Waking up
White... All I have ever saw when I got here was an endless void of white. I once tried trotting in search of anything in this void of endless white, but all I found was an immense pain in my hooves. I've been here for so long, I don't even know if time even passes here anymore. So long, that I've forgotten some of parts of my own body. I never met anypony in the same situation as me ether. I sat idly as I hoped in vain for something to happen to change my environment.
"My little... sunshine," I stood up as a ripple of color accompanied a fuzzy, and strangely familiar voice.
"*Gasp* Who are you?! Can you hear me?! Do you know me?! Who am I?! What am I?! What is this place?! Is there a way out?! If there is can you get me out?!" A flood of questions exited my mouth, all demanding to be answered.
"Everything will... my little... sunshine," A menacing rift appeared alongside another ripple of color and the fuzzy voice.
I stared in silent horror, my voice dying in my throat, as a black sludge splattered onto the ground behind me. The sludge moved unnaturally as it started to consume the white void. I tried to move, to run away from the sludge, but my hooves wouldn't listen to me.
"There is... to worry... ray of..." The voice did nothing to calm my rapidly beating heart as the sludge moved quickly at its sound.
Soon, the black sludge practically filled the white void except the small round circle around me. The sludge paused in its quest, as if it unexpectedly came upon a strange entity. From white to black, the very thought of being in complete darkness frightened me to no end. My heart was beginning to slow down before the sludge shot out and grabbed onto me. I could feel it crawl up my hooves as I thrashed about having regained the my nerves. Forgotten muscles my back twitched and flared in attempt to free me from the sludge.
"There is no need to resist. Just relax and give in. It time for you to wake up and find your place my little ray of sunshine," The voice, suddenly in perfect clarity, strangely calmed my heart.
My resistance against the black sludge slowed to a stop as my body gave into the voice's plea. I could see the sludge creep across my vision as I came to a sudden realization, 'Mom?'
Pain... That was what greeted when I woke up. My whole body was sore and I couldn't move an inch. A weight was centered on my back and spread across my body. I didn't dare open my eyes yet for fear that dust would blind me. Something shook everything around me after a few moments of holding still. I heard things shift and fall down and some weight get taken off of my back. I wiggled a bit to see if I could move and It felt light enough for me to remove the weight.
I could hear things screeching above me as I gathered my strength. I pushed up and felt the weight slide off of my body. I felt sore all over and the screeching didn't help my spiting headache. I rubbed my hoof on my head hoping it would alleviate some of the pain.
"Uhh... where... am, I?" I asked nopony in particular."And would you things just shut up!"
Opening my eyes, I introduced myself to my surroundings. I almost panicked because couldn't see very far in the dark, but things flickered and moved swiftly in my vision. Looking down I find that I was on a large pile of rubble. I turned around, an irritated look on my face, as I found a particularly large piece of rubble that looked large enough to pin me down. The screeching disappeared and allowed my headache to diminish a bit. Muscles centered on my back twitched and folded, causing me to briefly wonder what moved.
Taking a few wobbly steps, I made my way though the darkness. I was going at a fairly quick pace when I bumped into a bookshelf. You want to know how I knew it was a book shelf? I knew it was a bookshelf, a rather old one at that, because what little dusty books that bookshelf had fell on me. HARD.
"Ah!" I yelped in pain gaining once again the special attention of the bats."Ouch, I'm going to be feeling That one in the morning."
The screeching increased my headache more than the books did being insistent in their displeasure of my noise making. I swung my hooves in the air in an attempt to scatter the bats away from me. I made the mistake of taking a few steps back while still flailing and tripped over a book. I glared at the book as I rubbed my slightly bruised butt. The book was dusty and practically unreadable, It could hardly be considered a book at all. The bats flew away as I trotted over and picked up the book. I blew the dust off and wiped away any remainders that were too stubborn to read what I could of the title, `F.l.y's/..lt's .u.d.e to m.g.c.`
'This seems a good a book as any to get something out of it,' I thought as I cracked the book open.
The pictures were almost nonexistent, the words faded next to nothing, and I was barely able to read due to being in complete darkness, I was lucky to even read the title. The pages crinkled as I flipped though gather all the information I could. What I gathered was limited magical knowledge but it was enough to get me going.
