The Drop (Edited version)
It was dark. Light fragments reflected off the walls of the crystal castle, yet not enough to light up the vision of the shaded purple hued mare. She was on refuge from Canterlot duties, within her most lovely sister-in-law's home.
She lay on her side under the fluffy dull greyish-pink quilt cover of her bed. She had seen it. She had been scarred with Luna's early choices, and the authority she had been given to relive Celestia's nightmares, she had to banish the lunar princess herself (yet not exactly), to the moon. It was enough to know she had the responsibility of a kingdom, or the harmony in all the lands.
One good thing was Flash Sentry, who she had met somewhere between her coronation and present day. He was amazing, and a caring stallion, but she could only see him every few days, in the not-to-mention Crystal Empire.
Currently he was off, on a little practice mission with his crew. This did not help Twilight mentally. She grunts, turning over from a triggered memory, and glorified mistakes. It ringed around her consciousness for an hour or two, before vanishing long enough for the mare to catch rest.
Twilight's eyes bolted open, followed by a short scream, only to be terminated by the realization she was back in her bed, in the crystal castle, and that she was safe. The memories had lingered throughout the night.
Beside her on the ground, a huddled green and purple dragon in a basket-bed looks up in distress at Twilight. "Are you ok, Twilight?" It asked.
“Ah.. yes Spike, just a memory of..." she trails off, only to find herself opening and walking out the door.
Spike sighs, knowing what she was talking about. He pounds off after her. At the table, Princess Cadence and Shining Armor had joined the two, for breakfast. Twilight sat at the table, playing with her food, not at all hungry.
Spike sat next to her, waiting for any move she would make, while eating his own breakfast of gems.
“Twilie, are you alright? You gotta eat, you’re a busy mare. You need food, lil sis" Shining Armor said.
"Yes, I'm fine..." she responds back.
Cadence looks at Shining Armor, then back to Twilight. "Twilight. I know how much you love learning. How about you go and explore the Crystal Lake System today after breakfast, and see what all the craze is about? I bet you'd love it. It's beautiful, really. Would you like to go?"
Twilight glances quickly up at Cadence, a smile protruding her depressed face. "Realy? T-thanks Cadence. I'd love to. Do you want me to bring back research?"
Cadence chuckles. "Calm down Twilight, you’re on vacation, remember? Of course you don't need to. But if you must, sure, i'd like to know some new stuff about my kingdom."
"On it!" Twilight remarks, hurriedly eating her breakfast.
Afterwards, Twilight goes back to her room to grab something to write in, and a little day pack full of goodies. Spike follows her, and the two journey outside of the castle, to the far edges of the kingdom.
The mountains were closing in, and the openings and mouths were visible, reflecting in the light of day. Ahead, there was a large opening, with a sign stating 'THE CRYSTAL LAKE SYSTEM'
"Seems like we found the right place." Spike stated. Twilight agreed, walking closer. Something about the cave made Twilight a bit self-conscious.
"Hey, Spike. Your know how the girls are coming soon by train? Could I ask you one thing?"
"Sure, what do you need?" Spike edges on.
"Could you go look out for them at the station? They will be here soon, it's just that... Spike...? Is it alright... if I have a little time alone...?"
Spike frowns a bit, seeing her sudden change in tone. "Anything, Twilight. If you have a problem, be sure to call me. I don't want to pressure you to not have any alone-time," he smiles weakly."I'll see you later then. Bye Twilight."
"Goodbye" Twilight hugs the baby dragon, and he runs off, in the direction of the train station.
"Alright then... What's this all about..?" Twilight proceeds into the cave mouth, and disappears down the slope.
Sounds ricocheted against the walls of the cave. The cave seemed to keep on going, and going, and going down, and further down. It seemed to never stop, by this point. It had been twenty minutes, for sure. But Twilight could hear the quiet drip of water nearby. In front of her, stood a dead-end.
"What?! Where is the other side?" She walks closer, and a light pink door blurs into vision.
"There we go. Hmm... seems like Sombra found this place before me... or at least, somepony did..." She grins, and aims her magenta magic at a little crystal eye above the door. The door lags, and opens a few seconds after the crystal glowed.
"Must be old" Twilight shrugs it off, and proceeds down the next slope. Finally, after even longer, Twilight reached the Lake System.
