Author's Note

There is some slow-down in this chapter. I'm hoping I made the best use of it.

Chapter 3: Nothing Makes Sense

For the rest of the day, Twilight moaned and groaned about suddenly being unable to communicate directly with the princesses, to hear from them directly if they’d found the connection that was so obvious to her.

But, that other voice would always give her the same message, that it hadn’t had the chance to relay her concerns to them, and that she’d just have to be patient and wait until he could get in contact with them.

Then, early the next morning, Twilight rose from her bed and marched to the mirror attached to her vanity. Seeing the strange, fiery face, she said, “You know, it’d be easier to talk to you if I knew your name, or at least knew what to call you.”

The other voice answered her back, “There is nothing I would like to do more than give you my name, or any way that you could identify me. Unfortunately, the princesses have forbidden me from giving you that information.”

Presently, Twilight growled, “And, how the hoof am I supposed to trust you if you won’t even trust me with your name, huh? And, why the hoof would they forbid you from giving me your name, anyway?”

Just then, from behind her and to her left, she heard Spike sleepily ask, “Are you alright, Twilight?”

The purple alicorn turned her growl on her assistant as she said, “I’m fine. Just go back to sleep.”

For a moment the purple dragon was silent. Then, he said, “Uh, okay, Twilight.”

At that point, the other voice said, “This isn’t the best place to have this conversation. Why don’t you go to your bathroom? We can pick up where we left off there.”

Twilight huffed, then growled, “Fine.” And, she pushed away from her vanity and marched into the library's only bathroom. Then, after closing the door behind her, she looked into the mirror on the wall opposite the sink and asked, “Now, tell me, why the hoof can’t you just give me some way of identifying you?”

The other voice answered, “Trust me, this is no easier for me than it is for you.”

At this, Twilight snorted and said, “I’d hardly call this easy.”

The other voice continued, “But, it is safer for you this way.”

Now, Twilight let out a long groan of frustration before nearly shouting, “Why, huh? Why is it better that I can’t identify you? What danger is there out there that won’t allow you give me some way to identify you?”

For a few seconds the voice was silent. When it did speak again, it sighed and said, “Very well. I will consult with the princesses. I don’t know how long it’ll take, but I want you to wait here. In the mean time, I’ll contact the princesses and tell them about your concerns. Then, when they’ve come to a decision and let me know about it, I’ll come back and let you know what that decision is.”

Twilight let out another long, frustrated groan, then said, “Alright then. But, I don’t want to have to wait in here all day.”

The voice answered, “Your bladder and bowels need to be emptied. While you are waiting for me, you may go ahead and empty them. You will likely be done with that before I return. So, if you want, you may also take a bath.”

Twilight started speaking under her breath; but, her voice rose in tone and volume to a near shout as she said, “I don’t need you to tell me what I need to do. I can take care of my own needs on my own. Just contact the princesses, ask them my questions, and get back to me as soon as you can!” And, she concluded her speech by growling with each exaggerated breath.

The voice paused for a second, then said, “Whatever. I’ll be back as soon as possible.”

Twilight wasn’t sure, but she thought she could feel a dark, uncomfortable presence leave her after the voice went silent. And, indeed, in the absence of the voice, she did feel like she needed to urinate and defecate. So, she sat human-style on the toilet and proceeded to empty her bowels and bladder. Then, feeling the relief from that, she again turned to the bathtub to turn on the taps and used her magic to produce a shield in the pipes to keep the water from escaping, thus allowing her to get a bath ready. And, when the tub was approximately half full, she turned off the taps and hopped into the warm water.

Manipulating a brush with her magic, she went to work, scrubbing a bar of soap until it was fully lathered, then rubbing her torso and the sides of her neck with the brush. She used her magic to scrub each leg as she extended it out of the water, then immersed herself in the water to rinse the suds off of her. Next, she drained the tub and used her magic to levitate a bottle of shampoo to her, then used the brush to scrub the shampoo into her mane and tail. Then, after putting the bottle and brush back into place, she again turned on the taps with her magic and pushed her head under the running water, letting it rinse away the shampoo from her mane. She then turned a hundred eighty degrees and stuck her tail under the running water, allowing it to rinse the shampoo from there.

