Shattered Reality

PROLOGUE: REMINISCENT

October 18th 1483 A.F., 7:20 A.M.

Castle of Faust, Badlands, Equus

*Journal Entry # 16

Date: October 18th, 1483 A.F.*

It’s been a full year since my rebirth and nothing seems to have changed. I still wallow in self pity and despair every waking moment, longing for the touch of my loving Luna only to feel the cold seep deep into the cracks of my body. I dare not reveal myself to her though, not in the state I am currently in nor do I find that I have courage enough to reveal myself to her or my once beloved friends.

On the rare occasion I would visit the site at which I was buried, letting the cold wind flow through my bones and slowly growing muscles. No longer was I alive, but a skeleton regrowing the form of a living creature, luckily I had not developed most of my senses yet or I would be in shock no doubt from the pain. On my outings I kept a cloak on me to cover my face, but also put in place a spell to disguise myself as a regular pony.

On the rare occasion I would be joined by another pony who wished to pay respects to me or another family member or friend of theirs who passed away long ago or from the war that rages on.  When a friend or family member of mine comes, I always find myself walking or teleporting away as they approach in fear of them discovering who I am. I constantly resist the urge to latch onto them, because I know I’m not that pony anymore.

The time I spent in the Abyss, as Faust calls it, made me lonely and depressed with only sad and broken thoughts clouding my mind. I wave them off the best I can only for them to return with the same voice I had heard during my descent there. The only two voices I ever heard, my voice and the voice of a creature I caught few glimpses of as it moved amongst the darkness with me. As to what it said is a story for another day, for I still fear its words from the bottom of my soul to this day.

I digress from my intentions of writing today though, seeing as this is the one year anniversary of the day I was reborn, I might as well celebrate it as my new birthday. Today I plan to make a visit to my grave and walk amongst the ruins of the castle to see if I may find the chamber Faust told me of. I’ve got a long trip ahead of me this morning to the Crystal Empire so I bid you adieu until later tonight or the next time I choose to write in your pages.

-Sit ad semitam reperio viam vestram pravis.-

-End of Entry-

I closed the journal shut on the cluttered spruce desk, holding my hoof on the cover as I sighed and stood from my chair. I took my hoof off to reveal the engraved cover of the journal, it had my name at the top and in the middle had the symbol of the army I once affiliated myself with, The Pack. Faust made me the journal a couple weeks after my rebirth while I was still holed up in my room trying to cry through empty eye sockets.

The pages were made of papyrus and the binding of her maroon mane and the covers of leather, engraved on the front was my name at the top. It took me two days to engrave the symbol of The Pack onto it, using a knife in hoof and black ink to fill in the lines. After I finished detailing the entirety of the book I had Faust cast a spell on it so that it would never age and never tear. I knew I was not going to write in it much, but I felt it a good way to put down my thoughts when they became too overwhelming for me.

I brought myself back to reality as I levitated the journal into a nearby saddlebag and locked the latches into place. It took me a great deal of time to even be able to do a simple levitation spell again, and even now its hard for me. Slowly my muscles regrew as a perk of being a true immortal, it meant I would be reborn, but this time Faust cheated my death and resurrected me as a Skeleton. Sadly she could not repair my muscles, organs, skin, coat, mane, tail, feathers, and magic, the best she could do is allow my body to repair itself over time.

The first thing to start regrowing were from my hooves up, and now I have muscle and skin on most of my legs with muscles and organs slowly forming through the interior of my body. I still feel nothing so I do not know of the pain that courses through the growing parts of my body. Most of my senses dulled to a point they are almost useless. My hearing, taste, feeling, and smelling are slowly coming back now but my sight, for some odd reason my sight was perfect when I returned with no impediments even with no eyes.

“Ahem” I was startled by somepony clearing their throat to my left. I quickly turned towards them to find it was Hazed Star who was trying to get my attention, just as most everypony here he was too a skeleton. Sadly though he would never regrow as I am.

“Illius me paenitet, seems I am lost in thought this morning Star. What mayst thou need of me?” I proceeded to ask him to break the silence. If I could show any emotion it would be that of great embarrassment.

“Tis nothing that I need of thee, but what I do request of you. I for one wish you a happy day of rebirth Lost Solstice, but I do request that you find time to take a stop here on your way out.” He reached into his ribcage, pulling out a slip of paper with an address on it. “If it be worthy of your time, wouldst thou bring the book upon the back of that slip back to me?” He proceeded to ask as I turned it over.

The title of the book was, “Legends of Old”. I looked up to him trying to raise an eyebrow but forgetting I didn’t have them I proceeded to question him. “I may pick this up upon my return through Appleoosa, the name may be odd but it shall not hinder it. Only one question I ask to thee is what it may be for?”

He straightened up in what I’ve found as his way to express his happiness. “Great! It be for research, nothing more nor anything less." He finished.

