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The alarm kept ringing shaking me from a strange dream. There had been other ponies in it. A white unicorn, two earth ponies and two pegasi were in the dream. In the dream they had been my friends. We had shared many adventures in the strange way that time in dreams moves differently. But already the details had faded to almost nothing. The only remaining detail was the white Alicorn. But I know that she was gone. And she will never return.
As I got out of my bed I glanced out the window. I don’t know why I do this. It was just a habit that I had gotten into. The only time looking out the window ever told me anything, the sirens would have told me it first. I closed the curtains, tired of the endless dark that covered the sky. Even the magical lights did little to dispel the gloom.
I moved to the mirror, lifting my brush with my magic so I could brush out my mane before work that morning. In the mirror I saw a purple unicorn, with a darker purple mane. The single lighter stripe in my mane was a gift from my mother. So was my typical mane cut; bangs cut straight across my forehead. Thinking about my mother made me sad, so I focused back on the mirror again. The sad eyes of the pony in the mirror stared back at me.
“Are you happy?” I asked her. She didn't answer. She never did. Even if she did I know what the answer would always be. She hasn't been happy for a long time.
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A second alarm cut through my thoughts. I had to buy that second alarm because I had found that too often I would get caught up in my thinking then I would be late for work. Quickly I finished getting ready and move to the door.
As I leave my parent’s house I can’t help a sad thought. Even though they have been gone for several years now, I still thought of the house I lived in as my parent’s. But these thoughts wouldn't get me to work on time. I quickly walked down the streets. Above me the stars were barely visible with the all lights of Canterlot shining. The stars were my favorite thing about the world before, and it’s strange that I was missing them now. I hurried down the street. I remembered that it wasn’t safe to stay over long in the streets these days, also I didn’t want to miss the train that will take me to work.
I made the train. Barely. I made a mental note to readjust the clocks in my room so that I would wake up a little earlier. Same as I did every morning when I barely made the train, or barely missed it. But I wouldn’t. Making that mental note had become a part of my morning routine, just like asking the mare in the mirror if she was happy. I wouldn’t change it because it makes things seem normal. At least one small part of my life could be normal.
After I got off the train at my stop I walk to the factory where I worked. I tried to tell myself that I needed to hurry, if I wanted to impress my boss. But I knew I didn’t care. This job paid the bills, and allowed me to keep my parent’s house, despite the creditors closing in, but I would never enjoy it.
When I got to the factory my supervisor tells me that I have been reassigned. Again. The past week I had been working on the magic lights that help keep the cities warm, and help the crops grow. At least then I could pretend that I was helping. I didn’t bother to ask why I was moved. The reason was always the same. Too much power, too little finesse. My supervisor, a gray unicorn knew that I had the power to supply even the strongest of spells, but could barely manage levitation, when comes to skill. I usually acted as a battery for more skilled unicorns. Supplying my raw power to them so they could perform the more complex magic.
I was also not terribly surprised that I was being reassigned. Last week I had lost control and caused a magical power surge. It had taken out three units of the lights. Seeing how expensive and time consuming they were to manufacture I was surprised my boss just stopped at reassigning me instead of firing me. I think it was because of my supervisor. I think she was an old friend of my parents, who was trying to help me out of pity. I wish I could work up the courage to ask, or to thank her.
Instead of supplying power for a Master Unicorn, today I would be working by myself. I would be working in the oldest part of the factory. There other less skilled unicorns worked to build furniture. That part of the factory will likely be either abandoned or repurposed shortly. Very few ponies cared about buying new furniture when they had to pay so much money for the magical lamps that were the only viable source of illumination. Here the tasks only required basic levitation skill, which any unicorn could do no matter what their special talent was.
There was quite a diverse group of ponies there. Some unicorns like myself, who lacked the skill to work in any of the other parts of the factory, plus a few old guards, too injured to be of any threat. Sometimes missing limbs, these last remnants of the world before lived on only through sheer force of will.
* * *
I got to work, lifting each part into the air with my magic, I pieced the furniture together. To my left was one of the old unicorn guards from the days of the Sun. I had no doubt that he tried to participate in every single attempted coup against our new queen. And paid dearly for each attempt. Scars ran all over the poor creature’s white fur, and he could barely walk with legs that had clearly been broken repeatedly. He also had silver fetlocks that had been shorn recently. Where his cutie mark would have been there was only a mass of scars, some recent. It was impossible to tell what his cutie mark would have been, but it was easy to guess. The guards always had similar cutie marks. The Queen only kept him alive to serve as a message to others who would try to rebel.
He was trying to lift the parts for his piece of furniture. But his horn was broken, one of the cruelest things that the Dark Queen did to those who defied her, that permanent crippling. The remains could barely maintain a glow and often pieces of furniture would clatter to the floor when the spell’s power faded.
Seeing him like this tore at my heart. Looking around quickly to make sure that no one was watching me, my horn blazed to life and I felt a sudden dip in power as I lent him some of my power. I had become extremely adept at this. After all, my special talent was feeding my raw power into other ponies so they could use it more skillfully. My cutie mark was a lone purple starburst with one arm much longer than all the rest. I figured the long arm of the magic, was for me loaning it to others.
The unicorn I helped looked around trying to see who had helped him. Likely he would have tried to refuse my help, which would only draw attention to both his lack of power and to my helping him. Instead of making eye contact with him and risking both of us being discovered I focused on my work. Eventually he stopped looking around and continued his work, his horn no longer glowed dimly instead it glowed a bright yellow with a hint of purple.
I didn’t know why I was helping him. It was risky. While not necessarily forbidden in the factory it was highly frowned upon. If one of the Queen’s Midnight Guard were to see this, many ponies would get in trouble. Everypony up the chain of command in the factory would hear about it, and probably be punished for it. The damaged guards were supposed to serve as a constant reminder about the cost of defying the Dark Queen. Maybe it was because seeing him like that reminded me of my brother. Regardless I felt the need to help him.
