hay?!  Why did I just nod?  My name's not Asteria, it's Twilight!  Still struggling to remain conscious, Twilight tried to bring the room around her into focus.  She could see what looked to be rows of hospital beds, and she was aware of the tickling sensation of wires hooked up to monitor her brainwaves and heart rate.   Whereas the world she remembered had been bright and colorful, this one seemed cold and unfeeling and blank. She swallowed, trying to force some moisture back into her throat.

Twilight chanced a glance at her own body once more, to determine in the increased lighting if what she thought she had seen had been a frantic delusion.

It hadn't.  

If her heartbeat had resumed a pattern closer to normalcy, a more proper look at her own body nearly caused Twilight's heart to stop again in her dazed state, then become erratic.  Her heartbeat sped up again.

"W-What?". Her voice was shaky, but it still retained that slightly older sound.

"Asteria, calm down..."

"N-No..."

Her right hoof was the only part of her that looked similar to how she had known it, though somewhat longer.  Her left front appendage was another story—where a lavender hoof had once been there was now the curled black claw of a dragon, her right foreleg lengthened to balance it out, her foreleg a blend of lavender fur and black scales.  

Feeling delirious, Twilight glanced down at her torso and lower limbs.  Pale blue feathers, nearly white, appeared to cover her body, and the sensing of new protrusions from her back signified that she had grown wings along with it, large like that of a falcon.  One hind hoof had been warped into a bear paw, but with a single long claw seeming to glint.  The other was now in the shape of a goat's rough cloven hoof.

Twilight hurriedly grabbed onto the bedsheets to steady her trembling form, trying as hard as she could to not go into shock again.  "This isn't happening," she murmured in a frantic mantra as she closed her eyes, an action which only seemed to cause further murmurs from the ponies surrounding her, attempts at soothing with that foreign name.  At least they were keeping their distance.

"This can't be happening, I'm dreaming, I'm dreaming..."  Her body trembled as she blinked her eyes, the new perceptions still present.  This unfamiliar place, her older voice, her new body that she couldn't control... it felt real, but it couldn't be... Her breath came out in heaving gasps, her mind utterly refusing to accept that any of this could possibly be her "true life", in contrast to the reasonably secure life she had known in Ponyville.  

"Calm down, Asteria," Celestia said in a soothing tone, her face looming into view as Twilight struggled to slowly breathe.  Even here, Twilight found her presence somewhat comforting.  "You're awake now, it's alright.  Just stay still—"

"P-Princess," Twilight muttered, looking at Celestia with incomprehension.  "W-Where—" 

"Princess?" 

Celestial blinked, then let out a slow sigh as the medical doctors glanced at her  "Asteria, I'm not a princess here."  Her eyes were misted over with regret.  "You were in that life too long."

Twilight was about to respond, but there was a quick series of knocks at the door, causing the others to turn at the sound.

"Come in," Celestia called.

Twilight clenched her eyes shut for an instant, dizzy, not willing to see more who would prod at her and call her by that other name.  "B-But... my friends..." she whispered. 

The door opened, then shut, accompanied by the sound of trotting hooves.  "Ah wanted to see how thing's were goin'".  

Twilight's eyes opened the moment she heard the familiar accent.  I know that voice!

The room's occupants glanced over at the approaching mare, emerald-eyes intent but wary.  "Ah came here as soon as Ah heard ya woke up."

The speaker in question stepped forward, closer to the bed, and Twilight's suspicions were confirmed.  It was a pony she recognized by voice alone, yet the demeanor seemed much more businesslike than she was used to.

It was Applejack.

Applejack looked at Celestia with a worried expression.  "Does she remember anything?"

"Well, it's hard to say," Celestia started with a saddened tone, hooves planted on the floor, uncertain of what to do next considering Twilight's mental condition, "she knows my name, but she doesn't seem to remember much else."

Applejack frowned cautiously, stepping more into Twilight's view.  "Do ya... remember me?"

Twilighht weakly nodded, hoping this could turn out right.  "A-Applejack?"  She hoped that her old friend's name was the same here.

Applejack's eyes lit up excitedly, a hopeful grin on her face.  "Yeah!  And what do Ah do for a livin'?"

The expression on the faces of the pair held the same unspoken meaning: Do you remember?

For those moments, a flood of memories from her Ponyville life came to Twilight, her happiness at seeing Applejack overshadowing her current situation.  "You harvest apples at Sweet Apple Arces!"

Applejack's expression fell, as then did Twilight's.  "No, Ah..."  She sighed, her expression looking suddenly more worn.  "Asteria. Ah..."

Twilight's heart sunk further at the name again.  "I'm n-not..."

Both the doctors and Celestia could tell these high emotions weren't needed.

"Perhaps it would be best if you stay with her for a bit before she rests," one of the stallions said, running a hoof through his black mane as he jotted down some more notes.  "Since Asteria just woke up, maybe a little interaction with those who interacted more with her will help get her memories back.". The green glow of his magic levitated the notepad into a bag strapped around his neck.

"Thank you," Celestia said, nodding her thanks to the stallion.

Twilight nodded slightly as well, hoping that sleep would somehow help her clear her mind.

"We'll get feedback from the monitors, so if anything goes wrong, we'll be right there."

As the doctor left, Celestia, Applejack, and Twilight were left alone.  For the moment, there was silence, as if they were anxious that conversation could have drastic consequences.

Finally, it was Celestia who broke the silence.  She knew that she had to, for Asteria's sake, seeing as for the moment she had calmed down. "Asteria?"

After hesitating, Twilight nodded.  She'd have her chance to argue with them later, if she really wasn't dreaming after all.  "Celestia?  Am... Am I..."

"This is your true form," Celestia explained gently, as if talking to a foal, bringing a mirror over to the distressed patient.  "At least, right now."

Twilight felt her heart drop at this further confirmation of her appearance.  Her face was longer, similar in fact to Discord's, though the fur on her face was a pale purple, lighter than before.  She no longer possessed a horn, though her disheveled mane bore a resemblance to her old one.  But instead of the largest stripe being pink, it was azure.  Rather than having the ears of a pony, they looked more bat-like instead.

The only thing that clearly remained almost as she had known it, with no change, was her eyes.  Twilight tried to focus on only that.  That one normal thing, even as her unfamiliar parts tried to tear her focus away.

"You've forgotten everything about this old life, and think your life as Twilight Sparkle was indeed the life that truly existed."  Twilight barely registered Celestia's words, nor did she want to.  "Your perception of the world as you knew it was fake.  It was just a test."  She paused.  "One you yourself requested, of course.  Just like the other times."

"T-Test?"  Twilight's face slowly went from disbelief to merciless devastation as those accursed words played over and over again in her mind like a broken record.  The ponies whom she recognized here weren't the ones she had known.  The ponies were familiar in appearance and yet strangers to her.  She, too, was a stranger in her own, fragmented body.  Only her mind remained as she knew and remembered it.

"You've been this way physically for a couple weeks.  And mentally..."  

Twilight looked at Celestia in distress.  Applejack's expression remained even, trying to keep her composure.

"Do you remember?  Anything at all?"

Twilight shook her head.

Afterer giving her a long look, Celestia hung her head.  "It would be best if I tell you later."  She slowly started to walk out, Applejack trailing behind.  She turned to look back.  "Get some rest.  Maybe then your memories will come to you."

