Between Three Nightmares

by MistOverMoon

Chapter One- Edge of the World

Welcome to the end of the world.

Well, it sounded a little more menacing than it actually was.

A more proper term for it would be- the end of the known world. A simple distinction between the two phrases, but an important one nonetheless. Details mattered, no matter how small they were. A simple miscalculation or ignorance of a certain detail could spell disaster in the most complex of spells, or even in everyday life.

For example: Welcome to the end of the world.

This phrase could mean many things.

In Twilight's case, it referred to the position of her tower. Located at the edge of the world in a frozen wasteland, it truly was considered the end of the world. The known world anyways, though Twilight was well off any drawn maps.

It was this kind of distinction that Twilight Sparkle found so dangerous. In her self-imposed isolation at the end of the world, Twilight had found that such a simple distinction could become a matter of life and death when working with powerful spells.

The spell she was working on was one such spell. Simple in nature, the spell was a transmutation. To be exact, Thorium to Arcanite. Thorium was not exactly an easy material to find but considering that Arcanite technically should not exist within the laws of magic, it was common in a strange sort of way.

"Experiment one-thousand and eleven: Thorium to Arcanite." Twilight grabbed a quill with her magic, saturating it with an ethereal purple glow. With her magic, she began to inscribe research details inside of a worn, mangled journal. "Trial two-hundred and five."

This was the last page of the journal, unfortunately she would need to have another one shipped in soon.

The pale blue Thorium sitting on the ground began to glow. Coating it was dust from a magic gem, an arcane crystal found only at the edge of the known world, hidden in ancient glaciers from a time long since passed. It was part of the reason Twilight had moved here. The magic was raw, primal, and extremely powerful.

Channeling magic through her horn, Twilight focused on the Thorium. It glowed, and Twilight mentally prepared the spell. Altering its physical properties, the spell began to enact its function. Following notes from countless experiments, Twilight was sure that she had mastered the spell this time. This time, she was careful not to turn the Thorium into ArCANite, something that was decidedly not a magic metal and instead an electric metal can, which was full of magically charged explosives. Details mattered.

The spell went off, her horn burning. The Thorium was engulfed in a blue glow, which quickly turned yellow. A massive amount of steam was produced, filling the chamber with plumes of white. Coughing, Twilight ripped open a nearby window with her magic.

Immediately, a gale of bone-chilling arctic wind blasted through the tower. The steam vanished, sucked out of the window, and a layer of frost covered everything. Twilight forced the window shut again with a flick of her horn.

What was left in front of her was a half-snowed in tower chamber, and a lump of something yellow on the ground. Twilight took a closer look at it. It was charged with magic, that was for sure, but was it Arcanite?

Twilight touched her horn to the yellow lump. Solid and strong, it practically radiated with untold magic power. This was Arcanite without a doubt.

"I did it!" Twilight leapt onto her hooves, prancing about the cold stone chamber. "I did it! I finally did it!"

She had done the impossible, created metal with the potential to be used in the creation of many magical devices. It was the first steppingstone on a long path to full magical armaments that could hold their magic for a millennium. There was no telling where creation of Arcanite would lead to.

Filled with exhilaration and joy, Twilight grinned.

After a long moment, the exhilaration began to fade. She glanced around the chamber.

This was the third floor of her five-story tower. It looked like it was made of stone, but it was actually enchanted blocks of ice. A common material at the end of the world. Tiny glowing runes covered the surfaces of the blocks, ensuring that they would remain warm to the touch, but also never melt.

Bookshelves lined the walls of this chamber, filled to the brim with magical knowledge, common knowledge, and even abstract theories. Similar bookshelves could be seen on every floor of her tower, with the rarest and most magically attuned books being stored at the top. The only other thing in this chamber was a desk, some ever-burning candles, and a massive amount of neatly organized file cabinets.

Despite having uncovered a spell that could change history, Twilight soon found that spark of excitement quickly faded. The tower was empty, and the only ponies who came by were those she had hired to deliver her necessities and books from faraway lands.

She couldn't help but feel empty at that moment. An age-old question came to find then.

"If a tree falls in the woods and no pony hears it, did it fall at all?"

Philosophical. Intriguing. Foalish even, but still interesting.

