What If...
Project Emphenom #2: Crumble
Previous ChapterNext ChapterBirds.
Twilight rolled over, clenching her eyes shut against the bright morning sun.
The birds continued... warbling? The ones outside her castle didn't sound like this. Was it a new flock? Some migratory group passing through the area, maybe?
She sucked in a breath. In a few minutes, she would probably hear her alarm anyway.
...
...
This wasn't her bed.
Twilight jolted awake, her forehooves planting firm against the... grass?
The birds, whatever they were, fluttered away at the sight of her sudden movement.
"Spike?"
No answer. Not that she expected one given where she was.
Slowly, she stood up. The sun was already high in the sky, illuminating the fields around her in pastel greens and yellows.
She winced as she rubbed her forehead. She must've hit her horn somewhere the night before. Still, a headache was the least of her worries right now. None of this looked familiar to her. Not the hills, not the sky, not even the type of grass beneath her hooves.
Twilight sniffed the air. It even smelt different here. And where were the mountains?!
Peering into the distance, she just barely made out the figure of what appeared to be a city. Still, a growing unease gnawed at her from the inside. She unfurled her wings, preparing to take off.
The very first thing she needed to do was to get an idea of where she was. Hopefully, somepony in the place up ahead knew a thing or two about Equestria. Worst case scenario, she'd have to pick a direction to fly in and hope she'd run into some familiar landmark. Food would also be an important factor. Even if there is the city up ahead, she wouldn't be able to carry much with her as she traveled, so it'd be best to stay close to established roads and towns where she could stop for meals... or at least, she'd have to if she wasn't willing to forage instead.
Twilight continued her steady glide toward the city, beating her wings every so often to regain altitude. Did she ever read that foraging book Rainbow Dash showed her? She honestly couldn't remember--maybe it... no, for sure she would've noticed it if it slipped into her paperwork. And besides, if it really came to it, she could always eat grass.
Her attention drifted back to the sights beneath her. The city was far closer now, though it looked... abandoned? She could see the decaying towers from this distance, and there was a worrying lack of activity on the increasing number of roads that she passed over.
She picked a spot right around the outskirts of the inner city to land. A puff of dirt arose from beneath her hooves as she touched down. Just like how it looked from above, this whole place was empty. There was the occasional creature that'd make noise somewhere out of sight, but that was it. No ponies or any other sentient creature to be seen.
The dilapidated buildings around her creaked in the breeze. They were weathered both inside and out, and stank of mildew even from as far out as the street. Every so often, Twilight swore she spotted something flash at her. It was always a color that she couldn't quite name, and no matter how fast she was, it'd always be out of sight the moment she turned her attention to it.
She lit her horn.
Or at least, she tried to.
Her heart skipped a beat. Where was her magic? This should've come easy to her, and yet--
Another flash of light caught her eye.
As usual, it vanished before she even moved.
She tried to light her horn again. If not to reach for whatever creature was watching her, then at the very least it'd bring her some semblance of comfort to know she had something.
...Nothing.
No outflow of mana, no shimmering glow around her horn... she shuddered.
This was the source of that unease from earlier.
Magic was... gone?
She crouched down, scanning her surroundings with wary eyes.
There it was again.
Twilight inched away in the opposite direction. If she moved slowly, maybe it wouldn't notice.
...
...
What was she thinking? She had to... no, no. Safety first. Something deep insider her was screaming for her to run. To bolt as fast as her legs could carry her to who-knows-where, away from the... threat? Was this a threat?
Something brushed against her hoof, eliciting a frantic buck in its direction.
Nothing was there.
Her heart pounded in her throat. It was a mistake coming here. Once she reaches that area in the shade, she could--
A thud came from below--as if something had punched the road from underneath. Twilight fluttered her wings, shrinking back just in time to escape the sinkhole that'd formed where she was standing moments before.
Carefully, she peered over the edge.
A pool of shimmering colors and abstract shapes lapped against the walls of the sinkhole. She ducked away as a shard of unrecognizable hue shot up and out of the hole before dissipating into the air.
At least that explained one question. Still, the uneasy feeling she had lingered on. It was hardly scientific for her to base everything on a feeling, but something was watching her. She was sure of it.
The air pressure dropped. Twilight blinked, feeling the literal weight pressing down on her lift in a matter of seconds. She couldn't quite put a hoof on how it felt compared to before. It was like something got peeled back. Like removing a wet raincoat after being drenched.
Still, no magic.
But ahead of her now, and rapidly retreating, she saw a visible shimmer in the air just like the sort that creates a mirage on a hot day.
She peered one more time at the strange pool in the sinkhole before taking to the air. She needed to collect her thoughts. Preferably somewhere less unsettling.
Hopefully, she could find someone else.
Author's Note
this was a scrapped segment of what was intended to be an attempt to bridge Fractures over into the MLP space. That means that I've scrapped Fractures here on fimfiction twice now :P
Next ChapterWelp. Here I am, once again. Fractures is a fic that's been kickin' around in one form or another for ages, technically stretching as far back as my "Wielder of the Orb" days waaaaaaaaaaay back in 2014. This particular story isn't directly to the experimental Fractures that I wrote and intended to post chapter by chapter in blog posts, though it does draw from the same conceptual base.
In a sense, like many of my fics, this too is an experiment. Aside from Ruins and the very occasional updates that I gather the energy to write, I really haven't been all that present in the "serious story" space.
I want to change that. I want to return to trying out ideas for scenarios, characters, and places. See what works and what doesn't.
In a way, this is almost a return to how things once were. With fanfiction blazing the way for an original fiction follow-up, much like Pony-Me was when I was in high school. Just that this time, the original fiction was technically the first, but has been trapped in developmental h
ll for many, many years.
I don't intend for the original fiction Fractures to lag too far behind this fic. At most maybe an arc or two, though now that I'm saying that, it might be a little hard to match things up like that simply because of the difference in the basis of the stories.
In any case, there's only one way to find out how this new experiment of mine goes.
As always, thank you for reading, and I hope you enjoy.