Back to WonderLandby RapidSnowChaptersChapter 1Chapter 2Chapter 3Chapter 1He sat alone for what seemed like the millionth time, doing nothing but staring at once was his beautiful and expansive city. The place where his majestic and beautifully built castle stood, the shops where the ponies spent their days toiling away with their own affairs, even the nobles. He missed their plain and adorable bickering over the most nonsensical topic, he missed it oh so dearly and would do anything to have that back. For at least a few minutes if it was possible. A simple taste at once was and he would take it in a heartbeat, no matter the consequences. A depressed sigh was let out as he shifted his position on the jagged and cracked ground. Struggling to find any sort of comfort from where he lay, not even the stars and teasing midnight sky did anything to help him as he looked over the ash filled ruins. Nothing was left. Absolutely nothing. Everything was reduced to ash and if fate had his mental well being in mind, that was the best part of it. It actually told signs of there actually being anything there before being reduced to ash. Not like the oceans or the vast forested areas of the world, there was no signs of anything being there prior. Except for the craters and indent lines left by their inhabitants. Just a sick reminder of what once was. What was once prosperous and beautiful. Left to absolutely nothing. Oh how he wished he could revert everything back to how it was. To the bright blue sky in contrast to the completely barren and ashy atmosphere, to..just anything that wasn't this! He wanted ponies to talk to! Ponies to adore and give guidance to when needed! He wanted his student back! He wanted his sister back! His eyes widened at the mention of his late sister. Painful and unwanted memories of their final moments together flooding back into his head as he snapped his eyes shut and shook his head. Every detail and every moment of what happened was playing out in his head. Causing his already depressed mood to completely plummet deeper into that pool of despair. He couldn't bare it. It was just too much. The voices. Her voice.. it just made him-- He slammed his head into the ground once. A number of feelings of pain emanated from his chin as he once again slammed his head into the ground. Continuing to do so until he could no longer hear the voices calling out to him, until the memories faded and he was left with his pain. He brought his shaky hooves up to his chin and flinched back at the cold metallic surface of his shoes. Before shaking his head and pressing them back towards the area of pain he caused. Momentarily slipped off the metal shoes and pressed his bare hooves to his face. Closing his eyes and focusing his magic towards his hooves he waited until a pleasant sensation coursed through his hooves and onto his face. The feeling of pain all but completely disappeared as he kept them there for a few seconds before opening his eyes. The magic loses its focus and returns back to the pool of magic in his horn. It was a blessing that he could still cast magic. An even bigger blessing for harmony to have kept his life despite all that he has done to harm it. An undeserving yet morbidly understandable punishment he absolutely deserved. That's why he gave thanks. No matter how guilty and unworthy he was of harmonies' malevolence, he gave thanks. Thankful despite him losing all his connections, the inner workings of harmony itself. Because in the end, it was all his fault that everything ended up this way He was the culprit for the sun entering its supernova stage of its life and engulfing the planet in its unrelenting waves of destruction. Responsible for why the moon collided with the planet, sitting lifeless and scorched off in the distance. It was his fault that his sister perished. His sister.. He felt the tears start forming once again as the intrusive thoughts were provoked from his repetition. His gaze fell back down to the ground he was laying upon like a disposed marionette doll. The coat he used to keep pristine was now a mix of all kinds of dirt and garbage. His hair lacked the usual magic surrounding it, now limply hanging around his shoulders with the multitude of colors having gone dull over time. His body was a mere shell of what it once was, the long and strong legs were replaced by much shorter and feeble ones. The large and encompassing wings lacked many of his beautiful prismatic feathers. They were not left smaller and weaker. Less could be said about the state of his horn. With it being almost completely shredded down to the top of his head, the messy and multicolored manes of his being able to efficiently hide what channeled his power. By now the tears were freely falling as he forcefully looked up towards the sky once more. Not being able to bear the sight of himself as he choked out a sob. "Please.." his voice broke. The powerful and baritone that layered it was completely gone. "Harmony that resides and guides..." He pushed himself onto his haunches and pressed both hooves firmly against each other as he uselessly prayed once again. Having done so