Twilight woke up.
Her eyes fluttered open, only to be greeted with a faint light coming in from outside. There was no golden ray of sunshine, instead it was just a white beam of light. Twilight blinked for a while and took a glance outside the window; all around it was white and cloudy. Twilight found this unsurprising, it was winter after all. Twilight turned her attention to the clock, for she had woken up more or less the same time as every other day.
Twilight let out a little yawn before diverting her attention to her assistant Spike, who was peacefully asleep. On any other normal day, Twilight probably would have woken him up by now. But it was winter, so he was permitted to sleep in a bit later than usual. Besides, even if she did try, he'd probably wake up, grumble some nonsense, then fall back asleep.
Stretching a bit, Twilight slid off her bed and onto her hooves. She walked over to Spike's little bed and pulled his blanket up a bit. He almost immediately kicked it off again for whatever reason Rolling her eyes, Twilight made her bed before going into the bathroom to brush her teeth and wash up in general.
Stepping into the bathroom, the first thing she did was wash her face. Upon splashing a generous amount of water onto her facial area, she proceeded to lean against the sink as the water droplets slid down her face, dripping back into the basin. She gazed into the mirror and saw a reflection of herself. Her hair was a rat's nest, having formed a shape reminiscent to that of a large afro. She couldn't find the urge to move, she was just staring into that reflection of herself. She took a deep breath and picked up her toothbrush, applied the toothpaste, and began brushing her teeth.
Five minutes later...
Twilight emerged from the bathroom, refreshed and ready to start the day. She proceeded to walk over to her bed and sit on it. She was going to have to put on her winter clothing unless she wanted to freeze to death. Oddly enough, though, even though she had no clothing on whatsoever, she felt surprisingly comfortable. She didn't feel cold despite it being winter.
As Twilight was getting her boots on, she couldn't help but take a quick glance at the various photos around the room. They were all random, ranging from her old pictures when she was a filly, to the most recent ones with her friends. Twilight couldn't help but glance at a specific picture, one that stood on her nightstand amongst the various other photos. It of her and her friends in a group hug, all of them smiling and generally looking rather cheerful. Twilight's eyes shifted to the photo that was right next to it. It was of her brother, Shining Armor, pulling her into a hug; she couldn't have been very old at the time the picture was taken.
Letting out a sigh, Twilight continued putting on her apparel.
Twilight stepped outside of the library, donning her scarf, earmuffs and saddle alongside her boots. Strangely enough, despite having donned her apparel, they didn't seem to make her any warmer, nor did they weigh her down. Cold air filled her lungs as she breathed in a fresh breath of oxygen. Normally, the cold air would have made her insides feel cold, but this time it was more or less the same as the air in the library. The soft snow crunched under her hooves; she couldn't feel anything, it was as if she was light as a feather. It hadn't snowed much at all last night either, as the roofs only bore a thin layer of snow.
Twilight began walking around the town of Ponyville. She usually would have stayed in the library and practiced some spells, but she didn't want to wake anypony up, as it was still fairly early. That and the fact that Spike was still asleep, left her with no one to test her spells on. She couldn't fall back asleep either for fear of messing up her internal clock and sleep schedule in general. It didn't really seem like much; she could eventually fall back into her original schedule, but out of the fear that it would lead to a chain reaction causing her to somehow mess up, she didn't.
So, with nothing better to do, she decided to take a walk around the Town. Maybe she could even stock up on some groceries along the way, or, perhaps, drop by Sugarcube Corner to buy breakfast for Spike.
Twilight began walking, the soft snow crunching under her hooves. It only reached up to a quarter of her hoof though, she found this weird as the pathway would usually be cleaned up by now. The numerous amount of clouds were just as odd; there were no holes in the sheet of cloud that hovered above Ponyville, only a slight bit of sunshine managed to break through. The pegasi weren't supposed to leave so many clouds around. Twilight disregarded it and probably assumed that the pegasi weren't even awake yet. And then it hit her.
Ponyville had absolutely no sign of life except for Twilight.
She found this odd, usually there would be ponies walking around by now, and Applejack would have dragged her stall out to town and opened shop by now. Sugarcube Corner would've been filling the air with the scent of baked goodies just as well.
Instead, Applejack's stall was there, but merchandise of any sort was non-existent just like the stall vendor herself. Sugarcube Corner seemed to be closed, even the windows seemed to be tinted now, limiting Twilight's field of vision to only the exterior of the bakery.
Suddenly, she noticed. Almost every building in Ponyville had dark windows, allowing absolutely no pony to peek inside. By now, Twilight was feeling a bit curious about her surroundings, everything from the tinted windows to the lack of ponies worried her.
