Anonymous in Nu-Questria 2

“Anon.”

You tilt your head up.

You see her silhouette in the doorway. The hall stretches out behind her.

“Is it time, then?” You say.

“Not yet.” She says. “First... I need to show you something.” Twilight says.

Her horn glows violet. You are picked up in a telekinetic field. You don’t struggle against it. You simply go limp.

“Yeah, not feeling it. Just put me away already.” You say.

“You don’t understand, Anon.” Twilight says. You float up to her position in the middle of the doorway.

“You seem to think you have any control here. You not understand your place in my world. You don’t understand who you’re dealing with.”

Her bony hooves clack along the corridor as she turns and steps through the hall. The rooms go by one by one as you are dragged along through the air. There’s an unsettling stillness to everything in this place.

“I am the light of Equestria, Anonymous. The guiding star. Everything would have been for naught if I did not survive. And yet I beat the odds. I have defeated every villain and dispelled every malevolent force that has come my way. To think you could just come and try to end me like this! You are nothing in comparison to what I’ve faced.”

She stops in front of a door near the end of the hall.

“Let me show you exactly what I mean.” She says.

She presses her hoof against the door, and thin lines of magic spread out across it. The ancient door with its expertly designed carvings slowly begin to swing open. It reveals another room with a high, vaulted ceiling.

Twilight steps inside, floating you along with her.

“Welcome to my library, Anon.” Twilight says.

As you look up at the walls, you feel a twinge of disbelief shoot through your mind.

There are rows of vertical alcoves carved into the crystal walls of this crypt-like place. Inside every alcove is a statue. Each statue is a creature. They range from many different kinds. Yaks, griffons, dragons, cats, dogs, hawks, eagles, centaurs. There’s even some ponies mixed in. The more you look, the more you realize they all have one thing in common: they all look completely terrified.

This is no library. This is her prison.

The rows of graves rise up into the inky darkness before being interrupted by another row of torches, but they extend even further beyond that. The room breaks into many sections further in.

There must be hundreds, if not thousands of creatures trapped in stone.

“Impressed? Behold, human. This is the fate of those who oppose destiny. Every one was willing to give up their life to bring disorder to this world. Now they spend their lives in stone. You will take your place among them, as it always should be.”

Twilight lowers you to the center of the room.

You stand on your feet and look at her. The demon. The possessed corpse of a pony that died a long time ago.

“Many ponies have gone to great lengths to protect me, Anon. To preserve the last vestige of magic in this world. Yet I have never taken a life myself. I keep my enemies, Anon. I learn from them.”

“You’re sick, Twilight. You’re fucked in the head.” You say.

Twilight shakes her skeletal head slowly.

“No. If there is anyone here who is mentally unwell, Anon, it is you.” Twilight says. “How can you look upon my collection and still think you have any chance of hurting me?”

You narrow your eyes at her. Twilight tilts her head mockingly.

“Well, it’s true that my magic is not what it used to be. But I didn’t let that stop me. I have developed spells allow me to peer into the memories of those I have petrified. I am able to review their lives at my leisure, discovering all their horrible truths.”

You look over at a statue of an adult male griffon. He’s rearing back, his talons raised defensively and has a look of pure fear on his face.

“Whatever secrets you still keep from your world... I will find them. I will study them. I will best them.” Twilight says.

She begins to walk around you. Her lidless eyes peer into your soul.

“We are locked in a war of cultural and technological progression, Anon. Whether you like it or not.” She says.

She passes by your shoulder. You turn turn your head to her. Your body is tense and ready to act even though you know it’s pointless.

“I think we both know who’s going to win. So, let’s end this now. No more secrets, Anon. No more lies. Submit to my commands. It makes this procedure go by much... easier.” She says.

She stands in front of you. The robed, skeleton figure turns to look into your eyes. You can no longer recognize her as anything remotely resembling a pony.

“You know what, Twilight?” You say. “You’re psychotic. Genuinely psychotic. Look at what you’ve fucking done. You think that I’m the bad guy? I’ve never imprisoned anyone in stone.”

Twilight looks at you, blank and unmoving save for her shifting eyes.

“Well? What do you have to say, you self-absorbed, autistic virgin? You know, after all these years I thought you would have gotten laid at least once. Maybe some dick would have loosened that stick up your twat. Instead you probably only get off to smothering foals in their sleep, don’t you?!” You say.

