(@Crimson Lionheart It begins) The Tome of Power was an ancient artifact of unknown origin. All that was known about it was that it would grant the reader incredible abilities... but at the cost of their sanity and morality. Eventually, the artifact faded into the sands of time, never to return. Or so it seemed. A young man and eight young women were about to find out the hard way, and by accident...
It was another boring school day, as Crimson performed his morning rituals and headed to Canterlot High. Unfortunately for him, he had no idea of exactly what was going to happen to him, especially the madness that is going to unfold in the future. He arrived and parked his car in the carpark, carrying his back over his back and heading in. Sadly, it would only go downhill from there...
It turned out that Circuit Breaker and the girls had spent the previous night at Twilight Sparkle's lab, investigating a strange book. No points for guessing what that book turned out to be. In any case, Circuit and the girls did not show up to school that day. In fact, at that moment, they weren't even awake yet. The book had driven them to unconsciousness, and it would be a while before they would awakened.
Crimson wondered through the hallways of Canterlot High, wondering why a particular absence of his friends was missing. This confused him slightly, this wasn't usually like them. He then remembered that they slept at Twilight's place, and figured they had a long night and decided to sleep in. It has happened before. He just guessed that they would be back at school later at around lunch time, and everything would be okay...
Something was now clearly up. During lunch, Crim headed to find Derpy and the CMC, who usually hang out together on a regular basis. "Hey Derpy" Crimson said to the blonde haired girl. Although what she lacked in being a genius, she at least had the looks to counteract her disadvantages. "Have you seen Twilight and the others at all?" Derpy thought about it before answering. "I haven't seen them at all, which is weird since they are always here." "That's what I was thinking." He said before his eyes darted away from her. "Listen, I need to leave CHS for a little bit. Can you pass it off as a Doctor's appointment for me?" She smiled and nodded. "Sure thing, Crim!" Crimson smiled before heading off. "Thanks for that, I owe you". He then got in his car and headed to Twilight's place, where the door seemed to be unlocked....
It was about this time that the group finally began to stir. Slowly, but surely, they awoke. Not quite sure what had happened, but still relatively reasonable, they were looking about, wondering what had happened.
Crimson found the group on the floor, slowly waking up, nearby a large book in the middle of the room. Although curious, the concern of his friends was more important then his own curiosity. "You guys alright?" Crimson bent over onto his knees, helping them up
"You guys have been out for about have a day now..." Crimson told the group. "Kinda got worried, so I went to find you guys. You are never late to school."
As the group headed back to CHS, Crimson couldn't help but feel awkward for what 'could' have happened.
Crimson remained unaware of what would happen. Which is fortunate, really, because then, we wouldn't have much of a story here, now, would we? Anyway, after an hour, Circuit and the other girls began to have vague recollections of what had happened, though they refused to talk about it, and for good reason.
It was about 2:00pm, and nothing bad happened. Crimson and the others came back and continued their studies. As time went on, it got worse...
(Reboot time) ----- Derpy Hooves woke up, head spinning and stomach aching. She knew she didn't have a hangover, because she didn't drink. However, when she looked out her window, she saw that something was wrong. So obviously wrong that even her misaligned eyes could see it. The sky was red, houses looked more industrial than normal, and off in the distance, Twilight Sparkle's castle looked more... ominous. Derpy slapped herself, to make sure she hadn't been downing a whole bunch of muffins while watching old episodes of Star Trot before bed. To her dismay, she felt pain. So obviously, she was not dreaming. This was all too real.
It was a world where reality had reversed. The sky was a dark red, and it was terrifying to look at the ponies outside of her window. They were all dressed orderly, yet inside they were nothing more then pawns in the grand scheme of things. Slaves, to the world around them with no chance of freedom. This was the reality now. Derpy didn't know, however, that the ponies who used to be her friends were now the primary reason behind this....
