The Endless Void

by Charis Mokestis

Chapter 2

The guards took me to the Palace; it was as magnificent as I always imagined it would be, and I looked in awe at its sight. I’d heard stories about its beauty, and it seems that every one of them were true down to the last detail. “Wow…Sirs, this place is amazing…” I said, my eyes travelling from place to place.

They simply laughed, looking at each other with smiles; “Hasn’t every guard said that the first time they entered this palace?” the one on the left asked the other. “Anypony who sees the inside of the palace has said those exact same words,” the one on the right replied. I felt a little embarrassed at the fact I had said the same thing as everypony else; was I really that plain? Of course, it is the biggest place in Canterlot so; guess it’s to be expected.

“Wait here,” the guards said, trotting off down a hall; I wanted to continue exploring the castle but, I don’t want to be known as the stallion that tried to run away.

So, I sat down on the floor and looked around at the room I was in. I honestly had no idea where I was, but it was quite elegant to say the least; I just prayed when the guards came back I didn’t get separated from them; this place looked big enough to get lost for months. The thrill of being called to the palace was starting to wear off, and I started to feel tired again; but can you blame me? It’s about 3 in the morning.

I gave a quick yawn, and started to clean off my glasses; putting them back on, I saw that the guards were trotting back towards me. I put my glasses back on, and stood back up as they arrived. "The Princess will see you now,” they said in that always stern tone.

“Wait…I don’t…have an appointment or, anything like that,” I said in a confused voice.

Thankfully, the Guards detected my confusion and decided to give me a little more information. “The Princess will explain once you’re with her, just go forward and see her in the Throne Room,” they said as they shifted to the side, giving me a clear path. I sighed, trotting forward to the room in question; did I really have much of a choice in this?

Now I won’t lie, anypony else would brag about how honored they felt to be approaching the Princess; but me? I was nervous as hell right now, I think I was shaking and sweating a little bit too. I was about to be in front of Princess Luna herself; it was different when other ponies where there, as in the case of yesterday, but I wasn’t sure if anypony else was going to be with me during this.

I slowly entered the throne room, seeing Luna sitting on her throne and feeling myself freeze up for a couple seconds; I took a deep breath, trotting forward and slowly bowing in front of her. “P-Princess Luna…it’s an honor to be in your presence…”

I looked up at her; she was magnificent in the moonlight. “Mr. Techno, I’m sorry to summon you at such a late time,” she said in a calming voice.

“Oh, your highness, I don’t mind at all; any time would have been good for me,” I added, trying to sound humble. She smiled, getting off her throne and trotting to me; “Follow me,” she said as she passed.

I quickly followed next to her, looking up at her; she was regal, looked magnificent in the light, and was very beautiful. Of course, I would never say any other those things, I’d probably get another “Everypony says that” response like I did with the guards.

“Uhm…Princess…” She held up her hoof, and I stopped mid thought.

“Everything will be explained tomorrow, when you are more aware and alert,” she chuckled, looking over at me.

“Oh, thank you, Princess Luna; you’re too nice,” I replied, remembering that I was indeed extremely tired.

She led me to a hall that had 9 doors in it; 4 on the left, 4 on the right, and 1 in the middle. I looked around, a little confused at what I was supposed to be looking for; “Uhm…Princess?” I said without a hint of what to do, or which door to go behind.

“Oh, forgive me, the others are asleep already, yours is the second door on the right.”

Great, now I was even more confused at what was going on. “I’m sorry…others? Mine?”

She took note of my confusion, and pat my back gently; “Everything will be explained in the morning, second door on the right.” She trotted away, looking back and saying a phrase that sort of worried me. “Tomorrow, you’ll know all you need to; have a good sleep, Techno.”

I sat for a couple seconds; sighing as I trotted towards the door I was assigned. I stared at the door for a second, wondering what was going on and why I was chosen for whatever was going on. I shook my head, slowly opening the door and looking inside the room. It was dark, so I had to find a light switch; but once I flipped it on, I found a comfortable looking room in front of me.

