Faded Visages

by Silver Mint

Faded visages

Princess Twilight Sparkle, also known as the Princess of Friendship, saviour of Equestria, and successor to the Sisters, had ruled Equestria for ages beyond measure. Even she could no longer remember just how long she sat upon that throne, but with how many generations had passed, most simply say that she had always been there. She watched over them day and night, keeping all of them safe, guiding them all with her faithful advisor Spike at her side.

One day, Twilight chose to lock herself in her castle, casting away the royal guards, the maids and everyone close to her. No one knew why she had chosen to isolate herself and cut communications with everyone.

Time passed and Twilight remained isolated. The sun and the moon kept on with their normal cycle but no one saw Twilight. It was like she had become a phantom. The Princess of Friendship locked in her own castle became a pony’s tale.

But I knew she was in here somewhere, and I had to find her for her own sake.

I lost sight of her earlier but she couldn’t have gone far. Sure, the castle was big enough to get lost in, but she only had a couple of rooms that she still liked to visit.

Twilight hadn’t left the castle walls in a very long time. She didn’t even venture outside the door any more. I couldn’t even remember the last time she walked the castle grounds. She has been wandering these halls aimlessly for so long that it’s hard to keep track of her sometimes.

“She can’t be there, right? I locked that room. At least I think I did,” I told myself as if I’m trying to make someone else believe a lie.

The castle halls are empty. Ponies hadn’t been here in years. It was in a state of total disrepair, tapestries hanging loosely from the walls, paintings torn and crooked, dust collecting on the frames and the carpets. It’s hard to keep a castle this big clean on my own.

As I moved, the only sounds that echoed in the hallways were my steps. Everything was so quiet that the silence was almost crushing, but as I rushed through the corridors my erratic breathing thankfully kept it at bay.

I turned a corner as my heart raced. I begged the princesses for her not to be there, anywhere but that room.

But my pleas fell on deaf ears. I found the door open, dim light spilling out into the hallway. I take a deep breath and swallow the lump in my throat before I approach the door until I can finally peer inside the room. I saw her standing in the middle of it, holding a book in her hoof.

“Twilight!” I called out to get her attention.

“Oh, hello. I didn’t see you there.” The Princess of Friendship spoke with a soft, regal and welcoming tone. “What brings you here, little one?”

“I—I was looking for you,” I said softly, a sheepish smile forming on my face as I stepped closer. I rubbed at the back of my head to try and calm myself.

“I was just looking for a good book to read.” She said with a calm tone. “And I think I found just the one.” She lifted what seemed to be an old and tattered journal, it was still in one piece, but it had seen the passage of time. The pages were yellowed, the cover was faded, and the spine was almost completely worn off.

I could feel the hesitation set in my throat before I could get the words out. “Do you think that’s a good book, Twilight?” I had to be strong.

“It looks very interesting!” I could see the spark of excitement in her eyes, the faint curl of a smile on her face as she talked. “It’s about a unicorn who teamed up with her friends in order to save the land, having many adventures together and learning about the power of friendship. It sounds like a cute story.”

I didn’t have the heart to tell her what that book was, or to even mention just how many times she had already read it. “It—” My voice cracked for a moment. I took a second to compose myself before carrying on. “It sounds wonderful, Twilight. Do you want me to stay and read it along with you?”

Twilight smiled as she moved towards a comfortable looking chair. “That would be lovely. I love reading a good book in good company. It really helps me drown out the sound of the rain. I hope it stops soon.”

I turned my head to look outside. It was dark outside, the sun had already come down. I could feel the night breeze brush upon me, but there wasn’t a single drop of rain. “Yeah, I know what you mean.” I learned that it was best not to contradict her after a while.

Twilight sat down and got comfortable, opening the book to find pictures inside. It looked like six mares all together. One was surrounded by the other five, they all seemed to smile like they were sharing a laugh together. But the images and colours were blurred and dim, barely recognizable.

“Do you rem—” I stopped myself and changed the question. “Do you recognize them?” I asked as my voice carried a heavy hint of sadness in it. I’ve asked her this question too many times.

“They seem… familiar somehow,” She tilted her head and furrowed her brow in thought. “Why do you think that is? I don’t think I’ve read this book before.”

I could barely hold the tears back by now. Seeing Twilight like this always crushed me, I could barely stand to look at her at moments like these. The more time passes, the more she loses her memories, the more she becomes disconnected from the past. “It’s okay, Twilight, I’ll tell you all about them.”

“Thank you! I appreciate it, but,” She turned her head to look at me and then she tilted it. “who are you? You somehow seem familiar, but I can’t seem to remember why.”

I glanced towards her, a lump formed in my throat as tears welled up in my eyes. Meeting her lost expression like this always broke me, no matter how many times I saw her like this.

“I—I’m Spike,” I replied, tears running down my cheeks. “Come on, let’s read that story.”

Comments

[AFanaticRabbit]

As usual, this was a pleasure to help edit. I hope folks enjoy it!

[spoonlol]

Very good, a lot of emotions in a very short amount of time. Though wouldn't Spike be huge at this point?

[Silver Mint]

10827555
Thank you! I'm glad you enjoyed it.
Regarding Spike, that's possible, but I pictured him just a little bigger than in The Last Problem for this little story, though.

[Azarias]

This was an interesting short piece, though it feels incomplete; kinda fitting considering the subject.

[Silver Mint]

10838691
Why do you think it feels incomplete?

[Azarias]

10838959
Given the story's subject matter it appears to me that Twilight has some form of memory loss/mental degradation, possibly dementia/alzheimers. There's enough buildup to lead to the story in question, (though I figured the narrator was spike pretty quickly) and what was written was a decent scene with enough context to connect me to the scene, but not much else -- what's happening outside the castle, what are the rest of the ponies doing, where are Celestia and Luna in all of this -- they might be retired but unless the same issue is happening to them or they're already dead somehow then surely they would have swung by to check in on how Twilight is doing?

To summarize my thoughts -- you wrote a good short scene that builds off your synopsis -- but you've also put in enough background info (which is necessary to establish the scene, don't think otherwise) to make me wonder just what is going on outside, Twilight has apparently spent a long time alone in the castle and no one thought to check in her besides Spike.

Call it a weird nitpick or w/e but after reading your story and taking a minute to think on it I had a shedload of questions that popped up, which is partly why I said it felt incomplete.

Also there's this exchange:
"I love reading a good book in good company. It really helps me drown out the sound of the rain. I hope it stops soon.”
I turned my head to look outside. It was dark outside, the sun had already come down. I could feel the night breeze brush upon me, but there wasn’t a single drop of rain."
which reminded me of the album Everywhere at the End of Time, specifically the last few minutes of the final track, which is filled with static and contributed to my feelings on your piece.

[Silver Mint]

10839021
I totally see what you mean! I of course left some things vague because I wanted to explore the idea of what happens to Twilight without focusing too much on other things. Perhaps a sequel could happen, we'll have to see!

Thanks so much for the comment and input, I appreciate it.