Twilight's eyes opened up slowly, and she was blinded almost instantly. Above her stood the sky, grey with clouds floating over it, the colour rusted iron. Beneath her hooves, solid rock surrounded by an assortment of reeds, some growing well over a metre high. She stood up and looked around. In front of her stretched an ocean, blending in with the horizon at one point, extending into infinity. She stood atop a boulder towering at least a hundred metres off the shore below.
The sea that crashed onto the rolling sand beneath seemed to be a dull, black colour, not the ordinary blue of the ocean. Even though she had seen the ocean only once, Twilight knew what its colour was. She remembered all of it so vividly, the image suddenly becoming clearer in her mind. It was huge, massive, and identical to this one, except its colour. Maybe it wasn't even water. She wanted to descend to the beaches below and see.
A gust of wind hit her, mussing her mane up. She had to turn her head away from the ocean and look behind her. Nothing but rocks, extremely high and barren, a few lonely shrubs sticking out of it. It was cold, almost icy. She shuddered and decided to check out the routes that lead away from her current position. There was only one, leading into the centre of the island. She had found herself in this situation a number of times before, so she simply decided to follow the path. The rocks were steep and uncomfortable, stinging her hooves as she walked over them.
Suddenly, a very large bird flew overhead and Twilight looked up. It was an albatross, gliding on the winds that battered the island. It circled over something that Twilight didn’t see earlier. It circled over a huge tree. She could recognize that tree anywhere. It was her library. But here, in this forsaken place? She started to increase her pace. As she walked, a sound similar to a very low ping could be heard, emanating from a hidden place and rolling over the hills. Slowly it turned into a tune, a single lonely voice singing. The music blended in with the surroundings perfectly. She could hear the lyrics, almost coinciding with the crashes of the waves:
Overhead the albatross hangs motionless upon the air
And deep beneath the rolling waves in labyrinths of coral caves
The echo of a distant tide
Comes willowing across the sand
And everything is green and submarine
And no one showed us to the land
And no one knows the where's or why's
But something stirs and something tries
And starts to climb towards the light
As she descended into the rear of the island, she saw several abandoned fishing boats, slowly getting absorbed by a black substance. It was the same colour as the sea surrounding the boats. One of them broke loose and crashed into the liquid surrounding it. All that remained from it was a single piece of wood, partially covered in stone. The moment Twilight touched the wooden debris it flaked off, its remains dancing in the wind, carried towards the centre of the island. In her mind she could hear whispers, memories. She recoiled. This place whole place was filled with the whispers, some of them fluttering in the wind, others swept ashore by the rolling waves. It was no ocean; it was a sea of memories. The voice sung a few more verses:
Strangers passing in the street
By chance two separate glances meet
And I am you and what I see is me
And do I take you by the hand
And lead you through the land
And help me understand the best I can
And no one calls us to move on
And no one forces down our eyes
And no one speaks
And no one tries
And no one flies around the sun
A soft whisper spoke to her; it held her, caressing her. It was inviting her to follow it. It was almost like this soft murmur of voices whispering in her ears knew the whole island. She wanted to see more then this little bay with the fishing boats, she wanted to stand at its shores but primarily she wanted to listen. She wanted to know what the memories could teach her. It seemed logical to followthe whisper.
Twilight walked slowly towards the tree that looked like her library. With every trot of her hoof, she kicked up a bit of dust, and every particle of it was filled with thoughts, feelings and opinions. Soon, the cloud followed her, telling her the most beautiful words she had ever heard. This was something only rivalled by the written word. Only the written word could transfer this amount of emotions, this huge pallet of souls. She could hear the grumpy ones, the happy ones, the cynical ones; she could hear every being in the universe. Some voices were arguing, others were laughing. She was approaching the tree and the voices grew louder, almost like they were trying to her out of going any further. The searing cold of her surroundings became more intense, more tangible. The music descended into a number of shrill sounds, followed by a few deep ones. It was very eerie, but none the less she wanted to see what became of her library.