It looked like what most ponies would label as a guest room; consisting of a bed, a lamp, nightstand, and a drawer. I smiled at the comfy looking room, slowly closing the door as I sat on the bed; it was pretty comfy, and right now I didn’t care so much anymore. I yawned and took my glasses off, “Tomorrow…” I sighed, putting my glasses down and getting under the covers of the bed.

I just wish I could sleep, I was even more nervous than I was yesterday afternoon. A question that should have popped into my head was something she said early on; who in the name of Equestria were these “Others”? Was I in the position to be a new guard, or something?

“I can’t be a guard! I’m not that pony you call to defend a village or something, I’m that pony that’s playing the game where you do that!” I was making myself even more nervous, what was in store for me tomorrow? Maybe I was going to be a test subject and forced to complete chambers, then betrayed and killed at the end!

I sighed, rubbing my head; “I have to stop playing that game…” I said as I turned and looked at the black ceiling. Then the worst thought started running through my head; “What if me and these ‘others’ were in line to be killed, for crimes we don’t even know we did!”

I started to panic, we could all be dead tomorrow because of something we did, and I’m only 19! I was wide awake now, only the thought of potential murder was running through my head; maybe I could run? Yea! I could run- No, wait…that’s a dumb idea; I can easily be traced to anywhere I go in Equestria.

My fate was sealed, I was a pawn in whatever kind of game this was and I had to play my role. If I didn’t play my role, I would probably have to run from the guards and hide; and I’ll be honest, I was always the first one found in a game of hide-and-seek.

I could either face death, or face the potential of something even worse than that; what that was I had no idea. But, then I started thinking about it; “Princess Luna wouldn’t want to kill anypony, she’s way too nice to want to harm anypony.”

I smiled as the new thoughts came in and flooded out the old, slightly disturbing, ones. How could I think Princess Luna would want to kill a group of nine ponies? If she wanted to, we would have been thrown into dungeons or something; instead of these rooms. That was a silly thought to think she would want to kill us, I don’t think Princess Celestia would allow it without good reason.

I closed my eyes to try and fall asleep again, but sleep didn’t seem to want to come to me; stupid second wind never comes when you really want it. I sighed and opened my eyes, putting my glasses up and looking at the clock next to my bed. “Ah dammit…it’s 4 in the morning…” it wasn’t even early 4; it was closer to 5 than it was to 4.

What was I supposed to do? I couldn’t sleep, I had my second wind, and I was too excited to learn about what might happen tomorrow. Fate just wasn't on my team today, was it?

I decided to pull out my phone; pressing it on hurt my eyes a little from the brightness. I put it back up, flipped my bedside lamp on, and started to look around for some kind of reading material. Newspaper, Magazine, Novels; any of those would have been great right now, just something to do to maybe tire me out.

Then, an idea came into my mind; “Maybe one of those others is awake also, and I can get to know them.” I pulled the covers off of me, and started out of the bed. Sadly, I was use to the bed I had, so instead of getting out I more of fell out…on my face.

Anyways, after regaining myself I retrieved my glasses and walked to the door. My hoof rested on the knob, as I started to ponder if this was a good idea or not; “What if they think I’m trying to escape?” I asked myself quietly. They would only see me leaving my room, and was I supposed to get up at a certain time?

Because if so, I’m going to be a zombie in the morning until I get some coffee or an energy drink; and what about my studies and my job? Am I just supposed to quit both of those while I’m doing whatever it is the Princess wants me to do?

I sighed, and decided to open the door and walk out. I saw the somewhat lit hallway, looking around for a couple seconds before I closed my door and stood outside. It was quiet, and very peaceful; of course I couldn’t sleep during this, the most relaxing time of the morning and here I am, wide awake.

I tapped my hoof for a second, wondering how I was going to explore and still be able to find my room again; “I can barely find my house after exploring in Ponycraft…how am I going to find my room again?” After some thinking, I decided I might be able to use a string or something to guide me back.