over the course of all 100,000 years of this painful existence, pray to harmony. "I-i beseech thee.. please, spare me.." he begged. "Spare me from this nightmare from which I created.. please!" He said in growing desperation. The years of silence having thrown any semblance of patience out of his system long ago. "Please!" He cried out towards the heavens. But there would be nothing but silence in response to his pleas, as per usual. Casting an even further pit of depression for him to sink into. He continued staring up into the sky with his puffy eyes for a few moments before snapping his eyes shut and falling back down in anguish. He was too busy wallowing in his own despair that he never registered the light blue wisps of magic forming around him. Gently wrapping itself around his frail form and glowing brightly. Immediately disappearing from the spot from where he lay, without a trace of him. Neither was the force of harmony that oversaw his plight. Harmony would not listen to him any more. Neither will it do more for him in his situation, the sins that shrouded his entire existence having severed his connection to it forever. In turn causing the connection he had to both the sun and moon to continually dwindle with every passing decade. Up until the point of where the very event that destroyed his world and took his sister from him. For that he knew he was truly unforgivable. That with all the pleading and fruitless thoughts of better times, he would never be privileged with it again. The nightmare that he describes this as was one of his own making and he was going to suffer every single increment of it. Up until the point of his already weakening body withers into dust. His body had already dwindled to less than half of his original size, the vitality of being an alicorn without harmony supporting him sacrificed a majority of who he was so that he could live on. The endless mana supplies he harbored would soon start to completely break down his horn. Having already been successful with more than half of it missing. But harmony was not a cruel force of nature. Once the prince passes on, it would settle things back into place. Remaking and remodeling everything that it had done in tandem with the alicorns of this era. Essentially wiping the slate of the old Equestrias existence and replacing it with a much harmonious one. But the prince still had life left in him, making harmony regret ever allowing the ability to breathe in space to grace their physiology. Though it could wait until he did die, this was a punishment for him after all. A punishment that might grant him access to a rebirth in the new world. Harmony paused as their attention fell back upon the prince, or better yet, the lack of such. Where.. Did he go? A feeling of warmth caused the prince to open his eyes and slowly rise onto his haunches. Casting his gaze up to the sky, once again expecting the same ash filled and barren sky to meet his gaze. But froze when the delicate blue tones of the sky with clouds looking as if they were painted. Having to blink multiple times to see if he wasn't hallucinating again. His mind was long past the point of keeping him grounded as the years of isolation dragged on. But it was surprisingly not disappearing from his vision, not fading away and revealing the true image behind it. A semblance of hope tickled at his heart as he slowly looked down to where he was sitting. Tiles made of cobblestone registered in his head as he reached downwards and stroked it. Shuddering as the warmth of the sun pricked the tip of his hooves. He perked up and looked at his surroundings, both of his hooves instinctively pressing against each other as he took it all in. His eyes widened in disbelief as he simply stared at where he was. The beautifully trimmed bushes that were all filled with a variety of native and foreign flowers. The marble pillars and archways outlining the rest of the exotic and green.. fauna. The sight of an architectural masterpiece of a castle being visible all around him.. His widened eyes and gaping muzzle truly wanted to disbelief that they were back in the castle, his castle. No longer destroyed. He fumbled around and hastily shot up onto his hooves, his fore hooves firmly pressing against the cobblestone as he bounded over to one of the many bushes. Pressing his head into the embrace of its leaves that felt so real and smelled so real.. The growing excitement in him dulled out the rest of his sensible and more suspicious tendencies as a small smile formed onto his face. Harmony had actually listened to his pleas.. He pressed his eyes firmly shut and counted down to 100 before opening them and being met with the same scenery. Harmony had listened! It did! It really did! A laugh left his lips as he spun around in a small circle, taking in a deep breath of the pleasant aroma around him. Much better than the prevalent smell of death and his own self hygiene. The laughter grew in volume as the years once again formed and started falling. Harmony did not forsake him! A voice paused his movements and silenced his laughter, feeling a jolt run down his spine as he turned