Applejack coughed slightly.  "Ahem, Celestia?"

Celestia turned her gaze toward the earth pony.  "Yes, Applejack?"

"Can Ah, uh, talk to ya in your room?". She looked sadly at Asteria.  "Seein' as the doctor said—"

"Of course, Applejack," Celestia confirmed.

For a moment, the two mares looked at one another, then at Twilight.

"We'll check on you in a few hours and hope your memory recovers," Celestia said, gently laying a hoof on Twilight's head.

Twilight nodded weakly.

"Good night, Asteria," Applejack said finally, following Celestia out.  The two gave the former equine one final, saddened look before they shut the door.

Twilight dimly nodded as the door closed.  Not moving from her position, she tried to shut her eyes and drift off, not even having the heart to say "Good night" back.  It was hard enough trying to move her disjointed limbs as she curled up on the bed to sleep, making sure to turn opposite the mirror.





Applejack and Celestia walked slowly through the labyrinth of hallways, passing machinery, video screens, and several rooms, open and closed.  When a few of the occupants said hello, they only got a slight wave in response.  Neither felt like saying a word.

Finally, they came to a door marked with Celestia's name, employment number, and occupation at the company.  Applejack reached the door first and gestured for Celestia to walk through.

Celestia did so, a little apprehensively.  True, she was greater than Applejack in both age and rank, but when Applejack had something to say, few questioned it.  Especially when Asteria was concerned.

The moment that both of them had stepped into the room, Applejack, trembling, slammed the door shut with a loud bang and whirled around to face Celestia.  The pictures and certificates hanging on the wall shook from the force.

"How could ya?!"

The calm and gentle voice that had been used around Twilight was completely gone from Applejack's voice.  "How could ya, Celestia?!"  Her tone was filled with pain and rage as she faced the alicorn.    Her voice was breaking as her gaze seemed to shoot daggers.  "You said that her mind would be able to handle it!" 

The fury in Applejack's gaze even caused Celestia to feel small.  "I thought she'd remember when she woke back up, but..."  A sigh.  "I was wrong."

"'Ah was wrong', that's all ya can say?!" Applejack shouted, stomping her hoof.  "Ah told her ya were keepin' her in there too long!"

"I tried to talk her out of it," Celestia said firmly, rising to her full height.  "You know how much Asteria desires to..." she paused, reflecting on Asteria's past questionable acts, ".... mix things up."

"Well couldn't ya have checked up on her, gotten her out earlier?"  Applejack pleaded, pacing around.  "Now she might be sufferin' all sorts of other psychological problems!  And she was already fragile enough!"

Celestia took a sharp breath before glancing down at the younger mare.  "She's gone through relapses before."

"Not like this!  What about all that research she was doin'?  Tryin' to figure out who and what she's supposed to be!  I mean sure," her voice became quieter, slower, a bit more hesitant, "I know Asteria took a few, um, risky actions once in a while, but..." 

For a moment, the two mares stared at each other.

The alicorn forced her voice to attain a more authoritative tone. "Applejack... I'll try to do what I can for Asteria.  You know how fragile she was before."

Applejack nodded ruefully. 

"And reintroducing her the wrong way could break her mind and set her off again."

AJ nodded again.

"But for now we just have to..." Celestia paused, walking toward her wall and looking at one of the certificates on the wall, an award for a research essay in exisential philosophy and artificial life.  "Wait, and hope for the best."

Silence followed her words.

AJ finally broke the silence.  "Ah'll let some of the others know about what happened," the earth pony said, opening the door with a slow creak.  

Celestia nodded.  "I'll be sure to update you on her progress."

The uncertainty in Celestia's eyes mirrored Applejack's as the earth pony shut the door behind her, trotting off to the lecture hall to look for anything that might jog Asteria's memories, for better or worse. 

And reflecting on past occurrences, she almost wasn't sure which was which.
> What Real and What's Not
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

After what seemed like ages in the darkness of a dreamless sleep, Twilight became visually aware of something.  Just a flash that brought her a bit more into awareness.

A sky blue.  Then a dash of pink that seemed to momentarily zip around before vanishing just as quickly.

Colors... there were actually colors here in this blackness.  Colors which began to swirl into shapes and forms, surrounding Twilight's vision. A sharp but welcome contrast to the stark metallic world she last remembered.  She blinked her eyes—upon realizing she had them—once, twice.  The world around her then brightened significantly, too bright, and she shut her eyes again just before the environment she was in burst forth in her field of vision.

As Twilight tried to settle the spots dancing in front of her eyes, her perception in her other senses began to return, and she was then aware of her own physical proportions.  She was standing.  On hooves, her familiar hooves in her normal unicorn form.  The brighter setting, as she squinted, becoming accustomed to the light, had her realize exactly where she was.  A place all-too familiar to her.

She was back in Ponyville, the sun shining through the windows at the front of her library, all her friends surrounding her.  Looking stunned for a moment, as if she had just appeared out of nowhere in front of them, they began hugging her.  Spike gripped onto her harder than the rest, wrapping his claws around a hoof protectively as if afraid she would vanish.

Twilight relaxed in the embrace of her friends, giving sideways glances to the decorations around the library's center.  Purple and pink streamers and balloons adorned the bookshelves.  Clearly Pinkie Pie had set up for a party.

Twilight thought it felt good to have them around her again, not utterly destroyed as she had last witnessed the world in the scenario she tried to tell herself was a dream.  But her friends' next words caught her off guard.

"Where'd you go, Twilight?" Spike asked, his claws tightening around her as he voiced the question.

"Huh?". Twilight felt perplexed at the inquiry.

"You just kinda disappeared on us the other day," Rainbow clarified, lifting into the air slightly as she waved her forehooves in a crude imitation of magical energy causing her friend to vanish.  "We were all wondering where you went."

So me waking up as a draconequus was just... me being taken to another world?  It was an option that Twilight wanted to believe, but, regretfully, the thought left her more conflicted than she was before.  

"Well, I'm back now," Twilight said in relief, trying to make the other place worlds away in her mind.  What mattered was that now she was home, safe and sound.  Smiling to herself as her friends let go, she trotted over to the large purple and pink cake on the table, with plates surrounding it.  She could practically envision the process that had went into making this cake at Sugarcube Corner as she read the words:

Happy Birthday, Twilight!

She remembered.  Her birthday.  The day after she slipped away from the world she knew was when she was supposed to have turned twenty-one, and thus been a legal adult.  She had actually been looking forward to taking Rainbow Dash up on her "alcoholic cider" challenge, even though Rainbow herself wouldn't be 21 for another year.

Twilight slowly inhaled, taking in the scent of the freshly baked confection.  She wanted to savor it.  

"So, what happened, Twilight?" Spike asked, concern etched in her voices as the unicorn used her magic to lift a piece of the cake to her mouth.  "You seem kinda... off."

"Oh, you guys wouldn't believe it," Twilight said, laughing slightly, a hint of a nervous demeanor creeping in as a small dollop of frosting touched her nose.  "I had the craziest dream—"

Twilight never got to finish her thought as she opened her eyes, her consciousness roughly pulling her out of sleep.  Perception returned, but it was instantly different from her four-hooved incarnation.  Once again she found her form twisted and contorted, sending her into a brief panic as she was caught in a slight delirium.  Her hind appendages seemed curled in on themselves, and her dragon-like forelimb was practically hooked around the back rung of the infirmary bed.  As a rapid pattern of heartbeats sounded from the monitor near to her, she became more aware of where she was.  She remembered what happened.  She was back in this world again, this world of machinery and different forms and another name.  If this world wasn't a dream... if what Celestia and the doctors had implied were true, than her life in Ponyville could be considered nothing more than a dream as well.