"So, an energy within a unicorn... a unicorn..." I whispered to myself. 'What if that feeling or energy is within me?'
I pause in my reading and closed my eyes, searching for whatever was inside me. I didn't find it though... I felt it. It was just sitting there waiting to be called upon. I never found it because it never needed to be found, just called. It was small and warm as a small sun, though I felt saddened at its state. Almost as if I expected it to be bigger than it is. Magic... My magic. The magic that exists in everything that lives. That is the energy that unicorns can tap into! Magic!
I 'grabbed' at my magic but it slipped through my hooves. I tried again thinking that something would be different this time, It wasn't. I almost tried the same thing a third time before I realized it wasn't going to work. I pushed my magic aimlessly from the center of my body.
'So how do I use my magic? My hooves? No, that is too cliche. My butt? Nah, that is too embarrassing. My head?' I thought as I knit my eyebrows together in focus. 'My head it is!'
I guided my magic to my head in hope that it would do something. Other than a warm fuzzy feeling in my head it did nothing. 'What am I doing... wait maybe?' I began to move my magic toward my forehead as a hazy memory came to mind. The magic didn't stop at my forehead, it continued past it to my... Horn. The word felt familiar and strange at the same time. My horn...
I kept my magic in my horn and opened my eyes. The memory was still hazy but I vaguely remembered that I had to focus it on a object. I looked to the book in front of me and stared. My magic did absolutely nothing to the book. Confused, I wondered if I did something wrong.
'Is it because I just thought that it being in my horn is enough?' I thought as I placed my right hoof on my chin. 'How about I force it out?'
I tried to push the magic out my horn and onto the book. Sparks sputtered in a firework display, but other then that nothing happened. 'Did I do it wrong?' I forced more magic to come out of my horn and a splitting headache occurred. 'Ouch!' I waited until my headache recced before I tried anything. Instead of forcing my magic to come out, I decided to try and ask it out onto the book. My horn glowed a golden color, generating a small amount of light, surrounding the book.
The book reminded me that we unicorns can levitate things with our magic, even though the unicorn was kind of beheaded and missing a few other limbs. I put an image of a floating book in my mind and lifted the book. I smiled proudly as I watched the book float in the air.
"Ha! Now I can read more efficiently!" I proudly stated satisfied that I now had a little light to use to read more books to learn. 'But... Where am I? I know I'm a unicorn but what is this place and how did I get here?'
Conflicted, I set the book down. The golden light from my horn wisped away shrouding me, once again, in darkness. I blinked a few times and lift the book once more with my magic. The light lit the book slightly and floated in the air, nothing too special. I placed the book back on the ground and my magic wisped away.
'Well I guess I need to keep my focus on something... But, what if I don't have something to focus on and I need light? Uh, I need a new spell.' I shook my head in frustration. 'This place should have one around here somewhere.'
I spent a few minutes searching through books hoping to find an illumination spell. I looked and looked though page after page of books that fell on top of me. After I ran out of book I frowned, disappointed that I didn't find a spell that met my needs.
'Wait aren't there scrolls too?' I thought as picked up a book to go searching for a scroll if I could find one.
The book floated up and down the bookshelves, casting light in between the dusty shelves. It didn't take too long as near the end of I found a few crinkly scrolls that didn't look too trustworthy. I levitated a few of the scrolls down and attempted to read all they had. Each were faded beyond recognition and hard to read, I was surprise that they weren't already dust.
"Stupid dusty books and scrolls, if only you had more durability though years without needing tending," I muttered under my breath as I dropped the scrolls to the ground. 'Well... I should be glad that they even lasted this long.'
I sulked there among the scrolls, mad that I couldn't have woken up sooner. I kicked my right front hoof and bumped into the forgotten book at my hooves. I read the title once more in my mind in the royal canterlot voice to vent my anger.
'...Wait, Can-ter-lot... Canterlot... Canterlot!' I hopped in glee at remembering something. 'Now what about the royal canterlot voice made me remember canterlot? Uh duh, royal CANTERLOT voice. Anythiing else? Headache!... That passed... Now... Oh, the "Filly/Colt's Guide to Magic." Unicorn invented new spells to use right? Then I should be able to do that too! Generating light should be easy enough, then I can finally see farther then my muzzle!'
