//------------------------------// // Twilight in Wonderland // Story: A Golden Afternoon // by Gallifrey //------------------------------// A Golden Afternoon by Gallifrey Based on the novel by Lewis Carroll Edited by Reevsie and shad0wstalker Chapter One Twilight in Wonderland Twilight Sparkle brought a hoof to her mouth as she yawned widely. She came to the conclusion that this had been just what the doctor ordered, or rather, what Princess Celestia herself had ordered. The young, academic mare had been so busy completing assignments, performing research and studying friendship that she had been skipping meals and sleep to the notice of all, particularly when she accidentally set fire to a small section of the library during one sleep deprived experiment. Celestia had insisted that Twilight take the week off to indulge in some rest and relaxation. A much wiser decision than letting the poor mare continue to burn herself out, both proverbially and literally. The Princess said rest, and so Twilight was going to do just that. She made her leisurely way to her favourite tree in Ponyville, a proud and ancient oak situated in a quiet part of the town's park, growing on the banks of a babbling brook. She approached it and bade it good afternoon, for it was a glorious summer's afternoon: warm, dry, and very sunny. The tree's branches creaked in the gentle breeze, and Twilight took that as its genial reply. Walking under its sun-shielding boughs felt welcoming, and sitting herself down in her familiar spot, where the trunk matched the curve of her spine perfectly, the unicorn stripped off the saddle bag she was carrying, sat against the old, emerald parasol and breathed a contented sigh. Her breath caught the honeyed scent of the abundance of flowers that were growing all around her, swaying gently in the wind, rustling softly, complementing the chirping of birds in the tree. The unicorn's senses were conspiring against her, lulling her into a sleepy stupor. She looked up lazily at a small sapphire blue butterfly that was fluttering around her; holding out a heavy hoof, the butterfly landed on it. Twilight had never seen a butterfly like this before: it had tiny white spots that looked like stars shining bright in an evening sky. Curiosity filled Twilight as it flittered away, but she was too docile right now to think about chasing after it. Instead, she extracted a poetry book from her bag (a book with no pictures or conversations in it, mind you) and began reading from where she had left off. How doth the little crocodile Improve his shining tail, And pour the waters of the Nile On every golden scale. How cheerfully he seems to grin, How neatly spreads his claws, And welcomes little fishes in, With gently smiling jaws. The purple pony smiled at the poem, and continued. This was perfect. She was in quiet solitude, with no annoying noises, no immediate responsibilities, and no one to please except herself. Yes, nothing could possibly spoil this. Twilight closed her eyes and let the subtle wind play over her face, the humming of the bees like a lullaby upon her ears. A rustling sound from her left made her open one eye lazily, and through the flowers she saw two rabbit ears. Of course, there was nothing so very remarkable about that, rabbits were a common occurrence across the town after all. Shutting her eyes again, her ears perked up when she heard Fluttershy's frantic voice. "Oh dear, oh dear! I shall be late!" Again, nothing was so very out of the way here. She opened her eye once again, went to close it, then started at what she saw. Fluttershy, dressed as a rabbit. This was certainly unusual, but when the yellow mare actually took a watch out of her waistcoat pocket Twilight decided to investigate. Getting to her hooves, she called to her friend. "Fluttershy! Fluttershy! Why in Equestria are you wearing colts' clothing? And a rabbit outfit too?!" The pegasus didn't appear to hear Twilight, instead fretting over just how damnably late she apparently was. Twilight hurried after her, leaving her saddle bag behind, intent on discovering the source of Fluttershy's bizarre behaviour. "Fluttershy!" Twilight panted, chasing her through flower beds and clusters of trees. "Stop!" "No no no! I simply can't! Oh my fur and feathers! I'm late, I'm late, I'm late!" "Late for what?!" called a bewildered Twilight, turning a corner to find that Fluttershy was nowhere to be seen. The mare looked around, and her hoof fell into a hole. A rabbit hole. "Now she can't have gone down there surely?" she mumbled to herself, though she shouted just in case. "Fluttershy?!" A faint, panicked voice returned. "No