The Princess

Am I hungry...? What sort of question is that?

The more Twilight tried to make sense of the situation, the more confused she became.

First, she had awakened in an extremely vivid dream that felt exactly like real life; with the minor exception that she could manipulate reality. While having a dream like this wasn't impossible, she had never experienced anything of this intensity before. Secondly, she was thinking unusually clear. That in and of itself was something that she wouldn't expect in a dream state. Being able to deduce that she's dreaming, theorize about and then meta-analyze that theory without waking up went against her knowledge of the regular dreaming mind. Then there was this Princess Rosetta, a pony mentioned in the enchanted diary she had bought earlier that day.

It was a reasonable conclusion to assume this was all connected, but in what ways she wasn't sure. The possibility that she was just dreaming could be the most incredible coincidence, but something told her it wasn't so. She wanted to think that this was the key to unlocking the diary and the knowledge it held.

“Am I hungry?”, Twilight responded quizzically.

"Yes, do you seek food?” Her voice carried the same aura as Celestia's and yet it had a few differences. This pony didn't quite have the same raw power as her mentor, but exuded a ringing confidence in her tone.

Twilight didn't know a dreamer could be hungry. Her sense of hunger seemed so foreign, but as soon as she found it, she startled herself. She was in fact hungry, very hungry. Food sounded wonderful at the moment.

"Actually yes, but first, where are we?" Her head still spun a little from the logic-defying spectacle.

She smirked. "Why this is Paradisium, the grandest skycity in all the world!" She made a sweeping gesture, framing and showcasing it. Twilight had already feasted her eyes on the city and would continue to. She couldn't argue, it may be the grandest thing she'd ever seen.

"It's magnificent..." she said, acknowledging the Princess's pride. The wonder in Twilight's eyes spoke volumes to the Princess. Her smirk transformed into a big, toothy grin.

"Shall we be off then?" Rosetta suggested merrily.

"Am I to attend a dinner with her Majesty, Princess Rosetta, Lady of Paradisium?" Twilight asked coyly. If itt was a dream, she might as well have fun with it.

"Breakfast actually, but you are far too formal, dear." Her gaze fell to the door behind Twilight. The grin slowly turned to a grave concern. She spoke severely.

"You know, I'm sorry I have to cut this wonderful conversation short, but we need to put as much distance between ourselves and this library as possible. Please follow me."

With that, Rosetta side-flipped off the balcony and flew into a nose dive towards the ground. Twilight ran to the edge in shock, looked over and immediately backed up, heart pounding. She was hundreds of feet in the air and now that she looked around, she noticed no other buildings were anywhere close to the same height. The only object in the distance was the band of the great ring they sat on, stretching far beyond the clouds. She looked back down over the ledge and gulped.

Might as well try it...

Trusting the dream, she cried out and jumped over the balcony after Rosetta.

Twilight was still above the main skyline as she began her freefall. She could feel herself screaming at the top of her lungs, but the sound was muffled as she reached terminal velocity. The wind deafened her, with the white noise following suit. Without any eye protection, Twilight struggled to see. She could barely squint before it felt like her eyelids were being ripped open. She conjured herself a pair of goggles and pulled them on. As soon as she opened her eyes, all she could see was Rosetta's form on a collision course towards her.

Oomph!

Rosetta had flared her wings to slow her descent so Twilight could catch up. She was trying to get Twilight to land gently on her back, but Twilight had chosen to flail wildly and induced many miscalculations. Instead of a graceful landing on her back, Rosetta was thrown completely off balance. The instability of her flight coupled with a mess of thrashing hooves sent both of them spiraling to a nearby rooftop at lethal speed. Rosetta screamed.

Twilight teleported them both just before impact and broke their fall. Twilight landed upright and neatly brushed herself. Meanwhile, Rosetta was on the ground screaming in terror until she noticed the unicorn giggling at her. She stood up and narrowed her eyes.

"I hope you're not too hungry. I think you could stand to lose a few pounds," she grumbled. "So, this time, just fall with me and then teleport us so we don't die. Got it?"

Twilight gave her a cross look. She was skeptical of Rosetta. What sort of princess doesn't know how to teleport or right themselves from an unstable flight?

Also, I’m not fat!

"Got it. But Princess, what are we running from?"

Rosetta walked back to the edge and sized up the fall. "Remember your library? Well, in about five sec--"

She was interrupted by a sickening explosion above. She tossed up her hooves in futility and shouted something before making a face. Twilight couldn't hear her over the continuing explosion.

