I’m awoken once more. I cannot remember the last time it happened. Not that it matters much. I open my eyes to look around, but I’m only met with darkness. I wish to sigh, but - as my burning lungs remind me - there still isn’t any air in this void I inhabit. With nothing better to do, I continue to stare into the abyss, though I’ve long given up on expecting to see anything.
Sometimes, during these periods of lucidity, I like to delude myself into thinking this is merely a bad dream. That, in just a few moments, I will wake in my bedchambers, surrounded by my beloved Empire. I can’t exactly place all the objects in my room anymore, it’s been far too long. Yet even their blurred lines and vague blotches of color cause a deep yearning in me. One that pains me far more than the torments of this prison.
I run a hoof through my mane. Doing so would perhaps speak volumes about my vanity in any other case, but, in my predicament, it is merely a way to keep myself sane. The tickling of these coarse hairs is one of the very few sources of stimulation I haven’t been forcefully stripped of.
As I raise my hoof again, I accidentally touch my crown. Once a symbol of greatness, it, along with the rest of my armor, now makes me sick to my core.
“I was the legitimate ruler!” I try to yell into the abyss.
The silence reminds me of how I’m stuck in this small personal hell, for all eternity.
For a moment I consider ripping the crown from my head and casting it into the void. To forget that I was ever king. My hoof falls limply to my side. I cannot do it. What even am I without my glory?
I continue to float through the emptiness. Or perhaps I haven’t moved in decades. In such perfect darkness, with not even a speck of dust in sight, the word “movement” completely loses its meaning.
I attempt to take my mind off my burning lungs and my aching eyes by thinking of the past. Despite my centuries of successful rule, my memories always wander back to one specific moment.
Oh, how her face mocks me. She spoke about “understanding” and “friendship,” but still banished me here. The hypocrite! I wonder if she even thinks about me anymore. She and her little friends are probably living on, dancing and prancing, without a care in the world, while I rot here, forgotten.
I scoff and shake my head, making the tiny speck of light in the distance zip around in my field of vision.
Wait... Light?
I find myself gawking at the dot in disbelief. It is an insignificant little thing, hardly even noticeable in the infinite backdrop of black, but to my eyes, it’s the most beautiful thing I could imagine. I blink, several times, not believing what I see. But the speck does indeed disappear whenever I close my eyes and reappears, when I open them.
I forget about my numb pain. I forget about my royal dignity. At this moment, I’m a drowning pony who spotted a lifesaver among the raging tides. I kick and claw my way towards the precious thing.
Of course, my attempts are useless.
With no air and no objects to grasp nearby, my flailing has done nothing but exhaust me further. The dot continues to shine in the distance. Its beautiful halo almost seems to mock me.
I feel anger rising inside me, but the suffocating void silences my frustrated groans. It doesn’t matter, I hardly even notice the protest of my empty lungs. I gather my wrath and channel it into my horn. For a moment my magic comes to life and the void crackles with red energy. However, just as quickly as it came, the magic dissipates. I cannot possibly lift the weight of my ravaged body in such a state.
At the very least the failed spell lifted this blinding anger from my eyes. I force myself to stay calm and I rake my brain, thinking of all the possibilities, but nothing comes to my mind. In frustration, I start playing with my mane again.
As the cool metal of my greaves passes over my neck, it slowly dawns on me what I need to do.
Roused from my subconsciousness, the memory of an old parchment slips into my mind, which I had a fleeting interest in during my scholarly pursuits. For a moment I fondly reminisce of the time I took it upon myself to study all fields of academia in an attempt to become an infallible and all-knowing ruler.
I force the warm memory out of my head, there is no time for my mind to wander. Instead I try to visualize the paper. Though I cannot remember the serpentine math and obtuse jargon proving the hypothesis, the theory’s abstract is still etched into my mind: The author, one Haysack Neighton, proposes that all actions face their own equal, but opposite reaction. If his conjecture is true, then in this perfect void with nothing to slow me down in my path, I should be able to propel myself using whatever I have on me.
I quickly take off the four horseshoes which once trampled my enemies, and with wordless grunts I cast them into the void behind myself. The glint on their tarnished metal surfaces quickly fades as they disappear into the nothingness. Suddenly I feel myself ever so slowly moving. Hope blossoms in my heart as I stare back towards the light.
Almost imperceptibly it begins to grow. From merely a pinprick, to the size of a pinhead, to the size of a pea. My eyes ache from the strain, but I do not want to take them off the glorious sight.
Another eternity later, it is now the size of an apple. Then a pony’s head. Then an entire pony.
I could swear I see things moving inside, but the radiance makes it hard to know if it isn’t just my eyes fooling me.
My revelry is short lived, however. As the orb grows ever bigger, I realize that I have doomed myself in my senseless haste. My aim was ever so slightly off and it does not require clairvoyance to understand that I am about to fly past the mysterious object and soon disappear into the nothingness, never to see it again.
My entire body feels like it’s poked with tiny nails at the same time. I’m panicking. I’m overtaken by the need to scream in anguish, to take a deep breath, to destroy something, anything to calm my racing heart; but it’s just me, the orb, and the darkness.
In a desperate bid, I tear my intricately crafted armor from my body and throw it away. It swings me closer to the light, but my trajectory is still not perfect.
I attempt to use my magic again, but it merely crackles violently and rebounds into my head. For a moment my vision goes an unnatural white, far brighter than even the brilliance beside me. My consciousness almost slips as I’m enveloped in a deep, throbbing pain.
I grasp my head to try to dull the ache and my hoof bumps against my crown again. My eyes go wide.
The sphere is gigantic now. I almost feel like I could touch it, but it’s tantalizingly just out of reach.
A terrifying idea slips into my mind.
With almost mechanical movements I remove the crown and stare at it. I forget about the pain as I stare at its intricate design. This beautiful relic is the last thing that connects me to my past.
What even am I without it?
For a moment I consider putting it back on, closing my eyes, and accepting my fate. Desperation wells up inside me.
My body tenses up and my face contorts into a grimace. I collect my remaining strength and cast my symbol of power into the depths. I feel like I’m murdering a part of myself.
I dare not to look back.
With a silent sigh, I turn back towards the light. What I see banishes the despair out of my heart.
Finally I am heading straight for the sphere.
As I float closer and closer, it completely fills my vision. I feel my body tingle as I pass over some invisible barrier. Suddenly my eyes are assaulted by a maelstrom of colors as the orb disappears and an invisible force yanks me through an impossibly long tunnel. Screeching fills my ears and I feel the same panic as before, but I am powerless to do anything.
I spot another circle of light at the end of the tunnel. It’s approaching rapidly. My consciousness slips and I black out once more.