and listened lut once again. Making sure that he heard it correctly. "Sister?" It distantly said once again. He recognized that voice. "L-luna?" He whispered to himself. "Sister, are thou there? We could hear thine laughter" the voice pressed in that familiar tone of voice. His heart strained against his chest as the voice grew closer and closer, tears increasing in intensity as he stood frozen. Head turning in the direction of audible footsteps, wanting to move but feeling as if he was stuck to the floor. His shaky breathing picked up as the sight of a dark blue hoof stepped into view, followed by the rest of a dark blue alicorn. Who's eyes creased in annoyance as she turned and her gaze fell over him. Was this real? "Sis-" her words paused as she stared at him. Confusion forming onto her face as she also came to a stop physically. "Teeer…?" Her words trailed. Unexpecting to see him. "Celestia?" She said after a moment. This didn't feel real. This felt.. Her voice jabbed into his heart and caused him to stumble onto his knees, looking up at her with a messy face. A smile bypassed everything else he was feeling as he responded. "L-luna.." before his eyes shut and he collapsed onto the floor unconscious. Chapter 2His mind was the first thing to start up once his consciousness returned to him. Went over a pseudo start-up process that went beyond him even processing the sounds, senses, and smells that hit him all at once. Even without opening his eyes, he recalled what'd happened a few moments before he'd fallen into this state, the overwhelming feeling of happiness and disbelief hitting his body all at once was too much for his damaged resolve. The sight of the beautiful flora in the Canterlot Gardens was something that he was able to recognize in an instant, with the plant life being much greener and well, alive than he was used to them being for so long. But he'd almost instantaneously lost consciousness when he saw-- --No, no. He had to situate himself first. After a few more moments of his mind settling down, he finally took the initiative and cracked open his eyes. Immediately feeling and seeing a glimpse of a bright light slamming its way into his bleary vision before he was forced to yield in form of snapping his eyes shut once again. He reached upwards and pressed a hoof to his forehead as he shook his head from side to side before bending his hoof and using it as a cover he once again opened his eyes, letting out an audible intake of air as he kept constantly blinking the grogginess that clogged up his sight. Once he was sure that he would be able to keep his eyes from shutting at the briefest instance of light hitting him was when he finally let his hoof fall back down to his side, then he shifted his elbows up and paused at the cushiony material, slowly using force to push his body up, he could feel his elbows sink a few inches into the soft material as he pressed downwards. He pushed himself all the way up into a seated position and immediately glanced down at his body, his muzzle curling into a smile as a large purple blanket was draped over his form. He couldn't help but seize the blanket in his grasp and press the soft fabric against the side of his face, pressing his nostrils against it and taking in deep inhalation, letting out a happy sigh as the scent of lilacs wafted around the inside of his nose before he let it fall from his hooves. He shifted his hooves and looked down at the soft material that he'd described to himself a moment ago, also recognizing it as one of the many things that he was grateful that was evolved into its finished product. The bed. Oh, how he missed beds, especially the custom-made ones that he used to keep in his room. Though speaking of his room, this wasn't it. Not at all. He looked up from the bed and let his eyes roam around the room for the first time, then took another look around as he slightly nodded along to himself, internally agreeing that this was fitter to be one of the many guest rooms that were held in the castle. Especially the bed now that he had that prevalent in his mind, it was much smaller than the one that he had in his quarters, though in his current state, it was albeit too large. But he could deal with that at another time, he suddenly shook his head and brushed any loose strands of rainbow-colored hair away from obscuring his vision. There were more important things that he had to address and letting himself get too deep into his feelings was going to keep him from doing so in an orderly manner. That main important detail was immediately finding Luna, while also figuring out why exactly he was resting in one of the guest rooms instead of in his room. She was the one that most likely attended to him first before the rest of the staff was inevitably aware of anything that'd happened to him, and because he simply needed to see her once again. That brief glimpse that he got in the first place was not enough to keep his heart from wanting him to simply embrace her and never let her go. He'd made that mistake one too many times and paid dearly for them. A hoof rubbed away a tear that'd started making its way