Twilight’s horn sparks with a few small zaps. She tilts it towards you. You clench your hands and stare back at her.

“Yeah. That’s more like it. Go on, Twilight. Why just trap me in stone? Why not kill me, huh? What’s the fucking difference at this point?!” You say.

Twilight’s horn starts to flow with a darker hue of energy. There’s bubbling black and green ichor seeping out of it. Purple smoke trails off the tip of her horn.

“Do you think I am not capable of inflicting fates worse than death, Anonymous?” She says in a calm, passionless tone.

You look at the black magic seeping from her horn. Who knows what it might do? Who knows how far she’s fallen. Despite your fear, you resolve to at least die standing.

But yet, your eye twitches and you lean back a bit. In turn, her horn stops seeping dark magic. She leans her head up, and there’s a hint of satisfaction in her body language.

“Enjoy trying to rile me up while you can, Anonymous.” She says. “Soon the only words out of your mouth will be ‘please’ and ‘stop.’”

Twilight turns from you and walks further into the room. As she does so, you hear the sound of shifting stone gears. The floor in front of her opens up as two heavy, crystal panels slide apart. A stone workbench then rises up out of the floor.

You realize that this is her work space for spellcraft. It is littered with books, parchment, gems, trinkets and various components. This is where she does her work, standing among stone bodies.

You then notice something odd. On her workbench there is only one piece of decoration. It’s a large snow globe of a town, and is completely encased in a shield spell.

Why would she need to put a protective shield around a snow globe? Wait. Unless...?

Twilight returns from her workbench levitating a book with her magic. It’s bound in dark blue and has a picture of a pony in profile on the cover. There’s a cutaway exposing a diagram of its brain.

“Here we are. Sit tight while I review the spell. This will only take-”

Twilight is interrupted by a rumble that shakes the room for a brief moment.

Twilight immediately glances around. Her eyes pass over you, but you are still standing right where she put you. After she sees nothing, she starts to quickly walk to the door.

As she passes you again, there’s another slight rumble. It feels closer this time, and you can hear the muffled sound of stone crumbling away.

You turn to the door as Twilight keeps walking towards it. Suddenly, thin rays of golden light start to seep out of cracks. You hear the wobbling trill of magic rising in the air.

With a sudden explosion of light, the door is blown open. The huge doors fall down to the floor, coming clean off their stone hinges. Chunks of crystal glass scatter across the floor, and a plume of dust is kicked up into the air. You shield your head with your hands on instinct, and Twilight turns away.

You see a shining beacon of light through the dusty haze. Two golden, outstretched wings and a glittering horn.

Sunny?!

The dust clears, and you see a defiant look in those turquoise eyes. She stands so proudly with that determined gaze, and you cannot help but feel elated as the knot loosens in your chest.

Twilight merely stares back at her. Then she raises a hoof and pulls down her hood. A long, flowing mane of purple, pink and blue spills out of it.

She has regained her illusory form.

“Sunny Starscout. You’re back.” Twilight says in a disturbingly cheery voice.

“Princess Twilight! I'm sorry about your door! But I figured it out! Anon can be saved! Together we can redeem him!” Sunny says, puffing up her chest.

The little ethereal alicorn steps forward boldly into the room. You don’t hesitate for a second.

“Sunny! Stop! Twilight has gone insane!” You shout. “She’s not in her right mind! She’s... undead! She’s a lich!”

Sunny looks at you with sudden shock as she stops in her tracks.

“Enough!” Twilight says as she whips her head back to you. Her horn shoots a bolt of vibrating dark energy at your feet. Spires of dark crystal immediately begin to grow around your boots, and in half a second, you are completely rooted to the ground.

“Shit!” You say. You struggle against it, but your feet are stuck.

When you look back up, you see Sunny staring around at all the statues around her. Her mouth is agape and her eyes are wide with horror as the terrible realization comes to her.

Twilight takes a step forward.

“Sunny. I know what this may look like to you, but please, you must try to understand...” Twilight says.

“Wh-what? Who are these creatures? What is all this?” Sunny says as her eyes sweep over the cold, unmoving bodies.

Twilight takes a long, deep breath.

“Sunny. Just like Anon, these creatures had to be taken out of our world. It’s necessary. It’s so we can build a world without unneeded disturbances.” She says.

