Umbral Abyss

The Umbral Abyss

Welcome to your Eternity

Celestia's sun had not yet risen on the town of Ponyville. The sky on the horizon had just started to show a shade of orange signalling the coming dawn. On the edge of town on a bridge covering one particularly deep river stood the only pony in town who was not asleep. She was not a resident of the still sleeping town, in fact, she had only visited the rural settlement once in her entire life. However, that brief amount of time had managed to turn her entire life upside down. A unicorn of some fame, she traveled all over Equestria. A light blue in color with an even lighter, almost white two-tone mane and tail. Her purple eyes watched the stars fade from the sky as more light from the rising sun began to illuminate the world she would soon be leaving.

Absent her usual attire, her cape and hat, the only objects in her possession were a piece of parchment, a quill, a length of rope, and stone about the side of the average pony's head. When the celestial bodies of the night had vanished from view to make way for the morning the unicorns attention then turned to the parchment and quill. Taking hold of the quill with her magic she scrawled a short and direct message on the parchment. She reread what she written once and grinned smugly.

"There!" The unicorn beamed with satisfaction. "The Great and Powerful Trixie can no longer stand living in shame, surviving only on a diet of pine cones! I only hope she cries when she reads this and finds out what she did!"

She levitated the parchment away and lifted a small pebble on top of it. When she was sure that her note would not blow away with the wind she hoisted herself onto the railing of the bridge and retrieved the rope she had brought. One end she looped around her waist and secured it with a knot, the other was similarly affixed to the the large stone. Satisfied that neither end would become undone she let out a nervous sigh. Her facade of confidence no longer necessary at this point. Her eyes closed she levitated the stone over the side of the bridge and let it go.

The splash from the impact with the water was great enough to reach even the bridge. Her carefully placed parchment was dislodged and floated down to join the river and swept down stream never to be found. On it, the words read: "Twilight Sparkle, this is all your fault! -Signed, The Great and Powerful Trixie."

--||--

Trixie opened her eyes. Something wasn't right. Her hoofs were on solid ground. She could breath quite comfortably. She was no longer underwater, in fact she was completely dry. Confused, the blue unicorn surveyed her new surroundings.

The most immediate difference in her location, she noted, was that it was still dark out while she was sure she had been watching the sun rise moments ago. The sky, not clear, swirled with dark storm clouds. Under her hooves was a wide road of cobblestone that extended before her as far as the eye could see. The terrain itself was flat and featureless. A grass plains stretched on in all directions was all that surrounded the former stage magician.

She couldn't believe her eyes, her mouth hung open in shock. She turned around to see that she stood at the base of a massive tower. She could see that there were at least two more roads identical to the one on which she stood leading into the sides of the tower and off into the distance in a perfectly straight line. She suspected another road must be connected to the far side of the tower which was obscured from her vision. The blue mare craned her head upwards to see if she could spot the top of the tower, but it extended well into the clouds that covered the sky. The stone bricks that composed the tower walls were dark, almost black, no light reflected off them as if they stole away any that dared touch its surface. The tower was mostly featureless, having no windows and only a balcony near the cloud layer could be seen.

The unicorn turned her exploring eyes back to the base of the tower where the road met the tower. She could only assume that before her was a door. It had hinges on either side, indicating a double door that opened from the middle but there was no latch, or knob on the flat panel in front of her. It was a different material entirely from the rest of the tower. It appeared to be obsidian, volcanic glass and on it was was plate of metal riveted in the very center. It stood out to the mare, being highly polished and reflective, even in the dark world she found herself in. On it was etched a message:

"Liars, Traitors, and Murderers, Here we cast them into the Umbral Abyss"

Trixie shivered as she read the words. Suddenly she felt as this had not been the best course of action. She slowly backed away from the tower. A feeling had overcome her, fear perhaps or just instinct. Something told her to put some distance between her and this monument.

"The Crossroad, and Nil." Trixie stopped. She forgot why she was backing away as she heard a voice.

"What?" She looked around in confusion at the source of what had called out to her.

"The answers to the first two questions pony's usually ask me. 'Where am I?' and 'Who are you?' It spoke again. This time the blue unicorn was able to pin point where it was coming from. She turned her head upwards once again and found, perched on the top of the door frame sat a pegasus.

She looked down at the newly deceased pony with half lidded jade green eyes. Her coat strange shade of blue, close to blue-grey, it was hard for the unicorn to place in this light. Her mane was a jet black, short and slicked back against her head and down her neck. Oddly, her midsection was wrapped up in what appeared to be a bandage, but that wasn't all. Hanging from a cord around her waist was a peculiar corked bottle.  It appeared empty and Trixie briefly wondered why she would be carrying it. Through the clear glass she could see the cutie mark that adorned her flank. A simple black Zero.

"This place, is called the Crossroads?" Trixie spoke, finished with her inspection, she was unimpressed. "Is Trixie to guess you are the Grim Reaper or something?"

