It had been only a short five minutes since Twilight had left the sanctuary that was her house, although it felt more akin to hours. She had forgotten how hard it was to tell the time out in the void. Even worse, she had forgotten how cold it was.
Her bones ached from the unnatural coolness, her muscles tensed and her body refused to quit shivering. She speculated that it was near freezing in the place if that was even possible for an alternate dimension.
She stopped walking as she heard an echo of a second set of hoofsteps behind her. She wanted to believe it was hers, but they were racing at a quicker beat much faster than what she was walking. Slowly she turned around to face her pursuer.
Of course there was nothing there. She had most likely hallucinated it; that was an issue for her lately. She’d noticed that her mental health had been going over the past year or so. She sometimes heard voices that weren’t there, saw movement in the corner of her eye. Nothing major, but enough to drive a lonely pony to the brink of madness.
Maybe she was.
Putting the thought aside for later pondering, she started walking forward again. As she continued on the thought crossed her mind that there was nothing out there for her. She had been given a sanctuary to live in for eternity and she wasn’t meant to leave. But if that was the case why would the exit just be waiting for her?
Twilight stopped once more as a strange feeling washed over her. She could feel warmth. Not just the warmth of being under a blanket back in the library, but actual heat! It was like the sun itself was shining directly on her; it felt amazing to the cold pony.
She basked in the warmth with a smile on her face. Slowly, the unnatural cold turned to a comforting summer heat. However, the void still looked exactly the same. Twilight was sure that she was getting closer to another ‘stage’ in the emptiness.
“Fifty millennia… sacred land…” a deep voice whispered. Twilight jumped at the sound that intruded into her head. Who had spoken? Had she truly heard another set of hoofsteps behind her?
“Who’s there?! Show yourself, please!” Twilight yelled into the darkness. There was no reply. Twilight sighed and elected to just continue on. She was just hearing things again.
“Hatred… burning hatred… burn it ALL!” The voice exclaimed. Twilight was taken aback by the sudden outburst from the unseen creature. Her mind quickly raced back to it saying fifty millennia. That was before even the time of Celestia and Luna. Back before recorded Equestrian history even.
Twilight started to say something but stopped as the heat intensified. Slowly, she could feel her ability to breath become inhibited and her body begin to burn ferociously. The room had gone from a comfortable summer heat to a blazing inferno in just a matter of seconds.
Sweat poured from Twilight’s body as she quickly took of forward. She wasn’t sure why she was running; it only exhausted her more and she didn’t exactly have anywhere to go. Still, it seemed a better option than standing around waiting to be cooked.
Her mouth fell agape as the dark void began to change in front of her for the first time since she’d entered the library. However, the change was not a pleasant one; her vision was immediately filled with the sight of flamed that licked the skies.
Before her was a literal lake of fire. For as far as she could see fire burned brightly and fiercely, scorching the land. It wasn’t until she looked to her right that she realized where she was. In front of her, still tall and proud as it was in her time, stood the mountain that Canterlot rested on.
“Isn’t it beautiful?” asked a voice right behind Twilight. Twilight held her breath as a hoof touched her shoulder; she recognized the voice as the one that had intruded the silence not a few minutes earlier.
“You can see me? Hear me?” Twilight asked confused as to who the stallion beside her was. She looked to the right as he stepped forward and took a place directly beside her. He was a tall stallion with emerald green eyes and a sapphire blue coat. Strangely enough, his mane and tail were pale white.
“Of course I can,” he replied. Twilight almost wanted to scream from excitement and happiness. If there was a pony that could see her, then wasn’t that good?
“That’s great! I’m Twilight Sparkle. If you don’t mind me asking, what’s your name?” she asked before grinning from ear to ear. She eagerly awaited a reply, but began to feel uneasy as the stallion simply continued to stare at the fire as if it had him hypnotized.
“Isn’t it beautiful?” he repeated. Twilight wanted to reply, to tell him it wasn’t, but held her tongue. Somehow she felt there was something wrong about the stallion. Her gut told her to move away from his contact, but she’d missed contact with living things. Even if she wanted to, she was sure she’d not be able to move away.
“How is this beautiful? Equestria is on fire!” Twilight blurted out on accident. She didn’t mean to state her opinion, not while he was so close.
“The sacred land burns. All the pain and suffering burned away. I’ve cleansed it. I mean… I did clean it,” he revealed. Twilight hadn’t noticed it before, but there was something off about his voice. It was deep like a stallion’s, but at the same time soft like a mare’s.
“You did this? Why?!”
“So much evil, hatred, pain, and suffering. It had to all be burned away, made new. Only then could it be fit for ponykind.” The stallion’s eyes continued to stare forward like he was in a trance. She began to wander if he could even move from that position.
“Who are you? How can you see me?”
“Who I am is not important. However…” he trailed off.
“However, what?” Twilight puzzled.
“Young Twilight Sparkle. You’ve been in this place for so long now. The one before awoke me, but you… you ventured further than she ever dared. I was ensnared by this place, forced to stay locked away. However, where she was I could see her, study her, learn your language. And you… I saw the suffering you went through and the sacrifice you made,” he replied, his eyes still focused on the fire.
“How could you possibly have seen all of that? Are you telling me you’re trapped here like I am?”
“More so than you, young pony. You wander why I stare into the fire, I can tell. It unease’s you as it should. Wait patiently and you shall see the final bit of pain and suffering become purged.” The stallion blinked once. As soon as he did, Twilight could hear another set of hoofsteps. She recognized them from before; they were exactly the same.
Twilight turned to see the very stallion that stood next to her running towards the two. His eyes were bloodshot from the heat and his brow was soaked in sweat. His mane was a terrible mess compared to his counterpart standing next to Twilight. He continued running until he was standing right where the other him was.
“This is how it has to be,” he panted. Twilight watched as the stallion neared the edge and looked over. “Just a quick hop and I’ll have cleansed everything. The world can be pure finally.” The stallion grinned and looked up, staring directly ahead. “Isn’t it beautiful?” he asked.
The stallion jumped before Twilight could even think on when he was going to or if he even was. Despite her protests to look, she did anyways. She stared downward as the stallion tumbled down the large hill before landing in a large fire. It sickened Twilight to see something so horrible.
“Sweet Celestia…” Twilight murmured.
“Do you understand now?”
“You’re dead, aren’t you? But if you’re dead, then why are you trapped?” she asked.
“You’re half right, my little pony. You see, right before I died, I used the last bit of my energy to cast a spell. It was a powerful spell, one that would allow me to live, but not on the sacred land.”
“What spell was that?”
“I believe you’ve used it before, or at least an iteration of it. After all, Twilight, you too are in the dark void,” he said, his eyes staring downward where his body landed.
“Do you mean…?”
“Yes,” he said as he turned his head towards Twilight. For the first time since she had seen him, the two made eye contact. His eyes were like hers, but held nothing behind them; there was no soul behind them, no happiness or anything.
“You…” Twilight started.
“Created the dark void,” he finished.