I paused a moment to think before putting my plan in action. 'Light!' The thought didn't do anything that I thought it would. I was about to try to force it out once more when I remembered the splitting headache it gave me. I gave thought to how I might generate light.
'What is light? Ummm, well... light is shiny and brightens the area so everyone can see... Thats true buuuuut... *click* Light also creates heat and lights the path though the darkness. Though not all shadows hold danger.' As I was thinking a gentle heat was being emitted from my horn.
I focused on projecting the warm feeling onto the area around me to reveal the oak wood bookshelves. Pleased, I trotted around to make sure that I had the spell down right. It was getting pretty hard to cast magic as my constant use of it dwindled my mana pool.
'I need a place to rest my head,' I yawned as I grabbed a few books from the bookshelves I passed at random. 'I might just read these before I go to sleep.'
I open and passed large double doors onto smooth marble floor. Piles of rubble and broken pillars are present in the abandoned place as my hooves clipped and clopped through the halls. I walked up stairs that were near the end of the hall faintly hoping that someone would be at the top of the stairs. By the time I reached the door I all but threw open the door rushing into the room.
"Mo-" The words died in my throat as my eyes scanned the room finding no one in it.
The room, or whats left of it, had little to offer, a bed that use to be used by somepony important me. The fireplace was filled with dirt, I don't think I could shovel out the dirt and get a fire going. what would be the balcony is blocked off. A flag in the room is torn in half the bottom missing. A large mirror was beside a desk with a long forgotten note and diamond-like clear stone.
The light that shined from my horn dimed as my gaze lowered greatly disappointed. 'Who did I expect to be here?' The memory slips through my hooves like the others before it. I looked up at the mirror and saw a rather disgusting and dirty looking pony staring back. The pony, who was me, had a light green coat and a brown and yellow disheveled mane and tail. Golden eyes stared back at me as I noticed something off about my body. I dropped all the books and intensified the light and gasped in shock at what I saw.
W-W-W-Wings... Light green wings... Those must be the nerves that I felt move. The illumination spell fizzed out as I shifted my focus to trying to move my wings. I could feel tiny twitches on my back that allowed me to focus completely on the movement of my wings. I continued to try and master the movement of my wings. After I got it down pat I tried to split my focus between the spell and the movement of my wings. Fairly soon I got a hang of doing both.
'So... What am I? I'm not a unicorn as I originally thought,' I pondered as I ignited the illumination spell.
I took one good look at my wing after I stretched them out. They were in a very poor state that made me wonder what I could do for them. Feathers were out of place, some even looked like they were about to fall off when it came to me. On instinct alone I brought the first wing to my mouth and began realigning my feathers, pulling out a few. It felt good to be able to preen once more. I double checked my work to make sure I was ready to move to my next wing. After that was done I looked in the mirror once more and smiled that at least one part of my was sparkling clean, even though it left a bad taste in my mouth.
'*Growl* Oh, hunger, almost forgot what that felt like,' I looked down at my stomach and grinned at the feeling. 'I'll hate it again soon enough.'
I groaned as I began to feel a headache due to my prolonged use of magic. I trotted to the desk curious as to the note. The desk was higher then my eyes, a hint that it was made for somepony taller then most. I hooves on the desk so I could see and took a glance at the diamond-like clear stone, and remembered that it wasn't a stone but a crystal. I picked up the note and read the faded text. ".... ...... //.. Lun. illumi... .... ..t.r etc."
'Lun? who's lun? Might be the former owner of this room,' I thought as I placed the note down. 'The note was talking about something about illumi... illumination spell! but, on what? the crystal?'
I picked up the crystal to examine it. 'Illumination...' I created a small orb of light as I transfer the magic from my horn. The crystal's center began to glow a bright light, brighter than my fading magic. I slumped down onto the desk almost completely spent and with a great headache *growl* aaaaaand an empty belly.
"*sigh* Where am I going to find food in here," I grumbled as my last dregs of magic wisped off leaving the crystal as the only light source. 'Guess I better search or starve...'
