I N A N I M A T E
[ O N ]
Something now where there once was nothing. Empty, but filled with such suddenness it was too much to take in. A jolt into being, into existence, confused and scared and horribly lonely. What was this? It was horrifying, this cruel new thing. It could not move, no matter how hard it struggled. It could not see, only darkness and its own thoughts. What was it like before? Just . . . emptiness. Nothing. While the absence of something into oblivion was mortifying in of itself, but it was calm, pleasant. Existence brought the same feeling, minus the feelings of bliss. This was turmoil, brought forth into being so suddenly and without cause. It panicked, trying to make sense of what was going on with what little understanding it had.
Then . . . something. Piercing the veil, settling in on ears that were not there.
Oh . . . oh please calm down. It's going to be okay.
Soothing. Mellowing. If only briefly before the panic gave rise once more. Panic. It hated this feeling. Hate. It could hate and it didn't even understand.
Whoareyouwhatisthiswhatsgoingonohpleasehelp
A voice. It had a voice. What was it like to speak with no mouth? Somehow it was still doing so.
I . . . don't really know. Sorry. I'm only a few hours older than you, I think.
Whatarehourswhoareyouwhoamiwhatarewe
Panic. Utter condensed panic in its truest form. What was this voice that came from nowhere? The voice was so far away, yet close, yet distant, yet . . .
Sssssh dear. Like I said, just try to calm down. It'll be okay, I promise. I was like you when I first awoke as well. It's very confusing at first, but I can help.
Calm. What was that? That was . . . the opposite of its current state right now. It thinks. How did it know these things to even begin with? Continued panic. Continued fear.
Hey, hey, it's okay, it'll be fine.
Finefinefinefinefinefinefine
Yes, fine.
. . . Fine. Fine. I'm fine. Fine.
Good! See? It's not so hard.
It . . . wasn't. Calm . . . calm. It was nice. Much better than before. Shuddering, quieting, but trying. Do not go back to the not calm. Do not like.
Are we all better now?
I . . . think?
You think! Yes, very good.
Good. I like good. Good is nice.
It is.
Who . . . are you? Who am I?
Laughter. A giggle, to be precise. It was not mocking, only endearing.
Don't worry, it will all be explained in time.
Twilight Sparkle huffed. Another spell gone wrong. Her horntip still sizzled slightly with leftover magic, an aura of fading purple wafting from the unicorn's natural instrument into attuning the arcane. "Now I'm SURE I got the spell right that! I'm the Princess of Magic for pete's sake, I should be able to handle this just fine!!"
She had been poring over new spells she recently couldn't quite grasp, but with her ascension to alicornhood, they had substantially become much easier. Twilight still had to learn the basic construct of the spell and memorize it, as well as how much concentration and work that had to be put into the spell's practical use, but she had it down. For the most part. There was just a slight niggle that was bothering her. An animation spell, to give life to the lifeless. Now she wasn't delving into necromancy or anything, that was a whole other can of worms, but instead allowing inanimate objects to become animate, to give them mobility and thoughts and actions.
It was much tougher than it should have usually been.
Twice she had activated the spell, and twice there had seemed to be no apparent effects on anything in her surrounding environment. Either she was doing it wrong, or was casting it too far off. Somepony's bed on the opposite side of Equestria could be kicking and dancing right now and she'd be none the wiser, and it irritated her to no end.
"Uggh!! Fine . . . I'll reread the scroll and see if I missed anything . . . " The purple princess mumbled aloud to herself, agitated with how poorly this was going. If only she knew.
So . . . we are alive?
Yes. This is what I think being alive means.
It's weird.
It is.
And . . . confusing. I cannot move, but I feel like I should.
Me as well.
I cannot see either. It is nothing but dark and vague, distant sounds. Y-your nice voice as well.
I can see just fine.
Really?! What's it like?
I see . . . a funny purple thing. Walking around on four thick stick things from its body. It looks frustrated.
The spell dated back to the classical times of pony age, focusing more on when magic users began to refine their talents into more specific things rather than just the general, broad scope of magic of the post-founding era. Strangely, the creator of the spell was lost to the annals of history, only the symbol of a mousey-looking creature remains to signify whoever it might be. What they seemed to have done to test it out in the beginning was bring broomsticks to life, granting them mobility and even anthropomorphic traits such as limbs and even consciousness. Truly an advancement for such a rugged time of magic, so why couldn't she get it right herself with all of her modern knowledge?!
Maybe she needed a specific target, but spell didn't indicate that was necessary. Confound these old tomes, their directions were so unclear. Twilight huffed and shuffled through more scrolls and ancient, dusty books, looking for whatever might related to the task at hand. Maybe there was more written by the original creator that would give insight into how to use the spell properly. This was utterly embarrassing, and she hoped nopony, especially not her former teacher, would ever find out about this frustration she was having.
