The Twilight Kingdom

by Nygell The Glutius

The Inevitable Chapter

Twilight woke up from her slumber. Dust had settled on her coat, tainting it the same color as the wasteland. Around her, the statues were smoothed from erosion, the Garden no longer flourished, and the gazebo ached from age. Her eyes were unblinking, wishing to cry for the death of her final legacy to the world, but no tears came. She had no reason to weep empty sorrows anymore.

Within the sandy fog, a green sapling shined at her with a pristine liveliness. She approached the lonely sapling and levitated a chunk of it’s sod from the planter. It seemed as if it were a floating island in the ether, its roots sticking out from the dirt and seeking any signs of a new homeland.
Carried in the aura of her magic, the sapling followed a flying Twilight to the ground below.

There were no cacti here. No souls extricated from the flesh roamed the wastes. Ruins returned to the earth whence they were built, and the land ceased to breathe anymore. Nothing had perturbed its fallow grounds in forevermore, leaving a nothing of anything used to survive and thrive here. Only the rare tree fossils and ragged rocks dotted the land. Twilight spotted a particular snag within a crumbling graveyard of trees.

It was no more than a torn stump, still resisting the passage of time, with clawing roots torn up from the dirt. Pieces of its crystalline bark littered the dry dirt around its base, revealing its polished interior. Throughout every upheaval, this particular tree always remained in this same place whether it was after the changelings starved, after the downfall of Sombra’s unstable empire, after the mutual annihilation of Equestria and the Badlands, after her nation consumed itself, or after any other unforeseeable calamity.

Despite the state of the word, the soil beneath the stump was rich with moisture and emanated an intangible magic. Twilight dug her hoof in the cool earth and placed the sod clump into the darkened orifice. Almost immediately, the sapling glowed a brilliant rainbow of colors that whirled about in the air. Magical chaos burst through the gloom and enlightened the world with vibrant gleam never before seen. The alicorn beamed in equal measure at the display, her eyes unable to focus on any singular ray of light.

As quickly as it appeared, the magical performance faded and the sapling’s features remained unchanged except for its slightly increased height and additional leaves. Twilight fell on her haunches with her mouth agape and eyes twitching. Her expression softened after several seconds of staring at the mystical plant..

“I guess I’m not meant to see what lies ahead.”

Slowly, she dragged herself over to the sapling to sit in front of it and the decrepit trunk. Around her, the wasteland mimicked a more familiar memory, one where Twilight and her friends never united together as the Elements of Harmony. She nickered at the thought. It seemed to not matter anymore whether she did or did not prevent that time tampering or her recent escapades, for all the paths lead back to here, this dead land. The alicorn closed her eyes and reflected on her ancient memoirs.

In truth, they should have finished long ago, but she refused to comply. The End approached day by day, page by page. Twilight did not know what the last words of her book of life would say, yet she was certain they held no answers and no truly concrete finale. Whatever aftermath that continued on will see an infinite amount of hardships and joy that she will never suffer or celebrate. Her pains and sacrifices are forgotten, along with her happiness and dreams. There was nothing else left for her anymore in this place.

The wizened alicorn whimpered softly as the sapling grew grander and taller each year. On the dusk of her concluding day, when the sapling had become a full grown tree, she finally was able to weep silently for the blissful ages of her forsaken kingdom until the sun set.

Comments

[Mr Unidentified]

Apprehensive from the very beginning, yet gripping to read.

Very well done.

[JustFalcon]

I can't- I cannot even- How- I came here for the feels. I got the feels.