It's All In Your Head

Chapters

The First Step
The Encounter
The Discovery

The First Step

“Where were you all evening?”

Arc looked up from the books around him and saw his grandpa in the doorway. “What’s that?”

“You didn’t come home for quite some time, Arc,” the elderly stallion repeated.

“I was just reading some new books I found, that’s all.”

He nodded and craned his neck around to see what his grandson was reading. “Reading up on some good old-fashioned history, eh? I guess you have been into history more than I usual as of late. This one isn’t even in the main library, where’d you get it?”

“I found this one in the Annex.” Although he was a bit ashamed to admit it, it was the truth. Ever since he had first gone in there he had been much less scared of the place and had dared to go into it more often.

“What have I told you about going into the Annex, son? I’m not even allowed to read some of the information that’s in the books back there, and you just waltz in and start picking out books for yourself?”

Arc sighed in defeat and slid the book away from himself. “Okay, take it back to the library.”

His grandpa lightly pushed the book back. “It’s alright, son. One book wouldn’t hurt. Just don’t go in there anymore, alright?”

“Yeah gramps, I won’t.”

Grandpa quietly coughed before speaking again. “When do you think that you’re gonna leave on that big quest of yours? You’ve gotta have enough money to at least be comfortable on your way by now.”

“Sooner than I’ve expected is all I know,” Arc answered without looking up from his book.

“Ah, you getting impatient with me? Tired of my old bones?”

“No, not at all. It’s just that I’ve found a new reason to leave home, so I’ve got even more motivation to go out the door and into the world.”

“Alright, that’s fine and dandy. G’night, Arc.”

“Goodnight grandpa.”

The old pony moseyed out of Arc’s room, failing to shut the door behind him. Once he was sure that he was gone, Arc let out a sigh of relief that he hadn’t gotten in too much trouble.

Your grandpa’s a pretty nice guy, Arc.

Em? Are you already done searching in there?

Hah, not even close. I just decided to take a break for a second.

Could I come see you for a bit?

Sure thing, you can come visit any time you want. Remember to just focus on me.

Alright, I’m coming over.

After the usual blinding light cleared Arc found himself in a very different place than normal. Rather than in a long, grassy plain he was in some sort of fancy living room-looking place. The walls and floor were lined with red drapes and carpet, and there was a roaring fire in a nearby fireplace. From somewhere a quiet piano was being played, but there wasn’t anything else in the room that could have been playing the music. In the center of the room was a table with a white cloth over it and a bottle of wine with two glasses beside it.

“Like the change?”

Arc turned around to see Em standing almost directly behind him. “Do you ever say hi or hello before you start talking to ponies?”

“Yeah, just not to you. You never even seem to notice me whenever you come in.”

“That’s because you’re always behind me.”

Em lightly trotted over to the table at the center of the room. “Want a drink?” she asked.

Arc slowly approached her while picking up the wine bottle with his magic. “Is it real?”

“No, it won’t actually make you feel any fuller. The most it will do is give you the same taste.”

“Will I get drunk if I drink too much?”

“I should hope not.” Em sighed and sat down at the table, a silky blue dress appearing around her as she did so. “I’m just starting to get my mind magic to really work, and this is just a test right now. I was also hoping to have some more casual conversation with you, since we’ve only been talking about our plan of action for the last little bit and not how life is.”

Arc sat down opposite her and began to pour drinks. “Nice dress,” he complimented.

Em smiled at the remark. “Nice tie.”

Arc looked down to see that he now had a white dress shirt and a red tie on without even putting them on. “How…?”

“Again, I’m just playing around with my magic. It’s really like a wonderland to me.” She paused to take a sip of her false wine. “But I still wish I had a real body and was in the real world.”

“Why is that? You could have anything you want in here,” he punctuated his question with a drink.

“I want to be able to go out and experience what the world is like. I can see it through your eyes, but I can’t actually feel it with your body. I need my own to do that.”

“That’s a shame. I can’t imagine not having a body, to be honest.”

“I couldn’t either, until it happened.”

The two both drank simultaneously. “So did you find out anything really important in the back of my head? That seems like it’s the place where I put things I have – or wanted to – forget.”

“Not really. The most interesting thing I found was just who your childhood crush was at Celestia’s School for Gifted Unicorns.”

Arc’s face reddened, making Em giggle. “Twilight Sparkle; she was a pretty filly, wasn’t she? That purple mane and those shimmering eyes, just how smart she was…”

“Shut up…” the embarrassed stallion murmured.

“Don’t worry, it’s okay to have a crush when you’re that age,” Em sighed and leaned back in her seat. “I remember mine; Prince Lucian. Oh boy, he was the cat’s meow back in the day.”

“Was he Princess Allucina’s son?”

“Yeah. He was the younger of two.”

“Who was the second?”

“You might know her as Princess Cadenza. She moved away from home a long time before the Ethereal empire was attacked by Eksago, so she managed to stay safe – until the Crystal empire was attacked too. She escaped that too.”

“Princess Cadence? She just got married recently.”

“Seriously? That’s great news! Who’d she get married to?”

“Twilight’s older brother and captain of Celestia’s royal guard, Shining Armor.”

“Oh, it really is a small world, isn’t it?”

For a while the two were quiet as they drank and thought to themselves. The silence was broken when Arc noticed something about what Em had said earlier. “Now Em, you said ‘back in the day’ when you were talking about Prince Lucian.”

“Yeah?”

“How old are you?”

Em paused for second before bursting into laughter. “That’s a good question, Arc: I have no idea! My mind is just as old as it was when my body was taken, so I’m around 20 years old. My true age has got to be over a thousand years old.”

“Will you be over a thousand years old when you get your body back?”

“I hope not. I’d be an old geezer; in fact, everyone would be. That wouldn’t be a very miraculous recovery, now would it?”

“Hardly. I want to see your face just as youthful and happy as it right now when you get your body back.”

“Me too, Arc… will you promise me that you’ll get me back?”

“I promise, Em.”

“Thanks.”

The two snapped out of their small trance to find their hooves clamped together over the table. They exchanged sheepish grins before pulling away from each other.

Arc decided to quickly change the subject. “Does my body rest up while I’m here?”

“Yep, to everypony else you just look like you’re sleeping.”

“Or dead.”

“Yes, or dead.”

“Does this mean I can stay with you for the night?”

“Sure, I don’t see why not. While you’re here, could you explain what’s been going on recently? I must have missed a lot in the recent years.”

For the remainder of the night Arc explained – or at least tried to - what she had missed while locked up in the Lexicon over their little drink. She knew some bits and pieces of the recent news because of her search through Arc’s knowledge base, but he still had to teach her quite a lot. Most of it included their advances in magic and technology over the years, but some of it really concerned her.

“So you mean that your crush from all that time ago is now a bearer of one of the Elements of Harmony?”

“That’s right. I didn’t believe it when I first heard it either. Her five best friends are also bearers.”