She sighed in dismay, trying to grasp that comforting cake smell and the presence of her friends in her mind and hold on to it, but the feelings quickly left as her brain became more ingrained into the waking world.

Okay, breathe, Twilight... just relax... getting up can't be so hard.

She tried to contort her body to get rid of the stiffness she felt—however she had slept the night before clearly wasn't how Asteria normally positioned herself during her dreaming hours.  Assuming, of course, she actually was Asteria.  Either way, the position didn't feel the slightest bit familiar to her.

She slowly removed the hook of her draconian claw from around the metal rung, careful not to damage either her claws or the metal.  She dimly wondered which would be more liable to break—who knew how powerful this claw was, or what kind of metal the rung was made of—but that would be an investigation for another time.  Next she focused on sitting up enough so she could disentangle one hind limb, then the other.  Once free, she got more control of her appendages and stretched out as she normally would lay, not feeling up to trying her falcon wings yet.  At least laying like this was helping her feel a little more at ease.  

Twilight rubbed her eyes, being incredibly careful not to poke her eye out with her black dragon claws.  If this world, this place where she was a creature similar to Discord, was real, it would be best to get familiar with it.  Or rather, re-familiarize herself with the place.  And as much as she didn't want to admit it, she wasn't all too keen on exploring this place on her own.

Finally getting her bearings as she sat up, she willed herself to speak.

"H-Hello?"  Twilight winced a little at the sound.  Her voice was scratchy from just waking up, and it seemed as if the lower, older pitch of her voice was a permanent thing.  How old am I in this world, anyway? Twilight mused.  Clearly older than 21.

As if on cue, Celestia stepped in through the door, her eyes automatically meeting Twilight's as the door shut behind her.  As strange as this new world was, Twilight was at least glad to see a familiar face. 

But Celestia looked much more tired than she had the day before.  There were bags under her eyes, as if she hadn't gotten a minute of sleep all night.  Twilight suspected that was the case, and it was likely because of her.  The alicorn took a deep breath, clearly anxious at the kind of response her words would receive, but she eventually voiced what was on her mind.  "Good morning, Asteria."

"It's Twilight," Twilight insisted.  She was still unsettled to hear herself addressed by the unfamiliar name, and as long as her memories of Ponyville were still clear as day, with nothing contradicting them, she wouldn't treat the name as if it were exclusively her own.

Celestia's face fell at the draconequus's insistence, and that wasn't exactly the best encouragement.

Twilight and Asteria are not one and the same, Twilight thought, hoping that the more she told herself it, the more evidence she'd find for it to be true.  We're not the same.  I'm not her.

Celestia said nothing for a moment, then slowly walked over, a sad look in her eyes.  "You still don't remember anything?"

Twilight shook her head.

Celestia sighed, pressing a weary hoof to her forehead.  Reintroducing the thought experiment back into her old studies wasn't going to be easy.  "I just hope that you'll remember eventually, so you can return to your research..."

For a moment, Celestia wondered if, truly, she wanted Asteria to return back to her old ways.  True, Asteria was one of the leading minds here, having grown quickly after her formation, but in her early days she had been... unpredictable.  Even more recently she was prone to violence.  Improving, yes, and gaining some trust and companionship, with those who knew how to calm her down, but the uncertainty was still there.  Celestia had no idea just how this complete amnesia would affect Asteria's mental state.

All this talk of research and memory disturbed Twilight, and for the moment, she wanted to push it as far out of her mind as possible.  She pushed the covers off herself, the dream of her old life still fresh in her mind.  She needed someone else familiar, someone who wouldn't try to insist about this sort of past research... "Prin—I-I mean, Celestia?"

"Yes?"

"W-Where's Pinkie Pie?"  Twilight seriously felt she could use a little cheering up right then.  If Applejack was busy, maybe Pinkie would help.

Celestia fell silent.  Her gaze glanced away from Twilight, as if embarrassed to say.  Or perhaps ashamed.

Twilight could feel her heartbeat speeding up again, holding her breath, nervous.  Something about Celestia's expression and posture filled her with unease.  Had something happened to her party-loving friend?

Finally, Celestia let out a resigned sigh, looking at Twilight with regret.  "...There is no Pinkie Pie," she finally said.

"W-What?!"

Twilight couldn't believe it.  It was bad enough waking up in a world she had no recollection of.  It was bad waking up in a strange body.  It was bad learning that her life as she knew it had been a lie, and the ponies she did know, Celestia and Applejack, were slightly different from how they were before.  But the realization that some of her friends might never have existed to begin with... there'd be no more spontaneous parties, no more enthusiastic random singing, no more of Pinkie's physics-defying antics and her love of making her friends smile...

Twilight gripped the bedsheets with her forehoof and claw in an attempt to steady herself.  "H-How many more of my friends... d-don't exist?"

The look of devastation in the draconequus's eyes was too much for Celestia, and she turned away.  She walked away a few paces, inhaling slowly before speaking.  Her eyes were closed.  "I don't think it's the best time to tell you of your immediate friends."  Her voice grew quieter.  "Some you knew are still here, but not in the way you remember.  And some..."  Celestia trailed off, knowing that she didn't need to finish the thought.

Twilight felt like her mind was shattering, not wanting to believe it.  Applejack was here, at least, though under a different profession, but the thought that her other friends either were different than she knew or didn't exist to begin with... after all they had been through, was she just supposed to forget about them?  "C-Can I see them?"

"In a little while, yes, once our doctors make sure you're well enough to walk," Celestia replied.  "Applejack offered to take you on a tour around the facility."

Twilight nodded in response.  Maybe if I talk to Applejack, I'll get some answers, she thought.  She is the Element of Honesty, after all.  Her eyes grew a little saddened again as she realized that the Elements of Harmony likely didn't exist here either.  What if Applejack is actually a compulsive liar?  No, she seemed sincere when she spoke to me yesterday...  That was one point of hope she still clung on to.

But another pony she was close to crossed her mind.  If he didn't exist, if he suffered the same fate as the others...

"W-What about... my brother?"  Twilight's voice was hopeful, but at the same time pleading, nearly demanding, that no one else she loved was taken away from her.

Celestia's voice was quiet.  She raised her head, but aside from that she didn't make a move to see the expression on Twilight's face.  "... Your brother, too."

"S-Shining Armor?"  She swallowed, hoping that he at least was here in some form.

"He doesn't exist.". Celestia's tone was even, as if she had given up trying to deny it and tried to distance herself from any emotion toward it.  What happened, happened.  This was real, and Asteria had to remember to accept that.  

"N-No..." Twilight's voice broke.  This was getting worse and worse.  Her BBBFF?  Gone completely?

"He was a... late addition, at my request," Celestia explained.  Her own mind filled with her adjusting the algorithms slightly, reconfiguring the brain patterns and data logs on Twilight's early life.  It was the only time she had ever made such an alteration, but then again, there were only a few select times when Asteria had started out as one so young.  "Your childhood was lonely... I wanted to help to make it better, to help you improve."

