//------------------------------// // 4|2 ◈ A Self // Story: Splintershard // by TheMajorTechie //------------------------------// "Perhaps in time, things will get better." "Sure?" "Hopefully." "Hopefully." “H-hello?” Emily knelt down beside herself. The light rise and fall of her shallow breath was the only indication that... well, she was still alive. Even then, as scratched and bruised as she was, she was obviously not in good health. “Hello?” Emily repeated, setting a hand on her duplicate's shoulder. “A-are you oka—" “No.” Her counterpart swatted her hand away, curling up even tighter now. “Go away. Please.” “Why?” She raised her head a little. “Listen—" Emily rubbed her face. “I don't know what’s going on, or even why this place exists. All I know is that you used to be in that weird crystal thing, but now you’re not, and you’re hurt. I don’t think that it’s a good idea to be pushing people away right now. Especially yourself.” “I… guess so.” Emily sat down beside herself. “What was it like? Back when you were in the crystal?” “Quiet. Comforting.” “Really?” Her counterpart nodded. “Do you… know why you were in the crystal? I know that there was another me here when you were still in it. What happened to her?” “Don’t know.” Emily cocked her head. “Don’t know to both questions?” Another nod. “Huh. Well, I guess that mystery’s gonna linger for a while longer. How about when you broke out? Do you remember anything about that?” “Home…” Her counterpart balled her fists, pressing them against each other in a strange gesture. She threw them apart, opening her hands again. “Shattered. Go boom.” “Go boom?” “Go boom.” Emily’s counterpart confirmed. “’splode. Not long ago. Hurt a lot.” She rubbed her bare arms, wincing as her fingers traced over a particularly large gash. “Still hurt. Want go home. Can’t.” “Yeah. Must be hard, knowing that you can’t… go…” Emily’s eyes drifted to a shard of crystal discarded on the ground between them. Her warped reflection stared back. “…home.” Emily’s heart sank as the realization set in. She couldn’t go home, either. “Is same?” Her counterpart leaned over, peering at the shard. “Also want go home?” “…Yeah. I can’t, either, like you. It’s for a different reason, though.” “Not fair.” “Yeah, I hear you, me. It’s not fair. You couldn’t do anything about that crystal exploding. Me, I’m still locked up in some dungeon out in the waking world.” “Waking… world…” Her counterpart closed her eyes, letting herself fall over with a quiet thump. “See waking world when I close eyes.” “You do?” “Is morning now. Breakfast on floor. You wake up now. Try go home. I stay.” The world around them began to fade. “Wait!” Emily shouted. “What do you mean, try go home? I said that I couldn’t, didn’t I?” ~~~ Emily gasped, dropping her fork. “Took you long enough, Emi.” Starlight’s voice hummed. “I’ve been eating breakfast for you. Though, you kinda broke my hold on you for a moment there.” Emily didn’t respond. “Emi?” She stared at the silverware on the ground. “Emily, is everything alright?” “I have to go home.” “Oh? Didn’t you say before that this time is different?” Emily gave a slow nod. “Yeah. But… still—I can try, right?” “Yup. Nice seeing you in a better mood, too. Whatcha got on mind?” She shrugged. “Teleporting out’s probably not gonna work. I’m not planning on trying it, either, since there’s the whole issue of that anti-magic field and all. Maybe we try something more physical? Actually—” Emily hopped off the cot. “—where’s my saddlebag? Star, do you remember if they tossed it in with us?” “They didn’t.” Starlight sighed. “I’m sure whatever we had in there’s long-gone now.” “Oh.” Emily huffed. There had to be some way to get out of this place, right? Maybe magic really was the only option here. It wasn’t like there was anything else she had that could even remotely help. “Still up for some spellcraft, then?” “Guess so.” She lit her horn, eyes widening at the soft glow emanating from it. “Oh, wow. You weren’t kidding about the anti-magic spell being weak. Either that or I’m just ridiculously strong in comparison.” Starlight snorted. “Probably the former. Anyway—you ready to teleport—” “Oh, we’re not teleporting.” A wide grin spread across the mare’s face. “We’re gonna explode our way out of this place.” “E-explode? Have I even taught you pyrotechnic spells ye—” “Chill out, Star. I’ve got my ways.” The stream of mana flowing from Emily’s horn intensified, forming a thick cloud in the corner of the cell. “I figured that since the sort of magic I mainly use is some weird mix of regular and harmony magic, I could maybe recreate the explosion that the guards caused using their weapons. Y’know?” Starlight’s voice wavered. “I… you… are you sure about that? You saw the size of the crater! Do you really think there’s enough room in the cell for us to escape unscathed the moment that mana ball bursts?” “Only one way to find out!” “Wa—” The cloud erupted, forming a rapidly-growing fireball hurtling from its confines. “You idiot!” Starlight shouted, forcing the girl’s consciousness aside and lighting her horn. Pieces of the cell bounced off of the thin shield she’d constructed, landing harmlessly on the ground as the mare’s attention turned to the expanding ball of destruction. She gritted her teeth, forcing more mana into the shield. Before long, the entire shield had become engulfed in the flames, leaving Starlight standing in the middle of it all. “Emi, I know you have a habit of bouncing back after feeling down, but did you really have to nearly incinerate us this time?” Emily didn’t respond. The crunch of the collapsing walls around them caught Starlight’s attention. “…Well,” she rolled her eyes. “At least we’re out now, thanks to you.” The vibrant yellows and oranges of the fireball soon gave way to greyish-blue smoke… and the absolutely annihilated structure that was once their prison cell. “I did that.” Emily grinned. “Oh, now you say something.” Starlight grumbled, stepping over the debris. “How’d you figure that dumping concentrated mana like that was going to get us out, anyway?” “I didn’t. I just knew that it’d either kill us or it’d get us out.” Starlight facehoofed. “Alright. Emi, we need to talk.” Her ears perked at the sound of rapidly-approaching hoofsteps. “—Once we get out of here.”