Chapters "It was the wind...caressing and nipping at my skin. Trailing its tiny butterfly kisses across my warm belly and making me squirm in utter delight. Our movements were slow and sluggish, but heated and full of sensual pleasure. We were locked in a passionate embrace, a dance of lovers, a courtship of the most intense feelings of ecstasy.
I moaned and wept in lust and joy as the wind came to me, wrapped me in its tight arms as our dance reached its fruition...
...and cried in the happiest form of bliss as it strangled me to death."
Twilight Sparkle sat up and screamed. She screamed as if the very fires of Tartarus were licking at her precious fur, burning and cooking its way through her insides even though they could barely be heard over the sound of roaring wind. Tears spilled through her tightly clenched eyes like water through the cracks of a dam as she continued to screech. She tried to move her forward legs but found that she could not, her bottom legs responding to her commands only.
She felt cold, freezing even, the bitter chill of an unseen air sinking its rotten teeth into the very core of her inner being and delivering unto her a disease of frozen suffering and belligerence. It was a horrible feeling, a dead feeling, like all the love and happiness in the world had been encased in an ice of unbreakable disharmony, showing only a ghost of its former self deep within the dark, dreadful recesses of that frozen prison.
She snapped her eyes open as the screaming reached its end, becoming nothing more than moaning gasps of panic and terror. Her tiny violet irises whipped left and right, looking over the padded walls and ceiling of the room she was in. There was only a single iron door to this room, fit with a sliding peephole that was at this time closed. The rest of her room was bare, empty, and barren as the deserts of Appleloosa.
"Wh...where...?!" Twilight wheezed, her throat dry and raspy with dehydration. She looked down slightly and squeaked in fright as she beheld her front two legs secured tightly in a white sort of leather harness that covered the upper half of her body up to her neck.
A straight jacket.
"Oh gods, what the hell is this!?" Twilight cried, struggling in the pale prison that hugged her tightly. She looked up towards the door and screamed "Hello!? Is anypony there!? What am I doing in here? Somepony help!" Nopony answered or came to the door as Twilight sat there, staring at the iron entryway with a feeling of dread and hopelessness. Above her, the sounds of a raging wind and a furious storm continued to crash and echo about, drawing her to look upwards. A single window loomed over her, barred with heavy iron and open to the world outside.
Rain water trickled through the gaps steadily, damping the floor and even forming a few small puddles upon the padded ground. Twilight frowned at this, pushing her side against the wall in attempts to drag herself up to stand on her hind legs. It was a long, difficult effort, her grunts and breaths of strain echoing quietly off the walls as more and more rain water started to pour in. When she was finally able to stand straight and support herself upon her wobbly legs, she tried to look through the window. Her eyes barely peaked over the edge of the opening, her form wobbly despite the support from wall.
All she saw was black and grey, the form of a massive super storm raging outside like a hungry, predatory beast. A snarl of wind snapped at her as she felt her hind legs give out, sending her once more to the padded floor. She landed in a thick puddle, a grunt escaping her lips as icy water clung to her fur and mane. "I've got to get out of here..." she whispered to herself, looking down at her jacket and squinting her eyes in preparations to use her magic.
It was silly thing to forget, her magic. Why she hadn't used it in the first place, she'd never know. As she started to try to reach into her inner mana, a sharp pain cascaded from her forehead and burrowed its way through her body. She cried out in anguish as her body was wracked with such a shock, causing her to shake violently in the water. More and more water began to pour into the room from the window as she panted, the wave of pain finally leaving her.
"My magic...what's happened to my magic?" She moaned weakly, sitting up and pressing her damp back against a wall. "Think Twilight...think...what are you doing here? What's going on...what day is it?!" She looked around her room for any kind of clue, any kind of indication of what was going on...but only white and dark grey answered her. The water was starting to puddle worse, completely submerging one corner of the room in an icy, watery tomb.
She tilted her head up, looking towards the ceiling as she tried her best to reach into the back of her mind and remember why she was here. She strained, her eyes flicking across several spots of the ceiling as she concentrated, trying her best to remember. She let out a frustrated growl as she shook her head, unaware of the continuous stream of water that continued to pour through the wall, reaching the strength of a running bath. "Think dammit...there must be something!" She spat at herself, wondering just what in the hell was even going on. She took in a shuddering breath and closed her eyes as the edge of the water nipped at her rear hooves.
She let out a quiet sigh, bowing her head as she gently reached towards the back of her mind, hoping to pull any kind of piece or shard of memory she still had left. But as she reached deeper, she-
"EEEE HE HE HE, yes, delicious! Oh yes that's so good, COME TA MAMMA!!!!!" somepony screamed, drawing a shrill scream out of another mare. The slippery sounds of liquid on floor could be heard as a mare tried her best to scramble away, only to be dragged back to an unknown assailant. "Don't you understand sweetie?!" laughed the first voice "We're going to be together! Right after I get little bit more of you! Harmony tastes DELICIOUS!"
There was nothing left but the shrill, panicked, terrifying screams for a few moments until all went silent.
And then the wind started to howl.
Twilight opened her eyes and gasped, panting heavily as the water spilled over her hind legs, lapping at her firm flank as a roaring sound blasted through the window. The unicorn looked up in terror as water was utterly gushing through the window at an intense speed and volume. "What!? What's happening!?" She once more used the wall for support in dragging herself up to her hind legs, screaming at the door loudly "Hello!? Somepony help, the room is flooding!!!" No one continued to answer her as the water continued to rise violently, reaching the joint of her hind legs and submerging most of her tail. "Come on, somepony has to be there!!!!" She shrieked, the room continuing to transform from a place of isolation to a tomb of icy death.
As the water ran up against her flank and between her thighs, she let out a shudder across her body. It was an odd sort of shiver, one that sent mixed feelings through the veins of her body. There was cold, of course, terror even. But what she also felt, if only for a brief moment, was the stinging feeling of pleasure. "Come on Twilight, THINK!" She suddenly screamed at herself, the water rising over her flank and lapping at the bottom of the straight jacket. She pushed one of her hind legs through the water, the icy pool serving a sort of semi-anchor for her weight. She waded sluggishly through the pool, her teeth chattering loudly as the freeze of the liquid started to seep deeply into her.
"H..hello!? S..s...somepony..? Anyp..p..pony!" Twilight chattered, shaking as the water rose up against the legs that were secured firmly in her straight jacket. "N...no!" She wept, banging her head against the door "Not like this! Please! Don't let me die in here!!!" Nopony continued to answer with whispers of impending doom as the water started to strangle Twilight around her neck, its icy fingers starting to caress her cheeks. She shuddered in the water as an icy tongue of water licked into her ear, whispering to her the promise of her soon to be demise.
"Bullsh-ack!" she started to swear before the water pushed its way into her mouth, forcing her into an icy embrace with her killer. She struggled against it, whipping herself about violently in the water. But alas, no matter how much she struggled, the water continued to rise over her head, having its way with her despite her vain efforts to stay afloat.
She was fully submerged.
Twilight looked about the filled room in a panic, her tears of despair and anguish gently kissed away by the calm lips of her icy murderer. She struggled with the jacket across her, the strings and ropes of her device starting to fray and dissolve from the liquid. Her vision darkened considerably as she felt the water slip deep inside of her, drawing a staggering moan out of her lungs as she felt them start to freeze and crackle with a sheet of deadly ice. Her lips mouthed words as she felt herself sink lower and lower to the bottom of the room, her vision blackening further as she succumbed to the will of her assailant.
As her flank hit the bottom of the floor, she gave in. She gave herself to the water, begging at least for a quick release, to an end of her suffering. The water seemed almost too happy to oblige, preparing for its final surge into the bowels of her heart. Just as the final strand of life left in Twilight Sparkle started to fray, a raging roar came from the water as the iron door was suddenly thrown open, the unicorn and her murderer being sent cascading through the sudden opening.
She felt herself carried swiftly from the room and thrown through the air, crashing into a hard, firm surface before landing in a heap on the ground. She let her tongue hang limply out of her mouth, her eyes shut gently and her front legs sprawled out in front of her while the rest of her body rested in the shredded remains of the straight jacket.
Her heartbeat was weak and labored, her life continuing to hang upon a thread of sweet blood and golden lace. She couldn't move, but she really didn't care. To her, she was already dead. Already gone.
As the water continued to rush all around her, spilling out of her room in desperate attempts to once more drag Twilight into an early and predetermined grave, the sounds of wind started to whisper across the area. It reached out towards the near-dead unicorn, tugging at her mane slightly as to get her attention. She did not respond, however, her icy body continuing to lay limp upon the floor.
The wind laughed as it raced over her, disappearing with its signature howl and gracing her with only one word that tickled at the fur in her ear, a word that whispered:
"Azil..."
A word she quite didn't understand. A word that was left ignored as she let out a groaning cough, expelling all she had of her swallowed assailant. A word that meant nothing, but at the same time...
...meant everything.
Somewhere, the wind laughed.
"Wake up my darling...shhh....that's a good girl. You had a nasty fall dear. Now, can you tell me what happened?" Twilight's mother whispered, her tender hooves caressing her young filly's face.
"I...I saw a monster!" Twilight cried, rubbing at her eyes and letting out another squealing sob. The sound of an annoyed groan made itself heard from the kitchen, the impatient calls of a husband expecting his readily made dinner. It was because of this fact that made Twilight cry harder. She didn't like upsetting her precious daddy.
"Oh a monster dear...of course." Came the gentle whispers of her mother as the young filly of lavender was pulled into her safe and loving hold. "Can you tell me what it looked like honey?" She whispered, running a hoof along her daughter's spine.
Many quiet moments passed, drawing a concerned look out of her mother's eyes as she once again asked "Twilight...? Sweetie...what did you see?"
"I saw...white."
~
Twilight coughed violently, her stomach heaving for air as her eyes rocketed open and a guttural gasp of raspy air rushed into and escaped from her lungs. Her body shook with heavy adrenaline as she struggled to sit up, her insides still aching from overwhelming water that had only moments before nearly killed her. Her vision was blurry and unfocused, the shaking unicorn pressing herself up against the firm wall behind her and trying her best to make herself as small as possible.
Alarm and alertness raced through her brain and blood as she felt the fur on the back of her neck stand on end. What in the hay just happened!? Did the door fall under the inequality of pressure? Did somepony open the door for her? She put a hoof to her head as her adrenaline slowly receded, the feelings of pain and icy cold beginning to weave their way back into her weakened body.
The broken unicorn let out a weary groan as she pushed a cold hoof against the side of her face, her stiff skin barely moving or even responding to her own touch. She ran her hoof over her cheeks, underneath her chin, and up to the base of her horn. She was indeed still alive...that or the afterlife was very, very cold.
Just as she started to run her hoof farther up the length of her horn, she hit nothing but air. Her eyes widened in terror as she frantically swung her hoof through the air where her horn was supposed to be. Glistening tears of sorrow gathered at the bases of her eyes as she gently bumped the broken stump of her once faithful companion. The ridges where bone and magic were snapped into abandonment and lifelessness.
Her horn had been torn off.
The unicorn let out a seething cry of anguish as her streaming eyes wandered around the grim, dusty hallway she found herself in. She could barely breathe or even think as her eyes fell upon twenty other doors to her right and left, each with iron-like cell bars on their windows. The hall itself was littered with mostly shredded paper, some surgical tubing, and a dusty, ashen chair here and there. White dust and ash seemed to float casually like lost snow through the air, moving in intensity only when being pushed away by the sobbing gasps and cries of a weeping, broken, and miserable Twilight Sparkle.
She pushed both her front hooves against her eyes as she broke down into hysterics, her wailing sobs reverberating off the walls loudly and swimming through the air like a school of overly frightened fish. She found her body growing heavy once more as she slumped over to her side, curling her back legs up and trying as best as she could to turn herself into a tiny violet ball.
Time passed for what seemed like an eternity to the air, its taste growing stale and metallic as it continued to plague the dangerous air of the unknown prison-like world that our heroine has found herself trapped in. Wails turned to sobs, then into whimpers, and finally with a slightly panicked breath, Twilight Sparkle opened her bloodshot eyes once more. She was never really effective when it came to emotion. Science and facts were her weapons of choice, and if those failed her, what else did she have left?
"O..ok Twilight...let's just calm down now," the lone unicorn whispered to herself, her sopping wet mane being casually slung back behind her neck with a quick whip of a hoof. Her mane made a thick 'schloping' sound as she got to her hooves slowly, being careful not to overexert herself too much. She didn't know how long she had been strung up in that straight jacket, but it had to have been for a good while. As she struggled to take her first few steps, testing her mobility in a circular motion, her mind started to bring together the obvious questions of her predicament.
First of all, where in the hell was she?
Where was Celesta, or her friends?
Why was she in a straight jacket and in a padded cell in the first place?
More and more questions started to flare up in Twilight's brain as the logical synapses of her brain started firing again, quelling the silly emotional strands that thought they could best her. "Alright Twilight...think," she said aloud, looking up and down the ashen hallway. The floor that hadn't been washed clean by the water in Twilight's cell was covered in a thick layer of what looked like hot white ash, like the kind smoldering in a fire pit.
It was an oddity to see such ash in a place like this, unless it had burnt down. Twilight looked around uncertainly as she dipped a hoof into the ash. "Definitely hasn't burnt down...unless I'm already dead and I don't know any better..." Twilight muttered, holding up her hoof to steady the ash.
Just...simple white ash.
Twilight frowned, dropping her hoof to the floor once more and approaching one of the cell doors. With her now unrestricted mobility, Twilight found it a lot easier to rear up and peer through the iron bars of the cell door. Her eyes flicked this way and that as she surveyed the empty room, noticing that it looked like a mirror image of her own cell. She dropped back down on all fours, trotting briskly to the next cell. With another rearing and another peak, the same lifeless answers met her curious gaze. Another empty cell, clean and without occupant.
The unicorn frowned as she dropped back down, pushing a questioning hoof to her chin and staining it with the white ash. She pushed her side up against the chilling iron door, narrowing her eyes as she went into deep thought. Padded rooms, iron doors...was it some kind of solitary confinement section of a prison? Her thoughts sifted through the possibilities until she remembered that one word...the word that for some reason, would not dislodge itself from her mind. That mysterious word that she swore was whispered into her watery ear as she was ripped free from her icy grave.
"Azil..." Twilight whispered, the unicorn's eyes widening slightly as a sudden gust of wind rippled its way through the hall, grazing her fur with gentle fingers. She looked around quickly as the wind dissipated, wondering if there was some kind of eerie, wayward magic at work in this place.
She let out a small sigh through her snout as her eyes turned back forward towards the iron door at the end of the hallway, a small crack of light beaming through its narrowly open entrance. "That's good news," Twilight muttered as she trotted towards the small opening "At least not all of the doors in this place are locked up tight." She reached the door in moments, pushing a hoof against the door and letting out a grunt of pressure as the door barely moved. "Duh...iron," she muttered to herself, rearing up and pushing both her front hooves against it. The unicorn sucked in a huge breath and grunted as she pushed with all her might against the grey surface. Slowly but surely, the door opened with a near ear-splitting creak, swinging on rusty pins and hinges as Twilight was granted access to the areas beyond the hall.
As she dropped back down and trotted through the entrance, a new sight met her eyes. It was that of a shattered security window over a sort of counter, like one you might find at a pharmacy. Two sets of iron gates were in place near the counter, with a moderately large area opening up just beyond them. Twilight trotted up to the gates, peering through at what lied before her. It was a massive , towering like room, surrounded by several floors of iron gates. It was a prison-like complex, with the bottom floor littered with smashed and heavily damaged picnic tables. The unicorn counted at least seven floors of cells before turning back to the window.
Her stomach did a flip as she approached the shattered window, her eyes widening in shock as she staggered back for a moment. She didn't even notice the decaying stench of death until she had come within its disgusting reach. Blood had been splattered about on the floor, a bone or two plus a thick layer of red-stained feathers being all that remained of some poor soul. It was a grueling mess with a definite sign of struggle. Twilight gulped as she put her two front hooves up onto the counter, minding the broken glass around the edges of the shattered window.
No pony could have done this, Twilight thought as she stared at the carnage on the floor. This pony was mauled by something...something very big. The door that led into the checkpoint had been chained up tight, no keyhole, window, or any sort of doorknob was present. It was staring at this door that led Twilight's heart to start thudding as she slowly started to piece the meaning of such a thing together.
Somepony locked the door...something completely tore this pony apart...whatever did so could have been locked in with her. She did a double-take of the giant cell room, her eyes wandering carefully over each floor as if to spot such a murderous creature. She turned back after a good while, making sure that the monster wasn't lying in wait for her just beyond the gates, and went back to the window. She peered inside carefully, trying her best to breathe through her mouth only. Looking down upon the desk, she discovered the usual assortment of office supplies. Pencils, some notes about lunch dates and other worthless information, and some paperclips.
Looking to her left, however, her eyes chanced upon three interesting sort of items resting along a back crevice of the inner counter. The first of which was a pair of dusty, worn saddlebags. The second was a worn looking map with several notes scribbled on it. The last item was a red button on the wall with a panel surrounding it that read 'Gate -> Checkpoint' . Twilight hastily grabbed up the saddlebags, checking through its pouches and frowning as it turned out empty. She donned them regardless, she didn't know if she'd need to carry something but just in case she needed to, she could. Without magic...she'd have to start operating like an Earth Pony. She grabbed up the map next, noticing immediately that the map had no official title, and that a few spots on it had been splotched with blood, making some areas unreadable. The notes scribbled on various points of the map read 'Blocked', 'Locked', 'Safe', 'Unsafe', and there were even a few X's slashed here and there upon several cells and rooms.
She located her area easily enough, and the large cell room adjacent to her. Just beyond the cell room were a few other hallways and office buildings, all of their paths eventually leading to a room marked 'Administration'. Twilight looked at this particular room with interest, as a note had been made upon it labeled 'Her' . "Might be worth a look...if there's somepony else alive here I could use some answers...and maybe some help."
Placing the map in the saddlebags, Twilight reached towards the button, pressing it firmly as a loud 'RIIIINNG' sound echoed across the dusty halls, the two iron gates opening with guttural clangs. Wasting no time, Twilight quickly made her way through the two iron gates, looking up and noticing that there were in fact eight floors, not just seven. Two winding staircases made themselves known in two far corners of the room, along with a door at the end of the hall. "That leads to administration..." Twilight whispered to herself, her hooves carrying her over towards the door.
Just as she started to make it halfway, however, a noise echoed out from the silence. A noise that Twilight could not believe existed in this dreary place. It was something she was not expecting, but boy did she feel a wave of relief pass through her as it reached her ears.
A voice.
"H..hello!? Is anypony there!?" A voice echoed from a floor above, a nervous, terrified tone in its voice "You're not all white are you!? Hello!?" It called again, drawing Twilight to look up slightly at a cell along the floor above. A grey leg and hoof was waving about, a pair of bright yellow eyes rolling every which way in their sockets as it tried to focus on the area below. "Hello down there! I...I can't see you very well, are you a nice pony?!"
Twilight felt her jaw drop as she saw those eyes, that bright yellow mane and that grey fur that she had often seen every morning when greeted at her mailbox. "Ditzy Doo!?" Twilight shouted in surprise, drawing a squeak out of the mail-mare.
"T...Twilight Sparkle...?" Ditzy answered back, a confused tone in her voice as she cocked her head slightly, her eyes still trying to focus on the lavender unicorn.
"Yes, it's me!" Twilight answered back, the unicorn relieved that there was another, living pony here with her. Although...why she was even here was still a complete mystery to her. "What are we doing here Ditzy!? What is this place?"
The Pegasus looked around nervously as a low gust of wind started to pick up in the area, the mail-mare's wings shivering and shaking as her eyes widened and her teeth clenched "I...I don't know but you have to get me out of here! Now!"
The unicorn frowned in confusion for a moment, shouting up at her "What's going on!? Is something wrong!?"
"TWILIGHT!" Ditzy shrieked in sudden terror as the wind grew in intensity "You have to get me out of here! Please don't leave me here!"
Twilight opened her mouth to say something, but her first words were drowned out by a sudden whirring of sound...followed by a noise so terrifying, it made the fur on the back of her neck stand on end.
A dreadful...wailing...noise .
"Twilight get me out! Hurry! HURRY!!!" Ditzy screamed as the siren wailed loudly all around them.
"What's going on?! Ditzy what's happening!?" Twilight screamed as a deep rumbling sound vibrated through her hooves.
