I don’t think I’d ever remembered where I fell asleep after I had already woken until just now. I’d always wake up somewhere relatively close to where I lay down; in a place I still considered safe. I could feel nothing, but I knew I wasn’t in my room anymore, let alone my bed. My eyes shut tight, I could hear a wind going through the building I was in. Unable to do anything, I listened to faraway birds chirping and nearby heavy fabrics swaying lightly in the morning breeze until I felt the muscles in my face and neck come back to me. My heart pounded lightly in my chest as my senses returned.
The first thing I could feel on my face was a stinging breeze. As if I were thrown outside and left uncovered all night, my skin was icy and I'd have recoiled against the cool air if my numb body permitted it. I opened my eyes and saw the cool stone floor that my head was resting on, though my left arm covered much of my vision. Seeing my appendage but being unable to move it is something I’ve grown accustomed to after many pinched nerves, but my heartbeat increased in tempo nonetheless. I took note that I appeared to be in a room made entirely of smooth, dark stone based on what I could see between my head and the wall behind my arm.
Calming my breathing to try and slow my heart rate, I closed my eyes and raised my head as much as I could, turning to my right. My nose scraped the ground and I could feel the warmth and moisture where I was laying moments before. On my right side, there was no arm to obstruct my view but my hair covered most of my eyes. I could make out a few dark passageways and columns between strands of hair. Moving my sight down my side, my neck protesting against the awkward position I was apparently in, I could see that my shirt and shoulder beneath it were still attached, meaning my other arm was simply out of my limited view and not detached.
I breathed a sigh of relief, turning my head again to the left to relieve the pressure on my throat. It seemed like this was how I fell asleep—or at least how I ended up sleeping after being moved. I lay still for a few moments, letting my breathing return to normal, before attempting to shake the feeling back into my body. Moving my head and neck around, I could start to feel the same cold I felt on my face spread through my torso. As if the rest of my body only now realized I was awake, my various bits and parts started sending signals back to my brain. Most of them were the same, and it seemed as if someone suddenly shouted in my ear, “COLD!”
I struggled to upright myself with my arms and legs still weak from the recently-remedied numbness. When I was finally standing, albeit swaying slightly, I crossed my arms across my chest for warmth. I looked around the room from this new perspective, looking for something to help warm my body. Rubbing my arms, I noted that I was in what looked like the ‘thrones’ room of a castle. The floor beneath me was lighter than the rest of the room, as if something were covering it until recently. I bet it was a carpet, too. Just my luck.
I turned my body for a few moments more, searching, before something in my mind clicked. Thrones? I thought to myself, turning back to a part of the room raised by twin sets of stairs. There, at the top of each flight, were identical thrones complete with symmetrical tapestries hanging above them. The tapestry on the left depicted an image of the moon, some stars, and was a dark shade of blue. Its twin was a dull yellow with images of celestial bodies on it, overlooking rolling hills. They were both covered in dust, but were probably very vibrant when they were originally hung. Looking back at the thrones, they were similarly color-coded, blue on the left and yellow on the right.
Noticing that the blue tapestry was in better shape, and allowing my desire for warmth overtake my curiosity, I headed up the stairs on the left. Using the throne as a step, Sorry, king number one, I grabbed hold of the hanging soon-to-be blanket and gave it a light test tug. Feeling that it was hanging fairly sturdily, I reset my grip and pulled harder, crouching slightly into the seat of the throne. I put my legs on the back of the throne and pushed, my back halfway off the seat but keeping it in place. The tapestry finally gave way and I fell onto the floor in a heap of heavy cloth and limbs.
Not one to look a gift horse in the mouth, I untangled myself and wrapped my body in the dusty, itchy warmth of the tapestry. I sneezed a few times, the dust finding its way into my nostrils, and scrunched my nose to try and prevent further problems with allergies. Moving down the stairs slowly now, due to the new weight of my blanket, I looked around with less worry of my body temperature.
Sunlight and the morning breeze came freely into the room due to a large hole in the wall behind the two thrones. Cracks ran down the wall away from the hole and ended abruptly where a portion of wall was missing, seeming to separate the two thrones from each other. There were chunks of each throne missing, but, like its corresponding tapestry, the yellow throne looked worse for wear. Engraved in the walls on each throne’s side were more lunar and solar designs. To the left and behind the blue throne a moon, on the opposite side a sun.
As my body grew warmer and my thoughts became more focused, I cursed myself for tarnishing the wonderful symmetry of the room. It was obviously very carefully created by the ponies who designed it.
Ponies, I thought to myself again, my mind sticking to the word. Of course it was ponies. These are Luna and Celestia’s old thrones. I’m in the Castle of the Two Pony Sisters, right? After a few moments of looking around aimlessly, my hold on the tapestry loosened and it dropped from my shoulders, a soft thud echoing down the halls as it hit the floor.
“I’m in the Castle of the Two Pony Sisters… right?”