Clouds.

An entire sky filled with clouds.

The young unicorn looked down through the window of the carriage. She was higher in the sky than ever before. This was a new experience for her. Was this what it was like to be a pegasus? To throw caution to the wind, and to ignore gravity in a few precious moments all to yourself? She then looked to the night sky above her. The beautiful array of stars.

Indeed, if left alone, she could spend hours upon days watching every star in the sky. Since the dawn of time, ponies looked to the skies; to the stars. Some of them suns, some of them planets, but every single one a time capsule to years long past. Do the stars ever look to us? Do they make each star the symbol of a figure spoken of in myths? Indeed, if only she was left alone to study the entire universe before her.

But she was not alone.

To her right was a silver-coated pony she'd sworn she recognized from somewhere. The earth pony did not exchange a glance with her, her piercing purple eyes looking to the table at the center of the room. The unicorn primarily noticed her cutie mark: a lavender treble clef. She was a musician. So why was she here in this carriage, under these strange circumstances?

Instead, the unicorn turned her attention to the figure seated across the table from her. The figure almost resembled the body structure of a draconicis. It appeared to stand upright on two legs, with arms coming from his torso, which it used to keep itself held up as it leaned over the table. But it had no coat, and hardly any mane aside from some rogue patches extending from the sides of its head behind pointed ears, and two extravagant brows above its eyes. It was dressed in what resembled a formal suit, with a nice corsage in its pocket. But by far its most striking feature was its nose, at least six inches out from its face.

The unicorn did not know what this creature was, but it certainly wasn't a pony.

The creature slowly opened its eyes, revealing two small, black pupils amongst bloodshot eyes, and spoke in a high, yet masculine voice. "Welcome...to the Velvet Room."

She took another look around her. The carriage was indeed decorated with a soft fabric, making the interior a deep shade of blue. The creature waved his left hand in a welcoming gesture. He spoke, neither to her nor the silver pony at his side. "Ah...it seems we have a guest with an intriguing destiny..." He chuckled, folding his hands in front of him once again, but raising to an upright position. "My name is Igor," the creature introduced himself. "I am delighted to make your acquaintance."

She felt uncomfortable. She felt worried. She felt scared. At that moment she finally realized she neither knew where she was or how she got there. She had not yet questioned that she had no recollection of any events leading up to this moment, or even her arrival. She was simply here.

Igor responded to her unspoken concerns, "This place exists between dream and reality, mind and matter. It is a room that only those who are bound by a 'contract' may enter..."

This did little to comfort her from her worries. She did not remember signing any contract, and did not know what Igor meant. Did someone else bind her into an agreement against her will? Was she stripped of her own choice?

"It may be that such a fate awaits you in the near future," Igor explained. At last, she was relieved. So she was not under any binding agreement. But was she going to be?

"Now then," Igor continued. "Why don't you introduce yourself...?"

She stiffened. For a moment, she was confused. Her mind was in a strange condition right now. She found it difficult to remember things at first. Everything was a blur. But then things started to come together. She was a unicorn from Canterlot. She took her father's surname, and her given name was the same as her mother's.

"I... I am Twilight Sparkle," she finally said.

For a moment, Igor only stared.

"Hm...I see," he finally answered. She wanted to ask him what was going on. She wanted to ask him why his response was so subdued. She wanted to ask so many questions. And yet she couldn't speak. For some reason, no words came to her.

"Now, let's take a look into your future, shall we?" Igor placed his hand over the table. In a flash of light, a single card appeared, face down. The card's back was adorned with the image of a mask, split down the middle. One side was light, and the other was dark.

"Do you believe in fortune telling?" Igor asked her.

"I..." Twilight struggled to speak. "I don't," she finally managed. Was she intimidated? Was something else holding her back? Whatever it was, each word was harder to say than the last. "Magic can't tell you what hasn't happened yet."

Igor chuckled. "An interesting opinion, for a unicorn as skilled and powerful as yourself." Somehow, his knowledge of unicorn magic, especially her own unicorn magic, did not comfort Twilight.

She tried to speak. But again she found herself lost for words.