Twilight looked straight up and saw a black writhing mass erupt and consume her library from the inside out. The blob had an initial burst of growth and then pulsated, expanding slightly with each unnerving beat. Drops of the blackness oozed from the blob, leaving every bit of perfect white marble stained and soiled.

Several large disgusting cyst-like bulges formed on its surface, filling with some sort of bile or venom. They kept growing and growing until finally the first one popped. And then another and another after that. Each one that did threw thousands of gallons of black bile in wide arcs.

Rosetta watched the incoming bile rain and gulped. Her confidence broke for a moment. "Yeah ok, time to go..." she said shakily.

Rosetta side-flipped off the building again and went into her dive. Twilight wasted no time in following her lead. They plummeted back through the air, getting as vertical as they could to maximize speed. Since they couldn't be more aerodynamic than something with no definite shape, they'd have to use the small lead they had to outrun the fast approaching bile.

Twilight maneuvered the air a little better than her last free fall. Now she was able to keep up with Rosetta and dropped side by side with her, instead of flailing wildly. As they approached the main skyline, she used her dream sense to focus her aim, using her legs to direct her fall and avoid obstacles. Running into a building would force her to teleport, breaking her momentum and slowing her descent.

For some reason, her dream sense felt a need for drama as some dodges would only barely miss the roof of one building or another. As she passed them, she swore she moved in slow motion just for dramatic effect. The air in her lungs would thicken and she could barely breath. At least she hoped it was just her sense being dramatic, and not losing her grasp on the dream.

In a way, it was invigorating to barely miss death so often. She wasn't an outdoorsy, adrenaline junkie, but right now she felt like Rainbow Dash. Awesome.

As they fell deeper and deeper into the city, the spacing became denser. The bile had caught up to them and smaller blobs of it had begun peppering the surrounding buildings. Seeing Twilight struggle to fly and almost hit five too many buildings, Rosetta gently grabbed her and together they flew.

Twilight wondered how long it would be until they hit the ground. After falling through the initial level, the scenery became extremely monotone. Everything was just a dizzy, white chaos around them. The spinning world fogged her mind and dulled her senses.

The amount of light never seemed to diminish as all of the marble just reflected off each wall. The result was a blazing, mind-numbing whiteness all around her. In a way, she welcomed the bile because it gave relative definition to her surroundings, alerting them of obstacles that blended with the scenery.

However, she did not want to learn what happened if she touched the bile. She wasn't sure if she could feel pain in this world and didn't want to risk the sensation of acid burning through her. There was also the chance that it might wake her up, which was something she wanted to avoid as long as she could.

Eventually, Twilight was sure they had entered the undercity as some of the passing houses or shops started to look less idealistic and more realistic.

The city above had grand looking establishments strung along brilliant highways and streets that followed the ebb and flow of an artist's paintbrush. Multiple interweaving layers of roads stood to create a chaotic and indisputably insane city layout. Physics wouldn't allow such designs, but the implication of magic was strong enough to disregard that criticism. Twilight couldn't imagine navigating such an area, as it would be more akin to entering a labyrinth.

Yet as they fell through the various layers, it was clear there was a tiered system  In the undercity, cracks upset the flawless marble. In some buildings, even large chunks were missing. Against Twilight’s expectation, dirt had made an appearance, grime and non-descript garbage covering the streets. The more brilliant architecture of the upper city was nowhere to found. No more towering skyscrapers and sweeping highways. Instead, the roads fell into a more practical grid and the establishments were simpler and less inspired.

As Twilight watched the the city fly past her, she noticed something was missing. Something that didn't surprise her, but still haunted her.

“Princess?! Where are all the ponies?!” she shouted over the wind.

No response. The princess just kept looking ahead towards the ground.

Before her mind had the chance to wash over the implications of being alone in this world, Rosetta screamed something unintelligible in her ear. Twilight hadn’t even seen the ground and barely teleported in time to break their fall.

She was still clumsily getting to her hooves when Rosetta was already halfway down the marble street galloping at full speed. Twilight looked after her oddly. She didn't know what the hurry was for. They had put at least six layers between them and the bile. The chances of any bile making it through to this level would be almost nonexistent.

"Hurry, Twilight Sparkle!" Rosetta called back. Worry deeply inflected her voice.

A giant blob of the black bile splashed on a fairly wide street only a hundred feet directly above her. It had crashed at a velocity that sent huge waves spilling off the side. The surge threatened to surround Twilight and cut her off from Rosetta. With the looming mass of incoming black death, she dashed towards the princess and teleported to close the distance as quickly as she could.

She was safe before the bile had even made it halfway to the surface, not even fazed, though  just a little out of breath.

