Chapter Fourteen
I step into the room, closing the huge door behind me. Taking another breath, I turn around.
At the end of a very, very long path is someone, some-pony, sitting upon a large throne. The path is formed from red carpeting, very fine carpet from the looks of it. Pillar, possibly decorative but likely not, stretch from floor to ceiling, trimmed with gold. Many stained-glass windows line the walls of this expansive room, letting in massive amounts of sunlight. In fact, the entire room seems to hold a calm glow; I don't even see any shadows. My focus returns to the creature at the other side of the room; I begin slowly walking towards it.
"Mark James Collins," a voice says; it is soft, feminine, and seems to be very close. I stop moving in some surprise; how does she know my full name? I could have sworn I only told my first--"I am Princess Celestia." Oh, that's why. I start walking towards the other end of the room again. I assume the large pony, really a horse, sitting on the throne is Princess Celestia. "Yes, that is me," Celestia says with a chuckle. Wait, how did...? "May I call you Mark?" I nod, trying to make it obvious to the Princess. "Mark, you already know how. I believe you have used the term 'omniscient' to describe me, more than once."
My pace slows again. Oh, man, she can read my thoughts? Don't think of anything inappropriate, don't--Princess Celestia laughs. "Mark, it's okay. I have lived for thousands of years, not much can offend me anymore." Oh. Okay...I'm sorry, I have no idea how to talk to a Princess. I also apologize for whatever you might see within my head. I know there are...I frown. ...things that really shouldn't be seen.
"As I said, it is okay. And may I extend my deepest condolences to you. What you have gone through...I admire your impossibly strong will, Mark." Whoa...a goddess admires me? I remember that my private thoughts aren't so private. Sorry. The Princess laughs again. "Yes, I do. Please, come closer. I wish to see you." I nod, walking forward more. As the back of the room becomes closer, Princess Celestia comes more into focus.
I see that she is indeed much larger than all of the other ponies I have seen, and I agree with my earlier thought that she is more like a horse than anything. I notice she seems to be a mixture of every type of pony, having not only a large pair of wings, but a long horn, as well. Her coat is a calm white in color; what stands out more is her mane. It is very long and flowing, and somehow waves gently as if blown by winds that do not exist. Her mane sparkles with green and violet, almost looking like a liquid in essence. A golden crown is adorned atop her head, signifying her status as royalty.
Continuing along the red carpet, I begin to feel...odd. Not a bad kind of odd, rather, it's actually kind of welcome. I feel...relaxed. And the farther I walk forward, towards the Princess, the more relaxed I feel. The room starts to twist and shift before my eyes, but I don't mind. I watch as the colors blend together like paint on a canvas that surrounds me. Something keeps me walking forward, not myself, though. I start to feel as if I don't exist, yet I do. The only thing that remains clear is Princess Celestia, shining brightly, like a star I can reach out and touch.
"You are a very interesting creature, Mark," a surreal voice tells me, echoing all around. "Not only physically, but mentally, as well. I have seen the...atrocities your kind can commit, without any remorse. Truly, it is horrifying. I am glad those beings are few and far between, though, and that many are like you. If only more of them could be as you are..."
"You may be wondering why you are here, why I have requested you. Truthfully, it was not I that requested you; it was my sister, Luna. She feels she knows why you are here. I felt the need to keep this from my devoted pupil, Twilight Sparkle, whom you have met, because she would not understand. The past was a different place."
"Luna is waiting for you. Please, go and see her. Thank you, Mark." I am carried away from Princess Celestia; I do not want to leave. It is so peaceful here...I cannot control myself, though. The colors of the world melt back into place, and she disappears from sight. I find myself in a new room; everything is defined again, but still blurs over every once in a while. A sense of calmness is still present with me, a freedom from everything, even my own memory.
I see a black pony before me, who is apparently Luna. She is very tall as well, not as tall as Princess Celestia, but larger than normal ponies. She also has both wings and a long horn. Her mane seems like the very night sky itself, small, distant stars within the flowing, blue mass. She looks at me with...sadness? Why would she be sad? It is so calm, so serene...there isn't any reason to be sad.
"Thank you, Tia," she calls past me. Her voice does not fill my head, as the other's did. The dark pony looks at me, still sad. Don't be sad, Luna. "We--I apologize for my remorse, young creature. I take it upon myself for thy existence in Equestria...it is my own fault. I am sorry," the smaller Princess says. You didn't do anything wrong...nothing is wrong. "No, but it is. I...I must explain." She pauses, looking down. I do not understand why she is upset, but I will listen to her.
"Many, many years ago, while I ruled with my sister, before my exile, I...I created a spell. I was curious, and thrice curse myself for being so...the spell I created was meant to search the fabrics of time in space in search of something else, something Tia and I could not find. I did not expect to find anything, but I hoped I would."
