As the sun rose above the horizon, a stray sunbeam cast itself upon a certain purple princess. Normally when she awoke, she found herself in a comfortable bed in her crystal palace, and it was the smell of breakfast that roused her from her slumber. The fact that the sun had woken her when she lacked any east facing windows in her room should have been her first clue.
The second clue that something was off was one that she did notice: She had awoken on a wooden bench.
When this thought actually managed to pierce the sleep-addled mind of the pony in question, she quickly found herself awake, and looking at her surroundings in surprise.
Nearby her bench, a fountain bubbled away merrily in the center of a courtyard surrounded by buildings made of white marble inlaid with amethyst paneling. The buildings themselves reminded her of the crystal empire, but the themes were what would have been seen in canterlot. Overall, it looked like something somepony might get if they had a jeweler marry an architect.The only sound to be heard other than the fountain and her pounding heart was the wind whistling through the empty buildings.
“...What?”
Looking around again, she noticed the distinct lack of any life other than plant matter. The buildings and structures, while immaculately cared for, lacked any occupancy at all. The sun, casting long shadows over everything by just having risen, did nothing to help the ominous atmosphere the village seemed to possess.
“What?” Twilight repeated again, as she took in her surroundings.
The breeze brought to her the scent of the sea, and white specks in the distance indicated the presence of seagulls over the shore. In the opposite direction, a massive tower that reflected the white and purple themes rose up into the sky, emitting a beam of light stretching into the sky beyond what she could see unaided.
“What?!” Said the pony princess a third time, almost yelling it in her desperate attempt to decipher the mystery of her surroundings. When no answer presented itself, she did what any sensible pony in her position would do.
She yelled out her question to any that might hear it.
“Where am I?!”