"Alright, be that as it may, I shall pick it up on my way back, also thank you Hazed Star for wishing me happy rebirth even though I am still a ghost to Equus. It means a lot." I put the slip into my saddlebags and held a hoof out to him. He shook it wholeheartedly as he turned to leave through the entrance of the castles main study.

As he exited the study I looked down to my hooves, losing myself in my thoughts once again. As much as it pained me to admit to anypony, Hazed Stars company is something that I now long for because with him I don’t feel alone. Him of everypony in the castle, was the one I could rely on as a friend.

After I was brought back to life, he was one of the first ponies that talked to me, not down to me but actually to me. He treated me not as a superior or an inferior to be the case I’m in, but as an equal standing pony to him. He is the only friend other than Faust that I have right now.

I brought myself back to reality, remembering I had a train to catch this morning that would take me to the outskirts of the Crystal Empire. I pulled the hood of my cloak over my head and cast the disguise spell on myself before walking towards the exit of the library and out of the castle.

October 18th 1483 A.F., 4:18 P.M.

Crystal Station, Outskirts of the Crystal Empire, Equus

My trip to the Crystal Empire was quite uneventful, and quiet. Just the way I like it. Nopony in the car I was in spoke to one another, keeping to their own devices.

As we arrived to the station we were greeted by the Pack guard, checking everyones ID’s and birth certificates to make sure no one was an Equestrian Legionnaire. Luckily I had brought fakes of both that imitated the real deal, each one based off of my real ID and real birth certificate. My new name was Bright Prism, a weird name to most but a name nonetheless.

“Please remove your hood sir.” One of the guards asked as I handed him the ID and certificate. I complied, removing my hood, keeping my eyes shaded from the light. My coat was a pristine white that almost shimmered, my mane and tail were both an almost fluorescent rainbow due to the myriad of colors that danced through them. My mane was flat against my shoulders and back, reaching halfway down my forelegs before stopping. My eyes were a turquoise blue that would pierce even the darkest of nights.

The guard read over the certificate with prying eyes to find if there were any signs for it being fake. He looked up at me only a few times to make sure everything was in check with the certificate and identification card. After he finished checking over it he handed it back to me.

“Everything seems to be in order, please enjoy your stay in the Crystal Empire Mr. Prism.” He stated, his face as stern as ever. I gave a slight nod before returning the ID card and certificate to my saddlebags. As I started to turn around I felt a hoof being placed on my shoulder.

I turned towards the pony putting their hoof on my shoulder to find myself staring face to face with someone I wished not to see. Standing there with her lavender hoof on my shoulder, on top of my cloak was none other than Twilight Sparkle.

My breath caught in my throat as I realized she was no longer a unicorn, but an alicorn. She was looking at me with questioning eyes that seemed to stare into the very being of my soul. Time stood still as I took in the memories that flooded back to me, but I was quickly pulled back when I saw her start to speak.

I shook the thoughts from my head before responding, “I’m sorry miss, but could you repeat that, I was lost in thought for a moment.” I stated as I turned to her fully now. She gave me a small smile.

“I was asking if you were alright, from what I can tell you don’t seem very happy?” She stated, her gaze softening as she lowered her hoof.

I looked at her for a moment, looking into her eyes to find that she was being sincere about wanting to know. I gave a sheepish smile. “Tis that obvious huh?” I started, “It’s true, I visit the Crystal Empire not for joyous reasons but to mourn somepony at the Crystal Graveyard.” I finished, letting my gaze drop to the ground.

“Oh…I’m so sorry,” Twilight started, causing me to look back up to her feeling as tears started to well up behind my eyes. “um if it isn’t too much trouble, do you mind if I join you? I’m here for the same reason.” she finished her voice becoming low and laden with sorrow. I gave her a small smile, wipping the singular tear from my right eye.

I lifted my head up and gave her a quick hug. “It would make my day a little less gloomy if you would, but first may I ask your name?” I asked pulling away from her.

“Oh! I’m so sorry! My name is Twilight Sparkle, and you are?” She replied quickly blushing slightly.

Of course, I already knew her name before hand but if I were to just say her name, it would turn into an even more awkward situation than it is now. “My name is Bright Prism, tis a pleasure to make your acquaintance Miss Sparkle. Shall we be on our way?”

She gave me a smile before we started to walk to the stairs on the left side of the train station platform, onto the gravel path that lead to the center of the Crystal Empire.

October 18th 1483 A.F., 5:04 P.M.

Crystal Square, Crystal Empire, Equus

On the walk to the main square in the center of Crystal Empire, underneath the Crystal Spire, Twilight and I talked about our interests and fond memories that played a major part in our lives. Mostly we refrained from talking about the ones we came to visit.

It tooks us only a few moments to get to the Crystal Graveyard from the Crystal Square. As we approached the entrance to the graveyard, I stopped. Twilight stopped beside me, looking up to the sign above with a sorrow filled face.

“It seems we have arrived…” I mumbled quietly, not hiding the sadness that was heavy in my voice as I crossed the threshold.

