The Day When Everyone Didn’t Exist
This is the story of an alicorn named ‘Celestia’. Celestia woke early one morning much like she had roughly one million ninety-five thousand three hundred sixty-five days before. One million ninety-five thousand three hundred sixty-five days of doing the exact. same. thing. every morning. Celestia blinked once, twice, thrice, and then an unusual thought drifted through her mind.
‘What if I did something different?’
Celestia was a Princess of Equestria; a Goddess among mortals. She could do what she wanted, and who would dare tell her otherwise? She glanced at an old grandfather clock sitting in a corner of her darkened room, it’s wooden tones contrasting heavily against the light yellow wallpaper. The old grandfather clock whose tones contrasted heavily against the light yellow wallpaper said that the current time was five o’clock ante meridiem.
No, no, no, that just wasn’t acceptable. What reasonable being would be awake at such a ridiculous hour? No, that simply wouldn’t do at all. It was at that moment at five o’clock ante meridiem that another unusual thought drifted through Celestia’s mind.
‘What would happen if I just went back to sleep?’
What would happen? She had never really thought about it before. She had always raised the sun since her earliest memory. She had been told that it was a group of unicorns who did it before her, and she had been told that it would be terrible if she didn’t. That she had been told this much was true, but she had never gazed upon a group of unicorns raising the sun, and she had never gazed upon some terrible event that would happen should she fail to do her duty.
The more she thought about it, the less it all made sense. Who had told her these things? She had been the one to write down the stories about the unicorns of old who raised the sun themselves, so who was it that told her so in the first place? Was it her mother? She couldn’t remember her mother. Was it her father? She couldn’t remember her father. In fact, to her knowledge, she had always just... been. Where had Celestia come from?
‘Oh, that way madness lies. No more of that’
This whole situation was just one confusing question after another, with no answers anywhere in sight. No, five o’clock ante meridiem was definitely not the proper time for these thoughts. And so it was that on that morning on the one million ninety-five thousand three hundred sixty-sixth day at five o’clock ante meridiem that Celestia made a choice. It was a simple choice that could absolutely not in any way pose any great threat to the long-term future of reality. Celestia went back to sleep. And Celestia Was Happy.
~~~
This is the story of an alicorn named ‘Celestia’. Celestia woke early one morning much like she had roughly one million ninety-five thousand three hundred sixty-five days before. One million ninety-five thousand three hundred sixty-five days of doing the exact. same. thing. every morning. Celestia blinked once, twice, thrice, and then an unusual thought drifted through her mind.
‘Something is terribly wrong.’
She glanced at an old grandfather clock sitting in a corner of her darkened room, it’s wooden tones contrasting heavily against the light yellow wallpaper. The old grandfather clock whose tones contrasted heavily against the light yellow wallpaper said that the current time was five o’clock ante meridiem. It was at that moment at five o’clock ante meridiem that another unusual thought drifted through Celestia’s mind.
‘Something is terribly, terribly wrong.’
Everything was silent, everything was peaceful, and Everyone Didn’t Exist.
The darkness was suffocating, the sun refused to rise, and Everyone Didn’t Exist.
Her heart raced, her pupils dilated, her body shook with silent sobs,
and Everyone Didn’t Exist.
Celestia silently rose from her bed. With long, graceful strides, she slowly walked to her balcony. Upon her stepping outside, a young Bluebird flew down from the skies above and landed on the railing before her, warbling a low, three-noted song. But Celestia couldn’t remember Bluebirds, because Bluebirds Didn’t Exist. She gazed out at the dark landscape of Equestria, not a single living thing in sight, and a single tear rolled down her cheek.
She tried once again to raise the sun, yet once again, nothing happened. ‘But really,’ she thought, ‘Is that so surprising?’ After all, she couldn’t remember the sun, because the sun Didn’t Exist. The Princess of The Sun gave a quiet giggle at her thoughtlessness. ‘How silly of me.’ Putting her short lapse of judgement at the back of her mind, she turned her back to the balcony and The Bluebird That Wasn’t There, then left to go find her sister.
~~~
This is the story of an alicorn named ‘Luna’. Luna Didn’t Exist.
Celestia turned Left down the hallway to get to Luna’s room. Celestia turned Right down the hallway to get to Luna’s room. Celestia went Up the stairs to get to Luna’s room. Celestia went Down the stairs to get to Luna’s room. Celestia didn’t know where she was going, because Luna’s room Didn’t Exist.
Celestia entered Luna’s room.
Luna could see that her sister had been crying, and if the state of the world was any indication, she knew why. Luna comforted her sister. She told her that everything would be alright. She told her that it was just a mistake. She told her that it wasn’t her fault. Celestia knew otherwise. It had been a choice. She had been told what she had for a reason — even if she didn’t know who told her — and she chose to disregard it.
But Luna would not allow that kind of thinking to stand. She bid her sister Sleep, perchance to dream of better days and let go, but Celestia would not let go that easily. She knew that it was not yet time, and Luna understood. Luna knew that she would Sleep when she was ready, and Luna Was Happy. It was technically day now, so Luna returned to her bed and Slept. Celestia didn’t see the Bluebird and the White Dove land beside her sister, because Bluebirds and White Doves didn’t exist.
