Fog, that's all he could see. Fog. Unfortunately for him he had already gotten to know his surroundings through touch, as far as he could tell there was nothing he could use to reach the light. The one thing that confirmed that he could live again and it was just out of reach, he had no idea how he could reach it. He had already given up on sanity, it got him nowhere and had just been a cumbersome deadweight. He had to admit that it felt good to be crazy, he loved to have no mental limit. In the last few hours alone (then again he was unsure if it was just hours, he's forgotten time's passage altogether. You don't exactly need it in purgatory) he has already imagined a new color AND made mental blueprints for a machine that could turn the moon into REAL cheese. Actually, what IS the moon? He dropped it and assumed that he lost his full concept of the moon long ago, all he could remember is that the moon had something to do with cheese.
Crud, he just lost the blueprint.
He stumbled back toward the light in the center of his vast, empty prison. He sat at the edge of the white, fluorescent circle; remaining still, he basked in what little warmth it provided. He stood back up and raised himself to the tips of the extremities of his legs, at least he assumed they were legs. He honestly couldn't see anything other than the light, being the strange phantom that he was, he lacked a real corporeal form, bound to the unreal flooring of his cell. He raised up what he assumed to be an appendage akin to an arm and barely touched the lip of the opening that let the light through. Sadly his "arm" took that exact moment to decide that it lacked extremities and, therefore, was incapable of gripping the window. He fell back to the "ground" of his chamber, producing a soundless but impossibly loud thud that resounded throughout the purgatory, echoing without any surface to rebound off of.
Well that didn't go as planned, he would just have to wait.
"Twi, ah'm not sure 'bout this" Applejack eyed the machine twilight had hooked her into. It it was a sand-colored box with three tesla coils poking out of its top at 45 degree angles, each one was sparking and sending currents to one of its neighbors. Something was telling her that this was a bad idea. The device was emitting a low hum as twilight carried a small tube in her mouth. The tube contained a strange metal that produced a golden glow.
Twilight placed the tube inside a receptacle that, as soon as she let go, sealed itself up, removed the cap from the tube, and sucked the metal into its fuel system.
"what was that stuff?" Applejack cocked her head.
Twilight smiled at the opportunity to educate her friend "it's a rare material that can only be found in Horstrailia, it's called 'horstrailium'. It's got massive amounts of magical properties and makes the perfect fuel source for this baby." Twilight affectionately poked the machine.
"what's this thing s'posed t'do twilight?" Applejack broke into a cold sweat, if this 'horstralium' stuff was as powerful as Twilight said, then that machine's going to do something big.
Twilight flinched, she knew applejack was sensitive about matters that this machine addressed, but applejack could see through lies. She'd just have to give it to her straight.
"umm, it's supposed to uhh…allow anypony who's connected to see the afterlife."
He just sat still, or for a more accurate description, he lay sprawled across the floor. He would cry if he could, but he lacked tear ducts along with every other body part a living creature should have. He didn't exist, and yet there he was locked away in a fate worse than death. What did he do to deserve this punishment? He wished he could remember, he wished the voices would come back. He was lonely, oh so lonely. There was nothing left he could do, he had already tried everything he could with the resources at hand, then again that meant nothing. There were, after all, no resources to speak of. He just continued to lie there, doing nothing at all. After all, what was there to do? He couldn't even end his own suffering like others could in the mortal world…mortal world? There was a place other than here? He had forgotten almost everything about himself from before he got here. What did he DO!?
Before he was able to bother himself with more questions, all of purgatory shook. Violently. As he saw it, the gap letting in the light seemed to widen. As it did so he suddenly found his voice. Hadn't that been taken from him just like everything else? No matter. Now was his chance to call for help, something MUST be on the other side.
"HELP ME!"
He heard a shuffling sound. a purple...thing hung over the threshold is that a...hoof?...