“Lucky. I wish I had some sort of inner power like that…”

The longer that Arc spoke of the outside world the more he started to realize just how much Em missed having a body. Her eyes were slightly misty, but otherwise she was standing strong. It made him sad once he noticed, and soon decided that he had to stop. “I can’t tell you any more, Em…”

“Why not?” she asked, seeming a bit disappointed.

Arc inhaled before explaining. “I can’t stand seeing you so longing and sad. The more I tell you, the sadder you get. I can feel it in my heart that you really want to be out there in the world.”

Em seemed to feel a bit guilty and leaned forwards. “I’m sorry if I made you feel bad.”

“It’s alright; it’s not your fault. It’s not your fault that you lost everything to that evil Eksago and had your home destroyed,” Arc dismissed her apology with a wave.

He could tell that he had really hit a sore spot there, as now her eyes were tearing up again. She moved around to sit by Arc and rested her head on his shoulder as she slowly began to cry. Through her tears she thanked the stallion for being so courteous to her over all this time, and started to realize how close she had come to him over time.

For several weeks things went according to plan. Arc fed Em the information she needed via reading the many books he worked with at the library and raised up the money that they would need on their search for the Ethereal ponies, while Em came up with their “plan of attack” and searched for information regarding their adventure through Arc’s head. They met regularly ever night to discuss how things had been going on both sides, although their conversations usually ended with Arc teaching Em about the new world and basic small talk.

Time passed and both ponies got the things that they needed; Em got what info she needed and Arc saved up his bits. Soon Em had decided on a plan of action that they were going to carry out.

The two were back in the rolling meadows that they had first met each other in. Em had called Arc in to discuss what they were going to do as the first step of their operation. The turquoise stallion lightly trotted over the hills to find his friend and talk to her.

“Hey Arc!”

Arc turned to the voice and galloped off to its source. There he found the lustrous mare herself standing upright in all her illusory beauty. “I think I know what we should do first,” she stated as he slowed to a stop in front of her.

“What’s that? Is it big?” he asked, excitedly swaying on the spot. He couldn’t contain his joy for finally leaving Canterlot.

“Do you remember that filly from Celestia’s School for Gifted Unicorns?” Em replied, a slight smirk appearing on her face as the words escaped her lips.

Arc was becoming a bit weak at the knees. “T-Twilight?”

“That’s her. Well, turns out you read some list of Celestia’s choice students in the library some time ago. I found it at the back of your head and it seems like Ms. Sparkle’s running an impressive library in a small town called Ponyville.”

“I knew that, but what do you need from there?” he asked her.

“Twilight would seem to know a lot about mysterious happenings like this because of her adventures as an Element of Harmony and she might have some good advice. Besides this, her little library may have some info that our Canterlot archives just don’t have,” Em held up her hoof and an apparition of a ticket appeared over it. “Pack only what you really need, because we’re going to Ponyville.”

Arc wasn’t too thrilled about visiting his foalhood crush again. He was worried that something bad might happen, but it wasn’t because he still had a thing for her. It was that he was afraid that the visit might kick-start emotions that he wanted to forget like regret, frustration, or even old love that could compete with his new feelings for Em. Or she might just treat him like any other pony, but what if she remembered something he did back as a foal? Like something embarrassing or stupid? These dumb and childish worries broiled in his mind for a few days, and either Em didn’t want to tangle with him about it or she didn’t notice them at all.

Of course, these childish fears wouldn’t stop him from helping out his best friend get her body back.

He had packed only what he needed – some hard earned bits, a few books and tools, only the bare necessities. With the snatch of a ticket he was on a train to Ponyville and going towards both an important part of his quest and a terribly nostalgic pony.

Okay, look for a big tree that’s been made into a house.

The golden-maned stallion stepped off the train and onto the main platform to gaze out at the quaint little town of Ponyville. The air smelled fresher and felt cooler on his coat than in Canterlot, and he decided that coming here maybe wasn’t such a bad idea at all.

Are you serious? That’s so cliché it hurts, you know.

You can criticize your crush’s home once you get there, Arc.

I don’t like her any more, Em. Can’t you get that?

Arc stepped out onto the dirty cobblestone path to notice just how barren Ponyville was compared to Canterlot. Sure it had some ponies walking about and a few home-made vendors set up with the chatter of birds in the background, but it was nothing in comparison to the bustling and loud streets of the city. He wandered down the roads for a while before finally seeing it – the canopy of something like a massive tree rising out of the middle of the skyline (not that there was much of a skyline in a quaint little town like this).

There it is. Head straight over there and don’t let anything distract you, you’re just here for her.

“SURPRISE!!!”

When Arc heard the shout he instinctively yelped and created a protective shield around himself. “Help me!” he covered his eyes and ducked down in panic, the defensive reading he had read over all these years finally coming into effect. But it wasn’t exactly time to protect himself from a monster.

Arc peered up from behind his hooves to see a striking pink pony gazing down at him through his white force field. “What are you doing there, silly? I was just trying to give a new welcome to the newest pony in all of Ponyville!” she exclaimed with a grin.

The frightened stallion disabled his shield and stood up on wobbly legs. “Please don’t distract me; I’ve got some business here for a bit and then I’m leaving as soon as I can,” he pleaded with the smiling mare.

She looked a bit upset and slumped down onto her rear when he finished talking. “Oh, so you’re not moving in?”

He shook his head. “If you really want to help me, could you take me that tree-library-thing over there?”

“Well alrighty then!” The pink pony had a stupendous mood swing and darted over to Arc’s side, slinging her arm over his back. “I know pretty much everyone in Ponyville and I’ve never seen you in all of my days. What’s your name?”

Arc lightly pushed her arm off of himself and started to walk down a path, the mare quickly moving in front of him to lead the way. “I’m Archaic Text, but most ponies call me Arc. What’s your name?” She was about to speak before he cut her off. “Don’t tell me – you’re named Surprise.”

The pony laughed at his guess. “Nice try, but that was my name a looooong time ago. I’m Pinkie Pie, and I’m the party pony in this town!” she introduced herself.

“You changed your own name?” he asked.

“No, Mrs. Faust did it for me.”

“Who now?”

Pinkie pointed a hoof at the tree-building in front of them and smiled. “I hope you find what you’re looking for here! And if you need any parties or pastries, come down to Sugarcube Corner!” With that she was gone, hopping off down the street humming to herself.

Well this has been exciting so far.

No kidding. Let’s hope that the run-in with Twilight goes as well as the encounter with “Pinkie” went.

Arc raised a shaky hoof to the door of the building before lightly knocking twice. He hardly waited for anyone to answer it before starting to walk away. “Oh well, looks like she’s not home. Guess we’ll have to think of someone else to get information from.”

No we won’t, you’re trying that again. Arc felt a pdo itcing pain in his head and flinched at the shock.

How did you do that?