And neither did Luna.
Celestia blinked once, twice, thrice, and then an unusual thought drifted through her mind.
‘I feel sad.’
Celestia could not understand why she felt that way. Perhaps she was simply unwell; she had, after all, just spent around four hundred twenty seconds talking to herself... Maybe she needed to get some fresh air. She distinctly remembered Ponyville to be a nice place; she could always stop by to visit her
~~~
Celestia strode through the castle’s statue garden, admiring the statues that Didn’t Exist. This all came to a rather sudden halt when she realized that one of the statues that Didn’t Exist was following her movements with its head. Curious, she approached the statue that Didn’t Exist and asked it its name. It took the statue that Didn’t Exist a moment to answer, since it wasn’t expecting her to notice it. Eventually, it revealed its name to be ‘Discord’.
Discord and Celestia conversed for a good while before Discord asked an unusual question. Apparently, Discord was tired, but he couldn’t Sleep if he was a statue. Celestia was divided. She didn’t want to end their conversation, yet she couldn’t in her right mind keep him from his Rest. Though she wasn’t happy with her choice, she knew that freeing him from the stone was the correct one to make.
Though normally stony-hearted — Discord chuckled at this — The Draconequus That Wasn’t there couldn’t help but feel sorry for leaving the Princess of The all by herself. With no small amount of hesitation, he quietly asked her if she would like him to stay until she decided to Sleep herself. She didn’t know how he knew her feelings on the matter, nor why he would choose such, but she was grateful.
His choice of words, however, was curious. That she would at some time Sleep was a forgone conclusion; every living thing had to Sleep eventually, but she wondered if The Draconequus That Wasn’t There realized how long a time he might be waiting with her. Whatever the case, that he would stay with her until The End was a forgone conclusion.
So it was that one became one and the two of them left for the town that Didn’t Exist. Along the way across the vast expanse of land between her castle in Canterlot and the small town of Ponyville, the two of them spoke in great depth about their salad days, when
the darkness wasn’t suffocating, the sun would agree rise, and Everyone Existed.
Their hearts raced, their pupils dilated, their bodies shook with silent sobs,
and Everyone Didn’t Exist.
Despite her sadness, Celestia was glad to have someone for company, even if it was a Draconequus. ‘Misery acquaints a mare with strange bedfellows,’ she thought to herself as Discord cried alongside her at the memories of everything they’d lost. They spoke of the memories they couldn’t remember for some time longer before setting off to Ponyville. Discord deemed the town ‘painfully boring’, but accompanied her nonetheless.
It took many hours to make the trip by walking, and at least a day would have passed, had days existed. Eventually though, they reached the small town, only to find it completely devoid of any signs of life. Belongings were strewn about the streets as though the ponies who owned them had simply vanished. Celestia quickly banished the thought, and attempted to determine a more reasonable cause.
Discord began to look worried for his companion as she frantically galloped about the town, looking for... Something. After much ado about nothing, Discord somehow managed to convince her of the fact that she was being ridiculous. Celestia apologized profusely for her odd behaviour, not knowing what had come over her. ‘I seem to be doing that a lot lately...’, she thought,‘Perhaps I’m coming down with something? Everyone knows that ponies aren’t real.’
With her little ‘episode’ out of the way, Celestia and her nonexistent companion continued to the town library. She didn’t know why, but she felt drawn to the location, as though her mind were trying to tell her something. What it was, she could not fathom. As per the usual, Discord merely floated along behind her. He had a bad feeling about that place.
The library door opened without a sound, the darkness outside giving way to the darkness inside. Celestia entered first, with Discord close behind. He attempted to dissuade her from going any further, but was unsuccessful. Realizing that he would never convince her, he decided to simply allow her to go along with her plans. Perhaps she needed to see what was inside before she could find peace. They ascended the staircase, then walked down the hall, where Discord chose to wait. Celestia entered the door on the left, and found
~~~
Celestia and Discord sat together on a small cloud near the peak of the mountain upon which Canterlot sat. Celestia’s tears had long since run out, and Discord had seen fit to stay with her until that time had come. Of course, he had somehow managed to fall asleep during that time. Celestia however, didn’t mind. In fact, she was starting to feel a bit drowsy herself.
She sat upon the cloud for what seemed like eons and gave one last look to the land she once ruled.
Everything was silent, everything was peaceful, and Everyone Didn’t Exist.
The darkness was suffocating, the sun refused to rise, and Everyone Didn’t Exist.
Her heart raced, her pupils dilated, her body shook with silent sobs,
and Everyone Didn’t Exist.
She closed her eyes, tucked her wings to her sides, fell forwards, and Slept. And Celestia Didn’t Exist.
“I am happy.”
~~~
“I have a long journey to take, and must bid the company farewell.” - Sir Walter Raleigh, 29 October 1618