"So you... rewrote my past?!"  There was a hint of anger in Twilight's voice now, replacing the shock and devastation..  Even after all this false life talk, Celestia hadn't let that life run its natural course?

"Yes."

A memory flashed briefly in Twilight's mind.  It wasn't a memory of her Ponyville days, but she remembered it just as clearly as if it had been.  A recollection of who she had been before.  Before her life as Twilight Sparkle.  The words that came out of her mouth were quick, almost against her volition, as her eyes grew dark.  When she spoke, it was with much more authority.

"You went against my orders, Celestia!"

Celestia gasped in surprise and swiftly turned around to see that Twilight—no, Asteria—had gotten up from the bed, hovering in the air with her falcon-wings in full control.  It seemed, for the moment, the personality of Asteria had returned, but in the worst way.

Before Celestia could move, Asteria lunged at her with a falcon's speed and seized her with her claw and hoof, slamming the alicorn into the wall and holding her there as she tore herself from the equipment, which fell with a crash.  A loud beeping sounded, but Asteria seemed not to notice.  "I told you!" she exclaimed, looking as if she could strike Celestia at any moment.  "I told you, no matter what happened, to not disturb the process!  You might have ruined everything!"

Celestia's horn glowed slightly with a golden aura, though the glare in Asteria's eyes seemed to prevent her from retaliating.  "Asteria, I—"

But in that moment, the anger was gone, and the creature's eyes turned to the widened, uncomprehending state they had been at before.  The movements of her body lost their controlled purpose and became erratic, trying to control muscles she never remembered possessing, and she crashed to the ground.

"Wha—?"  There was no trace of Asteria's recent personality left there, only Twilight.  She looked up at Celestia, then at the fallen equipment, uncomprehending.  "W-What happened?"

The alicorn arched her brow, surprised at the sudden change.  "You don't remember what you just did?"

Dazed, Twilight shook her head.  "I-I just remember you said... Shining Armor didn't exist, and..."  She shut her eyes and shook her head again, a gesture of refusal to believe.  Her voice was filled with a heavy sadness, but it was clear that she had no memory of Celestia mentioning that the existence of her "brother" was an unauthorized addition, nor of the shift in personality that had followed.

Celestia found it best not to bring it up again.  "It's all I should probably tell you for now," she said.  "I—"

Celestia was cut off as the double doors opened, with the doctor from earlier, followed by Applejack, galloping in. 

"Are you alright?!

Celestia sighed and inclined her head in greeting.  "Asteria just went through a relapse, Doctor Cobalt."

"Seems pretty violent, by the looks of it," Doctor Cobalt said, looking meaningfully at the fallen monitors and wires.  "We'll need to get it repaired."

Applejack looked hesitant.  "So... will Asteria have another relapse like that?"

"It's..."  Twilight fell silent.  It seemed there was no reasoning with them right now.

"Well," Doctor Cobalt began, levitating a clipboard in front of him as he trotted forward, looking carefully at Twilight as if wary she'd attack again.  "Aside from some higher-than-normal brain activity through her cortex, Asteria seems fine physically.  We'll have to keep an eye on her though."

"Ah, uh, was gonna take her on a tour of the place..." Applejack said hesitantly, looking more uncertain now.  "Maybe Ah shouldn'—"

"On the contrary," Doctor Cobalt interrupted, "I feel like having her be taken around as a guest would probably do her good.  It could help jog her memory in a way that's hopefully not as violent."

Applejack bit her lip.

"I'll come along with you."

Applejack eventually nodded after looking at Celestia, who inclined her head in a wary approval.

Applejack then turned to Twilight, who had managed to steady herself.  "Ya ready to go?"

Twilight looked at the three ponies before her.  She was confused, afraid, and wanted answers.  And it seemed like the best way to get those answers was to get out of that room and see the rest of this new world.

With a resigned sigh, anxious at what or who she would find, Twilight nodded.  "I'm ready."
> Memory Flash
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

None of the silvery constructs rang a bell in Twilight's head, even though her companions tried to assure her they would.  Celestia had finally insisted on coming along, and though part of Twilight was thankful for the additional company, another part of her felt uneasy.  True, having two ponies around she reasonably recognized was some comfort, even a small one.  But with everything else so foreign, it just didn't seem right.

She wasn't sure which unnerved her more.

With Doctor Cobalt, Celestia, and Applejack accompanying her, Twilight got more than a few stares as they wandered past the office doors.  It wasn't the fact that they were with the facility's "living thought experiment" that turned their heads—that wasn't too uncommon—but rather the way Asteria looked.  Goe was the distant yet purposeful gaze and posture, the internal gears of her brain turning with another new thought or perspective or idea.  She seemed to be struggling to walk bipedally, and several times even got on all fours, as if she were more used to walking that way.  But even this seemed to prove difficult, like her elongated body was uncomfortable to use.  

There was no more purpose, no more intensity, no more slight looks of a cold mistrust toward the others around her.  It was as if any knowledge she had previously gained had been sucked out of her, and now she had no idea where she was or who she was.  

None of them knew how close they were to the truth.

"Is something wrong?" one pony called, her head poking out from the door as her pale blue mane hung over her face.  Her cream-colored coat looked disheveled, as if she got in a scuffle with a piece of malfunctioning equipment and lost.  Judging by the burst of mechanical clicking that followed from the room's interior, it seemed that was a logical assumption.

"Just tryin' to help Asteria get her bearings," Applejack clarified.  

"Bad simulation experience?"

"Yeah."  Not a lie, but not the full details of the truth, either.  A safe answer. 

The mare nodded before shutting the door. Twilight could hear a slight kick of a hoof against the machine, causing the clicking to stop. 

Twilight's attention was then turned to the doctor again as they left the cream-coated mare's room behind.

"Try to walk on your hind appendages, Asteria," Doctor Cobalt said gently.  "Just try."

Reluctantly, Twilight did so, trying to hold back a scowl.  The way Doctor Cobalt spoke seemed almost as if he were talking to a young foal who was just learning to take her first steps, rather than adult who was trying to get her bearings in a new world.

This place may be new, she thought, but I'm no helpless foal.

She hesitantly started flapping her wings to balance herself upright, turning her bat-like ears to focus on every sound as she listened to the other ponies murmuring about her—no, Asteria, not her.  She wondered if that meant, if the life-thing was true, that she had been a bat at one time.  Or a bat pony.

Did I have echolocation, then? she thought in wonder.  Could I do it now?  If she weren't so confused and uneasy, she would have wanted to test it.  To see exactly what she was capable of in this new form.  It was terrifying yet intriguing all at once.

But there would be time to test her abilities later.  For now it was time to focus on her surroundings.

After traveling past some more doorways in the office-like hallway, a large set of silver double doors greeted them.  Black spheres decorated the upper portions of the doors, glimmering with broken squares of silver light as if constructed of an unknown metal.  Like a form of strange magic that went beyond the normal unicorn-bound range.

As Doctor Cobalt stepped forward and placed a hoof on an imprint embedded in the door, a green light appeared and scanned up and down his hoof imprint, something which surprised Twilight.  After a moment, the indentation glowed green, bringing the same hue briefly to the upper spheres.  

With that, the doors opened, and the small group stepped through into the room that lay behind.  