Applejack stared at her for a moment, she couldn't read any emotion on Twilight's face. The only thing that seemed to betray any sign of her being something other than a statue was the thin layer of sweat reflecting a minute glimmer from the rays of the laboratory's lights. Applejack broke off the stare and let out a frustrated sigh, hanging and shaking her head in disbelief. Twilight fidgeted uncomfortably for a moment, allowing an awkward silence to penetrate the room. The purple unicorn was the first to speak.
"AJ, I know how you feel about these things and I should've told you earlier, but nopony else was willing to try. This could be a huge breakthrough, and we could finally know what happens to a pony when they pass!"
Applejack shook her head "ah understand how 'portant this is to ya, sugarcube, but ah don't think we should be messin' with things b'yond our control. It's somethin' that we aint meant t'know, afterall, how do ya'll think everypony will react if there's nothing after death? It'd probably cause mass panic, yknow?"
Twilight turned around and faced the plaque on the wall, "Knowledge is "
"Applejack I-I need to know." A single tear ran down twilight's muzzle, "I need to know if he's okay"
Applejack gave her a pained grin "twi, ah know that ya cared for your father very much, I'm sure that he is in a better place now"
"no…you're not sure, no one is sure, not even celestia herself knows." Twilight began to sob, she missed her father too much for words to describe, she didn't even get to say goodbye. On some nights she lets the tears fall, hoping that the sound of them hitting the floor reached her father. She wanted him to know how much she missed him, no, she NEEDED him to know.
Applejack just continued to watch, wishing that there were some way for her to comfort twilight. She turned away from the messy heap of tears that was her friend. She couldn't stand to see her friends suffering so much. She wanted to help twilight, she knew what she had to do, but she got the feeling that it would go terribly wrong.
"Twi, ah'll go along with your test. Ah don't like it, but if it'll help than ah s'pose ah could give it a try."
Twilight slowly and shakily stood back up, swiping the tears staining her coat away with the flick of a hoof. they continued to fall one by one, leaving small dark circles behind on the mahogany flooring.
"Thanks applejack" Twilight put on a sad smile and slowly shuffled towards the machine.
"Are you ready?"
"No, but let's do it anyways"
Twilight nodded and flicked a red switch on the control panel. The machine started humming again and sent an electrical pulse up through the wire connected to applejack's forehead.
As soon as the pulse made contact, Applejack's eyes began to glow a bright white. The room started to shake, causing the machine to tumble over on its side. Twilight, realizing that something was quite obviously amiss, slowly made her way towards applejack to disconnect the machine. But found that the lab was shaking too violently for her to retain a reliable foothold. She fell to the floor, yelling towards applejack to unplug the machine, but her cries were overshadowed by the deep rumbling of the quaking floor. As the laboratory shook, a small indent started to form. Twilight watched as that indent grew, the floorboards soundlessly collapsing into the ever-expanding sinkhole as a white mist began to float out the orifice.
The rumbling soon stopped as did the sizeable hole between Twilight and Applejack. Applejack's eyes soon closed and she collapsed to the floor.
"HELP ME!", a strange voice called out of the crevice. It was an indescribable voice, one that seemed impossible, like something that shouldn't be known, let alone be remembered. Twilight crawled over to the gaping aperture, trying to see just who called for help. Seeing nothing she reached down with her right foreleg.
She felt a cold presence grip her hoof, it felt unnatural, a small part of her mind was telling her that what she was doing went against all laws of ethics and nature. This shouldn't be happening, and yet here this was. The presence tugged twice, it wanted out. She began to pull. The strange entity, for the most part, seemed to carry no mass. Once her hoof was above the fog the entity suddenly got heavier.
Twilight will never forget what she saw. A hoof coalesced out of thin air, she could see it's sudden end just above the fog. She pulled harder. A second hoof appeared next to the one she was pulling, it swayed side to side, searching for something to grab onto. It gripped the edge of the opening and began to pull itself up. Twilight continued heave, more of the entity forming from the fog. Soon the head formed. A stallion, he had a dark purple coat, almost black. Red eyes that gently shifted to purple halfway up the iris, then to blue in the top half. They were filled with fear, but at the same time hope. The very same hope that comes with the discovery of freedom. His mane was a slightly brighter shade of purple from the rest of his body and was parted directly above his left eye. His right eye was half-covered by his mane, even twilight had to admit, he had a long mane for a stallion.
