Egress

by Grey Vicar

Chapter 1: Twilight Sparkle

Sirius courted Sagittarius that night. The stars around Twilight blazed with passion, and stellar flares washed over her, sending twinkles of energy coursing through her veins. She revelled in their glorious light, the gaseous glow that alighted the bleakness of space with pinpricks of gold. She danced amongst them like a comet bathed in their warmth.

Ponies thought space was cold, but it was warm to her. So much energy, so much vitality blossomed in nebulae, hidden from sight by the interstellar clouds that collected the very essence of the cosmos in order to give birth to stars of such brilliance, of such magnitude, that a common mind would not be able to accept them as real.

This was her life in the stars. Her soul bathed in cosmic rays, taking in the majesty of the universe, the serenity of empty space. She glided on currents left by the wake of asteroids, letting the shining arms of the cosmos cradle her like a mother embracing her child. All was peaceful. All was well.

It is five o'clock.

She was nothing and everything. She was awake yet asleep. She inhabited the liminal space between the grounded self and the utter obliteration of the psyche, her mind teetering on the edge of being fully dissolved in the peace of the Great Beyond. All was peaceful. All was well.

It is five o'clock.

Chains of iron wrapped around her body, ripping her from the quiet of space.

---

“Princess Twilight, it is five o'clock.”

The voice of Noble Duty was like a needle wrapped in cotton in Twilight's ear, a soft, honeyed hush that nonetheless made her feel like she was being brutally stabbed through the ears. The mare stood by her side, her words mere whispers, yet after the silence of her nightly voyage, they felt as if she was shouting at the top of her voice.

“Princess Twilight,” she repeated, not raising her voice. “It is five o'clock.”

Twilight Sparkle's eyes opened to her room. A great window opened before her, and the land of Equestria spread under a black sky. Pinpricks of lights flickering in windows and streets reflected the starry canopy above. Ponies were waking up, the land stirring to life as it eagerly awaited light to bloom over the mountains. She could have sworn there was something in those mountains for a second. A strange glint that caught her eye, but vanished before she could really notice . She squinted, but saw nothing.

It was five o'clock. Time to raise the sun.

She turned, her body like a old, rusty machine in need of oil. Her room would have been large. A bed took up most of the remaining space, though months worth of books and scrolls piled up on the sheets. A desk pushed against the wall. Wardrobes and cabinets and dressers. Furniture eating away the space in the room, scrolls and books spilling over them and covering more space. It was her room. The scrolls and books parted before her as she stepped to the door. Noble Duty did not follow. She hardly ever left Twilight's room. She couldn't blame her.

There was a fly in the corridor. The buzzing annoyed her.

Pancakes had been laid out on the kitchen table. The smell brought water to her mouth. She wasn't hungry. And it wasn't really a kitchen table, since this was the royal dining room. But she'd always eaten in the kitchen, so it was the kitchen table. It made sense to her. Ponies thought she was strange. At least she thought they did, though they would never admit to it. At the end of the room, a gilded door led to the throne room.

She stared at it. It didn't stare back. Of course it didn't. It was a door. Strange thoughts this morning. Being abruptly pulled away from her cosmic rest often did that to her. She pulled her gaze away, to the balcony stretching over the royal gardens like the prow of a ship over the waves. A carpet rolled over the smooth stone to a dais flanked with a twin sculpture of the sun and the moon. She could still see someone spreading her wings as she basked in the warmth of the sun rising over the horizon every morning. Who? Her memories were fuzzy. Perhaps herself. It was her duty to raise the sun every morning after all.

Twilight stepped up the dais. Her horn glimmered as magic coalesced into it and reached through space to gently pull at the sun. Light spread over the horizon as the glorious sun rose over the hills, and she squinted as the blaze hurt her eyes. Before long, it slowed to a stop at a proper place for the hour of the morning. It was five o'clock. Time for the sun to rise. And the sun had risen. All was well.

The kitchen smelled of breakfast. A drizzle of syrup over golden-brown pancakes. Coffee. She drank her entire cup in one go. More coffee. She nibbled at her pancakes. The coffee felt warm in her stomach, and the pancakes felt heavy. The royal physician had scolded her when she'd found out just how little she usually ate, so she forced herself to swallow her breakfast and clean her plate. Noble Duty would be happy to see she was taking care of herself. Trying to take care of herself.

“The orders for the day, Princess?” Noble Duty stood at her side. Twilight hadn't sent for her. Not that she needed to. Noble Duty always knew how to find her, which was strange since she couldn't see, as she'd become blind in a foalhood accident. Pale eyes stared straight ahead, yet Twilight felt the piercing gaze of her assistant on herself. But when she looked up at her, the eyes stared at the wall, unseeing as ever.

“Yes.”

Noble Duty bowed and took her leave with a tight scroll stuffed in her saddlebag. Twilight didn't remember giving it to her. But ink stained her hoof, and a quill was out. Routine. After centuries, she already knew what orders to give for a day without even needing to think about it, her brain barely even needing to stay active longer than it took to scribble the words on the page. Was it muscle memory, or did she simply think too fast to realize it? She wiped her hoof on the white-and-gold tablecloth and drank more coffee.

Empty. The last drops of the coffee pots had already vanished inside her. She felt slightly nauseous. Caffeine hit her brain, but instead of making her alert and energetic, she only felt sick.

It was five o'clock and a half. Time for her to drag herself to the bathroom and calm her nerves. She stared at the mirror. Someone had brought it down and replaced it with a metal plate. She could vaguely see a lavender-coloured blur inside it. She cocked her head. The blur imitated her. Not a very useful mirror then, if you couldn't see yourself in it. But it would do. She didn't have time to contemplate herself in it anyway, court would start very soon, and she needed to be there.

She brushed her teeth.

She drank water. Too much to drink. She held her hoof to her mouth for a moment while a wave of nausea washed over her. She really needed to stop drinking so much coffee. The thought brought her cravings for coffee to the surface once again, and that only made her feel that much sicker. The room swam. She shook her head and splashed her face with water.

“It is soon time, Princess Twilight.” Noble Duty stood next to her, like a mother coaxing her children to do their chores.

It was six o'clock. It was time to hold court. The gilded door to the throne room stood before her. She blinked and cracked her neck. Muscles too tense for too long because of stress. Possible muscular and skeletal damage. Her body would repair it like it repaired every wound quickly, but she'd rather not have to deal with the stiffness. She cracked her neck again. She felt that one, like a drop of heat spreading through her neck. She didn't like it. It made her feel like she was hemorrhaging from the inside.

It was six o'clock. It was time for the show to start. She opened the door and stepped out of her quarters and out of her skin. Twilight Sparkle was dead. Long live Princess Twilight.

Comments

[LiterallyAL]

Good start!

[Valuable Ashes]

Twilight stepped up the the dais

Caught somethin'. There's two "the" in the sentence.