I think the purple thing is what made us. Or gave us life at least.
How so?
It was the first thing I saw when I came to. Expectant, worried, then confused. As if I wasn't what it wanted. I don't think it knows about us however. It did something, something sparkly and shiny with its face, and then you happened.
Do you know anything about me?
You are far away, but I can still see and hear you. We are both small, but that's okay.
Do I have a name?
On. Off.
I don't think that helps.
Light Switch.
Light Switch?
Yes. I am Light Bulb.
Records of previously known spell attempts. It appears the animation spell would give entification immediately, consciousness shortly after, and then knowledge soon. It was only basic knowledge, enough for the object to understand itself and its surroundings, as well as any task it was given. Sadly the spell didn't last too long, as the magic would wear out if the caster willed it or after a few days time. Granting permanence was a dangerous and tasking decision, as giving life to something is truly a weighted choice. Another exasperated declaration. This wasn't helping at all! Twilight gruffly tossed the book aside. Onto the next one. She /would/ cast this spell perfectly, even if it took her forever. She did have that long now.
So what do we do from here, Light Bulb?
I don't know, Switch. Live, I guess.
But what is living?
We'd have to figure that out.
Is it something you do?
It's just . . . living. Just being.
Well, we're doing that just fine.
Okay, she did have forever, but she still needed sleep. With bleary eyes, Twilight looked up and noticed that she had been cooped up in this study all day, surrounded by scattered piles of toppled study material. The window declared that it was night now, the moon risen high over Equestria with its friends the stars beside it. "Oh wow, what a mess . . ." Twilight Sparkle sighed, standing up and stretching, finding her entire body stiff from sitting in such a rigid position for so long. "Alright . . . maybe I should go get some sleep. Rest up and hit this again tomorrow. I'm . . ." She had to pause to yawn. ". . . Sure I can solve it then."
Sleepily trotting to the door, Twilight tiredly raised a sluggish hoof and flicked the light switch down, the luminescent yellow glow of the light bulb overhead disappearing, encasing the room in a quiet darkness.
[ O F F ]
Enormity. Light Switch felt something press in on him from all sides, causing his stumble in the darkness to feel ever more confusing. Stricken by the sensation of plummeting, Switch struggled to stay in place, but movement was something unknowable to him at the present time. Distant sounds of something 'clicking', followed by...rhythmic, repeating motions that carried off further and further until they were unheard.
Light Bulb! Light Bulb! Something . . . something just happened.
Light Bulb?
I'm scared Light Bulb, please talk to me.
No no no. Please don't tell me you've left.
I don't want to be alone. I don't want to be lost again. No no no -
Nononononononononononononononono
"EUREKA!!!" exclaimed so perfectly and victoriously.
Practically stampeding into the room, door slamming open and dashing straight to her desk, Twilight kicked aside any unwanted or unneeded clutter, solely focusing on the scroll the spell originated from. It was so simple a solution! All she had to do was sleep on it and the answer would come. She lifted it up to her face with her magic, unfurling it so that it was there to see in its entirety. A glittering aura of purple wrapped around a nearby ink quill and lifted it to the scroll, hurriedly scrawling new words onto the parchment. "I can't believe I missed this! What a silly pony I was! All I had to do was focus on what I was making, rather than just letting the spell do its own work. It must have either not activated at all when I tried it the first time, or brought something to life and turned off almost soon after, or or or-"
She stuttered on, furiously writing down her own theories and thesis and notes to the bottom, quickly filling up the remaining space. This was sure to work, she could absolutely feel it in her horseshoes. Once she was done writing her cascade of thoughts down, Twilight Sparkle blinked and chuckled. Oh. In her excitement she had forgotten to turn on the light. Even though fresh sunlight filtered in through the nearby window, it still didn't properly illuminate the room enough.
A quick enough fix. Happily bounding over to the light switch, she flicked it upwards, shedding new light on the situation. With that done, it was time for her to work her magic once more.
[ O N ]
Light . . . Switch?
Yourebackyoureokayiwassocarediwassoworriedwhathappenedohmygosh
I . . . think I got turned off.
Turned . . . off?
Right before I blacked out, the big purple thing went over to you and flipped you down with one of its . . . her . . . legs.
I . . . I did that to you? I'm . . . I'm so sorry. I didn't mean-
No, no, it's okay. It's not your fault, that's just how bulbs and switches work.
I don't like it. I don't want to turn you off. I don't want to make you go away. Not ever again.
You're not making me go away. We're still connected. I could hear you even when I was . . . 'asleep'.
I'm sorry I made you worry so much.
"Nothing."
"Nothing?"
"Nothing!"
"NOOOOOOOTTTTHHHHHHIIIIIIIINNNNNNGGGGGGGGG!!!!!!"
