Sanctuary

Hoofsteps echoed into into infinity space as Twilight slowly walked across the obsidian bridge. The Unicorn tried to calm herself and slow her breathing but each breath seemed to resonate loudly, raising the hairs on her back. She turned her head, looking behind her. Nothing was there but Twilight could not shake the feeling that something was watching her.

Twilight turned back to the grand white building before her. It had a round celling, with a long thick spire growing out the center that seemed extended into infinity. At the end, Twilight could make out a horizontal beam perpendicular to the spire, a cross. The faint chimes of a bell could be heard.

From the stain window, a small light peeked through, barely worth a candle's fire. But in the darkness, where the purple pony could barely see the ground in front of her, it was a beacon, as bright and welcoming as Celestia's sun. With the shadows as oppressive as they were now, it took all Twilight's control to move at a careful pace toward the sanctuary and not to break into a reckless gallop.

A shadowy figure looked down from the window.

The large wooden doors creaked open. Twilight peeked inside cautiously before taking a step inside.

"Hello?" she called, looking around. "Is anypony here?"

The Unicorn jumped as the door slammed shut behind her. Torches aligning the wall lit up, revealing faded tapestries and dispelling shadows. A bright alter sat some distance away, surrounded by candles. Despite the sudden warmth and light, Twilight felt cold, as if something was caressing her shoulder with chilling, bony fingers...

Twilight leaped forward, spinning to face the doors behind her. Her horn lit up as she readied a spell, preparing to defend herself.

Nothing was there. The Unicorn sighed in relief but did not dismiss her magic.

Something's off about this place she said to herself silent. Twilight took a step back to the giant doors. And I don't think I want to find out...

"Leaving already?" a voice spoke behind her. There was a chuckle. "Twilight, I'm disappointed. I thought a dark and mysterious cathedral like this would have grabbed your curiosity."

Twilight gulped. She turned slowly, running dozens of escape scenarios in her head, all of which disappeared when she saw the source of the voice.

"Ash?"

At least, a Human male that looked a lot like Ash. There were a few differences, the most noticeable being his hair, which was as black as a raven's feather. The Human's features were more youthful, much younger; there were fewer creases and lines. Like Ash, the Human wore a robe, though while Ash's was blue, this Human wore white Mage robes. A crimson scarf hid his neck.

"Ash?" Twilight repeated. "Is that you?"

The Human chuckled again. Twilight flinched at the sound. It sounded similar to Ash's laugh but it was as if they were in a cave and all she was hearing was a distant echo, lacking all the emotion and feeling of the original it was imitating.

"Is that really the first question you want to ask?" the Human asked. "C'mon, I know you're dying to know. Ask me, ask me; where are we?"

Twilight glared at the Human. He was avoiding the question but Twilight was more annoyed that Human was right. She was dying to know. "Alright, where are we then?"

"A most excellent question," the Human said, sweeping down into a mocking bow. "As expected from Twilight Sparkle. Oh, don't worry, I'll answer the question...but first, how about a game of wits?"

He didn't wait for Twilight to reply.

"...being of dark...no mark at night...sun...the answer is a shadow!" Twilight declared excitedly. "Wait." The Unicorn frowned. "What are you trying-"

"Next riddle!" the Human interrupted happily.

"Some sort of tree...let's see...elm, oak, birch, ash...branches enter ground...hmm." Twilight began to pace. "Branches enter ground, so a tree that loses branches often...rowan, holly...uncommon but common, so...cherry tree,, orange tree, apple tree, apple tree..."

"An' here's the Apple family tree," Applejack declared proudly, holding out a large old parchment poster. "Datin' further than Ponyville's foundin'."

"Wow, this is amazing," Twilight said. She held the yellowing paper carefully. "Are you sure we can borrow this?"

"Of course," said Applejack. "We make a new one every reunion so Ah don' think we'd miss a copy, tho' try tah bring it back in one piece. Awful nice of yah tah be helpin' Apple Bloom with this assignment," the farm pony added. "Ah'd like tah help but cider season preparations been takin' all our time. Yah'd think Cheerilee'd lay off homework 'round this time."

Twilight giggled, recalling the schoolteacher's expression last year as she downed her first mug of apple cider. "I'm always happy to help, especially with a research paper..."

"A family tree," answered Twilight. "A tree that doesn't grow in the forest but everypony has."

"And like our ancestors, our roots, we will one day be buried. Clever girl." The Human grinned and Twilight felt her cheeks burned at the compliment. At least, she thought it was a compliment.

"Next riddle-"

"Wait, we don't have time for this," Twilight interjected. "We only have an hour before...something happens, remember?"

The Human laughed. "Time is but an illusion, just as sanity is merely a self-imposed limit. What consequences are there for ignoring them? Don't answer that," he said, wagging his index finger as Twilight opened her mouth. "That's not the riddle..."

"What's your game?" Twilight growled. "You're not Ash...who are you?"

The Human shook his head, smiling. "Ah ah, it's not your turn yet. Patience please, dear Unicorn," he said while the tips of Twilight's mane began to smoke. "All will be answered soon but knowledge can't always be free, can it?"

"Knowledge...the answer is knowledge!" Twilight couldn't resist shouting happily. "Stored in books, with covers that cover the back and the front...more valuable than gold...and the only thing better than learning is sharing what you've learned! The answer's knowledge!"

"Eh...sure, that'll work." The Human shrugged. "Now, one last puzzler..."

He cleared his throat and turned to the alter. His eyes shut. For a moment, he was quiet.

