The Lies We Live

The touch of the sun warmed Twilight’s fur as a soft breeze brushed through her mane like a gentle caress. A pleasant aroma wafted its way into her nostrils from the flowers and eateries around Ponyville below. From the balcony of her new castle, she could see all of the wonderful ponies going about their day. Such a lovely day as each day in Ponyville was.

But as she took in the wonderful day, a single thought prodded at the back of her mind. One that had teased her numerous times before. Was all of this real? At times it seemed that her life was all but perfect. At others, terrible and overwhelming. Each time the thought entered her mind, she questioned herself and everything she knew.

There were certainly times her life seemed unreal. Frightening times that seemed too terrible to be real. Times when she wished she was witnessing a nightmare and wanted nothing more than to awaken. There were wonderful times that seemed little more than a dream themselves. The times when life was simply perfect and only the imagination could conjure up such moments.

And yet, all of what she saw before her and all that she felt now had to be real. There was no other explanation. The sensations confirmed the reality. Sight, smell, touch, sound, taste, everything acted together and told her mind she was indeed awake. Even pain told her mind this was no illusion of the subconscious. Yet no matter how real the sensations or emotions, that questioning thought continued to prod the back of her mind each day.

Twilight shook her head and dismissed the thought as always and took another whiff of the smells from below. Another breeze gently brushed against her as if to reinforce her conviction. The Princess of Friendship. No matter how unreal or dreamlike it seemed, this was her life.

She turned from the balcony and began wandering the halls of the castle. The pink and purple hue of the crystalline walls glistened in the light that poured in through the windows. The occasional blue and yellow shined and blended with the more prominent colors. Each lit up the halls and created a glowing pathway of colors. The lights seemed to dance to the song of color as she walked down each hall.

Twilight rounded a corner and entered the main hall that held the magical map of Equestria and the thrones for her and her friends. Light poured in from the surrounding windows which bounced around the room and struck the chandelier. The decorated roots from the former Golden Oaks Library shined as both a reminder of what once was and hope for the future.

She took a moment to close her eyes and drink in the feelings she had at the sight. This was her home. This was her life. She had questioned it before but she knew she was meant to be here, meant to be a princess. She belonged.

But as she opened her eyes, things seemed…off. The light appeared fuzzy and the room hazy. Everything around her seemed distant and detached from her and everything else. Was she imagining it?

She reached out to touch the table that held the magical map to check her senses. For a moment, the table seemed to move away from her hoof and the room seemed to grow. As her hoof tapped the edge of the table, all returned to normalcy. Why did she feel this way?

Twilight shook her head to dispel the thoughts. She must still be tired, not fully awakened from her night’s rest. She gave another look around and breathed a sigh of relief as everything was as it had been. The thought of lingering exhaustion satisfied her unease and allowed her to resume the enjoyment of her restful day.

She only took a single step before the sound of hoof steps caught her by surprise and caused her to jump slightly. She turned to the main doorway and say Applejack enter and greet her, oblivious at having startled her friend even if slightly. Twilight relaxed and returned the greeting and took half a second to register that she had just started thinking about her friends. Even more coincidental was that she had wished to see Applejack first.

Once again, Twilight pushed her thoughts aside as the two friends began conversing and talked about the beautiful day. It was indeed a lovely day and had only gotten better now that Twilight was able to see her friends. Perhaps she would see the others as the day went by.

As the two ponies conversed, Applejack glanced up at the decorative wooden chandelier and began reminiscing about the events that led to it being there. Tirek attacking and draining the magic from the ponies of Equestria. The destruction of the Golden Oaks Library. The creation of the castle. The friends’ efforts to make the castle more inviting to its new occupant.

As Applejack spoke, Twilight recalled each of the events as they were spoken of. She had been there for each and knew of them along with the other associated events that Applejack had not been present for. Yet despite her recall, each event seemed as distant and unreal as a dream. Why? Was it because they were past events? Surely it had to be.

Her thoughts joined the other earlier thoughts on the wayside as she pushed them aside at the sight of Pinkie Pie bouncing into the room. The excited pink pony began her usual nonsensical ramblings until she centered on a picnic she wanted to have with all the friends. Both Twilight and Applejack agreed and followed the bouncing pony out and towards the meadow where the picnic was to take place.

As the three made their way through the town, Twilight cast her gaze from side to side to see the other ponies going about their day. She glanced upward to see Rainbow Dash soar overhead with a call to race the friends to the meadow, a challenge the others allowed to pass by. They met Rarity near the edge of town and finally met with Fluttershy, and a gloating Rainbow, at the designated picnic spot.

The sight of all of her friends together brought untold joy to Twilight as she took a moment to soak in the wonderful feeling. But the joy was only short lived as she glanced about her friends and felt as though something was missing. The thought itself was even shorter lived and gave room for the joy to return as little Spike brought up the rear carrying a large wicker basket with the picnic blanket on top.

While her friends set out the blanket and began unloading the basket, Twilight was left off to the side, watching. She asked if she was needed and, for a moment, was met with silence. Such silence brought about yet more strange feelings. This time, she felt more distant than before. A stranger amongst those she considered her friends and a wanderer among the land. The feeling of belonging had seemed to vanish entirely, as though it had never been there to begin with.

Once more, she was able to push aside the dreadful thoughts when her friends finished the preparations and sat with welcoming smiles, inviting her to sit and join in their fellowship. The meal began with warm smiles all around and the delightful aroma of the food within the basket. Each bite of the meal brought a pleasant sensation and calmed Twilight of her earlier worries.

As if in an attempt to dispel all lingering worry, Twilight began reminiscing of the time she met each of her wonderful friends. The conversation moved from there to a walk down memory lane as they talked about all of the grand adventures they had had and the many challenges they had faced along the way. As they talked and laughed, cringed and comforted, Twilight felt at home.

Yet the ravenous animal that is fear encroached upon the joy once more. The conversation diverted to things unrelated to the grand adventure Twilight had come to know and into that of the ordinary. More troublesome was that her friends became more distant, more than just figuratively. As they spoke, they spoke of things that did not include their alicorn friend and seemed to ignore her more and more as the conversation continued. As she grew more distant from the discussion, Twilight felt herself drift away and see the five friends from afar. Even Spike seemed to vanish from existence.

What was this? Things grew ever more distant and detached from her and everything else each passing second. The sounds of the wind and birds faded into silence and the gentle brush of the wind and touch of the grass vanished. The world blurred and became foggy. Why?

Twilight looked about at the fading world around her and found her answer. None of this was real. It never was.