It was brilliant. The overall feel was bliss. It felt as if she was so relaxed, like all her troubles were lifted away. The pool reflected the light coming from crystals that lit up when Twilight arrived in the room. It was a soft glow, good enough to detail.’
It was stuffy down here. After all that time, and the amount of air it has available, the environment had taken its toll. She touches the water, to her relief, it was relaxingly refreshing. Twilight looks around, tempted by the temperature, and the overall feel of the room. The lake sloped down, into the water, like a beach of sand.
It seemed bottomless though.
"Better just... stay in the shallows.."
Twilight leaves her stuff nearby one of the walls of the cave, and walks herself into the cool water. After a few minutes of adjusting and relaxing, Twilight edges herself to investigate the drop. She slides herself closer, and in suspicion, dives downwards into it.
Beneath her, the drop glowed with neon colours, luring her further and further down. She swam on, forgetting about the amount of time she had of air left. She edged on,the water getting colder, and the drop darkening to a blind state. She journeyed on until the tip of her hoof touched something... bitterly cold, and windy.
She scowls, throwing her head out where her hoof touched, confused. She inhaled deeply, satisfied with air.
Have I just swum to the other side of Equestria?
"HEEEELLLLLPPPP!" she yelps, realizing she was nowhere near home. Above her, a cliff towers, and rock pools circle it, creating a hazard for swimming in. Even a land-dwelling pony like her knew that swimming in through there was a very bad idea.
It didn't seem right though. When she tries to teleport herself out, her magic does not work.Her wings are frozen, and numb enough to make it a painful way to also get out. The only place she remembers her magic not working was in that alternate human world... but she did not arrive through the mirror.... nor did her body resemble a human in any way, shape or form. She could smell smoke in the air now. Just a smidgen, but it was a big tell-tale, because no smoke in Equestria smelt like this. The word lingered in the back of her head.
Pollution.
Light escapes from the eyes of a white creature, under the water. Around it, other creatures like it swam around, all greyish colors, their bodies were pony-like, yet their backs led into a soft tail, and they only had their front hooves. This individual though, was larger in build than the others, and had a longer horn and fins. The fins were large, and looked like lace, flowing freely in the dark water. They were all beautiful creatures, yet this one was the most beautiful of them all,. The form watches Twilight, waiting for her to drop under the water again.
“My Queen, when shall you call for the troops?” a female grey guard speaks, breaking the silence. She holds a staff with a hard jewel on the end, and her hooves and neck were covered in hard, navy and black highlighted armor, with a scaly neck brace underneath.
“Await my signal. I have my duties to fulfill. Ready the troops for when i call” The Queen sat on the rocky bottom with the guard, speaking silently, yet assertively. She had a very important event to prepare for.
Above, Twilight struggles, and sinks under the water in a panic. She falls unconscious, and the Queen , taking her deeper, and resembling her more and more, until it lets the purple mare go, disappearing through the Drop, only to be hidden away when the entrance closed off.
Twilight drifts off on the edge of the water, floating down the current to a small beachside of rocky sand. There, a group of friends were playing around, before they see the purple pony lying on the edge of the sand. One of the friends notices, and races over, wanting to investigate. Out of suspicion, the other come after him.
They thought it was some sort of an octopus, seeing as it was purple. But the closer they got, they noticed that the form had definable bones, creating a small head, a body and four legs. They knew from the shape that it looked like a horse.
“Someone’s pulling a prank on us. I swear” one of the boys said, poking out from behind the others.
“Who would paint a little horsie purple then drown it?” a girl said, saddened by this act, trying to touch it.
“Wait, hold back. It might be infected or something” another said. The others looked at each other, waiting for it to wake up.
A few minutes later, after no sign of movement, the girl reaches out her hand again, and carefully lifts it up, onto it’s side. As a reflex action, Twilight coughs up the water half consciously, as they pat her back. They were wise enough to at least let her into the recovery position. Yet, they had no idea how to to CPR on a horse.
“We should bring her back to our house.” one of the other girls said. They were all sharing a house, which they funded for holidays outside of university. They were a good, solid group of friends, who were almost like relatives, without biological proof.
The group get one of their towels, and wrap it around Twilight, then they put her on a small board to lift her up and bring her back to the house.
---------------------TO BE CONTINUED--------------------