//------------------------------// // To Be Alone / Twilight Gets Lost // Story: In Aeternum // by Traintrack to Nowhere //------------------------------// Prologue: To Be Alone Have you ever been alone? Every being in existence has been alone at some point. Even the most social of creatures will sometimes desire solitude. And even those few that don't will eventually, by necessity, find themselves alone... but have you ever felt alone? Yes... most beings have felt this feeling – the feeling of not quite belonging, or not quite fitting in, or even the stillness of true solitude... But few, very few, have ever been Alone. There is, indeed, a difference between being alone and being truly, irrevocably, completely, Alone. It goes beyond even the most crushing of stillness. Beyond even the suffering of the most ostracized of individuals. To be truly alone is to be alone. Completely. Utterly, and irredeemably. To be truly alone is to be an individual... to be completely unique. And solitary. There are those that have been alone for a time, then there are those that have been alone forever... and then there are those that are so incredibly, perfectly alone... that they, are all that is. That is solitude... the wandering of countless ages, searching for life, to find nothing. The passing of every sunset to sunrise searching, futilely, for the barest hint of something other than yourself, and the passing of dust and wind... where with every horizon comes an imagined being, from a city, to a house, to even a simple, tiny plant... To be so alone, when even a seed would be glorious company. To be the last – the only – thing to walk the earth, for eons... That is solitude. Forgive me if I ramble here. I have been awake for a long time. And alone. My memories can no longer keep me enough company. All my patience, my hope, and my determination has been worn away by time. I used to fear sleeping, and ceasing to be. To fear fading into the dust around me, taking my memories – my precious memories – with me. For who after I will live to tell my story? My father's story? Who after me, will tell the tale of the human race? I do not know. But I am weary, and after countless years... I am still alone. I no longer fear slumber. I am tired. It is my barest glimmer of hope that, perhaps, I will wake from this slumber. That someone, or something, will wake me. But until then I sleep a dreamless sleep, with no one, and no thing, to keep me company. Alone. Father... I do not know how much longer I can last. Please... Let me wake to a world of wonder, a world of laughter... or a world of suffering... but at least a world where, despite all odds, I am not alone. Or else let me sleep 'til time destroys me. Chapter 1: Twilight Gets Lost Twilight Sparkle was having a good day. It had started out easily enough as a nice, quiet morning leading into a pleasant, peaceful day. 1. Have breakfast with Spike – or wake him up if he's asleep and then proceed to the above – 2. Open Library, 3. Read recently acquired books before sorting. Nice, simple, peaceful. A day in her scheduled, orderly life with room to breathe in. She had been finishing step three when she had a flash of insight and realized that Zecora might have something to share of her own regarding Natural Herbs, Remedies, and Where to Find Them, and that it ought to be worthwhile to hear what she had to say. Zecora received few enough visitors as is and, really, Twilight had nothing else planned for the day... so why not spend some of her free time pursuing new knowledge? It was as good a thing to research as any – and likely to come in handy sooner or later, knowing her luck, so why not? Short answer: Zecora lives in the Everfree Forest. Long answer: Entering the Everfree Forest often leads to getting lost in the Everfree Forest, which is bad, because any manner of things can end up chasing you... like a manticore, that gives up on you when you trip and fall down a ravine, only to end up being chased by a fairly sizable pack of timberwolves instead, and when you remember that timberwolves are scared of loud noises and flee when you make a racket... you're still lost. And maybe she sprained something... Something was certainly hurting every time she stepped over a particularly large root, or took a step at all, really. Certainly, walking didn't used to hurt this much, even after such a vigorous run. Maybe Rainbow had a point, and she needed to get out more. Such were the thoughts of one Twilight Sparkle as she wandered deeper into the Everfree Forest, completely lost. The trees had been getting thicker and thicker as she walked and, now that she thought about it, that probably wasn't a good sign but... at this point, there was no way to tell where the vegetation began to thin and – oh! –...there's another ravine. This one was both deeper, and steeper, than its predecessor. Then again, Twilight couldn't see the bottom through all of the vegetation coating it... vegetation that looked suspiciously like a clearing of grass, instead of a canopy of vines. All of this was noted later, as, with a loud squeal, Twilight fell through the false grass and down, and down, until she landed on a root hanging from the ravine wall. With a sigh of relief, she wrapped her legs more tightly around the root and searched the sides for a way up. Then the root gave a sudden jerk, leaving Twilight with half a second's warning before it broke off at the base and she plummeted into the darkness below... ...which was, fortunately, not all that far from where she was before. Just dark. A quick glance upward revealed very little – the trees were thick enough to block off by themselves what little light the hole created by Twilight's entry would have allowed to filter through. Tired, annoyed, and more than a little sore from all the times she'd tripped, or fallen while attempting to find her way through the forest, Twilight was just a bit upset but... unfortunately, there was nothing to release the fury on – glaring at vines was just silly – so she gave a loud sigh and, with a bit more effort than would usually be necessary, called on her magic. A corona of violet light flared to life around Twilight's horn, quickly illuminating the ravine floor. It was a bright light, and within moments Twilight could see the entirety of the walls around her, as well as several yards in either direction. And she could see, directly in front of her, a large, stone slab on the wall, covered, in turn, with alien engravings the likes of which she had never seen before. “Their memories, I protect here, forever, alone.” Curious, Twilight stood – hissing in pain – and edged closer to get a better view at the strange text. Assuming it was a message, or dedication of some sort, she noted that the words were probably engraved vertically, as there was much less width to the message than height. And, interestingly enough, it was written in odd, flowing symbols