When the moment ran dry, Twilight turned back to her books. They always comforted her when she was feeling empty like this. According to her research, this empty feeling came from isolation. Other symptoms of isolation included: speaking to oneself, depression, possible hallucinations, and madness. Twilight was confident in the fortitude of her own mind to prevent such effects.

And yet when she pulled out her favorite book to read: Advanced Applications of Destructive Magics Volume #4 (written by Morack the Whacked), she still found her mind unable to focus.

Was she lonely? It had been years since she had left everything behind to study magic. At a very young age, Twilight had left everything behind to pursue her studies. A wizard of little renown had seen her talent and offered to teach her. Twilight had taken the chance and followed him in his travels across the world. Unfortunately, he passed due to old age, leaving her his vast collection of books. From there, Twilight taught herself nearly everything she knew about magic.

She had visited her family a few times over the years but stopped about ten years ago. There was just so much to study, and the end of the world was the place to do it. It was here that a simple unicorn like her might one day become a master mage. An Archmagus.

That was right. Twilight had to keep herself focused. She would become an Archmagus, a master of the arcane arts. Every single one of them.

Focusing on that sentiment, Twilight refocused herself. There was no time to visit Equestria again. A unicorn's life was short. She needed to spent every waking moment of it studying and experimenting. Though experimenting was starting to yield more progress as of late. In order to learn more, she had begun to need to create her own spells and theories.

Of course, even though she had already memorized every book in her library, she was probably nowhere close to the level of an Archmagi. How could she be? There were only around twelve-thousand books in her tower. That was nowhere near enough.

Twilight had never met one of the Archmagi before, but she was positive they knew more than her. Probably. Most likely.

Suddenly, there was a ping like a crystal bell. It resonated in the tower, and with Twilight.

"The doorbell?" Twilight asked aloud. "I'm not supposed to be getting another shipment for a few months..."

Perhaps one of her contractors had found a rare magical book to sell to her? The thought filled her with glee, and Twilight teleported down to the bottom door of the tower in a magenta flash. She ripped open the thick ice door in a second with powerful magic.

It was night out, as it always was. At the edge of the world, the sun never rose, and the moon could never be seen. The sun and moon only passed over the center of Equestria after all.

Illuminated by a lantern, a pony stood on the other side of her door. Wind buffeted the pony and sheared its way into her tower with gale force. Twilight projected a barrier into the doorframe, preventing the wind from entering.

The pony, dressed thick in winter clothes to the point there was no part of them that could be seen, tried to say something. It was impossible to hear over the rushing wind. So, Twilight lifted a chunk of ice beneath them, and drifted them into her tower. A moment later, she slammed the door shut.

"Why, hello there!" Twilight said. "Would you happen to have a book-shaped package for me?"

The pony took a moment to reorient themselves. Covered in a layer of frost and snow, they shook themselves free of its cold embrace. They pried off their ice-rimmed pilot glasses, then removed the hood from their head. A gray-coated stallion was beneath all the thick furs. A different pony from last time.

"P-Package for Twilight Sparkle." The stallion said, his teeth chattering. "Please, please tell me that is you."

The stallion looked up at her, his green eyes watering now. "Please tell me that is you!"

Twilight took a step back. "Yes, that is me. Is something the matter? Oh, I didn't extend hospitality. Forgive me, but I don't see other ponies often."

Having mentally memorized the location of everything in her tower, Twilight teleported a book to her hoof. It was titled "Common Hospitality 101". It was not one of the books she had memorized unfortunately. A few flips through told her the first step.

Next, she teleported a chair, table, and a steaming kettle of tea from upstairs. "Please, sit down."

"T-Thank you." The stallion's eyes were wide as he looked at the display of magic. Yet without question, he stumbled over to the table and chairs and sat down.

Twilight poured him a cup of tea with magic, then sat down opposite of him. She poured herself one as well.

Now that she was sitting across from the stallion, she felt very awkward. It was not often that she saw or talked with ponies. Seeing that he was drinking the tea and recovering, Twilight flipped through the book again to find out the source of this feeling. She came across a passage.

"It can often be awkward to speak to other ponies face-to-face. Instead try talking about an object in the room and the story behind it. Sitting beside a pony and talking can help an awkward atmosphere feel more natural."