Despite all of this, Twilight forged on. She decided to go to Sweet Apple Acres and maybe ask Applejack what was going on.
The journey to the barn was quite peaceful. Twilight noticed a visible amount of fog starting to roll in, but even so, she started to feel her worries fade away. The town didn't strike her as odd anymore, nor did she feel any stress like any other pony would under similar circumstances.
Twilight kept walking; it seemed as though it kept going endlessly. The barn was nowhere in sight. There was nowhere for her to go. It was just a straight lane with generic buildings on either side with no way to turn left or right. The fog was getting heavier by the minute.
Deciding that enough was enough, Twilight decided to teleport back to the library. Or anywhere else. She closed her eyes and tried. She reopened her eyes to find out that nothing had changed; she was still in the same spot as she was before. And yet, she felt no panic. She got the feeling that if she did try to turn around and head back to the library, the results would be similar.
Instead, Twilight chose to continue walking forward.
It seemed as if she was on a treadmill. The scenery seemed to keep looping every few yards, yet her hoofprints were gone in every loop. The fog only continued to roll in. By now, she could barely make out the path five feet away from her. She turned her head to look back, and saw a trail of her hoof prints that she had left embedded in the snow.
Continuing the journey, Twilight walked. She didn't really care, instead she chose to let her curiosity get the best of her, and she forged on. With absolutely no idea of what was going on, Twilight ignored everything that was wrong with her surroundings and only continued walking forwards. The fog limiting Twilight's field of vision didn't help the situation at all.
Eventually, Twilight found herself facing something rather odd. The road in front of her was a shade of black. The walls, the roof, it was a long black corridor that had seemingly appeared out of nowhere. The city streets had oddly shaped into a funnel like shape, leaving her nowhere else to go save for the black corridor. With nothing else to do, Twilight decided to head into the mysterious tunnel.
Slowly, step by step, she walked into the hall of darkness, with no knowledge of the waht was about to happen. The temperature hadn't changed at all, and she still felt comfortable. Her hooves didn't hurt at all; it was as if she had lost all the feeling in her hooves.The ground felt non-existent. She felt weightless.
As Twilight walked forwards, she swore she could see something up ahead. As she approached it, she noticed that it was Cadence's blue ribbon, the one she used to tie her mane. Twilight remembered taking it and hiding it when Cadence had to take it off due to her getting her hair wet after getting caught in the rain. Twilight remembered Cadence looking everywhere for it, eventually giving up and getting a new one.
Twilight still had it. It was still in her old Canterlot home.
Twilight held the ribbon up to eye level, she let out a sigh, reminiscing about the old times back when she was still in Canterlot, with not much to care about. All the same, she was thankful for where she was now. For her friends and the experiences she's been through.
Putting the ribbon down, Twilight continued on into the darkness.
Twilight now felt curious as to what else the journey ahead would bring. She would've usually advanced with caution, but she was still carefree.
Not long after, she stumbled upon yet another piece of her life, the kite that she and Shining Armor used to play with. Twilight remembered being quite unskilled when it came to sports; She never did have much luck when it came to physical, outdoor activities. Kite flying, however, was an exception. It usually didn't require much physical strain at all, just find a windy spot and fly the kite. Shining Armor would usually accompany her and offer help when needed.
Twilight simply stared at the kite; she remembered kite flying being the only physical activity she enjoyed.
Twilight turned her head and continued walking. The dark tunnel didn't seem to have an end in sight, nor was there anyway for her to exit. Twilight still didn't understand how the lighting worked. The objects were well lit, yet it seemed as if she was walking on pure shadows.
Twilight decided to forget about it and forged on.
Twilight seemed to have lost track of time. She didn't know how long she'd spent in this mysterious World. It might've been a few minutes or maybe even hours. Despite all of this, Twilight still took her time traversing the pitch black corridor.
After some time, another item appeared. This time, it was a piece of eggshell. More specifically, from a dragon egg. Twilight immediately thought of the day her parents had sent her to sign up for Celestia's school. She was scared when she first walked in, as the school itself was immense and large. Twilight remembered having difficulty hatching the egg, that is, until the Rainboom happened. She never thought that the very dragon she had hatched would turn out to be her best friend.
Twilight thought about Spike. Surely, by now, he should be awake. What would he do should he notice her absence? Twilight assumed that he would just go around town asking everypony where she was. Or maybe he would send Celestia a letter, informing her of her missing student.
Twilight was beginning to grow hesitant of continuing. But with no where else to go, she had no choice.