She huffed a bit. "What in the hoof was that thing?"

"Well, it's kind of hard to explain. We still have more running and falling to do, though. The words are coming," Rosetta said with a grin.

"Words...?"

Rosetta just grinned more before galloping off. Twilight let out a heavy sigh before following suit.

Darkness peeled itself away from the bile's stains, creating a stringy, writhing form that floated after the two ponies. As they ran, Twilight saw the aberrations come from every dark house and distant shadow. They moved slowly at first,  but worked up a pressing speed, keeping after the two without rest. She stayed close behind Rosetta, who led the way. They could easily outrun them, but not forever. As long as they stayed behind her, she wouldn't have that problem for awhile. They'd be able to find a hiding spot and wait for them to give up after getting far enough ahead of them.

Unfortunately they had that problem. The black creatures weren’t going to stay behind them.

The writhing things came at them from far in the distance and cut them off, sandwiching them. Rosetta spotted a side street and changed course with Twilight in close pursuit. The ever-present darkness forced them down an even smaller side street after cutting them off again. And then it forced them into a skinny alley. A pattern was emerging.

These weren't mindless drones following orders, they had a plan. It was clear that they didn't have omnipotent knowledge of the area, as they made some mistakes. However, they were doing their best to actively cut off the ponies and force them down smaller, more cluttered streets. They were trying to get either of the ponies to trip up and make a mistake. Twilight could only guess that running them into a dead end was also part of their plan.

The two ponies dived over trash cans, under tarps, slid around turns and flipped over walls. Rosetta seemed to be enjoying herself for some bizarre reason. She'd do unnecessary flips and showy moves that almost made Twilight question the sense of danger. But as she turned around to confirm the huge mass of encroaching darkness, she nearly tore into an old, rotting fruit cart. She was forced to teleport herself back to balance, losing speed and momentum while falling further behind Rosetta. She was getting exhausted.

"Princess, we need a plan!" Twilight shouted. With the alleys narrowing, darkness found a greater home around them. New threats peeled away from an ever growing number of shadows. "We can't keep this up forever!"

"Almost there!" the princess called out.

As they were cut off yet again  they slid onto their last street. Twilight bit her lip in a desperate anxiety as she saw no other outlet. They had finally hit a dead end. It was a strange dead end, though. It was a perfectly circular plaza that was much larger than the passages they had spent the last five minutes running down. No stores or houses lined the courtyard, only a smooth featureless marble wall surrounded it.

"Hug me when I jump up!" Rosetta commanded.

“What?!"

Rosetta jumped up over the plaza, turning half way in mid-air with her legs stretched out to Twilight. The wind of Rosetta's mane told her to just jump, so she did. Twilight leaped with all her might and soared through the air, latching onto Rosetta. She managed to look up just before the monsters were on top of them. She saw that the circular shape of the plaza cut through every layer of the city, ending in a tiny speck of light at the end.

Rosetta's horn flared and beneath them the plaza slid open, revealing a tunnel. She spread her wings and a torrential wind from above caught them, sending them hurtling backwards. Twilight’s stomach heaved with their sudden drop. She couldn't see what they were falling into, but what she could see was the black mass in front of her catch the same wind and shoot out after them.

The tunnel turned pitch black as the monsters cut off all light in front of them. With no light coming from behind them, she wondered exactly where they were going. Perhaps Rosetta had gone crazy and was just prolonging the inevitable. Maybe she was always crazy.

As they flew through the pitch darkness, Twilight noticed two unnerving things. One, they were slowing down. The feeling of falling left her and soon it felt like she was merely floating in a featureless room. And two, Rosetta started to laugh maniacally. Her chuckle slowly turned into an inane giggle. Twilight would have commented on how attractive and melodic her laugh was if the situation was a tad lighter and she was being less creepy about it.

Even in the total blackness, she could feel the nightmare edge towards her. The dream sense told her that the void would catch up with her and take her from this world. She was still and the monsters were slowly inching towards her in this long, dark void.

She almost welcomed it. For reasons she will always understand, but never be able to explain, she reached out to the mass and she knew it reached out for her. Her hoof extended, she felt herself about to touch it. About to wake up. The smell of Spike's cooking filled her nose...

Just as she was about to embrace it, light entered the tunnel from behind her in a dazzling display. In an instant, all the speed and velocity returned to her. Time seemed to stand still and, for a half-second, the light illuminated its shape. Unlike before, it had a definite shape. The shape haunted her dreams and she was sure it would haunt her waking hours, too.

It was her.

She was reaching out to herself, ready to embrace this dark Twilight. She looked scared. Maybe she was mirroring the terrified look on her own face. She mouthed one word to her.