Sunny gives her a look of confusion mixed with disgust.

“I did this for you, Sunny.” Twilight says.

Sunny shakes her head and clenches her eyes. Her wings glow brighter and her horn shines. She turns to Twilight with burning anger in her eyes.

“I would never want you to do this!!” Sunny says in a hysterical tone. She grimaces as hot tears run down her cheeks.

She then levels her horn at the Princess.

“You are not Twilight Sparkle!” She says with zealous fervor.

Sunny’s horn begins to shine with the most illustrious glow you have seen yet. You wiggle your toes in your boots, but no matter how you shift, you still can’t seem to get free.

“But I am Twilight Sparkle, Sunny.” Twilight says. “I can explain everything. Don’t do something you might regret.”

“Let Anon go. Now!” Sunny shouts.

Twilight turns her face to the side. She looks at you with one large, purple eye. You can barely glimpse the arcane flames burning behind the illusion.

“I won’t do that, Sunny.” Twilight says with a disgusting smirk crawling up her lips.

Twilight turns back to the defiant mare.

“Think of your future. Think of what we can accomplish together. You were born for this. You were always meant to become-”

“No!” Sunny shouts.

She leans her head up and stomps a hoof. A bolt of energy zaps right in front of Twilight’s hooves.

“The only one that gets to decide my fate is me.” She says. “And I won’t stand by someone like you!”

You feel a twinge of hope flutter in your chest.

“Is that so?” Twilight says, tilting her head to the side.

You try to yank out your feet while Twilight is distracted. If you can just get over to that workbench, maybe you can grab that snow globe.

“Do you believe that circumstances such as yours just happen on a whim? Do you think that destiny makes mistakes?” Twilight says.

Sunny bares her teeth. “I don’t care! What you’re doing is wrong!”

“Oh, my little Sunny...” Twilight says in a facetious tone. “You’re not thinking long-term. You need to consider what’s best for all of Equestria, not just what you think is right. They will all wake up in time, and when they see the world we have created-”

“STOP!” Sunny says. “I’m not a little kid! I’m a fully grown mare! I know what’s right and what’s wrong, and abandoning your friends, trapping all these creatures in stone - that’s not good! It’s not what my father had in mind when he talked about you!”

Sunny snorts aggressively through her nose as her horn shimmers brighter. Twilight closes her eyes and shakes her head steadily.

“Argyle Starshine was a great stallion, Sunny. An exemplary scholar in my order.”

“Don’t you dare say his name!” Sunny says. Her horn emits several glistering sparks.

“He was a true believer. I knew from the very start.” Twilight says, taking another step forward. “He was the perfect choice to raise you.”

“Be quiet!!” Sunny cries out.

“If he could see you now... he would be very disappointed, Sunny.” Twilight says.

“STOP!!” Sunny says, shutting her eyes tight.

Without warning, Sunny shoots a bolt of radiant light out of her horn. It strikes Twilight directly in the chest. The impact ripples against her, and the magic spills off on all sides.

Twilight turns a little. The magic fades.

“Oof.” Twilight says, rubbing her chest. She rolls her head over to Sunny.

“That was a pretty strong horn zap.” She says. “But say, didn’t you pay attention to your lessons? I’m the element of MAGIC!”

Sunny gasps silently and folds her ears back.

You watch Twilight power up her horn, and a bolt of black and purple energy which writhes through the air like a python as it closes in on Sunny.

“SUNNY!!” You cry out. She’s just standing there in shock!

The tendrils of dark, occult magic surround Sunny. For a brief moment, it looks like she will be overwhelmed. Then a shimmering hemisphere of gilded light surrounds her body. The dark magic is pushed back by the bolt of rainbow-colored light coming from Sunny’s horn. With a single, bold step forward, Sunny pushes back against Twilight’s assault.

Sunny concentrates and focuses her beam of arcane energy. It becomes a shining lance piercing into the mouth of the black serpent.

Twilight shrieks with hideous laughter. Sunny gradually starts to gain ground against her opponent.

“It seems I was wrong! You aren’t fit to become my student after all!” Twilight yells.

Sunny and Twilight seem evenly matched now. You silently pray as you keep wiggling your feet inside the boots. Your sweat is dripping into them, making it feel damp inside.

“Stop this! I don’t want to fight you!” Sunny says loudly.