Ditzy squeaked as several loud, distant booms and explosions met both of their ears, causing her to scream once again "No time! Please Twilight, there's a button back at the checkpoint, it's under the counter it will unlock all the cells in the room and mine! Please don't leave me here!"
Twilight didn't know what was going on, but whatever it was...it was dangerous. She turned to move back to the checkpoint, her intentions clear on saving the poor Pegasus above. As she turned fully around, however, a throaty gasp and a small scream ripped its way through her lungs as shapes began to materialize out of the ash that coated the ground. The wind howled as hooves formed, followed by legs, a white body, and a mane-less, expressionless face.
A pony of pure ash stood before her, its form twitching as it took a careful hoof forward towards her. Twilight had to suppress another scream as more and more shapes rose from the ashes, blocking her way to the checkpoint. A wave of fear tore through her as she chanced a look towards the door that led to Administration. "Twilight please!!!" Ditzy screamed, thrashing her body against the bars "Don't leave me! Please!"
There was no telling what these things could do to her, Twilight thought, and it would be an easy sprint to an escape. If she waited any longer the ashen ponies could easily block her path.
There was no telling what was going on, why she or Ditzy Doo were even there in the first place, or what these sudden, rising creatures were. Ditzy continued to screech in panic as more and more shapes materialized in front of Twilight, the large crowd of at least twenty to thirty strong slowly marching towards her.
The unicorn could do nothing except stand, petrified as the lumbering masses came towards her. The only thought that could register in her mind at that moment was 'Fight...or flight?'
Stay...Run...
Rescue...Abandon...
"What do I do?!"
What will she do .....?
"Several voices cry out...save her...leave her...the panic of such a decision seeps in.
...though you are of a noble heart now, dear unicorn...the howls of the wind will always prevail in the end. The walls and fires are angry that you have not succumbed to the wrath of the holy fire you set upon this world...
...but no matter...
.....we'll get you.
....We always do, in the end."
Twilight's gaze was locked upon the marching formations of the ash ponies approaching her. Their true intentions were unknown, but it wasn't worth waiting around to find out. The lavender unicorn turned her body a full one hundred and eighty degrees towards the metallic door that led towards Administration, the frantic cries of Ditzy Doo echoing from above as the grey Pegasus saw her movements.
"Twilight!!!!" Ditzy wept with frantic, shrieking wails as Twilight disappeared from view, the unicorn abandoning the mail-mare to the small army of ash ponies and the growing intensity of the eerie siren and the near murderous roar of the wind. Where was all this wind coming from!? Did the siren belong to this prison-like place?? Questions and uncertainty plagued poor Twilight as she charged towards the Administration door, her eyes wide with panic and her lungs heaving for air.
She charged into the door, the metallic surface groaning as it was slammed with the sudden weight of her side. The unicorn yelped as a fresh wave of intense pain seeped through her body from her side, but nevertheless, the door opened slowly from her effort. She reared up on pained rear hooves, pushing her front hooves against the door and letting out a frustratingly loud, strained groan as she tried to push the metal open. The more she tried to push it though, the more and more solid it seemed to become. She took a few steps back in shock, her heartbeat thundering in her skull as her irises shrank, her eyes rolling wildly in their sockets as she tried to spot out where the problem was with the door.
It didn't make any sense, it had just opened slightly when she had run into- that was it! She looked to her rear, the ever-growing wail of the siren continuing to crash through the the large tower-room and muffling the already soft footsteps of the ashen assailants dragging and shambling onwards towards her. She couldn't even hear Ditzy's bloodcurdling screams anymore, the mare turning to face the door again. She sucked in a breath and braced herself for further jolting of her nerves, taking a few more steps back before leaping back forward into a sprint. She galloped straight for the door, yelling as she jumped and turned her side towards the metallic, unforgiving surface.
She crashed into the door once more with a painful yelp, sliding down to the ashen floor as pain wormed its way up her side, gripping into her skin like vicious hooks and jagged claws. She looked up, her body shaking as the door refused to yield anymore of its warm, inviting entrance. Twilight stood back up, her belly and legs covered in white ash, her head ringing with a roaring ache as the siren intensified. "STOP!!!!" She screamed, her ears pressed to her skull and her hooves pressing down upon those. She shook her head around violently, her pained screeching barely audible over the siren. "DEAR CELESTIA, MOTHER OF ALL EQUESTRIA MAKE IT STOP!!!!!" She looked around in desperation, her chest heaving for air, her lungs and heart pumping like mad.
She looked back towards the ash ponies, their distance no more than twenty or so feet away. Though they were slow, in her current predicament, they were gaining fast. Shed panted heavily, looking around her for a moment and gasping. Near one of the walls to her right, poking up out of the ash, was the ruined remains of what once looked like one of the picnic tables that made up a good portion of the first floor. A long, metal pole was the key piece that caught Twilight's eye, the mare wasting no time in rushing over for it. She let out a heavy groan as she tried to pick up the pole, growing even more frustrated. For a moment, just a BRIEF moment, it felt as if it would come up with ease. The moment it even neared a foot off the ground, its weight intensified by at least five, falling to the ground with a loud clank that felt as if it vibrated poor Twilight's bones.
"MOTHER FU-...SON OF A-...!!!" She tried to swear, tears spilling out of her eyes as she tore herself away from the pole. She felt heavy, her heart weighed and pressed as she paced back and forth in front of the door, the ash ponies now only a mere ten feet from her delicate, soft, tender flesh. Flesh she was sure the monsters were going to tear and pull apart the moment they reached her. She pressed her back up against the door, watching as they drew near to her. Her heart thundered miles a minute, her mind frantic and her thoughts in a mad state of panic. With the ponies only several feet away, Twilight was ready to give in for the second time that day. The mad frustration and painful torture this place was putting her through was too overwhelming, too crushing to the poor mare's soul.
Just as she was ready to sink to the floor, ready to offer herself to the monstrous onslaught upon her...she heard her once more. "Twilight please!!! Don't do this! You're a good pony, a GOOD, PONY!" Twilight's gasp tumbled through her throat loudly as her mind snapped back to reality. "Momma!!! Momma help me! Don't torture me like this! Let me come to heaven with you mommy!" Ditzy wailed from the floor above. Twilight felt a thudding in the back of her skull, her eyes narrowing as she felt herself growing....angry. She let out a furious scream and roared as she got to her hooves, her eyes narrowing with a sinister glare towards her would-be attackers. What in the hell was WRONG with her!? Ditzy Doo was in danger! A mare who was as kind as Fluttershy and as delicate as a flower, how could she even CONSIDER abandoning her!
Twilight let out a thunderous shriek as she catapulted herself forward into the ashen ponies, the door behind her groaning loudly and swinging inwards slowly. As she crashed into the mob of ash ponies, her skin reacted in the most violent way imaginable. The ashen ponies burst from the contact of Twilight's body, but the remains that touched her singed her fur and seared her skin, a blood-curdling scream bubbling out of her in response. It felt as if the ash that made up their forms came directly from the bottom of a roaring fire, its essence that of the hottest white fury. She dipped her head, her back and sides taking the brunt of the impact as she desperately tried to avoid getting splashed in the face with that ruinous ash. Smoke trailed from her body as she pushed through the mob, her cries and wails echoing out around her but quickly being snatched up and lost in the storm of the siren.
She burst through the rear line of the mob, tears spilling from her eyes as blood ran down across her belly and dripped onto the floor below. She looked back across herself, choking out a sob as she beheld the fur on her sides and back. It was blackened and burnt, and it was still unsure if the flesh underneath had suffered the same fate. She staggered forward, moving towards the stairs as the group of ashen marauders slowly turned towards her at a Zombpony's pace, moving forward with the same sluggish, taunting speed. Twilight began her ascent up the stairs leading to the second floor, her legs and hooves weary and the pain in her body making her entire form throb and ache. She had made it halfway up the stairs when her front left hoof slipped on the edge of the next step, the unicorn going down face first into the cold, unforgiving stone.
Her snapped off horn hit the stone first, the unicorn recoiling backwards in utter anguish. The cry that escaped her lungs was chilling to the bone, the pure, crystal sound of complete and utter pain rumbling out of her battered body and her tormented soul. She gingerly held onto the base of her horn and wept, crying loudly and heavily as the ashen mob slowly surrounded the base of the staircase. The first hoofstep had Twilight looking downwards towards her enemies, her breath coming out in ragged heaves as she tried to get herself under control. She turned, groaning loudly and trying once more to ascend the staircase. One hoof after the other, Twilight trudged up the stairs, hoping she wouldn't be grabbed from behind by the ashen ones. It seemed silly to think about since she knew they were agonizingly slow, but she couldn't help but shiver from the feeling that they felt as if they were always behind her, inches away from her tender hide.
She reached the top of the stairs, panting and wincing with every step as her head throbbed with immense pain. She looked to the right, then the left, her eyes widening as she saw Ditzy's little grey legs flailing about in the air between the prison bars. She galloped over to the cell quickly, Ditzy's voice, grateful and relieved, floating through over the heavy scream of the siren. "Oh thank you, oh thank the stars and their mother, thank you!" Ditzy cried, taking Twilight's hoof in two of her own and clutching onto it for dear life. Tears streamed out of her eyes as she said "I knew you wouldn't leave me!" She looked around the cell, panicked as she shouted "You...you didn't press the checkpoint button! Twilight I can't get out unless you press the button!!!"
Twilight shook her head, her head aching as she shouted back "Ditzy we don't know who or...or what else might be lurking in the cells above or around us! It's way too dangerous to open ALL of them up!"
"But what are we going to do about me?!" Ditzy cried, pounding her hooves against the metallic bars of her cage "How do I get out?!"
The unicorn put a hoof to her head, trying her best to think and to sort out some kind of quick plan. Working under pressure was something she prided herself in sometimes. Whether it pertained to a crunch-study session or a highly complicated weaving of an advanced spell, Twilight knew she could get it done. She looked back towards the staircase, watching as a white hoof pressed gently at the floor at the top of the staircase. The first of the ashen ponies had reached their floor, turning its head and looking at Twilight with empty, soulless pits that were supposed to house eyes but instead seated a maddening abyss of piercing vacancy. She looked back across her own body, her form shivering and partially burnt. A stroke of mad thoughts raced through her head as she looked slowly into Ditzy's cell, towards the ruined bed that lay crumpled in the far corner.
There was a pillow.
A soft pillow.
There was a solution.
A mad solution.
"Ditzy, give me your pillow, NOW!" Twilight screamed, drawing several startled blinks out of the muffin mare. She opened her mouth to say something, a confused babble of questioning 'Huh..whaaa?' bubbling out before Twilight cut it off with another shout of "PILLOW, GIVE ME, NOW!" Ditzy whirled around, rushing back into the cell toward the bed and giving the unicorn waiting outside another chance to think if this was really the best idea she could come up with. As the ash pony drew closer and closer to her, she decided that it didn't matter if it was the best idea...it was the fact that it was the only one.
"Here!" Ditzy cried, pushing the faded green, slightly torn pillow through the bars towards her. Twilight took it in between her two front hooves, taking in a few deep breaths and locking her eyes on the shambling form approaching her.
With a quick flick of her eyes towards Ditzy, she opened her mouth and shouted "Get back Ditzy! Huddle by the back of the wall, try not to get any of this thing's ash on you!" Ditzy Doo nodded, retreating to the rear of her cage.
It was a maddening minute for Twilight Sparkle, watching as the ash pony staggered in front of Ditzy's cell. It reached out towards her, cocking its head and twitching as Twilight heaved the pillow back. She threw it back forward with a maddening scream, smacking the ashen pony across the face with as much force as she could muster. Its head exploded into a cloud of ash, some of the dust floating into the bars. The unicorn's heart fluttered with delight as tiny tendrils of smoke floated gently off of the bars. With renewed fury, Twilight jumped to the right of the headless ash pony, shoving the pillow against its side and pushing it up against the bars. It flailed and thrashed about as its body was dissolved against the bars, Twilight screaming and swearing loudly at the beast. She started to shriek however as the pillow dissolved from the heat of the ash pony, her hooves pressing into its crumbling form.
A long, drawn out "FFFUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUCK!!!!!" echoed out of Twilight Sparkle as she threw her burning, smoking front hooves up in the air, the sounds of clanging bars and broken metal reaching her ears. Miraculously, the siren had started to quiet and lower in volume as the ashen pony was pushed up against the cage, all drowned out sound now returning to the world. Twilight screamed as her hooves burned, her body twitching and convulsing as she backed up violently, trying to get as far from that beast as possible. She gave a startled yelp as her back hit metal railing behind her, her momentum tipping her backwards and sending her over into the air. She let out a savage scream as she tumbled through the air, landing back-first upon once of the picnic tables below.
A thunderous crash echoed off the tower-room, all air escaping Twilight's lungs and dissipating into the air from the impact. She staggered for breath as the bars of Ditzy's cage rolled away from its once fixed position. Three of them rolled right off the edge of the walkway in front of the cell, flying down straight for Twilight. Two stabbed down to Twilight's left, one mere inches from Twilight's skin on her right. A fourth bar rolled off soon after, tumbling down straight for the unicorn's skull. She didn't even have time to gasp as the thick steel smacked Twilight's forehead, striking her with heavy force.
Reality gently scooped Twilight into its arm, wrapping her in a warm cocoon of black warmth and senseless emptiness. It placed a gentle kiss against her forehead, and, without another word, gently placed her into a loving, rocking-chair-like embrace of darkness. It swayed too and fro, cooing to her and nuzzling her soft, sweet skin. It eased her into sleep like a mother slipping her foal into a warm, comforting tub of water.
It was there that Twilight floated, swimming in the blackness.
Time no longer mattered. Nothing mattered. Not even Fluttershy....
Not even Fluttershy....
"Fluttershy...."
...somewhere, the wind howled.
"The flowers....they're blooming dearest...do you see them?"
"Yes...I see them."
"They are quite lovely...do you think they'd look nice on our windowsill?"
"Yes...I do."
"We can pick a few once we are done with lunch, oh I cannot wait till the cottage smells of roses, can you?"
"No...I cannot."
"Dearest...you are a mare of few words today....are you feeling alri-"
"I'm so sorry."
Twilight Sparkle recognized the first feeling she could feel as pain when her consciousness returned. A low, aching groan passed through her lips as her frail body trembled from the cold, stale air seeping into her bones. A light breeze was gently wafting over her, a muffled voice crying out to her from her left somewhere. She clenched her eyes tight, her head throbbing like crazy as she tried to press herself back into the blackness of the unknown.
She so very desperately wanted to go back to sleep, to go back to the cottage...the clean air...the soft grass....her soft, delicate skin and gentle touch. The unicorn took in a shuddering breath as she opened her eyes very slowly, the world unfocused and naught but a hazy blur. Her body shook slightly as two gentle hooves pressed at her, trying to rouse her from her slumber. "Twilight!" The voice wept, the sounds of crying reaching her slowly perking ears "Twilight please say something! Say anything!"
Twilight turned her head to the left ever so slowly, her eyes opening a small bit more. The world slowly came into focus as her eyes locked upon Ditzy Doo's watering ones. The mailmare sniffed loudly, repressing a choking sob as she gasped "Oh thank the goddesses that you're alive!" She sniffled quietly, rubbing at her nose with a hoof as she whispered "I...I thought the pipe had...had killed you when it fell and hit you from so far up." She smiled slightly, wiping at her eyes as she went on "But at least you're awake now! Better than being...than being dead."
The unicorn slowly turned her head the other direction, blinking as she took in the scene around her. Piles upon piles of ash littered the floor around her, the rest of the tower-room remaining relatively unchanged. She felt her wounds starting to ache, drawing the mare to look down. Her eyes widened slightly as she beheld her entire mid-section wrapped up tight with bandages. Green tufts of leaves poked out between some of the bandages, a salve of some sort it seemed used to soothe her burns. She held up her two front hooves, the appendages in the same patched state as her mid-section. She looked over towards Ditzy, the mailmare blinking at her as she whispered "Thank you Ditzy Doo...for patching me up."
Ditzy's next words had Twilight's eyes widening as she muttered "Um...it....it wasn't me that did this..."
"Then...who?" Twilight asked in response, the unicorn groaning slightly as she sat up. "It's only you and me here Ditzy Doo, who else could it have been?" Ditzy responded merely by pointing a little hoof to Twilight's right, towards the end of the room. She looked over, a light gasp passing through her as she beheld the metallic door she had failed to get through before opened wide. She could faintly see the length of a large hallway just behind the door's entrance. She turned her head back towards the muffin mare, her mind in a fuzz of confusion. "Ditzy...," she whispered, holding up her bandaged hooves "Who did this...who else is here with us?"
"She told me not to say..." Ditzy whimpered, rubbing her hooves together as if she was guilty of getting caught with a hoof in a cookie jar "She said that when you were ready...to help you through the door and that...that she'd explain."
Twilight narrowed her eyes, looking back towards the open door and taking in a deep breath. Another mare huh? Perhaps this was the same 'Her' that had been labeled on the map she had tucked away in her...saddlebags. She gasped, looking around her frantically. Her saddlebags! When had they fallen off!? "Ditzy have you seen the saddlebags I was carrying?" She asked, looking around her for any sign of them.
Ditzy shook her head, muttering "N...no...I did see some straps of leather falling off of you when you were climbing the staircase though." She whimpered, bowing her head as a fresh set of tears watered her eyes "I...I think the white ponies burned them away when you ran through them..."
Twilight sighed, staring up towards the tall, tall ceiling as she whispered "Dammit..." She looked back down after a moment, noticing Ditzy Doo was crying again. "What's wrong?" She whispered, putting a bandaged hoof against the mare's cheek "Why are you crying?"
"I..." Ditzy started, a sob choking out of her as she whimpered "I just wanna go home..." She looked around her in fright, a look of distrust etched on her face as she looked upon her surroundings with an uneasy feeling in her gut "I mean...where are we anyway? What is this place, some kind of crazy prison filled with monsters or something?"
"I don't know..." Twilight whispered, looking back towards the hallway "But if this mystery mare said she'd explain things, then I think it's best we get after her quick. The more knowledge we get our hooves on, the better chances of survival we'll have in this place." Ditzy nodded, putting her hooves gently on Twilight as the unicorn struggled to get off the splintered picnic table she had landed heavily upon. She groaned slightly as her body ached and throbbed, unwilling to make Twilight's journey through this terrible, monstrous place an easy one. As she slipped off of the table, she was quickly supported by Ditzy Doo on her side, the mare helping Twilight limp along as her front hooves were still too tender to put her full weight upon.
As they moved towards the open doorway, questions began to slowly flow through her head. This place was dangerous...that was as obvious as the sun was scorching. A cell that tried to drown her within minutes of her awakening, monstrous ash ponies that burned and melted fur and skin upon contact, a maddening siren that nearly deafened the ears of all who heard it, and a mysterious mare who could have killed Twilight Sparkle at any time during her unconscious state. She did not however...and chose to bandage and heal Twilight's wounds, saving her rather than murdering her. That didn't make her able to be trusted however...the mystery mare could have very well been keeping her alive for her own personal gain...a bargain or a deal of some sort, or maybe for some kind of dark pact or ritual. It seemed a bit far-fetched by any normal standards....but then again, things were hardly normal right now, were they?
The two passed through the doorway after several moments of pained yelps and quiet whimpers from Twilight, moving into the long hallway beyond. It was lined with all sorts of olden-style decor, small mahogany tables spaced every fifteen or so feet apart with bouquets of roses sat comfortably within white vases with ornate designs of blue color. The patterns on the vases, Twilight noticed, reminded her of....wind. She shivered as she looked towards the many picture frames that hung upon the walls, most of them depicting very old and rich looking ponies. They were probably the benefactors of the establishment the two found themselves trapped in. One mare caught Twilight's eye, her beauty breathtaking and her eyes a gorgeous, light chocolate brown. Her fur was a very light grey, her mane a dark brown streaked with many lines of silver. She wore what looked like an emerald-colored cloak with its large hood pulled back, a faint smile lingering on her lips. Twilight shifted her eyes towards the bottom of the frame, a nameplate bearing the slightly worn words:
Mrs. Penny Saved
Dearest wife, Cherished mother.
Elite Guardian, Master Ranger
Married to the Kurranian Line
"May the winds carry you home swiftly."
She's beautiful, Twilight thought, her gaze lingering upon the painting. She couldn't help but shake the feeling that she had...seen...this pony before. There was something oddly familiar about her, her smile, her eyes...her everything. An uneasy feeling passed through her, a shiver running up along her spine as she stared at the canvas. The eyes of Penny Saved seemed to narrow slightly, her smile growing as the two mares walked by her spot on the wall. The unicorn shook her head, her mind fuzzy as she looked back down the long hallway. The far door didn't look any closer, if anything, it looked like it was getting further and further away. She looked over to her rear, gasping as she came to a stop and stared backwards. Ditzy halted as well, looking towards Twilight and whispering "What is it Twilight? What's wrong?"