It doesn’t matter. Just try again, and knock harder this time.

Fearing another brain-piercing session courtesy of his inner mind, Arc knocked on the door once more, this time with a bit more force. The door was answered by something that he didn’t expect.

“Hey there, you need something?”

Arc expected to be face to face with somepony, but instead had to peer downwards to see who had answered the door. It was a light purple reptilian that stood on two legs and had bright green eyes that stared up at him with youthful curiosity.

It took him a while to respond. “You’re a dragon, right?” he asked the lizard.

“Yeah, what’s it to you?” the young dragon answered, puffing out his chest slightly.

Arc nodded at him, not really thinking through what he had said. “Just interesting. I don’t think I’ve ever seen a real dragon before.”

“Anyone from around here’s met good old Spike, so that means you’re not from around, are you?”

Why does everypony know each other here? It’s a bit weird.

I guess in a smaller place you see people more often than usual.

“Spike, let whoever’s at the door in.”

Arc felt as though his heart had turned into lead when he heard the voice. It was Twilight, wasn’t it? It was a worse reunion than he had thought – just hearing her voice made him cringe in nervousness.

“Alright, come on in,” the dragon, presumably Spike, motioned for Arc to come through the door.

The room that he entered was completely made of the oak of the tree that housed the library and books lined all of the shelves along the walls. Circular windows separated them, their sunlight streaming down onto a familiar pony that gave Arc a rustle.

“I don’t recognize you, are you from around here?”

Arc couldn’t move for a second. The lavender and purple mare stood before him with her dragon assistant at her side, smiling brightly at him. The pink highlights in her hair contrasted wonderfully with the rest of her colors, and he didn’t remember her being so short. He also never expected that it would feel so good and yet so bad to see her again.

“N-no.” The words struggled up through his throat and limply spilled out onto the floor as he spoke.

Smooth moves, buddy.

Shut your invisible mouth.

Twilight seemed a bit weirded out by his approach. “Do you need anything in particular?” she asked, a slight tone of uncertainty in her voice.

Why was this so hard for him? “Y-yes, actually. I need to see a book on apparitions and illusion spells.”

Why didn’t you ask for a history book?

If we’re ever gonna get her to believe us, we’re gonna need some proof. I’ll just seem like some lunatic if I just say “Hey, I’ve got a voice in my head that says it belongs to an ancient race and we need some advice on adventuring.” If I can get a good illusion spell then maybe I can project you out into the room for a while.

Good thinking, I guess.

“Alright, I think I’ve got something like that over here.” The awkward feeling of the room had disappeared as soon as Arc had finally spoken up, and it was very relieving. He followed the lavender pony to a shelf where she pulled a book out with her magic.

“This should do it. Come see me if you’re not satisfied,” she said with a smile as she left him to study it.

For a while Arc simply scanned through the book to look for the spell he needed with no luck. He was about to give up when he found one near the back of its pages.

Does this one look good to you?

Sure thing. Just quickly try it out on something easy, like a book or a box.

Arc studied the circle and the text around it for a moment before deciding to give it a shot. He braced himself and concentrated his energy into his horn. He thought hard about something simple, an apple to be precise. Within a few seconds a beam projected from his horn and onto the table, creating a holographic image of a red apple. It was blurry and not very red at all, but it would do.

“How did you do that?”

The turquoise pony turned to see Twilight peeking around him. He lost all focus and the apple disappeared along with the magic from his horn. The nervous sweat returned to him and he cleared his throat in preparation to speak.

“Don’t you read your own books?” He desperately hoped that sounded more joking than insulting.

“I do, but never that one. I’m not really one for illusions myself,” she explained with a giggle.

Unlike Em’s laughs, this giggle didn’t fill Arc with joy and peace – it filled him with panic and worry. “Yeah, well I am. These kinds of spells are sort of my thing, so I get a hang of it pretty easy.”

Twilight’s smile disappeared and she lightly squinted at him, examining his features. “Say, weren’t you in one of my classes at Celestia’s School for Gifted Unicorns?” she asked.

Arc swallowed, wishing deeply that this wouldn’t be too terrible. “I think so. You’re Twilight Sparkle, right? That one filly who was really good at everything?”

She slowly nodded, searching in her mind for the identity of this stallion. “I can’t quite remember you, but I do recognize your face a bit. Are you Tarot Card? Halogen?”

He let out a sigh of relief. At least she didn’t remember him that well. “Nope, my name’s Archaic Text. I think we had senior levitation classes or something along the lines of that together.” He smiled weakly, waiting for a response.

It took her a while to get one. “Yeah, I think I remember you. You were obsessed with adventure novels and the teachers would always get on your rump about it.”

Well, it isn’t exactly what I wanted her to remember, but I’ve had worse things in my past.

“If you’re wondering, I didn’t just come here for friendly chit-chat,” Arc said, deciding to cut to the chase.

Twilight was getting nervous again. “Oh really?”

“Yeah really. I have a big problem, and I mean a big problem. It’s one the same scale as the Nightmare Moon and Discord problems, if you catch my drift.”

The lavender mare didn’t really buy it and even laughed a little bit. “I hope you’re kidding, because if it really was that big then why hasn’t Princess Celestia told me about its presence?”

Arc gave her a glare, the confidence flooding back into him as the seriousness of the situation started to reveal itself. “It’s because she doesn’t know.”

Twilight’s eyes widened. “She doesn’t?”

“No. Only I know about it…” he looked down at the ground as he decided to continue further. “And somepony else does too…”

“Who is it?”

“Her name is Empyrea.”

“Where is she? Can I see her?”

“No, you actually can’t.”

“Why not?”

Your secret’s being revealed, Em.

I know, just keep going, I don’t mind at all.

“She doesn’t have a body of her own.”

At this point Twilight was truly dumbfounded. “Are you just kidding with me? Because if you are, it’s not funny at all.”

“I’m not kidding Twilight, just hear me out.” Arc’s horn began to glow as he decided to show this pony what he had been hiding.

You ready for this?

Absolutely.

“What you’re about to see you can’t tell the Princesses, no matter what. It’s a hologram of Empyrea herself, projected from the inside of my mind.”

Twilight sighed in both wonder and doubt. “This is ridiculous. You could just be showing me some sort of illusion that you made to convince me, not a real pony who doesn’t even have a body.”

“Calm down Twilight. I can assure you that it’s real. If you don’t believe me, you can check my mind with a scanning spell that I hope you already know.”

Arc fired a beam at the floor that erupted into a bright light. Both ponies were shocked that Spike didn’t see or hear all the commotion and come running from upstairs, but hoped dearly that he wouldn’t. The white light formed an equestrian figure that soon became clear as day, an image of Em herself.

“Wow Arc, it actually worked!” Em happily exclaimed and turned to look at him.

Twilight still didn’t seem convinced and flailed her hoof through the intangible vision of Empyrea in front of her just for entertainment. “Are you sure that you’re not just going bonkers and you’re having fun with your magic to try to tell me something crazy?”