“Oh, but it’s too late for that, Sunny.” Twilight says. “You’ve already broken my heart. You’ve already betrayed Equestria! All for a violent, loathsome human!”

Sunny’s beam of energy keeps going strong, but Twilight stands confidently and doesn’t even seem to be trying.

Twilight then sucks in a deep breath. At the same time, the torches around the room all flicker and nearly snuff themselves out. Threads of magic energy snake through the air all around and funnel into the tip of Twilight’s horn.

She’s pulling in all the ambient magic in the area.

As she does this, her body ignites in tongues of violet flame. Her cloak burns away almost instantly. Her illusory form vanishes. All that is left are bones and fire.

Sunny looks on in pure terror at at Twilight’s true form. Two massive wings of bone fold out on Twilight’s sides.

Sunny’s mouth quivers, and her energy beam nearly falters momentarily before she corrects herself. She grits her teeth and concentrates more, but it is not enough. Twilight’s magic beam starts to overpower Sunny’s. Ethereal violet feathers sprout along her outstretched pegasus appendages.

“Give up, Sunny! You have no chance to defeat me. I am Equestria’s truth! I am Equestria’s light!” Twilight screams.

Fucking hell. Of course Sunny could never win in a one-on-one magic duel with her. That’s ridiculous! What is she thinking?!

You frantically look around for something to use. You twist your upper body and look over your shoulder. You notice that the magic shield around the snow globe has disappeared. Twilight must have sucked away all the magic from it. Now’s your chance!

“Sunny! On the work table!” You shout and gesture at it.

Sunny glances over at you. She’s sweating bullets trying to ward off Twilight’s encroaching attack. She’s giving everything she can and can’t spare any more. She sees your motions, but can do nothing.

“Hold on, Anon!” She says desperately.

“Do not think of saving him. He deserves to live in STONE!” Twilight shouts.

You feel all faith and optimism drain from your face as you see Twilight’s arcane energy overtake Sunny Starscout.

She is blown backward and is thrown violently to the ground. She tumbles end over end and the pony crystals clatter to the ground.

“SUNNY!” You shout. You are compelled to move by a force you cannot ignore. You suddenly realize that your foot has popped out of one of the boots. You look down in surprise and immediately start to work your other foot loose.

Sunny lifts up her head in a daze. Her ethereal alicorn form is still functioning, but she looks punch drunk.

Twilight approaches her slowly.

“Oh, my poor, deluded child. It appears you've lost. Time to give up now!” Twilight says as she takes a half step forward.

Sunny flails her legs and then quickly stands up onto her hooves. She aims her horn at Twilight, who is now only a few yards away.

“Is... is that all you’ve got?!” Sunny shouts.

Twilight stops and looks at her. Violet flames still cover her skeletal body, and she lets out a laugh.

“Oh ho ho, so you still want to fight? Are you serious?” Twilight says.

You manage to free your other foot from their crystal-encased prison.

Yes! Fuck yes!

Without thinking, you quickly turn and run towards the workbench.

“I won’t let you do this.” Sunny says to Twilight.

You sprint towards your salvation. You lean forward and put everything you can into it.

“Your optimism is truly inspiring, but it’s getting a bit dull.” Twilight says. “You are in the wrong here, Sunny. Yield. Now.”

The balls of your feet smack the crystal floor again and again. Your muscles course with adrenaline.

“I won’t give up! Anon is my friend and I won’t leave him behind!” Sunny shouts.

You are very close now. You reach out your hand towards it.

“That is not your decision to make! It never was!” Twilight screams.

You grab it.

Inside the snow globe there is a small cottage town in a pastoral landscape. You recognize it instantly. Ponyville in winter. The calm, pastoral scene tugs at pent-up, nostalgic memories. This has to be it.

“Hey, Twilight!” You yell.

You raise the bauble up over your head with two hands.

Twilight slowly turns to you. Her flaming eyes see you standing across the room with her priceless possession in your clutches.

“Any last words?” You say confidently.

“Put that down, Anonymous. Put it down. Right. Now.” Twilight says coldly.

“No. I don’t think I will.” You say. “I think I just figured out the source of your power, bone pone.”

Sunny’s ears perk up when you say this. A hopeful expression washes over her face.

Twilight is carefully walking towards you now. Her horn shoots arcs of black electricity out to the sides.

“Put it down!” Twilight says.