"How long..." Twilight breathed, her irises shrinking "Have we been walking, Ditzy?" The mailmare blinked, quirking an eyebrow upwards as she looked back behind her and felt her own gasp slipping through her lips.
The hallway behind them was immensely long, the door that they had once come from not even visible from the impossibly stretched passage that only moments ago, would only take maybe a few minutes to pass through. Now...it looked like hours. "What...the fuck...is this place...?" Twilight breathed, looking back ahead of her. Her heart sank as the way ahead now mirrored the way back. "What the hell!?" she screamed, looking around her frantically "Why, why is this happening?!"
The hallway suddenly started to dim, Ditzy shivering and clinging to the unicorn as she whispered quietly "Twilight I...I'm scared..." Twilight narrowed her eyes, backing the two of them up against one of the walls and pushing Ditzy behind her. She had tried to abandon the muffin mare once...she wouldn't catch herself doing that again.
The light had faded considerably, the darkness now becoming almost impossible to see through. She could barely even see Ditzy Doo behind her, and she was only mere inches away. The two of them stood in the dark for what seemed like an eternity, their eyes looking every which way for any sign or indication of incoming danger. "Could this just be some sort of night time?" Twilight whispered to herself "Or...is this another supernatural danger?" It was only a few more moments before Twilight's suspicions were confirmed, the distant sound of wings flapping reaching her ears. "Ditzy stay behind me!" She hissed loudly behind her, the unicorn taking a low, protective stance. Her body still ached, but she'd still do what she could to save Ditzy Doo.
The flapping got louder, and by the sound of it, there were a LOT of wings contributing to the noise. But what those wings were attached to, Twilight didn't know...and she wasn't sure that she wanted to find out either. Closer and closer the sound came, and louder and louder it grew. The unicorn could barely hear Ditzy's whimpers over the thundering sound of wings it was so loud. Twilight could just start to see black, shadowy shapes moving somewhere in the darkness when the sudden sound of a door opening echoed out behind them. She heard Ditzy yelp as she felt a sudden touch around her tail, the two of them being yanked backwards.
Twilight gasped as she was tossed backwards, the sound of a door slamming ringing in her ears a moment later. She landed on her rump, blinking as she looked up to see what had happened. An earth-pony mare stood with her rear pointed at Twilight as she stared towards a door, presumably the door she had just pulled the two mares through. Her fur was a deep, dark grey, a cutie mark of a filled bookshelf displayed on her rump. Her mane, a dazzling, shining silver, was done up in a bun with two chopsticks crossing in a plus sign through it. The mare sighed, turning to look at Twilight after a moment. She wore square-shaped, golden spectacles that were clipped with a neck chain to secure it in place around her in case she needed to take them off. A few wrinkles were prominent on her long, slim muzzle, and a soft, but very wise gaze in her eyes. She was a mare getting on in years, but not too old it seemed. A mare in her later years, but young enough it seemed that she was only now just getting past her prime.
The three mares stared at each other a moment before the grey mare opened her mouth, quirking an eyebrow as she said "Ah, salut Twilight Sparkle. Este foarte bine să te văd." Twilight simply sat there on her haunches, dumbfounded as an awkward silence settled over the air for a moment before the mare went on "Tu ... mă înțeleg, da? Acesta nu a fost atât de mult timp de când am vorbit ultima oară le-a?
"I'm sorry..." Twilight breathed "I don't...understand you." The grey mare giggled, pushing a hoof against her own lips as she smiled, taking a moment to collect herself as she let out a happy sigh.
Her voice was like a soothing rain, gentle and calming as she spoke "I am sorry, I forget that you are Equestrian. Our language has been lost for a very long time now...though I swear you and I have spoken once before." She paused to scratch at her head, mumbling "Haven't we...? Time is so broken and confused here...I would not be surprised if the Wind has not already blown it into pieces by now.."
"Excuse me," Twilight interjected suddenly, holding a bandaged hoof up. "Not to be rude and all but...who exactly are you? Are you the mare who bandaged me up and told Ditzy to bring me to you?"
At this, the grey mare gasped, putting a hoof over her chest and 'tsk tsk-ing' herself. "Oh gracious me," she exclaimed "Where are my manners, I do so greatly apologize!" She cleared her throat, walking past Twilight as she giggled, the unicorn following her with an intense stare. Ditzy took the moment to look around as the grey mare trotted up to a large, wooden circle that rested in the also circular, and not to mention large, room they found themselves in. It was a desk of some sorts, the wooden circle, the grey mare taking a seat upon some unseen chair behind it and looking around her at the towers upon towers of bookcases that lined the walls surrounding them. Wherever there was a gap between the bookcases, a door with an intricate design etched into its surface or a different colored wood was placed. To Twilight, it looked like some kind of hub, an entrance to a maze of some kind, but with no exact entrance or exit.
The grey mare took a moment to shuffle some papers on her desk before clearing her throat once more, smiling as she crossed her front hooves in front of her and said simply "I, am the Librarian. And this..." she held out a hoof, passing it in the air all around her "This....dearest Twilight Sparkle and Ditzy Doo...."
"This is Azil."
She lifted her head slowly, a heavy sigh falling upon her lover's most sacred, private treasure. She looked upon her dearest's form, watching her body heave for air, her eyes wandering over her sweat-shining fur. She took in every curve, every soft nook and every delicious cranny.
She was hers....she belonged, to HER.
She lowered her head once more, unwilling to give her any moment to breathe, to recover. Her ears twitched, perking this way and that. She listened to the sounds of her surroundings carefully, from the soft patter of rain, to the heated mewls of her dearest beloved. Words floated from below, muffled and unimportant. Words like 'Storm' and 'Evacuation' barely striking a nerve or interest in the mare.
Though...deep down, she knew she should have been more attentive to such things. It didn't matter to her now, however...all it mattered was the delicate movement of hooves, the squirming of fur against fur, the wrinkling and dirtying of sheets. THIS was her world...one she could escape to from...what was it called?
Equestria.....was it? Why didn't she....surely she remembered where she was, didn't she? What a peculiar thing to forget...or did she forget? Was she simply choosing to ignore it...was she-
The window nearby opened with a loud bang, the mare lifting her head up quickly and darting her eyes towards the opening. A howl reached her ears, deafening all other sounds as the curtains whipped about in a gust of fury. She felt a tender touch upon her cheek but did not turn her head to gaze upon her lover...instead choosing to keep her eyes rooted to the window.
"My dearest....my beauitful lavender flower....what is it? What is amiss my love?"
"Nothing....it's nothing. It is just.....it is just, I...."
Her eyes widened....though she did not know why. She saw nothing but the overcast...the sky and everything beyond. It was as if something was there....watching her, she could feel the eyes of some presence upon her...but it was a feeling that quickly came to pass. With a slight narrowing of her eyes, in a dreary, sleepy way, she turned her head back and down into her lover's most private sanctum, and re-threaded the needle of their most sensual and delicate of practices.
"It is just the wind."
"Azil...?" Twilight repeated, raising an eyebrow slightly at the Librarian. "What...do you mean this place? This...prison, is Azil?"
The Librarian merely chuckled, looking down upon something resting on the desk that Twilight could not see form her angle. The unicorn could only hear a light rustling of papers before it was quickly drowned out by The Librarian's voice "Azil...is not a prison Lady Sparkle. Azil is in and of itself....well, it is just itself." Twilight frowned, a look of pure confusion etched upon her face. Ditzy Doo, in her usual mannerism of 'Air-headed-ness', had already taken to patting Twilight gently on her uninjured side, turning to help herself to browsing one of the massive bookshelf towers lining the circular room. The Librarian watched Ditzy carefully out of the corner of her eye, her smile still lingering upon her face as she went on "You cannot truly understand what Azil really is...all you can do is understand what you already KNOW."
"You're...not making any sense Librarian." Twilight interjected, holding a hoof up to her and presenting her with a tired glare. "What do you mean Azil is...'itself'? What is it that I already know?"
The Librarian smiled, giggling as she looked up to the almost endless ceiling above, waving a hoof about gently as she said in her mysterious language "Ah frumusețea adevărata cunoaștere, rezolvarea pentru noi misterele tânjim pentru a se descurca de separarea ceilalți." Twilight blinked, cocking her head slightly as The Librarian looked back down upon the broken mare, smiling. "Well...what do you know my dear?" She paused to flip the page of something before her hooves before moving on "You know you're not in Equestria....and you know you are not safe in this place...but you ARE safe here within Cunoașterea , or 'The Knowledge', which is what they have come to label my little sanctum." She smiled a bit wider, giggling "Oh ho...now that is one more thing you know, isn't knowledge just the greatest thing to obtain?"
Twilight looked down, rubbing her face with her hooves as she sighed, her form trembling. She was starting to seriously wonder if The Librarian herself was any sort of sane...though if operating, living, or...whatever it was the Librarian actually did here in Azil was any sort of indicator...she wouldn't doubt that the aging mare had lost her marbles years ago. She pondered her words carefully...what, DID she know? Beyond what The Librarian already told her...she didn't know much else. She wasn't in Equestria, she was not safe, and she was here in Azil. When she looked up, she could see the eyes of The Librarian peering deeply into hers. "So," Twilight said, frowning "Finding out exactly what Azil is...is only possible by finding out the answers to other questions surrounding this place...surrounding my circumstances, surrounding everything."
The Librarian grinned, letting out a snort and a tiny whinny of a laugh as she nodded "Ah, Twlight Sparkle! You are very, very intuitive and wise! Indeed, this is what you must do!" She pointed a hoof out to the doors surrounding them, a total of twenty in nature it seemed, each of them their own color of wood and what appeared to be intricate designs carved into the upper half of their structure. "What happened to you, where are you friends, why is Ditzy Doo here with you, are there other ponies you know here, how and why did you find yourself here in Azil....what is the last thing you remember before coming here...?"
Twilight suddenly blinked, the last question drawing a panicked breath and a sudden chill to cascade through her, her body shivering for a moment as she thought about it. What...was the last thing she remembered before waking up in Azil? Where was she, what was she doing? Were her friends worried about her? Was....was her true love...? "I..." she whispered, eyes wide "I do not remember...."
"Ah," The Librarian peeped with a light, casual smile "It is THIS you must discover. Knowledge is something that cannot be simply learned by the word of mouth...it is something we must hunt for, yearn for, be willing to venture forth beyond the safety of our most treasured sanctums to find." She reached behind her desk, and pulled out what appeared to be a necklace with a tarnished, bronze-looking chain. Upon the end of the necklace was a small red stone set within a tiny bronze ball of wiring. Twilight held out her hooves and watched as the Librarian dropped it within them. "You cannot reach me through this stone Twilight Sparkle," The Librarian said "But in moments where needed, necessary, or otherwise to help you in your growth and pursuit of knowledge...I, will reach YOU." Twilight nodded slightly, taking her words with a grain of salt as she slipped the necklace over her head, minding her snapped off horn.
"So...where do these doors lead?" Twilight asked, looking out across the Rotunda "And what about Ditzy Doo...will she be coming with me?"
The Librarian merely giggled and shook her head "Ditzy Doo will be safe here...what is out there, beyond those doors, is for you and you alone. And as for the doors..." She said, her gaze softening as she looked upon her library's many entrances "They are...everything. Everything you were, or will be. The peepholes into the lives of others like you, maybe even lives that do not belong to you, or ones that stretch beyond your own personal reality, maybe even your universe. There are countless and endless numbers of lives, answers, realizations, and otherwise beyond those doors...but they all share one thing in common." She looked towards Twilight, a motherly smile widening upon her face as she whispered "You..." With that, she waved the unicorn away, her gaze shifting downward to her open book.
Twilight opened her mouth to say something, but...deep down she knew The Librarian would acknowledge her no longer. The time for questions and talk was over...it was finally time to get some answers for herself. She turned away from the front desk, and trotted over to Ditzy Doo who had already accumilated quite a number of 'Muffin Baking' recipe books around her little grey body. "Ditzy..." she breathed, the muffin mare putting down her book and turning to look at Twilight, her eyes blinking a few times. "It's safe here...as long as you stay here in this library, nothing can hurt you, alright?"
"But..." Ditzy Doo muttered, looking at Twilight's new necklace then up at her "What about you...? Where are you going?"
Twilight looked up at the door to Ditzy's right, sighing. "I'm going to go figure out what exactly is going on here, and to figure out what exactly Azil is."
To this, Ditzy Doo responded by immedietly throwing her front legs around the lavender mare's neck, pulling her into a tight hug and whimpering in protest "B...but the monsters are out there! T-Twilight it's too dangerous! Your wounds are still healing, you might not come back if you go out-"
Twilight pulled away slightly, pushing a hoof against the mailmare's lips and shushing her before whispering "Ditzy...I wouldn't care even if I had broken legs right now. We need to know what we're dealing with...we need to know what this place is, how we got here...and how we can leave. Please...please wait here for me, I'll try not to take too long out there." Ditzy looked into her eyes for several moments before nodding solemnly and pulling Twilight into another firm hug. They held each other for several moments before they pulled apart, Ditzy going back to her books and not glancing any more upon Twilight's form. With an affirmative nod, Twilight turned her gaze towards the door nearest to her, approaching it with a limp.
The dark-cyan colored door appeared to be...cracked, at first glance. There was a carving of what appeared to be a cracked mirror designing the upper half of the door, and upon peering closer, Twilight could see what looked like a rainbow. With a delicate turning of her hooves upon the doorknob, Twilight pushed the door open, the wood retorting with a loud creaks and groans. Blackness met Twilight's anxious gaze, a veil of utter darkness resting just past the threshold. The lavender mare gulped, peering her head through the doorway and looking about. There was nothing but emptiness all around her, not even the light of the Library was doing anything to permeate the void that was stretching out before her.
She gulped, extending a shaking, trembling hoof forward and stepping through. Although...stepping WOULD have been what she had done...if her hoof had actually hit something solid instead of the open air. With a gasp and a panicked scream she tumbled forward, her weight already shifted in the wrong direction. She turned in midair, extending a hoof upwards and just barely catching the edge of the floor as her body dangled in the dark nothingness. She panted, a panicked set of breaths exhaling from her lungs as she struggled to reach back up towards the safety of the door. As she set her other hoof up on the ledge, readying herself to pull her body back up into the doorway...The Librarian put two gentle hooves upon hers. Twilight looked into the smiling Librarian's face, the grey mare cooing gently "La revedere, Twilight Sparkle."
And with that, she pushed Twilight's hooves off of the edge, the Lavender mare letting forth a high-pitched, blood curdling scream as she sailed down through the inky blackness, the light of the Library quickly fading out as The Librarian closed the door behind her. Twilight looked around in a mad state of panic, the wind from the free fall whipping her mane about with wild force. She couldn't see the ground, if there was any. She couldn't tell how far she had fallen already. Thoughts began to race through her strained mind as she tumbled effortlessly through the void. Had the Librarian tricked her? Had she just sent Twilight to her doom? She had only just met her, it was of course foolish to have trusted her so soon! What about poor Ditzy Doo? Was she now at The Librarian's mercy? Was she going to be killed, or maybe even tortured?
The mare had little time to reflect upon it as the air beneath her suddenly started to turn a sickly gray. Twilight gasped as what looked like clouds rapidly approached her, a never-ending stretch of them forming to look like some kind of puffy floor. For reasons unknown, rather it be instinct or otherwise, Twilight braced for impact, expecting to crash violently into this layer of gray and becoming nothing but a red smear across its unwelcoming surface. She hit the surface with little resistance stopping her, the mare tumbling onwards through the clouds and bursting forth into an open sky.
Twilight looked frantically about, seeing cloud structures rapidly fill her vision. A bleak landscape stretched out before her, a village dotting the horizon surrounded by a thick circle of trees. A mountain could be seen with a flowing river circling down its side and towards its base, and beneath her rested what looked like a neighborhood of cloud homes...and a large, empty section of plains right underneath them. She screamed, her lungs aching as this new, VERY real-looking ground started to rapidly rush to meet her. The earth reached upwards, its maw opening as it made itself ready to accept Twilight into her deepest, darkest grave. Just as she shot past the cloud-house neighborhood, a flicker of movement reached the corner of her eye. Before she could turn her head to see what it was, a heavy weight crashed into her, the lavender mare grunting as something knocked her roughly upside the head. Her vision blurred and stars twinkled before her eyes as blackness crept upon the outer ridges of her sight.
As the blackness swirled about and swallowed her up once more into its comforting, loving embrace, only two, muffled words reached her drooped ears.
"...GOT YA!"
Out of all the details, both tiny and large, that Twilight could choose to reflect and focus on...the fact that the rain felt cool against her fur and skin was one she held onto the most. She was looking slightly to her right, her breathing calm and steady. The wind whipped at her harshly, the stinging chill of its breath and the rain it carried within its bosom soaking and freezing her to the bone. She barely exhibited any sign that she was feeling the terrible weather around her, only a tiny shake here or a barely noticeable shiver there the only indicators that, besides the scene that was displayed before her, today was a dismal, lifeless day.
The sounds of the little one screaming were all but inaudible now, her panicked shrieks and sorrowful wails drowned out in the wind as she was carried away by the large stallion that Twilight had often seen...but never talked to, out of sight of the wreckage surrounding them. He seemed like such a gentlecolt...it was a pity he was one of few words. Twilight shifted her eyes back up towards the standing frame of the structure, her eyes half-closed as if she were preparing to float once more into the world of dreams...a world she so desperately tried to cling to, if only to stem away the stagnant reality of Equestria for only a few more lingering, precious moments.
She was impressed that the frame was all that was left after the storm, proof that any foundation one of her old friends placed, could withstand any deadly force of nature. Why couldn't that same foundation have been placed within her own life...or those around her? Perhaps it was fate...maybe it was just pure bad luck. Or maybe, Twilight thought as she watched the figure above her sway gently in the wind, the eyes of both of them, dead and glassy, staring into the others, maybe it was just...
She buried the thought, her eyes refusing to break contact with the mare's above her. She felt her ears twitch as a voice said from behind her "Alright...the guards have the statements written into the record...let's get her down." Twilight watched four colts slowly walk past her out of the corner of her eye, their movements cold and sluggish as the wind clawed and swiped at their brittle and shivering bodies.
Twilight flinched as she felt a hoof press against her, and the words "I'm so sorry..." being breathed gently into her ear. Though to Twilight, she couldn't help but...not feel sorry. As the rope was cut and the figure fell into the arms of the colts below, a dead and cold smile frozen upon her face and her vacant eyes staring still into Twilight's, the lavender mare couldn't help but feel...relieved. Without missing a beat, Twilight turned her head sharply to the right and said in the most lifeless tone she could:
"Don't be, it's better this way."
~
If there was one thing Twilight was a master of, it was waking up without appearing that she had done so. So regular that it was that other ponies first instincts were to open their eyes, greeting the new day with a yawn and a stretching of hooves. Not this mare, however. Not a single twitch, or movement could be seen from her bandaged body. The unicorn listened intently to the sounds reaching out to her from all around, seeing if the environment she had woken up in was safe or not. She was like an opossum playing dead, hoping that she could play off her ruse long enough to discover what she needed to know.
The first thing she heard was the sounds of a news bulletin from either a T.V. or a radio coming in through what she could only perceive was the kitchen, as the sounds of pots and plates clattering together could be heard accompanying the words of the news anchor. "Today's top story: Hurricane Celincia, are we ready for it? That's the question everypony is asking, and here to help us shed some light on the situation is guest corespondent Aurora Raintail from the Cloudsdale Informational Center of Weather, or the C.I.C.W.. Miss Raintail, glad you could join us."
There was only a short pause before another voice floated through Twilight's ears "Thank you Gregorio, it's a pleasure to be here though I do wish it was under 'drier' conditions. Hurricane Celincia is surely making quite the mess out there, and it won't be long before we too are feeling her unhinged wrath."
"Is it true what they're saying out there Miss Raintail?" The news anchor, Gregorio asked "Is this hurricane REALLY the strongest, most immense storm ever recorded in Equestria's history?"