Feeling at least cleaner than she had before her bath, she leaped out of the tub and dispersed the shield spell she'd used on the pipes, allowing the water to drain out. After that, she manipulated a towel with her magic and dried herself off.

And then, she waited. And, she waited. She didn’t know how long she’d been in there, all she knew was she had to wait for the other voice to come and let her know what the princesses had decided.

To occupy her time, she decided she’d try something she hadn’t really thought of doing before: she used her magic to separate the hairs in her mane, then in her tail, so that they were free from tangles and arranged just the way she wanted them. Maybe not the most exciting thing she’d ever done in her life, but it at least helped her pass the time.

There was just one problem. She went through all the hairs on her head, neck, and tail; and still that other voice hadn’t returned. Should she go through the hairs on the rest of her body? It hadn’t been that long since she’d cleaned the bathroom. Maybe she should clean it again?

Eventually, she settled on going through the events of the last day or so, starting with the message from the princesses. And, with that review came all the questions she needed answers to: Why couldn’t Princess Luna find the connection between magic and friendship? What kind of magic had she been studying that wasn't connected to friendship? What kind of friendship had she been studying that wasn't connected to magic?

Twilight slumped into a canine-style position thinking about that. Was there a type of friendship out there that wasn’t magic? Was there a type of magic that wasn’t associated with friendship? If there were such things, would she want to know about them?

Then, there was the strange voice, which had made her head look, to her anyway, like a ball of black fire with red eyes and mouth. And, she wasn’t able, wasn’t allowed, to identify it. This strange, extra voice was supposed to be her go-between with the princesses, something she’d never needed before. So, why now? And, what’s taking that voice so long to return?

Twilight knew she could disobey the voice and leave the bathroom immediately. But, what if it returned and couldn’t find her again? Could she take that chance? Why was she getting so worked up about it? The more she thought about it, the more it drove her crazy. Nothing about this whole thing was making any sense.

It was about the time this thought crossed her mind that she once again heard the voice, which asked, “Did you miss me?”

Twilight rose to all fours again and, snarling into the mirror, growled, “What took you so long? I’ve been waiting in here for hours!”

The other voice answered, “I came as soon as I could. And, I have some answers for you.”

Twilight asked, “So, have they found the connection between magic and friendship yet?”

The other voice answered, “No, they have not. They’re still looking.” Then, after Twilight emitted a groaning sigh, the voice continued, “However, they have given me permission to show you why you have to keep separate from them while they explore this mystery, and why I cannot divulge my identity to you. Exit the library, and I’ll show you.”

Obediently, although begrudgingly, Twilight opened the door to the bathroom and exited. She then made her way to the nearest stairs to the front door of the library, opened that door, and exited.

The other voice then said, “Now, circle around to the back of the library.”

As the purple alicorn followed her instructions, she said, “I really don’t understand why I have to be lead by the nose this way.”

The voice only answered, “You will, Twilight, you will.”

It wasn’t until Twilight was on the opposite side of the library from the front door that she saw it: a red, pulsating, slimy-looking vine starting to spring up from the ground. As she approached it, she asked, “What is that thing?”

Twilight continued to approach the bizarre growth until the voice warned her, “Don’t get too close.” Then, after she stopped moving, the voice continued, “Nopony knows what it is, and it’s not wise to get too close to it. For all anypony knows, it could be poisonous.”

Twilight had a feeling that she was already too close to the strange plant, so she stumbled backwards away from it.

In the mean time, the voice continued, “Plants like this have been growing all over Canterlot. And, since they showed up, the princesses have been unable to find the connection between magic and friendship.”

Twilight swallowed hard before stammering, “A-and, n-now they’re h-here.”

The voice confirmed, “And, now they’re here.”