That was it!

Twilight teleported herself and her chair directly next to the stallion. He froze, slowly looking over towards her.

"Well, how is your tea?" Twilight asked, her lavender coat brushing up against him.

"G-Good." The stallion shuffled awkwardly.

"What is your name?"

"Flint."

The air went silent. Perhaps she had misread the text.

"Thank you for letting me recover, and sorry about that outburst earlier." Flint coughed. "I have a package for you."

Excitement welling up inside of her, Twilight grinned and nodded rapidly.

Flint withdrew from his saddlebags a package. As Twilight looked at it, her mood rapidly plummeted. It was decidedly not book shaped, unless books the size of letters existed. Well, they did, but there was often nothing substantial in them.

"Is that a letter?" Twilight asked.

"Yes." Flint extended the slip of paper to her. "It used to be a package, but, well, that part got blown up."

"Blown up?"

"Ice-serpents."

"Ahh." Twilight took the letter with her magic. Ice serpents could shoot blasts of concentrated magic frost that had destructive capabilities. "Well, let me see it."

She floated the letter in front of her and popped the seal with her magic.

"H-Hey. Mind if I read it too?" Flint asked.

"Why?"

"Well..." Flint glanced around the room. "I'm kind of wondering what exactly I delivered to the literal edge of the world."

"I suppose that would be acceptable." Twilight said. "The pursuit of knowledge is admirable!"

Without further ado, Twilight folded open her letter. To her shock, familiar hoof-writing greeted her. She skimmed over the page, eyes devouring the words written there. In less than a couple seconds, she had read the whole thing. For a moment, she just sat there in complete shock.

Dear Twilight

I know you are still studying, wherever it is you are, but I need to see you again. Everyone misses you, and my fiancé can't help but keep asking about you. It's been years Twilight. Are you still alive? Do you still care about us anymore? Please, let me know.

Oh, that's right. I'm getting married! I am sure you will like the bride.

My wedding is on the first of the fifth moon of 1001. If you are still alive, or ever receive this letter, please come and visit. If you can make it to my wedding, it would mean the world to me. Please Twilight, we are all wondering how you have been doing.

Sincerely, Shining Armor, your B.B.B.F.F

Twilight stared at the letter, long-lost and buried emotions bubbling up inside her.

"It's a wedding invitation? I came all this way for a wedding invitation?" Flint was staring at the letter as well.

Twilight tapped her hooves on the table. It wasn't often that she thought about her family. They were just so far away, and she always told herself that she would visit them eventually. But when confronted with the undeniable fact that their lives were moving on without her, she couldn't help but feel like she had missed out. Not to mention, her brother was getting married. To whom? Why not include that in the letter? This was the letter you sent to the edge of the world? It was just three paragraphs!

"Flint, thank you for the delivery, but it's about time you leave." Twilight said. "I need alone time to organize my thoughts."

"Wait. You need to sign-"

Twilight lifted the stallion up, placed him on a teleportation rune, and sent him away in a flash of magenta light. He would end up in a tavern about a hundred miles away from here. Then, he would be served free drink and food as part of her agreement with the establishment.

Now... to go or not to go?

Comments

[Cloudy Moon]

I cannot wait to see the rest of the story!

[Lokitty]

this setup is lookin golden
sweet twi you try so hard u adorkable autist

[resonance]

I just know twi read everything out loud to flint.

I noticed the bugs weren't listed in the character tag...

[Delkan]

If you are still alive, or ever receive this letter, please come and visit.

...wait a minute

will flint ever come into the story again, or has he already served his purpose? i found him pretty neat.

[Gavier]

Small niptick: Archmagi is plural. Singular would be Archmagos. Or Archmaga if you want to make it femenine, but I'm gonna guess a Twilight educated on hundreds of years old books wouldn't just change the title to suit something as inconsequential as her gender

[Jura18511861]

Да... Это настолько Сумеречное поведение, что просто нет слов. Коротко о том, кем бы стала Сумеречная Искорка если бы не Селестия...

[Moonlight_Mist]

12139496
On his way back he falls into a rift that smells plaid and winds up in the Chaos Dimension. Specifically, the rift drops him into the bottomless pit somewhere between Discord's house and the dimensional divide.