My horn glowed for a couple seconds as a string of magic tied itself around the door knob, making sure I could be able to find it again. I smiled, and started down the hall; thankfully there was enough light for me to see by.

I looked around at the architecture of the Palace; it was old fashion-y and interesting. It looked like it might have over four hundred years ago, or possibly even longer than that. I decided since I was exploring, and since I was new, I would check into any open room that I found; if I got yelled at, I could just say I had no idea.

The first room that I found was a huge library, bookshelves that look like they stretched for miles and miles. My eyes wondered from shelf to shelf, all I wanted to do was take a book off and read until I passed out; but this might have been a private library, and taking a book might get me in trouble. So, I took a quick minute to look around and decided to continue exploring the castle. I wanted to go back to that library so bad, and just pick a book and random and see what I would find. Maybe I’d get lucky and find a book on magic, advanced magic that hasn’t been used for over a thousand years; or something. Maybe I could find a spell to turn back time, or maybe one to go forward in time and bring something back to this time so I’d be the stallion with the most advanced technology. “That would be the coolest-”

My thought process was cut short, as I accidentally ran into somepony. My glasses flew off my face, and behind the pony I had ran into. Everything was blurry as I started to look around; “Ah, sorry…so sorry, didn’t see you, I was distracted…” I said as I looked for my glasses. The pony I ran into gave me my glasses back, and I smiled as I put them on.

I blinked a couple times, getting a clear look at the pony I had ran into. She was a smallish, earth pony mare, with a white mane and a deep red coat; she stared at me, wide-eyed, and didn’t say a single word.

“Hello…” I said, trying to break the silence that was between us, “I’m Techno.”

She still didn’t say a single word; she just kept looking at me. “Uhm…what’s your name?” I asked, trying to get her to say something. Her cheeks turned a bright red as she slowly turned around and headed in the opposite direction.

I sat for a couple seconds, wondering what had just happened; did I do something wrong? The better question was, “Who was that mare?” She never gave me a name, all I knew about her was what she looked like; was she one of the ‘others’? I wanted to follow this mare, maybe to try to get an idea of who she might be, but she seemed pretty nervous from what I could tell.

I decided to let her be, and decided that it was time to return to my room; maybe even try to get some sleep. I looked up, making sure the magic string was still attached to my horn, and started to follow it back. I noticed the line was being left over, and I needed some way to get rid of that; just in case I wasn’t supposed to be out. I started to think for a couple of second, then I got the idea; “What if I reel it in, like with a fishing pole?” guess it’s worth a shot.

I sat down, and slowly started to suck the line of magic back into my horn. The weird part to me wasn’t the fact I was doing this, but that it was actually working. I smiled, and then my brain got the most random idea you could imagine. “Maybe I could reel myself back to my door!” I said with a grin, “be something to try out at least,” I chuckled, starting to reel more and more line back in.

As I felt a tug at my horn, I sat up straight, and continued reeling myself in. I was pulled by the line, lying on my back so I wouldn’t fall onto my face; this was actually really fun!

I laughed a little as I got back to my door, untying the string and sucking the rest in. I sighed happily, opening the door and looking at the clock. “Holy crap…it’s seven in the morning…” seems my exploring had taken a lot longer than I thought it did; still fun to explore the castle.

I was exhausted right now, my second wind had finally left me and that exploring had only made it leave faster. I took off my glasses, set them on the bedside table, and started getting into bed; I don’t even remember my head hitting the pillow, I was that tired.

When I awoke, I looked over at the clock and I thought it read 8 A.M; “Wow, I only slept for an hour?” I was impressed with myself; I didn’t sleep the day away.

I stood up, put my glasses on, and looked back at the clock; needless to say, I was wrong about what time it was. The clock didn’t read 8 A.M, it instead read 3 P.M.; I had slept an additional 7 hours. “Oh…that’s probably not good…” I thought to myself, looking at the door that leads into the hallway.