I groaned as I picked myself up and grabbed the crystal with my mouth. My mouth shined like a flashlight as I traveled down the stairs. At the bottom of stairs a different type of screeching reached my ears. I turned my head skyward, shining my light on the sounds owner. The bat faltered a moment in the bright light but was able to right itself before hitting the ground. The bat just hovered in front of my eyes giving me time to examine it.
The bat was rather large for a bat being almost at tall as my eye. It's wingspan reached just past the size of my head. The bat had a completely black fur and leathery wings. Its eyes were strangely filled with kindness even though I interrupted its peaceful sleep earlier. The bat happily screeched and flew in a circle around my head.
"Uhhh, you wouldn't happen to know where food is?" My question made the bat pause. 'Wait... Why am I talking to a bat. It not as if it could understand me.'
The bat lightly screeched and flew off down the hallway pausing to look back at me. 'Well, I've got nothing to lose.' I followed the bat down the hallway turn around corners as they came by. Climbing over another pile of debris the bat circled at a door. I glanced nervously at the bat as I neared the door. I opened the door and trotted into the room.
I immediately could tell that the room use to be a kitchen when I saw the rusty knives on the floor. I sighed and shined my crystal flashlight around trying to see if I could find any food in the immediate area. Seeing none, I started my search for food. After a short while I did find something but it was inedible and I was losing hope to find something to quiet my stomach.
'I should have guessed that that apple was beyond rotten, It was as if somepony pooped it, placed dangerous chemicals in it, then tried to pass it off as food. There is nothing here! That bat was trying-' Something glowed in the dirt that I didn't notice. I then saw the large bat pushing a stone out the way. I immediately felt bad for even suspecting that the bat wanted to kill me.
"Thank you for helping me," I said thankfully to the bat.
The bat just screeched lightly and flew off, happy that it did its job. I gaze hungrily at the glowing patch white flowers. I placed down my crystal onto the floor and carefully plucked a pedal from one of the flower. The flavor of the pedal danced on my tongue as I chewed. I swallowed down the pedal and dove into the flowers. I devoured the flowers like I never eaten in forever.
"Thank Celestia... No, Luna uh... Oh who cares! These flowers are GOOD!" I shouted happily as consumed another flower.
I had to mentally slap myself to stop eating the flowers before they were gone. White residue glowed on the edges of my mouth as I stopped. Half of the glowing flower patch was destroyed in my wake.
'Uhh... Well, that happened... Celestia and Luna huh, Two more names of ponies I know or knew,' I thought as I licked up the residue from my lips. 'I should probably save some of these for later. The seeds can come too.'
I picked a few flowers from their stems when I came to a problem. 'How am I going to carry the flowers, the seed and the crystal without my magic?' I paused a moment before I took a gamble. I dug into the dirt in the patch of white flowers finding the seeds in the dirt. My horn glowed as I attempted to use magic after I exhausted my magic. The flowers, seeds, and the crystal floated in the air with the successful casting of levitation.
I smiled and travelled back to the bedroom with my items in tow. I opened a drawer on the desk and placed the seeds and flowers into it. I then plopped onto the bed with all the grace of a rock. I didn't even bother with the covers on the bed and closed my eyes. I sighed then picked my head up from the pillow. I cracked open a book and began reading the pages. I was on my fifth book when I started feeling sleepy. By the seventh book I was all but losing the battle against sleep. My head collapsed onto the pillow as sleep claimed me.
My surroundings were hazy when I came to but then I realized I couldn't move. I wasn't in the place that I sleep anymore that much I knew. Suddenly, my body moved without my telling it to and I saw the room as it came into focus. The pale blue light of the moon showed a baby-blue walls and a ruby red carpet. It didn't take long before moon was being lowered signifying the start of a new day for many who rose with the sun.I felt warm as rays of sunlight crept through a window across my body. I had another deja vu moment when it began feeling familiar.
"WAHHHHHH!" A piercing cry of a foal cut the air making me flinch at the noise.
It took me a moment to realize that the one who was crying but, I felt different somehow. My nerves were sending me the wrong signals and everything around me towered. Warm tears rolled down my face as my body attempted to move the wooden bars holding me back. My head gazed upward and paused a minute taking notice of the air space, free of all bars. My wings flapped quickly, raising me above my prison. A door opened to my left and a tough looking stallion came through the door with a yawn.