"If you don't mind humoring me, just this once..." He waved his hand once more. Where there was once one card, there were now seven. Six cards forming a hexagonal shape around a single card in the center. "Each reading is done with the same cards, yet the result is always different."

He chuckled once more. Twilight grew more uncomfortable each time he did, as the chuckle was rather...creepy.

"Life follows the same principles, doesn't it?" She saw where he was going with this. At the very least, this was a nice curiosity. Igor waved his hand once more, and the card on her right, closest to her, flipped face-up. On the card, she saw the image of a tower being struck by some divine force, with the number "XVI", or rather, sixteen, written below it. She had read about tarot in the past. She understood what it meant. Even though she didn't believe, she couldn't help but feel some dread.

"Hm...The Tower in the upright position represents the immediate future," Igor told her. "It seems a terrible catastrophe is imminent. The card indicating the future beyond that is..." The card to the left, closest to her flipped face up, revealing the image of a crescent moon. "The Moon, in the upright position. This card represents 'hesitation' and 'mystery'... Very interesting indeed. It seems you will encounter a misfortune at your destination, and a great mystery will be imposed upon you."

She didn't believe. It's not real. There's no such thing as fortune telling. She knew it. She knew it was true. She knew that no magic was that powerful. And yet the feeling of dread only grew deeper.

"In the coming days, you will enter into a contract of some sort, after which you will return here," Igor explained. "The coming year is a turning point in your destiny...If the mystery goes unsolved, your future may be forever lost."

He adjusted his position to be sitting more upright once again. "My duty is to provide assistance to our guests to ensure that does not happen."

He waved his hand once more, and the cards on the table disappeared.

"Ah! I have neglected to introduce my assistant to you," he apologized, turning to the silver pony. "This is Octavia. She is a resident of this place, like myself. She occasionally walks the paths of Equestria in order to guide our guests."

"When the time comes, I will guide you in the services offered at the Velvet Room," the silver pony spoke at last. She had a calm, almost unmoving tone in her words. It felt as though she was not really speaking to Twilight, though. It felt more like she was simply speaking, looking through Twilight rather than at her.

"We shall attend to the details another time," Igor said. "Until then, farewell..."

The carriage faded away and disappeared.

Reach Out to the Truth: Friendship is Magic

by Darkurai the Oracle Pony and ZeroRanma

Twilight Sparkle...

"Twilight."

I'm so sorry! I didn't-

"Twilight?"

You have a very special gift. I don't think I've ever come across a unicorn with your raw abilities.

"Twilight!"

But you need to learn to tame these abilities through focused study.

"Wake up!"

Chapter One: The Calm Before The Storm

Twilight Sparkle jumped in her seat. She was dreaming about that day again. The day of her entrance exam for Princess Celestia's School for Gifted Unicorns. That was the day that changed her life forever. She choked at her audition. She let her nerves get the better of her, and she couldn't cast her magic. The admission officers were not impressed with her display, and her heart nearly broke right there. But then, something happened that nopony could have expected.

All Twilight heard was a loud booming sound, like an explosion. It shocked her so much that she freaked out and her magic went completely out of control. The admissions officers were lifted into the air, her parents were (temporarily) turned into potted plants, and out of the egg that was supposed to hatch a lizard came a baby dragon.

She was terrified. She had ruined everything, and the Princess herself had walked in and went right towards her. Twilight thought that everything she had worked for was meaningless now. But the Princess was impressed. For a filly of her age, Twilight had displayed an extraordinary level of magic unlike anything the Princess had ever seen. On that day, Twilight Sparkle became Princess Celestia's faithful student.

And on that day, she met her first and closest friend.

"We're almost there," Spike told her. Although Twilight had matured over the years into a grown unicorn, Spike was still a baby hardly bigger than he was on that day. That was normal though; dragons lived very long lives and aged slowly. But Spike wasn't a normal dragon. He was unlike any she'd ever known. He proudly wore a coat of purple scales with green spines down his back. In addition to that, he was her number one assistant.

"Thank you, Spike," she said to him. She had a habit of falling asleep on long rides, and the trip from Ponyville to Canterlot was three hours long.