time! No time!" "Oh for goodness sake!" said a disgruntled Twilight, resigning herself to entering the dusty hole. The hole went on straight for a time, then dipped down violently. Twilight didn't even have time to scream before she started falling. She opened her mouth to yell, but realised that she didn't need to. Her descent was as slow and placid as the quiet brook she had been resting by not ten minutes ago. Twilight had no idea what was going on, but was quite thankful it was, because otherwise she'd be falling to her death. "After this, I shall think nothing of tumbling down the stairs..." she said to herself, "not that I ever actually fall down the stairs." Looking around, she saw some dimly lit maps and shelves, she took a book from its case and opened it, as a good bookworm always does; to her pity, it was completely blank. "Well, what did I expect from a bookshelf in mysterious, dimly lit rabbit hole anyway?" Twilight gave the book a sniff, again, as all good bookworms do: it smelt of Creation, which wasn't a scent she ever recalled smelling before. It reminded her of strawberries. With furrowed brows, Twilight began to wonder just how far down she was going to go, and whether this hole perhaps went through the whole planet! Why, she'd burn up before she ever saw the other side! Feeling increasingly uneasy, she tried moving about, using her tail as a makeshift propeller, but all she achieved out of that was slowly spinning around. The unicorn was beginning to feel a little dizzy, but all of a sudden she struck something hard, a floor. "Finally!" she cried happily, running down a low, wooden corridor, and promptly stumbling into the wall and falling over. After she spun around a few times in the opposite direction to un-dizzy herself, she took off in pursuit of Fluttershy. Twilight turned a corner to see a glimpse of pink tail. "Oh, I'm so late! This is terrible!" Twilight rounded the corner to come across a long hall, all lit up by lamps. Twilight examined a lamp but didn't quite believe what she was seeing- the flames were burning down, flowing over their brackets like hot, glowing water. Except... Twilight couldn't feel any of the heat. She raised a hoof to the flame but felt nothing. Curiosity getting the better of her, she placed her hoof under the lamp and to her surprise it felt as cold as winter's chill. "Curiouser and curiouser! It's burning cold, how the hay is that even possible? Fluttershy, just what is going on-" Her voice died as she looked around to see a distinct absence of yellow, or rather, white mare. Her heart sank as well as she saw the number of doors littered around the hallway. "Of course," she grumbled, "there couldn't just be one door could there?" Twilight walked up to a sparkly glass table, which she was sure wasn't there a second ago. On its top was a small brass key. Picking it up, she examined it and looked around at the variety of doors; many of the locks were much too big for such a small key, nevertheless, the unicorn systematically went around the room, testing each and every lock. To her dismay, her efforts were futile. Slumping to her haunches, she noticed a plush red velvet curtain that looked decidedly out of place. Shrugging, Twilight stood up and pulled it back, to reveal a tiny door. The key fit, and it swung open silently. With a burst of elation, she jammed her head through the door; it was no easy feat, but it gave her a good view of what lay beyond. A garden, the most beautiful garden she had ever seen, with cool leaf fountains and topiary that splashed water, giant blooming flowers of every colour imaginable, and quite a few that weren't imaginable as well. Pulling her head back out, Twilight considered how she was supposed to fit through a gap so small. To her surprise and suspicion, there was a bottle lying on the table that had definitely not been there previously. Putting a hoof to the little paper tag, she read the words 'drink me' in curly, elegant script. "Do you think I'm stupid?" said Twilight loudly to whoever must be hiding around the hall. "Drink me, indeed. You'd have to be exceptionally foolish to drink a bottle of unknown liquid because you're told to, honestly." She looked forlornly back to the door. "Oh, how I wish I could just shut up like a telescope!" she lamented. "Oh wait! I can!" Twilight shut her eyes tight and concentrated hard. Her horn began glowing purple, flashing brightly as her spell completed. Opening her eyes, she was pleased to see a giant glass table looming over her. She had shrunk. Wiping the sweat from her brow, she galloped across the room and through the door, into the enticing garden beyond.