Flicker

by SC_Orion

Flicker

Twilight smiled as her eyes danced around the meadow. Short grasses dotted with colorful flowers stretched out before her, with a large oak tree at her left shading the blanket she laid on. Off to her right was the treeline of a forest, though, for some reason, she couldn't remember the forest's name. Beside her laid her six friends- Rainbow Dash, Fluttershy, Rarity, Pinkie Pie, Applejack, and Starlight Glimmer.

And across from her sat Celestia and Luna, heads free from their tiaras, chests exposed to the world. They smiled their warm, loving smiles at her and her friends, and she welcomed that smile with the same joy that she welcomed a sunny spring day.

Carried in the air, she smelled the scents of spring: flowers and rain, mixed in with tea and sandwiches. A gentle breeze blew by, running across her back, running through her mane, making the leaves rustle musically. She closed her eyes and smiled.

"So what do you think, Twilight?" Rainbow asked.

With a single nod of her head, she opened her eyes and answered, "I think that's a great idea!" For a moment, she could not remember what Rainbow asked. Her brow pulled down ever so slightly as the memory escaped her grasp.

Before she could dwell on it further, Celestia said, "I think that would be perfect."

And with that, Twilight knew that it didn't matter what had been said. She smiled again. Studying Celestia, she thought her mentor didn't quite look the same as normal, but it was probably just her missing tiara and regalia. Without those two accessories that she had always seen the Princess wearing, she looked so different. So it left her contemplating the indent in her chest where her peytral had normally been.

Yes, both Celestia and Luna looked so different without their tiaras and regalias, and she couldn't shake the feeling that something was wrong because they did not wear them. She found herself unable to look away from Celestia's chest, save for glances over at Luna's chest. And their bare hooves, something she did not recall seeing prior.

Was it the first time she had seen them without the regalia? She couldn't remember.

A moment passed and her smile faded as confusion settled in her mind. "Where are your tiaras and peytrals?" she asked.

Luna chuckled softly. "Do you not remember your coronation, Twilight?"

"Surely you've not forgotten so soon?" Celestia teased, a playful smile crossing her lips.

For a few seconds, Twilight thought about it. Memories flickered in her mind, but nothing concrete. No full memories. No feelings of joy, nor of loss accompanied those brief flickers. She did not remember. More seconds passed, and with each one, her brow folded even more as she struggled to try to think back on her coronation. She felt distracted, but she wasn't sure why. Her thoughts seemed hazy and sluggish.

She did remember her coronation, but it wasn't the right one. It was from when she ascended to an alicorn and was crowned as Equestria's fourth princess, but she did not remember her coronation to take over for Celestia and Luna.

"I don't remember," she said. And with that, she felt a feeling of dejection welling up inside her chest. How could she forget something so important!? Her coronation of all things!

"Twilight, dear! Don't say such a thing! Surely you must remember that!" Rarity argued.

Twilight turned away from Celestia's chest to look at Rarity. The unicorn's lips were pulled down almost in a pout, and likewise, her ears were folded back. Her eyes almost twinkled with tears, desperate for her to say that she was joking. But she was not joking and could not remember her coronation. She tried to speak, but found herself unable to. Her throat felt tight and ached for some reason. She bowed her head and then shook her head.

"It was beautiful, Twilight," Celestia said.

Twilight felt one of Celestia's feathers brush against her cheek, so she turned back to look at her mentor. Though her smile had softened, it was still as warm as the sun, always comforting, and always something she treasured. She managed to smile back. "Well, maybe I just can't remember it right now," she offered.

Luna rolled her eyes. "Memory problems at your age? You should know neither my sister nor I have had such problems."

"She's probably just under a lot of stress, bein' Princess of Equestria an' all that," Applejack said.

And again, Twilight found her brow folding down. Try as she did to remember, she could not remember being Princess of Equestria- at least not the only one. She did not remember ruling, outside of filling in for Celestia and Luna on a few occasions. Had she ruled before? She didn't remember it. A frown crossed her lips as she turned to look at Applejack. "I don't remember that," she said.

Rainbow looked at her incredulously. "What!? What do you mean you don't remember that! You know how awesome of a princess you are!?" The pegasus launched herself into the air and hovered there, pressing her face close to Twilight's.

Twilight leaned to the left as Rainbow invaded her personal space. The action made her wince as pain raced through her side. "Nn..." Immediately, she recoiled and laid like she had been before, trying to relax.