“I’ll fucking do it!” You say. You’re holding onto the thing very tightly. The moment she gets to close or uses magic, you’re going to spike it right into the ground.

Twilight stops walking.

“One last chance. Stop this foolishness and-”

Sunny blasts Twilight from the side with a spear of golden energy.

“ANON! DO IT! NOW!!” She yells.

You give her a half of a second to look at you, helpless to her own demise. You want her to make sure she watches this.

“Bye, Twilight!” You say.

You heave the globe to the floor with all your might.

“NO!!” Twilight screams. A wave of dark energy bursts from her body, and Sunny’s magic fades as she is thrown back. Twilight’s horn crackles with magic. She lunges forward on illusory wings, but it’s too late.

The globe smashes into the ground and shatters. The sound of bursting glass and spilling water reverberates through the room.

Twilight lands on the floor. She looks upon the wreckage in horror. Then, she throws her head back and begins to scream.

“AAAGH!!” Twilight yells at the top of her lungs. The fire around her body explodes into a raging inferno. Spouts of flame shoot from her eyes.

The entire castle begins to shake as she continues to scream. You crouch to the floor to keep your balance. Sunny covers her head with her hooves.

Twilight rears up. Shimmering magic illuminates her hooves for a moment before they come down with a sonorous boom. Magic sigils trace along the floor in effervescent lavender. The room rumbles slightly, and some of the statues wobble on their bases. You tense up, but remain standing.

Crystalline dust begins to fall from the ceiling. A few cracks form the walls all around the room. As the earthquake dies down, a thin stream of water starts to trickle in from one of the walls.

Twilight’s form slouches. The flames wreathing her body dim and then disappear. Only the fire in her eyes remain.

You stand poised to move. Sunny stands to her hooves, and her alicorn magic rises back to full strength.

It looks like Twilight’s panting heavily, but you know she has no breath. Somehow, despite your best efforts, she still remains upright.

“You idiot!” Twilight shouts. “You absolute moron!”

Her horn glows. Your body is suddenly wrenched upward by a dark field of magic. Before you can do anything, you are thrown across the room.

You spin, losing all sense of spatial awareness before your back slams into a wall. All breath is pushed immediately from your chest and you wheeze with pain.

“Gah!!” You shout.

“Anon!” Sunny yells.

“Did you really think I would put my phylactery out in the open?! You absolute buffoon. That was the only snow globe of Ponyville left in existence and you ruined it!!” Twilight yells.

You are thrown across the room again. You make it half way across before you end up tumbling across the floor. Your arms and legs are battered and pain wracks your body.

“Agh! F-fuck!” That’s all you can manage to say as you lay face-up on the floor.

“Anon!” Sunny says as she rushes over to you. She gingerly puts a hoof under your head and uses her magic to help you sit up. You wearily move up to a sitting position and rub your shoulder with a groan.

“I’m... okay. I’m okay, Sunny.” You say to her. You wince as you do. You’re not okay. Your whole body hurts. You're pretty sure something broke.

In spite of that, you feel glad knowing that she’s with you now. Even though your plan didn’t work, at least you got to see her one last time.

“Was is the shield I put around it? Is that why you thought it was important?” Twilight says. “I put that there to protect it from ambient moisture! Not because it contained my soul!”

Twilight’s skeleton towers over you and Sunny. She tilts her head down at you, and her skull now looks like it has a sneer.

“Why do you always destroy everything you touch? Is nothing scared to you?” Twilight says angrily.

Sunny has her foreleg supporting your back. Without thinking, you drape your arm around her and pull her close to you. You press your face to her cheek and hold her tight.

Her fur is soft. Her body is warm. This once-familiar sensation now takes on new light as it becomes the sole object of your focus. You want to hold her. That’s all you want before you go.

“I’m sorry, Sunny. I tried.” You whisper.

“Anon, it’s okay...” Sunny says back. Her breaths are shallow and fast.

“No, it’s not.” You say in a kind voice. You shake a little, tears ebbing at the corners of your vision. “But before we get turned to stone... just know that I’m... I’m really glad you came back for me.”

Twilight stands above you both. The water seeping in through the cracks is the only noise in the room as it forms small puddles on the floor.

“Anon, I...” Sunny says as she presses closer into the embrace. “I just couldn’t leave you. I couldn’t.”

“I know, Sunny.” You say as you pet her mane softly. “I know.”