It hadn't been long since she had visited Canterlot. It was only about a month ago that she and her friends had been honored in the Princess' royal court for their defeat of the trickster god, Discord. All of Equestria descended to chaos during his reign, and he was only finally defeated by the power of the Elements of Harmony. It wasn't the first time the Elements had been brought together. It was nearly a year ago that she first arrived in Ponyville to assist in the preparation of the Summer Sun Celebration. She thought it was a waste of time, since she had pieced together that Equestria was on the brink of the return of a great force of evil.

Nightmare Moon.

Nightmare Moon, or rather, Princes Luna, was the Moon Princess of Equestria; she was the complement to Celestia's sun. However, many years ago she grew jealous of her sister, as the ponies of Equestria frolicked in the daylight, but all went to sleep during the nighttime. Feeling unappreciated, Princess Luna rebelled, and cast Equestria into eternal night. However, she was quickly stopped by her sister, and banished to the moon for one thousand years.

Until last year, when the seal was broken, and Nightmare Moon returned. But she was stopped by the Elements of Harmony, wielded by Twilight Sparkle and her new, dear friends.

That day changed Twilight's life forever. That day, Princess Celestia assigned her to live in Ponyville, sending reports on her studies of the magic of friendship. Twilight never looked back.

But still, visiting Canterlot always brought back memories. Memories of her studies, of her parents.

Memories of the Princess.

The Princess did not overstate the damage that the castle was in. Though the structural integrity of the millennia-old palace held out through the ceremony honoring the six Element holders, it did not last. Foul weather over the past month broke down the already weakened royal home, and it was no longer safe to live in. The castle would have to be taken down completely and rebuilt from scratch.

A mere ten minutes after being awoken from her dream, Twilight was once again in the grand audience hall of Princess Celestia herself. Within moments, Twilight was overpowered by her emotions and her memories, and she rushed to the Princess' side and enjoyed her motherly embrace.

The Princess stood tall, at least twice as high as Twilight. She wore a pure white coat with a mane all the colors of the sun. Princess Celestia had ruled over Equestria for over one thousand years, and was beloved by all her subjects. However, no one in Equestia loved the princess more than her faithful student.

"Twilight Sparkle... it is good to see you again," the Princess said to her.

"Princess... you got me worried with your letter," Twilight responded.

"I'm sorry, Twilight. But I've been busy trying to arrange for homes for the servants and guards until the new castle is built."

There was a brief moment of silence before they broke away from the embrace.

"Are you sure that you want to stay in Ponyville?" Twilight asked, looking up at her mentor. "I mean... it might not be the safest place for the royal family to stay in a library for a year."

"I know I'll be safe in the home of the most powerful unicorn in all of Equestria," Celestia beamed back at her faithful student. Twilight couldn't help but blush at the Princess' embellishment of her power. "Unless you believe your abilities have grown weaker in your year in Ponyville?"

"No!" the young unicorn quickly shot back. "I-... I mean..." She felt embarrassed. She knew the Princess was only having a little fun with her, yet she still felt insecure about her abilities. It was something she hated to hear about, and enjoyed flaunting it even less.

The Princess touched her nose to Twilight's head in a show of affection to her young student. "Do not worry, Twilight. Besides, it's going to allow me to oversee your magical training without taking you away from your studies on friendship."

Twilight sunk her head lower. "I know, I just... I'm worried I'll screw something up! I mean, I'll have the royal family of Equestria under my roof! What if I forget to tend to something, or I show disrespect or-!"

"Twilight Sparkle," the Princess interrupted. "You have been my dearest student for eleven years. Not once have you ever let me down."

"What about when I was late with my Friendship Report last month?"

"We decided that wasn't your fault, remember?"

Twilight felt a little more relaxed. Sometime she forgot just how much the Princess cared for her. But the tender moment didn't last, as they needed to begin the final touches on coordinating the royal family's move to Ponyville.

Twilight used her magic to summon a pen and a notebook as they began walking through the dilapidated halls of Castle Canterlot.

"You've prepared extra bedrooms?" Celestia asked, going down a list in her head.

"Two bedrooms," Twilight responded, marking her checklist.