that she couldn't recognize – even with a better look. Whatever alphabet was being used here was completely new and – judging by the shallowness of the words themselves – very, very old. Despite herself, and her current situation, Twilight felt a small shudder of excitement. This was an old relic, from a completely unfamiliar civilization and – if she was right – nothing like it had ever been seen before...! But, then again... it was rather underwhelming, really – a carved message on a plain stone slab. And, furthermore... there was absolutely no way she could leave the Everfree with this in toe, let alone find her way back to it. Maybe that was why it was still here? Who knew what else could be lost in the Everfree, never to be found again? Catching hold of that thought, Twilight glanced quickly about the ravine once more, eyes searching for other possible relics... but there was nothing. Disappointed, Twilight returned her gaze to the slab – intent on examining it one last time and burning it into her memory before leaving... only to notice that the slab was slightly ajar, and there was a space behind it. Curiosity renewed, Twilight grasped the slab in her magic and gently pulled it aside- Before promptly jumping back in shock. Inside the alcove was... well, Twilight couldn't really describe it as anything other than the single most well-preserved body she had ever seen because, really, this... creature... couldn't possibly be alive, could it? But... it didn't smell of anything other than the damp stone around it. There was no scent of decay and... well, much more was hard to tell because it was covered in dust and dirt. It was bipedal, probably, and had two forelegs braced against its chest ending in... hands? Like a minotaur! Then Twilight realized she was intently examining a corpse and recoiled in an odd mix of shame, nausea, and horror. Somewhat rattled, Twilight sheepishly placed the slab back in place to cover the body from the elements once more – she had to leave the Everfree sooner or later (preferably sooner) and there was no sense in leaving the poor... dead... thing's grave open. She had disturbed it enough as is. “I wonder what you were like?” She mused aloud, staring at the slab for a moment before shaking her head. “It... I... uhm... sorry for disturbing you.” Now she was talking to it... it was time to leave. “Eh... Bye!” She didn't take three steps before pausing in surprise as the loud clapping sound of stone meeting stone echoed across the ravine. Whirling in surprise, Twilight was greeted by a very... distressing sight. The stone slab she had been examining before was now laying on the ground. Within the just-uncovered alcove, a thin, delicate hand was extended palm-first. Morbidly fascinated, Twilight watched as the “corpse” stepped out of the alcove, brilliant blue eyes wide open and gazing at the extended hand in... Twilight wasn't sure what that emotion was, to be honest. If she had to take a guess, she'd call it surprise. As she was watching, the creature suddenly frowned, before clenching its hand and, in a move that left Twilight somewhat baffled, unclenched it with such speed that the dirt covering it somehow... vanished, leaving behind smooth, cream-like skin. This process was repeated with the other hand, and then the arms, before the creature began to frantically pat itself down in a vain effort to remove the rest of the dirt from its person. After a minute or so of futile efforts, it gave up and sighed, before blinking and jerking its head up and to the left. Then the right... where it spotted Twilight's nervously still form. There was a moment of silence, and then... “LIFE!” Before Twilight could blink, she found herself in the crushing embrace of a dirt-covered, at least semi-intelligent biped that she thought dead not five minutes before. “Can't... breathe...” The lavender unicorn wheezed out, trying to ignore the fact that – judging from the strength of this hug – the being embracing her could probably crush her neck in two. The creature froze, before delicately letting go of her neck and backing up, eyes glowing with intensity. “You can talk?” It queried. Here Twilight noted that the creature's voice seemed to indicate it was female due to its pitch. “You can talk?” It repeated, frowning, and Twilight began to grow nervous. “You can talk?” It tried again, but Twilight still couldn't understand it, and that look on its face could range anywhere between frustration to anger to determination. “Uhm...” She stalled, trying to think of something to say, before realizing something. None of those attempts sounded remotely similar to each other. Was it – “You can talk?” It tried again. There it went... was it trying different languages? This was... Twilight wasn't sure what this was. It was important, though. She could think harder about it later. Right now she was in the middle of the Everfree with an unknown creature that looked like it spent the last several years (at least) in a coffin. What to do... what to – ah! Would that...? It was worth a shot, at least. “You can talk?” The creature tried once more, its face as concentrated as before though its tone remained... inquisitive? Agh, Twilight couldn't wrap her head around this. If her plan didn't work, well... Cross that bridge when it comes, Twilight. Frowning in concentration, Twilight's horn was set aglow once more. Several things happened at once. “Watch-” The creature spoke, voice raising in alarm as it dashed forward... and over Twilight as her spell fired off and a loud crash came from behind. “-out!” It finished in understandable Equestrian... a second before catching a falling timberwolf face first on its fist. “Wha-?” Twilight articulated, barely catching the creature's words as it sailed past, prompting her to tense up instinctively to receive a blow that never came. When the sound of flesh meeting wood reached her ears, Twilight turned to find the creature raising its leg and doing some sort of odd backwards... buck... that sent the timberwolf flying into the ravine wall. Where the creature was, somehow, already waiting slam it into the ground for good measure. Several seconds passed in silence as the creature knelt and examined the wolf before Twilight spoke up, this time much more intelligently. “What... how did you just do that? What are you?” The creature turned, blinking in confusion and tilting its head. “I'm sorry? I don't understand. Was I not supposed to-” “No!” Twilight interrupted vehemently, shaking her head. “But... how?” There was another moment of silence, before... “Are you... hurt? Did I do something wrong? I can't tell what you're-” “No-” Twilight responded, exasperated, before realization struck her as she stared at the creature's blank, innocent face. She could understand it – probably – but... it still couldn't understand her. The unicorn face-hoofed in exasperation. Oddly enough, this made the creature smile.