Then, Twilight asked, “But, how can this kind of plant be keeping friendship and magic separate? How does that make any sense?”

The other voice in her head answered, “The princesses don’t understand it either. All they know is since plants like that one have been showing up, friendship and magic have become two separate things. Until something can be done about those plants, until they can be destroyed, friendship is no longer magic.”

The purple alicorn whinnied in alarm, then turned and galloped to the front door of her library home again. But, just before she could reach the door, she wasn’t watching where she was going; and she ran into another pony, a unicorn. And, she only realized this when she turned around and saw the unicorn she’d knocked over. Alarmed, she apologized, “Lyra, I'm so sorry, I didn’t see you there.”

The pale-green unicorn got back up on her hooves again and said, “No problem, I’m fine.” She then turned to the purple alicorn and asked, “The question is, are you alright?”

Twilight sighed and answered, “To be completely honest with you, no, I don’t think I am.”

Concerned, Lyra used her magic to open the front door to the library. Still focused on the purple alicorn, she said, “Well, let’s go inside, and we can talk about what’s troubling you. After all, if you can’t talk to a friend about your problems, then who can you talk to?”

Something about that word "friend" infuriated Twilight. Glaring at the pale-green unicorn, she said, “No! No more about friends, no more about friendship! I came here to study the magic of friendship, and I just learned that I was wasting my time!”

Stunned, Lyra took a step back and asked, “Twilight, what are you saying?”

Twilight took two steps toward her, invading the pale-green unicorn’s personal space, and causing her to stumble backwards. Then, opening her wings to make herself look bigger, she growled, “Don’t you understand? Friendship and magic are two separate things! Friendship! Is! Not! Magic!” And, with a swing of her head, she knocked her school-time friend aside before galloping back into the library.

Not far away, a cream-colored earth pony approached the once-again fallen Lyra and, helping her back to her hooves, asked, “What was that all about?”

Lyra took a few seconds to try to compose herself, then answered, “I don’t know. I’ve never seen Twilight like that before. All I know is there’s something seriously wrong with her.”

The cream-colored earth pony nuzzled the pale-green unicorn and said, “Maybe one of her other friends can help her.” She then turned in the direction of the bakery made of ginger bread and said, “Let’s go to Sugar Cube Corner. Maybe you can talk to Pinkie Pie about it.”

Lyra took a moment to sniffle, then sigh, then turned to her earth pony friend and said, “Alright, Bon-bon. Let’s go.” And, with that, the two headed for the bakery.

In the mean time, under the covers of her bed, Twilight lay there, as flat as a living creature could be, covering her mouth with her front hooves. She wondered to herself, What have I done? What have I just said? Friendship isn’t magic? How could I have said that, when I know that it is? What’s happening to me? How could I say that to my friend?

At this point, Twilight knew exactly what she was feeling: Nausea. Terror. She knew that friendship is magic, but she’d just told an old friend of hers that it isn’t. What was she going to do now? It was Applejack who was the bearer of the element of honesty. But, that didn’t mean she had a monopoly on it. What would the orange earth mare think if she knew what Twilight had just done, what she'd just said?

Haunted by these thoughts, Twilight suddenly felt her stomach convulse, and at first she was grateful she hadn’t eaten anything yet. But, then, after a loud belch, her stomach convulsed again, forcing out a slimy liquid all over her front hooves, and onto her bed. Nopony had died; but to Twilight, somepony might as well have. Feeling as though she’d been abandoned, she hid her face in her front forelimbs. At first, she sniffled, loud, harsh. Then, she started whimpering as she thought about how she’d never even want to see her mentor again. She tried to speak, but all she could do was move her lips. Still, in her thoughts she prayed to her mentor to forgive her for lying to her friend. Then, when no answer came, her whimpers turned to sobs which grew louder and louder, until she was wailing.

And, while she wept, the dark spirit cackled loud in Twilight’s ears and said, “Step three: complete.” And, it, he, cackled some more.