down his cheek before he cleared his throat and moved to throw the blanket off of his legs and went to roll himself out of the bed and onto his hooves, though he was only able to successfully roll himself into what seemed to be a solid wall. Causing him to simply bounce off of it and back onto the soft covers of the mattress. Confusion was evident on his face as he rolled onto his stomach and crawled his way back towards the edge of the bed, only making it so far before his head collided with the wall once again, though this time he was able to see a flash of amber briefly flare up before just as quickly disappearing. Why was there a magical barrier here? He lifted a hoof and pressed it against the magical barrier, watching as the amber light flared up once again and simply kept itself centered around where his hoof was pressed against. He traced his hoof along the magical barrier and let his hoof drop back down onto the bed, the amber light leaving a trail of where his hoof touched before immediately dispelling once again. Strange.. who'd put this here? Did he? No... He turned to the other side of the bed and crawled over to test whether or not it was also blocking him from there, being met yet again with the same magical barrier flaring up whenever he touched it. He squinted his eyes and looked over towards the foot of the bed before picking up a hoof-full of the blanket and tossing it over to that side to see if it were any different. Though he was disappointed to see it flare up once again. He needed to get rid of it. But he really couldn't rely on his horn at the moment, even if Harmony was gracious with giving him his magic, it was still dangerous for on to practice said magic with a shattered horn. Though he didn't have to push that risk as there were multiple ways a magic user could tap into their magic, although it was just a tad bit more difficult to get a hang of, it was just as effective. Also with this barrier seemingly being much less powerful than he assumed it was, he was sure that this way would most definitely work. He let out a small exhale before shifting himself over to where he originally physically met the barrier, brushing away another mess of hair from his face, he raised a hoof up and pressed it flat against the barrier once again. He reached into his central pool of mana and focused on a small droplet of it and channeled it through his arm, the sensation was always a curious thing. The mana stopped just around the coronet of his hoof and he twisted his fetlock around and drew out a hoof-sized circle on the barrier, he closed his eyes and let the magic pulse outwards from his arm before opening them and removing his hoof from the barrier. He let out a small sigh and dropped his arm down, no longer focusing in on his pool of mana as he watched the barrier flash the same amber color before it shifted and glowed a bright gold color, his magic having overtaken the one making up the barrier. He smiled as the barrier pulsed one final time before it crackled and collapsed, leaving a field of strange yet familiar feeling magic hovering around the bed he was sitting, causing him to raise an eyebrow at the familiarity before getting out of the bed. His steps were wobbly as his rear hoof was caught in part of the purple blanket on the bed, causing him to stumble as he shook it off of him. He was able to stabilize himself after a moment of struggle and walked towards the middle of the room, the feeling of carpet against his bare hooves was pleasant. He would've stood there for longer and reveled in the sensations but his attention was quickly caught by the reflection of himself across the room, causing him to trot over towards it and stop to stare at himself. Taking in the sight of how far he'd fallen. He took a step back from the mirror and twisted his body around so that he could take a look at his profile and the rest of his features easily. A small sigh came from him as he did so. He would've thought that Harmony would've done something to make him look more.. presentable. But he quickly shook that thought out of his head as he turned back to face the mirror and look at his facial features, focusing on that instead of what Harmony could've done for him. He had no right to complain to Harmony now that it'd given him a second chance at things. Lowering himself down onto his haunches and reaching both hooves up to feel at his face. It'd been such a long time since he was able to look into his own eyes, the vibrant purple color that had once been so filled with vigor had long since dulled out, leaving them a depressing grey. Another sigh left his muzzle as he traced along the sides of his face, the telling of lack of proper intake was visible with how gaunt he looked. He was certain that the reason he didn't look any worse than how he is now was because of his alicorn heritage. It wouldn't be a surprise to him if his little ponies no longer recognized him as an alicorn. He'd severely shrunken in height and weight and wasn't even sure that he could revert that. It was something that he would have to look into once everything was settled. He looked at his wings