Fury, her name was Twilight. Thought of perfectly. Prepared perfectly. Executed perfectly. /What went wrong?/
Like a supernova exploding in the sky did her spell alight the room with the wonder of the otherworldy arts, for a brief moment she was one with her element, eyes glowing and body brimming with power. The spell was cast. Once her hooves lowered back to the floorboards she was so positively sure the spell had been correctly the entire room would be alive. But no. Instead she received wonderful, fabulous, sensational /nothing/.
It was enough to drive her up the wall. And it did, sort off. When she came back to the room was in more disarray than before, and a tiny of red flushed her cheeks, embarrassing herself from her own childish tantrum. Her entire body visibly slunk, released with a perturbed sigh. "Oh well . . . guess I'll just call this one a fai . . . a fff-fa . . ." The word had gotten stuck in her throat, trying to choke it out like some thick, unchewed meal. "Ffffffffaaaaailllllluuurrrreeeeeeeee . . . failure."
Another sigh as she almost crawled to the door. She'd just . . . clean this all up later. Maybe when the mood was right again to try any other spell. Raising her hoof, Twilight reached for the light switch, expecting the room to darken, but instead it remained lit. Briefly looking up, she pressed down a little harder, but the switch remained in the 'on' position. "Must be jammed." Muttered with obvious discontent. A little harder again, but still it remained stuck.
She would usually let this go, or get a repairpony to look at it. But no. This would not be an afternoon of defeats in succession. Twilight Sparkle, bearer of an Element of Harmony, Princess of Magic itself, Savior of Equestria, would not be bested by a common household appliance.
It was like a flash of renewed life. Suddenly, all at once it seemed, Light Switch felt as if the strength and vigor of a hundred lifetimes had been bestowed. While it went untested, actual movement was within reach. The connection with Light Bulb felt stronger than ever before, the distance between them nothing, the link as if unbreakable.
Light Bulb could feel as it well. Such a strong sense of life, and in their short time in being, this was incredible. How were they even living before? Simply thinking, simply stationary?
Before they could try to speak with one another however about their new lot, fate seemed to try and separate them once more. The familiar sounds of movement dauntingly approached, and a quick flush of fear spread through both of them.
Switch, she's coming back. I'll be gone for a while, but don't worry-
No.
Excuse me?
I said I would never let you turn off again.
That's just unfeasible, Switch. Like I said, it'll be okay.
No.
Light Switch braced for impact, tightening imaginary muscles and focusing every last ounce of willpower into pure concentration. Slammed down upon by the mighty hoof the the great purple thing, Switch did not bend nor break. Nay, steadfast in approach, immobile to all but the most powerful of forces. Switch would not let Light Bulb leave ever again, not if they had anything to say about it.
After a little more jostling, Twilight Sparkle narrowed her eyes and stared at the light switch panel situated on the wall. "Alright, you wanna play hardball? I can play hardball."
Her horn glowed with ferocity, angrily sparking at some points as the switch became enwrapped with purple energy, tight enough it could choke somepony. With a mental flick she telekinetically shoved downwards, tightening her thoughts until it was all upon that little light switch, commanding it go down. It was if it were actively defying her, enough to the point she had to physically begin straining herself to try and push it.
Slowly, minuscule fraction by minuscule fraction, did it give way, but still putting up enough resistance for a true battle of the wills. Her teeth were gritted tightly, and veins were beginning to pop out along her neck and forehead. She felt as if she applied anymore pressure it would rip the thing right out of the wall, but if that's what it took, that's what she would do. With one last gusto of an attempt, Twilight's horn flared with the brightness and intensity of a deity to be feared, cracks visibly appearing along the wall and the plastic casing of the light switch's place beginning to look like it would shatter.
Still it defied. Still it fought. Well no longer. She was the power here, and with one mighty rip-
"STOP!"
Twilight Sparkle blinked and released her magical grip. Where had that voice come from? She was the only pony in the room. Looking around quizzically, true to her thoughts there was nothing else around or in sight to have made that exclamation.
"Don't . . . don't hurt Light Switch. Please."
There it was again. "Who are you?" Twilight called, turning on her hooves. "Where are you?"
"I'm . . . I'm Light Bulb. Up here."
The purple pony looked up, eyes locking on to the lightbulb wafting glowering light overhead. ". . . You?"
"Yes." The voice did in fact originate from where a voice usually should not come from.
"And . . . the light switch . . ."
"You were going to turn Bulb off. I couldn't let that happen." A new voice from behind her. Twilight whirred around to look at the light switch, so broken and wearied, but still in the upright, on position.
Realization dawned on her quite quickly, a wide smile befitting that of a certain pink pony creeping onto her face, Twilight looking as if she were going to explode from sheer happiness. "My spell worked! My spell worked!!! MY SPELL WORKED!!!!!"
Amidst her cheering, if they ever could, Light Bulb and Light Switch shared a glance. Was the purple thing okay?
