A Sleight of Existence

by Inthend

Let it Reign

“We can’t spend much longer in here.” Rarity shook the adolescent dragon nervously.

“Then what do you suggest we do to get out of here?” Spike grumbled. “These are heat-proof chains, not like the ones back in Vanhoover that I could just melt through.”

“They may be heat-proof, but they’re not magic proof. Keep still.”

Her horn shimmered with a transparent sparkling blue that soon enveloped the cuffs around her hooves. Suddenly there was a loud pop and the sound of chains crashing against the floor of the carriage.

“I told you we’re going to get out of here.” She smirked rubbing the red bands left from the cuffs with a triumphant smile.

“Not so fast. Undo mine first and we’ll think of a plan to escape.” Spike hunched down as Rarity focused her magic around his cuffs and popped them loose in the same fashion. Instead of letting them clatter against the wagon, though, he caught them midair and placed them gently on the wooden flooring.

“I’m sure we can just outrun them. They’ll never know if we leap out the back. We’ll be miles away before they even notice.” The white unicorn abruptly kicked open the back doors of the wagon.

She quickly looked back at the dragon as the ground sailed dangerously beneath them. “We’ll jump on the next bump.”

“No! Rarity that’s a terrible idea –“

“NOW!”

The mare jumped without a moment’s hesitation and Spike watched on as she tumbled raggedly against the ground before promptly becoming encased in a thick shell of green magic. He groaned and sat back as the wagon lurched to a halt and a lime-green unicorn appeared in front of the doors.

“We will be taking you to Canterlot and you will not escape again.” He hissed.

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

She had to get away. She had to be free again.

Fire stirred in her heart as her bright rainbow bangs fell over her eyes. Despite all the pain she had endured and the time lost to her, the color in her mane hadn’t faded one bit. She was still a pegasus. She was still the greatest flyer in all of Equestria. And she was still Rainbow Dash.

She sat staring at the rusty panel at the bottom of the door like a hawk watching a mouse. The moment it moved she lunged for the hoof on the other side. With a surprised yelp, the appendage was pulled into her room right behind the silver bowl.

“Let go!” a shaky voice whimpered from the other side of the door.

“Let me go.” Rainbow Dash growled pressing her weight down on the limb. “Or the leg comes off.”

“Okay! Okay!”

A series of clicks echoed through the chamber before the door rattled open for the first time in many, many years. The pegasus saw her opportunity to escape and desperately threw her entire body towards the sliver of freedom with an unbridled amount of force. The caretaker was thrown onto his back as she rushed down the dark hallway.

She didn’t make it far before a purple bubble encapsulated her body and levitated her to stare into the menacing eyes of a royal guard.

“It’s just as well. I was coming to get you for your execution in Canterlot anyway.”

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

Her eyes watered as she looked at the disconnected ramblings of the alicorn she had looked up to for so long. Clearly a level of insanity had taken ahold of her mentor before her tragic death. Yet there seemed to be some amount of truth that could be gleaned from it.

Twilight placed the letter aside only to realize that it had been covering a similarly formatted paper beneath it from Starswirl the Bearded.

Life as we know it is a stranglehold on a reality that does not exist. Our minds embrace it and wrap our self-consciousness in the warmth it offers but there is nothing more. To what end? Why do we exist in this world that teeters on the brink of death day by day? We may exist, that is every one of us, outside of this world of laws and mediums in a universe that is unbound, a universe that knows no limits. However nothing is without rules and order. Can there ever truly be a world without laws and boundaries?

I believe there is.

Mother Nature has betrayed us. The tyrant witch who has reduced us to nothing more than her underlings chained down for her own amusement. She promises love and compassion for those of us who stay and fear and misery for those of us who threaten to walk out. The truth she keeps hidden under a labyrinth of secrets and misdirected ideals couldn’t possibly be more contradictory to the true reality. Our freedom is only a stone’s throw away. The darkness you see every time you close your eyes, the black emptiness that spans the regions between the stars, even the murky waters and dark caves that still elude our probing grasp for knowledge – these are the pathways to existence that we all may eventually realize.

Existence is a powerful thing. Why else would we be held down and convinced that this is the only life that we could ever know, that any fleeting desire that would endanger our lives is not worth the endeavor?

This force that holds us back, that stands between our individual enlightenments, simply put, is nature - a recycling reality that traps us in its vices and holds us here to prevent us from existing anywhere else. With all false realities there is always a few glitches, a few phenomena, that don’t belong and trigger doubt. Stories of unmatched talent and power from specific individuals and strange, unexplainable occurrences plague every corner of our world and yet everypony passes it off as something that simply cannot be perceived by our simple minds. We fail to give ourselves credit where credit is due. We are not simple. We are the most complex beings ever to exist within realities and yet we are told from the first day we awaken in this reality that we can only do so much. We are more, so much more. We simply need to realize that.

The reality knows that it is false and seeks to destroy itself and rid the universe of its corruption. Every disease, every predator, every death imaginable, was set in motion to help us escape this cage.

Everything is chaos.

Everything is Discord.

“Come sister, it is time to go.” The silver-maned alicorn beckoned from the doorway at the edge of the library.

Twilight sat up and nodded, her eyes glimmering with a sudden understanding which outweighed everything else she had ever known.

Comments

[Styrofoam]

Ah, even more cryptic still is Starswirl the Bearded's letters about the death and mother nature.

And nopony is about to save Rainbow Dash?

And thank goodness for Rarity! I hope she and Spike can escape.