and gave them a test flap, wincing as the muscles tensed up along his back and as many different-sized feathers slipped out of place and fluttered down onto the ground. He shook his head and furled his wings back along his back, pushing off the ground and getting back onto his hooves he stepped away from the mirror and took another look at the room. His eyes landed on the door to get out before he went to approach it. If his memory served him correctly then he would be able to efficiently navigate around the castle to clear things up since there was bound to be a substantial amount of questions and concern over his rather sudden and haggard appearance. But he would have to stop by Luna's room before anything. Just to make sure that.. He came to a stop as his ears flicked upwards and the fur along his back rose. The feeling of static all around his body suddenly flaring up was a clue in as to what exactly was happening. The sheer amount of magic being displaced in the natural mana field into one location was very telling as to what exactly it was. Somepony was teleporting. Strange. There wouldn't be probable cause for somebody to just up and teleport into a room that he was in without reason, not even Luna would've pulled something like this. Well, in this era. She was passed the point of teleporting into his room and dumping a bucket of milk over his head and all over important documents. Either way. He quickly took a few steps back and briefly turned his head away as the familiar-sounding crackle of magic filled the room. He noted that the magic had a familiar feel to it but didn't dwell on it as he could sense more than one ponies now inhabiting the room with him, causing him to shake away the effects of the bright display of magic and attempt to put on one his usual smiles before turning to address the ones that.. that. He found himself at a loss of what exactly he was looking at and it seemed like the sentiment was shared between the two that were currently staring at him with different mixtures of shock and confusion on their faces. The smile that he tried to keep on his face immediately slipped off and was replaced by slightly widened eyes and parted lips. No thoughts came to his head other than confusion over who exactly he was looking at. They were both alicorns, sure, but he only recognized one of them, which was Luna. But was at a complete loss because the other one was... well. It was him. Or at least he thought it was him because there were not many alicorns that.. well, there weren't many alicorns in general and the last time that he checked, there weren't any females version of himself running around. But he couldn't help but feel something familiar emanating from her. Luna seemed to be the one that held a more minuscule feeling of shock and instead was the first one to snap out of her stupor and break the silence between the three of them, by turning and looking over at the female version of himself. Regardless of the silence being broken, the two of them held eye contact with each other. "Sister, we told thou that it wasn't just another one of your fan club members sneaking into the castle dressed as thou self." was what Luna said to other him. Glancing back over to him before looking over to the bed that he woke up on moments ago. "He was able to collapse the barrier that thou set up to keep him in, surely thoust mind has been changed? A better fit would have been in the dungeons with the rest of the changelings.." she remarked with a small huff. "Especially with this one making such an egregious effort to replicate thine appearance." Sister? what did she mean sister? He was her brother, they didn't have any other siblings besides the two of them... He was taken aback by the sheer aggression towards him, causing him to falter in his staring contest with his opposite self and instead look over to Luna "w-what?" internally wincing at the sound of his voice after all the years of keeping silent. "A changeling? what would make you believe that I'm a changeling? Lun-" though he was unable to finish his statement as she was quick to silence him. It was the same effect when he tried again "Luna I'm you-" "I have no patience for your kind, changeling." she lowered her head and he instinctively took a step back as she charged up a particularly powerful spell from her horn, his ability to sense when magic is being displaced flaring up once again as she narrowed her eyes at him. Though was stopped as the other version of himself placed a hoof upon Luna's withers, causing her to stop charging the spell and instead look up at her. "Celestia?" Celestia? Is that what her name is? Celestia shook her head. "I don't believe them to be a changeling, Luna." she finally said. Her voice was much deeper and more mature than he sounded at the moment. "I feel something about them that feels.. familiar," she said while turning her attention back towards him. "It might just be the way that they are a haphazardly mirrored version of myself, but I am not so sure that your concerns will come to fruition." A million thoughts started running through his head as Luna looked up at Celestia with a glare as she removed her hoof from her and moved to approach him, causing him to have to strain his neck upwards at her as she got closer. A surreal feeling filled him as she stopped a few feet in front of him and tilted her head as she looked down at him, to be the one being looked down at with eyes that oozed a sense of comfort, it just caused his wings to twitch nervously. "Now.." she started. "I am Princess Celestia, and this is my sister" she motioned with a hoof and Luna reluctantly walked up next to her. "Princess Luna, We share the duty of ruling Equestria." "Who might you be?" Her words repeated in his head. 