Chryssi’s notebook

by Kryssi

Dreamworld

The Princess opened her eyes.

Upon a soaring crystalline pillar, she sat on her haunches, her lithe figure casting a shadow on the flat apex. Although she could not see them, she imagined thin but numerous flutes carved into the column on which she rested, culminating in an intricate Corinthian capital at its peak. And below the pillar, she imagined an infinite expanse of flat marble that stretched endlessly into the horizon.

Atop the ground lay an assortment of necklaces and ornaments encrusted with miniature diamonds and amethysts surrounded her. Bathed in a warming glow, they shone with the fervency of phoenixes reborn. Countless rows of the jewellery extended from the pedestal in a circle, like rays of the Sun.

Their orderly arrangement satisfied the Princess, bringing a pleasant contentness to her face.

For a while, the Princess focussed her attention on a particular jewel, tiny from her distance yet encapturing her attention nonetheless—a large fire ruby with the likeness of a heart, enclosed in a golden setting. As plain as it was, the necklace nonetheless shone as brilliantly as the gem’s namesake. Her slack-jawed expression and the amethyst-tipped tiara perched upon her head was reflected in its many facets, her likeness immaculate on the polished surface.

As she lifted it in a lavender glow towards herself, she noticed: the gem looked familiar. Perhaps it was a remnant of some distant memory, washed up on some faraway shore. Could it have been a keepsake from her past self, or an old treasure fiercely guarded by an lost friend? she pondered whilst keeping her curious gaze.

The Princess did not notice the shadow looming, distant, behind her.

Placing the necklace before her forehooves with a resounding clink beforehoof, she closed her eyes. With a single thought, she entered her mind, a tranquil realm where aurorae of disjuncted thoughts swirled and coruscated aimlessly.

Screens played out events all around her like scenes in a film, and she trawled through years, decades, centuries of memories. She took care to skip the more recent and copious instances of long-winded meetings with unforgiving diplomats, and the petulant petitioners who spieled with unparalleled hubris. The memories, discarded in the Princess’s search, coalesced into a liquid conglomeration of vivid hues below her floating form.

At last, she reached her unicorn years, its memories scarce but cherished for longer than she could recall. They persevered centuries of the unrelenting storms of Princess Khronos, the fabled alicorn of amnesia and the forgotten.

The Princess did not notice the silhouette gliding ever closer to the pillar.

Her life in the rustic village was displayed before her. Back then, the town was old-fashioned in its methods, but amiable in its hospitality. In the days of yore, the hums of the marketplace composed a harmony to which she listened, and the foundation on which she performed her daily routine. Despite the town’s regular facing of perils and malevolent ne’er-do-wells who threatened to destroy the land they held dear, every time the ponies would prevail, would they not?

Sighing softly, she glimpsed amongst the wafting screens the answer to her quest, hidden in plain sight. Her adopted brother—Spike—gifting the treasure that he had fiercely guarded for months to an alabaster unicorn of a curled violet mane. It was his sacrifice, and his first act of generosity.

The Princess reached towards the screen and caressed Spike gently, like a tentative hoof touching water. A ripple radiated on the screen’s surface, breaking the illusion, but she paid it no heed. Tears welled in the pond below, the translucent droplets mixing in the streaks of kaleidoscopic colour. Shortly afterwards, the remaining screens and thoughts plunged into the pool as well, each aurora jolting the fragile stardust that weaved the realm of dreams.

The dragon rumbled as it knocked the pillar towards the ground, shattering it into hunks of glistening crystal. His every wingbeat swept the necklaces and ornaments on the ground aloft, and into a monstrous squall. Above him, the winds coalesced into heavy, jet-black rainclouds that threatened to barrage the ground in hailstones.

At the same time, the Princess, forced back into reality, swooped up from the falling rubble to face him.

A gargantuan, emerald-spiked beast of lilac scales gazed back.

Author's Note:

Written on 15 Jul 2016, 16 Jul 2016, 17 Jul 2016.

Originally going to be part of the secret Twilight-related story, but it didn’t fit the tone of what I was going for.

Made for some good writing practice, though.

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