"So this is when you start buzzing around the air huh," The stallion said, fatigue seeping into his low voice. "Guess I should let her know that our foal is beginning to fly."
"Dah!" I landed with a thud and quickly rushed over to him, jumping at the last moment.
"Whoa!" I hit my dad right in his chest making him fall back into a different room. "Heh, you hit like my second in command. Your going to be one tough cookie to crack."
"Dah?" I said, my small brain not comprehending what he meant yet.
He didn't say anything just laughed and lifted me into the air. I flailed my little hooves in the air and giggled happily. I babbled in delight, smiling that I got some time with my father, a father who was a batpony.Golden eyes gleamed in happiness and a smile with two fangs in the top row of teeth. His head glanced upward as hooves step up to the both of us. A pony towered over the both of us with a soft smile on her face.
"How are my two favorite ponies doing?" She asked in a voice similar to the one before I first opened my eyes to the darkness of a library.
"Mah!" I cried out to her while trying to get out of the hooves of my father.
A tingly feeling passed over my body as I was lifted out the hooves of my mostly colorless father. I hugged as much of my mothers neck as I could and nuzzled her as my dad got up off the ground. In the corner of my eye, something caught my attention. Brown leather wings flapped happily though not fast enough to lift me into the air. 'What happened to my feathered wings?'
"Yes, I love you too my little ray of sunshine," My mother said kissing the top of my head.
"You know, he started flying today," My father said kissing my mother on the cheek.
"Oh, really now?" She replied before kissing back.
"Yeah, you should have seen him using his wings to get out of his crib!"
My mother giggled before replying, "Maybe he would like to show me?"
I was placed on the ground and I waddled around. My wings spread and flapped hard attempt to redo what got me to leave me prison. Words of encouragement came from my parents. Surly enough my hooves left the ground and I raised into the air. I flew around the room as cheers from my parents. I proudly tumbled on the on the ground rolling onto the hooves of my mom.
My stomach growled gaining the gaze of everypony in the room. I got hooves and began poking my mother for food. She laid down rolled to the side and I found my target. Warm milk filled my belly as I internally blushed.When I was finished I was picked up and burped. Light humming reached my ears making me yawn even though I just woke up a few minutes ago.
'I guess this is a memory, can't be a normal dream if I can feel things. My dad was a batpony and my mom was... The color of their coats were... eyes? dad's was golden mom? I can't remember,' I thought as I slowly drifted off to sleep or was it waking up from my dream?
Opening my eyes to darkness reminded that I was sleeping in the dark empty castle underground. Getting up I levitate a crystal that can hold an illumination spell and focus my magic of my most recent spell into the crystal.
‘How long was I out?’ I asked myself that as the crystal revealed the books on magic I was reading.
Trotting over the mirror I saw that my mane was still a mess and that I still had a horn and wings, Feathered wings. I paused a moment and then slowly opened my mouth curiously to find two fangs there.
‘Fangs... like a bat pony... I was a bat pony that lived with the sun as if it was normal for my kind. *sigh* I still think this whole thing is a dream. Add to the fact I don’t know who I am or why I’m here. I should get out of this place as soon as I can. I should use those covers for a bag to carry things in. I should also use that spell that makes things smaller from one of those books I read. Hey, I remembered reading those,’ Smiling slightly that I remembered them from the reading session I had before I went to sleep.
I looked over to find that there was one book I haven’t read at this point.
‘Might as well read it as I leave,’ I thought as a trotted pass the book lifting it as I headed for the door.
Just as I got to the door I stopped ‘wait I need something to hold these things… Oh! A makeshift saddle bag! I’m sure I should be able to make something like that. But first…’
I moved over to a mirror and began to straighten out my mane and tail so it looked more presentable. Then I looked for anything that could be used for a saddle bag. Finding a purple cloth I used my magic to grab strings and put them in a more suitable form to make a saddle bag. Working for minutes that felt like hours I made a saddle bag and use magic to decrease the size of the books making them more suitable for travel. Smiling happily I levitate my items into the saddle bag remembering the seeds of the glowing flowers, Some of said flowers, and levitate the illumination crystal near me.
