The Castle

by Discombobulated Soul

somethiNg was wrOng

somethiNg was wrOng.

I didn't know how I knew that, but the feeling was still prevalent, regardless. All around me was inky black, but it was moving, shifting, undulating like something given false life.

I couldn't see it moving; couldn't know for sure, but I felt it.

I tried to think of what came before this, but I realized I didn't know.

That's when I knew. But I didn't know. I couldn't know. I was blocking out the possibility. I was restraining the revelation.

I loved knowledge, I craved knowledge, I lived for knowledge.

Just not this. I couldn't know this. It was too much.

I backed out of the doorway, shaking my head madly in attempts to rid it of the cloud. Suddenly, my memories returned to me, and I grimaced accordingly. Sunset Shimmer had convinced me to go through one of the open doorways. The ones that led to meaningless voids. The ones that stole information from me, slowly killing me by taking away all I held dear. I'd only gone through one of those doorways once before, fresh after being brought to this place. I'd sworn never to do so again, but somehow Sunset had persuaded me.

How did she do that?

I reopened the Book, flipping to the most recent page while cradling my sore head with my hooves. I sighed in recognition when I came across her reasoning, rereading her argument with a grave expression on my face.

"You have to go through a Doorway. It's the only way to beat Celestia."

WHY? WHY WOULD I EVER DO THAT? THOSE THINGS ARE HORRIBLE!

"Because, they're the only place you'll find the equipment you need."

Alicorn's Bane, I remembered. Sunset went on to say that the Doorways led to armories where all the weapons capable of injuring Celestia were kept. Alicorn's Bane was as powerful as it was indestructible, so the princess couldn't possibly get rid of them permanently, but she could do the next best thing: Hide them behind a passageway I could never hope to cross.

At this point in time, I was pretty confident I had traversed every hall in this place. I had gone everywhere and seen everything, save for the library and those blasted Doorways. I'd only subjected myself to that once, and I'd hoped that this time would be different. That I could get through it and finally get out of this place.

I'd been wrong. Dreadfully wrong. It had been so much worse this time around, because I'd been so close to seeing IT. The knowledge that I couldn't see. Wouldn't see.

The information I can never, ever have.

With a heavy heart, I lifted the quill I held in my ear, thankful I'd been able to enchant it to not need an accompanying inkwell.

I CAN'T DO IT. SORRY.

I tensed, prepared for anger or disappointment or something in Sunset's response, but thankfully she was nicer than that.

"No, Twilight. I'm sorry. I shouldn't have made you try that. I myself couldn't go through with it until recently. The reveal is just too much to take, right?"

I nodded, but felt silly upon realizing she couldn't see it. A loud growl echoed to my left as thundering, rapid steps revealed some creature or another approaching me. I was too glum to so much as turn to find out what was trying to kill me, instead just plunging the knife into my flank. The monster saw this and kept running in response, passing me and continuing down the hallway rather than attack like it'd planned.

I DON'T KNOW WHAT TO DO, SUNSET. I WANT TO LEAVE, BUT I CAN'T FACE THE DOORWAY.

Sunset responded, but somethiNg was wrOng. Her neat, elegant cursive was beginning to drip down the page, muddying her writing such that it was ineligible. It was as though she'd started using too much ink, and it was now bleeding through everything.

SUNSET? WHAT'S WRONG?

She cleaned up her writing, thank goodness, but I still noticed her ink spreading and her words becoming sloppier.

"I'm sorry, Twilight. I'm running out of time."

BUT YOU STILL HAVEN'T TOLD ME WHAT TO DO!

Frantic tears blurred my vision and I breathed heavily, the movements agitating my many self-inflicted wounds. I didn't focus on the pain; I couldn't. My only friend in this place was leaving me! She was going away!

"I've told you all I can. It's up to you, now. Face Celestia. Take her down. It's the only way."

A different liquid appeared on the page, getting little circular patches wet. Sunset was crying, and there wasn't anything I could do about it!

One long streak of bleeding, red ink was the last message she wrote, as though she'd put quill to paper but then collapsed to the side.

I sat there, gasping in shock and pain as the world crumbled around me. I'd been left alone. Again. Sunset Shimmer was dead. All my friends were dead!

A deep, malicious laugh echoed throughout the building and I stood, wiping my eyes as I turned to face the open Doorway in determination.

I wasn't alone in here. Not yet. So long as Princess Celestia lived, I would be trapped here, slowly killing myself to avoid being killed by her creatures.

I took a step forward. Then another.

somethiNg was wrOng, but I would make it right.

Comments

[ABSOL_ute]

Are we gonna learn why Twi is there, chosen and WTF is Celestia doing?

[Discombobulated Soul]

11507870
All in due time...