“He isn’t insane, I can assure you. I’ve spent my life in his mind for at least ten years, Ms. Sparkle,” Em piped up with a cheeky smile. “Have you ever heard of the Ethereal ponies?”

“No, and they probably don’t even exist – just like you, Empyrea,” Twilight smugly replied.

Arc stomped his hoof on the ground in frustration with the lavender ponies’ ignorance, causing her to turn to him in shock. “Twilight, get it through your book-blocked brain! This is real, and you’re going to scan my mind for proof just so that you can know the truth.”

She was stunned by his determination to make her believe him. “Alright, I’ll give you a quick check. Don’t say I didn’t tell you that you were crazy when I find no mares living in your head.”

Arc disabled his spell and sucked the white light back into his horn. “Try me.”

The Encounter

“Are you ready for your worries put to rest, Arc?”

“Whatever you say, Twilight.”

It was time to finally get the word out. Arc and Em had planned this for a while now, and now they could let someone else in on their secret.

“Get ready,” the lavender pony smugly ordered.

Arc bent down onto one knee and looked up at the unicorn in front of him. Her horn glowed bright with magic and she had a smirk of confidence on her face. Just as pretty as she was back in the day.

I heard that, Romeo.

Be quiet for a second.

A flare fired out of Twilight’s horn. “Okay, I’m starting now.” The swirl spiralled down and connected with Arc’s forehead, causing him to grunt and flinch. He felt light-headed and a bit dizzy for a while before he noticed Twilight’s expression slowly change.

I think she sees me!

Her mouth fell open and she said something, but Arc was too woozy to recognize what it was. The feelings in his head left him and Twilight fell onto her rump. “You were right… she’s in there! I saw her, but I still don’t believe it! It’s all so crazy!”

Arc stood up, still feeling a bit disoriented. “You’d better believe it.”

“When did you first find this out? Did you do something to trigger it? Have you been affected by it in any particular ways?” Twilight was pressing Arc’s face in between her hooves as she spoke, desperate to hear all the details.

He pushed her away from himself to speak. “Well, a long time ago I decided to drop out of Celestia’s School for Gifted Unicorns and to go work at the Royal Canterlot Library for some extra coin to spend on my adventures.”

“So that’s where you went. Everyone kept asking me where Mr. Bookworm was.”

“Yes, so as I was saying, one night while I was working I heard this voice calling out for help from the restricted Annex section. I decided to go check it out, and lo and behold when I opened a book in there the voice went into my head and turned out to be none other than Em herself.”

“Em?”

“Empyrea, it’s just shorter. Anyways, we talked and became good friends over the ten or so years that we spent together. Eventually she decided that it was time that we got serious about how she got in the book in the first place and why she escaped into my head. From there we’ve just been becoming better and better friends.”

Twilight’s eyes darted around the room as thoughts raced through her mind. “Why was she in the book? What does she need you to do? What does she need me to do in that case?” she asked in a frenzy.

Arc explained the story that he had been told by Em, everything about the Ethereal ponies and their fall at the claws of Eksago. She seemed to believe the tale well enough – for now. However, he wasn’t exactly sure about what role Twilight would play in their quest other than somepony to tell about their plan.

“Oh my gosh, I’ve gotta tell the princess!” Twilight snatched up a scroll in her telekinesis, but Arc quickly burned it up with a blast of magic.

“Don’t. Whatever you do, do not tell Princess Celestia anything about this,” he ordered.

The unicorn looked shocked at his actions. “W-why not? This could be a global crisis we’ve got here!”

Arc facehooved, but immediately regretted making the already flustered pony even more embarrassed. “Weren’t you listening to what I told you? I found Em in Celestia’s library, right? Well she might not want the Ethereal ponies coming back at all. She could come after us all.”

Twilight seemed to get where he was coming from. “Sorry, I’m a bit crazed right now. I haven’t had this much of a breakthrough for a while, so I’m a bit panicky.” She weakly smiled at him, and the sight of it plastered a dorky smile on Arc’s face.

She’s pretty cute when she’s confused.

Arc yelped in pain as a shock went through his head, making Twilight jump in fright. “Are you okay?” she asked him.

“I’m fine, Em’s just being a mule.”

What was that for!?

Just to remind you that we’re not in Ponyville to check out your crush.

For the love of Celestia, she’s not my crush! She once was, and she isn’t anymore!

Don’t go getting your mane in a tangle over some teasing, Arc. All I want is for you to keep pretty unicorns out of your mind for now and focus on the situation at hoof.

Oh, the irony in those words drive me crazy.

What’s that supposed to mean?

Just complimenting you on your looks, don’t get so defensive.

Well, erm…

“Um, Arc?”

He looked up to see Twilight curiously staring at him. “Sorry, I was talking with Em,” he explained with a soft chuckle.

“Well, if you won’t let me get you any bigger help for you, than what can I do?” she asked.

“Uh…”

Hey Em, why did you make me go see Twilight in the first place?

Ask her to check around her library for some books on these kinds of things.

“For starters you could look around your library for some books concerning cloaking spells, hidden locations, and maybe even some info on the Ethereal ponies.” Twilight nodded and left to go search, calling out Spike’s name as she went.

Anything else?

Not right now, but we’re gonna need to take her with us on our search for the Ethereal ponies. However, just her isn’t be enough for this; we’ll need to recruit some other ponies to help out along the way.

So we’re gonna get an entire army to find the Ethereal ponies?

No, we’re gonna get a group, a party, a team, a squad, whatever you want to call it. If we gather too much attention to us then Celestia will get suspicious.

This adventure is getting better and better by the second.

The summer night of Ponyville really was something that Arc had never felt before. The air was cooler than at day and the moonlight managed to reflect off of nearly everything, making it strangely bright for a midnight hour. Back in Canterlot it was too clustered to notice these natural things.

Arc sat out on the balcony that extended from the top of Twilight’s library. Said mare refused to take a break from her research and still worked indoors. Em was awfully quiet that night, which could sometimes be a good thing. Little voices in the back of your head could get annoying after a while.

As he stared out into the quiet hills beyond the town he heard a ghostly whistle. It was a tune that started out high and ended low with waves of pitch in-between.

What was that?

What was what?

Arc searched for the source and soon noticed a figure standing on a hill, backlit by the moonlight. It was an equine as far as he could tell, but what were they doing out there? It seemed to wear some sort of coat that slowly waved in the wind. The longer Arc stared at it the more unsure he felt, as though they were a symbol of some sort.

He turned away for a second, but when he looked back the figure was gone. Deciding that he needed to go to sleep, he went back inside to get some rest.

Arc stepped back into the red room from the nights before, his shirt and tie instantly appearing. Em patiently sat at the table in her silky blue dress. “Welcome back, Arc.”