There was a sigh and a light pause before Aurora spoke "I'm afraid so Gregorio, which is why the time to prepare is now, with evacuation routes planned and kept flowing along with ample supplies to hold out during the time it will be over us. It is a most interesting storm indeed...as it is projected to not reach our region of Equestria for months, and yet it refuses to lose steam and power, even while over land. No such thing could have been made by the hooves of ponies which leaves many experts to speculate that the Hurricane is running purely on-"
"Oh please," A voice suddenly said, a colt's voice "This little drizzle doesn't hold a single inch over Hurricane Astronovere. Wiped out Romaneia didn't it?" No one replied to him at first, the colt's voice fading slightly and mingling with the voices of the news crew. Twilight heard the soft smoochings of a kiss traded here and there before the colt went on "What was it the Romaneians called it...? Inter...intervencha-something?"
"Intervenție divină" said another voice suddenly from beside the colt, a young mare's. "It means 'Divine Intervention'...they say it was the work of the Goddesses."
The colt snorted, his hoofsteps growing louder for a moment before stopping just to Twilight's right. There was a short pause, Twilight trying her best to figure out what the colt could have been doing. She didn't have to wait long as she felt a weight press against her head and the colt's voice reaching out to her. "I know you're awake Twilight...my own daughter tried that very same trick with me, but I ALWAYS know when one is awake." He snickered as Twilight finally opened her eyes, already staring directly at him as he said "I can discover a pony's 'sleeping tells' quite easily...yours is that you smile when you sleep...though it's not really noticeable unless you're really looking for it."
The colt had a dark gray coat, his mane done back in a silvery mowhawk with columns and streaks of light blue running in segments down its length. His eyes were a dull, muddy gold and his wings looked as if they had been roughed up recently, some of his feathers bent, out of place, and even missing. The thing that struck Twilight immediately, however....was that she knew this pony. "Thunderlane" she croaked, reaching up to rub at her suddenly aching head, as if her body had finally caught up with her mind. "How long have I...?" She moaned, another pulse of pain echoing through her cranium.
"Long enough," Thunderlane sighed, taking a seat next to the couch she was resting on and shaking his head "You know how much of a pain in the ass it is to deal with Rainbow Dash as it is, even when she's sober." He grimaced as he looked over his wings before muttering "But out of the love a lot of us have for you dear...we're willing to make some sacrifices."
Twilight winced as she sat up, looking around slowly and taking in the view of the living room. It was cloud-home that she was in, that much could be gathered instantly. She was resting upon a cloud-couch, the rest of the furniture around of the same design and texture. Many articles stood out, like pictures, some potted plants, even a coat hanger. They all were magically enchanted of course, a spell probably of the same or similar design cast over her as well to ensure she didn't fall straight through the floor. After a moment she let out a small yawn, rubbing her eyes and looking towards Thunderlane to mutter "What do you mean...what's wrong with Rainbow Dash?"
To this, Thunderlane merely sighed, groaning only briefly as he shook his head and looked at her "Honey, she's not here, ok? You don't have to be afraid and defend her out of fear of punishment. It's safe here."
Twilight furrowed her brow roughly. What was he talking about? What about Rainbow Dash? Was there something going on that she-
She closed her mouth slowly, her brain finally waking up and beginning to fit the pieces into place. Azil, this place could have just been another part of Azil. She DID fall out of the sky from the doorway in the Library, and right into Thunderlane's arms. This was just a world that was connected back to Azil, but whether it was her own world, the past, the present, of another universe in and of itself, Twilight wasn't sure. The Librarian said that the doors would take her pretty much everywhere, but that they were all connected to her....which means that they were all connected somehow to Azil as well.
She couldn't lose sight of her goal: Discover what Azil was, and how she could go home. It was time to get some answers, and for that, she needed to play along. It would be a lot easier than trying to explain to Thunderlane what was really going on...since he didn't seem to be all to informed about was actually happening. "Sorry," she said, shaking her head "I'm just...I'm just tired is all. I think I hit my head pretty hard when you ran into me...that WAS you who caught me, right?"
Thunderlane nodded slightly, rubbing the back of his head out of embarrassment as he muttered "Y..yeah, sorry about that. I didn't really exactly have a lot of time to position the catch for comfort purposes. Had I wasted a second more you'd have been Twilight soup. Are you feeling any better?"
Twilight shook her head, sighing "I'm afraid not, I'm still feeling pretty sore...what's today?"
Thunderlane shrugged, stating dully "It's day thirteen of Junaria, year 1019 A.C. of the age 'Celestia', why you ask?" Twilight frowned for a moment before asking quietly "My library...?"
"Still under renovations," Thunderlane replied, looking back towards the kitchen as the sounds of humming reached his ears "I'm surprised you didn't turn Rainbow in for what she did...your notion of 'love' is a lot different than mine, I'll tell you that."
Year 1019...renovations to her Treehouse...troubles with Rainbow.....she knew exactly where she was.
She was...home. She was in her own time, her own universe, her version of Equestria. Though it was months, and months before the present, as she remembered her library had finished being repaired in the month of Juliana. She looked down, her head still a little foggy, trying her best to remember what she could. Hurricane Celincia...it was a storm Twilight had heard about approaching Equestria but...but never remembered it hitting. Perhaps whatever it was that had happened to transport her to Azil did so before Hurricane Celincia reached Ponyville. There was only one more thing to make sure of. "Fluttershy..." Twilight whispered "Is she...?"
"Home from Zebrica? Nope, fraid' not." Thunderlane answered before she could finish. "Should be back in a few months though shouldn't she?"
"Yes..." Twilight sighed, looking towards the kitchen as the clattering of plates stopped "She will be."
Thunderlane nodded quietly before quirking his eyebrows, looking at Twilight's bandaged wounds and asking "So...what's with the bandages...? Rainbow do another number on you...? Why were you falling from the sky anyway, another spell of yours gone wrong or..." He gave her a slightly stern glare, a bit of venom in his tone as he growled "You weren't trying to...Twilight you weren't trying to kill yourself up there were you?"
At this, Twilight vigorously shook her head and scoffed "Of COURSE not...you know how I feel about suicide...besides, magic is a bit difficult right now considering I-" She stopped as she reached up to feel the nub of her broken off horn, and felt a gasp ripple through her as she she felt her hoof come into contact with the full length of her most precious instrument. Tears flooded her eyes involuntarily as she touched every inch of her sturdy horn.
Thunderlane raised an eyebrow as she watched Twilight's expression change, the pegasus clearing his throat as she asked "Um...are you, alright there Twilight?"
The lavender mare huffed for a moment, sniffing as she finally nodded and croaked "Y...yes...sorry I'm still just, I'm just very tired right now."
The colt chuckled, nodding and putting a hoof on Twilight's as he said "That's perfectly alright Twilight...we'll try our best to explain what happened to Rainbow...if we can catch her when she's sober I'm sure everything will be alright. For now, you should just stay here and rest for as long as you-"
"TWILIGHT SPARKLE! ARE YOU FUCKING IN THERE!?!?!" Boomed a loud, and VERY enraged voice.
Thunderlane twisted his head about sharply, his eyes widening in panic as he breathed "Oh no..." He looked towards Twilight and with a quick "Stay here, just stay here alright?!" took off bolting into the kitchen.
Twilight didn't really understand why it was....but a sudden surge of emotion began to grip at her. It tore through her, snaking its claws through her insides and clutching her tightly in its deadly grip. A pressure fell upon her racing, rapidly-thudding heart as her breath started to come up short, a loud-wheezing whine escaping her quivering lips every now and again. She couldn't understand...completely why it was...
...she was terrified. Very, very terrified.
All around her, outside the walls of the Cloud-house she could suddenly hear it. It's ravenous roaring, it's sinister snarling, it's ghastly growling.
Somewhere, the wind was laughing .
She didn't move, didn't wince, didn't show any kind of emotion. All her pain was inside, the flaming burning that was eating her from within as she felt tender hooves press at her in some places. She heard her voice gently floating through her ear, the sound like a soothing river calming her nerves and cradling her tormented soul within its loving embrace. It was she who had always been there for her, in the most desperate and vulnerable of times. So shocked was she that the mare had stood up against her oppressor, delivering an unforgettable performance that would shake even the most sturdy and formidable of foes to their deepest, rotten core.
Her ears suddenly twitched as the adrenaline finally died down, a shuddering breath from her tired lungs bringing an involuntary shiver through her beaten, broken form. The mare's voice suddenly became crystal clear, her heart thumping hotly as she listened:
"There...that should be it. I would mind your hooves for a few days, but after that, you ought to be right as rain again." Twilight said nothing, her eyes centering and locking upon one of the thin cracks that lined the beauty's floor. She nodded her head once, briefly, enough to signify that she had acknowledged her words. A tightness built up within the broken unicorn's chest, and she felt a pressure build in her head and behind her eyes as her savior drew ever closer to her, whispering gently near her neck "Shall I brew you some tea...? I know it will ease your mind...perhaps detach you from the suffering." To this, Twilight could do nothing except feel the pressure within her release, a choked out sob croaking from her dry throat. All that was left of her barriers, her defensive wards placed against her attacker's onslaught, had shattered. Hooves wrapped around her swiftly, pulling her tightly into a loving embrace as the unicorn whimpered quietly, just two words:
"K...Kill me..."
"Oh darling.....dearest flower....no....not you my little Lavender..."
Twilight looked up at her, tears streaming down her face as she tried to form the words, her eyes searching hers desperately, looking for the reason, the answer as to why she wouldn't snap her neck upon the spot. Why wouldn't she bring down the sweet, silencing blade of the guillotine, detach her from the misery...why?
As if she read her mind...the mare breathed quietly "Because Equestria needs you...the others need you...." She paused, drawing her lips slowly before hers, hovering them only an inch away as she sighed "I....need you." Twilight let out a small cry, throwing her hooves around her rescuer and beginning their very first of many embraces to be had between the two lovers. She wanted to tell the feathered goddess in her trembling hooves that she was wrong....Equestria didn't need Twilight Sparkle, no one did....
It was Twilight....that needed HER."
~~~
"Would you have some SENSE in you for at least ONE TIME in your stupid, wretched life!?"
"WHERE IS SHE!? I KNOW YOU'RE KEEPING HER IN THERE!"
"Raindrops call the Pega-Police, you do it right no-!"
Twilight gasped, curling into a tight ball as a loud thudding was heard, several voices crying out as pots and pans hit the floor. Loud swearing reached her ears as the sounds of a scuffle continued. It was after several long moments that a mare's voice called out, the one Twilight presumed had been cleaning the dishes in the kitchen from before. "Wait, stop!" She shouted, a pausing in the violence now evident. "She's in there...in the living room...just please, leave us in peace!"
"Raindrops...n..no!" Thunderlane groaned, a loud, hacking cough echoing from is pained body.
Raindrops voice floated through the door as a set of hoofsteps advanced in Twilight's direction "We did all we could dearest...may the Goddess have mercy on her soul...."
"But Twiligh-" Thunderlane groaned, quickly becoming cut off by Raindrops.
"We'll save her....we will." There was a slight pause as Raindrops voice grew quieter "Ai încredere dragostea mea ..."
Twilight looked up slowly as the hoofsteps stopped, the mare shakily breathing in a half-state of panic. Standing before her...was a disheveled, alcohol-reeking, bloodshot-eyed, and not to mention absolutely furious looking Rainbow Dash. She wore a blue hoodie around her faded cyan body, her breath coming out in heaves as she looked down upon the trembling mare. Twilight chanced a look down at Rainbow's hooves, her eyes widening and her irises shrinking as she beheld the mare's red-stained hooves. Whatever she did to Thunderlane...it could not have been pleasant.
"So..." Rainbow growled, sneering down at Twilight "You really think that I wasn't going to find you? You think that I don't KNOW you by now?!" Twilight opened her mouth to say something, her words garbled in her mouth as fear tore into her throat. She let out a sudden cry as Rainbow's hoof punched her across the muzzle, shutting up any attempts she could have made to speak. Twilight whimpered as she was pulled from the cloud-couch roughly, the unicorn being slung across Rainbow's back. She started to whine in protest but was quickly silenced as the cyan Pegasus looked over her shoulder, a wide-eyed glare piercing through Twilight's watered gaze. "Make one sound..." she hissed "And I'll make you really sorry that you pulled this idiotic stunt, you fucking hear me?" The unicorn could do nothing but nod, burying her face within Rainbow's fur and falling silent.
A flurry of emotions were tearing through Twilight at that moment. What was she DOING?! Why was she just letting Rainbow Dash just steamroll such abuse right over her? Why did she feel so...so afraid? It had only been maybe six or so hours since she was willing to die saving Ditzy Doo...and now she could barely even meet her friend's gaze.
Friend...? No...Rainbow Dash was no friend to her. She could tell the second she laid eyes upon the cyan-feathered Pegasus that there was something else there. It was a peculiar feeling...one of remorse and sadness, not for her but for Rainbow Dash.
....was it pity?
...sorrow?
Twilight felt the harsh wind upon her in an instant as Rainbow fanned her powerful wings outwards, taking flight into the icy, bitter sky. She could hear Rainbow's slurred mumbling, her flight path horribly erratic. She lurched to and fro, sometimes nearly throwing Twilight off into oblivion as she banked much more than could be deemed necessary. It was clear to the unicorn now that Rainbow had definitely been drinking, the stench of whisky and cider combined with her flight pattern making it painstakingly obvious. 'Just like always...' Twilight thought, a sudden trigger clicking off an her mind.
Just like always? How did she....how did she know this was always how Rainbow was? She knew...she knew something...was it that-
It snapped to her brain immediately, her eyes widening despite the abuse the wind was throwing upon them. A terrified shake rumbled through her as her memories suddenly became crystal clear....the months before her mysterious appearance in Azil, at least from the point she was in now, suddenly coming together before her eyes. This was it....this was the beginning...
This was the start of her journey towards Azil. She didn't know exactly how...but deep down, within the very bowels of her soul...she knew this was the turning point. She remembered when they first talked...more intimately than friends. They had gone on a date at the 'Cloudberry Coffee Emporium' in Cloudsdale...the sweet words Rainbow at whispered to her making Twilight shiver and blush with a heat she had never experienced before. Oh the times she remembered them sharing, from blissful walks by Lake Everfree, to more tender, intimate, even heated moments by the fireplace within her own Library.
She...had fallen in love with Rainbow Dash. The memory triggered a heavy pain in her heart as she struggled to repress a sob, fearful that Rainbow Dash would drop her to her death out of bitter spite. There was no denying it, Twilight's heart belonged to Rainbow Dash long before she ever woke up in her padded, watery tomb. But what happened? It was this that Twilight struggled to remember, even as some of the memories fell into place, there were still pieces here and there that were muddled with agonizing fog.
Something about the factory...the weather factory. Was it about bits? Surely it couldn't have been about money, as Twilight was well off on her own, with more than enough to support her and Rainbow. The drinking started after...what had she read about in the paper? Was it an explosion...? Twilight was snapped out of the digging into her own mind as Rainbow pulled her wings back, landing roughly upon the porch of a beat-up, battered looking cloud-home. The cloud's making up the structure were distorted and bent at odd angles, making it look like it hadn't been properly maintained in quite some time. The mailbox that had been placed in the front 'lawn' was bent and dented roughly, the number '142' nearly rusted off of its side.
Twilight looked over the structure for only a brief moment before she felt Rainbow Dash walk forward underneath her, staggering here and there as she struggled to move through her drunken stupor. The unicorn started very hastily to try and prepare herself mentally...and physically, for what was about to happen. She had to be as strong as possible...she needed to be an unmovable rock in a deadly embrace of rapids, to try to slow the erosion of her sanity as long as possible. Though a few of her memories as to what had actually happened between them were a little hazy...she could still remember how she felt during the whole ordeal.
Twilight closed her eyes, taking many calm, even breaths as Rainbow shoved the door open, reaching over her and grabbing Twilight roughly by her mane. The unicorn yelped as Rainbow yanked her roughly off of her back, throwing her forward onto the floor and kicking the door closed behind her. "So who's idea was it that you try and hide at Thunderlane's, huh?" Rainbow spat, walking over towards a cowering Twilight, the shivering mare trying her best not to let the Pegasus get the best of her emotions. Needless to say...she was doing a very poor job at succeeding. Rainbow delivered a nasty right hook into Twilight's cheek, a grunt escaping the mare as she recoiled backwards, falling upon her spine across the living room floor. Twilight's eyes flicked about in a panic, taking in her surroundings as Rainbow approached her once more. Haphazardly strewn about furniture...a broken T.V., a few shredded magazines, and a staircase in one corner of the room leading upwards to the second story.
Rainbow grasped Twilight's cheeks, pulling her up onto her hooves and bringing her face very close to her own. The unicorn nearly retched as Rainbow breathed upon her, the overwhelming smell of rank booze choking up her senses with filth. The Pegasus had tears forming in her eyes as she whispered "Why did you run away from me...? Don't you know I love you...?" She leaned forward, pulling Twilight into a firm, rough kiss. The lavender mare wanted to do nothing more than struggle, to pull away from her abusive lover. Deep down though, she knew if she resisted it would only turn out worse for her. The sloppy, alcohol tasting kiss lasted only for a few seconds before Rainbow suddenly pulled away, smacking Twilight heavily upon her cheek. The mare went down with a yelp as Rainbow was over her in an instant, screaming and flailing her hooves down upon her. She kicked, stomped, and pummeled Twilight into the floor of the cloud house as she roared "All I do is WORK, work to provide for your stupid, ungrateful ass! I PROVIDE for you, I CARE for you, I give you a place in my heart and home and you TRY AND BETRAY ME AT EVERY TURN!"
Twilight grunted as she felt Rainbow's hoof connect with her eye, a loud ringing echoing off in her skull as her vision became blurry, her punched eye shutting firmly and leaving her other to roll about lazily in its socket. "What am I going to have to do, huh?!" Rainbow shouted, kicking Twilight in her stomach and making the unicorn let out a serious of retching, hacking coughs "What do I have to do to prove you mean the WORLD to me, huh?!"
A sudden alarm bell rung devastatingly loud in Twilight's mind, a screaming of "RUN, RUN AWAY! GET AWAY!" making her wince. "Oh...I know what you need," Rainbow said with a chuckle, stepping over Twilight and looking down upon her. her smile grew wide as she licked her lips, a hot, sultry tone overcoming the crazed mare's words "You just need a little loving...that's all. I must not be keeping your needs fulfilled...but that's alright, I can take care of THAT EASILY!" Twilight had barely any time to react as Rainbow tried to lower herself down upon her, the unicorn blushing out of habit and heave out of panic. She looked around wildly with her good eye, trying to spot anything she could use to help her fend off her vicious oppressor. As she felt a familiar heat start to build in her loins, the unicorn gasped. She reached out desperately with a hoof, a potted plant with a dead, wilted flower coming into reach from the nearby coffee table.
With a weak cry, Twilight whipped the pot to her left, smashing it across Rainbow's face. The reaction was instantaneous, Rainbow barreling off of the unicorn with a startled, pained screech. Twilight wasted no time in scrambling upwards, racing for the staircase. She had to escape, or at least delay Rainbow long enough to devise some kind of way to put her out of commission. She couldn't fight Rainbow Dash hoof to hoof...there'd be no chance of success...or maybe even survival. Maybe she could outsmart her? Brains wasn't something Rainbow was entirely noted or famous for. As she struggled to come up with some sort of solid plan, having already made it half way up the stairs, a sudden grip on one of her rear hooves brought her back down to reality. She gasped and cried out as her legs were pulled out from beneath her, her face hitting the surprisingly firm clouds. She looked over her shoulder in despair as she was pulled back down, underneath a very enraged-looking Rainbow Dash.
Her face was bleeding out of the corner of her left eye, a monstrous growl escaping her as she slammed a firm hoof right into the middle of Twilight's belly after she had thrown her once more upon her back. All the air within Twilight's lungs escaped her as she twitched, retching and coughing for air. "You fucking bitch, always gotta play hard to get huh?!" Rainbow screamed as she delivered another punch against Twilight's already bad eye, and another to her side. Twilight lay almost limp, her breath labored and her good eye drooped and weary. She found herself trying to sob as she felt Rainbow lower herself upon her battered body, but no sound came from her. Tears gently leaked from Twilight's open eye, moisture collecting behind the swollen blackness that was her other abused one as she felt a burning, searing heat push up between her thighs. A dark, blistering moan wrenched its way into Twilight's ears as Rainbow put her hooves on either side of Twilight's head, and roughly shoved herself against her.
Twilight could do nothing but stare upwards at the ceiling as Rainbow had her way with the broken mare, robbing her of any innocence and purity she had left. The sweltering heat that she felt building between them only causing more agony to pour from her soul. 'Just let her be finished...' Twilight begged to no one in her thoughts 'Just let her leave me alone once she's done...please...' . An eternity passed, or at least that's what it seemed like to Twilight. Her body ached, her loins ached, her most precious sanctuary ached. Her torture appeared as if it would be going on for another age, and there was nothing she could do to stop it, to stop Rainbow's sexual and mental assault over her.