"What? No such thing!" The pegasus laughed. "I'm just another stiff, same as you."

"Trixie must confess, she expected the afterlife to be less..." She paused and gestured to her surroundings. "...gloomy."

"Do you have a short memory?" The blue flyer raised an eyebrow at the unicorn. "This isn't the afterlife, this is the Crossroads. As in, the crossroads between life and death. You're only half way there."

"Trixie does not understand."

"I suspect Trixie seldom does." At that, Nil was met with a cold glare.

"Why even have this place? Why not just go right to the end?" The annoyed expression on Trixie's face only grew more intense as she demanded answers.

"Beats me. I didn't make the rules. Maybe to give ponies a chance to reflect back on their life as they crossed over. Maybe it's all a cruel joke on us from some creator with a sick sense of humor. Really, your guess is as good as mine." Nil really was getting tired of repeating herself every time a pony kicked the bucket. Briefly she considered what the consequences would be if she just made a sign pointing in the direction of where they were meant to go. They'd probably still mess it up somehow. The road only goes in one direction, away from the tower. How hard could it be?

"Well, Trixie thanks you for the information, however little help it was, but she doesn't wish to stay in such a creepy place with such... creepy... company any longer than she has to." The unicorn mare had become totally uninterested with conversing with the dead pegasus the moment she realized she wasn't going to learn anything of any real value. She turned around and started trotting away, suddenly remembered she wanted to get away from the tower in a hurry. She thought about asking what the strange engraving meant but doubted she would receive a helpful response.

"Just follow the road behind you and you should reach-" Nil stopped mid sentence to notice that the unicorn below her was no longer paying any attention and was looking off the side of the road to the ground beyond it. "Hey! Don't leave the road, if you wander off the path you cant return to it!" The warning was ignored.

"The Great and Powerful Trixie does not need your advice." With that, she stepped off the road and onto the grass. A Decision she instantly regretted. As soon as all four hooves touched the ground Trixie was overwhelmed with dread. She felt as if her magic had been drained away from her. She looked down at her hooves and screamed. "Wha- What is happening!?" A creeping blackness was slowly engulfing her form, no, it was as if all her color was fading from her body. Where her hooves had touched the ground had become transparent black and was spreading to the rest of her form.

"I tried to warn you."  Nil said calmly as she hovered in front of the fading unicorn.  Forget a sign, this road needed fences.

"Help me!" Trixie pleaded, the black had spread up her body to her neck, her cutie mark had vanished and her tail became a pure white but it didn't stop there. It continued, threatening to over take her entire body.

"Nothing I can do now. You made your bed, now lie in it." The pegasus stated flatly as she landed in front of shadow of a mare before her. Had Trixie been in a state of mind other than panic she may have noticed that a similar transformation did not occur on Nil.

By now, the entirety of Trixie's body had become a shadow. Where once were her purple eyes were only two blank white orbs void of any pupil or iris. Once a proud stage performer, now nothing but a ghost. She struggled to stay aware, all thought began to fade from her mind. The last thing she saw was the bandaged pegasus before her untie the bottle she was carrying and uncork it.

--||--

Elsewhere, among the infinite expanse of flat grass, there was another who had run into similar misfortune. There had been no warning for her and she wander far from the road. The tower in the center of the Crossroads was no longer visible from where she sat. She could not remember how she had come to be here or what she was doing. She mindlessly stared off in no particular direction. She too had become a shadow.

"Poor little shade." A voice behind her spoke. She still had mind enough to turn and look in the direction from where she had heard it. A bright point of silver light obscured her vision but she was sure it was another pony that had spoken to her. "All alone and afraid?" The voice sounded concerned but not genuinely so.

The light blinding the shadow pony dimmed and the details of the pony addressing her became clear. The object emitting light had been an ornate lantern levitated by unicorn magic. Standing beside it was the spell caster responsible. A unicorn of pure white looked over the shade. Her eyes a sharp red, and her mane and tail an icy blue. Her hair was long and flowed over one shoulder. There were three ribbons tied around it at different lengths holding it together, likewise with her tail. Her cutie mark a black sphere surrounded by blue fire, an eclipsed sun.

"There are plenty of shades out here already, my little pony." The unicorn grinned as the shade looked up at her with her hollow white eyes. "Why don't you come home with me?"

--||--

High in the sky where tower meets clouds, the blue-grey pegasus that called this  tower her home, landed on the balcony. With a yawn and stretch of her wings she entered the tower interior. Inside was only a single room with a wood door on the far end leading to a stair well that went up and down the height of the entire tower. Shelves lined the walls, completely stacked to capacity with tomes of unknown content and origin. From the ceiling hung a chandelier of tarnished brass. Though there were no candles upon it, wisps of flame danced around it, giving the room a warm glow.

Nil casually walked towards a coat hanger that stood next to the rooms only other entrance, her hooves clicking against the bare stone floor. She once again unwound the bottle tied to her side and hung it on the highest rung of the coat hanger. It was not the empty vessel it had been before she left. Inside it now was a tiny, dark storm cloud floating innocently in the center. With her possession safely stowed she turned to face the empty room.