"Good. Are the proper enchantments in place?"

"A long-term protective spell over the library, and a security spell of a one hundred foot radius around the premises."

"Very good. Is Mayor Mare prepared for her...guest?" The Princess chose her words very carefully. She knew exactly who she was talking about, and the very reason behind Celestia's apparent disdain.

"Yes, Princess. The Municipalities began preparing a week ago."

"Excellent. Is Luna's room set up properly for magical rehabilitation?"

Twilight lowered her checklist and looked at her mentor. "I actually wanted to ask you about that, Princess. Are you sure that Princess Luna is feeling well enough to stay in the library instead of somewhere like the Magical Institute? I know it's been a year, but she's still recovering from her complete magical drain from the Elements of Harmony."

Celestia gave her student a comforting look. "Don't worry, Twilight. She's still not at her strongest, but Luna is more than capable of living in a normal bedroom provided she still has the proper environment to regain her strength."

"Alright..." Twilight looked at her checklist again. "I did my best, but I'm not sure if I did a very good job. I've never worked with magical rehabilitation before."

The Princess gave another warm look to Twilight. "I have faith in your abilities, Twilight. I am sure you did a fine job. Now, what about-"

"Your highness!"

They both looked ahead to a royal guard approaching from the opposite end of the hallway. When he reached them, he bowed his head in respect to the Princess.

Celestia signalled for the guard to be at ease. "Yes, Captain Viscen?"

The captain rose his head and stood at attention. "Your highness, there is a mailpony approaching the castle. She appears to be from Ponyville, and carries a letter bearing the royal seal."

"Thank you, Captain." He gave a salute, and turned around to return to his post.

Princess Celestia turned to her young student. "Twilight, could you please go see to the mailpony? I need to see to some last-minute things."

"Of course, Princess!" Twilight stuffed her notebook and pen into her bag and started trotting to the mailroom.

The mail room was by no means the most extravagant chamber in the castle, but it was set up with care nonetheless. A row of quick, but careful ponies worked in tandem with each other to make sure all the mail got to the right place. Pegasus ponies would fly in and out through the day, delivering and taking mail regarding all royal functions. In a way, it felt almost like a corporation, but it was official nonetheless.

Upon her arrival, Twilight was met with a strange sight. The Captain said that the mailpony was coming from Ponyville, but Twilight had never seen the grey pegasus before. She had a long yellow mane with yellow eyes to match. Twilight would almost believe she'd simply missed the mailpony before if it weren't for her lazy eye that was always pointing the opposite direction of her good eye.

Twilight approached the mailpony. "Pardon me, are you the messenger from Ponyville?"

The pegasus looked up at Twilight and seemed shocked for a moment. "Dear Celestia, you're Twilight Sparkle!" Twilight was instantly embarrassed. She hated when people treated her like a celebrity.

"Yeah... Yeah, that's me."

The mailpony's face lit up. "I can't believe I'm actually meeting you! The personal student of Princess Celestia herself, and the holder of the Element of Magic!"

Twilight made an attempt to quickly change the subject. "So, the captain said you have a letter with the royal seal?"

The mailpony suddenly snapped back into reality. "Oh! Oh right! It's express mail from Prince Blueblood. He said it had to be sent to the Princess with utmost urgency!"

Twilight suddenly became very worried. She didn't even know that the Prince was already in Ponyville, and it turns out that something already went wrong! "Oh no..." Twilight took the letter from the mailpony. "Thank you very much. I'll make sure to get it to the Princess immediately!"

"No problem! A mailpony's work is never done!" She turned around, about to leave, but then turned back and extended a hoof to Twilight. "Oh...and it was great meeting you."

Twilight still didn't feel right being admired so much, but she didn't want to be rude to the pegasus. She responded to the pony's gesture and shook hooves with her. After exchanging one more smile, the mailpony flew out to return to Ponyville.

The lavender unicorn wasted no time in finding Princess Celestia, who was in the audience hall once more, wrapping up the arrangements for the royal guards with Commander Kanthaka.

"Princess Celestia?"

Both the Princess and Commander turned to look at her. Celestia signalled to the Commander, who saluted and left the hall.