Run...

The two ponies exploded out the other side of the great ring. A blast of fresh air rushed them and popped Twilight's ears as they depressurized, ringing them. The beautiful sunlight returned triumphantly as Rosetta soared up and away from the tunnel, flying opposite of the ring's rotation. Behind them, the blackness sprayed out of the hole as the ring turned, throwing them in an arc deep into the sky. The shadows flew weightless, lost in space.

Rosetta laughed merrily as she watched the distant darknesses. "Good show, Twilight Sparkle! Good show indeed!" She spun and flipped through air in bliss. Twilight barely hung on as she lifted her goggles up.

Her heart was pounding and she was getting dizzy from all this flying. She wanted to throw up. "Princess, what were those things!?" she shouted, barely able to hear herself.

Rosetta was still laughing at the helpless blackness as it tumbled through the sky. "Oh those were just words, my dear!"

"Words...?!"

"Correct! A whole swarm of them from the looks of it," she replied, laughing and watching the last of them fly out of view behind a cloud. She looked incredibly satisfied.

"I'm not sure I understand...!"

Rosetta gave her a look, half excited, half confused.

"You've never dealt with words before?" she asked with the traces of laughter.

"I mostly read words. Sometimes I write words. I almost never run for my life from words. Correction, I never run for my life from words, period."

"You don't say...?" Rosetta's smile dropped slightly. "Well, words here are dangerous and should be avoided at all costs. Never write one. If you can read one, you should stop and run away."

Twilight was starting to understand. "So, what happens when you write a word?"

"Well, you saw it. Your library was chock full of books with words written all over them."

Twilight's expression widened in disbelief. A world where books were the enemy? This dream was turning into what should be her worst nightmare. Yet, something about such a dramatic adventure exhilarated her. She was growing weary of the princess, but Rosetta had saved her, so Twilight had little to complain about.

"Books, bad? I never thought I'd hear that one," she said flatly.

"Indeed, they are quite the danger. Are you still hungry, my dear?"

"Yes...?" Twilight had again forgotten about the fact that hunger existed. But after that workout, she was ravenous. "Yes, please!"

"Good, there is somepony I'd like you to meet..." Rosetta let the words trail off and stared off pensively at the keep. Twilight followed her gaze to the peak.

*

They soared past the remaining outer rings, swerving wide around the looming, monster circles. Twilight squinted her eyes and saw something discouraging. The speckled texture of the rings were neither natural nor stylistic, it was the product of the words. Each sordid imperfection were one of those black masses.

They left the outer cage far behind them, flying endlessly towards the peak. They could have passed an entire sky’s worth of clouds on their way there. The air was light and clean and the clouds, gargantuan. Each of the floating mountains served to add context and a real sense of scale to the distant castle.

At first, the keep looked like a living painting. It was so immensely large that nothing could move it. It was a sovereign object and every minute of flying seemed to take them no closer than the last. The picture in front of them never changed. Yet Twilight found herself at the tallest point of it some time later, her stomach roaring for food.

As they flew past the inner rings, Twilight could barely make out the details of the structures. From what she could see, every ring had a unique style that influenced its architecture. In one, the roads were angular and its landscape seemingly obsessed with physics illusions like the endless staircase. In another, everything held a sleek, fluid quality and she couldn't find a harsh corner if she looked all day.

As they gained altitude through the keep, the spires below shot up from what looked like a glimmering web of spiky death. Countless bridges connected spires of varying thicknesses. Every single one ended with a sharp point. With no clear beginning to any single tower, the  detail melded into a single, blaring, convoluted mass.

“So, how do you like the city now that you’ve seen it up close?” Rosetta asked, mistaking Twilight’s dizziness for awe.

“It’s really... marbley.  Ever consider getting an exterior decorator to spruce up the monotony? My friend Rarity would be happy to--”

Twilight had almost forgotten that she was in a dream.

“She’d be happy to what? Finish your thought, Twilight Sparkle.”

“Oh, I was just thinking she could maybe give you a few ideas on choosing colours.”

Rosetta smiled shyly. “You should invite her over... Maybe I could have a dinner party and we could play some board games.”

How quaint...?

The tallest tower sat a hundred feet taller than the next. When Twilight saw it, it almost looked lonely. The solitude wasn't unfamiliar though. Twilight still had yet to see another pony and was starting to think that Rosetta and, potentially Stella, would be the only two in the city. The isolation loomed over them heavily. The only other signs of life in Paradisium were the 'words' and she hardly considered them company. Two or maybe three ponies with an endless horde of black death chasing after them didn't sit very well with her, leaving a feeling of isolation.