‘Well I’m sure that this crystal can do something else but I can’t think of a use for it yet. I’ll pay a visit to the library before I leave though; it still has books that I haven’t read yet.’ Trotting out the door toward the library i notice the bat from... what ever time it was before I went to sleep. The bat landed on my back and looked at me as if it was expecting something.
"thank you for helping me find food to eat," I said to the bat remembering the events in the past.
The bat smiled contently as i opened the library doors.
'hmmm I will stuff these bag with as much magical information I can which should be about 20 books if i want to add some flowers to this for on the go,' I thought deciding on the course of action.
It take a few minutes but I got 20 books shrunk and put into my bag. The bat fidgeted on my back as the sound of other bats reached our ears. Tiny claws and fangs scratched and bit me as I ran out the library.
'Why are they attacking me I did nothing to them!' I thought as I looked around.
"you!" Shouting as I come to the solution "your the reason they were attacking me what did you do that made them angry?!" The bat cringed covering its ears as i shouted.
"Hmm... I guess they would be angry if you helped me survive i guess. or you left and or were banished from the flock of bats for helping me or other reasons and now you want to go away and I'm your best chance at that," I said slowing where my mind was going and getting a sad bat to perk up and nod."Well then ba da da da! you now have a bat on your team do you wish to name him? yes. your name shall be shako!"
The bat spreads it wings and flapped happily with the name.
"Ok shako lets get a move on we need to find a way to the surface!" I said as i galloped down the steps.
We traveled though the hall searching for a way out. I moved rubble out of the way with my magic to get to doors that were blocked. I fount tha ballroom, throne room, two other bedrooms and an armory in our search. Each room was different in its own way. The ballroom was a large open space with rubble in a few spots that nobles would dance the night away at a party. The throne room was large as it was long with a ruined chair that saddened me to tears. Shako hugged me with his wings and wiped away my tears when I was done crying. I almost stopped there and went back to the room I had taken refuge in, but Shako encouraged me to keep going in his batty ways.
We had a snack break in the armory with the rusted armor and weapons.
We finally make it to the entrance of the castle and We are met with a cave with blue lights everywhere. I renew the spell in the crystal a third time as I made my way across the courtyard. Shako flew off my back to scout ahead of me. He screeched happily and that made me curious as to what was ahead. I gaped in awe of the blue river glowing with awakened consentrated magic. With the smooth glowing ceiling it was light I was standing in the middle of the night sky. I also noticed that my sight in the darkness was strangely getting better with time.
I stopped to bathe in the glowing river and quench my thirst that built up. I levitated my saddle bag over the water to make sure it didn't get wet. I paused at the exit to the cave and remembered something.
'This place use to be canterlot castle home of the twin sister and mentor of twilight sparkle. I don't want to lose this place I have to do something.Of course! I to remember that there is a spell for this kind of thing. Now if i'm right this will set a point in my mind and lead me to it if i want to get here,' I thought as I looked through my mind to find the spell.
Shako looked at me wondering what I was thinking of doing.
'ok i think i got it,' Focusing on the spell as I looked at the castle. A spot on the castle shined in a golden light as I set a point in the room i was in.
"there now i can get back here when ever i want to," I said turning around to the exit of the cavern.
After trotting along the tunnel for a long while I begin to feel parched. Listening around for water while trotting through the tunnel with more climbs then drops. Sometimes the tunnel split into different paths. I sent shako to scout a few of them from time to time to decrease my chances of running into a cave-in.As I moved through the tunnels I began hearing running water.
"Water!" I shouted as i rushed to the source.
It was glistening cave water but I'll take what i can get. Plunging my muzzle into the river i quench my thirst each gulp of water. Shako landed beside me and got a drink from the river too. I gave myself another rinse to get what dirt I collected out of my fur and preened my wings.
"lets keep on moving," I said after dissipating my thirst.
Shako took his place on my back as we started once more to the exit of the tunnel. Transversing the tunnel you'd expect something to happen like I run into a bear or maybe a giant spider and large spider webs but it was pretty uneventful other than seeing clay once in a while and a few gems as I was trotting along. And then I saw it. The light that was at the end of the tunnel. I galloped straight into the light and across the grass feeling the wind slide across my coat ruffling my wings as my eyes were closed. I then opened my eyes looked from the rising sun and in that one instant I knew that anything I just read about the history of equestria was just turned into dust.
