When she woke up, Twilight wasn’t on the cloud mattress she’d slept on in Canterlot. She yawned, glancing briefly at the clock as she stretched, propping herself up against the headboard.
Maybe it was that she’d slept on clouds last night, or the chat she’d had with Celestia, but the fact remained that she felt a lot better this morning; a lot more at-ease with herself.
Today was a new day; she was going to find out what was wrong with her and then she’d have a nice cooked dinner with Spike afterwards in celebration.
Speaking of which…
Spike opened the door, balancing the tray as he usually did, and approached the bed with a cheerful smile.
“Morning, Spike,” Twilight offered happily.
“Morning,” Spike replied, “You seem better this morning.”
“Hmm?” Twilight asked, drawing in the breakfast that Spike had just put down and starting on the toast.
“Well… I found you on the doorstep last night; dead to the world,” Spike continued, looking at Twilight nervously. “Are you alright?”
“Never better,” Twilight replied, meaning it as she offered Spike a slight smile, “I think I need to look at a cure for narcolepsy sometime soon,” she elaborated, spinning the lie out of nothing.
Spike stayed next to the bed as Twilight took another few bites from her toast, just waiting as she munched it down until, eventually, “So… any plans for today?” he asked, apparently trying to fill the silence.
“I think I’ll be down in the lab,” Twilight answered confidently, “There’s something that’s been bugging me for a bit too long and I’d like to make a definite start on it.”
Thankfully, Spike knew better than to question her about any of her experiments and he simply smiled briefly before replying, “I’ll try not to disturb you then. I’ll call you when I’ve got something together for lunch.”
“That’d be brilliant,” Twilight agreed, watching as Spike left the room, closing the door behind him. Once he’d left, she finished off her breakfast with gusto, humming a quiet tune to herself. It was true; she felt better than ever. Today would be the day that she got results.
She yawned and pulled herself out of bed, leaving the tray on the side and folding back the covers before she straightened up, stretching in the morning light.
She felt alive; ready to tackle her illness again. Still humming quietly to herself, she slipped out of the room and lit a lamp before strolling downstairs to her laboratory, shutting the door behind her and locking it.
She was not going to be disturbed this time.
She left the lamp on the bench at the end of the room, opening the book that was next to it and quickly finding the page she wanted. She’d start with another self-diagnosis spell and work from there. It was what she’d planned after all.
She paused, then lit her horn, attempting to levitate the lamp in front of her. She was pleasantly surprised when it rose compliantly, the only reminder that Twilight had that she was impaired was a slight twinge above her right eye.
She put the lamp back down and grinned.
She still remembered where she’d left off last time. She’d work from there and see where it took her.
Once again, she closed her eyes, letting her magic loose on herself as the self-diagnosis spell took effect.
The magic dove straight into her organs as another twinge poked her. She ignored it, following the trail further into her organs, watching the dark line as it threaded itself around her body, very carefully ignoring the little signals that were being thrown up by her brain, telling her to stop.
The dead line led into her heart and she followed it, going closer and closer in, watching for the spot that would yield results.
Suddenly, her thoughts became sluggish; as if mired by cotton wool. She slowed down, the lines of light and missing magic becoming blurred as she watched them.
She was faintly aware that this was not how the spell was supposed to work, before she felt her mind explode in pain and the world turned black around her.
She was still standing up; that was the only similarity between five seconds ago and now. She looked around into the empty nothing, trying to see something, anything.
“Hello?” she called out, listening as the noise left her mouth and stopped there; simply hanging in the air as if time itself had frozen.
“Where am I?” she asked into the still air, barely hearing the words herself as she spoke them.
I couldn't tell you.
Twilight turned around as the voice presented itself to her. For that was what it had done; simply appearing in her head and bypassing her ears entirely. In front of her was a figure, dressed all in black and an imposing hood that covered its face. “W- Who are you?” Twilight asked, sounding a lot braver than she felt, “What am I doing here?”
The figure seemed to ponder this for a moment before answering: I am the last of the four; the Alpha and the Omega, the bringer of the end. You may call me Death.
The monotonous voice grated like two tombstones sliding together, echoing through the realm and through Twilight’s very being, making her hackles rise.
As to why you are here… well… The figure seemed to fidget for a moment, unwilling to say the words that had presented themselves to Twilight.
“I’m dead?”
Precisely, Death said, his granite tone remaining unchanged, Glad to see that you've got a grip on things here… you might be the only one who has.
“But-“ Twilight muttered to herself, “I… I can’t be dead… I was only doing a small spell…”
So I'm not the only one with conflicting orders, Death said, almost curiously You're here… Which means you're dead in the traditional sense… It paused. But... Your time has not come.
At this, Death reached into its cloak and withdrew a tall hourglass, the spiral between the bulbs: elegant and unfathomable. Sand had simply stopped in mid-air inside the glass, the top jar still more-than-half full.
Isn't that odd… Death muttered to itself quietly, What should be done then…
“I locked the door…” Twilight said to herself, still not quite listening to Death as it continued with its conundrum, too lost in the depths of her own shock to care, “They won’t find me for hours…”
Four hours to be precise, Death said, That is the time that the dragon, Spike, will use his spare key and open the door to… find you is a bit of a misnomer actually.
Finally paying attention, Twilight turned her focus on the hooded figure with her, “Wh- what do you mean?”
Death reached up a hoof to scratch its hood, the white bone of the foreleg contrasting with the perpetual darkness. I don't think there's very much left of you to be found.
“Oh…” Twilight replied in a small voice.
Which makes sending you back into your body a bit tricky, Death continued; its tone of voice could best be described as frustrated. I suppose you're going to have to come with me as the case may be… There is no other alternative I'm afraid.
“Come with you… where, exactly?”
To the other side.
“Oh,” Twilight murmured again, looking around herself into the darkness again. “I suppose that would make sense…”
Then we are in agreement, Death said in silent tones, If you would follow me, Miss Sparkle. Without another word to her, Death turned and started walking deeper into the darkness, closely followed by Twilight as she wondered what was going to happen next.