Rosetta landed on the balcony of this tallest structure. It was a large, but simple, circular railed balcony. It was slightly elevated with stairs leading to the door. The railing was a bit high for Twilight, reaching up to her nose, but she assumed it must have been designed for the taller princess. On the floor was an emblem that looked like a simplified version of the city. It was embellished with polished onyx and gold. In front of them, almost as if in defiance of the luxurious monotony, was a simple wooden door that led into the tower.

Twilight's stomach groaned ravenously. The smell of baked sweets drifted out to meet their noses.

"Well, Twilight Sparkle, I don't know about you, but I'm absolutely starving. Care to join me for breakfast?" Rosetta hummed as she waltzed through the door.

Twilight followed her into a completely underwhelming room. Twilight had expected something grand to fit the rest of the city. Instead, she found herself in a small half-circle room with simple wooden floors and matching wooden walls. A fire crackled in the hearth on the flat left wall with two beds flanking it.

There were some cushions surrounding an undersized wooden table in the center of the room. Bookshelves lined the circular right wall. A window directly opposite of the fire and a shaded lamp on the table were the only other sources of light. Under the lamp were a few rolls of parchment and an ink and quill.

A plate of donuts, scones, bagels and other confections that Twilight didn't recognize sat on a platter on the table, all of them looking equally delicious. She stared at them with hungry, puppy dog eyes.

Rosetta had already taken a bagel and began munching on it, letting the hearth fire take her pensive eyes' attention. Twilight followed her lead and took two doughnuts, an apple fritter and something that looked like a flower crossed with a hairball. She noticed the books.

"Uhh, so, what's with all the books? Shouldn't we be running now?" she mentioned, trying to keep up with the ways of this peculiar world.

"Oh, those books are fine. Stella wrote them," Rosetta replied matter-of-factly.

Bingo, that was the name she was waiting to hear. In all the running for her life, she had almost forgotten why she was there. She need to unlock that diary and Stella was the first pony to talk to about that.

"Stella? She's here? Do you know where she is?" Twilight asked purposefully.

"She's sleeping right now," Rosetta deflected.

"Oh, when will she wake up?"

"Probably in a few hours."

They sat there in a comfortable silence as they continued to scarf down the confections at an increasing rate. Twilight noticed they were eating at almost the exact same speed. She waited a moment and levitated a new treat alongside Rosetta’s as soon as the princess finished. Rosetta took notice and together they took parallel bites, eyes locked weirdly.

With each sweet they finished simultaneously, their gazes grew fonder and their smiles bigger.

Rosetta giggled. “So, how are you enjoying your breakfast with the Lady of Paradisium?”

“Well, she keeps staring at me oddly, but besides that, it’s been lovely,” Twilight giggled back.

They both blushed again as they finished their current sweet. A moment of mutual hesitation came over them as they decided if they were both going to do the exact same thing for the fourth time now. Without breaking their sheepish eye contact, they levitated yet another item off the plate and slid it into their mouths before cracking up and laughing heartily.

“This is really weird,” Twilight admitted.

“It is, Twilight Sparkle, but in a wonderful way.”

Something about that last statement bothered Twilight, but she couldn't figure it out what it was. It wasn’t of great concern, though. Rosetta would ask the next question, she broke her gaze and went back to the fire.

"So, how do you like my city?" The princess asked again. Her tone was sadder, radiating through her mane's wind. The change was sudden and sinking. The momentary breakfast happiness had vanished.

In the fire, the city formed in the flames. In perfect detail, it floated and spun. Rosetta smiled sadly, as if admiring a forgotten memory. Twilight felt like the princess had conjured the image as if to show her Paradisium for the first time; like she didn’t just spend the last hour flying, running and falling through it.

"It's amazing, Princess." She gazed at a sight that she'd never willingly take her eyes from. The vision of a flickering flame in the shape of a city of infinite depth was mesmerizing.

"I've been waiting forever to show somepony it..." her voice cracked in an alarming way like someone just punched her in the throat. Her colour fell flat, back to the silver when Twilight first saw her. The city flared up and was gone in an instant. A grimace came over the princess’s face.

Rosetta went limp and lifeless as if held up only by strings tied to her head, shoulder, and flank. Twilight watched in horror as Rosetta’s horn lit and a spectral needle and thread appeared. Slowly the needle sewed its way in and out of Rosetta's lips, sealing her mouth shut. The needle did its work as though somepony was actually pushing it through and pulling it out the other side, tugging it tightly for a closed seam. The expression drained from her face with each new stitch.