A sudden crash, however, snapped her out of her defeated, dizzying haze. A few shouts echoed in Twilight's ears, causing Rainbow to end her overpowering defiling of her unicorn prisoner prematurely. Rainbow raised herself up in a hurry, looking over her shoulder and shouting random curses down the stairs. To Twilight, it was a chance, perhaps maybe even a blessing that the assault had stopped. She looked slowly to her right, down towards the doorway that had been blown open by some unseen force. She could see shapes standing in the doorway, rough voices barking towards her as Rainbow roared back.
It was a chance...one she HAD to take! It could have been her only shot left at salvation!
With a mustering of all her strength that she could gather, Twilight bent her rear legs under Rainbow Dash, and with a furious screech, kicked upwards into the mare's stomach. Rainbow let out a surprised grunt as she was sent careening down the stairs, the shouts around her intensifying as Twilight scrambled to get up. She turned, panting hoarsely as she flew up the stairs, her body screaming in agony and out of protest due to her wounds. She didn't care, she couldn't now. Escape was her only goal, rest a distant second. She tore through the second story in a mindless panic, looking for the only exit she knew she had. Her memory kept itself together just long enough to vaguely recall the layout of Rainbow's old house, her hooves guiding her quickly through one of the cloud doors and through what she knew was the guest bedroom. It was there that she saw it before her...a window. A piece of enchanted glass had been fitted through the square-shaped hole, keeping it suspended firmly in midair and making it hug its frame.
It was this window that Twilight dove for with every ounce of her being, every scrap of desperation she could find within herself to hold onto. She saw a figure out of the corner of her eye, she swore it. She didn't dare look, didn't chance a glance as she kept her eyes firmly on the prize: Freedom.
With a shrieking cry of fury, Twilight dove through the window with a thunderous 'SMASH!', the wind coming down upon her with a fury unlike anything she had ever experienced. Cold was the mare who cackled like a mad horse, her tears flowing freely as she fell through the sky. She laughed...oh how she laughed, her mad roars of hilarity echoing through the darkening sky. As she fell towards the earth at terminal velocity, there was only one sound that could be heard over her maniacal laughter: the wind.
As the world around her grew icy and cold, and the first few walls of snow hit Twilight Sparkle for all they were worth, only her laughter could be heard over the furious, hysterical laughter of the wind. They held each other tightly as they roared with noise, and through the blistering, murderous sky, they danced.
"I don't understand...," said the voice of a mare she recognized almost immediately "How could this have happened without us knowing?! How did we not see the signs sooner?". She didn't dare open her eyes, for fear of being pounced upon by the sure-to-be feelings and thoughts of concern and worry. She couldn't bear to face them as she was now...who could? Though, she wasn't sure of anything now, not anymore. Not even what day it was. Had days passed at all? Was it minutes, or years since she was back in that cottage. Perhaps it was months since the beauty who had captivated her soul and stolen her heart apologized so profusely for the turn of events that had transpired between them. 'How could I have done something so shameful?' she had lamented, 'To take advantage of you in your hour of need...I pray you find it in your heart to forgive me one day'. But there was nothing to forgive, she insisted. It was a purely adored and very welcoming escape from the bitter times that choked the unicorn's recent history. And it was that footnote, that Twilight found herself in the middle of an argument concerning it.
"Ah'm not rightly sure," sighed a weary sounding country pony "Things seemed so...gosh, normal weren't it?" Normal, as if anything about anything in her life was 'normal'. Though she had to agree with the apple-scented mare, things surely would have looked normal from the outside. She had done her absolute, one hundred and twenty percent best to keep things as under-wraps as possible. If anypony had found out about what was really happening, it would have ruined so many carefully laid plans and progress. At least...that's what she was desperately trying to convince herself of.
"So...where is-?" Begun the first voice, though sounding slightly further away. The sound of liquid, presumably tea, was barely audible over the sound of the apple-mare's response, already putting two and two quickly together.
"Givin' her statement. There's a lot te' go over apparently from what ah was hearin' when they carted Rainbow away."
Twilight winced as she heard the sound of the kettle being placed a little too harshly down on a counter top as the next few words sent a piercing cold bullet right through her soul:
"Good, hopefully by this time tomorrow that Rainbow-maned, vile, disgusting bastard of a whore-daughter will be hanging with the rest of those scum. Good riddance."
~~~
Twilight fell.
And she fell.
And she fell.
Falling, falling, falling for what seemed like an eternity. In the first minute since her mad dash through the window and into the seconds of falling through a snowy whirlwind of anger, Twilight found (at least through the lingering senses of any sanity she could still claim that were left) that she had found peace at last. Finally the pain would be over, she'd be free of the bitter torment that pulled and plagued at her soul for what seemed like eons. No more Rainbow...no more Azil ...no more. A heavy, shuddering sigh that escaped through her lips was immediately lost in the fury of the laughing wind that roared and spun her about, the thick icy sheets of snow that swirled about masking both sky and ground from her view. Nothing could be seen but grey and specks of sinister white.
Her mind had begun to stretch, and stretch, the weight of her anguish and misery finally starting to lessen as the very real and sobering feeling of her impending death racing towards her gently wrapped itself around her bleeding heart. At last...the ground she felt she had been racing towards for so long would finally come to greet her and welcome her with open, muddy arms. At last her lungs would heave out laughter no more, the elation of her achieved victory and freedom over her murderous assailant finally reaching its peak high point and dissipating into a sense of calm and acceptance. Closing her eyes and twisting her body in the air until she felt the wind pressing at her back the heaviest, she spread her legs outwards in all four directions and waited.
She waited....
And waited....
And waited....
Where was the ground? Surely she should have been a mess of bone and twitching pieces of meat by now, right? She opened her eyes, looking over her shoulder against the angry rush of the wind towards the direction of ground. There was nothing but snow and sky from what she could see, a very concerning thought passing through the unicorn's mind. "I'm in Azil..." She thought, her eyes slowly turning back up towards the sky above her as Rainbow's home was now possibly an eternity away, lost behind a never-ending ocean of blizzard-like grey "What if...what if there IS NO GROUND?! "
Her chest started to tighten, her breathing growing more and more panicked as she felt a great tug at her insides. What had she done...WHAT HAD SHE DONE?! How could she have just forgotten in such a careless moment that where she was didn't obey the conventional rules of science or logical sense?! There was no telling what Azil truly was in nature or composition, and for all she knew she could have just tossed herself into a never-ending void!
She started to hyperventilate, her front legs hugging herself tightly as she shut her eyes and tried to gain hold of her senses. "B-breathe...!" She begged herself, manic thoughts racing through her mind as she started to count the seconds. One second...five seconds....twelve....seventeen seconds passed. "Terminal velocity...," she choked, shaking her head "That's impossible...w-with just the amount of time that's passed since then...I've already fallen thousands and thousands of feet...there's no WAY the cloud-house was that high!!!"
Most architectural cloud-homes were built at their highest point maybe four to eight stories off the ground, for any higher and the wind would throw the magical properties of the clouds off balance and would threaten to bring the entire structure down with violent force. A wail escaped her abruptly, her hooves pressing into her head as she shrieked and cried out in anguish. She was falling through nothingness, a void of unknowable length and measure that had captured her neatly in its never-ending net of infinite depth. Her eyes were bulging, her screams all but lost on the furious screams of the open sky as she plummeted further into her unshaped prison.
She could see and feel a blackness pressing in at the corners of her vision, her screams combined with the lack of stable air around her quickly bringing her to a point of unconsciousness. As Twilight's visioned blackened into nothingness...she could have sworn she saw something beyond the shimmering veil of snow before her eyes. Shapes...almost invisible, swirling around her at an impossible speed.
~~~
"All rise...the honorable judge Mayflower presiding."
"Thank you Junebug. Now then...without further delay we're going to wrap this up and seal this case once and for all. Has the jury reached a verdict?"
"We have your honor...we the jury, find Twilight Sparkle 'guilty', and may Celestia have mercy on her soul."
~~~
Twilight opened her eyes just barley to see more of the wind and snow...and then closed them yet again. She repeated this...over...and over...and over. She slept for what seemed like ages, her thoughts muddled and beyond all comprehension now. One by one she could feel every small strand of sanity she had left snap. Abandoning all hope of dying, either by falling, starving, or exhaustion, Twilight Sparkle resigned herself to sleeping and thinking of absolutely anything that randomly popped into her head.
Sometimes she thought of birds. Other times she thought of sunshine, or turning pages in her favorite books. She thought about her beloved for awhile before even that memory was too painful to bear any longer, and so she too was cast into the wind. She knew if she kept on like this, nothing would remain...but it didn't hardly matter anymore...and that was alright. She let out a comfortable breath through her nose, gently twirling and flipping through the air.
Snap....snap...snap...
She opened her eyes yet again, yawning as she once more woke up in the void of falling emptiness. She turned her body and muzzle downwards to watch the swirling void, unfazed by the sensations that tugged at her fur and skin beneath. For whatever reason, her eyes and mouth refused to dry out, no matter how much the wind roared against her. Then again it was hardly worth concerning herself over. It didn't even matter anymore, so what was the point.
She closed her eyes again, turning back to face upwards as she nestled in for yet another nap.
~~~
"Any last words, Sparkle?" a voice spoke to her from beside her.
"Why yes..." She said, turning her murderous gaze towards the pegasus on her right, her eyes swimming with the colors of violet and sweet, sticky blood "I hope that every time she beats her wings, she hears my screams in the wind she creates. I hope that with every unfurling feather she stretches, she sees my face between them, staring into her soul. I want every waking moment she has left in her ruined, depressing life to be spent thinking of me, of what she did to me, and why she deserves every single ounce of never-ending pain that she's going to feel from now until judgement day."
The guard looked at her, slightly unnerved as Twilight leaned forward in her restraints, her front legs folded neatly against her. She could feel the fabric against her back tightening significantly as she smiled her dazzling smile, whispering to the captor who had addressed her in a very crystalline voice of unmatched purity and wrathful sin:
"Eu câștig."
~~~
Twilight opened her eyes in alarm, a scream billowing out of her as the ground rushed up to meet her. She landed in a thunderous explosion of snow and dirt, the wind falling silent in an instant around her as she whipped her head about in confusion. She took in several gulps of air, the snow starting to settle back around her from the impact as the realization of what just happened hit her. In the seconds before her impact, she felt as if her mind had 'rubber-banded' itself back to her. Memories flooded her vision, saturating her brain in thoughts and feelings. Events of the past and present, lining themselves back up neatly in her mind started to race before her, and within mere moments she felt as if she had only just jumped forth from the window mere seconds ago.
She looked up, seeing no cloud-home or any indicator of any figures or ponies lingering about, and instead cast her vision to her surroundings. She was nestled in a wide, open expanse of snowy plains. Trees littered the landscape here and there, dead and still like the grave. "What was that...?" She breathed, putting a hoof to her head and shutting her eyes "I...I felt...oh stars above how do I even describe it...?" She shook her head, trying to snap herself out of it as she tried to move her limbs and found them too heavy. She had been falling for so long, it was no wonder that she had forgotten how to move. She willed herself to move though, focusing her mind intently on her legs as she tried to align herself to stand.
Her muscles ached and her limbs responded slowly to her commands, weak at first but slowly coming back to life. She put one hoof down, then the other, her front legs poised before her as she tried to do a push-up maneuver to get herself back up. She made it about a foot off the ground before her legs gave way and her face hit the solid ground beneath the snow. She squeaked, whining in pain as her muzzle now joined the list of aching parts covering her form. She remembered then that it had only been mere moments since Rainbow bruised and beat her. But...was it truly just moments? She knew it had just happened but...it had felt so far away at the same time.
Twilight let out a weary sigh and once more tried to raise herself up to her hooves. She fell a second time, and then a third time, each one more painful of a landing than the last. Just as she attempted a fourth, a voice suddenly shattered her concentration, the unicorn letting forth a frightened shout as she beheld a Pegasus before her, standing barely a few feet away. "Hey there! Wow, you loo- YIPES!"
The Pegasus, a colt, jumped backwards slightly as Twilight took a swipe at him, shouting "Get the FUCK away from me! Who the hell are you, what do you want, where do you come from?!" She eyed him up and down, panting heavily as she observed his unusual attire. He wore a brown cloak that covered his body and flank, his fur the color of a dark, azure sky. His eyes were as red as rubies, and across his back was slung a sword and a concerning assortment of exotic looking knives.
"Whoa, whoa!" The Pegasus cried out, leaning away from her swiping hooves "Take it easy...just relax! You're experiencing the after effects of the bubble spell you were just released from...it's going to take several moments to get yourself reacquainted with the ground."
Twilight frowned, narrowing her eyes at the peculiarly dressed Pegasus as she growled "What do you mean, what spell...what are you talking about?!"
The Pegasus bit his lip slightly as he looked around for a moment then back at her, sheepishly rubbing the back of his head and chuckling slightly "Y...yeah...sorry about that. The spell was the only way to sort of...'save' you from the other inmates. There really wasn't any other choice...the side effects should wear off after a couple of hours so...try to take it easy until then."
The broken unicorn felt a surge of emotions flood through her. She didn't know whether to be angry, sorrowful or curious. Instead, a deadpan look crossed her visage as she blurted out without nary a thought "How long was I falling?"
To this, the Pegasus's eyes flicked away, unable to meet her gaze as he whimpered "We...didn't really intend to have you in there that long. The magic of those bastards is absolutely unreal...going unchecked since the last uh...well since the last head honcho went and...'left'." He looked back at her, seeing the look of an uncaring nature on her face as he sighed.
"It'll take some time getting used to this fact...in reality you fell for about a minute...in there? It's been about Three years, one month, and sixteen days."
"Here's what I don't get..." were the words that broke the sudden silence amongst the four of them, drawing groans from two and only silence from the last.
"Can we please refrain from politics for just this once? I understand the talks the princesses are going through are quite important but darling can't we all just enjoy a casual Thursday afternoon together for once." Twilight continued to stare out the window, the bickering continuing on though it was very light and not in any foul spirit. She watched the snow drizzle down gently onto the pavement outside, the sky a delicious mixture of oily grey paints. Overcast and thunderstorm were blended neatly into the sky, threatening a murderous downpour as the lavender unicorn stared at it in slight confusion and awe. It was impressive, to say the least, that there was snow in the middle of April. It wasn't what one would typically label as 'spring' weather.
"Twilight..." A voice called to her, audible over the other two but soft enough that Twilight could safely leave it be without the risk of getting called out for ignoring the mare sitting across from her.
"I'm just saying, Romareia's move to close their borders and cut off their trade lanes to us doesn't make any sense. I mean, they cut themselves off from literally everyone and everything...a self blockade. What pushes a country to do a complete one-eighty like that?" Said the usually bubbly bubblegum mare across from her to the right.
Rarity's voice chimed in next, although judging by her tone she was very eager to quickly put the conversation to rest "I don't know dear, maybe they're having economic problems or such? Internal political struggle? The Duke is getting on in years, it's possible he's just getting a little batty sitting up on that dusty old throne all day."
"Twilight..." The voice called again, this time loud enough to warrant her ears to stick straight up on instinct and to draw a hush out of the other two girls. Busted. There was no way out of feigning ignorance this time.
"Nnh?" Twilight answered with a tired grunt, the exhaustion still evident in her voice, eyes, and body. Now that she thought about it...when was the last time all 'six' of them were together...? Where was...?"
"What's wrong?" The voice across from her asked, a sudden pressure on one of her hooves letting her know she was being reached out to.
She thought about Rainbow, and Applejack, squinting her eyes as she stared out of the window. It went so wrong...so so wrong...but why? Where was the tipping point?
She looked across the table to Fluttershy and said in a monotone voice "It's not snow." Turning her head, her eyes falling upon the outer world once more she whispered "It's ash."
~~~
"What do you mean you're not staying for long?" Twilight asked the pegasus colt Vasile. They had stepped from the snowy holding cell into a long, dimly lit hallway of rusted metal and decaying light fixtures. Most of the bulbs were flickering and going out, giving the entire area a really spooky, horror-film type look. Of course she had been apprehensive to go through the door at first...but with an actual guard watching over her what was there to be afraid of?
Him leaving, of course.
"I mean I can't stay for long, obviously." Vasile answered, smirking at her before looking to the right and left, his eyes narrowing as he observed his surroundings very carefully. The vents...it could come from the vents. As long as he didn't blink if two out of the three warning signs became present...or could it be the other one...the one in the corner of his eye. Perhaps it was the really skinny one, or perhaps the red-eyed ones...or maybe-
"Vasile, you said your orders were to bring me back unscathed...like, escort me somewhere?!" She stepped over some shattered glass near an overturned table, papers strewn about the hall adding to the general mess of things "How are you going to do that if you just up and leave?"
He chuckled, shaking his head "I know of a couple shortcuts, and besides...I never said where I was taking you, only that you needed to get there unharmed." He stopped them for a second, the colt's ears perking straight up as he listened intently for a tense couple of moments to the area around them. Was that...scraping? No, couldn't be...that particular subject was far on the opposite side of the complex, or should have been at any rate. Was is possible that it could have made its way over to their general area already? It wasn't known to move particularly fast but under the circumstances...anything could be possible now.
"Soooo, where are you taking me then?" Twilight asked after a few tense moments, the halting of their progress making the mare a little nervous. Of all the places to stop...it had to be right in the middle of the creepy rusted hallway? The thought of being alone once more in this world caused a rippling shiver of fear to course through her very bones, almost making her fur stand up on end as Vasile finally relaxed his posture somewhat, pushing them on once more across the decaying tiles.
He was quiet for a couple of moments, carefully peering around a corner that they had crept up to and watching the lights flicker across the hall before he was confident that the coast was clear. He turned to her finally, his features tense but his composure well kept as he said "Back to the Librarian."
Twilight blinked, her eyes widening after a moment as she processed what all that entailed. "Y-you know her...?" She asked softly, a colder chill now coursing through her as she inwardly lamented what it meant by going back to the Library. Another door...another look through the universes, possibly another three year fall through eternity. Having been beaten, raped, and driven insane going through the first door, it was highly unlikely that the other portals were going to be leading her to happier experiences. Because of course, what was happiness in a place like this but a distant, fading dream now?
"Of course I know her," Vasile said with a chuckle "Everyone here knows her, she's our lead researcher, secretary, accountant, book keeper, and tour guide." They trudged along the path, the air damp and moist with a sudden humidity that made Twilight almost gag. Vasile explained that it was simply the ventilation going out, a usual electrical hiccup that occurred every once in awhile along this part of the facility and there was nothing to be afraid of. Well, at the current moment of course.
"Researcher...?" Twilight asked, carefully stepping around a mutilated pile of metal that resembled something like chairs "What kind of research goes on here? I thought this was a prison."
Vasile seemed almost hesitant to tell her. The less she knew the better...but on the off-hoof it wasn't like she was going to be in the dark about the entirety of what this place really was forever. He caved finally after a moment and spoke "Well, yes, it's a prison...but wouldn't you like to know a little more about the kinds of things we're keeping locked up in here? Habits, traits, characteristics, quirks...weaknesses?"
The thought was very sensible, Twilight agreed with a nod. Knowing how some of the deadly beings in here ticked would surely give her a competitive edge in surviving this nightmare, especially when it came to fighting them. Though thinking about it...without her horn, lack of strength, and absence of any real dexterity, fighting may not be the smartest avenue. She could use what she learned to possibly avoid them or at least slow them down however. "So weaknesses huh...? Know anything about ponies made out of ash?"
Vasile stopped dead in his tracks, a look of pain etched across his face as her words sunk in. His next few breaths came in a heavy bout of shudders as he tried to regain his composure. Twilight gave him a rather concerned look, tilting her head at him as if trying to read him. Before she could ask if he was alright however, he answered her question preemptively "I'm fine, I just...haven't heard about them in awhile. Painful topic, even after a month the memory is still a little too fresh."
"I'm sorry," Twilight whispered, hanging her head slightly "Whatever it is, I never wished to bring up bad memories. Last time I ran into them I uh...I got the worse end of the encounter."