He eventually gripped the ledge with his back legs and, with an exertive grunt, pushed himself the rest of the way out of the hole. Now that twilight could get a better look at him she was able to see his cutie mark and tail. His tail was brushed down in a straight and organized manner, not dissimilar to her own. His cutie mark was a gear with six wings of fire protruding out of six of the teeth of the gear.
The stranger continued to stand there, staring at her. He looked terrified, but at the same time seemed intrigued. It seemed he wouldn't speak first, so she did in his place.
"Hello, my name's Twilight Sparkle."
She raised her hoof and pointed it toward him…how was he meant to respond? He hadn't been in this situation in lord knows how long, if ever! He reached out his hoo- wait, hoof? He had a body? How was this possible?
He continued to stare at his hoof in confusion as he left Twilight hanging.
She studied his expression, confusion, fear, curiosity were all evident in his constantly-shifting expression. His face was surprisingly easy to read, did he even know how to control it?
"uhh… I guess you've never had a body before?" It was a reasonable question, he did, after all, appear above the fog. He blinked and looked back up at her. He continued to stare for a moment before he turned his attention back to his body; tearing up, an ear-to-ear grin crept up his face. He was alive again! He could cry, he could laugh, he could explode with joy. His heart's gentle beating drummed through his body. With every beat a light pressure crossed his body, his blood pulsated with every thump that rang in his ears. He let the tears fall, the feeling of them running down his cheeks and muzzle was something he would never forget. He noticed a slight soreness across his face, he soon realized he was smiling. Smiling! He could express himself again!
HE. WAS. ALIVE!
He broke out into laughter, a hearty laugh that eventually degraded into wheezing, then convulsions that simulated his breathless mirth. He fell on his side, he could feel the floorboards rub against his side, he could feel his fur brushing them and himself. He tried to stop laughing, but the joy just kept coming. He couldn't stop! He had to though, from what he could remember he needed to breathe or bad things happened. He forced himself to stop and take a deep breath. Once his breathing normalized he pulled himself back up on his hooves.
Twilight giggled at his antics and gave him a warm smile, "heh, I guess not." She pointed to herself "My name is Twilight Sparkle."
He raised an eyebrow and pointed a hoof towards her, she nodded "Twilight Sparkle." She repeated, then pointed at him. "you?"
Confound it! How does she make words? He opened his mouth and exhaled. Nope. That doesn't cut it, rrgh, how does she do it? He made a noise once when he…what was it?...what was the word?...whatever…he remembered that some creatures made a sound when hurt, maybe he could do it that way, figure out how his voice works.
Twilight watched as he raised his forehoof and jammed hit into his gut. He grunted, as soon as he processed the fact that he made the sound, he recreated it; this time without hurting himself. He smiled again, then made another sound experimentally. Twilight cocked her head, "do you not know how to speak?"
There she goes again with words! He got his voice figured out, but he still couldn't make words! HOW!? He made another noise, but this time he put his tongue on the roof of his mouth. There it was! He made a different sound! Does that mean he would have to move his mouth-parts in different ways JUST to communicate with another sapient being!? Jeeze, communicating is harder than I remember it ever being. He tried again but with the back end of his tongue plastered against his back teeth. Again, he made a new sound.
"but…you yelled for help earlier, in equestrian no less! Do you even understand what I'm saying?" she took a step toward him.
He gave her a questioning look, then slowly nodded. What are the odds that two entirely different beings could speak the same language? He would have to do the math later. Now the real question is…HOW DOES THIS SPEAKING THING WORK!? He stomped his forehoof in frustration. He was going nowhere fast, he had more speech impediments than a newborn infant!
