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      That Which Dreams (and Nightmares) Are Made Of       
                     -by Unknown_Pen-                      
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               Prologue: The Journey Begins                
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Prologue: The Journey Begins
“Okay, so… remind me again what we’re doing in the basement, please?” Pinkie Pie asked, restlessly shifting her weight from one hoof to the other.
She stood by idly as the lavender unicorn in front of her fiddled with various instruments and devices whose purposes could only be guessed at. Finishing her adjustments on a particular device that Pinkie thought resembled an upside down bowl of candy but with the candy on the outside, Twilight turned and gave the pink pony a curious look.
“Pinkie, I just finished explaining the process to you on the way to the library. Didn't you pay attention to anything I said?”
“Of course I did, silly! Well, except for the part where I stopped to say hi to some of the ponies we passed and we all burst into a spontaneous musical number that I totally didn't anticipate in any way.” At Twilight’s bemused expression, she quickly added, “I was back before you finished talking, though! You never even noticed us singing and I completely understood the plan. I just thought the readers would want to know what was going on before we got too far into the story.”
“Pinkie,” Twilight face-hooved, “What in Celestia’s name are you talking about?”
Pinkie opened her mouth to answer, but Twilight cut her off.
“No. No. Before you say anything, no. This is exactly what we came here to resolve. To keep a long story short,” Twilight said with a pointed stare, “we’re going to do a little experiment with a spell I learned recently from Princess Luna. Unlike the last time where I relied solely on my machines, this time my psyche is going to enter your mind and I will see for myself if I can determine once and for all what makes you function the way you do. I’m going to have a look around inside your conscious, subconscious, and your memories, try to find out who these nonexistent ponies you keep talking to are, how your Pinkie senses can alert you to statistically random events, and how you can hide things in plain sight to produce them again at a moment’s notice.”
“But Twilight,” Pinkie snickered, “why is any of that important?”
“Because I have to know!” the unicorn shouted, before walking over to a machine on the ground and tapping its top with a forehoof. “Hooves up here, please,” she instructed.
The pink earth pony complied and, the moment her front hooves touched the metal, clamps shut themselves around her legs.
“What’s this for?”
“The spell I’m about to cast is very dangerous, so I need you to hold still while I perform it. My psyche is literally going to leave my own body and enter yours for the hour that the spell lasts, so I really don’t need you wandering off.”
Pinkie snickered again.
“Don’t worry, Twilight, I would never do that. That is, unless of course you decided to have a party with the ‘me’ inside my head.”
She gasped loudly and her back hooves floated in the air for a few seconds before she began hopping in place and continuing.
“Ohmygoshthatwouldbesomuchfun!Ican’tbeliveI’veneverthoughtofthatbefore!It’llbeapartyunlikeanypartyanyponyhaseverseen!I’vegotsomuchtodo!Ineedinvitations,streamers,balloons,cak-CAKE!Twilightdoyouknowaspelltoputacakeinsidemyhea—”
“Pinkie!” Twilight shouted, shoving a hoof into her mouth. “I’m not going into your head to party. And this, this right here, is exactly why I needed the clamps.”
Pinkie mumbled something into Twilight’s hoof, which tickled considerably, but Twilight held it in place a little longer to ensure that she had calmed down. Upon removing it, she turned and walked a few paces away before facing the pink pony again.
“Okay, everything is set up, and I’ve triple checked everything. Final check: did I miss anything?”
Both ponies look around at all the flashing lights and machines. Everything seemed in order at least. Twilight nodded, then lowered her head and began charging all of her magic into her horn. Sweat started forming on her brow, and her vision began tunneling until she could only see her pink friend before her. With one last grunt of effort the spell was complete and ready to be cast, and Twilight began focusing her mind into the point of her horn where her magic had gathered.
“Oh, hey, Twilight?” Pinkie asked, her natural smile and poofy hair faltering slightly, “Pinkie-promise me you won’t hate me for what all of this does to your mind okay? I just want to say I’m sorry.”
“Wait, what?!” Twilight screamed.
Or, she had tried to. Unfortunately, at that moment, a purple flash of light erupted from Twilight’s horn and struck Pinkie Pie head on. Both mares recoiled from the blast, and then slumped forward. Twilight fell to the floor, unconscious.