"Eclipse! Winter Eclipse!  You here?" The pegasus called out. Her eyes surveying the room, looking for a sign of who she was looking for. The only reply she received was silence.

Certain she was alone in the tower the pegasus made her way to indulge in her one guilty pleasure. In the very center of the room the floor indented slightly, a shallow circular pool of sorts. Water did not occupy the space of this pool, instead it was filled with a swirling mist. The bandaged mare made herself comfortable at its edge and looked down into the storm of fog.

After only a moment the haze broke and an image became clear. The bored expression which the pegasus usually sported, was replaced by one of awe and keen interest as she watched the scene unfold before her. What she witnessed could have been mistaken for a wedding, if not for the battle that was taking place. She had seen battles before, but what surprised her was the fact that Princess Celestia herself was one of the combatants! The solar diarch was locked in a duel with a gruesome foe who looked more like an insect than a pony. The outcome was quickly decided. Celestia was struck down. Her crown skidded across the chapel floor while her opponent laughed in triumph.

Nil's bored expression returned instantly. Just as well, her ears swiveled in the direction of a sound they had just picked up. She waved a hoof through the brume and dispelled the scene. She could hear the sound of hooves meeting stone coming up the stairs. The corners of her mouth turned up in the slightest of smiles. Winter Eclipse must be back, she thought to herself. As she listened her smile evaporated. She did not hear a single set of hoof steps, but a pair. There were two ponies walking up the stairs.

Nil eyed the door as the steps ended behinded just briefly before it opened. A white unicorn stepped half way into the room, immediately noticing a bandaged pegasus sporting a sour look. She only gave her a toothy smile in return.

"What did you do Eclipse?" Accused the pegasus.

"Why Nil, you always assume the worst of me." The unicorn feigned offense and entered the room completely, allowing the pony that had followed her to enter as well. Nil shot the new comer and angry look before facing back to Winter and gave her and even angrier look.

"Why did you bring a shade back with you?" Her scowl did not relent as she raised a hoof in the direction of their newest visitor. The frightened shadow pony shrunk back at the hostility coming from the pegasus.

"Be nice. You started out like this too you know. Besides, I thought you could use some help around here. There are four roads and only one of you. Someone should be keeping the roads safe while you're lazing about in front of that window all the time." Explained Winter Eclipse.

"Hey that's not fair! I was just out there not five minutes ago. It's been real quiet lately anyway. I don't need any help." Nil wasn't sure how this conversation had turned on her but she didn't like being on the defensive. Winter only grinned back at her.

"That is why it is the right time to show somepony the ropes. You won't be too busy to teach her and help her get accustomed to her new 'life' here. I'm going to be very busy myself out there and I don't have time to spare doing it myself."

"But I-!"

"Then it's settled!" The snow colored unicorn ignored any further protests from her companion and turned to the cowering shade behind her. "First things first though"

Winter Eclipse levitated her lantern between the shadow pony and herself. A burst of light beamed out towards the shade. She winced at the blinding light, her silhouette cast on the wall behind her. Strange magics filled the room. Nil only watched as the unicorn spell caster's horn charged with a silver light that bolted out and struck the lantern in front of her. Instantly the silhouette on the wall twisted and contorted.  It swirled and compacted and peeled from the wall becoming a solid object. When it was done the light from the lantern ceased and what had been a shadow on the wall was now a book that dropped to the floor with a dull thud.

Where the shadow pony stood now only an ordinary earth pony remained. A cream yellow in body. A mane and tail of crimson that flowed like fire with eyes like amethysts. Her cutie mark a plain and simple quill. She looked around the room and at the two ponies that stared back at her. Rubbing her eyes, as if expecting to wake from a dream she said nothing, waiting to see what would happen next.

Winter eyed her work with pride, another complete success. Nil, however, was far less impressed. She walked past the both to the tome that had struck the ground. It was a simple leather bound volume with no title or image on its cover.

"A book? How boring." The pegasus said as she inspected it, turning it over with it a hoof.

"We can't all have bottled clouds now can we Nil?" Winter turned from her pegasus friend to address the earth pony next. "So, my little pony, what do we call you?"

"Ah!" The cream colored mare jumped as attention had been turned to her so suddenly. Unsure exactly what was going on she nervously replied. "My name is Scarlet Script, ma'am!"

"So formal! That's cute." Winter laughed. "Anyway, I'll leave you two to get better acquainted.  Have fun now, Scarlet, Nil."

"Wait! Eclipse!" Nil's cry to the white unicorn was unheard, with a pop she had teleported away. The two ponies were left in awkward silence. Nil felt her eye twitch. She picked up the book on the floor and tossed it at Scarlet's hooves. The earth pony looked down at it in confusion before looking back up at the pegasus, an unsaid question in her eyes. "Guard that book like your life depended on it, because it does! Welcome to your eternity."