There was only one reason twilight could think of for his inability to speak properly, "h-how old ARE you?" he shrugged, he didn't bother keeping track of the years he spent there. It was supposed to be eternity anyhow.
Twilight's gaze suddenly turned to his left, going beyond him and passing on to applejack, "oh no! I forgot about Applejack!" she galloped past him and made her way to her apricot-colored friend. "Applejack! Are you alright!?" she shook her, causing her to sleepily groan.
"Uhn, five moar minutes" she moaned. Twilight relaxed a little bit, her friend was okay. Using that machine probably took it all out of her.
Her thoughts were interrupted by the pitter-patter of her number-one assistant's small footsteps making their way down the stairs.
"Twilight! Are you okay? There was shaking and-" his sentence was cut short when he saw a strange stallion standing on one side of a gaping hole in the center of the room, looking confused as twilight stood on the other side of it, tending to Applejack. Something was off about the stranger, Spike felt like it was some sort of intrusion, an invasion of privacy. He wanted to yell at him, tell him to leave and, if need be, throw him out himself. He restrained himself. Why did he just suddenly dislike this guy? He hadn't even done anything to merit such a reaction yet.
"Uh, Twilight? Who's that?" spike resumed his stare.
Twilight turned from Applejack and faced Spike. "I don't really know, neither does he." She gestured toward the stranger. "all we know for certain is that he came from here." She turned down toward the gaping hole in the center of the room.
"Hey, do you think you could help me with applejack?" the stranger turned to twilight and nodded in response. He trotted over to the sleeping form of applejack, her chest slowly rising and falling as she quivered and shuffled, her dreams taking minor control of her movements.
"I guess we'll carry her, she's pretty heavy" she sighed as she prepared her magic; but before she could reach for Applejack, the stranger's hoof blocked her path. He shook his head and pointed to himself.
She raised her eyebrows at his gesture, "are you sure? I'm not joking when I say she isn't exactly the lightest of ponies." He nodded and began to tuck his head underneath applejack's torso. He should be the one to carry her, he may have lost his concept of common sense, but that doesn't mean he had abandoned ethics altogether. He still understood that it would probably make a better first impression than breaking down on the floor laughing…wait…laughing? So THAT'S what it was he was trying to say! Eitherwhats he needed to make friends, he was in someplace entirely new populated by sentient horses and it would probably do him SOME good not to become a public menace.
He lifted up his head and let applejack roll down his neck to rest at the small of his back. He gave twilight a reassuring look, though she wasn't kidding when she said this 'applejack' was heavy, he was certain that he could carry her a sufficient distance. Twilight nodded and led him out of the laboratory. As they moved up the stairs, the stranger marveled at how applejack's body seemed to behave without a second thought. He could feel every individual beat of her heart as his heart slowed to match it. His breathing synchronized to mirror hers. Twilight opened a small birch door at the top of the winding staircase, as the exit widened small rays of sunlight penetrated the atmosphere of the corridor. They soon entered twilight's living room.
Twilight gestured to the couch, "just lay her down there for now, I need to notify Princess Celestia of what just happened, feel free to sit down and read a book for a moment. C'mon spike" she then waved her hoof towards the extensive collection of books lining the wall and beckoned spike to follow her. He followed but gave the stranger one more passing glance. He still didn't really trust him, he got the feeling that something horrible was going to happen if he was left alone. Well either way there wasn't much he could do about it, he hasn't necessarily done anything to support spike's suspicions on the matter. He decided to leave it for the time being, and continued on his way up the stairs.
Dear princess celestia,
Something happened while I was experimenting today. I'm not entirely sure how it happened, but a sinkhole opened up in the middle of the laboratory floor during the experiment. I ended up pulling somepony out of it, I'm not entirely certain about who he is or where he's from. He can understand equestrian but can't seem to speak. It's like it's his first time ever having a mouth. He seems to understand etiquette, as he carried an unconscious applejack out of the laboratory for me. I need your help, I'm not really sure what to do with him.
Your faithful student, Twilight sparkle.