"Burned you...right?" Vasile asked, but the question was obviously rhetorical so he went on, the pained expression dropping down to a grimace "To be honest they're easily beaten as long as you have a large supply of weapons or tools on hand. After a couple of swings your blade starts to melt from the intensity of the heat. Only thing you have to watch out for is them exploding and if the winds strong." He swallowed, looking down at his hooves as his irises shrank slightly "Watched one of my good friends...he was standing downwind when a particularly nasty gust kicked up, and since they're extremely light it didn't take much to lift them up and hurl them towards..." He trailed off, looking back up as he sniffed and cleared his throat, a final phrase leaving past his lips: "He died."
"I'm sorry..." Twilight muttered, putting a hoof to his side. He appreciated the gesture it seemed, leaning into it as he sniffed again. Even though he was a guard and knew loads and loads more about this place and its inhabitants than she did...he was still just a pony underneath all that cloak and weapons. "I bet he was a really nice colt, well-mannered and courteous and-"
"PFFFF," Vasile blew with his lips, an exasperated chuckle passing out of his lungs as he reached up with a hoof to wipe at one of his eyes "W-well mannered...heh. Bloody idiot was a womanizer. Couldn't ever pass up on a set of good legs with a well shaped rump to go with but...aye," He nodded, looking towards her with a comforting smile "He was a good friend."
Twilight returned the expression, though her lips turned back downwards as she asked "So...what exactly are they? Are they prisoners like-"
Vasile shook his head "No...they're technically not prisoners because we never had any imprisoned here before the incident." When this brought a look of curious confusion out of Twilight, it took Vasile a moment to compose himself for what he was about to say next. It had only been a month...for him at least, in terms of the way time worked in this world, but even so the knowledge of the truth would never lose its hateful sting. "They're...us." He sighed, taking a moment to put one shaky hoof in front of the other to lead them further in.
"...us?" Twilight inquired. There was something a little off about the way he said it. He made it sound like...a lamentation almost. "I mean, sure they 'look' like ponies but-"
"No, Twilight," Vasile quickly said "I mean...like I said, there weren't any here before the incident. A lot of ponies died during the initial event, and in the aftermath...they were some of the byproducts of that."
Her eyes widened as the realization started to sink in. There was no way...they couldn't possibly be...could they? "T-those ashen ones," She breathed, irises shrinking as she quickly pieced it together "They used...they used to be your friends, right? Other guards, other workers, maybe even other patients like me...?"
He nodded, the very pained expression returning to his visage as he was forced to recount the truth "A-aye. Regardless of whatever they've become, they used to be regular ponies like you or me. When the dust finally settled, it took a couple of days before they started rising out of it. From what we can tell it only happens when the containment failure alarm goes off, and since that's sort of broken in the way of it being stuck on a timed loop and it being in a part of the prison we can't get to very easily..."
Twilight finished the statement for him, saddened at the look Vasile was displaying but understanding full well what he was going through. She had to bury friends before, but couldn't even begin to fathom what it was like to see them rising up from their ashen graves, let alone to see what they had become "There's nothing you can do to stop them..."
"Yeah, sucks doesn't it?" Vasile asked, though he expected no affirmation to the question, deciding instead to go on "We couldn't even study them properly, since they disappear once the siren eventually dies down. We don't know why or how it summons them, why it takes the siren to do it, why their forms burn and explode, their motivations, if they have any sentience or consciousness...there just hasn't been any sort of safe way to capture one since everything that comes into contact with burns them." He shook his head, staring towards the end of the hall that was quickly approaching them. "Even magic," he continued "Any unicorn that attempts to harness their ash or pick them up or use any sort of spell on them shrieks in pain. Its like the magic that touches them sends the sharp burning through the leylines of their spell and straight back into their horns. Maddening, the lot of it."
Twilight winced, recalling several times she had 'Magi-aches' in her time. It was more or less a headache that unicorns got when they expended too much magical energy or overdid it by casting too many or too powerful spells. "Yikes...that's really a conundrum." She bit her lip slightly, pondering the existence of those deadly ash ponies. Regardless of who they used to be...they were definitely not anything more than walking murder machines now. Still...there had to be some way to combat them or handle them safely. "If...I could, do you think maybe I could assist in the research?" She waved a hoof as he gave her the inquisitive look she knew he'd dish out to her, quickly pushing on with her point "I know I know...'inmate', but I happen to be a researcher of creative thinking and study myself. I'm sure I could be of some use to your science and discovery department...and if it will make your superiors feel any better I won't even ask for anything and you can keep me under watch for the full duration."
Vasile stared at her for several long moments before they finally stopped, his frown turning into a small smile as he said at last "Once the situation has come back under control I...suppose I can ask some of my commanders about it. I knew you were an intellectual based on your file but...I wasn't expecting cooperation on your part."
She chuckled lightly, shrugging her shoulders as she smiled "Call it my Achillie's hoof, since my curiosity to learn and discover sometimes overpowers my desires to flee or be scared. It's the wonder and danger of science I suppose."
He nodded, looking forward towards the door they had come upon, reaching a hoof out towards it and tapping on it twice. It opened just a crack, light shining through from within and illuminating a good portion of the hall behind them. "Like I said, I'll see what I can do...in the mean time though," He gestured towards the door, encouraging her to go forth as the sounds of wind started to pick up behind them.
"We're here."
"Did anyone even see him leave his apartment that day?"
"Yeah, he's had a job as a clerk up in Canterlot's southern district for awhile now from what I hear. Took the train just about every day but ever since that episode he had he's been missing. Some colt friend of mine down along the Maresississippi River says he swore he was spotted in one of the towns nearby there, but its unconfirmed. Weird thing is, there's evidence of him still being around on the site, but not much of his work's been seen since the last updates he made."
"Yeesh...it's no wonder we don't see much of his work anymore. How long was it in between those last updates? Years wasn't it?"
"I've heard he has been working on a lot, but mostly unfinished ideas and concepts...also heard he hit a rough spot that sent him into some kind of spiral downward but that he's planning on writing again soon."
"Huh...what do you think could have caused that?"
"Dunno, what makes anypony go crazy these days?"
Twilight sipped her coffee quietly, her back pressed gently against the cushioned booth seat and her ears turned out sideways to get a slightly better grasp of what they were saying. Eavesdropping was more of an art than most ponies gave it credit for, taking time to master. It was a skill she had often read aristocrats employing professionally to get the upper hoof on one another, divulging dark secrets and thwarting carefully laid plans and schemes of various types and ranges, from reputation smearing to being downright lethal. She studied it more out of boredom than anything, her curiosity driving her to discover what manner of secrets rested in the shadows of ponies' hearts. She thought it would just be an assortment of harmless gossip and information: A scandalous affair, a rumor or two, nothing too serious. Placing her coffee mug down, the conversation in the booth behind her switching tracks and the mare quickly becoming disinterested in the topic now pertaining to the weather and sex, she scolded herself for not being more careful in her endeavors. Like always though...she just had to learn the hard way.
She stared at the empty mug before her, her mind wandering about and settling on the words she heard a week ago...
"Can you believe she's only getting off with a warning and mandatory meetings?"
And a week before that...
"I think she's faking it honestly. Did you hear about what happened at the weather factory? Bet you she couldn't handle her marefriend getting all the attention and pulled some 'poor me' bullshit to steal some of the spotlight."
And the week before that...
"If she wasn't 'the' Twilight Sparkle we would have poisoned her to death by now."
~~~
The hub-like Library came into view as Twilight passed through the door, squinting her eyes heavily as the lights from the bright lamps attached to the surrounding walls hit her vision. She could tell immediately something was off as piles upon piles of books lay scattered about between the towering bookcases and various tables that littered the rotunda's expanse. Vasil's sudden voice from behind her caused the mare to jump slightly as he said "Good luck...hopefully you find what you're looking for." Though as she turned her head to thank him, the door shut swiftly with a thunderous, echoing thud, the sound bouncing off of the many walls.
She squinted at the door for a moment, tilting her head slightly as the familiarity of the door piqued the far corners of her memory. It was the cracked rainbow door she had first walked into when she had set out from the Library, the one that led to Rainbow Dash...and the 'cell'. She turned forward, taking careful hoofsteps forward and minding the various discarding of books all around her while her mind wandered for a moment. That Rainbow Dash...though she wasn't technically 'the' real one, she was a perfect depiction of the mare she left behind when she was brought to this place. All of the memories, the feelings, the experiences...it was all genuine, all very real. She figured she was supposed to take something away from that whole ordeal, though sadly as she expected...all she had were just more questions.
Questions she was going to have answered....
Navigating the sea of fallen tomes, Twilight tried her best to find a path more towards the middle of the Library, her eyes keen on spotting the Librarian's desk. Her ears flicked as a sudden memory bubbled up, the lavender mare cursing as she opened her mouth to call out for whom she hoped was still around. "Ditzy??" She shouted to the sea of literature "Ditzy are you still there?! It's me, Twilight!" Nopony answered her, her hoofsteps the only sound audible through the library as she turned this way and that through the leather-bound maze of papers and scripture. Where was she..? Certainly she would have heard her and responded...she hadn't been gone all too terribly long, at most maybe a couple of hours or so.
So where was...?
"Bine ați venit înapoi Twilight Sparkle" a voice suddenly called out from above, causing the snap-horned unicorn to nearly jump out of her skin and fur. She whipped her head upwards to find herself coming upon a massive pile of books, towering high up in the air...and nestled atop its peak was the Librarian. She was resting comfortably it seemed on a cushion balanced precariously at the top, munching almost silently on a green apple and reading from a book hovering before her...though how it was doing so was a complete mystery considering the Librarian had no unicorn's horn to speak of.
Twilight's face quickly turned from alarmed to a very angered expression as she shouted "You've got some serious explaining to do Librarian!" She stamped her hoof for added emphasis, her nostrils flared as she snorted "Get down here!"
To this, the Librarian merely turned her head downwards and peered at her, blinking for a few moments before her signature smile stretched out across her muzzle. It was an expression Twilight was quickly starting to become very irritated by. "Twilight, please I'm just getting to the good part!" She said calmly back, her voice carrying over the wide expanse of air that separated them "You of all ponies should know the importance of the 'good part' of a story, the meat, the climax!" She stared back at the page a moment, taking a good hard look at it as she tilted her head and giggled "Though...I do also love a bit of suspense..." The book snapped shut, resting neatly on the cushion before her hooves as she turned her head back down to address her "So, what kind of questions do you have for me? I trust at least some of them were answered through the door, yes?"
Twilight sat on her haunches, scoffing as she retorted with "Hardly! You told me the answers to Azil were through those doors, and the only thing I've learned so far is that I had an abusive mare-friend who ra-...who hurt me really badly! On top of which, the memory somehow sent me into a infinite plain of snow and wind, a holding cell for...something! I got trapped in a time bubble for THREE, YEARS!" She shot a hoof up towards the Librarian, pointing angrily and shouting "You didn't even bother contacting me at all through your stone! Not once did you try and help me out through any of that ordeal! What was I supposed to learn in there other than that the answers I'm trying to find are coming with a grievous price tag!"
The Librarian's smile stretched wider, an uncomfortable silence falling over the Library as Twilight finished her outburst. A giggle like crystalline glass escaped her lips as she gently propped her head up on one hoof, reclining on her cushion and getting a slight bit more comfortable as she waited for Twilight to take a breath. When she did, her breathing slowing a tad did she respond. "That...is exactly what you were supposed to learn," She said, a glint of mischief in her eyes, flicking the vision of her eyes towards the far wall, some of the far doors coming into view "Knowledge, regardless of how significant or insignificant it is, comes with a price. Sometimes it's time...in other instances...blood. Regardless, to learn is to risk...because some knowledge, without restriction, without study, and without care...could unravel the very fabrics of reality." She looked back towards Twilight, seeing the very annoyed, very unconvinced face of the Lavender mare. Another giggle escaped her, her hoof waving about in the air as she went on "So let's go over what you learned......you know Rainbow Dash was abusive, harsh, cruel...you discovered that there others sympathetic to your plight, but what else...think...what was happening, what did you hear?"
Twilight blinked, frowning as she cast her eyes downward, putting a hoof to her head as she started to concentrate, reaching back to her memories within the rainbow door. She fell through the door...she was caught by Thunderlane...she heard voices, a radio that sounded like...? "Hurricane Astronovere...." Twilight breathed, looking up "A hurricane that destroyed Romaneia, and there was another like it on its way to Equestria." She felt a chill run through her heart as she tried to put some of the pieces together, looking up towards the Librarian and asking "I remember Pinkie Pie saying one day when we were all out getting coffee that Romaneia's duke had cut off ties to everyone, and then a couple of months later the hurricane destroyed the entire country...and the way Raindrops said it was 'Divine intervention, the language that you and her speak..." She pointed a hoof up, her voice, though low, carrying up to the grey mare "Is...is Azil in Romareia? What's left of it anyway...? Did the hurricane do this?"
The Librarian smiled, whispering "Warmer..." as she leaned towards the edge, peering eagerly down at Twilight Sparkle "Romareian is indeed the language that I and the others of this place speak...but Azil is not in Romareia dearest Twilight. Not...fully, anyway." She repositioned herself on the cushion, the hovering book closing shut and falling from the air into the sea of other tomes below "A storm approaches Equestria, a battered and abused mare tumbles into a world of terror, ash, and blood, and a mystery begins its long journey of becoming solved...quite a story you are brewing here." She inclined her head towards the far wall, a loud, auditory 'CLICK' sounding off as the door to the right of the rainbow door opened slightly, a chilly wind bursting through and kicking up several piles of papers and pages near its blackened expanse. "But you've only a small selection of pieces to this puzzle Twilight. Facts, yes...but not enough to align to form a solution." Another book floated up from below her, hovering before her face and opening slowly to the first page "Off you go then, the other puzzle pieces are yours to collect."
Twilight sat there, dumbfounded, taking in the words that the Librarian was saying and slowly processing them. Azil was not in Romareia...but the ruined, isolated country was a definite clue. Raindrops spoke the language, so did the Librarian, hell, even Vasil's name sounded Romareian. There had to be a connection somewhere...something that linked Azil to Romareia.
A sense of determination filled her for a brief moment, her heart thudding at the elation she felt at getting at least a little traction on her journey of discovery. Just as she was about to venture off towards the newly opened door however...a sudden realization washed over her. "Ditzy Doo..." Twilight said, looking up at the Librarian "Where's Ditzy Doo?"
The Librarian slowly looked from her book towards Twilight, raising an eyebrow as she answered "Back in her cell of course...that's where inmates go."
"W-what?!" Twilight shrieked, rounding back on the Librarian as her eyes widened "You sent her BACK there?! D-do you realize what's back in that prison tower?! Those ashen ponies are going to melt her alive!"
The Librarian clucked her tongue at Twilight's outburst, shaking her head as she said "All ponies and creature are here for a reason Twilight Sparkle, same as you and I. Ditzy Doo is here because of a crime, just as you are, just as I am and everypony else here. It's simply the way of things. Now then if you'll excuse me I must get back to my book."
"Now wait just a minute!" Twilight growled, but her next words were suddenly cut off by the slightly-cracked door flying open, a murderous gust of wind bursting forth and suddenly retreating back within the blackened void, the entrance roaring with thunderous noise as papers and books started to get sucked within the darkness at a violent rate and speed. Twilight let out a scream as she was whisked away off of her hooves, desperately flailing for anything that she could use as an anchor. Her efforts were in vain, the unicorn's body tumbling through the doorway and into the wretched dark beyond, a blood curdling scream escaping her lungs.
She fell for what felt like a good minute before she landed with a thunderous crash in a pile of...something. There wasn't enough light to see very well, but the mare could clearly tell she had tumbled into some kind of closet. Below her was a random assortment of what she could only perceive as supplies: A bucket, broom, a pile of sponges, some bottles of cleaner. "Celestia damn it all..." She grumbled with a voice high and raspy, trying to pull herself out of the mess and onto her hooves "Looks like I landed in a broom closet...not that I'm complaining, I'll take this over the open sky any day."
She trudged through the clutter, squinting her eyes in attempts to see into the darkness. The supplies around her all seemed so big, like they were made for much larger ponies, or even griffons. Even the bucket looked big enough to fit into fully. She spotted a door handle on the far wall, quickly making her way over and trying it with a flick of her hoof. The door opened, the mare wincing as bright light spilled into the dark crevice, illuminating her surroundings and revealing that she had indeed fallen in a broom cupboard. "Damn Librarian," She swore, opening the door further and pushing her way through "I swear if I get out of this one alive I'm going to give her a piece of my mind..."
As she stepped out, she found herself in a long, black and white checkered-tile hallway, the walls lined with green lockers. Her breath caught in her throat as she recognized where she was immediately, though she prayed desperately that she was wrong. What was more alarming was the fact that everything in general looked...way too big. The lockers, the other doors in the hall, even the windows to which a gray, overcast sky met her gaze. She turned back around, eyes flicking upwards to see the door handle much higher than it was a moment ago, a terrified squeak passing through her muzzle as she looked back down.
She was tiny. She was little. Somehow...she had become a filly.
"Oh..." Twilight whimpered, slowly looking down the hallway, the lights above ending about a hundred feet away and giving way to a completely darkened void in which the lockers couldn't even be visible anymore. What -was- visible however, was the tall, towering figure standing just beyond the light and halfway into the darkness, a flowing mane and a pair of very sinister, furious eyes boring straight into hers.
"Oh no..."
Somewhere a bell rang.
Somewhere, the wind laughed.
Twilight sat up, breathing heavily and panting as if she had just sprinted across town. The window beside their bed had been blown up yet again, the wood-framed glass panes crashing into the wall. Luckily, the force of the impact hadn't been enough to directly damage the glass. It wasn't the noise of the crash that had startled the poor unicorn awake however, but the fading tendrils of the nightmare she had experienced.
The fading, darkened halls.
The cruel, vicious laughter.
The tight, strangling hooves.
The gentle, flowing mane of pink, purple, cyan and light green that quietly kissed her tears away as it lapped against her face.
She shivered and shook, hugging herself tightly as the vivid images of her own gasping demise danced behind her eyes. It wasn't until she felt a rough hoof press against her side did reality quickly swim back through her mind, a hoarse voice murmuring towards her. "Hey...y'ok?" The voice asked, a shifting a blankets and a low groan indicating the owner of the voice had sat up, and was now draping a hoof around the shivering unicorn. "Was it the dream again? The prison?"
Twilight shook her head, groaning as she pressed a hoof against her head at the headache that was now forming "N-no...it was the school this time." She felt the body of her lover press against her, a gentle kiss falling on her exposed neck as she went on with a weary sigh "I don't know why this keeps happening to me, but I'm getting pretty sick of it."
"Well we can go see the doctor in the morning, see if maybe some sleeping pills will help." Said the groggy mare, trying to gently lead Twilight back down into bed and pulling in close for a warm snuggle. "It'll be ok...I promise. I love you Twilight."
The unicorn let out a quiet sigh through her nose, trying her best to get comfortable as she shut her eyes and attempted another futile attempt to get any sort of decent sleep for that night, mumbling quiet before she settled in:
"I love you too Rainbow."
~~~
"SHIT, SHIT, SHIT!" Twilight screeched, galloping down the hallway as fast as her little filly legs could carry her. She didn't dare to look back, her ears turning backwards to take in the horrific sounds coming in from her rear. Loud crashing, shrieking, the flapping of two monstrous wings...and something wet slapping against the floors and walls. The darkness was chasing her as well it seemed, a nightmarish length of blackened tendrils growing rapidly across the walls, floors, and ceiling as fast as she was trying to outrun them. The looked like they were made of some sort of vile, black goo, but getting a closer look was an utter impossibility at the moment, lest she surrender herself to the monstrosity tearing in after her. The hallway led to several turns and corners, the tiny thing hurling herself around them into new winding hallways in her best attempt to break line of sight of the beast behind her. No matter how fast she ran though, it seemed like there was no losing it, and in fact, felt as if it was slowly closing in on her. It made sense to her, her tiny legs probably not doing very much to aid in her ability to outrun the long-legged demon. Still, she tried her hardest to flee.
Another corner, a dive over some ruined desks and a chair, and a quick bucking of some loose lockers to try and slow the beast down, all futile attempts as the beast roared in to near hoof's reach of her. A weak cry escaped Twilight as desperation kicked in, the adrenaline coursing through her veins giving her one last surge of speed forward as a heavy whoosh of wind hit her in the back of the head. The creature must have taken a swipe at her...and barely missed.
As Twilight pushed forward, turning left at the next fork, a gasp escaped her lungs. The darkness ahead seemed to end abruptly into a pristine-looking version of the decaying hallway around her. The lockers looked brand new, the floors looked polished, and there were even colorful posters and decorations hanging about. The broken-horned filly ran her little heart out, her lungs screaming and her body aching as he made one last push to what she hoped was salvation. As she neared the clean hall, she jumped towards and onto a table in the middle of the floor, taking a running jump off of the edge and threw her front hooves forward, reaching outwards as a desperate scream ripped itself free of her throat.