Twilight's mouth dropped open in shock.  She had expected a room, of course, perhaps about the size of the room she had awoken in.  But never one this massive, especially with all the narrow corridors that they had previously traversed through.  This room made those hallways look incredibly claustrophobic in comparison.  

As Twilight got her bearings, she noted that It seemed more like a hub of an expansive complex, a large sphere that could fit her Ponyville library over a dozen times over.   And it wasn't just ponies here, either—creatures of all shapes and sizes were conversing and mulling about on the expansive room's layers, each floor connected by spiraling stairs.  Dragons, griffins, even a few chimeras.

But, as she noted, aside from the chimeras, for the moment she didn't see anyone who was a composite being like herself.

Twilight tilted her head upward.  Though the large room was incredibly bright, the only windows that she could see were in the higher part of the sphere-shaped chamber.  The rest was illuminated by artificial lights which shone along the ceiling and walls.  

Coming to what she assumed to be the center of the ground floor, Twilight stepped close to a giant hologram that towered over them.  A flashing light indicated their current location, leading the draconequus to realize that even this wasn't the extent of this place.  A series of paths branched off from this Central Hub, paths that led to smaller spheres, each seeming to indicate an area of research: Dreams, Morphing, Existence.  And even these had sub-levels for each floor, narrowing down the studies even further.  

Celestia noticed Twilight's wide-eyed baffled expression.  There seemed to be no recognition there, only the same look that had come over her when Asteria had seen this place for the first time in her life.  Still, maybe it did jog something, anything at all.  "So you remember this?"  Her voice became softer.  "Anything coming to mind at all?"

Dazed, Twilight shook her head.  For the moment, nothing came to her mind.  

Trying to judge her direction, and catching a glimpse of the large signs above each of the large, branching paths, Twilight concluded that the Morphing Sphere had been where she had just come from.

I was formed in Morphing Sphere, Theory Sub-Level A, Branch 9: Transformation, and I worked primarily in Existence Sphere, Theory Level C, Branch 3: Solipsism.  Twilight froze as the thought came to her mind, in that same older voice that was now her own, like an answer on a test she had struggled to recollect.  W-Where did that come from?!  

For an instant, she suddenly remembered the entire place, as if everything was part of a blueprint she had committed to memory.  But as quickly as it had come, the knowledge was forgotten.

"You remember!"

Twilight looked up, not having realized that in addition to the thought of where Asteria had been born and had worked entering her mind, she also had repeated it aloud.  Celestia was beaming with a motherly pride.

A small smile crossed Applejack's face.  "So it is starting' to come back to ya!"  

"Seems like bringing her back to the Central Hub was the right course of action after all," Doctor Cobalt added, looking both pleased and yet slightly concerned.  As if there was something he wasn't telling her.

Breaking out of her thoughts, Twilight noticed all three pairs of eyes staring at her.  Anxious, seeing if she remembered anything else.  She shook her head, trying to stand upright.  "I-It just came to me... and for a moment I... recognized the layout of everything, but..."  She shook her head.  "The knowledge left.  I don't remember anything else."  

"Were you able to hold on to what you just said?" Doctor Cobalt asked.  "The places where you were born and worked?" 

After a pause, the Sphere, Level, and Branch of each place echoed in her mind again.  Twilight nodded hesitantly, repeating the words as she remembered them.

A hint of a smile.  "Well," Cobalt said, "it's a start."  

Twilight took a deep breath, trying to calm herself.  "Can I... can I see where Asteria worked?" 

"In a few minutes," Celestia assured, looking strangely wary.  

Her expression puzzled Twilight.  Why did Celestia seem so uncertain all of a sudden?  

Soon enough, that changed.  "But first, I want to go back to the Morphing Sphere again.  The wary expression that perplexed Twilight changed into a smile.  "There's someone who will be happy to see you're finally up." 
---- 

Rather than going to the Sub-Level where she had woke, Twilight took a lift with the others to Level D.  She dared to peek out the large window as they went up, and her jaw dropped.  The landscape didn't look anything like the Equestria she knew and loved.  Rather than being filled with natural landscapes, though there were still some present, large metal structures dotted the area.  There were even some that appeared to be similar in structure to the dome building she was in now, but their colors looked darker, as if in shadow.

Celestia pointed outward to said dome.  "My sister Luna works there.  She studies space, black holes, dark matter, that kind of thing."  

Twilight's eyes darted back and forth in thought, trying to piece this all together.  "So, this place deals with the metaphysical unknowns, and Luna works with the physical unknowns?" 

Celestia chuckled.  "Something like that, Asteria." 

Twilight opened her mouth to protest at the name, but soon shut it.  It was clear these ponies wouldn't call her by anything aside from the name they claimed she once had.  

Reaching the proper Level and stepping out of the lift, the group went over to Branch 4.  As they approached Room 10, which had a few papers sticking out from under the door, Twilight realized she recognized the voice from behind it.  

"So what if some documents are a bit out of her order?  It's organized chaos, that's what it is!  I can find the right research papers easy!" 

Twilight gasped at the voice, her suspicions only confirmed as she red the nameplate on the door: 

Discord.  

Celestia knocked on the door. 

"Come in, come in!" Discord called merrily.  "Door's unlocked!" 

Celestia opened the door, and she shook her head in exasperation.  It was a lab room, but papers were strewn in haphazard piles all over the place.  Discord, wearing a white lab coat covered in pockets, was bent over a table projecting a hologram that showed a forest landscape.  He snapped his fingers a few times, changing the trees to look a bit more twisted and colorful.  

"Perfect!  Much better decoration than those boring ones!"  

He finally turned, facing the group that had entered, his eyes falling on each member.  

He froze, then, as he noticed Twilight.  His red-pupiled eyes widened.  

Twilight instinctively stepped back a step, her eyes wide.  Discord was a scientist here?  One of the top ones?  Why would he be happy to see her?  Her eyes narrowed, preparing for a fight. 

"A-Asteria?" 

Twilight blinked.  There was absolutely no trace of malice or mockery in Discord's voice.  There was shock, but a gentle sort of shock.  

It was then that Discord did something that caught Twilight completely by surprise: he flew over and gave the young draconequus a hug, his mis-matched forelimbs tightly embracing her.  "I was beginning to be worried about you!"

Twilight instantly pulled back, stumbling in the process.  Why was Discord here?  Why did he seem so concerned for her well-being?  Why did he hug her?

Confusion crossed Discord's face as she pulled away.  After what seemed like a minute, he spoke, his expression changing to harbor slight amusement.  "Oh, what?  After nearly a month of being asleep, that's the kind of 'hello' you decide to go and give your father?"  He chuckled.  "Don't tell me you're in one of your solipsistic research moods again!"

Twilight blinked.  She felt as if she had been slapped in the face to wake her up, except she was already awake.  

"... You're my father?!"
> The Mysterious Stranger
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Twilight's mind reeled. It did kind of make sense, in a way, as she thought to reflect on the reality of the idea. She had a draconequus-like form now, after all, it seemed only natural that Discord would be her father. Even so, given what she knew of her creation in this world, she was far from what one might call 'natural'. "But," she fought out, "I was constructed—" 

"Oh yes, of course you were much more nebulous and ethereal at your creation," Discord said, noting the confusion written over Twilight's face. "But when you were first being created the team needed assistance with supporting a being that would likely want to change form. I simply helped provide cellular material to allow for that to happen. So, in essence, yes." Discord chuckled lightly. "I'm genetically your father."