"I did not realize the consequences of this spell when I created it. I did not realize what it would do upon finding something." She stops, looking at me for a long time. "Doth thou understand?" No, I respond truthfully.
Princess Luna sighs, looking even sadder. "The spell I created so long ago found what it was meant to find, the things that we could not, only a few moons ago. After thousands of years..." she trails off. "It found you, your planet. And it selected you, bringing you here. I do not know why it did this, nor doth my sister. I believe it had no purpose, and only sent you here as proof of existence. Possibly it came into contact with you prior to all others...doth thou possess memory of any sort? Did anything occur before you were sent here?" No. Luna sighs again.
"We have tried to find a way to send you back, but to no avail. Not even my sister can find where you once existed...I fear the time spent searching by the spell shows the distance between our worlds. It is possible the spell traveled to another dimension, even, on its quest..."
"I never suspected this would occur when I created that spell. I wanted to find another existence, to show we are not alone, but...I never wanted this. I have taken you away from your home, those you hold dear, everything. I am sorry, Mark. I am truly sorry." A dark hoof comes up and strokes my cheek sadly, then Princess Luna turns away. Something commands me to leave, that I am done here. I obey, somehow knowing where the exit is and leaving.
A minute later, I find myself back outside the doors leading into the royal chambers. Twilight Sparkle trots up to me with a smile. "So, how did your meeting with the Princess go?" I sit down, leaning my back against the wall and drawing up my knees. My mind feels empty, devoid of thought. The unicorn frowns at me, then shrugs, trotting through the large doors with Spike close behind.
"Hey...you alright, Mark?" I look up. In front of me stands Rainbow Dash, her head cocked to one side and a worried look on her face. "You're quieter than usual," she jokes, hitting me lightly on the knee with a hoof. All I can do is blink at her. I feel odd, not different, but not right. Her frown deepens. "Seriously, what's wrong?" I continue to look at her. I don't know what's wrong. Is anything wrong? I don't have an answer. Standing up, I start walking down the hallway. The light blue Pegasus catches up quickly, walking beside me.
The farther I get away from those doors, the more odd I feel. I can't quite place the feeling...it isn't sadness, or anger...memory hits me like a freight train. In a flash, I remember the past...I don't even know how long it was, all of the conversation I had with Princess Celestia, with Princess Luna. My knees buckle, and I place my hands on the floor to keep myself up. I can't stand, though, as the memory continues to come. Luna explaining what happened, losing control of everything, even my own mind...I find myself hyperventilating uncontrollably. Not being able to control my own body, guided by something else entirely, not able to comprehend anything that was said to me or react, feeling so relaxed and at peace when I should have been feeling the opposite. I wasn't me in there. Just a spectator to my own thoughts.
I turn myself over, sitting down on the cold, hard floor. Just a spectator to my own thoughts. My rate of breathing continues to speed up. I feel something warm on my back; looking over, I see Rainbow Dash has wrapped a foreleg over my back, and is now patting my back frantically, trying to get me to calm down.
"Whoa, it's okay! You're going to hurt yourself, breathe normal!" she exclaims. I nod, trying to calm myself down. I find it hard, but I eventually steady out my breathing again. "What happened in there? Is everything alright?" I don't know whether to nod or shake my head. With a shaking hand, I reach for my pocket, trying to grasp on to something I can communicate with. I start writing, erasing a lot. I eventually end up with a very simple phrase:
I don't know.
"What do you mean? Are you okay?" Rainbow asks.
I wasn't myself in there. Something else was me.
She looks at the paper in question, glancing between me and my gibberish. The sky-blue pony frowns to me. "I...just...uh...just wait for Twilight, okay? Maybe she can explain. It's going to be alright..." she says, maybe more to herself than me. She continues to rub my back, which feels really nice, actually. I try to focus on it, attempting to shut down my mind. We wait for what feels like an eternity. Once in a while, Dash will mutter, "Twilight, where are you...?" I question the same, hoping for my sanity that the unicorn will be able to provide some answers.
Twilight and Spike eventually reappear, looking worried. Rainbow Dash quickly trots over to meet them. "Twilight, you gotta' help, Mark's acting really weird. He said he wasn't himself when he saw the Princesses."
"I know," the violet pony replies. "Princess Celestia said she might have affected him, and to go check on him. I'm sorry we took so long." She trots up to me, standing a few feet away; I look up at her. "Mark? Can you tell me how you felt when you got close to the Princess?" I nod, scribbling out a reply.
Relaxed. Calm. Peaceful. Too much.
"You felt too relaxed?" I nod again. "Okay...yes, I understand. This happens a lot with creatures like griffons. Princess Celestia has very powerful magic, Mark, more powerful than anypony else in all of Equestria. Princess Luna holds the same kind of power, but to a lesser extent, because she is younger. To someone who has never or rarely been directly exposed to their magic, the effect is overwhelming. Most Equestrian natives are used to it, because we are constantly near them, on a relative scale."
