ok, I feel better, *Pops up* Chapter... ### Who are you...?

It smelled nostalgic...

A physical weight, a dull ache in the chest, a scent wrapped in warmth, yet polluted with something unnatural. The kind of aroma that lingered in childhood memories... plastic churning against heat, sharply gnawing at his senses, standing somewhere between comforting and wrong.

This wasn't nostalgia.

Not like a warm embrace from an old friend did, nor the bittersweet ache of revisiting a childhood core memory. This was something artificial, a forced familiarity, like a plastic-wrapped memory trying too hard to be real.

Yet...

It felt like at home.

From a distance, a voice, almost chuckling, sarcastically said in a sing-song with an unmistakable undertone of amusement, "Well! Well! Well! Look who we have here..."

...

...

...

Dante just awkwardly looked at her in mild exasperation. He expected to be jested about using love, but the alicorn asked in a serious tone, "No, I'm serious."

The alicorn before him-- no... this version of her-- just stared. Not in amusement, not in mischief, but with something far worse than all of them combined... Pure, unfiltered sincerity.

"Who the heck are you?"

The initial image he had of this alternative was completely destroyed. "You-" His voice caught, "You gave me a love potion!"

Her left brow raised as she nonchalantly pulled a few interesting items yet seemingly common from the inventory; her eyes turned heart-shaped, and she raised her voice, walking in the light, "Look."

Her voice rose with a mix of excitement and a routine-like tone, "My love potions are programmed to make you go back if something is wrong, EVEN if you don't want" she stated, almost exasperated. "So naturally, I constantly get visitors like you."

Her eyes narrowed. She sighed, rubbing at her temple; something shifted in her stance as a table appeared, followed by a chair laid high, waiting for Dante to sit, "Be my guest because this is gonna be really long."

After settling in, she quickly opened a book and turned her eyes left and right from page to page. "Ah, yes indeed!" She clicked her tongue, and her eyes flickered up, locking onto him, "You are that pinkie pie from long ago... aren't you?"

A vibrant pink aura flared around the objects, with a delicate coat of magic coiling through the air. The soft clink of costly porcelain echoed as coffee poured itself into costly cups. Nearby, a plate of cookies poised into existence, perfectly arranged.

Yet, as refined as this magnificent performance was...

The alicorn's movements were a beat too slow, being betrayed by the weight beneath her eyes, dark smudges of exhaustion, and messy motions.

Her playful, light tone almost masked her weariness, but the weariness seeped through as she leaned in, "I don't care if it was out of need," she murmured, watching him carefully. "You used my version of love potions." Then, a sudden burst of excitement followed, "Oh! Tell me! How was my chibi drawing?"

Dante didn't touch the coffee.

And the alicorn didn't acknowledge it outright, but the way she tilted her head, the way her magic wavered ever so slightly, "Huh... Guess you are more picky than I initially expected."

More drinks materialized, and for a moment, the two pink creatures marked by this chaotic emotion simply stared at each other. An identical hue, an identical nature. Yet... they stood at opposites.

Her gaze locked onto his.

*Slurp*

"time is quite a valuable thing, so let's skip the warm-up."

"Huh?" Dante barely had time to register the shift before it hit him.

*CRUSH*

A crushing weight slammed onto him, and his body instantly began screaming in pain as an invisible force pressed down on every fiber of his being; the air itself had solidified around him, turning into an unrelenting weight, coiling around his ribs, his skull, his spine.

He felt like an overfilled balloon, stretched too thin, seconds away from bursting apart into tiny pieces.

#$"#"$$#"#"#"$$"#$"#$"#"$#"#

His eyes momentarily flickered to show the true nature that lay behind him. A beautiful pair of eyes painted with a heart-shaped iris, crackling dark sparks appeared.

Yet...

"W-Why" In grunts, he continued, "W-hy can't I move..."

The pressure hadn't lessened in the slightest. He was still being pinned down, feeling his ribs, head, and knees hit the ground, barely keeping his form coherent.

The alicorn opened her mouth, tasting the amalgamation aura in the air. The moment it touched her tongue, her face twisted in pure, undisguised disgust.

Then... nostalgia.

"This is completely fake..." For a fleeting second, pride flickered in her eyes. "Just like me, for real!"

But as quickly as it came, the pride faded, being replaced by disappointment.

She let out a dramatic sigh, shaking her head, "Gilly golly gosh, not even I, at my worst, managed to get close to this taste..."

Then, realization struck her.

"Oh, wait." A beat followed, "It's coupled with something else. I guess that's why." her chest puffed out, her chin lifted, and her tone became suddenly more… presentational, "if you were engineered to effeciently use love like me then you would have realized the problems ages ago."

"#"%$$%#

'I know Daniel, that fact was uncalled.'

After calming down, she tasted again and replied, "What I feared... Why did you consume a hate potion?

"You either choose one or the other." Her her hoof reached for a nearby object, a simple, pink balloon in a heart shapped that reflected Dante in it's surface.

Her eyes met his.

"Getting in the middle ground will..." She popped the balloon with a sharp press of her hoof. It didn't explode. It simply… ceased to exist. "and let me tell you, it will not be painful."

...

*Munch*

"you should really try these cookies, my battery enjoys doing nonchalant stuff." She laughed, "Well it's not like I allow him to do much..."

----

Authors note:

I KNOW IT IS SAID FRIDAY. I just didn't expect my homework to be so tedious.

Well, the chapter is this Monday...

And I shall work hard so this tuesday is very blessed with a chapter.