After several minutes of feeding him power and working on the furniture in front me I hardly even noticed the added strain. But closer to lunch the stress was starting to tell. I was moving slower, and there was beads of sweat on my forehead surrounding my horn. I could still go on like this for hours, the magical well, deep inside me was still flowing with power, but still I couldn’t wait for the lunch bell to ring. Only another hour to go. Maybe after lunch I wouldn’t feel so bad for the guard and would let him struggle on his own. Not likely.
Suddenly the night outside switched to day. The sudden brightness pouring through the windows of factory blinded many ponies who had stations nearer to the windows. Shortly after the sun sprang to the center of the sky the sirens placed throughout the city wailed their sad cry, a cry mimicked by many of the ponies throughout the room. I leapt back from the table I had just finished. Even just one year of the war had taught me that much.
Just as I feared the table jumped to life and started to gallop around the room. Screams echoed around the factory as various objects exploded or started walking around. Suddenly the fear broke my concentration. I could feel the waves of power building inside me. I ran to a corner, trying to shut out the screams and crashes. My horn flared to life as I pressed my face against the wall.
“I am in control. I am in control,” I chanted as the magical power built inside me. With another crash a full sized carriage burst onto the factory floor, and with this last distraction all semblance of control disappeared. A blast from my horn hit the pile of furniture parts that I had been working on, immediately assembling a dozen tables. Another surge of power hit the guard I had been helping. Then the wave of power completely overwhelms me. I knew from previous experiences that my eyes had turned pure white with the power that was flowing through me. A shock wave of power flew away from me as I began floating in the air. Crackling lines of magic shot out from my body targeting everything around me. Ponies screamed even louder as bursts of magic snatched them off their hooves. Some were simply levitated around the room, while others transformed into trees, plants, and a few woodland animals. Even the dancing pieces of furniture were affected. Most returned to their previous dormant state as my magic overpowered the attacking magic, others exploded when the contest of wills became too much for the furniture to channel.
Over the screams of the other ponies and the crashes happening in the rest of the factory I could hear another voice screaming. With the pain that channeling that much magical power was causing it took me a second that it was me screaming. Suddenly a magic bolt hit me and shatters the hold the magic had on me. With a serious of loud bangs and crashes those ponies who were transformed morphed back into their previous forms. Anypony who had been floating fell to the ground. Outside the night had fallen and the siren had been switched off. The attack was finally over.
The inside the factory was completely silent. The only sound was the whimpering of anypony who was injured in a fall or when a chair had exploded. I looked around and I saw that everypony was staring at me. They were frightened. Of me. They were even more frightened of me than they were of the attack. The only face I see that was not terrified was that of a white unicorn whose horn still shone with a yellow light. His silver fetlocks were blowing in the wind from holes in the windows and factory walls. I couldn’t tell if the holes are from my magic or the previous attack.
I knew I was fired. I turned and ran. I was terrified that one of the Dark Queen’s Midnight Guard had seen what I had done and would attack me. I ran out of the building and down the street.
It took me some time to get over my anxious fear and once I did I realized that I was far from where I needed to be to take the train.
“It is probably safer to walk home anyways,” I said to myself. Every time I lost control like that ponies get hurt. That time I could easily have killed somepony. I wasn’t going to risk being around others right now. There might not be anypony around to help me break the spell next time. It usually took a very powerful unicorn to be able to snap me out of the magical trance. I vaguely wondered who the unicorn was who had helped me, I couldn’t remember him being in the factory before the attack.
* * *
Several hours later I arrived at home. Sometime during my long walk home it had started raining. With the rain pouring down in buckets I stumbled up to my parent’s house. I lived so far away from the factory that by now I was so tired that I could barely stand. After most spells my power felt drained and eventually could make me so tired that I could collapse, but my “accidents” usually left me brimming with energy. However even that energy had started to ebb a while ago. Now it was completely gone. I could barely levitate the key to the door I was so tired.
Inside, the house was dark. I could barely afford to keep the magical lights on when I was home, much less during work. In the dark I walked into the entrance way and immediately crashed into something large. I used some of my magic to light a candle. By its light I explored the object that was in front of me.
It was a large wooden chest, bound with heavy metal straps, and closed with a complex lock. Also I could sense extremely powerful protective spells in and around the chest. Whatever was in there, the owner certainly didn’t want it coming out. And yet the name engraved on the chest clearly read “Twilight Sparkle.” I wondered how it had gotten here. The post service, inconsistent even in the days of light was now terrible at delivering packages. Plus they wouldn’t have just invited themselves in to deliver it.
As I moved closer to investigate a spark jumped from my horn to the chest. Instantly everything unlocked. Even the magical protective spells dissipated immediately. Inside the chest I felt something even more powerful. It was the most magic I have felt in one place in years. Not since that Summer Sun celebration so many years ago had I felt anything close to it. When I opened the chest lid the magical energy almost exploded from inside. The force of the magical energy was so much that it knocked my back a step. Yet nothing else in the room was effected. Nor had the energy felt wrong or dangerous, in fact it felt strangely familiar.
I looked inside the chest and saw a golden crown. On its crest the crown had a gem shaped like a magic starburst the same color as my cutie mark. The biggest difference was that all six points of the gem were the same size.
With a sudden air of familiarity I lifted the crown in my magic, my exhaustion forgotten. Delicately I placed it on my head. Suddenly in my head I heard a voice. A voice both known and forgotten, a voice with the regal quality of a ruler, yet the caring quality of a mother and friend.
“Twilight Sparkle, my dearest and most faithful student…”
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