“Why’d you call me in here? Do you need anything in particular?” he asked as he sat down at the table across from her.

Em poured the always ready wine into their glasses with a straight face. “I need to ask you something, something that’s a bit more personal than normal.”

“Yeah?”

The mare shifted slightly before she went on. “Am I really… good looking? You said I was before, but I wanted to know the truth.”

Arc was initially shocked by the question, but managed to answer – albeit in a broken form. “Y-yeah, you’re one of the most beautiful ponies I’ve ever seen, Em. Why do you ask?”

Em just sighed and shook her head. “No reason, but thanks for answering…”

They continued with a bit of small talk from then on, but Arc noticed that his Ethereal pony companion was a bit on edge and looked like she was hiding something else. After a while he decided to ask her about it so he could help her out. “Em, is something wrong?”

She looked around as though she had just woken up from a dream. “Sorry?”

“You seem a bit high-strung. Is something bothering you?”

The normally cynical pony turned away from him, now in a shy mood. “Yes… something really is…”

“What is it?”

“For over ten years I’ve been living inside of your head, talking to you and getting to know you better. I’ve also been looking through your memories over all that time.” She seemed very hurt as she let out the last bit. “Yet still, I haven’t found anything about me back there. Why aren’t I part of your memories, Arc?”

To be completely honest, he had no idea. He thought about her a lot and did memorable things with her, but it seemed like she wasn’t even in there once actually inside. However, he soon thought of something that might be the ticket – of course, it was the cheesiest ticket ever.

“Maybe it’s because you’re looking in the wrong place,” Arc replied.

This seemed to get Em fired up. “I’ve looked through your entire mind, Archaic. I’ve even lived in your mind for at least a decade. I think I know that I’d be looking in the wrong place or not.”

“No, you don’t understand. Maybe you’re not part of my memories.”

“W-what?”

“I think that my thoughts about you are stored somewhere else… like maybe a more special place.”

Here’s the real kicker.

“Like where? Where could my memories possibly be?”

Arc took a short swig of his wine. “Like in my heart.”

“Excuse me?” Em was clearly confused by his resolve. “You can’t store thoughts inside a heart! It’s just full of blood and stuff.”

“No, that’s not really what I meant – I was getting more along the lines of soul, like you’re part of me somehow. Now you see, maybe the memories that really mean the most to you are stored not in your mind, but in your heart. You definitely mean a lot to me; you’re pretty much my only friend and also the reason why I hit the road. It’s just a theory, but you know.” Em was about to stand up from her chair, but Arc stopped her. “Please don’t try searching my heart, just don’t. Breaking the secrets of the heart can ruin a pony, I once heard.”

Yay preachiness. That was the most preachy I’ve been in a while.

His friend seemed relieved once he had explained. “I don’t care where those feelings and memories are being stored, just as long as they exist somewhere in you.”

Arc appreciated the serious mood, but decided it was time to cut it short. “Jeez, we’ve gotta lay off on the sappy stuff. It’s not like we’re never gonna see each other again or something.” His words triggered Em’s naturally sassy attitude to return.

“Well sorry, but I don’t see how caring for somepony else is such a bad thing. Maybe I should just try to get out of your head and then never speak with you again, go off on my own in this new world and abandon you forever hating every minute that I had to spend with you…”

“Yes Em, I get what you’re saying.”

A smile appeared on her face. “Good. Now, I think you should actually get some sleep for a night. Ever since our first midnight meeting I’ve been calling you back again and again just for some talk.”

“In that case, see you later.”

When in the mind of a pony, you don’t experience the things happening around you. Examples could be having water dumped on you or falling off of something. Arc visiting his own mind was no different, as he couldn’t hear the voice calling his name or the hooves shaking him until he had left Em’s apparition.

“Archaic! Wake up! Something’s going on!”

Arc almost instantly woke up and found himself eye to eye with Twilight. “What is it?” he asked and pushed her away from himself.

“There’s someone outside and he’s just standing on the rooftops. He called for you.”

Could it be that figure on the hill?

“Me? By name?”

“No, but he did say to bring out the newcomer. You’re the newest pony around, right?”

“Right,” Arc said as stood up from his seat and galloped downstairs. He dashed right through the front doors of the library to find a crowd of ponies standing around what he assumed to be the town hall. They all murmured to each other and stared up at something high up on the tip of the building.

“There you are.”

The shadow leapt from the spire, causing the ponies below to instantly move out of the way. It landed with a light thump in the clear spot of the crowd and let out a quiet laugh. “You’re the one I’m looking for. You’ve got something that I need, and I’d really love it if you gave it to me without a struggle.”

What’s he looking for that I have?

Probably the unicorn in your head. Don’t let him do anything bad to you, alright?

“Well, who are you? And what do you need from me?” as Arc spoke the group split to let him and the figure look at each other.

“Let’s see here – what is something that you have and no one else does?” the equine chuckled to himself. “Or should I say, somepony.”

How did he know?

I have no idea. This one definitely isn’t normal though, that’s for sure.

“What do you mean?” Arc asked, trying to hide Em from this figure.

A gust of wind blew through the area, pushing the hood of the cloak down. Underneath was a pegasus, but he definitely wasn’t normal. His short mane billowed like smoke despite being so small and was colored golden yellow with white streaks running through it, while his coat was an slate blue. The figure had a ghastly smile filled with shark-like teeth and made his purple, reptilian eyes open wide. “I need something from your head, kid. I know you have it, because I’ve been following you.”

“I have no idea what you’re talking about.”

Another gale blew, flaring the pony’s cloak into the air and revealing the rest of his body, showing the torn cloth wrapped around his legs and his strangely slender body-shape. “Give it to me.”

He wants to take me away. But how will he even manage that?

He won’t.

“I apologize for the sudden outburst. What I’ll tell you that the Ethereal one needs to come with me, son. This means either you come quietly, or I will take it out of your head by force.”

The small crowd was now murmuring amongst themselves and shuffling away from the two ponies. It was a good thing too, because this could get ugly.

“Tell me who you are and why you want them.”

The pegasus whipped his mane in the air. “My name is Angle. I serve the darkest kind, and I need your precious little pony in there to come out for me. That’s all I’ll tell you.”

“The darkest kind, huh? Now I feel even less inclined to come with you, Angle.”

Anger reappeared in the grey pony’s eyes and he bared his dagger teeth again. “You’ve made a mistake, kid. I’m gonna ask you one more time to cooperate. If you don’t, I’m gonna have to take action.” His last phrase made the crowd around them gasp and begin to disperse to safer environments.

Wow, what a cheese-ball. Check this guy’s dialogue out, huh Em?

Arc, shut up. Angle might actually hurt the ponies here if we don’t do something.

We obviously can’t go with him, so what should we do?

If you really wanted to be brave – or stupid – you could always try fighting.

That doesn’t sound like a good idea. I know some offensive spells, but not much.

Well what then?