'Princess Celestia.' 'Princess Luna.' 'Co-rules of Equestria.' He looked at their waiting faces and looked down at the ground, sighing before lifting his head back up "M-my name is...Solaris, Prince Solaris." "Co-ruler of Equestria.." Chapter 3The received notion from the two sisters was a mix of confusion and aggression, with the latter emotion being emoted by the one who looked exactly like his sister, but she wasn’t. Everything about her was the exact same, her mannerisms, the irregular usage of words and phrases, and her looks. It was just. She had no idea who he was, and neither did she have any intention of finding out who exactly he was because the first thing that she called him was a changeling. It made his heart twinge with sadness as she refrained from taking any actions against him because of the influence of her sister, Celestia. The other alicorn looked exactly like him, spoke as he did, and would be a complete carbon copy if not for their genetic differences. Also for how stark the differences between the two are now that he isn’t in the healthiest of forms. She was the one to soothe the Luna look-alike into simply giving him harsh glares from afar, causing even more pain to his internal conflict as an unjust feeling seeped into his mind every time he found his gaze lingering on her form for more than a few moments. She was also the one to give him a chance to actually explain who he was. Her expression was neutral, almost unreadable as she questioned him, but he shared more than enough with her to know what exactly she was thinking. Or maybe he didn’t, his thoughts weren’t all there in recent times. Celestia... It was weird at how similar yet distinctly different it was from his own name. But nevertheless, it seemed as if she was something within him that made her make that comment of him giving her a semblance of familiarity. Maybe on a deeper level than himself, he wasn’t sure. What he was sure of was the feeling that he could feel radiating off of her the more that they spoke, he left out major points of where he was from and what exactly happened to it, instead, he gave general answers. Answering the question yet not truly answering them as he used his rusty word knowledge to dance around them. He didn’t really have a reason to hide his origins, he didn’t know why he was being so lucrative with it. Neither did he have anything to keep safe by lying. It was just a force of habit to do so when speaking to somepony of similar status to himself, well, was at a similar status. He couldn’t really count himself as having a status anymore, even if he tried to convince himself that he did, there was no thought in his mind that actually thought of him as worthy of retaining that title. The conversation seemed to drag on for a few moments before the latter of the two, Luna, left in a huff and left the two white alicorns staring at each other in silence for a brief few moments before Celestia offered to continue the conversation over lunch. Since that was what the two sisters were going to indulge in before he manifested into this reality, giving him another up-and-down look before offering him the shower to clean himself up. She would send for two guards to guide him to the dining room in a few moments. He gave her a small nod before she smiled and turned to walk out of the room, letting the door shut with a soft ‘click’. He found himself at a mental standstill. Staring at himself for what seemed to be hours in the mirror, his mind going through every single instance of him ever being as confused as he was at the moment. Or rather, completely befuddled. There were quite a few moments here and there, mainly when everything made sense and was more light-hearted than in recent times. His later situation didn't give him any more time to be confused over mindless and random things, it only gave him a deeply scarring sense of guilt and sadness. But that wasn't something he needed to think about at this moment, he was back in Equestria after all! Everything was happy, carefree, and alive. Oh, how the sight of his kingdom burning to the ground in front of his eyes gave him ever deeper care for life, for how short and fickle a concept it is. Even if he himself isn't one to even need to heed its call, he knew how cold and desolate of a feeling it left in its wake. A small shudder brought him back from his trance. Taking a few steps back in order to regain himself, he shook his head and looked back into the mirror. Taking a few more glances at his