"But, you..." Twilight managed to croak out in nearly a whisper, feeling her her muscles give out and her slender body nearly collapsed on the ground.  Her eyes stared straight ahead, unable to look up at the figure of the patchwork being before her.  Her mind was refusing to believe these insistent words and strange surroundings.  It all had to be a delusion brought on by lack of sleep, that's all.  An elaborate dream.  A terrible, elaborate dream...

But as much as she tried to tell herself that, this was all seeming too real to be a dream. If it had been she surely would have woken up for real by now. She looked up at Discord feebly. "But you.... in the other world, you were one of my worst enemies..." She struggled to stand, turning then to look up at the Princess, hoping and praying it was another trick. The Princess in question let out a somber sigh. 

Discord rubbed his temples a moment, positioning himself by Twilight. "Oh my little Asteria. Please understand that we do not wish to harm you." The draconequus straightened, clapping his hands with a broad smile on his face. "I've figured out what's going on. You are simply suffering from a case of cognitive dissonance."  

Twilight swallowed, barely able to speak seeing as her throat had gone dry.  "Cognitive dissonance?"

A sigh from the figure who held the same appearance as her past mentor, glancing slightly away as Doctor Cobalt and Applejack followed into Discord's office, the former jotting notes down on his clipboard.  "It means that what is real conflicts with what you believe, what you have believed for a long time, so your mind is refusing to accept it."  Celestia quickly glanced at her companion's notes, noting if the doctor assumed that Asteria had suffered any lasting damage.  "You were in that Trial Life too long, your memory amnesia is too complete."

"'Trial Life'?" Twilight echoed, her voice clearly expressing her confusion and disbelief, even though every part of her now felt stiff.  She wasn't used to sleeping this way.  She swallowed, attempting to stop her throat from feeling so dry.  "What is that, exactly?"

"It means that your identity as Twilight Sparkle was an experimental simulation, to learn what it was like to be a pony," said Celestia.  "As I've told you."

Twilight's gaze grew uncertain.  As much as she wished this was a dream, it didn't seem like she was waking up. It was probably best to, at least for now, play along with this reality. "How many 'Trial Lives', do you claim I've had?"

"Your like as Twilight Sparkle was #375," Celestia explained.  "You wanted a full try as a young unicorn this time with a complete life from birth to awakening."  

"I tried to suggest against it, but you thought you could handle it, and Celestia agreed." 

Another voice had piped up, and it was neither Cobalt, Discord, or Applejack. But it was a familiar one. Which was confirmed a white unicorn with a purple mane raced into the room. 

"Oh for goodness sake!" Discord exclaimed, snapping his fingers and seemed to cause the room to increase in size. "It really is getting too cramped in here."

With more space to be in the room, Rarity stepped closer to Twilight, who could see that she was wearing a pristine white lab coat with sparkling blue diamonds along the collar, matching her cutie mark. "I'm thankful to see you're alright, Asteria! I mean, I know you won't want any papers published on this matter, given your past discussion but—"

"What past discussion?" 

Rarity paused, glancing at the others. "Well..." 

"Ah think it might be good to show her," Applejack advised. "Maybe then that'll jog her memory a bit." 

Celestia frowned a moment, as if wondering if that would be the best idea. "Well, it might help Asteria ease out of her Trial Life mindset." 

"I agree with that assessment," Doctor Cobalt piped up. "We ought to go back over to the video footage room. Jogging her memory like that could get her back more in the present, nothing linking her too much to the Trial Life." He glanced at Celestia, grimly recalling how Asteria had briefly attacked Celestia earlier. 

Twilight paused. 

"Oh, you go have fun with your friends, Asteria," Discord urged, waving a paw brightly. "I'll be taking care of things here, got my own chaos to attend to! But don't worry, I'll be sure to see you later!" 

With a snap of his fingers, the older draconequus vanished, the rooms remaining occupants beginning to file out of the room. Celestia glanced backward at Twilight. 

With a resigned sigh, Twilight followed. 





The walk to the video monitor room was the farthest thing from silent, as Twilight found the thoughts in her mind brimming to the surface.

"Simulating an entire lifetime like that is impossible!" Twilight protested. "Being able to have the energy and power to create a simulated world on that scale would take an incredible amount of computational—" 

"Dear, the entire world doesn't need to be simulated at one time," Rarity interrupted. "Just the part that you're immediately around. The farther you go, the simulation fills in the gaps when necessary . In principle it's really not all that difficult."

Twilight reflected on this, realizing that Rarity did have a point. She was aware of the hallway around her spinning like a carnival ride, but she tried not to slump down again.  She crossed her hoof and claw together, the differences feeling strange to her as she still managed to stand on her hind feet.  "But, I.... I'm still me.  I still have my personality as Twilight Sparkle!"

"Which is exactly the kind of thing we hoped to prevent," said Doctor Cobalt. 

"J-Just because you put me in this weird body—"

"We didn't,"  Celestia interrupted.

Twilight was silenced.

"You did." 

An immense door in front of them slid open, and Twilight's eyes widened as they beheld rows and rows of black boxes, each having lines marked with specific dates. She noticed Applerjack looking worriedly behind her as the door shut behind the group. 

Rarity trotted over to a panel in an inlet to the side, typing a few commands into the surface of the control panel.  "To be truthful, in terms of personality, you weren't always this insistent on not exploring realities, Asteria.  You weren't so insistent that only one, the one you had known, was real."

Ignoring the use of the other name, Twilight looked incredulously at the other mare.  "What do you mean?" 

Rarity paused as static flickered on the screen. "You had... differing viewpoints in your growth."  Gesturing for Twilight to step closet to the monitors, Rarity pressed a series of buttons to start up various logs of audio and video.  

Twilight stepped closer to the screen as the image flickered into focus. Asteria was slumped over a desk, in what Twilight assumed to be her office. Books lined the shelves on either side of the desk, arranged neatly in an order than Twilight could recognize as a behavior she herself would have. The desk itself, however, was littered with a few papers, in particular a book that held a glossy black cover. Her form in this vision lacked the fierce claw which she now possessed, instead appearing as a normal hoof, looking closer to the form she knew as Twilight.  Rarity was also present, having just raced into the room by the looks of it. The date on the log indicated the events were from approximately three years prior, which was confirmed upon seeing the paper. 

"Teri, dear!"

A scowl crossed Asteria's face as she looked up from her work. "Don't call me Teri." 

"Sorry, Asteria," Rarity corrected. Her magical aura hung around the paper as she showed the paper's headline: Celestia's Thought Experiment a Success? "Look! Your work is all over the papers! Isn't that great?" 

Asteria blinked. "And?" 

"Why my dear, you're going to be famous!" Rarity exclaimed, as if it were the most obvious thing in the world. "And sure that if you do an interview—" 

Rarity let out a squeak as suddenly a ball of energy shot at the paper. She dropped it as the paper shriveled to ash, casting her eyes toward Asteria in a stunned silence. 

Asteria scowled, turning away and back to her work that lay on her desk. She flipped through the book. "As Twine once said, Rarity, fame is a vapor.  The only earthly certainty ... is Oblivion." 