"Twilight?" Fluttershy asked, her voice soft and worried.

Rainbow flew back and Twilight looked back along her side. There was nothing there to explain the pain she felt. 'My imagination,' she decided. "I'm fine."

But her side still ached. Perhaps she had just moved the wrong way.

She shook it off and turned back to Celestia.

"We never did get a chance to thank you for saving us from Lord Tirek, Queen Chrysalis, and Cozy Glow," Celestia said. The former princess closed her eyes and took a sip of tea.

"Yes..." But Twilight did not remember. She did not remember saving them from Lord Tirek, Queen Chrysalis, and Cozy Glow. Her brow creased and she frowned as she tried to remember it, but the most recent memory of the princesses she could recall was of them holding up a stone to block the trio's magic, telling her to go and save Equestria.

She found her gaze focused on the blanket she laid on, frowning in thought. "I don't remember that..." she mumbled.

"What do you mean?" Starlight asked. "You rescued all of us from Lord Tirek, Queen Chrysalis, and Cozy Glow, saved Equestria, then Celestia and Luna retired. You were coronated and you've ruled Equestria ever since."

"And you've done a wonderful job of it, Twilight," Celestia added in her motherly voice.

Twilight looked up at her mentor. For a moment, she was silent. No smile came to her, despite looking at her mentor and seeing Celestia smiling at her with that warm, familiar smile.

"I don't remember any of that."

Celestia's mane and tail did not billow freely in the air from their magic.

Celestia looked at her with surprise. "What do you remember, then?"

Twilight frowned and glanced at Luna. Like her sister, Luna's mane did not flow with their magic, rather hanging down over their necks like anypony else. "I... what happened to your manes?"

"What do you mean?" Luna asked obliviously.

"It's not... like normal?" Twilight said.

Luna frowned. Celestia chuckled. "Oh, that was from when Cozy Glow stole our magic. You remember that don't you?"

Twilight nodded numbly, the ache in her side and fuzziness in her mind growing more pronounced. "I do, but..."

But what? That was what she remembered, last seeing them without their manes or tails flowing from their magic. Why did it seem wrong then? It must have been that she was so used to seeing them with their manes and tails flowing from their magic while they wore their regalias. Yes, she simply wasn't used to the change yet.

It didn't feel right though.

"I'm surprised it didn't change back after we restored your magic," Fluttershy murmured.

"As am I," Luna agreed with a nod, "though it is not something I complain about. Being free from the burden of ruling has given me an excellent chance to simply relax. Thank you again for taking over the dreamscape for me."

"I don't remember doing that," Twilight repeated almost immediately.

"I should also thank you for taking over moving the sun for me, Twilight," Celestia said. "I am so proud of you... I knew you would accomplish great things, but moving the sun with your own magic?"

Twilight looked at Celestia. Her mentor's warm smile felt off, almost like it wasn't entirely there.

Did she smell smoke? There was something in the air that was out of place. She looked over at the forest, but it was normal. Looked down at the blanket, at the plate and sandwich before her. At the tree that shaded them, then at the sun.

She didn't remember it being so cloudy before.

When did it get so cold?

She slowly shook her head and blinked her eyes several times. The discomfort in her side drew her gaze back to it. Her mind felt numb and fuzzy. She felt drowsy, and her vision seemed to flicker with darkness around the edges. Yes, that must have been why she could not remember. She was tired. A nap sounded wonderful. Nopony would mind, she was sure.

But still, it was time with her friends. Her nap could wait, because she would not see them much anymore.

Her frown deepened.

"I must be tired," she voiced.

"You've had a long day," Celestia said. "I believe I know better than anypony how exhausting running a whole kingdom can be."

"I don't remember doing anything today," Twilight countered.

"Of, but of course you did Twilight!" Rarity argued. "Surely you remember teleporting us back from the Crystal Empire and fighting Lord Tirek, Cozy Glow, and Queen Chrysalis?"

She remembered that. They had fought within sight of Canterlot, and-

And she didn't remember much else. "Yeah..." she muttered. She squirmed from the pain in her side, but it only made the pain worse. Her muzzle scrunched up.

"We never did thank you, did we?" Rainbow asked.

Twilight turned to face the pegasus. "Thank me?"

"Yeah!" Rainbow said, smiling boldly. The smile dimmed a little. "You know, for saving us from that magic blast thing from all three of them."