being before looking over towards the generously sized bathtub that sat on the far side of the bathroom, his wing lifted up and he sniffed in between them, grimacing at the smell. Though he wasn't surprised. Years without proper tools to care for himself left him smelling rancid. It was a miracle that the plant life didn't wilt at his mere presence. It was the only bit of humor that registered within his mind as a small smile seeped onto his features. He didn't even recognize the action until the strain of his muzzle stretching outwards caused him to raise a hoof towards it. He didn't have anything to say about it and turned back to look at the bathtub, its pristine condition made him hesitant to touch it, too afraid that it will break if he were to come in contact with it. Instead of resorting to tentatively staring at the side of the tub for a few moments of contemplation, his mind didn't want him to touch it. His body on the other hoof made it very evident that he needed a bath. The piercing aroma he emitted wafted into his nostrils once again, causing him to grimace and turn his head away from himself. Grimacing in resignation this time as he looked down at his shoes, his eyes closed and he let out a grunt. His horn sparked for a moment before his aura reached out and grasped around each individual shoe. As they slid off his forehooves, he used them to grab at the chest piece he'd not taken off in recent memory. The clasps had long since rusted away and he was forced to grip onto either side of the chest piece and pulled at it. The metal scraped at his skin as he slowly but surely was able to Peel the metal from his body and set it down next to his shoes. A hoof ran along the matted fur on his chest before he stood up and walked to the other side of the tub. Taking one final glance down at it, reaching up and lifting himself onto his hind legs, he grasped the handle and twisted it. There was a small rumble before the water started rushing out from the tub's faucet, he let his grip slack and looked down as the water started pooling against its sides. It was nice to see water after such a long time of not being able to, the sensation was all the more pleasing as he dipped a hoof into the water. A shiver ran along his spine as the chill of the water registered in his senses once more, the only temperature he was really used to was the scorching heat at the beginning and the dry atmosphere that followed. So his reaction wasn't a quick jerk as most would, instead he quickly fumbled to climb over the side of the tub and sat himself down in the waist-deep water. His immediate reaction was a long and drawn-out sigh as he settled onto his haunches. Letting his eyes close and simply sitting in silence to relish the feeling of the water on his body. As the water continued to rise up past his waist, past his shoulders, and finally he reached up and closed the faucet as it settled right around his shoulders. This small moment of reprieve was like heaven. Looking at himself bare left him with a weird feeling. One that he couldn’t quite explain as he looked at his body now that he was finished with his long overdue bath, the amount of dirt and grime that stuck to his fur made the clear water turn a murky brown. His mane also seemed to have some of the life it had in its return to it, with the colors being not as faded out as they were. Though it wasn’t much of a difference, he still looked like a complete and utter mess. Albeit cleaner. There were still many things he could and would have to do to make his outward appearance look how it did back when everything still made sense. Maybe it was just his addled mind trying to play tricks on him. Trying to convince him once again that the current reality he was living in was just a facade of what was truly happening behind it. Shaking his head once more, he released his grasp on the towel that was wrapped around his mane and let it drape around his shoulders, the bangs drooped over his eyes before he swept them aside with a hoof. He grunted and forced magic from his horn once again, grasping both the ends of his mane and tail before tying them into two separate buns. Otherwise, it would be even more annoying to stumble over and drag them along the floor, his new height didn’t allow them any sort of height advantage. He made sure that they wouldn’t unravel before letting the magic dissipate and did a little spin to make sure that it was secure. Once it was he went to turn away but paused as his eyes glanced over his cutie mark before immediately turning his eyes away from it, instead choosing to walk away from the mirror and back outside towards the room he was staying in. It felt off. But he shook his head and turned towards the door, walking over towards it and reaching for the handle. He pulled inwards and peeked his head out, looking from left to right before he spotted two guards' ponies walking around the corner off towards his left. The two seemed to be in quiet conversation before they spotted him looking over at them, returning to their neutral gazes and posture as he stepped further into the hall and closed the door behind him. He let out a small sigh. This would be weird.