She tumbled onto the smooth tile, sliding a ways as a thunderous screech echoed across the walls. Looking back, she beheld the hellish nightmare in its full glory, watching as it tried to scramble back into the tendril-smothered abyss from whence it came. It stood nearly as tall as the ceiling, tufts of white fur stained black by the goo from the tendrils splotching a few spots across its burnt, cracked skin. It's mane was the color of the abyss, swirling about around its body like a living cloak. Where there should have been eyes was instead two unfathomably deep pits of darkness, its mouth open in a complete cry of terror.
Twilight's eyes swam with tears as the absolutely roasted form shrunk back into the darkness, turning tail and running back down from whence it came. The darkness swam after her, leaving the hallway behind it in as pristine condition as the space the small filly occupied. "C-Celestia...?" She whimpered as the form of what she assumed was her charred mentor vanished into the dark. She took a moment to compose herself, the adrenaline wearing off within her system as she laid her head upon the cold tile and took a few heavy, gulping breaths. It looked so much like Celestia, with the white tufts of fur and the mane...but the soulless pits of her vacant eye sockets, her crackled skin...it couldn't have been...could it?
Suddenly, the red stone amulet around her neck let out a soft dinging noise, the stone glowing suddenly as a familiar voice floated through into the air "Oooooh...well isn't that just a nasty little beasty you've found." Twilight groaned, rising shakily to her hooves as she continued to try and get her breath under control. She didn't bother answering, knowing her voice wouldn't reach the Librarian as the stone only worked one way. "I wondered where she got off to...the rascal. Before you go off and have yourself a proper worry, don't. That Celestia is not yours, but merely one from another of the dimensions Azil is linked to. Must have wandered through one of the doorways by accident when containment failed." The filly turned, slowly taking one hoofstep after another as she moved the hallway, looking around at the various drawings and pictures adorning the walls. The Librarian's voice continued to hover in the air as she surveyed the pictures of hoof-drawn landscapes and smiley-faces and trees. They looked like they were drawn up by other fillies and colts of a younger age, barely out of the earlier years of grade school.
"Hmmm, if I'm reading this right...you should probably head to classroom '2-F' as quickly as possible before you miss the lesson...or this reality crumbles under the weight of that nasty...'Deathlestia'? I don't know, it says here in the containment notes that this is what they were calling it...bit of a silly name." Twilight rolled her eyes, lightly trotting over to one of the lockers, trying to open it but finding it sealed shut. "Anyway, going through the notes still...seems like the Deathlestia emits a growing presence of decay that'll slowly become larger over time, with anything caught within it becoming automatically detected by her. It's as if the decay itself serves as an extra net of nerve centers, allowing it to detect and catch prey in a large radius around it. Gross."
The filly grumbled as she moved down the hall, shaking her head "That doesn't explain why I've been shrunk down into a filly...or why I've ended up here. It's a school, that much is obvious but...where, when?"
"Anyway," The Librarian continued, a slurping noise pausing her words for a moment as she sighed happily "Mmm...good coffee. Anyway, get to the classroom before the Deathlestia's decay grows too big. I was originally just going to contact you and tell you that not every door you walk into is going to have a stable realm or timespace waiting for you on the other side and that you'll -probably- die if you spend too much time in there...but the nightmare lurking in there sort of puts an even greater escalation of urgency on your mission...so uh...good luck."
The stone's light faded, leaving Twilight once more on her own, her head drooping slightly. Of course...more questions than answers, a deadly catch, and overwhelming odds....Azil's signature weapons. The poor lass felt the weight pressing in on her, her breath shaky as she took another long look up an down the hallway. There was a monstrous Celestia roaming about, and time was once again against her. Looking up, her eyes took note of the signs hanging above the doors which she presumed led to the individual classrooms. "4-B," she mumbled, staring down towards the next sign and quietly reading '5-B' off of its hanging plaque. She squinted her eyes, resuming her slow walk forward further into the school.
She paused from time to time to survey her surroundings, checking various lockers to see if any would give way to her hooves, or to try the other doors lining the hall. Sadly, nothing opened up to her. She tried pressing her ear to several doors en-route, seeing if perhaps she could overhear a class in session. There was nothing however, not a sound or anything. Twilight frowned, looking up the hall as she turned and trotted casually across the tile. If this was a school...where were the students? Where was the staff or the faculty? She took a careful look over her shoulder towards the way she had come, a shiver running up her spine as a dark thought crossed her mind. Could the Deathlestia have taken them? Ferried them away to their demise and left this realmscape barren of all life?
She swung her vision back forward. It was possible...but if that was the case wouldn't she have seen some signs of struggle or...or bodies? The Librarian also ushered her towards room 2-F, telling her a class was about go on that she really couldn't miss. Maybe this 'memory-scape' or what not was created specifically with this classroom in mind. She shook her head, picking up her pace as her eyes narrowed in determination. Speculating all day wasn't going to get her anywhere. She needed to get answers, and she needed them now. What better place to learn than a classroom anyway?
The signs above went by quickly as she trotted along, passing by 9-C and eventually 4-E, before finally coming across the F-Series of classrooms. 1-F was situated at the end of the hallway, turning right into another corridor to which Twilight quickly made her way down and around to. As she turned however, she froze in her tracks, her breath catching in her throat and her eyes widening in absolute shock and terror.
Bodies. Bodies upon bodies piled and crammed wall to wall in the hallway stretched onwards as far as her eyes could see. Bone and bits littered the ground in piles around a myriad of faces contorted in immense visages of pain and horror. There was no smell, oddly enough, but just the very sight of so much death and decay was enough to make the tiny filly lose her stomach all over the floor. Her belly heaved as her throat gurgled with sick, the faces of the dead sticking to her mind like a bug on flypaper.
She kept her eyes glued to the floor, her body shaking and her breath coming in short, ragged gasps. So many dead...so many obliterated. Hundreds upon hundreds of ponies must've been piled in that hallway, though as to what killed them she couldn't say. The Deathlestia was certainly the prime suspect...but she wasn't sure the crime scene fit the crime. The Librarian said the Deathlestia might have 'wandered into' this plane by accident and hunted ponies...but for so many to be dead here all at once, in one location. It didn't seem right.
Taking several more minutes to compose herself, Twilight put a shaky hoof forward, and then another, and then another. She kept her visage down, panting as she slowly navigated the minefield of gore and sinew. She tried her best not to look at the eyes...anything but the eyes. This way and that she turned and shifted, barely finding a path through but keeping to one all the same. Closing her eyes and lifting her head, she took a quick peak at one of the signs above the doors. 2-F came into view after a moment, the filly sucking in a breath as she bumped into something soft on her left. A squeak peeped from her muzzle as a damp feeling overcame her side, the fur on the back of her neck standing on end.
At long last, she reached the door, pushing down on the handle with a hoof and finding that it open. She pushed it open, taking a step within and finding herself present with a sight that she wasn't sure was worse or better than the one outside. There were thirty desks within the classroom, and at each was sat the dead body of a filly. Twilight couldn't breathe, the amount of death lingering around her tearing at the seams of her brain. One desk she noted, was empty. It was in the front row of the classroom, clean and orderly and ready to be taken by a resident.
A sudden scuffling sound at the very front of the room had her head whipping towards it, a gasp escaping her as she beheld a piece of chalk floating about in the air, controlled by a light aura of grey magic. A colt, elderly in age it seemed, stood facing her. His beard hung low from her chin, as grey and silvery as the rest of his coat. His eyes were a cat-like yellow, with black glasses hanging on the top of his nose. The wrinkles adorning his muzzle fit well with the scowl he was currently making towards Twilight, his hoof extending slowly to his right as he pointed towards the empty desk and in a calm, quiet demeanor said:
"Managed to barely show up on time I see Sparkle...no matter. Take your seat and we can get started on the lesson..."
He pushed the glasses further up on his nose, his eyes narrowing and his eyes flashing with a wickedness that made Twilight shake with fear.
"....We have a lot to go over today."
"Get up Sparkle, you're getting transferred," came the growling voice of one of her cell's guards. She was sitting on her haunches in a cage, her front legs raised high above her head and chained by the hoof to the bars on the ceiling. On her muzzle was strapped a leather harness to keep her trap shut, the buckles and leather strings bound tight. Her eyes fluttered open, a dry wheeze escaping her snout and her ears barely registering the guard's statement or the heavy groaning of the iron door to her cell opening. She slowly looked to her right, her lawyer trotting in with several other guards and a well-dressed, uniform wearing colt she recognized immediately as the warden.
"Well well Twilight..." The Warden began, glaring at her from between the bars as he slowly walked around its outer perimeter. The dehorned unicorn followed him with her eyes, her irises gleaming and the whites of those once majestic orbs a sickly, bloodshot red. "Am I sure glad your stay with us was a relatively short one. I had you pegged for a psychopath the moment I laid eyes on you, and keeping those kinds of ponies under wraps is more of an annoyance than its worth in the bits we're getting paid to keep you here." He spat on the ground before her, the lavender mare shaking in her chains with a furious look in her eyes, her lips pushing against the harness of her muzzle as they curled into a snarl.
The Warden chuckled, standing back as the retrieval team opened her cage and began the process of removing her and prepping her for transit. Hooves were unchained and cuffed, other chains fitted around her legs and being bound together so she could walk but not run. All the while his stupid, old voice continued to rattle her ears and brain. "You'll be interested to know," He said with a taunting fashion, a spring in his step as he pranced around her "That your good pal Rainbow Dash is getting released from the hospital today. It was touch and go there for awhile but after four weeks...well it looks like she's gonna pull through."
Twilight thrashed in her bondings, the guards letting out a series of shouts as several hooves punched and kicked at her, shoving her to the floor. A stamp on her head drove a yelp from the broken unicorn, the Warden grinning ear to ear as he leaned down closely to whisper to her "It's just too bad all of what you did wasn't worth it...the evidence they'll never find, the reputations that'll be tarnished forever, the real truth behind what happened at the factory staying buried...and you, getting marched to your death without ever knowing just how screwed you were from the very beginning."
She looked up at him, her eyes widening and a confused scowl crossing her visage. What was he talking about...? What evidence? What truth? She tried to open her mouth, her fur pressing tightly against the harness as she could only manage a protesting whimper. "Heh...don't worry about the details kiddo," The Warden said, watching the unicorn being dragged backwards through the cell door "Let's just say...you've been doomed for a long...long time."
~~~
Twilight shifted uncomfortably in her seat, her breath shaky and her form shivering. The bodies surrounding her could still be seen out of the corner of her eye, and she dared not give any of them a moment of her time or a glancing of her vision. The air was cold, brittle even. Her breath escaped her in a whisp-like vapor as a deadly chill settled on the air. Her terrified trance was suddenly broken however as the scratching of chalk on the chalkboard brought her back to reality. The elderly teacher grumbled quietly under his breath as he quickly wrote two words on the board: Forbidden Magic and Multi-to-Alternate-Verse Theory .
"Now then," He began, his voice hoarse like he had sand in his throat "Who can tell me the four fundamentally forbidden schools of magic that unicorns are prohibited from practicing, studying, or even thinking about for an extended length of time?" He turned to face the 'class', and while Twilight would have expected him to look straight at her, his eyes wandered across the rest of the decomposing graveyard that littered the various desks in the room. "Somepony...? Come on we covered this earlier on in the semester didn't we?"
An awkward silence fell across the room, Twilight's ears perking as she could have sworn she heard a chair or something creak behind her. She was too terrified to move, too terrified to speak. What was going on here?! Who was this colt, why were there dead children in his classroom?! How could he be so calm in a sea of decaying flesh and-
"Sparkle, since you seemed to want to show up nearly late," The teacher said with gruff annoyance, pushing his glasses up on the bridge of his snout "Perhaps you feel confident enough to answer. Come now, name the schools." Twilight could only manage a whimper, shaking in her fur as the teacher's gaze bore into hers. After a few silent moments the teacher merely shook his head and sighed "Look everypony, I know Hearth's Warming break was a little longer this year than usual, but that doesn't give any of you the excuse to grow lax on your studies...but since this material is going to be on the final exam let's review it one more time." Twilight's ear twitched, the emphasis he put into the word 'one' was...it was different. Something was sticking out that she couldn't quite place.
"There are four schools of forbidden magic that unicorns are extremely prohibited from practicing, and they're as follows." Once again, the same feeling hit Twilight like someone had gently splashed a sprinkling of water on her face. Four? What about four...what about one? "Time..." He began, writing it on the chalkboard "Planes...Battle...and Celestial." He hovered the chalk before the board as he turned to face the class again "Four schools, and two extreme sentences for dabbling in any one or a combination of them, they being immediate de-horning without trial, or your simple capital punishment...a death by firing squad." Two, but why was it so important? Twilight furrowed her brow, the chill still lingering on her damp fur but a low fire starting to burn in her soul. What was going on?
"Time," he said again, pointing the chalk to the first word "The manipulation, or otherwise tampering with in any form or measure. This includes your basic time-traveling spell to aging spells and any other forms of magic that do with the manipulation of past, present, or future events." He tapped the chalk against 'Time' very firmly as she drew out his next words in a careful, concise manner. "If one were to manipulate time incorrectly, you could very easily create a paradox that would lead to a creation of impossibilities and structural weaknesses in the very fabric of reality. Very serious, irreparable damage would be the only resulting cause of tampering with the timeways." He waved his hoof about, the chalk doing a spin "Say a bird died from a falling stone, right? You feel bad, so you go back in time to save the bird before the stone hits it. There's now a bird that's alive in a timeline where it should have otherwise been dead, and you might think at first 'oh what's the harm in that professor?', well now say that bird ends up accidentally flying into the face of a colt trying to drive one of the outbound Manehatten trains. He panics, and in his flurry of trying to swat the feathered beast out of his face knocks the control rod into full throttle and plows into the station, killing two hundred and forty eight ponies in the process as what's depicted here." He holds up a newspaper clipping from behind his desk, indicating the grisly seen posted underneath the headline: "Horrific Train Massacre, Traced Time Magic Suspected as Cause." "The mare in question, after tracing the events back to the magical discharge she let off channeling that spell, was sentenced and shot to death within two days."
Twilight blinked, tilting her head slightly. The numbers 'One', 'Four', and 'Two' thudding in the back of her brain as she listened to the lecture. The teacher went on, pointing his chalk towards the second school "Planes, or more commonly referred to as 'Planes-walking'. It's a known fact that Equestria, our reality, is only one of several different instances of existence. There's the Realm of Tartarus, Realm of Nightmares, Realm of Discord, and several other notable planes in page three hundred and twenty four in your textbooks. Accessing, attempting to contact, or any sort of interacting with these planes is strictly prohibited...as the creatures of these realms could do a considerable amount of lethal, catastrophic damage should they be let loose or find their way onto our own plane."
A sudden noise caused the lavender mare to jump in her seat, her ears perking and bolting to the left as a raspy, throaty groan slowly wound its way into her ears. She couldn't look, the unicorn frozen to the spot as something shifted next to her. A disgusting series of squelching and slapping noises filled the air before the teacher shook his head "We'll get to that Buzzle Bee, don't interrupt. Now then," He pointed his chalk to the third and fourth words "Battle is simple enough, any form or variance of Battle magic is against the law. Unicorns may employ defensive magic to safeguard their lives and of those around them, but never should any lethal or harmful magic be a part of your arsenal. This is reserved for the training and employment of the Equestrian Guard and her many branches of military service so that we can defend the borders and not have to worry about our country's ponies blowing each other to smithereens over menial nonsense, as described in an excerpt from 'The Ponies Vs. Whitetail', where a mare was blown to pieces after a dispute over a tray of baked goods." The chalk hovered to the last word, the squelching getting louder and starting to rise up from behind Twilight and to her right as well. Still she refused to look, her breath short and shaky and her tiny little heart thudding like a hummingbird's wings. Every inch of her was screaming at her to run, to flee...but still she could not move. She felt like she needed to hear this...she was here for a reason.
"Celestial, or 'Princessial Magic', is reserved solely for the monarchs of our kingdom. I am of course referring to Queen Celestia and Princess Luna," The teacher said with a tone of 'obviously' laced within his words "The magics that pertain to moving the celestial bodies of the sun and moon, as well as other aspects of nature too delicate and unstable for the Pegasai to control belong to the monarchs and the monarchs ONLY." He grumbled at the last bit, his voice strained as he said roughly "It's because of this magic that the balance of nature in Equestria remains the way it always ought to be: Stable. Without it, we'd be at the mercy of Mother Nature and believe me...she is not a mare you'd want to let have the reigns of our world."
He took a breath, pausing to pull a bottle of water out from behind his desk. As he uncapped it and took a drink, Twilight couldn't help but let her eyes slowly move to the left. A sliver of moment caught her eye and her vision snapped back forward, a chorus of slow movement and scraping echoing around behind her. She remembered Spike often mentioning dark and impossible creatures at some of the ghost stories he'd try and tell other ponies around the campfire during their nature outings back home, but more often than not ending up scaring only himself. What had he called them again...?
After his few gulps of water and a satisfied sigh, the teacher set the bottle back behind his desk and nodded "There's your recap, and it'll be the last one I give on this material so for the Queen's sake please jot these down in your notes, it WILL be on the exam!" He cleared his throat "Now then, onto the topic for today which will hopefully answer your question in turn Buzzle Bee: Multi-to-Alternate-Verse Theory." He looked around the class, the noises and clattering of movement growing louder and louder "Anyone care to take a stab at what it might be?"
Twilight continued to stare at the words on the chalkboard, her mind racing as the clattering grew louder around her. She could have sworn a couple of desks just turned over. "Feeling sleepy today are we? Fair enough, it's only the first couple of days back so I'll let it slide, for now..." He pointed to the word 'Alternate' first, moving right along with the lesson. "Multi-To-Alternate-Verse theory is merely a summary of two theories put together, but with a catch. It is derived from what is called the 'Many-Worlds Interpretation which theorizes that any and all possible histories, as well as futures exist as other 'worlds' or 'realities'. The best way to summarize it is by providing an example." He reached behind his desk and produced an apple, placing it on the desk and motioning to it "Say I eat this apple, right? Well, according to the Many-Worlds Interpretation, there is a universe or plane of reality in which I did not eat this apple. The universe in which I did 'not' eat this apple is now known as an 'Alternate Universe'."
The chalk slides over to the word 'Multi', his throat clearing "Now, think bigger. On a much larger scale, the collection of these universes is called the 'Multiverse'. There are several arguements and cross theories that say the scale stops here, but many experts say that the realm of ponies spells out only one multiverse. We're not sure what lies beyond our stars or our reality...other worlds, other creatures, other universes or galaxies or sequences of time, but it is believed that there are an infinite number of alternate universes and multiverses that exist for them as well. The complete collection of the entirety of reality, on this plane or otherwise which consists of all multiverses and dimensions is being labeled currently as 'The Omniverse'." He wrote 'Omniverse' below the first two, looking towards the class as the chalk moved from top to bottom in the list and reviewed "Alternate Universes, comprised within a Multiverse of our reality, within an Omniverse of all of creation and reality. Now, remember the catch I mentioned earlier? Well, one mad unicorn once believed that if one could harness the magics of 'Time' and 'Plane', that it would be possible to tear a multi-dimensional hole through the fabric of reality and to travel through all of time, space, and existence. To go anywhere, to any universe and any time, to the far corners of everything and nothing."
The teacher narrowed his eyes, placing the piece of chalk down on his desk as his voice grew low and sinister "This...is...NONSENSE. It is absolutely, one hundred percent a mere theory that has been deemed a complete impossibility by Queen Celestia herself. The amount of magic that it would take to even attempt such a feat would be more than every single unicorn that's ever lived, living, or will ever live could muster with their combined strength. Even if they were all living at once it would take at least a million times their power to even dare approach the idea. We teach and push this subject because while the theory has not been technically disproved, the ability to prove it is a sheer impossibility and a warning to those who could ever dare to dabble in such a deadly craft." He straightened up, fidgeting with his glasses as he sighed "That's all for today, don't forget your homework which you'll need to-"
His words were lost in a sudden cracking sound to her right, the mare unable to resist the urge to look any longer. The dead fillies had moved, some of them still stuck in their desks but all of them were reaching for her. Dead flesh and bone dropped from several of them as they shambled towards her at a very sluggish rate, her eyes darting this way and that as she found herself nearly surrounded. The crack she had heard had come from the tiny mare to her left, whose neck had snapped whilst trying to turn her head to face her. Twilight's heart nearly burst from her chest as a thunderous groan echoed out from above her. Looking up, her irises shrunk to mere pinpricks as she beheld a massive puddle of black goo on the ceiling, tendrils of the muck growing rapidly outwards like vines. Out of the thick darkness a hoof extended, followed by another. It gripped the edges of the puddle as if trying to pull itself free of the thick liquid. Slowly but surely, the familiar flowing mane and eyeless visage of the Deathlestia seeped through the ceiling. It opened its mouth in a terrifying screech as the teacher clear his throat one last time and turned towards the board, an eraser hovering in his magic aura. He started to erase the words written as he said simply "Class dismissed."