“Yeah…” I heard her mumble from behind me as we started to walk in the same direction. We stayed silent looking around at the graves that littered the seemingly endless graveyard. Many of the tombstones were made of marble slabs, carved into each one was a saying they were most remembered for, their name, and the span of their life.

As we got further into the graveyard, the gravemarkers started changing more and more. Becoming more diverse and unique, marking that we were starting to get into the rich section of the graveyard. Far ahead of us I could see the gravemarker of the one I came to see. My gravemarker.

“I take it you’re here to see someone of prominence?” I heard Twilight ask quietly from behind me. I stopped dead in my tracks as I quelled the anger inside of me.

“Twilight, everyone that died is of prominence to me. Whether I knew them or not, so please do not refer to the rest of them as if they are not important.” I stated, not trying to hide the irritance in my voice.

“I didn’t mean it like that Prism-” I cut Twilight off by putting up a hoof.

“You may of not meant it like that, but it was said that way.” I stated as I started walking again. The rest of the way we walked silently, both of us heading directly for my gravemarker.

The gravemarker was made of a crystal, just as most of the rich markers were, but what made my gravemarker stand out from the rest of them was the unicorn made of pure crystal that stood on top of a marble platform. On the front of that platform laid a plaque.

In remembrance of Vice Commander Lost Solstice

Born August 7th, 1470A.F. - Died October 18th, 1475A.F.

Husband, Friend, Father, Soldier

“When I am gone do not remember me for who I was, but for what I did.”

Underneath the writing was my cutie mark, the Theta-Delta symbol. I sat in front of the gravemarker in silence with Twilight sitting beside me, her in silence as well.

I started to lose myself in thought once again.

I had protected all of them, but not without a cost. Every waking moment I remember back to that day and how the events played out, starting with the kidnapping of you Twilight. When I found that out, I couldn’t sit there doing nothing especially when I saw what they did to you. No longer though, do I find myself regretting what I had done.

What I gave up to defend the ones I love was worth it to the end, and never will I look back with a second thought upon it. I did what I believed was right and what I believed would bring a long standing end to the bloodshed of the war. Never once had I thought, that what I did would take my life away or affect anyone as it did throughout the world.

Luna, everyday I think about you and our child, waiting for the day I can finally hold you both in my hooves again. I love you and I miss you so much. I hope the day I come back you can forgive me for hiding away, but if you were to see me in this state it would only bring more pain than anything else.

I was brought back to reality when I felt Twilight start hugging me, I also felt tears streaming down my face and heard her silently sniffling. It took me a moment to return the embrace, but when I did I felt a pang in my heart.

Her single act of kindness towards a pony she hardly knew, or at least thinks she hardly knows, made me feel happy. Through my year of recovery, not one pony that I knew ever hugged me or even opened up to me as she did in this short span of time. Twilight, you sure are something else.

I broke away from the embrace after a couple minutes and wiped the tears from my eyes. Twilight turned away from me and placed a hoof on the plaque on my gravemarker.

“So, you came to visit him as well?” She asked quietly. I walked up beside her and gave a small sigh.

“That I did Miss Sparkle, you could say that he was like a brother to me.” I stated solemnly. Twilight looked over to me with still misty eyes.

I could see on Twilights face, even through her current mood that she didn’t understand. “He must’ve not talked about me much, from what I can tell you two were close friends, am I correct?” I probed.

Her eyes widened, but she turned away before speaking, trying to hide her face under her mane. “He…he was more than a close friend…he was like family to me.” She started, “It’s all my fault that he’s dead to begin with…if I…if I never got kidnapped, he might still be alive.” she finished, almost breaking down now.

“It was never your fault Twilight.” I heard a familiar voice say from behind me that caused my heart to skip a few beats. I slowly turned around, “No…”, I mumbled silently as I saw Luna coming up the path towards us, or more precisely the grave.

I kept telling myself to run, to run and never look back, but for some reason I couldn’t. Time slowed as Luna approached, watching as her starfield mane flew in the cold breeze. Her beautiful teal eyes shimmering in contrast to her dark blue coat.

My heart was pounding ferociously against my chest, begging me to leave. My hooves stayed firmly planted on the ground, not moving a nanometer no matter how much I begged them to.

By the time I managed to move one hoof, she was already right next to us. “Hello there, who are you?” She asked as I was brought back to the current time.

I found myself brought mute as I heard her voice. Twilight was looking at me as well, waiting for me to answer her. “I’ve got to go.” is all I could bring myself to say as I felt my motor functions return to me, sprinting down the gravel pathway as fast as my legs could take me.

Not once did I look back as I flung my hood over my head as I reached the entrance of the graveyard. I ran as fast as I could towards the train station, taking no time to breath.

As I reached the platform there was a train already waiting at the station, ready to leave back towards the station in appleoosa. “Bright Prism! Wait!” I heard Twilight yell from behind me as I jumped into the train car as it started to pull away from the platform.