"You found an alien, a man, something you had never encountered before, hanging from a tree. You brought him to your home, to your alien land, into your life. You know this man, correct?"

Twilight nodded slowly.

"You are his friend, correct?"

Twilight nodded slowly.

"What is in his mind?"

"What's in Ash's mind? What kind of riddle is that?" Twilight nearly yelled. "How am I suppose to know that?"

Another humorless chuckle echoed through the Unicorn's ears. She turned angrily, only to stand face to face to empty air.

"A hint, perhaps?" the air answered.

"Mind mine...were before? Hey!" Twilight yelled into the empty hall. "What kind of clue is that? It doesn't make any sense!"

Much to Twilight's continued frustration, there was no reply.

"Agh," the Unicorn groaned, slamming her hooves into the hard marble floor. This was worse than dealing with Discord. The spirit of chaos at least had the decency to provide a riddle with a surprisingly logical answer. How in Equestria was she suppose to know or figure out what went in Ash's head? She didn't even know how her own mind worked. The clue itself was a puzzling riddle. Twilight felt her horn heat up, fueled with frustration turned to rage and the desire to crush the stones of the floor beneath her hooves, to shred the tapestries beyond recognition, to set the entire sanctuary aflame and watch it burn to nothing...

She struggled to keep her temper in check, taking deep breaths. Giving into her anger would accomplish nothing, the Unicorn knew. Odds were, such actions would leave her in a worse situation. "If I want to solve this, I need to stay calm."

Twilight took one more breath. "Okay, time to think. Let's look at this clue one line at a time...

"Library, temple, gold church bells...well, this place does have bells and definitely feels like a temple, so the answer probably has to do with this place...but what does a place like this have to do with a library?

"Personal sanctum, personal hell...personal sanctum, personal hell...so the answer is...Ash is thinking of a place that's both sacred and safe but also probably really dangerous...a temple-library that acts as a sanctuary but not entirely safe..."

But what kind of place would Ash be thinking about that could be both a place of safety and and a place of danger? Ponyville perhaps, with its proximity to both the Everfree Forest and the royal princesses in Canterlot? Or was it somewhere from Ash's past? Did it have to do with the scene plaguing her own dreams these previous nights, the memory Twilight had accidentally taken?

"This is getting nowhere," Twilight said, rubbing her forehead slowly. "What else was there...

"Mind your mind, mind mind mine...Violators pay a hefty fine...something to do with the mind, something dealing with the mind...uh, what's in Ash's mind...wait..."

Twilight began to pace. "Mind your mind, mind mind mine...mind my mind and mind mind his...it's comparing my mind to Ash's!" Twilight said excitedly. Her triumphant smile quickly faded into a frown of frustration. "But I don't understand how any of this mental magic stuff works. I don't even know how our minds are being compared."

Twilight ended her pacing and sat down. She turned her head, facing the tapestry. It was a faded depiction of a quartet of carefully woven ponies and a dragon sitting around a table laden with cakes. The ponies looked similar, especially the purple one, who wore a small horn on her head.

"A book, a bridge, woven tapestry lore..." Twilight continued as she watched the knitted picture. Was she seeing things or were those ponies moving? "...A murky pool and an ash wood door...here's a tapestry, there was a bridge outside..." She turned to the exit, blocked by the closed door. "A wooden door...I fell through a pool...that was in a book! So that means...that means..."

Twilight's ears flattened against her head. "I have no idea what that means. Agh!" The Unicorn got to her feet and began to pace again. "I can see a connection," she said to herself quietly, "but I can't see what that connection is. What else was there?

"A seeker seeks, seeks for more...seeker seeks...a seeker for what? Treasure? Meaning? An...swers?" Twilight paused suddenly in the middle of a step. "Seeking for more...I've been spending all this time look for the answers of these silly riddles. I'm the seeker, aren't I?"

Twilight received no physical confirmation nor had she expected any. Regardless, the Unicorn's confidence soared and she continued her pacing with renewed vigor. She was on the right track.

"But what do I do with that? Where does it fit in? Um...from which you came...um, of which were, which you were before...which you were before...from which I came...I was...I was..." Twilight shook her head. "I was with Ash, in my subconscious, my...library..."

.

"Then this isn't just a temple. This is..." Twilight stopped in front of another tapestry. There was no recognizable scene in this one, just chaotic splashes of red and pink. The longer she stared, the stronger Twilight felt a sense of anger being emitted from the tapestry.

A stray strand caught the Unicorn's eye. She held it up. "Books...tapestries..."

A person's depiction of memories and thoughts varies on the person...

"A representation of memories, of thoughts, of the subconscious..."Twilight muttered. "This temple is Ash's subconscious. I'm in Ash's mind!"

A slow, echoing applause filled the hall. "Well done, Twilight Sparkle," the Human said quietly. Surprisingly, almost alarmingly, there was no condensing tone, no mockery in the Human's voice or face. Instead, Twilight found a sense of relief and exhaustion.

"We're in Ash's mind," Twilight said. "I've answered your riddle. I'm done with your games. Who are you?" she demanded. "Why am I here?"

The Human sighed, a habit Twilight recognized in Ash. He brushed pass her, taking large strides toward the end of the hall, toward the alter. The hems of his robes fluttered and swayed like specters as he flew by. He paused and turned around toward the confused purple Unicorn staring back at him.

"Coming?" he asked. He held out his hand.

Twilight took a hesitant step forward. "Where are we going?"

"We are going to save Ash."

Author's Notes:

Shorter chapter this time.