“So, you decided what you’re gonna do yet?” Angle called, pretending to check his hooves.

Arc thought for a while, then suddenly had a brilliant idea. “I’m not going.” As soon as he finished answering he blasted the ground with a beam of magic, kicking up a dust cloud and enabling him to run off as fast as his legs could carry him.

That kind of worked. Where do you plan on going now?

I have no idea, just away from here!

Arc’s pace quickened as he heard an angry growl from behind him that was soon followed by hoofsteps much faster than his own. Although it was puzzling that the pegasus didn’t merely fly after him Arc was running away as fast as he could.

“Arc!”

Twilight rounded a corner ahead of the running unicorn with a purple aura surrounding her horn. “I’ll cover you, just keep going!”

Arc nodded as he passed by and watched Twilight bring up a barrier in front of his pursuer. However, he found himself having to stop almost immediately as he heard is friend cry out in terror. When he turned around he saw Angle menacingly approaching Twilight and the barrier nowhere to be seen.

“Foolish filly! Your puny magic can’t stop me!” the glaring pegasus laughed, seeming to have almost forgotten all about Arc. With a swift spin he bucked Twilight and sent her spiralling into the side of a nearby building.

Oh no, we’ve gotta help Twilight!

Just keep going, Arc! He’s obviously trying to draw you back there so he can get at me!

But what about Twilight? He might hurt her! And you said that we need her help!

Don’t worry about her; she’s an Element of Harmony, remember? We’ll help her out later, but for now we’ve gotta just get out of here and find some place safe to go.

Arc looked on at the wounded Twilight who struggled to stand up. A blast of magic fired out of her horn and smashed into Angle, knocking him down to his knees. She noticed Arc looking at her and shook her head, trying to tell him to keep running, but had a hard hoof stamped onto her head and she was pushed down into the dirt.

“Insolent little pony. I’ll teach you your place,” Angle hissed, gripping where he had been blasted by Twilight’s magic with his free hoof. He lifted her off of the ground and tossed her into another wall for good measure.

He was stopped from beating on the poor pony any longer when a streak smashed into him and pushed him into the ground. “Get your dirty hooves off her!”

Angle looked up to see a sneering pegasus mare with a bright rainbow-colored mane positioned over top of him. In a rush of rage he threw her off of himself and got back on his hooves. “Another Element of Harmony already?” he chuckled, trying to keep a lid on his anger.

Soon several other ponies rushed up to Twilight’s side and helped her up. “What do you want with us, ya big blue bully?” a mare with a Stetson hat asked Angle.

“I merely wanted to take that new pony back with me for unimportant matters, but your purple friend had to rush in and get in the way,” Angle explained. His eyes flashed an eerie green color and he suddenly disappeared into thin air.

“Where’d he go? I’ve gotta teach that guy a lesson!” the rainbow-maned pegasus growled, darting around the area in a fruitless search. “He can’t be that far away!”

“You’d be right about that.”

The pegasus turned around to see the other ponies knocked down and Angle gripping Twilight with a bandaged wing. His eyes flashed once again and he was gone - this time Twilight was too.

Arc, do you know where we are?

Not at all, but we seem to be at some sort of forest.

That they were. Arc stood just barely on the verge of a dark and wooded area, unsure of whether to enter it or not. Strange animal-esque noises came from the depths of it and added to the atmosphere. He had never seen it, but it appears that Em had.

Wait, this might be the Everfree Forest. This place was a big hoot back in the day when it was first discovered due to its strange nature that did things by itself. In Everfree there’s no pony controlling the weather or day and night – it’s all just the forest.

So this place has got to be super old then, huh?

If it is Everfree. It might not be, you know.

Arc peered into the shadows of the trees for a moment before getting spooked by the hooting of an owl and pulling back.

Should we go back to Ponyville? Or should we go in?

Angle might still be there, so we shouldn’t go back. I’m not sure what’s in this forest, so only go inside if you really think we should.

He hesitated at first, but soon Arc took a light step into the shadows. This place is so creepy.

I can help you out, just give me a second…

Arc waited like Em told him to, then suddenly felt a bolt of energy run through his body. What was that? What did you do to me?

I messed around with your head a bit – now you should be courageous enough to go inside.

She was right. Arc felt the bravery flowing through his body and boldly took another step into the eerie woods. He didn’t like the idea of someone playing with his mind, but as long as it was in his favor he was game.

Author's Note

This chapter is awfully shorter than the rest - oh well, I just needed to get these scenes out of my head. Expect more later.

The Discovery

“Hey gramps!”

“Yes Archaic?”

“Do you mind giving me a hoof with this?”

The old stallion rounded the corner to see his unicorn grandson struggling to lift a book with his feeble and young magic. “Ya really shouldn’t push yourself so hard, son,” he denounced as he lifted the book and placed it on its corresponding shelf.

“Thanks gramps, but how am I ever going to become a famous explorer if I never practice my magic?” Arc replied in a bubbly tone. His shaggy golden mane fell in front of his eyes and blinded him for a second, causing him to hop right into a pillar.

The elderly pony chuckled at his grandson’s excitement and helped him stand back up. “Enough with the gramps, alright?” he playfully scolded.

“Yeah yeah, I get it,” Arc replied with a cheeky grin.

This was pretty much Arc’s job. He worked with his grandfather as a helper out at the Royal Canterlot Library, helping ponies find what they wanted and making sure all the books were in the right place. He was trying to save up enough money to go out on his own in the world. It was always his dream to go on an adventure and then write a book about it and from the looks of it all it’d take more than a few years before he could depart.

He enjoyed working with books; it was even in his name and Cutie Mark. Archaic Text preferred to go by simply Arc, and that’s what everyone knew him by. He was the youngest and one of the liveliest of all of the ponies in the entire area, his turquoise coat and golden yellow mane contrasting with every slab of marble that made up the city. Everypony else around the library was a posh and uppity dictator, a quiet old senior, or a stone-faced guard.

Arc had gained a special connection to books ever since going to Celestia’s School for Gifted Unicorns. He used to despise them with a passion, hating his parents for giving him the name, but the first time he ever thoroughly read a book was at the CSGU. After that he fell in love with them and even got his Cutie Mark because of it. However, he decided that he wanted money more than a magical education and dropped out of the prestigious school to help out his weak old grandpa.

Little did he know that books would be his ticket into a giant adventure that he would never forget.

The day was over and the library was closing. Arc’s grandpa had gone home and left him to finish closing the place up without him, leaving him alone in the library. He finished what he was supposed to do and was just about to follow after his grandpa when he noticed something out of the corner of his eye.

It was the Annex. That place was an ancient extension to the regular library that was filled with knowledge that common ponies werent supposed to know. Only the keeper of the library (his grandpa) and certain royal figures were allowed inside. It had dark spells, forbidden history, and if the rumors were true, excerpts from Princess Celestias diary when she was younger.