Slowly, the needle worked its way around her mouth. Twilight could do nothing but stare at the terrifying scene. When it finished, the thread was cut by unseen scissors. The needle poofed out of existence and Rosetta's eyes glossed over into plastic.

Twilight screamed as the invisible strings holding Rosetta up were cut loose one by one and she fell limp to the floor like a rag doll. Her horn lit again and spectral strings pulled her up like a puppet, slowly dancing her up into the shadow of the ceiling. All scrunched up in the corner of the ceiling, she came to rest in an awkward, unnatural position. Her legs folded over themselves and her neck fell limp. Her toy eyes stared at nothing in particular. It was like she had been thrown in the corner like an old plaything.

"R-rosetta...?" Twilight squeaked.

Silence.

Twilight looked around desperately from the books to the table to the door and back up at Rosetta. She eep'd when she saw that Rosetta's head had turned to stare straight at her. Fear and panic set in. The princess' bone breaking position and sinister face struck a dissonance with Twilight's nerves. She didn't know where she'd run, but in about ten seconds she was going to start.

"R-rosetta?" she piped once more.

A quiet, motherly voice called out. "Oh, stop being such a drama queen, Rosetta. You're scaring the poor thing."

"BWAH!" Twilight screamed, and raced under the covers of the nearest bed. At first, she thought the creepy pony doll in the corner had said something, but after regaining her senses, she realized the voice was coming from the desk.

"W-who are you? Where are you?" she called out from under the blanket.

"I'm right here on the desk. I'm the light in the lamp," the lamp replied. "Now who are you and where are you?"

Twilight shook. "I'm a pony, under the covers and very afraid."

"Oh, don't be afraid hon. Come on out, I won't hurt you," it coaxed warmly

Twilight peeked out from under the covers, trying to ignore Rosetta, who wouldn't stop staring at her. She approached the desk warily, her head hung and eyes shifting. The voice seemed friendly enough, but she didn't know what it meant by being 'the light in the lamp'.

"Hello there,darling. Would you be a dear and take my shade off so I can talk to you face to face?" the light asked warmly.

Twilight skeptically complied and removed the lamp shade. Sure enough, in front of her was a small talking ball of light  that yawned and wiggled on the metal stand. It had a pair of ethereal eyes and an ethereal mouth. The way it was moving, it looked like it was stretching. It smiled at her.

"Why hello there ‘scared pony under the covers’. Why aren't you the most adorable thing?" It said warmly. The wisp eyed the platter at the end of the table and licked its lips. "Oh my, would you mind getting me a little piece of that jelly doughnut darling? I’m famished."

"Uh sure..."

Twilight looked over at the plate and picked up the doughnut in question, then obediently tore a bit of it off and levitated it right up to her mouth.

"Oh, I have it dear. No need to spoon feed me."

Twilight watched, curious out of her mind, as the wisp's magic took hold of the piece. Unfortunately it was too heavy and sank almost immediately without Twilight's help. It fell to the parchment under it and stained it marmalade purple.

"Ohmigosh, I'm so sorry!" Twilight picked the piece back up gently and tore the piece in two.

"It’s fine dear, just... Yes, yes. That's perfect," it coached. It popped one of the pieces into it's mouth and then took the other from Twilight's magic and gobbled it up too. It burped cutely. "Mmmm... delicious. Sorry, my magic isn't what it used to be."

"Oh, it was no trouble at all." Twilight watched the happy little light. A crazy hunch crossed her mind. "Your name isn't Stella, is it?"

"Please excuse my manners, but how did you know that?" she replied skeptically.

"Rosetta told me about you," she half-lied. Twilight curiously examined the being, walking around it and looking at it from every angle. All the attention brought a blush of pink light to its cheeks.  

"So, what are you exactly?"

"I actually have an entire book written about what I am, but the shortest, simplest answer is that I'm a star." It grinned.

If there was a book on it, then Twilight wouldn't waste her time asking her any more about it.

She'd just read the book, since the book was always better anyways. She looked to the back wall.

"So did you write all these books?"

She puffed out her figurative chest. "Why yes I did! Every single one! Spellbooks, history books, books about enchantment, even some fiction if you're into it. Why? Fancy yourself a reader?"

Twilight's eyes sparkled with Stella's reflection. If Stella was the thing that enchanted that diary, then she needed to read every single book Stella wrote.

"Yes! Yes I do!" Twilight giggled and squee'd. "Do you mind if I read some of them?"

"Well--" she mused coyly.

"Or ALL of them?!" she asked with anxious begging eyes.

