Freed
Pain.
Fatigue.
Fear.
I’ve felt these things for so long.
‘Why won’t she stop?’
‘Why won’t she listen?’
‘Why would she do this to me?’
I’ve asked myself these questions for just as long.
I’m not even paying attention to what’s going on around me anymore.
What’s the point? She’s never going to let me go until I’m drained dry. She doesn’t care. She’s never cared. I was stupid to not notice it until it was too late.
She’s taking more energy from me again… it hurts… I don’t have any more to give, yet she still takes more and more. I scream. She ignores it.
She stops again. A small relief.
She takes more again. I scream.
She stops, only to use a little bit more, not as much as last time.
It still hurts. I still scream. She still ignores it.
Maybe if I just relax enough I’ll just fade from existence. I have nothing left for me here. If I could just fade away, maybe I could die, or at the very least not have to go through this torture any more.
Suddenly… I feel an intense burning pain course through me. It hurts much more than anything else I’ve experienced. I scream.
This must be the end. She’s finally decided to use up every last bit of me instead of trying to rip as much magic as she can out. She’s going to use it for something big, and I’m going to finally die.
But…
The pain…
The burning…
The screaming…
…
My pain is fading away…
The burning is turning warm…
And I’m not the only one screaming this time…
There’s a small breeze blowing through wisps of my mane, the night air making it feel refreshing, and calming. It feels nice.
Wait.
It feels… nice?
Calming?
Mane?
I open my senses out to the world around me.
I’m in a deteriorating building at night.
…
…
…
…
I’m in a deteriorating building at night?!
‘I’m Free?!’
Almost disbelievingly, I try lifting myself off the ground.
I get off the ground.
I try spinning around in a circle.
I spin around in a circle.
I try looking up at the ceiling.
I look up at the ceiling.
‘I’m Free!!!’ I think to myself with something I almost forgot about. Joy.
I let out a small ‘heh’, and then it evolves into tentative giggles, and then finally I just let loose with uncontrollable and wonderful full-blown laughter. I can’t help myself. For so long all I’ve felt was either having my magic and life-force ripped out of me forcibly or feeling it slowly leak out of me as she uses it to keep herself alive. Then to suddenly go from torture to actually being able to exist and live… it’s pure bliss.
Through my laughter, I hear a low groan come from nearby. My eyes widen and I whip around to see six mares lying on the ground a little away from me. Two pegasi, earth ponies, and unicorns lying in different positions, unconscious. Or at least… they used to be from the looks of things. The purple unicorn looks to be waking up.
I feel like I should be doing something but I can’t remember.
The purple unicorn looks in my direction just as the others are getting up as well, and her eyes widen in shock upon seeing me.
I’m only looking at the gem in the crown she’s wearing. I recognize it.
The Elements of Harmony.
Suddenly, everything hits me, warmth, the healing, the other scream, being freed. She freed me.
She freed me!
I plow into the mare.
“Thankyouthankyouthankyouthankyouthankyouthankyouthankyouthankyou!!!” I say to her happily after glomping the violet unicorn.
“Whoa there Twilight! Are you alright?” The orange earth pony asks the unicorn.
“Ugh. Yeah, I’m fine Applejack. Just got knocked over is all. What is this thing doing to me? I can’t tell from where I’m at.” Twilight asks Applejack.
I take a moment to stop hugging the violet mare to look at Applejack.
I immediately notice the necklace around her neck with another Element of Harmony. She helped save me too!
Applejack receives the next glomp of the night as I repeatedly tell her thank you as well.
“Oh, never mind, I figured it out. She was hugging me.” Twilight says from where I left her.
“Heh, it seems like it reeeeeeaaallly likes you Applejack.” The cyan pegasus mare with the rainbow mane says to Applejack with a laugh.
She’s wearing a necklace too. GLOMP!
“Not any more than you Rainbow.” Applejack replies with a smirk at the pegasus mare.
“Whatever do you think it i-GAH!” Glomped the white unicorn.
“Awwwwww, she’s so friendly! Can we keep her?” The pink earth pony asks. And yes, I glomped her as she said that, she actually returned my hug, unlike the others.
“I don’t know Pinkie Pie, we don’t exactly know what it is.” Twilight tells Pinkie.
“Maybe it’s- eep!” The yellow pegasus gives a startled squeak as I glomp her as she speaks, she’s wearing a necklace too. Must thank with hugs!
Before I could refocus on hugging everypony a second time around for all of them, a bright light starts to shine through one of the broken windows of whatever structure we’re in. Sunlight starts shining through.
Normally I would try to find somewhere to hunker down for the day, sunlight makes me feel uncomfortable. But as of right now, I just don’t care. I’m too happy to care about anything else except expressing my joy that I’m free.
The Element Bearers around me all bow to an approaching light, and I suddenly feel a familiar presence.
‘Celestia!’
I float up over to where she just appeared.
“Hi Celestia! Long time no see!” I say to her happily.
She looks at me in surprise.
“… Letum? Is that you? Where have you been all this time.” She asks me.
I remember just a few minutes ago and I shiver. “I don’t want to talk about it. I’m just glad to finally be free! FREE!!!!” I stretch out my hooves to the sky with joy.
Celestia gives me a confused look. “Letum, you need to use words when conveying your thoughts. I only caught a couple emotional pings from you.” She tells me.
‘Emotional…? Oh. OH!’
“I knew I was forgetting something! Wow, got so used to using that way of speaking that I forgot I have to form sound for others to hear me.” I say aloud for real this time.
Celestia gives a laugh at that. “Yes, we all get a little forgetful sometimes. We should catch up together at some point. But as of right now, we have six mares to thank for awakening the Elements.” She says looking behind me at the now gawking mares.
“Oh trust me. I thanked them a TON for what they did for me! And I’m planning on giving them each a second and third round of hugs in the near future.” I tell the white alicorn with a happy grin.
She giggles at learning that I gave them each one of my famous glomps… okay, they’re not really famous, I’ve never glomped somepony ever in my life up until tonight. But I definitely plan on making my glomps famous now.
“Princess Celestia? Who is this? You know each other? What is she?” Twilight asks while walking up to us.
Celestia smiles down at the violet unicorn.
“All in good time my faithful student. But before I explain any of that, I would like to say congratulations and well done on awakening the Elements of Harmony. That is something no ordinary pony can do, and I am extremely proud of you.” Celestia tells her.
“But I don’t understand. You said that the Mare in the Moon and the Elements were just an old mare’s tale.” Twilight says to the solar Princess.
“What I said, is that you needed to make friends Twilight. If I told you from the beginning exactly what I wanted you to do, you might not have accepted true friendship into your heart.” Celestia explains kindly.
Twilight looks down in thought and then smiles. “Yes. I did let friendship into my heart. I felt the spark happen when I heard them calling my name before I realized that we were the Elements.” Twilight recounts fondly.
“Now if only somepony else would accept friendship back into her own heart.” Celestia says as she walks off to another part of the room.
I frown in confusion. ‘Someone else? Who else is there t- no…no no no no no no no no no nonononononononononononononono no no no no!!!!’ I think in my mind with growing horror as I follow the path that Celestia is walking towards, and see the form lying on the ground.
“Princess Luna! It has been over a thousand years since I have seen you like this.” Princess Celestia says to the small light blue alicorn lying on the ground.
The one that kept me imprisoned inside her mind for a thousand years.