Although it hurts beyond measure, you let her press herself against your torso and clench her hooves tighter. You hold on and command yourself to never let go.

You let yourself accept this last moment of serendipitous compassion as you wait for Twilight to cast her spell. It doesn’t matter any more. You’d endure a thousand years in stone as long as it was with her.

And yet, the spell never comes.

You slowly lift up your head. Sunny leans back from the hug.

You look over to see that Twilight has stepped away. She is staring at the broken snow globe, which lies in pieces on the floor. The small pellets of fake snow are being washed away by the expanding puddles on the floor.

“Love.” She says, her tone somber with a hint of disbelief.

Sunny leans off you and stands up. You slowly rise up to your feet as well.

Twilight looks at her reflection in the puddle. She touches a bony hoof to the side of her skull, feeling for flesh that is no longer there. Her firelight eyes glimmer in the reflective surface.

“There are few things more powerful in this world. Few things that can overcome impossible odds...” She says.

She hangs her head and slowly sits down on her haunches.

“What have I done? Oh sweet Celestia, what have I done...?” She says.

You look to Sunny. She looks back, shocked.

Twilight gradually looks over to you both. There is a calmness in her eyes now. It suggests that something lost was now found.

“What sort of madness have I fallen into this time, when I cannot even recognize true love when it is right in front of me?” She says.

“You have every right to look upon me in horror. Not only am I a monster in appearance, I have lost sight of what I truly strive for. The call of friendship no longer beats in my heart. There is no heart left to call to.”

“Twilight...” Sunny says in a scared voice.

“Go.” Twilight says abruptly. “Leave this place.”

You can hardly believe what’s she’s saying.

“You don’t have to do this...” Sunny says.

Twilight stomps the puddle to disrupt her reflection. She lets out a sigh as she turns back to you both. There is a great deal of pain in her voice as she speaks.

“You are right. I am no longer Twilight Sparkle. That pony died a very long time ago...!”

Sunny covers her mouth with a hoof. You look at Twilight with a serious expression, knowing that she’s finally seeing the truth of her actions.

“Leave this tomb to ruin... and me along with it.” Twilight says. “Let the past be buried here. Go on and do what you please.”

You don’t know what to say. Sunny just stares at Twilight.

“If you truly must know... then take this with you.” Twilight says.

A small device floats over towards you and Sunny. It looks like USB drive for a computer, but it’s shaped differently and encased in white plastic with gold trim. It is unlabeled, but clearly of great import.

“Inside this device is the entirety of Equestria’s history. Study it, and you will know the truth. The entire truth. Everything, including the parts I’d rather not mention.” Twilight says.

Sunny reaches out a hoof for it, but hesitates. You quickly snatch the drive out of the air.

Twilight nods gently.

“Now go before I change my mind.” Twilight says.

You slip the drive into your pocket. You then turn to Sunny, who is still looking at Twilight with an uneasy expression.

“Come on, Sunny. You heard her. She’s not the person you looked up to. Not any more.” You say.

Sunny doesn’t glance at you. She takes a step forward towards Twilight.

“I can still help you...” Sunny says.

Twilight shakes her head and turns away. Her voice takes on a very distant tone.

“Help me by living, Sunny. Believe in yourself and your friends. Keep those who are important close to you.” She says.

“Do what I should have done. Cherish them. Love them. When they depart, know that they have never truly left you. Don’t ever let yourself forget that.” Twilight says.

She then points her horn towards the ceiling. With a crackle of ferocious arcane energy, a bolt of magic flies out and strikes the ceiling.

A shockwave ripples across the room. The ground begins to shake again, and chunks of stone begin to fall.

“No! Twilight!” Sunny says.

“It’s over!” You say. “We have to get out of here!”

You quickly shove the drive into Sunny’s bag. You then pick her up by the barrel and quickly start to walk towards the door.

“Twilight! Please! Please don’t do this!” Sunny begs as she reaches out a hoof towards her.

“Farewell, my student. Take good care of the ponies for me.” Twilight says as she looks over her shoulder.

You carry Sunny out of the grand hall, managing to keep your footing on the trembling ground thanks to your naked feet. You take her to the staircase as she keeps calling out for Twilight.

The massive length of the spiral staircase towers above you. The walls are shifting and cracks are spreading up the great length of the passage. You know you have no chance of making it up all of them in time, but yet you persist.