The Princess approached her student. "What is it, Twilight?"

"The mailpony said that the letter was an urgent message from Prince Blueblood!" Twilight removed the letter from her bag and gave it to the Princess.

As she read the letter, the Princess' expression shifted from worry to disgust. Despite her polite and respectful tendencies towards the royal family, Twilight couldn't help but be reminded of Blueblood's behaviour at last year's Grand Galloping Gala, during which he escorted her friend, Rarity. However, his behaviour was far from gentlemanly, and was even unbecoming of a royal prince.

The letter suddenly burned in Celestia's magical grasp. "Just Prince Blueblood being his typical self," she lamented.

"Things aren't going to well with the mayor?" Twilight asked.

The Princess sighed. "I'm sure you know how Blueblood gets. 'The municipalities of a backwater town are not fit for a prince, Aunt Celestia, especially when Princess Luna and yourself have the honor of being hosted by a hero to Equestria!' He didn't seem to care much for heroes of Equestria during the Gala."

So the Princess knew about his treatment of Rarity. "I didn't even know he was already in Ponyville."

"He arrived three days ago. He refused to stay in a castle that was falling apart. Not that I'm complaining. It just makes it easier for us to get ready."

Twilight suddenly felt a sharp pain through her head. She felt as though she was about to pass out.

The entire room was spinning.

What was this?

What was happening?

Pain.

"Twilight?"

She looked up. The Princess' face had a look of worry.

"Are you alright?"

Twilight tried to answer, but she couldn't really form the words she needed.

"Perhaps you should rest. I can handle the rest myself."

Twilight nodded.

"Good night, Twilight."

She almost had to force the response. "Good night, Princess."

…

...where was she?

Had she gone to bed?

...yes, she had to have. She remembered it now. But she didn't remember getting up. And yet, here she was standing in the middle of a fog.

She could hardly see anything. She just saw a red pathway below her over what she could only gather was an endless abyss.

All she could do was walk forward.

But all she found was the same surroundings. A mysterious pathway. A thick, endless fog. A dark abyss.

A strange voice pierced her mind, and pain shrouded her thoughts.

Do you seek the truth...?

She'd never heard the voice before. She had no idea who or what it was.

All she could do was keep walking.

She young, lavender unicorn always prided herself on her intellectual prowess. She lived in a library. Books were her one true love. Over the years, she learned so much.

And yet she could think of no explanation for where she was.

If it's the truth you desire, come and find me...

The voice was was so piercing...so sharp...it hurt her. But she could hear where it was coming from. It was coming from up ahead.

She kept walking.

She found something. A door. A large, square door, with a pattern of red and black squares on top of each other, getting smaller as they got closer to the center. She couldn't explain how, but she could feel that someone was beyond the door.

She opened it.

"So... You are the one pursuing me..."

She couldn't see who it was. The fog was too thick. All she saw was a dark figure in the distance.

"Hmhmhm... Try all you like..."

She acted only on instinct. With her magic, she called forth a weapon. A blade. She wasn't sure what kind of blade it was. It didn't matter. She ran forth and struck the figure with her blade. The figure did not flinch.

"Hmm... it seems that you can see a little, despite the fog..."

She didn't know what she was doing. But her body was moving on its own. There was a card before her. A tarot card like the one from the dream.

The dream?

Was it a dream?

Did she have a dream?

What is this card.

Where did it come from.

She crushed the card with her magic.

It summoned a bolt of lightning, which struck the figure dead-on. But still, it did not flinch.

"I see... indeed, you possess an interesting quality... But... you will not catch me so easily. If what you seek is 'truth', then your search will be even harder..."

She saw a dark energy gather towards the figure, and then release. The fog grew thicker.

Twilight could not see anything. She tried to swing her blade at the figure again. But she could not find it.

"Everyone sees what they want to... And the fog only deepens..."

Swing harder. Swing faster. Hit something. You can do it.

Nothing.

"...Will we meet again...? At a place other than here... Hmhm... I look forward to it..."

Blackness.

Everything was going black.

As she lost consciousness, she still wasn't sure what was happening.