Normally he would continue on out, but this time Arc felt something drawing him in. Something was beckoning for him to come in, slowly luring him towards it. Everything got a bit stranger when he heard something from behind the door.

Help me…

It was a voice calling out for help. He wasnt sure whether to dismiss its very existence or to follow it and go where he wasnt supposed to go. He did have all of the keys and could enter the Annex with no difficulties, but was it really the right thing to do? What if he was just hearing the voice in his head? Or what if it was a trap?

Please... help me out...

Being filled with youthful curiosity, Arc gave in to the temptation and exhaled deeply as he approached the door. He placed the key into the door and slowly turned it. It swung open faster than he’d expected, making him jump back slightly. He looked around the room to see if anyone was there before slipping in through the door.

The Annex was fairly darker than the rest of the library for some reason. Withered and ancient books lined the shelves that seemed like they were even older than the ones that were in the regular section. It had no windows; the only sources of light in the room were the bleak torches that lined the walls.

Keep going forward…

Arc had no idea why he was even listening to the voice, but followed its directions and continued down through the rows of ancient tomes. He felt like he was being watched, and wasn’t exactly sure if he really was or not.

Right there… open it…

He stood before yet another door, albeit much smaller than the one that led into the Annex. He slowly opened it and looked around it to see an even darker room – it was a surprise that the door wasn’t locked. It was no longer made of marble, but rather an eerie dark stone that resembled obsidian. At the end of the room was a big book that was about the size of a large encyclopedia that had a low green glow emitting from its pages.

Open the book… please…

“Why should I be listening to you anyways?” he called out into the room.

I need your help… would you help me?

Arc looked around the room as he slowly stepped into it. “Help for what?”

I’ll explain once you open the book,,, just please do it…

The young unicorn was now right in front of the book. It rested on a pedestal made of silver that shaped into two angel wings at the top to hold its cargo. He took a deep breath, steeled himself, and cautiously opened the book. However, he soon regretted it.

A sharp pain shot through Arc’s head and he fell to his knees, groaning and growling in agony. He felt nauseous and sick, and soon collapsed onto his side. It felt as though his head was being pried open with a rusty crowbar. It was like red hot needles were piercing the very flesh of his brain.

Through all of the suffering he heard the calm voice from before...

I’m sorry to put you into this pain, but it’s the only way I can get out. Please bear with me, I needed to get out of that book.

“Who are you? And why are you doing this?” he asked the voice, his youthful strength leaving him.

Just wait a second and maybe I’ll explain to you.

The agony went on for a while longer before it all began to drain out of him, leaving him exhausted on the floor of the dark room. His entire body ached, but at least the pain was over. “Alright, what do you ponyfrom me?”

Witch? I’ve never been so insulted in my life! And by a common pony, too…

“Fine, milady. What do need me to do?”

I need you to simply listen to me and be my vessel for a while, that’s all.

“Vessel? Where exactly are you, anyways?”

I’m just inside your head.

“How is that even possible? Who are you?”

My name’s Empyrea. I was in that book and you just let me out, so I went in your head.

“Are you a witch?”

No, silly! I’m a nice filly who just wanted to get out of that book.

Arc certainly wasn’t sure if he should listen to the voice in his head or not. Voices in somepony’s head usually meant that they were going bonkers, but right now anything seemed plausible. At his young age this didn’t bother him so much due to his naïve mind. “So do you need me to do anything?”

You don’t have to do anything yet. Just let me be your friend for now and later on I’ll tell you more.

“Okay, I’ve gotta get home. Don’t bother me too much and maybe I’ll let you be my friend.” Confused and frightened by the recent turn of events, Arc galloped out of the Annex and back home to his grandpa. He wouldn’t tell him about it – he didn’t feel like that was the right thing to do. Instead he kept it a secret.

The long years went by and Arc grew from a little colt into a strong stallion. His grandfather also grew older, meaning that he had to do a lot more work to compensate for the loss of strength in his elder. Arc became better friends with the character that he had met in the Annex all those years ago and they chatted constantly. Inside Arc wished that he could meet Empyrea in person, seeing as how they were such good friends now.

Arc didn’t have many friends at his local school. He was just that weird pony who acted out stories that he made up himself at recess and excelled in History and English. Arc didn’t really want a friend most of the time, but now that he had found one he realized just how great it was. He had been missing out, no doubt about it.

It was in the midst of a cool summer night Arc finally had another milestone in his relationship with this Empyrea character – she invited him over to her place.

Hey Arc, I’m lonely in here. Can you come give me some company?

Arc rolled over in his sleep, talking to her through his mind. Empyrea, that’s impossible. I’ve got a body, and from what I’ve gathered so far, you don’t.

Yeah, but I’m in your head. If you just focus on me then maybe you can see me.

It’s worth a shot, sounds kinda like dreaming. I’ll try it out.

I… think I can see something.

Come closer.

A blinding white light surrounded Arc for a second, forcing him to shield his eyes – in his mind, of course. When the light dimmed and he could finally see again, he found that he was in a mystical place. It was a meadow filled with flowers of many colors, a warm breeze blowing through his mane (or lack thereof). There wasn’t a single cloud in the sky and the sun beat down on everything around him. Nothing lay over the horizon; this field seemed to be endless.

“Welcome to the depths of your mind, Arc.”

Arc spun around to see the source of the voice, recognizing it as Empyrea’s from before. However, he wasn’t prepared for the sight that he was about to behold.

It was yet another unicorn, a little bit smaller than him. Unlike him though, it was a mare that confidently stood on her spot. A warm smile was on her face that made Arc instantly calm down from the strange feelings that he had just felt. Her coat was a light, ashen grey hue that contrasted wonderfully with the misty cyan mane that floated around her and bright golden eyes that shimmered like jewels. The wind of the field tossed her hair around her body and created a dream-like aura in the area that made Arc feel light and airy. Her sheer beauty literally stunned Arc for a moment, making him wonder if he had died and gone to heaven.

“You’re Empyrea… right?” he slowly asked.

“Yep, I’m the one who you just let out of that book. I’ve decided that we’ve become close enough and you’ve grown strong enough for me to go into further depth about how I’m in here and why I was inside that book.”

Arc still couldn’t get past how pretty Empyrea was in this real-pseudo-life. “O-okay, if you say so. I’m ready for anything you’ve got.”

“Alright then, I do hope you’re actually ready - I come from a place where imagination is key, and you’ve got a pretty big imagination. Lots of room too, so I decided to ask you for help out of my prison,” Em replied, beginning to walk around Arc as she examined him. She hummed slightly as she did so, a wave of uncanny peace washing over the confused stallion as she did so. “I haven’t quite regained the strength to fully look at you from inside your head yet, so I decided to make it easier for me and bring you in here for a sneak peek. Good thing I did; you’ve got a nice and strong ‘body’ here.”

Now Arc was starting to feel very uncomfortable. “W-what? You’re creeping me out here, Em.”