"I don--"

"Pleasepleasepleasepleaseplease?!" Twilight jumped around in a circle around the table,.

It laughed heartily. "Okay, okay! But first, you should at least introduce yourself dear, it's only polite."

Twilight blushed and rubbed the back of her neck. "Oh, sorry! Heh, I'm Twilight Sparkle."

"It's alright. It's nice to meet you Twilight Sparkle. I can see you must really love reading. Well, that's what they're here for, but before you dive into them--"

Twilight froze in her tracks. She already had half a dozen books picked out and lined up to read. She blushed madly again as she set them lightly on the table in a neat stack.

"We need to get Rosetta back." Stella looked to the eerie mass in the corner.

"What's wrong with her?" Twilight had somehow forgotten that detail. Rosetta was still looking at her.

"You saw that big city outside? Poor Rosetta built the whole thing by herself and is sad that no one else seems to care about it. It's heartbreaking really. She put her heart and soul into making Paradisium and hasn’t been able to show it off yet."

Twilight stared up at her with sadness and pity now. It seemed like her suspicion was true. They were the only two friendly beings in the city. The loneliness of being the only pony in such a big place tugged at Twilight's heartstrings. Now that she saw the pony doll, she looked very much like an old plaything, thrown in the corner and forgotten.

"How do we get her back?"

"You'll need to go up there and cut her loose. After that, just let me do the rest," Stella instructed.

Twilight nodded and tried to levitate Rosetta down, but she'd only barely budge. She redoubled her efforts and still could only move her about a foot before she just bounced back into place. Twilight poofed a magic ladder into the room so she could climb up and see what she was attached to. Upon further inspection she found tiny little threads of magic tying her lifeless body to the ceiling.

Twilight conjured magical scissors to try and cut them, but they bent against the deceptively hefty bonds. She tried teleporting Rosetta down but that just fizzled. Disenchantment also failed and so did her best attempt at a counterspell. A dozen spells later she was still staring at Rosetta's sad, lonely face. She wracked her mind for more ideas while examining her further. She identified the spell binding her as a rather powerful magical rope spell. When she tried to find the spell's source she facehoofed.

Rosetta's horn was still glowing lightly.

Even though she looked lifeless, she was still doing this all to herself. Twilight decided she'd just have to out-muscle her. She took a moment to charge up an augmented disintegration spell and let it loose on the bonds. Dust exploded from the resulting air blast and Twilight held her breath. When it the dust settled and the bonds were still there she let out a frustrated groan.

"Hoofing Rosetta. Stop doing this to yourself... I want to read those books..." she mumbled to herself. For a lack of a better idea she lightly smacked Rosetta on the head. The bonds flickered for a moment. Twilight saw an opportunity.

"Hey, can I hit her on the head to break her concentration?!" Twilight called down.

"Oh no dear, she'll wake up with the worst headache, can't you find some other way?"

Twilight thought for a moment before striking genius. This world didn't make sense so only a nonsensical solution would work. She had a comically absurd idea.

"What's her favourite thing for breakfast?" Twilight hollered again.

"Let's see, I do believe she fancies an apple scone the most!" Stella replied.

Twilight scoured the plate and pulled the aforementioned treat off it, bringing it right up to Rosetta's nose.

"Mmm, look at this delicious apple scone. I KNOW it's Rosetta's favourite, but since she's being such a little filly, I guess I'll have to eat it all by myself," Twilight taunted before taking a bite of it.

Rosetta's bonds broke and her limp corpse fell to the floor like a rock. She indirectly knocked Twilight off her ladder and sent her tumbling to the ground. That part about feeling pain had been confirmed. She rubbed her throbbing flank.

"Well done, Twilight Sparkle. Now, the next part is easy. Simply throw her into the fire,” Stella continued.

At first, Twilight gave her a suspicious look, but her dream sense told her to continue. She hardly understood anything that happened so far and was understanding less and less as time went on. But she trusted the dream so far and saw no reason to stop.

She skeptically levitated the toy Rosetta into the fire and in one massive flare she disappeared. Twilight bit her lip as the princess was incinerated and looked to Stella for reassurance.

"Thank you dear." Stella levitated the quill and dipped it in the inkwell. She scribbled a few words down on the parchment and then set it back down gracefully.

Twilight trotted over to see what she wrote. Worry washed over her.

Princess Rosetta

The words slowly peeled away from the page like the shadows from earlier that day. It daintily drifted and floated up right in front of her face. They swirled and writhed like the ones that attacked them before. Stella hit them with some spell that Twilight had never seen before and the words immediately turned from black to technicolour. Sparkles fell gently from each letter giving it a very showy, theatrical look. Just as quickly, they rolled up like a piece of paper and poofed out of existence.