She looked at Rainbow, frowning at the pegasus while scrutinizing her expression. After a moment, she looked over all of her friends, Celestia and Luna, then faced Rainbow again. "I don't remember that..."

Something twisted in Twilight's mind. She thought back on that day and struggled to remember any of it. They had fought Lord Tirek, Cozy Glow, and Queen Chrysalis. Grogar's magic had made them so much more powerful than she could have imagined. They destroyed Canterlot, she had fled to the Crystal Empire, her friends had showed up, talked some sense into her, and then she teleported them back and they fought the trio.

But she couldn't remember what happened. She didn't remember winning. She didn't remember how they beat them, she didn't remember her coronation, she didn't remember the princess' retiring and passing Equestria onto her. She didn't remember taking up the mantle of the sun and moon, didn't remember taking over the dreamscape.

"I don't remember any of that..."

She shivered from the biting cold seeping into her coat. Her back hurt. She looked back at her side, found her fur coated crimson, saw the large gash in her side where she was bleeding from. It hurt, but yet she felt dissociated from the injury. Her whole body hurt. She felt tired. She felt exhausted and drained.

Maybe she did need to take a nap.

"Twilight!?" Rarity asked. "Twilight!?" again.

She looked over at Rarity. When had she laid down on her back and why was Rarity standing over her? No, it was just her imagination. Rarity was still sitting where she had been before. She shook her head, and her head hurt. Her world spun. She looked up at the sky; the sun was blurred and distorted by the clouds that swirled together.

"Windigoes?" she asked to nopony in particular. And sure enough, there were three of the monsters circling above, making the clouds swirl together. Their shrill cry didn't make her shiver, but the cold did.

Breathing in the cold air was uncomfortable. Her head and horn hurt. It hurt to breathe. Her wings hurt. Her legs hurt. Her stomach hurt. She lifted her forehoof to her head, fumbled to find her eye, and wiped it clear. Her hoof came away reddened. She frowned as she stared at the blood- her own blood- yet it didn't fully register with her.

"Oh, don't worry about them. You defeated them as well, remember?" Celestia said.

She looked at Celestia. "I don't remember..."

Why didn't she?

Something raced over her head, passing by so quickly that she couldn't tell if it was green or red or orange. Or maybe it was some combination of the three. The ground shook underneath her.

She closed her eyes, then opened them. The sun was barely visible for the clouds. She rolled her head to the right, found her friends were gone, found the blanket gone. In its place, upturned earth and shattered rocks. A pool of crimson surrounded her. Her head hurt, she felt tired and cold, and her whole body was numb. She tried to summon her magic but felt nothing. Empty. Drained. It made her horn hurt worse. She rolled her head to the left, again finding her friends gone and more upturned earth. There was a bloodied wing laying a few steps away from her. She must have been seeing things because she thought the feathers looked lavender like her own.

She looked down, saw that Celestia and Luna were gone, just like her friends. In the distance, the ruins of Canterlot. A thin rock stuck out of her body, covered in slightly glistening crimson.

She slowly shook her head again and looked up.

Queen Chrysalis stood over her, smiling and horn lit with that sickening, twisted green glow.

Comments

[the7Saviors]

GAME OVER...

BAD END.

[Continue]
Quit

[Mystic Sunrise]

Right up till the last line I was going to say it was just something about having so much alicorn magic now that was screwing with Twilight's memories. Would've been 1000 times better.

Now I don't like the story enough to care.

[Ragingdemon92]

Interesting take on the ‘villains win’ scenario, I kept trying to come up with conclusions on why she didn’t remember being crowned, at first I thought maybe she messed with some magic that altered her memories, then I thought maybe Sombra was back again and messed with her memories as part of some plan to take over Equestria, then when she mentioned the gash I realized she was either dead or dying and man did it really grind my gears who was behind it, overall a good story for a casual reader like myself

[fanreader999999]

...

[6-D Pegasus]

Oh my gosh this sent chills down my spine

[6-D Pegasus]

I love the subtlety of the whole scene, never fully spelling it out, bUT the reader knows something is wrong, and it keeps going and going until that one line reveal at the end, really well done^^

[SC_Orion]

9931358
Thank you for your comment! I am glad to have accomplished my goal with this fic.

[Vindicar]

Well, the buildup was great but the reveal is too trivial. Magical overstrain slowly destroying her, having been put into a lotus eater machine, or being shifted into/from some alternate reality would have been more interesting than simply "a dying dream".