A Tale That Wasn't Right

by Equimorto

Let go

It was a strange thing to see. A perfectly functional mechanism, gears turning in calibrated synchronism, each part harmoniously moving in perpetual synergy with the others, the endless prosecution of the world's underlying structure's carefully designed evolution. And yet, one thing seemed amiss. It was not interfering with the way creation unfolded around it, and a close examination showed it couldn't. It looked much like a misplaced label or a note left by someone else, or like a spare part unintentionally abandoned there, disconnected from the machine, a piece discarded or forgotten that served no purpose.

If one had observed the scene earlier, things would have looked much different. Broken joints, pieces falling off of the others and aimlessly bouncing around. There had been gears turning against each other, cogs splitting under the pressure of contrasting forces. There had been a large tear in the wall of reality, where one piece had been forcefully removed and thrown into the void. There had been numerous signs of damage left over from various attempts at rebooting the structure, and the marks left by one uncontrolled piece that had been purposefully trying to break the cycle.

But existence, even in the face of events as alien and unnatural as those which had transpired, found a way to restore itself. Tears healed, connections realigned, each part shifted and slotted itself in its new position. And in the end, despite the fact that the interference had come from outside, a way was still found to fix the damage and adapt to the changes brought.

What came next was the result of a pondered choice. Pondered upon incomplete and misleading information, and dictated by a whim much more akin to a purely esthetical taste than to an actual yearning for practicality, but pondered nonetheless. And in truth none could have found valid objections had they been in that situation. As meek as the desire for the spectacle to be more eye-pleasing was, nothing against it was laid on the opposing plate. Thus was the decision made, merely by the merit of there being no reason not to.

The piece was taken, reshaped, modified to fit the current paradigm, and then inserted back in the machine, where in had been found, its inner workings changed to match and allow for connections to the structure around it. Princess Sunset Shimmer forgot, though it would be more appropriate to say she simply remembered the way things had gone to reach that point, even if such events never truly happened. And she became what the world around her had always wanted her to be, she became another piece of the puzzle, playing her part without even knowing it. Not so terrible a fate, given how that world's script had been designed with her as the centre and goal.

The alicorn walked through the streets of Canterlot, content with a life that had given her everything one could have dreamed of and beyond, and was destined to give her even more and more. The sun shone bright in the sky, his warm rays streaming over the city, ponies merrily chatted along the road, and nothing was wrong with the world, and everything was right.

And in a lone chamber amidst the currents of the void a unicorn watched and smiled, damned for all time to watch the life she never had and never would have, joyful at the disappearance of her one and only hope to ever be freed from the prison she'd created for herself.

Comments

[Ze1a7in]

...this story was already surreal as fuck. And then you give an ending like this that not only turns what we thought we knew on its head, but just increases the surrealist mindfuckery while leaving more questions, practically no answers to questions we already had, and the burning desire for MORE.

Bravo.

[fanreader999999]

Sunset was a pretty fucked up character when she first got introduced.

[Aburi]

Good story, but damn that's dark!!

[FanOfMostEverything]

And, in the space between spaces, a spare part flies out for eternity...

At least, until it hits another assembly. Won't that be interesting?

In any case, brilliant work. The prose gets a bit overstuffed with modifiers at times, but the story easily shines through the bloat. A great piece of surreal, tragic horror. Thank you for it.

[FieryUnicorn42]

Brilliant, this story is just wonderful. Sunset creating a whole new universe to force Sunset to live a life she thinks she deserves, making her (princess Sunset) just another piece of the puzzle, playing her part without even knowing it. Bravo

[DivinePanzer]

Where's Luna?

Seriously though, I don't understand in the slightest why unicorn Sunset, as selfish as she is, is CONTENT TO MAKE A PRINCESS SUNSET AND JUST WATCH HER LIFE GO ON.

[Ghost Mike]

An oddball ghost happened across your fic and read it. Have a review!