I was scared to go out, what if I was supposed to be up early to do something for the Princess? I gulped, slowly opening the door; I was expecting to find some guards or something waiting for me.

But, to my relief, nopony was there to arrest me. I slowly stepped out, taking a quick look around before continuing; guess I was in the clear right now. One thing I noticed was that the doors to the other 8 rooms were open, meaning the ponies inside them were somewhere in the castle or at least near it. Maybe this was my chance to find somepony who could explain what was going on, and maybe I could finally get an idea of what my role in this weird incident was.

But, who was I going to talk to; I have no idea where the Princess might be, those other 8 ponies could be anywhere. In short, I was completely on my own until I found somepony to help me. I sighed, and decided to start wandering this giant Palace.

I passed quite a few things during my explorations; I passed the library again, I also passed an armory. I took a quick look inside, and saw a couple suits of armor and a few weapons. Of course you know what my first thought was; I wanted to put one of them on, and just see what it looked like on me.

But, thankfully, I talked myself out of it; had a group of guards been walking by they might have seen me and thought I was a guard. Again, I’m not even close to guard material; I’m a squishy nerd, not a strong warrior.

I decided to continue my journey to look for somepony who could help, most of what I was walking through was hallways. I swear they were getting longer and longer as I walked on, and they never seemed to end! I shook my head, closed my eyes for a second, and continued walking forward. To my luck, I heard hoofsteps in the distance; probably only about 30ish yards from where I was now.

I listened closer, and headed towards the source of the hoofsteps; maybe it was somepony who could tell me where I was supposed to go! As I took a left, I saw the pony only a couple feet away; “Hey!” I called out to the pony, “I need some help! Wait up!”

I ran towards what looked like a stallion, or what was an extremely muscly mare. He stopped as I got close to him, and turned around to look at me. I was right, he was huge!

“Who the hay are you?” He asked me in a deep voice. I took a second to look him over; he had a leafy green mane, and a deep brown coat. He was a simple earth pony, just like the mare I had seen before, except he was pretty much the exact opposite.

“Well? What’s your name, stranger?” He asked again in his deep voice.

I shook my head, snapping out of it and looking back at him; “Oh, sorry, I’m Techno…I was called here by Princess Luna,” I replied to him. He looked me over for a second, tapping a hoof on the ground. “You must be the last pony we need,” he said with a smile, “I’m Cypress, nice to meet you.”

He stuck out his hoof; I was scared to shake it honestly. I gently took his hoof, and shook it up and down. Geez, this stallion looks like he could throw me to the wall without any problems; he’s freaking ripped!

“Have you met the others? I’m sure they’d love to see the final member of our group,” he said with an interested look; “No, I haven’t…I just got up less than an hour ago,” I replied.

He had a laugh that echoed through the hall, it was a little intimidation to say the least; “Well, Techno…I’ll take you to them, just follow me.”

He walked off, and I walked side by side with him. “So, Cypress,” I asked, “you were called on by the Princess as well?” He nodded, looking over at me; “About a month ago. I was just working on my farm when she came and said she needed me.”

Huh…what was Princess Luna planning? Calling upon a pony that was good with technology, and calling upon a pony that was good at growing things?

“You said you haven’t met anypony else, right, Techno?” Cypress asked me. I nodded, looking at him, “That’s right, you’re the first one I’ve meet…except for this one mare, but she might have just been some random pony.”

He looked at me with an intrigued look; “Oh? What did she look like?” he asked, stopping in his tracks. I started to think, trying to remember what she looked like; “Uhm…white mane…a deep red coat…she was kinda small and very shy…”

Cypress started laughing, patting me on the back. “Ah…she’s one of us, but you’ll learn more about her in a couple minutes,” he said with a smile. I was a little confused, but also a little happy that I had made a new friend. “Come on, we shouldn’t wait to introduce you anymore,” Cypress said as he walked forward again.

I smiled, and followed him; I was about to meet a whole group of ponies, and hopefully they were as nice as Cypress was.