You round the first couple of flights in a delirious panic. Sunny writhes in your arms and wiggles out of your grip.

She lands on the floor and leaps up a few steps.

“Fine! Let me do it!” She shouts as she starts to ascend the stairs on her own.

You nearly trip as the tower jostles violently. A large chunk of stairway careens past you into the floor below. Your exit seems incredibly far away.

“I don’t think we’re going to make it!” You say as you brace yourself against the wall.

“Don’t say that!” Sunny shouts.

With a flap of her ethereal wings, she lifts off the staircase and hovers in front of you.

“Hang on to me!” Sunny says.

“What?!” You say.

Before you can say anything, Sunny zips around to your back. You feel her hook her forelegs under your arms, and she grips your waist with her hind legs.

“Just hang on!!” Sunny yells.

You take a nervous breath, but Sunny is already pulling you off the ground. Her golden wings are beating heavily, and she manages to lift you. You clutch her forehooves tightly in your hands.

Sunny begins to fly up the center of the tower. More rocks begin to fall, but a shimmering field of magic deflects them. Sunny’s wings and horn emit a powerful light, and you both begin to pick up speed.

The crystals orbit around in a triple helix of trailing light. The resonate hum of arcane energy overpowers your senses, and all you can do is hope.

The tower begins to buckle and tilt to the side. Fault lines chase you up the passage and gushes of water begin to burst from the cracks. Sunny cries out as her desperate effort pushes you further to the surface.

The top landing of the staircase comes into view. Yet as it does, the ceiling begins to crumble. Your vision is filled with dust, debris, and radiant light.

You close your eyes. You feel your body being rotated quickly. You and Sunny corkscrew through the debris, pushing aside the hard stone with nothing but will alone.

Then, you are free.

Fresh, humid air smacks your face. You feel yourself leveling out. As you open your eyes, you see a sky of dispersed clouds and a sprawling lake below.

Sunny does not stop. Together, you streak across the sky, leaving a golden comet's tail.

The castle walls give way.

The water is rushing in.

You watched them leave. Now you die.

Around you, the statues stare with unblinking eyes as the water floods up around their bases. Soon your phylactery will be crushed, and the last tethers you have to this world will finally come loose.

Water engulfs you, yet you have no breath to hold. No skin to feel the cold of the depths. No eyes to see the dark. Silently, you prepare to accept death once more.

Somehow, you know they will make it out.

They, the ones who will light the dawn of a new age over Equestria, shall go on. You lived to witness it. It is the faintest consolation, but one you hold dear nonetheless.

A peace washes over you.

Let it be so. A new dawn. Free from the stained pages of history.

You feel something crunch inside you. A group of threads spin apart. The pin holding the weft of your soul has shattered. Everything comes loose.

You creep into the place beyond thought, beyond sensation, and beyond all knowledge. You finally let go, and wash unto the void.

Peace.

Then you open your eyes.

You must have spaced out while you were reading. You can’t remember the last sentence. The afternoon sun seeps into your fur, soaking it with cozy warmth. Your legs are folded beneath you. You sit below an ash tree in the park just outside Ponyville.

With a short sigh, you turn back the pages one by one, trying to find the last passage in the book that you remember.

Suddenly, the shadow of a hovering pegasus blots out the sun.

You turn to see Rainbow Dash as she lands beside you. She folds her wings in and swishes her mane back in her typical show-off way.

“Hey Twilight!” Rainbow Dash says with a well-meaning smirk. “Quit being such an egghead and hang out with us! Come on!”

You slowly look over to see Applejack and Fluttershy passing a beach ball between each other. They take turns hitting it into the air and chasing after it while laughing in the sun.

Rarity sits on a picnic blanket with Pinkie Pie. They chat pleasantly between bites of freshly-baked pastries. Pinkie smiles as she devours a cupcake whole.

“Sorry, Rainbow. You’re right.” You say. “I’m not sure what got into me. I can’t waste a perfect day like this!”

“Yeah! Now you’re talking!” Rainbow Dash says. She flies over towards the two ponies on the picnic blanket.

You follow in a prance. A smile springs to your lips. Normally you would be a bit perturbed by the thought of leaving a book without marking your place, but you know that some things are more important. You can always come back to it.

Your friends all smile brightly as they see you approaching.

"Twilight!" They say in unison, and you beam happily.