Empyrea stopped and gave Arc an eyebrow raise in confusion. “What’s an Em?”

“A nickname, it’s just short for Empyrea. It’s got fewer syllables in it. I was getting tired of calling you by full name over all these years, and I think it sounds nice, fitting for such a pretty pony like you.” He couldn’t believe those words just escaped his inner self’s mouth.

The mare dreamily sighed and swivelled around Arc. “I’ve always been so glad that I picked such a gentlecolt for a home. Hope you don’t mind me starting to order you around more than usual.”

He scratched the back of his head nervously. “So, what kind of orders do you mean?”

“Well, Arc, I’m not really sure yet. I’ll have to sift through your knowledge some more before I can come up with a plan of action.”

“Haven’t you been living in my knowledge for ten years or so?”

“Yeah, but I’ve been mostly just living it up instead of studying it up.”

Arc looked out across the vast meadow that he and Em stood in. “What exactly do you plan to do in the long run?”

“Escape this curse, and help my people do it too.”

“Excuse me?”

Em swirled around to look him in the eyes and a smirk crossed her face. Her horn flashed and the flowery fields disappeared, leaving the two in a black void of nothing. “We Ethereal ponies are known for our mind manipulation magic. I think I’ll tell you my tale with some of it.”

“A long time ago there were three subsidiaries of Equestria.” An image that appeared to be drawn in oil paints appeared in front of the two displaying three different ponies: one a normal blue pegasus, another a shimmering green earth pony, and the last a faded purple unicorn. “They were the Common ponies ruled by Celestia and Luna who made up most of the kingdom, the Crystal ponies ruled by Cadenza who lived in the far north and were known for their beauty and art, and the Ethereal ponies ruled by Allucina who had some of the most powerful magic in the world. Together they prospered and lived in ultimate harmony for many years.”

A black shadow with piercing green eyes appeared and swallowed up the Crystal pony in its deep darkness, causing the other two to jump in fright. “Until we began to lose each other. The Crystal ponies were enslaved and later placed into a millennium-long sleep by the evil King Sombra, which threw the two remaining races into paranoia. They both feared not only the outside forces of the world, but also each other. Neither met with each other for the longest time; Allucina was cut off from her family by the pure terror that all felt at the time.”

A sky blue, glassy figure that resembled the head of a reptile appeared and proceeded to suck the Ethereal pony up like a vacuum. “The Ethereal ponies had their own marauding lord of evil to worry about. He stripped us of our bodies so that he could devour their life energies, leaving only our souls and minds behind. To make sure that we would not cause any other trouble for him, he sealed us all away into a single book that was called the Lexicon. He kept it at all times and was going to use his powers to destroy the Common ponies next.”

Two ponies resembling the princesses Celestia and Luna appeared and destroyed the reptilian jewel with a beam of light. “But the use of the Elements of Harmony by the two princesses of the skies dispelled the energy he had gained from our bodies and killed the fiend. However, our minds were still trapped in the book and our bodies were nowhere to be found, and never to be united again. Celestia took the Lexicon and placed it deep in the Canterlot archives for safekeeping, where you seem to have found it and helped me get out. Why she didn’t put it under better security is beyond me, but it doesn’t really matter. I myself was the first one to experience the portal that you somehow opened and immediately leapt in; no one else could escape in time.”

“I’m not sure if I could have handled more than one pony at a time,” Arc joked, but it seemed like Em really wasn’t in the mood for play.

The dark area they were in returned to the meadow of flowers from before. Arc turned to look at Em and noticed a tear in the corner of her eye. “That’s it, that’s the story,” she summed up as she hastily wiped the moisture from her eyes. “I couldn’t do anything as a spirit, so I had to go see you. It was my only chance to do anything useful for the others.”

Arc was touched by the emotion of story and it took him a while to form words again. “How exactly would we let out the rest of your friends?” he quietly asked.

“We need to somehow dispel the curse on the Lexicon. You’d think that destroying Eksago would have done it, but apparently not…”

“Eksago?”

“That dragon guy who stole the Ethereal ponies’ bodies.”

“Ah, I gotcha. Continue.”

“Anyways, Princess Celestia and Princess Luna obviously can’t do it on their own; if they could they would have done it by now. The Elements of Harmony may have a chance, but I doubt it…”

Arc noticed a hole in the scheme that Em was concocting. “Sorry to interrupt again, but once you get out of the Lexicon what will you do? You won’t have any real bodies; you’ll just be floating spirits with nowhere to go.”

Em sighed in dismay, making Arc regret ever saying anything. “I don’t know. There may be a way to get them back… maybe Eksago stored them all in cells somewhere?”

“Wouldn’t we have found that already? It’s hard to hide an entire race, you know.”

“Not if he hid it well enough. He could have done anything: hidden it underground, placed a cloaking spell over it, we have no idea. It could still be out there, and we wouldn’t even know it.”

“What are the chances of that?”

“Second to none. We’ll just have to hope.”

The two spent the rest of their time together like this: conversing, brainstorming, and debating. Despite the tense atmosphere of their goals, Arc felt at peace while around Em. There was something about her that made him calm down immediately. Was it her personality now that he had really gotten in touch with her? Or rather her beauty? He didn’t know, but he knew that he wasn’t taking this curse-breaking business seriously enough. However, it couldn’t go on forever.

Arc shot up to attention as he realized something. “Em, do you know how much time has passed?”

“Not really. I’d say seven or eight hours.”

The stallion looked around at the landscape around him. “I think it’s about time I wake up or I’ll sleep in and miss out on work.”

“Just imagine that you’re back in your real body instead of this inner one.” Em smiled and tapped the side of her head. “It’s all in your head, remember that. Including me and this lovely little place. It’s your escape, and you can come here to get out of it all.”

“Okay. You sift through some of my further back knowledge while I’m at work,” Arc said. He closed his eyes and began to concentrate, but a hoof touched his head and he looked up to see Em.

“Thank you for helping me with this, Arc. It means a lot to me, both you offering to help out and you letting me stay in your head,” she giggled at the last part, showing off that wonderful smile of hers again.

“It’s really no big deal. I was planning on going out on an adventure before I found you anyways.”

“Still, thank you.” Em squeezed him in a tight hug before trotting off into the field.

For a while Arc stood in a shocked silence, totally paralyzed by the magic of such a small touch. Although he didn’t really want to admit it, he was slowly falling in love with somepony who didn’t even possess a body of their own. It seemed a bit silly when he really thought about it with his mind, but when he did with his heart he saw nothing strange about it. What could he say? She was kind, smart, and drop-dead beautiful. What was wrong with that?

Probably that he had met this mare by following a voice he heard in a library. That was pretty weird.

“So you were leaving then?” Em called from down the field.

Arc shook himself out of his trance and nodded hurriedly. “Yeah! See you later!” With a quick, deep thought he felt himself black out again and fall asleep.