She got her answer in the shape of a goblet, the very same one she had used to drink the hot sauce out of during her first day in Ponyville. Twilight still remembered the surprise party Pinkie Pie had thrown for her very thoroughly, and she remembered staying in her room for the duration of most of the celebration. She remembered being rather frustrated and stressed, mainly because of the out-of-the-blue announcement from Celestia about her having to learn about friendship and moving to Ponyville; she still hadn't gotten used to the hospitality Ponyville had to offer at the time. It also marked the day that she and her five new-found friends would inevitably bear the Elements of Harmony.
Twilight diverted her attention back to what lay ahead of her. She still didn't understand exactly what was going on, or why this was happening. She also wanted to know why her magic was inactive.
It seemed by now, that her journey would forever loop, just showing little random items or snippets of her life. Twilight assumed that perhaps the end of these items would mean her escape, the absence of these bonds that bind her to this path.
It was all Twilight had. It wasn't even solid fact, just a theory. But it was all she had.
Letting out a sigh, Twilight advanced, hoping that this would end much sooner than expected.
One by one, fragments of her life passed by. At one point, Twilight had passed by a vest, the very vest she was given during Winter Wrap-up. Twilight remembered being made the head organizer after seeing the lack of preparation and organization during her first Winter Wrap-up in Ponyville.
Further down the path, Twilight had come across The very dress she had worn to the Grand Galloping Gala. The Grand Galloping Gala was quite possibly one of the bigger disappointments in her life, with her friends and herself not being able to get exactly what they hoped for. Though the experience was certainly a bad one, she and her friends were unfazed and proceeded to laugh the bad day away. Ever since then, the Gala had never crossed their minds even once.
Later on, she had come across a little blank piece of paper. It wasn't just any piece of paper though, it was the kind of paper she would usually use to write her letters to Princess Celestia. Twilight immediately thought back to the day she had forgotten to send Princess Celestia a letter about friendship, which also reminded her of exactly how far she would go to be a picture perfect student. She had sent the entire town of Ponyville into a downward spiral of panic and chaos in general.
Various objects passed, yet she seemed to be covering no ground at all. That is, until she came across another piece of paper.
Unlike the last one, this one actually had words. It was the letter that her brother, Shining Armor, had sent her as an invitation to his wedding. She was genuinely mad that Shining hadn't informed her sooner, but all the same, she calmed down soon after. And excitement replaced her anger at the thought of her brother getting married. Not only was he getting married, but to her favorite foalsitter no less.
Twilight remembered Princess Cadence acting a bit off when she met her, having not remembered their little dance upon first reuniting with her. This was followed by her sudden aggressive behavior which did nothing to ease Twilight's worries, by then, Twilight was convinced that Princess Cadence was an impostor. She had almost lost hope when she had been shunned by her friends and family upon trying to expose Cadence. But then, fortunately for her, she had found the real Cadence. And up to this day, Twilight still doesn't regret sticking to her instincts.
Twilight let out another sigh before lifting her head and continuing on her journey. She felt like giving up, there was nothing for her to do. No clear explanation, Not even confirmation on if she would even survive or escape from whatever this was.
And then she saw it.
Far ahead. A small glimmer of bright light. It seemed to be quite some distance away from her judging by it's size, but it was enough to revive the little spark within Twilight that had kept her going for so long. Cautiously, Twilight approached the supposed exit. Excitement and anxiety filled her as she speculated about what could possibly be waiting for her on the other side. Hopefully, this was the exit.
Slowly, step by step, the light grew in size. Twilight had to hold her hoof up to shield her eyes from the sheer brightness of the light. It was much brighter than she had expected it to be. But undeterred, she continued to cover ground. It was easily possible for Twilight to get blinded should she let her hoof down and stare at the light for too long of a duration.
With each step Twilight took, the light increased in brightness rather drastically. Twilight had to shut her eyes at this point and walk with absolutely no form of sight at her disposal. She was walking blind. It was no big issue though, the invisible walls served as a guide for Twilight.
After a few more steps, Twilight noticed the ground underneath her hooves change. It was no longer smooth and hard anymore, instead it had become much rougher and a lot softer. Like grass. The other change Twilight had noticed was that the blazing light had seemingly disappeared. Cautiously, Twilight opened her eyes and found out that the light had indeed vanished, and instead of the black tunnel, she was instead greeted by the sight of a large empty field. The sky was a sheet of midnight blue, a clear indicator that it was night. The field was well lit, but Twilight could not pinpoint the light source.
Slowly turning around and observing her surroundings, Twilight found herself facing a large crowd. Among the crowd stood her friends and her family. Everypony from her five friends to her parents, all bearing a warm, welcoming smile. Even her Canterlot classmates were there, everypony ranging from Lyra to Minuette. Standing in front of the large mass of ponies was Spike.
