//------------------------------// // Chapter 1:...Or so it Seemed // Story: A New Lease on Life // by Digital Phoenix //------------------------------// Chapter 1: ...Or so it Seemed ********** “I'm not sure about this, Twi,” Spike said, concern evident in his voice. He took another glance at the arcane circle Twilight was scrutinizing. It was part of her latest project, one that Spike was sure could only end badly, as he’s pointed out multiple times in the last few hours. She was touched by his concern. Unfounded as it may be, it was still nice to know that he cared. Twilight continued to inspect the circle. It was a multilayer construct devised by Starswirl the Bearded and improved upon by Twilight, herself. The outermost ring of the circle was filled with runes to shape and give form to the magic put into it. The middle section of the circle consisted of arcane lines to give the energies a pathway to follow and the center was blank, leaving a space for her to stand. The whole construct gave off a faint, but unmistakable glow of potential magic. The light was slightly eerie, pulsing as the energies flowed through it. Add to the fact that the shadows cast by the furniture seemed to dance and move in the corner of your eye and it gave the whole room a look straight from a horror flick. A horror flick that, if Twilight asks, Spike did not stay up late and sneak out to go see against her wishes. Where he didn’t see an evil scientist raise monsters from the aether using a mixture of science and black magic and definitely was not the reason he insisted that a light be left on at night for the last month. “Oh, relax, Spike,” Twilight chuckled. “I have taken every precaution I can think of and then some. You have nothing to worry about.” “It's not me that I’m worried about,” he retorted. Images of black creatures raising from the floor and surrounding Twilight came to his mind. “You don’t know what adding these runes to the spell will do! For all you know it will cause a rip in the fabric of reality and summon forth monsters from the aether to devour you!” Spike covered his mouth when those words slipped out, but the damage was already done. Twilight looked over her shoulder and narrowed her eyes in disappointment. “Spike, I told you that I did not want you to go see that movie, and this is why!” Twilight reprimanded Spike, her glare hardening. “That flick is nothing but science fiction nonsense and holds no actual credence in reality. Besides, I know exactly what adding these runes will do. The magic circle is a backup in case I need a little extra magic to hold the spell, and in no way will it summon demons from Tartarus, I promise.” Spike gave one last wary glance at the magic circle before relenting. “Fine, but if anything bad happens, then don’t say I didn’t warn you!” Twilight sighed in exasperation, “Again, nothing bad will happen. Now, if I can have some quiet, I need to concentrate.” Spike opened his mouth to say something else, but shut it with a snap when he saw the dark expression on Twilight’s face. Once she was sure Spike wasn’t going to ruin her focus, Twilight levitated a scroll and quill to her. The purple mare scanned the paper one last time, making sure she didn’t overlook anything and checked the final box marked Triple-Check Checklist. With a nod, she set the paper aside and walked to the center of the circle. She took a deep breath and closed her eyes, focusing on the spell. Twilight's horn filled with magic, causing a purple glow to emanate from it. The magic continued to build, forming another layer of light around the first. After a few seconds, the runes and lines of the construct began to glow brighter. Spike saw the light cast from the circle and dashed behind the couch, fearing for his well-being. With a blinding flash of light, Twilight released the magic, casting the spell. A moment later, Spike poked his head out from behind the couch and looked at Twilight standing there, no evidence of anything having happened. “So… did it work?” he asked, moving from his hiding spot. “No, Spike, it didn’t,” Twilight huffed as her features contorted into a frown. “What did I do wrong? I triple checked everything.” Twilight sat down hard, summoning a stack of parchment that had every note she’d made relating to the spell. With an exasperated groan, she tossed the papers into the air, yelling, “What am I missing? Maybe if I...” Her words were cut off as a loud ripping sound came from above her. Twilight whipped her head up toward the sound, letting out a gasp as she saw the cause: a rip in the fabric of space-time. How did she get that instead of a window, like the spell was supposed to make? “Okay ,Twilight, don’t panic,” she thought. “I can fix this! As long as it doesn’t get any bigger, I will be able to close the tear.” She focused her magic to reverse the spell when her concentration was broken by another tearing sound. She watched with abject terror as the rip continued to widen until it was big enough to swallow a pony whole. Fear overwhelmed Twilight, taking all hope at concentrating to reverse the spell with it. With rational thought and dignity thrown out the window, she began to gallop around in circles as the panic overtook her. “Oh no, nonononononononono, NO, NO, what have I done? I’ve caused the end of the world! NONONONONONO! What is Celestia going to think? Her personal student caused the end of not only Equestria but all of Equus! What do I do? What do I do? whatdoidowhatdoidowhatdoido?” Her panicked rambling came to a screeching halt as a loud thud echoed from the center of the room. She stared at the crumpled being laying on the floor. It was like nothing she had ever seen. Twilight took in the sight of the strange creature. It was most likely a biped, judging by its much-too-short forelegs compared to its hind legs and spinal alignment. If its usage of clothes were to be taken into account, then it was a safe bet to make that it was sapient. She couldn’t make out much of its face as it was obscured by its dark brown, almost black mane. Twilight would surmise that the creature, if standing, would stand at about twenty hooves tall, making it around the same height as Princess Celestia. At the end of its forelegs were appendages similar to the talons of a griffon, but fleshy. Twilight took in everything that she could of the strange creature, unable to take her eyes off of it. ********** “Ashly, it seems I’m going to see you sooner than either of us had hoped,” Kyle whispered.  