Out of all of the strangest ways to wake up, this had to top them all. As she was soused from her sleep, she suddenly became aware of the lack of gravity. He checked around her, noticing she wasn't even in her bedroom. A strange grass field surrounded her, as a light zephyr caressed the land. The blades of grass danced in the wind.
A quick readjustment, and Twilight found herself on her hooves. She noticed that she still had this sensation that she was hovering. She flexed her wings, and placed a hoof upon her horn. She still had everything, but she had never felt so empty. So naked.
Celestia's sun hung high in the sky, nearly noon, and only distant clouds inhibited the sky. Her attention was suddenly drawn to a strange mass on the other side of the depression. As she tried to canter, she noticed she was unable to move. After several attempts, only her wings could provide movement in this strange, seemingly hollow state.
With a few careful experimental flaps, she managed to devise a rhythm. Floating like a butterfly, or rather Fluttershy, the young alicorn made her way to the strange object. As she drew closer, she made out a color.
Lavender.
A sudden burst of vertigo overcame her, as she began to beat her wings at a faster pace. The mass became to take shape as she drew closer.
A barrel.
Legs.
Hooves.
A head.
A horn.
A six-pointed star as a cutie mark.
Twilight stopped dead in her tracks, as she store down at her own body. She didn't look hurt, not a single scratch or laceration anywhere on herself. No pained expression on her face or anything. Not a single clue of death located anywhere on her body.
And no wings either. She was a normal unicorn. Twilight cautiously lent a hoof, attempting to check if her body was breathing. There didn't seem to be a heartbeat, as she drew her hoof to her own mouth. A moment of hesitation came over her as she placed it against her own muzzle.
That hesitation was overcome with fear, as her hoof never made contact with her own muzzle. She stared at it in utter shock and mystery, her hoof somehow partially inside her own mouth, with no physical contact whatsoever. And she didn't feel a thing from it.
Twilight hoped against whatever force had brought her here, that some strange sensation with rouse the mare in front of her to awaken, that something would prove that she was alive, even if it wasn't the same Twilight.
When no such indication came, she slowly drew her hoof back, as her legs gave out beneath her. Shock still had absolute reign over her mind, as she attempted to come up with any sort of explanation.
She began to probe her memory, trying to remember the last thing that had happened. Nothing involving a grass-filled plain had occurred within recent memories. The last thing she had done, before she found herself in this condition, was fall asleep in her own bed inside the Ponyville library. Nothing unusual about the day at all.
This was horribly wrong, there was in no way she could be dead. No logical way.
As she began to finally deny her the reality of it, another strange feeling began to rise in her. Some unknown, invisible force, began to tug at her. Before she could properly register what was happening to her, she began to rise from the ground.
Her senses returned just in time to see her body begin to fall further and further below her. She began to reach out with her hooves, trying to grab at her mane, tail, anything that could ground herself. Something that she could hold on to. Every attempt was met with her hooves passing completely through herself.
As if they didn't exist at all.
Fear and anxiety flooded her heart, as she involuntary rose higher and higher into the sky. She struggled against whatever force was controlling her.
She thrashed about, her mind reeling from the possibility of the finality of her situation. Sudden waves of memories overcame her mind. Her memories of her parents. All of her birthdays, and the wonderful amount of books she got. The cute little doll her brother had made for her. The games she used to play with Cadence.
Tears began to fall from her eyes, unburdened by this force, as they fell upon her own corpse. She recalled how she had met her friends. Pinkie Pie, Applejack, Rainbow Dash, Rarity, and Fluttershy. She wept as she remembered how they had saved Luna from her madness, how they captured Discord, and how they aided in the defeat of Sombra. The six of them had saved Equestria countless times, and she hoped they would continue to do so. Her adventures were the greatest times in her life, and considerably better than anything she had read in her books.
Books. Reading. That was her drug. It was a wonderful thing sure, but every rose has a thorn. It was because of her obsession she hadn't made many friends before Ponyville. It was because of that she never really knew, or rather cared, what life with others could offer.
She cursed the damn things. They were meant to read in moderation, not in constant indulgence. She considered herself a glutton in some ways.
It could end here, she had so many other things she wanted to do. Twilight wanted to grow, in more than just magic and friendships. She wanted to watch Equestria to proper even further. She wanted to watch her friends achieve their dreams. She wanted to seem them live their lives to the fullest.
Twilight wanted to live her life. She had missed out on so much in her youth. She understood that now, and she wanted to make up for it. To take back what she had cast aside all those years ago. Twilight wanted to live. There was so much more magic in the world she wanted to learn. She wanted to learn and teach all the same. She wanted to make more friends, she wanted to find love. She wanted to get married, have a family, grow ol--
Everything stopped.
Twilight's face was wet with her tears, as they slid down the side of her head. The water from her eyes had stung, and were collecting in pools on her pillow. She sat up, now in her bed. Her own shaken hoof came to her face and wiped away a tear.
She could feel it. She had a physical form again! She quickly began to wipe her face clean, mostly for the feeling of her own hooves.
A quick surveillance of the immediate area confirmed that she was in her room. Same covers, same nightstand, and the same dragon resting next to her.
An enormous tidal wave of relief and happiness overwhelmed the mare. Tears began to flow anew, as she reveled the fact that she was alive. As her emotions subsided, she grabbed a scroll and quill from a nearby desk. She tried her best not to let her tears stain the paper.
Dear Princess Celestia...