Twilight was stunned by the sudden change of scenery. One minute she was in a black, seemingly endless corridor, next she's in a field standing before her acquaintances, regardless of their chemistry together. Naturally, Twilight walked towards Spike. Intending to question him on exactly where they were.
But as soon as Twilight tried to speak up, Spike gestured for her to relax and sit. She did as he said and relaxed, sitting down on the soft grass. She decided to gaze at the stars that littered the night sky above. She felt all her worries, doubts and regrets all fade away as she and her friends all watched the stars. Twilight had slowly tilted to the left, leaning her head against Spike as the both of them watched a shooting star zip through the night sky.
Twilight could feel all her worries, doubts, humiliation and anger all fade away. She felt extremely comfortable, and the air was warm and so was the soft grass underneath her. Her friends and family were all here, the night sky was beautiful, everything was just extremely scenic. Feeling drowsy, she stared at the stars, and closed her eyes, a smile slowly spreading across her face.
Meanwhile...
Spike slowly opened his eyes. He was still incredibly drowsy. Sitting upright, he rubbed his eyes with his claws and let out a yawn. He was surprised as to how early he had woken up compared to the times he normally woke up during winter. He assumed that this was courtesy of Twilight's strict bedtime rules as well as annoying alarm clocks.
He looked out the window and his eyes were greeted by a mass of white. It was incredibly cloudy, and the usual golden rays of sunshine had turned pale white. It was expected considering the weather conditions. The room already felt cold, making Spike even drowsier than he already was.
He got out of his bed and stretched, popping his spine and cracking his knuckles. He gave his tail a light swing or two as well. Once he was done with his stretching, he made a beeline for the bathroom. Upon entering, he grabbed his toothbrush and toothpaste, and turned the tap on. As he was brushing his teeth, he noticed that Twilight's toothbrush was bone dry. He automatically presumed that she had woken up hours ago, much earlier than him.
Spike took a sip of tap water, rinsed, and spat. He made sure to give himself a toothy smile to make sure that his teeth were in top condition. Otherwise, Twilight would probably make him sit and study every book she had that involved teeth. Stepping out of the bathroom, he was still rather tired. Instead of going back to sleep, however, he decided to head down and start tidying up. Judging by the complete silence, Twilight had probably gone out to town.
Climbing down, Spike found out that everything was surprisingly tidy. It was as if the library was untouched. Normally, Twilight would've selected a few books from the shelves and been studying by now, but the library was spick and span. Spike found this odd. What puzzled him further was the fact that the library doors weren't even unlocked yet.
Spike presumed that Twilight must've locked the door on her way out, but it was highly unlikely that she would've done so. Spike pondered for a while, and remembered that Twilight had a habit of leaving a note or two whenever she left, even if it was just for half an hour. Looking around, he found no signs of notes of any-sort. He didn't look very far though, Twilight would usually leave notes in very noticeable places. Like on the table or perhaps on the bookshelf.
The bedroom was the first thing he thought of. He sighed and climbed up the stairs again. As soon as he climbed up the stairs, he completely disregarded Twilight's bed and made a beeline for his. He looked around the area, searching for any signs of paper, before looking up and noticing something.
Twilight was still in bed, asleep, covered in her sheets, much to Spike's surprise. Twilight rarely ever slept in this late. Sure it was winter, but in true Twilight nature, she would've woken up by now, whether she wanted to or not. Spike walked over to her bedside, gently shaking Twilight, he expected the unicorn to wake up, or just have any sort of movement in general.
She didn't move.
Not a word, not a twitch, not even a groan. Spike shook her again, this time with more force. The results were the same, Twilight still wouldn't wake up. The stress in Spike was starting to grow, and he resulted to shaking her again, this time with much more urgency as well as being accompanied with a yell.
Much to Spike's surprise, Twilight didn't stir.
Panic filled Spike as he shook Twilight. He failed to elicit any sort of reaction from her. Spike came to a terrifying conclusion, he shook his head in denial and only continued to try his best to wake Twilight up. The results were the same every time. There simply was no reaction.
Spike took a step back and assessed the situation. Twilight wasn't moving, her chest wasn't rising and falling indicating that she wasn't breathing, every attempt to wake her up so far has been futile, her day-to-day items remained untouched.
As much as it terrified him, Spike's conclusion, was right. Whether he liked it or not.
Slowly moving closer to Twilight's bed, Spike tried to hold back the tears as he took one more good look at Twilight. She had a blissful smile on her face. Spike broke down, burying his head into Twilight's lifeless body, soaking the bed with tears and filling the library with sad sobs.
THE END
