A Sleight of Existence

by Inthend

Overlord

The purple alicorn riffled through the many folded and tattered papers which lay sprawled across the floor in front of her. The faint lavender light glimmering from the tip of her horn was just barely able to overcome the dark shadows of the corner of the library and she had to squint just to make out the familiar writing of her and her old mentor. It’d been so long since she could sit down and peruse her old collection of letters. She glared down and with an annoyed whisk of her magic sent them all spiraling through the air.

The answer had to be here somewhere.

She had unsuccessfully combed over every page of writing in the library and was no closer to the truth. Ever since her “Ascension” to an alicorn she was more miserable than ever. Nothing in Equestria could explain how two unicorns just suddenly changed into alicorns. As far as history was concerned, it had never happened before. There was no telling what this newfound power could do or if she could even control it entirely.

The papers fluttered around her and scattered to the floor, their ragged yellow hues and crumpled corners betraying their indiscernible age – except for one. Twilight cocked her head as she picked up the perfectly folded letter and began reading it.

My most faithful student Twilight,

I cannot even begin to describe what is happening to me right now. I feel my body is slipping out from under me and my mind is vanishing from the plane of existence just as quickly. Is this what death is like? Does every creature experience this infinitely heavy burden placed upon them while at the same time having an immeasurable force lifted? Has my mind already withered away to the point that I’m just raving about things that aren’t actually there? Even as I write to you I sense the conscious decision between having the strength to write and having the energy to think. I cannot do both at once. May this be the last lesson I ever teach you: Do not trust the world you live in. I am caught between the two halves of a greater reality which one cannot even begin to fathom, and yet I feel free. I can stand on the verge of death and tell you nothing more than that it is peaceful. It calls to me, beckons, and although I feel the cold fear that one should always feel towards the grave, I still wish to submit. I pledge my body and soul to a new existence, perhaps one that will take me far away, to another world, where I may start over; a place where I can teach the natives about my prospects, a place where I can learn from them while simultaneously gazing down upon them. Or perhaps that time has already come to pass. My time on Equestria has served me as such and I do not wish to further corrupt the systems already put in place. Ah, the dream of a ridiculous mare. I entrust to you, my dearest disciple, the sun and all of the power it holds. May it bring warmth to the lands long after my name has been forgotten. Rule long and steady alongside your estranged sister, for it was always meant to be that you find each other despite impossible odds. Know that you hold the lives of every living creature now. I fear my time has been cut short, farewell Twilight Sparkle.

I will be with you always,
Princess Celestia

*~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~*

Spike tried to shrug the anxious unicorn off his shoulder, but to no avail.

“You realize we have to get out of here, right?” Rarity pulled her head away to gaze up at him with big hopeful eyes.

“How?” He purposely neglected looking at her for fear that she would convince him to go along with some moronic plan to escape.

“I don’t know. We just have to.” She pressed stubbornly.

“Well if you have a plan then by all means go for it.” Spike tried to lift his shaking hands to cradle his head but the chains around his wrists cut his effort short. He sighed as the rattling continued to deafen the wagon.

“What happened to you?” The lines of dirt streaking the unicorn’s cheeks grew dark as she leaned away from him.

“I’ve grown up. I’ve accepted my fate. We’re not coming back from this.”

“Don’t say that!” Rarity almost sobbed, batting him with a frantic hoof. “We’re going to get out of here! We’re going to escape into the wilderness and forget all of this ever happened! We can live out our lives without anypony else bothering us. Just you and me.”

“You’re about two years too late.” Spike mumbled with a defeated groan. “If you had just said that before all of this happened, before we ended up in this mess, we could have done that.”

“It’s not too late! Let’s get out of here!”

Her words fell flat as the wagon teetered on.

*~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~*

How long?

The memories of sunlight had faded completely from her mind. That’s how long. She couldn’t recall the sensation of a summer breeze or the smell of the dew-speckled grass in the wee hours of the morning. There was nothing left to keep her alive. There was no reason to remain breathing when her freedoms had been stomped into the ground right before her eyes.

The sickly pegasus stifled another gag as she happened to catch her disfigured body out of the corner of her vision. Bile rose in her throat at the pathetic excuse for wings which clung to her side with nothing more than a skeletal branch wrapped in leather. She could hear the painful creak of her bones against the strain of her own weight every time she moved. There was a time when she used to fly about her cell, to circle and smash against the padded walls just to remember what it was like to be in the air again. That time had long since passed.

Her ribs poked out through her cyan skin as she gazed emptily at the reflection of the once beautiful mare looking back at her from the polished silver bowl. The dull glow emanating from it was the only thing that hinted at something alive in the room.

How long?

It was no longer a question of how much time she had spent there but rather a question of how much longer she was going to spend there.

Comments

[Styrofoam]

Ah, so Celestia left Twilight a cryptic goodbye note. Interesting.

And what has Rarity and Spike gotten themselves into. Spike seems resolved to his fate. And my goodness, somebody save Rainbow Dash! Seriously, her plight is the worst of all it seems. But then again, I haven't seen Fluttershy...