Finally she reached the front door of the library. It was obviously worn down and old, filled with holes and dusty. She attempted to open it, but the moment her hoof connected with the door it crumbled to dust. Again, the dust fluttered away, leaving only traces of voices behind. She could make out her voice and Spike’s, but not very well. Twilight closed her eyes and listened again. She heard Spike thanking her on his birthday. A stab of loneliness hit her, making her surroundings even colder. She could see her breath. The sounds surrounding her became colder and colder, increasing in volume. A few beats that sounded like a heart echoed every now and then.
She opened her eyes and looked forward. Behind the door, stood her library, just as she had left it, filled with books. Due to the age, it was all covered in cobwebs and trash. The wall below Twilight’s bedroom was missing, now opening to the sea. A few cans of beans were strewn around the floor, lying at odd angles, surrounded by a number of ripped out book pages. Another gust of wind hit the library, blowing several book pages towards the sea. Inside, a strange high-pitched noise was echoing that sounded like Seagulls. She stepped in, treading softly. If everything was made of memories and was extremely fragile, there was no telling what would happen if a sudden wave crashed into the library.
The books on the shelves were the ones she used to own, including a few she’s never seen before. Most of them were scientific books and a few self-help books including one titled “How to cope with loss”. Was it possible? She feared what might occur in the future. Something had happened and she knew it. Her eyes darted around frantically, looking for clues. The first thing she thought of was her diary, whatever happened was sure to be written in there. It was on her bed, under her pillow where she usually left it. The bed was too old to lie on so she sat on the floor and opened it. There was nothing in it, the majority of the pages blank, the rest filled with nonsensical scribbles and parts of verses. On the very last page stood a single sentence, written in what appeared to be blood. She could make out only faint words because of the age. It began with one followed by cut and little and at its end something that looked like pieces. The rest of the page was covered in dried blood.
It sent shivers down Twilight’s spine. Why would she write something like that down in blood? What happened to her? Did she go crazy? The book suddenly solidified and turned into the dust of memories. There was nothing left for her to do here. She had seen a small glimpse of the future. Was this the future where she never came back home? The more questions she asked herself, the colder it became. The sun appeared from behind the clouds, basking the remains of her beloved library in a reddish glow. She trotted back down the stairs and looked towards the sea. It was setting on the horizon, slowly giving way to an ever increasing darkness. The stars fell into the wall of fire that surrounded the setting sun. A voice began singing, lonely, just like the birds flying into the setting sun.
Cloudless every day you fall
Upon my waking eyes
Inviting and inciting me to rise
And through the window in the wall
Comes streaming in on sunlight wings
A million bright ambassadors of morning
And no one sings me lullabies
And no one makes me close my eyes
So I tore the windows wide
And call to you across the sky.
Finally the music faded completely, leaving Twilight alone in the sunset, the wind being her only companion. Soon a few guitar chords started echoing through the darkness, coinciding with the wind. The music grew in intensity. Twilight felt a sudden burning in her mind.
The winds battering the island grew stronger, tearing the library to pieces. It all quickly dissipated into dust, filling Twilight’s ears with voices. All around her hundreds of voices, maybe even thousands, spoke in unison. It was deafening, and soon the entire surroundings were filled with screams and shouts. All of the sudden a single sentence fluttered in the wind, spoken by a deep ominous voce. It was terrifying, chilling Twilight to her very bones:
ONE OF THESE DAYS I’M GOING TO CUT YOU INTO LITTLE PIECES
Twilight’s head spun, she wanted to run and run. She sprinted out of the library into the night. Running across the beach she heard the voices catching up with her. A distant laugh could be heard, coming from the same voice that threatened Twilight. She wanted to get as far away from this godforsaken place as possible.
The crashing of the waves grew, and Twilight found herself trapped. In front of her nothing but a giant stone wall, extending a few hundred metres up. Behind her that awful laugh, shouting obscenities and expletives at her, approaching faster and faster. Finally to her right stood the sea, trashing violently but at the same time radiating some strange form of safety.
Her survival instincts kicked in and she decided to throw herself into the sea and try to swim away. She sprinted towards it, making sure she jumped far enough. She hit the surface, slowly sinking. Something pulled her, and she began trashing with her hooves. It was impossible to swim upwards, the depths pulling her in. Images spun in front of her mind as she began losing consciousness. Her mind finally flickered, and she blacked out completely, with the voice still shouting at her...