He closed his eyes, waiting for his inevitable end. When the seconds continued to tick by and nothing happened, he opened his eyes. Instead of the asphalt, he found an indescribable expanse awaiting him. The more he stared, the more he saw, until it seemed he was seeing everything at once. Kyle had no idea how much time had passed since he’d entered this place. He could have been there for hours, days, weeks even! All he knew was the strobe like flashes of images and characters kept pushing into his mind, filling it with far too much information. It felt like his head was being smashed in a vice and being ripped apart at the same time. It was excruciating and it wouldn’t stop. After what felt like days, though it could have been only seconds, he came to an epiphany. He wasn’t seeing images of his past, but glimpses of others; other worlds, other realities, and answers to an infinite amount of questions. This realization only gave way to more pain as he tried to fight in futility against the onslaught. The universe continued to shove knowledge into his mind with the subtlety of Donkey Kong wielding a sledge hammer. The images continued to assail him and Kyle felt that he was slipping away, being pushed further and further into the recesses of his mind. He knew that if this continued, everything that was him would be lost, crushed by everything else. Through the onslaught, Kyle felt something shift, almost as if something was trying to reach out for him. With a newfound hope for being released from his torment, he let himself be taken. Ever so slowly, the pressure on his mind ebbed away as the torrent of information ceased its flow. Eventually, his surroundings gained substance and pulled his mind back from the breaking point. The more he began to make out, the more relaxed he felt. Kyle took in the details of his surroundings, noticing that even though he could see everything, it still felt distant. It didn't take him long to realize that he was in a library. Seeing this brought back memories of a better time. Everything was made of wood. The shelves, roof, and floor looked to be carved out of a single piece. There were several doors in the room. One lead outside, if the window next to it was any indicator. Another two doors lead deeper into the structure, but he wasn't sure where since they were closed. The last door he saw was on the second floor, with stairs leading up to it. Kyle noticed all the books. It almost looked like there were too many. Every flat surface was filled with reading material. Even the window sills were covered. Every piece of furniture was pushed to the sides of the room, making space for a strange circle that filled nearly the entire floor. “What a strange horse,” Kyle mused, his gaze falling upon a figure that sat in the center of the equally strange circle. The purple pegasus mare, at least what he thought was a mare, had a well-kept purple mane with a violet and pink highlight running through it with a matching tail. Her coat was a lighter shade than her mane, and she had some sort of tattoo or marking on her flank of what looked to be a six-pronged star with smaller stars surrounding it. Kyle continued to ogle the strange creature when he noticed a flash directly in front of it and papers of some kind appeared. He also took notice of the foot-long horn protruding out of her head. How he missed it earlier, he couldn’t say. He watched in amazement as the papers just floated before they were surrounded with in a purple glow that matched the unicorn-pegasus-thing’s horn. Then, as the papers seemed to be thrown up into the air by their own accord, Kyle felt a tug. Kyle felt another tug but this time it wasn’t gentle like before this time it was as if he was being dragged forward by a truck. A rip formed in front of him and he was forced through it at high speed. The next thing Kyle knew, excruciating pain was flaring throughout his entire body. It felt as if a professional football team had decided to dance a jig on top of him wearing cleats. He was in too much pain to move, so he just laid where he impacted the floor and let out a small whimper to show his displeasure, which caused a fresh wave of pain to flare in his chest. Through the agony, he was vaguely aware that something was approaching him. Slowly the mare came into view. She moved with slow, but deliberate steps, almost as if she were afraid that if she moved too fast, Kyle would lash out at her, but she seemed determined not to let that stop her. He chuckled at the display. She was afraid of the helpless creature crumpled before her? How ridiculous. The chuckle turned into a violent cough and he nearly passed out from the wave of pain the sudden fit gave him. It was getting harder for him to breathe and he tasted metal. With a growing sense of dread, Kyle realized that the metallic taste was blood and the reason he was having trouble breathing was was from the blood pooling in his lungs. A chill seeped through him that sapped his strength, and he realized how dire the situation was. He was drowning on his own blood. Desperation made Kyle attempt to call out for help, hoping someone would hear him, but the only sound that came out was a choked wheeze. The last thing he saw before blackness took him was the unicorn’s horn shining and a bright flash encompassing him for the second time that night. ********** Twilight snapped out of her shock when the creature gave off a pained groan. Taking a deep breath, she slowly approached the unmoving creature. When she made it into the biped’s line of sight, it gave a small giggle, which quickly turned into a hacking cough that sprayed blood across the floor. “That’s too much blood. Why is there so much… Oh sweet Celestia, it’s bleeding into its lungs!” A look of terror crossed the creature’s face at the sight of its life blood being expelled. It appeared like the creature was trying to say something, but all that came out was a gargling sound before it lost what tention it had in its body. Twilight readied her magic and in a flash she was at the hospital with the biped draped over her back. Twilight ran straight to the reception desk, but found it empty.  “Somepony, anypony help!” Twilight yelled at the empty reception desk. She turned her head to the being on her back and whispered, “Please hold on! Please, please don’t die!”