Stella had a look of satisfaction and they shared a silence. Twilight chewed her lip as she looked from Stella to the fire to the paper. Eventually she had to say something.

"Where did--?"

"Patience child," Stella reassured.

A few moments later, a filly came crashing through the door. She was white with an auburn mane and tail.

“Huh...” was all Twilight could choke up.

It was a younger Princess Rosetta. She tumbled about after her crash, but seemed unharmed. Her royal regalia had been shrunk to an adorable size for her and the wind of her mane still lapped Twilight’s heart, emanating her current feeling. That feeling being complete filly euphoria and nonsense.

She stood up and shook her head. "Lala! You didn't take the last apple scone did you?" she whined.

Stella dropped a silent cue and pointed the quill at Twilight. Rosetta turned to her and glared.

"You!" she snarled.

Twilight backed away slowly. She was still unsure of what happened to the Princess and thought that she may not be entirely safe. While she was busy contemplating, little Rosetta playfully tackled her to the ground.

"You big meany! I wanted the last apple scone!" Rosetta lightly kicked her, but her flailing hooves just ended up tickling Twilight.

She burst out in laughter. She smiled at the filly and tickled her back evoking an almost melodic laughter from the her.

"Heehee! Come on! Stop it!" Rosetta cried out.

"I'm sorry. I didn't eat all of it!.You can have the rest."

Rosetta's mane brought warm memories of Twilight's foalhood rushing back to her.

She remembered playing with her brother and Cadance the same way as a filly. Sunny afternoons spent playing tag, practicing magic, eating ice cream and of course, tickle fighting, flooded her thoughts. Rosetta’s windy mane seemed to intensify her sweet memories. In a single moment her entire foal-hood exploded in her heart, swinging her to the edge of tears.

And in that moment, Twilight made a deep connection with Rosetta. She had only met her a few hours ago, but she felt like she had regularly foal-sitted her for years now. Rosetta had become a part of her.

Rosetta stopped her flailing long enough to spot the scone on the floor where Twilight dropped it. She hopped off and closely examined it, levitating it and walking around it slyly. She examined it from every angle. Twilight rolled to her side and watched her scrutinize the treat fondly.

She eyed Twilight’s bite mark. "You're gonna hafta to break off the part you bit."

Twilight took it and tore her bite mark off, much to the happiness of Rosetta. She jumped up and snatched it out of mid-air with her mouth.

"Thanf you my royal affistent," she said with cheeks full of scone.

"You're welcome!'

"You're welfcom yer majefty," she corrected.

"Oh my, I had forgotten my place! You're welcome your Majesty." Twilight played along with a deep, respectful bow.

"Lala! I'm finished with breakfast can I go out and play?" she begged, turning to Stella after swallowing the last piece.

"Of course you can. Do you promise to stay away from the outer rings?" Her face was filled with a slight concern.

"Mmmhmmm!" she chimed.

"Have fun Rosy, make sure to get back before dark!"

Rosetta jumped around blissfully before running out the door, her musical giggles haunting the air.

Twilight watched her go with worry, but Stella's confident expression reassured her.

Now that Rosetta was seemingly okay, she started inching towards the books on the table with an ever growing smile.

"Oh Twilight, you have fun too..."

Twilight squee'd and swiped the first book neatly titled, Enchanting the Masses. She plopped on the bed with her new book, giggling in very much the same way when she first opened the diary, rolling around and bear hugging it for a bit too long. Stella smiled.

Rosetta always had a way of bring out the foal in everypony.

Twilight opened the book and began the journey she loved to take so very much.

*

A few hours later, Twilight had learned more about enchanting than she learned in the last five years. The techniques described, while technically difficult and even requiring a certain level of artistry, were truly brilliant. With them, she saw the possibility of creating the skycity in Equestria. Not like she would, but the potential would be there with further reading.

What was strange was after the initial techniques were described, the book started becoming more poetic. It encouraged an extremely artistic approach to enchanting and seemed to just be offering food for an artist’s thought. It offered meditative phrases, viewpoints and imagery to complement the abstract theory of the book.

She was certain that it was all connected now, though. The dream had been going on for hours now and such dreams could only be magically induced. The techniques in this book were nothing she'd ever be able to imagine in her life, so it only made sense that the diary was somehow transferring its knowledge to her. She learned about some of the enchantments on the diary, the enchantments she had thought impossible to cast, but more importantly.

She learned how to remove them. Next Chapter: The Filly Estimated time remaining: 1 Hour, 60 Minutes