"However, being that you aren't from Equestria...you experienced a massive amount of magic, all at once, and so the effects were more pronounced." Twilight pauses, thinking for a moment. "In comparison, I, Rainbow Dash, or even Spike, feel relaxed around the Princesses, but not to such an extent that it overwhelms our conscious thought. Do you see what I mean?" I nod, albeit a bit numbly. Okay, so because ponies are around them all the time, they don't feel...that. But because I'm not, it hit me full-force. I make a mental note to keep my contact with the Princesses, goddesses, whatever they are, to strictly letters. That was horrifying...
With more understanding as to what had happened, I feel more at ease. I stand up, straightening out my clothes and attempting to salvage some dignity from my mental breakdown. I take in a breath, sighing it out. I start to go over what the Princesses told me in a more calm fashion. So a thousand-year old spell brought me here, and no one else? I blink a few times. I'm stuck here. Alone.
I look down at the ponies and dragon before me. Sort of alone. I write out a note, showing it to Twilight.
Thanks for explaining.
She nods, smiling. "I could see that being a very frightening experience. If you don't mind, I might have you tell me as much as you can about the experience. A research paper entailing how the Princesses affect outsiders could help in not overwhelming them by mistake in the future, as they did by mistake to you." I nod in agreement. Might as well keep it from happening to anyone else..."Well, is everypony ready to go?" The rest of us agree that we are; Rainbow Dash mentions that the Wonderbolts are in Appleoosa, so she wouldn't be able to find them, anyways. We walk back outside again, Dash and I falling in step behind Spike and Twilight. The hot-air balloon is where it was before, now re-stocked with sandbags and other weight equipment. We clamber inside, one at a time.
Rainbow Dash sits down beside me. I look over at her, then decide to remove my paper and pencil again, writing a simple note.
Thank you.
She looks at me in question. "What did I do?" I can't really figure out a way to word 'comforted me when I about lost my sanity' in a way that would appeal to her, so I just shrug, instead, smiling appreciatively. She chuckles, shrugging as well. I sigh and lean back against the inside wall of the hot-air balloon's basket, still trying to figure out the past few hours' events.
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Damn you update fast, I was just finished reading the previous chapter when this popped up.
Really short chapter, sorry guys. Couldn't think of anything else to add to it.
I've soiled the good name of my ~3k chapter length! Soiled it! Soiled it!
Let me know what you guys think of psychological breakdowns.
1193435 It doesn't feel fast enough, haha. Never fast enough! NEVER!
1193439 Didn't think anyone else picked up on that message you wrote
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Rainbow Dash showering Mark with a comforting embrace to try to help calm him down
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Thanks Rainbow.. Thanks...
cfile29.uf.tistory.com/image/1632C8334F82EB83304138
No problem Dude!
1193735 Wait...wha--? What did I put in there to be observed?
1193904 the wording in your comment well specifically "soiled it! soiled it!" from another story of yours
i359.photobucket.com/albums/oo39/ShadowGirl91/PONIES/Wink.gif
BTW that anime picture of Dash.. SAVED!! cause its BUCKING AWESOME!
1193922 Haha, the "soiled it" actually comes from an old episode of Spongebob. Used to be a pretty great show, y'know.
Also, is saving that gif 40 times 39 times too many?
The mental break down had a very sensible and well explained response.
Good Job!
More please!
1194701 Oh I knew where it was from reason why I commented on it.
"...it appears that most humans, upon entering Equestria, collapse into epileptic fits soon after passing through customs. We have reason to believe the presence of magical energy is to blame for this strange phenomenon. As such, we have decided to deny access into Equestria for all humans, for the sake of their own health, and so I don't have to clean up a dozen unconscious bodies off the lobby floor every goddamn day."
- Equestrian Customs Official, estimated written over 1000 years ago.
And that, children, is why you don't see humans in My Little Pony anymore. More or less.
1194751 Thanks, I was hoping I'd be able to pull that off. Hopefully I did so at least adequately.
1194837 Oh ho, clever.
1195397 You would not believe how hard I laughed at this. My stomach hurts now.
1192675 Try again mate its latin.
1186698 It means "Keep doing good"
Nice work on his chapter as well!
1197916 Latin, a dead language. Tis nice to see. And thanks!
Also: 500+ individual views, 4000+ repeated, a ratio of 13 likes for every 1 dislike, 90 favorites, 201 comments.
You guys are aweshum.
Well....other then the mind crush effect that meeting went smoothly did it not? No? Oh....right, the uh...being alone...thing.
yeah.....
I like your idea of how outsiders respond to Celestia and Luna's magic/how that influences them.
*Headcanon: acquired*
1195397 Oh, that explains it...wondered why nobody ever SaW my great X8 grandfather again...huh who knew
... aaaaaaaaaaaand, like that, the story just died for me. :/
I can accept a very powerful Celestia, sure. A mind-reading, omniscient Celestia?
NOPE.