By the time he had finished his statement, Twilight was already flying out of the door, the Deathlestia falling into the classroom and landing with a loud crash into the desks. The undead fillies turned to make their way after her, but by the time they had all faced the entryway, the Deathlestia was already gone, the door torn off its hinges and smothered in the black goop it left trailing in its wake.
"We're approaching it," One of them said, standing before a gigantic, circular mirror that sat upon a base of what looked like pure crystal. She turned her head to her right, addressing her companion as she too gently trotted up to take her place before the mirror. Sitting on her haunches, she tapped a hoof to her chin and nodded.
"Yes....yes it would appear so," She acknowledged, her eyes watching as a monstrous being of death and decay tore down the ever blackening hallway of what looked like a school. "Do you...do you think she is ready?"
The first shook her head, sighing "It is impossible to tell, but irrelevant whether she is or not. The Librarian is either taking too long, or it's that the state of decay is growing too rapidly for us to be able to wait out the acceptable time to ease her into what's coming." She looked up towards the mirror, grimacing as she muttered with a nervous edge in her voice "Twilight Sparkle has no choice now...we've reviewed enough and she's endured enough to be able to stave off the ensuing madness because of Azil's infrastructure. Although... they may not understand it in full..." She looked over her left and behind her...staring directly at you. That's right...you. Her eyes gleam with the reddish hue of an infinite number of suns, her rippling majesty unparalleled to any creature that would exist in all of creation. You wonder why you don't fall to pieces the very millisecond her eyes pass over you, though what you may see as words she can see clear as day in the displayed visage of you. Perhaps it is that because you cannot comprehend the very existence of such an otherworldly being, your mind has thus ceased any notion to even attempt such. Self preservation enacted by the brain, one might say. She narrows her eyes at you, looking back up towards the mirror "One day perhaps they'll understand...but now we can no longer wait." She waved her hoof in front of the mirror, the display of the school vanishing in a muddled pool of rippled glass. Immediately the mare commanded "Bring her to us. Now."
After a moment, a voice answered "At once my Divine Majesty."
~~~~
Twilight huffed and puffed, panting rapidly as she tore down the hallway at a blinding speed. The Deathlestia was not far behind, screeching and roaring as long, black tendrils of goo morphed out from its main body and latched themselves into the ceiling, walls, and floors. They served as anchors, hurling her forward in Twilight's direction as the decay she left in her wake continued to eat more and more of the hallway. Lockers, lights, posters, everything was melted and eaten away into nothingness as the duo flew around corners and dashed up and down hallways. The school seemed like it was going on forever, with no clear discernible landmarks poking out at Twilight. No nurse's office, gym, not even a cafeteria passed into view as she swallowed a heavy amount of saliva that had worked up in maw, her throat thick with the substance as she pushed herself to the max. "I gotta get out of here!" she thought, peaking over shoulder to see the Deathlestia turning slowly in the air as the tendrils carried her rapidly towards her. Its mouth was open in a vicious snarl, an inequine screech passing through the razor sharp teeth that lined its rotting gums. The sight only pushed her further, rounding another corner and then another. "There's got to be a way out of here!" she hollered, bounding over another couple of overturned desks.
She yelped as one of the tendrils shot out over her head, the filly ducking as the gooey length crashed into a large trash can in front of her and soaked it in its horrendous substance. Too close is what the young mare thought, ducking to the left. She jumped to the right, then upwards, ducking again. The tendrils were getting closer and closer, Twilight's eyes swimming with tears as the Deathlestia closed in on her. She let out a cry as the hulking beast dove for her, rotting hooves outstretched in attempts to grab her and finish her off once and for all.
And she would have...had a door up ahead and too the right burst open. It hit something within the room with a thunderous crash, eliciting a gasp from the panicked unicorn. Taking the only chance she had, she dove for the newly created opening. With hooves outstretched she hit the ground with a resounding thud, sliding a ways before quickly scrambling upwards and rounding on the opening. Grasping the knob in between her hooves she heaved it forwards, slamming it shut and throwing her full weight into the wood. A terrified squeak came about from the result of a heavy weight slamming into the opposite side, the glass laid into the door smeared and darkened instantly with the writhing black substance that trailed in the Deathlestia's wake.
Thud after thud wracked against the door, the terrified filly pushing her back against the door with all her might. Her barrel heaved rapidly for breath as her eyes looked this way and that, scanning desperately for any sort of escape route or weapon she could use in her favor. She had wound up in another classroom by the looks of it, similar to the one she sat in for the lesson. The only difference for this one it seemed was that all the desks and chairs were thrown into a massive pile in one corner of the room. Aside from this detail however...there were no windows or any other doors to speak of.
Twilight was trapped.
"Dammit!" She swore, tilting her head up to watch the black goop writhe angrily against the glass. Her eyes were drawn towards the top of the door, watching as a small tendril of darkness started to slowly grow through it. Her time was rapidly running out, and with no clear avenues in sight...she started to consider 'other' options. She looked towards the pile of desks, whimpering as she stared at the rusty legs sticking up out from all over the wooden slats. If she was fast enough...maybe...maybe she get her head impaled on one before the Deathlestia got her. A quick death was sure to be better than whatever the monster on the other side had planned for her. Tears brimmed in her eyes, sniffing loudly as the door gave another violent shake. "F-Fluttershy..." She whispered, shutting her eyes tight as she prepared to launch herself away from the door "I'm s-s-so s-sorry...!"
She shimmied up to her hind legs and after a few huffing breaths...
"TWWWIIIIILIIIIIGHT.....!!"
She froze, eyes flying open. Her irises shrunk to that of mere pinpricks as she looked shakily upwards at the glass. The Deathlestia had the side of her face smushed up against the glass, staring at the tiny filly with a gaping, eyeless socket. "OOOPENNN THE DOOOOOOOR!!!" Her voice was unlike anything Twilight could have ever experienced or felt in her entire life.
Sorrow. Sorrow was the only word she could use to describe the horrendous voice. Sorrow and pain, and a measure of anger to lace the top of the mixture. Twilight's mouth was agape, her eyes fixated upon the glass with a look of absolute terror on her face. "W...what..?" She breathed shakily. She was stunned. How the hell was this thing talking to her?! Sure, she knew this was in some form a 'version' of Queen Celestia...some dark, demented version of her yes but there was no mistaking the fallen alicorn underneath the writhing decay that made up her lifeless form. "G-go away!!!!" She shrieked, the door starting to splinter slightly as the Deathlestia threw itself against the reinforced wood. "LEAVE ME ALONE!!!"
"LEEEEET MEEE IIINNNNN!!!" it roared, the doorknob rattling violently as it tried to force her way in "PLEEEEAAAAASE!!! LEEEET MEEE LOOOOOOOVE YOOOOOOU!!!"
"GO AWAY!!!!!" Twilight shrieked again, tears spilling from her tightly shut eyes. This nightmare had escalated far beyond what Twilight could have believed was possible. It felt as if it was taunting her now. It had to of known there was no escape for her, all it was going to take now was just a mere matter of time. Knowing that...why did it bother speaking to her? The door was sure to buckle soon under so much abuse, why did it...?
A thought crossed her mind. 'Surely not' is what she thought, staring up at the Deathlestia that was still staring straight into her eyes, peering into her very soul. Could it be that...she was actually trying to kill her? Or was it something more? She looked back towards the pile of desks and chairs, biting her bottom lip. Even if the ridiculously insane plan she was cooking up didn't work...there was always the finality of Plan B...
She looked up towards the door, shouting "Why should I let you in?! You just want to kill me!"
"III AM LOOOOOST...LEEET MEEE IIINNN..." it screamed, slamming against the door once more as a harsh wail escaped whatever rotten lungs rested within the bowels of the filthy demon "I WAAAANT TO GOOO HOOOOME!!!!!"
"Why are you chasing me then!?" Twilight countered, pushing more of her weight against the ever-cracking wood "You've been after me since I arrived here, just like you were after all those dead children in the classroom!" She took a peek back towards the pile of desks, biting her lip. She'd have to be really fast to get herself impaled on those metallic legs before the Deathlestia got her. There was no way she could suffer the slow, agonizing death that was sure to be dished out should the beast catch her before her leap.
"I AM CUUUURSED...I HAAAVE TO GOOO HOOOOME, YOU PROOOMISED TO SAAAAVE MEEEE!!!!"
At this, Twilight blinked. Cursed? A promise? What was she talking about? She looked up once more, trembling slightly as she said in a bit of a more calming voice "...what promise? What curse? You'll have to forgive me my memory hasn't been the same since I arrived here."
"THE CURSE OF DECAAAAY! YOU PROMISED TO SAVE USSS FROM THE ROT!!!!"
"The Rot..." Twilight whispered, pondering on her words. "A curse of decay...the rot...that couldn't have been my home." Her memory may have been shaky, but she was pretty sure her world hadn't suffered such a vicious, horrific fate. This Deathlestia must have been talking about a different Twilight Sparkle...mayhaps from another timeline or another dimension. It was the only thing that made any logical sense...but whether or not she was willing to put all her chips on that one theory was an entirely different story all together. She wasn't sure if the Deathlestia could be reasoned with, and certainly not to be considered by any means an ally...but her options were limited straight down to just two: Kill herself, or open the door.
She swallowed hard, shutting her eyes and attempting to regain some manner of her composure as she said asked "I-if I help you...will you promise not to kill me?" It was a pretty tall order for a creature of nightmarish proportions she figured...but judging by the Deathlestia's words, perhaps there was some leverage here yet.
It was several moments before the Deathlestia's ghastly voice crawled through the glass "......HELP MEEEEE...AND I WILL NOOOOT DEVOOOOUR YOUUUUU!!!" Twilight took one last look at those desks. That death was a guarantee, the one behind her guaranteed only if she failed. She didn't know how she was going to help the Deathlestia...but she had bought some much needed time for now at least. Taking a few aching moments to get her breath under control, Twilight let out a large, heaving sigh...and turned around.
"Alright..." she said wearily, looking at the writhing eye sockets of the monster before her "I help you...I go free."
She reached up, grasping the doorknob with a hoof and turning it.
As the door started to swing open, barely held together by the splinters which covered it, Twilight's voice pierced through the laughing veil of the wind that had suddenly picked up around her.
"...It's a deal."
"And...you're sure?" Said that alluring yet commanding voice of absolute authority. She didn't hear a response, guessing that the question was answered with a simple nod of the head. A sigh followed shortly after, the unicorn taking a daring peak from her hiding spot and watching as Queen Celestia slowly dragged a hoof down her snout "How did this happen...? What are we supposed to do now?"
"That's...what I'm here to talk about," The other pony answered, though from her angle Twilight wasn't able to make out her form. "The pillars are weakening, yes, but that doesn't necessarily mean that we're facing a risk of containment failure. We've been reading dimensional energy signatures of deep, chaotic energy which we're guessing is what's causing the scales to shift violently."
Celestia sat her flank down upon a royal maroon pillow of smooth, elegant silk and called upon a simple cast of magic to levitate a tea set from a nearby tray to their table. She began to serve the honeyed amber liquid as she nodded "I see...well that's good at least, about the containment anyway. I can only assume that the shifts are due to the workings of the Draconequus Chimera Majoris, but to what end I couldn't say...it will only bring about ruination on his own self."
A hoof appeared in Twilight's view, reaching out to take the cup Celestia offered. It was in a rough state, a multitude of scars making a unique impression in the chocolate fur. "It's obvious that there's an ulterior motive at work." The mystery pony answered. "What that is we obviously can't say, though we've sent agents to several different planes to try and counteract the destabilization...we're showing even results of success and failure, but we really need a replacement for the Throne of the Wind-Cracked Stone soon so..."
"No." Celestia said with a firm, dismissive tone. Her eyes narrowed, taking a moment to sip her tea as she said "You can find another, you don't need ours...they've been through too much already. You can't possibly expect me to 'ok' this course of action."
A weary sigh, a shuffling, and a light sipping later the voice responded "Anastasia is on her deathbed, and when she finally takes her place in the echoes of the wind...the gates of Azil will fly open." There was a tense feeling in the air, a very uncomfortable moment of unease settling across the meeting as the pony went on "I understand...I do...but what's more important? One pony, or the scales?"
Twilight wasn't sure what unnerved her more, the nature of the conversation or the fact that Celestia offered no response to the question for the remainder of the meeting.
~~~
"Three years..." Twilight mirrored with tired breath, looking towards the cloaked pony before her "I've been falling...for three years."
"And some change," the colt nodded, his wings shifting under the brown cloth "Really it's standard procedure for this particular holding cell, the nasties locked up in here can do some really nasty, mind-altering stuff if they go unchecked for too long." He glanced upwards, scanning the air as he clicked his tongue "Eh, though there was really only the one left in here, but even one is enough to royally screw a lot of things up. Wonder where the others went..."
Twilight slowly got to her hoofs, her legs shaking and wobbling as she groaned "T...this entire snowy plain is a holding cell? " The pegasus rushed to her aide, brushing his side up against her to stabilize her as she got her bearings.
"Yeah, ain't that neat??" He said with a little too much enthusiasm. "It's more like an ever-repeating pocket dimension, where if you cross over the edge of the plane you appear at the other side though you'd never be able to tell because of how similar the landscape is all around."
He started to guide her along, helping her began a slow walk forward as she winced, the wind beginning to pick up in the area as she asked "So...what was being contained in here then? Why did I need to be put in a bubble spell of stasis?"
"Classified," The pegasus answered immediately, looking at her out of the corner of his eye with a small smile on his muzzle "Though as to why the spell was necessary, the creatures in here don't particularly care for pony's of an 'unstable' mindset, though they are very patient. We had to drive you mad and make sure enough time passed that they would lose interest in you." He paused, tapping his hoof to his chin as his eyes slowly rolled towards the air "Though perhaps three years is a bit much...it's still standard procedure."
Twilight forced them to a stop, shooting a very angry glare towards the pegasus and snarling "Yeah, you THINK?! You owe me three years of answers, regardless if only minutes have passed. You owe me that at least!"
The pegasus raised a brow and answered her in a very careful, tip-toeing sort of tone "Look...technically I don't owe you a damn thing, you being an inmate yourself...but I suppose since the breach the rules have changed. We'll need each other to survive." He shook his head and sighed "Besides, even if I were to try and give you the exact answers to the questions I'm sure you're going to ask, it's classified to someone of your clearance level...and being an inmate pretty much means you have none. If I were to try and tell you anything, my mind would get hit with a minor amnesiac state and I'd forget everything about everything until I was 'retrieved' by the rest of the staff."
She blinked at him several times, her mouth slightly opening as she took on a most dumbfounded look. "That's pretty serious..." She whispered, shaking her head "But just you saying that only stirs up at least a hundred more questions. How about this?" She turned her head to him, making sure she had his full attention "I'll ask you questions, and you just let me know if you can answer ok? You can't be restricted to tell me everything." He gave it a moment before nodding, opening the way for Twilight to begin her questioning. "I'm an inmate, I could guess that much from when I woke up here in a padded cell...but what was my crime?"
"Partially classified," He answered, a sympathetic look on his face "Sorry, because of the nature of where we are there's a lot of protocols and procedures when it comes to case files. Technically yours was never fully closed and there are several details about the nature of your incarceration that I can't shed light on." He paused, once more tapping a hoof to his snout as if trying to choose the right wording. He nodded after a moment and went on "You're here for a reason, a primary reason. Really your 'crime' was more or less a convenient excuse to get you here, because you 'did' need to serve time, but you were also required for something...more. As for your base crime, there are multiple charges of assault and battery, battery, resisting arrest, and one count of attempted murder."
Twilight's eyes widened, staring forward into the wasteland of white and shivering. M-murder...? She had tried to kill someone? Who? What for? Could it have been....? "Did I try and kill Rainbow Dash?"
The pegasus shook his head "Sorry, beyond your list of charges which you are entitled to know, I can't discuss your case without an approved facility lawyer present."
Twilight nodded "I figured as much. Alright, so I'm guessing you're one of the 'guards' for this place, right?" A nod from the colt drew her to her next question "And this place is called Az-"
"SSSSHHHH!" The colt hissed, pressing a hoof to her lips and looking around frantically. After a few puffs of heavy breathing and an assuring quick glances to ensure nothing was coming at him, he looked back towards her and sighed "Be careful...that word has heavy power in the right instances...most of them extremely and violently dangerous. The best I can tell you is that you can just consider this a 'prison' of an alarming caliber."
The lavender mare blinked several times in surprise at the colt's sudden outburst, nodding after a moment as she went on "Ok, so a prison...are there other inmates like me here? What about an inmate named Ditzy Doo...? Why was she incarcerated here?"
The pegasus shook his head "There were...there's not many left that I know of now. I didn't get the full story myself about what happened. There was an incident, a major one...broke a lot of cells and tore a lot of things up. You're only one out of ten other pony inmates here that I know of that are still alive...at least since last I checked." He cocked his head upon hearing Ditzy's name however, furrowing his brow "Though Ditzy Doo...can't say I recognize that one. I wouldn't know anything about her, sorry."
"My horn?" Twilight asked, tapping the broken base of her magical conduit.
"Standard procedure for unicorn inmates." The colt answered, looking sort of sympathetic at her face "It should be obvious why we had to take it...though I'm sure that doesn't make it suck any less."
Twilight nodded, sighing heavily. She did figure that they had to take it to prevent her from teleportation or blowing the guards up or something. If she was here in a straight jacket...she couldn't have been in a very right state of mind to be trusted with something as volatile as battle magic. "Alright, two more questions...am I going to be able to speak to a higher up or your boss or someone who can give me the full story?"
The colt pondered this for several moments, unsure of how to answer. He paused, seeming deep in thought as he carefully pieced together his answer. "Uuuuh...yes? Someone of higher clearance should be able to answer you questions, though whether or not they'll be willing to give them to you I can't guarantee or say for sure."
She nodded, moving straight on to the last question which...honestly should have been the first if manners were to be considered. "What's your name?"
At this the pegasus smiled, chuckling and rubbing the back of his head before answering "Vasile ".
Twilight smiled in kind and gave her own as she nudged them forward into the wasteland once more "Twilight, a pleasure." They walked for a good ten minutes before she chuckled bashfully and asked "I...take it you know where we're going, right?"
"Of course I do," Vasile scoffed "Though this may be a repetitive plane, it of course is still just a holding cell. There's a door, we just have to get to it...and make sure any inmates don't follow us out."
Twilight nodded, staring off to her left into the wide expanse. It really did seem like it went on forever...if it was a plane of existence that repeated herself, there'd be no way in hell she'd be able to tell where one side started and another began. Without this guard...she could have been wandering for eternity. "Say..." She piped up suddenly, looking back towards Vasile "Why...'are' you helping me anyway? I mean...I'm an inmate, right? Aren't you supposed to be cuffing my hooves and dragging me back to my cell or something? Make me eat slop and put me back in a straight jacket?"
Vasile rolled his eyes, giving her a slightly annoyed look that displayed the clear message of 'really?'. He shook his head and chuckled after a moment though, the irritation of her statement passing as it was clearly made in ignorance "Orders to bring you back unscathed to the best of my ability, first off." He nudged his head forward, ruffling his wings under his cloak to get them a little more comfy as he went on "Secondly, you're cooperating so why would I need to use force, and third...we're not your average prison or guards. Even we are capable of small amounts of kindness. Keep it in mind Twilight that while this is a prison, sure...a lot of pony's and other things here are just sick. Why torture something weak and sick?" He stopped them suddenly, his smile widening as he flicked a hoof out and pressed it against an invisible surface through the air. He thudded it against the unseeable object three times, a metallic gonging ringing out before a door opened before them as if from nowhere.
Twilight gasped as the entrance was revealed before them, Vasile extending a hoof into the thick blanket of darkness that rested just beyond and smiled as he turned his head to look upon her and smile, his words soft and laced with a tone that for some reason made her feel...uncomfortable.
"Shall we?"