I believed that? Twilight thought numbly. She recognized the quote, from one of Cutie Mark Twine's more nihilistic works.  The form on the screen was indeed her new appearance, staring with tired eyes as a series of books were piled around her.  Some were frayed, pages torn, the titles on several worn away.  

"The only thing that can be said with certainty to exist, is one's own perception. My own perception." Asteria pointed a hoof toward the door. "Out." 

"But—" 

"Please."

Rarity paused, looking sadly back at Asteria before walking out the door. The feed cut off into static again, as present-day Rarity looked at her.

"You had us uninstall the camera in your room after that," Rarity said quietly. "You wanted to be left alone with your thoughts."

"Not all the time though," 

Twilight and Rarity turned as Applejack stepped forward at the panel as well. An unspoken glance passed between the two ponies Twilight knew well. 

"You really think we should...?" 

Applejack nodded firmly. "She deserves to know." 

Rarity conceded, stepping back from the panel to rejoin Celestia and Doctor Cobalt and allowing Applejack to take the helm. The orange earth pony rotated a dial on the side of the keypad, typing in several commands of her own. Twilight heard the whirring of machinery transition to different parts of the storage containments, each recording grouped by location. 

Applejack pressed a button to begin another recording, her green eyes reflecting in the screen's blackness before static covered it again. 

As Twilight looked on, there was another change of the log, this one clearly more recent. The log's date showed that this scenario had taken place just three days earlier. It was in a large room a bit like a classroom, as the form suspected to be Twilight stood in front of a group of scientists, a chalkboard positioned behind her.  The lights were dimmed, the blinds pulled over the windows, bathing the room in an eerie glow.  

While some ponies were complete strangers, Twilight instantly recognized several. Her heart leapt as she noticed Rarity and Applejack among the group,  But the pair's expressions showed a curious gaze rather than friendly encouragement. They were much more reserved than the Applejack and Rarity she had known before. The Rarity she knew would probably be complaining about the drab coats she had to wear, and while Applejack wasn't as party-loving and enthusiastic as Pinkie had been, her perspective that Twilight was used to was pretty far from nihilism.  

Twilight herself—No, Asteria, Twilight thought in her mind in an effort to distance her consciousness from her current appearance—sounded authoritative yet despondent, as if she was speaking of an armaggedon that she knew they wouldn't want to accept—much like Twilight herself felt now.   A book was open before her as she read aloud, seeming to dictate a certain story to the assembled ponies. As if she were taking Twine's words as a kind of gospel. She lifted one claw, and a sphere of energy formed in her hand, spreading out and covering the area in a thin violet energy. It gave everything in the room a sinister violet aura, like a void threatening to pull them in if they weren't careful,

"Welcome, Doomed Pony Race."

Much to the onlooking-self's surprise, many of the assembled others bowed to her.  It wasn't a momentary light bow of respect as would be given to a ruler, but a gesture that was firmly maintained, almost like that of a cult awaiting its leader's orders.  And it frightened Twilight as the being who was supposed to be her other self, her true self, continued to speak, the possibility of a truth in "her" words chilling her even more than the appearance.   Herself as Asteria read aloud from the tome with an unsettling mixture of passion and anger. Whether it was due to others not sharing or comprehending her viewpoint, or a resentment of her own existence, Twilight wasn't sure.

"You are not you--you have no body, no blood, no bones, you are but a thought.  I myself have no existence; I am but a dream--your dream, creature of your imagination. In a moment you will have realized this, then you will banish me from your visions and I shall dissolve into the nothingness out of which you made me...."

Twilight felt her own blood run cold—as impossible as it seemed according to her other self—as she listened and watched, the sensations present in the recording filling her mind.  Like another mind was stirring in her consciousness. She found herself almost unwillingly mouthing the words along with her video counterpart. 

"In a little while you will be alone in shoreless space, to wander its limitless solitudes without friend or comrade forever--for you will remain a thought, the only existent thought, and by your nature inextinguishable, indestructible.  But I, your poor servant, have revealed you to yourself and set you free. Dream other dreams, and better!" 

The book was thus closed, the others staring at the speaker in an appalled silence.  It was true that she had been reading from a story, but they could tell by her tone, by the severity of her gaze, that each word rang true in Asteria's head.  And as firmly as that bell of knowledge rang within her own mind, she wanted it to resonate in the minds of each and every pony just as strongly.  To see the truth as she saw it.  

Twilight was trembling—she refused to believe that a creature who read from such texts and seemed to believe every word could in any way possibly be her.  And yet here it was, a being whose appearance was identical and had the same voice, with words so strong that she found herself unwillingly saying them along with her recorded counterpart.  As if a part of her mind knew and accepted that that had been her, that it would always be her.  She could change a facet of her body again, her entire physical form a thousand, a million times over.  But the fact would not change—she had said those words in this world, and believed them.  Her consciousness had projected the written words in a way which made it clear she saw them as absolute truth, not to be argued with.  The knowledge and research she collected was for the sake of knowledge alone.  Nothing more than something to accomplish before her existence faded into nothingness as she so firmly believed.  

Twilight managed to speak, snapping out of her lapse of imitating Asteria's words. "... That's not me.  Not anymore."

It seemed that her companions ignored her.  "You were often a commanding presence when you got into a certain viewpoint," Rarity murmured.  "Very forceful and insistent of you."  She pointed.  "I think you'd better keep watching."

Reluctantly, Twilight turned back to the screen.

"You created me to be like an illusion, a patchwork creature."  Asteria spoke in her own words now.  "Everything is nothing more than a nature as illusory as I.  Knowledge of such a world is the only thing that can be really held on to.  I think, therefore I am, but what if you are not?  All I know exists is what I perceive existing.""

The button was pressed on the keyboard, switching it off, and the ponies present looked in surprise. Twilight's own claw rest on the button, trembling slightly in the rush of stopping the recording. Her gaze was turned toward the keys, looking almost vacant, absorbing what her past self had been saying. 

"Perhaps that was too much," Applejack said softly. 

"No, no, it's good," Cobalt urged. He stepped close to Twilight and placed a hoof on her shoulder. "It got an emotional reaction out of her."

Twilight sighed, her shoulders in a slump. 

"Would you like to return back to your office for a while?" Celestia asked. 

Twilight nodded, barely bothering to protest. 

Doctor Cobalt smiled softly. "Perhaps it would be for the best. Being in your comfortable environment again will likely ease you a bit more into your comfort zone once more." He looked at Rarity and Applejack. "You two can hang out with Asteria later, once she's rested." 

Rarity and Applejack looked like they were about to protest, but the doctor's mind was made up. Nodding in understanding, the two started to set out.  

"Oh, um, Rarity?" 

Rarity turned at Twilight's words. "Yes, Asteria?" 

Twilight didn't even look at the others as she spoke the words. "You can call me... Teri, if you want to." 

"Really?" Rarity's gaze brightened a little at that. "But before you said Teri sounds so—" 

Twilight raised a claw and smiled. "I've warmed up to it."

Looking happier, Rarity trotted out with a bit more of a spring to her step. "I'll have some free time tonight, if you've got your bearings enough I'd love to take you out for a while! Help you remember things a bit better!: She paused, looking at Doctor Cobalt. "Providing she's well enough by then, of course."

"We'll monitor her," Cobalt promised. "Whether she's fit enough to venture outside will be determined then. 

