Chapter Two

Twilight Sparkle

I walk with my friends close by. I'm suddenly glad I'm clothed in blue, because otherwise I have no idea how nervous I would be; I'm already shaking as it is, and Pinkie is bouncing even slower now.

There are rooms, numbered one through ten. I know that eight of the ponies in there are Abnegation- which I despise- but the only two instructors that are not Abnegation are for the Abnegation students. So I point Pinkie towards room six- she'd probably get lost if I didn't- and I head over to room two. I nod to Lyra Heartstrings, who looks nervous, and I go in the door.

The instructor is a gray pony, wearing clothes so similar that you can barely tell she's wearing any at all. She closes the door behind me and gestures to the chair behind me. It has a helmet above it that looks like a sieve, and metal clamps to keep my hooves still, as well as wires stretching from the helmet. I nervously sit down, wondering if I should have prepared for this anyway.

"It's fine." the pony says, closing the clamps around my hooves. "The straps are to make sure you don't knock anything over during the simulation."

I nod, but I neglect to mention to the poor Abnegation that I already figured that out.

The pony, who tells me her name is Charcoal Bakes, and actually seems very friendly for an Abnegation, puts the helmet down. She hands me a bottle full of grayish-gold elixir. (AN: I don't remember what color it is, but I don't care, because I have the standby excuse that IT'S EQUESTRIA, DARNIT! So, yeah, I'm good.) I look at her questioningly, and she says, "Go on! Drink it down. It's the simulation-starter. Don't worry, you'll be fine. The results will appear on the screen in front of us."

I notice the screen, and nod to her again.

"You're Twilight Sparkle, right?" she asks.

I glare at her. "Just start the simulation!" I grumble as I drain the bottle.

Of course, she doesn't respond, or even glare at me. The Abnegation are insufferable… all except Pinkie.

That's when the simulation begins.

[linebreak]

I open my eyes in a lit room. It's the school cafeteria, and the tables are all set out, but empty. The kitchen is gone, as well, and the door that leads to it is nonexistant. I look out the cafeteria window, and see that it's lightly snowing, even though it's near summer in real life.

Then I notice one table in the middle that has two large baskets on it. I walk up and peer in, and I see that one holds a large knife, and the other holds cheese.

"Choose!" says a voice in my head. The voice is distinctly feminine, and I recognize it as that of the Erudite leader, Jeanine.

"Why?" I ask aloud.

"Choose!" comes the call again.

"But this makes no logical sense!" I stutter. I can't choose if I don't know what I'm

choosing for!"

"Suit yourself." Jeanine's voice says, and the baskets dissapear.

I hear a door open, and I look around. A vicious-looking dog is glaring at me. He barks in a threatening tone, and then charges.

I suddenly realize that a knife would have come in handy.

I try to send a blast of magic at the dog, but realize that nothing's coming out. My magic must be suppressed in this simulation. I immediately think back to any books I may have read about dogs, and I roll over onto my stomach in a sign of submission.

The dog slows as he approaches me, tilting his head in a confused way. Finally he starts licking my face, and I giggle and stand up slowly. I am very glad I didn't pick the knife; this dog probably thought I was going to attack.

Then I look up, and I see Apple Bloom standing there, looking very innocent and defenseless. "Puppy!" she yells, and the dog tenses.

The dog is about to pounce. Without thinking, I throw myself on the dog. I hear a yip and a scream from Apple Bloom, and then I hit a cold, hard floor.

However, I note that the texture is different than the Cafeteria floor, and I look up to see that I'm on a train. I quickly stand up and look for available seats, and notice that there are none; I resign myself to standing.

A pony in front of me holds a Newspaper above his face, and I notice horrible burns on his hooves. "Do you know her?" he asks, pointing one hoof to the newspaper.

I look at the Headline- Rogue Griffin Caught by the State! - and shudder at the picture of the wild-looking griffin on the cover. "Let me read the story." I say, and I look at the second paragraph, as the first is long and boring-looking.

"We have finally caught the Griffin that has been terrorizing Dauntless for so long!" announces Dauntless leader Eric. "This Griffin has been carrying off colts for a long while, to who-knows-where, and kills any ponies that gets in her way. Fortunately, one of our trainers managed to lay a trap for the Griffin, and she is now in our custody."

We spoke to the trapper, Four, but he seemed angry at us and told us to leave him alone.

I stop reading and shudder. Something in the back of my head tells me that I know this Griffin, but I can't remember from where. I put down the newspaper and see that the pony I took it from has scars and burns across his entire body. He is dressed like a Dauntless.

"Well?" he asks. "Do you know her?"

I don't know what to say. I can't lie, but he might attack me if I tell the truth. So I just shrug.

The pony stands up and glares at me, coming closer. Nobody moves. "Give me an answer!" he screeches. "Do you know her?"

"No." I say with conviction.

Suddenly the pony is up in my face. "You're lying!"

"No." I start shaking. "I… I don't…"

"If you know this Griffin, you can save me!" he screams. "You can save me!"

"Well," I step back, glaring into his eyes. "I don't know her."

[linebreak]

I wake up back in the machine. Charcoal Bakes unhooks the wires, and doesn't look at me. "Stay here." she says, and canters out of the room.

I manage to slip my arms out of the clamps and curl up in a ball. I knew I should have studied. I must have failed. But how could I fail?

It takes ten minutes, but Charcoal Bakes returns, and closes the door tightly. She turns to me. "Your results were inconclusive." she says.

I immediately freak out. "Inconclusive?" I shriek. "This isn't right! Nopony's Inconclusive! The test…"

"The test didn't work on you." Charcoal says.

I stop. She gives me a serious look.

"They call it Divergent."