"Excellent!" Rarity exclaimed, turning back to Twilight once more, "And then maybe you can tell me a bit more about that Trial Life of yours!"

"Will do, Rarity..."

With that, Rarity was gone. Twilight cautiously followed out the door, trying to remember the way back to Asteria's old workspace on her own while following Celestia to the proper destination. Rarity seemed happy about Asteria's change of heart regarding the nickname, but she didn't know the reason why:

Teri, at least, had a starting similarity to Twilight. 





Two sand-colored eyes stared intently at the door to Asteria's office, for the moment closed. The mare they belonged to turned her head back and forth. Nopony around. Luckily not even the clicking from her faulty machine from earlier was echoing in her brain. She smoothed down her disheveled coat before quickly opening the door. 

The room was dark, but one thing she could could on as far as she knew with Asteria was that the patchwork being wouldn't leave stray papers on the floor. No worries of crushing some important paper underhoof. 

Under the cover of the darkness, she shifted her blue mane, revealing a small but cracked horn, which shone with the same azure color as her mane. She remembered seeing the confused look on Asteria's face as she had walked by with Celestia and those two other ponies. The mare had barely been able to poke her head out from her door given the mechanical failure going on in her office, but she had seen enough to know something was wrong with Asteria.

Or perhaps something right, as it were. She wasn't too sure anymore.

The mare brushed her long light blue mane away from her face, and cautiously tapped the implant in her right ear, curved like an earring. A loud crackling sparked from it, and a young male voice echoed from it, louder than intended and obscured by static. 

"Pris... are..." 

She winced, tapping the implant slightly until the static stopped. "What?" 

"Oh, sorry," the voice apologized. "I said, Prism, are you in?" 

"Yeah," Prism affirmed. "I'm in." 

Prism primed her ears, glancing back toward the door. There was neither voices or shadows of other ponies near the door. Especially her voice. She shifted her body slightly more under the shadow of the darkness, as if fearing the prism cutie mark on her flanks would catch the light from the hall and reflect it outward, giving away her presence. 

"Is this really a good idea?" the voice asked from her earpiece, as if echoing her thoughts. "What if Asteria comes back and—" 

"Spike, she's not going to kill me." Prisms voice shook slightly as she said the words, not entirely sure if she believed them herself. "And regardless, we have to talk to her. This might be our only chance to get a hold of her without anypony else knowing." 

Prism unclasped the brown saddlebag that her had slung over her shoulders, and shakily lifted a letter from within it. She winced slightly, the envelope was a bit less presentable than she had wanted, and the seal was beginning to lose its form. Hopefully resting on a flat surface would quell that. 

She stepped close to Asteria's desk, covered in papers with lengthy titles, and noticed a book with the words The Mysterious Stranger embedded on the surface. 

Well, I certainly would be like one to her right now, I suppose, Prism thought. But the musing did little to comfort her. 

The book's cover was carefully lifted, and Prism slid the letter partly within its pages, closing the book as carefully as it had been opened. Whether Asteria would arrive in there next with her memories intact or not, it should at least be enough to pique her curiosity. 

Leaving the note to rest on the desk, Prism rose, forcing back a shout of alarm as the cyan color of her mane changed to a magenta aura. She placed a hoof over her mouth, quickly covering her horn with her mane once more.

"What's wrong?" Spike's voice asked. 

"N-Nothing," Prism quickly said. "But I... I have to go." 

"Did you put the letter in?"

"Yes."

"Well, then get out of there!" 

Prism didn't need to be told twice, backing out of the room and quickly opening the door, closing it behind her while trying not to have it click too loudly. For once, technology didn't fail her as the door closed with a satisfying silence.

She hurried off without looking back. 





"Are you sure you'll be alright?" 

Twilight turned at Celestia's voice, noticing her and Cobalt standing there with concerned expressions. Twilight, attempting to regain her composure, nudged the door open with a hoof. "I'll be fine... I think," she admitted, rubbing her head. "It's just a lot to take in." 

"Well, we'll be back in a few hours to make sure you're well enough to go spend some time with your old friends," Cobalt promised. His head bowed slightly. "Take care of yourself, Asteria."

Twilight nodded, quickly closing the door behind her, sighing in the dark. She still didn't want to believe it as her mentor and the doctor walked off, but if this was a dream, her body certainly wasn't keen on waking up from it just yet.

The light switch was flicked on, and Twilight gazed at the room, nearly identical to the one she had seen on the monitor. There were more books lining the shelves, and several stacks of strewn papers on the desk, but structurally the room hadn't changed. She noticed that there was even a room off to the left side, the door swung open to reveal a bed decorated with images of her old cutie mark. 

Twilight felt her heart ache once more, forcing herself to turn away as memories were flooding back. Memories that, if this world was to be believed, weren't her reality. At least, not a reality that anyone here could have experienced. 

With her gaze now drawn back to her workspace, she then paused, noticing something folded carefully on her desk, jutting out from a book. Something about it drew her eye. 

That's not supposed to be there, she thought. A flicker of memory returned, recognizing every bit of the room, the placement of where everything was. That folded envelope hadn't been there, at least in her memory.  She carefully removed the letter from the pages, frowning as a bit of the red seal smeared.The ink hadn't had time to settle, so it certainly can't have been set right after she had first gone to sleep. 

This is from today. Can't have been later than half an hour ago. And whoever it was left in a hurry. 

Despite the smear, Twilight tilted her head as she more carefully examined the seal. Despite the smearing, she could still make out a symbol: what appeared to be a prism encased in flame. Twilight searched through her own memories, then, reluctantly, tried to access Asteria's. No recollection surged in her mind. Neither part of her remembered anything like it. 

Carefully, as if fearing that the letter would turn to dust in her hooves, she opened the envelope. An unfamiliar penmanship and tone greeted her.


Asteria, 
You probably don't know us. Well, one you know, the other not. Assuming what I've heard is true. In truth I don't even think you know my name. Well, one of our names, but... let me start again. 

Me, I've only seen you, we've never spoken directly. And my friend... well, my friend is your friend. Or was. I think. I have to be the one to write the note largely, or I know it won't get through. This place doesn't like any note getting through willy-nilly But I might be able to at least get a word from him. Then you might know that you can trust me. Or try to. 

What they do to you is wrong. What you do to yourself is wrong. You're speaking of enlightenment yet you put yourself above others. You're nihilistic and yet you want to understand at the cost of everyone else. What was in your last simulated life changed you. I can tell that much, at least. 

It doesn't have to be like this. You rise above yet ignore what lies beneath.

You are newer than I. You are at the pedestal, and we are hiding under everything.
We like secrets. We like the dark. We like the things that grow in Time.
If you will come with us, we will take your Mind places.

Follow the light, stay in the shadows. 


Twilight frowned, noting no signature. And then, as she looked closer down the page, there was a small scrawled note at the bottom, in a completely different handwriting: 


Come find us.


Twilight tilted her head, grasping the note in a claw and feeling as if she had been dunked into water. The style of writing was strange and unfamiliar, but the penmanship at the very bottom, those last three words, were another story. There was no signature for either writer, but the last sentence was in a scrawl that she had seen almost every day in her past life, but hadn't encountered at all in her new life as Asteria. 

She couldn't be sure who had dictated the words, if it was the one who penned down the letter or another being entirely. But she knew for sure who had been the one to write the final words. 

The handwriting was Spike's.