Chapter 1He sat alone for what seemed like the millionth time, doing nothing but staring at once was his beautiful and expansive city. The place where his majestic and beautifully built castle stood, the shops where the ponies spent their days toiling away with their own affairs, even the nobles. He missed their plain and adorable bickering over the most nonsensical topic, he missed it oh so dearly and would do anything to have that back. For at least a few minutes if it was possible. A simple taste at once was and he would take it in a heartbeat, no matter the consequences. A depressed sigh was let out as he shifted his position on the jagged and cracked ground. Struggling to find any sort of comfort from where he lay, not even the stars and teasing midnight sky did anything to help him as he looked over the ash filled ruins. Nothing was left. Absolutely nothing. Everything was reduced to ash and if fate had his mental well being in mind, that was the best part of it. It actually told signs of there actually being anything there before being reduced to ash. Not like the oceans or the vast forested areas of the world, there was no signs of anything being there prior. Except for the craters and indent lines left by their inhabitants. Just a sick reminder of what once was. What was once prosperous and beautiful. Left to absolutely nothing. Oh how he wished he could revert everything back to how it was. To the bright blue sky in contrast to the completely barren and ashy atmosphere, to..just anything that wasn't this! He wanted ponies to talk to! Ponies to adore and give guidance to when needed! He wanted his student back! He wanted his sister back! His eyes widened at the mention of his late sister. Painful and unwanted memories of their final moments together flooding back into his head as he snapped his eyes shut and shook his head. Every detail and every moment of what happened was playing out in his head. Causing his already depressed mood to completely plummet deeper into that pool of despair. He couldn't bare it. It was just too much. The voices. Her voice.. it just made him-- He slammed his head into the ground once. A number of feelings of pain emanated from his chin as he once again slammed his head into the ground. Continuing to do so until he could no longer hear the voices calling out to him, until the memories faded and he was left with his pain. He brought his shaky hooves up to his chin and flinched back at the cold metallic surface of his shoes. Before shaking his head and pressing them back towards the area of pain he caused. Momentarily slipped off the metal shoes and pressed his bare hooves to his face. Closing his eyes and focusing his magic towards his hooves he waited until a pleasant sensation coursed through his hooves and onto his face. The feeling of pain all but completely disappeared as he kept them there for a few seconds before opening his eyes. The magic loses its focus and returns back to the pool of magic in his horn. It was a blessing that he could still cast magic. An even bigger blessing for harmony to have kept his life despite all that he has done to harm it. An undeserving yet morbidly understandable punishment he absolutely deserved. That's why he gave thanks. No matter how guilty and unworthy he was of harmonies' malevolence, he gave thanks. Thankful despite him losing all his connections, the inner workings of harmony itself. Because in the end, it was all his fault that everything ended up this way He was the culprit for the sun entering its supernova stage of its life and engulfing the planet in its unrelenting waves of destruction. Responsible for why the moon collided with the planet, sitting lifeless and scorched off in the distance. It was his fault that his sister perished. His sister.. He felt the tears start forming once again as the intrusive thoughts were provoked from his repetition. His gaze fell back down to the ground he was laying upon like a disposed marionette doll. The coat he used to keep pristine was now a mix of all kinds of dirt and garbage. His hair lacked the usual magic surrounding it, now limply hanging around his shoulders with the multitude of colors having gone dull over time. His body was a mere shell of what it once was, the long and strong legs were replaced by much shorter and feeble ones. The large and encompassing wings lacked many of his beautiful prismatic feathers. They were not left smaller and weaker. Less could be said about the state of his horn. With it being almost completely shredded down to the top of his head, the messy and multicolored manes of his being able to efficiently hide what channeled his power. By now the tears were freely falling as he forcefully looked up towards the sky once more. Not being able to bear the sight of himself as he choked out a sob. "Please.." his voice broke. The powerful and baritone that layered it was completely gone. "Harmony that resides and guides..." He pushed himself onto his haunches and pressed both hooves firmly against each other as he uselessly prayed once again. Having done so over the course of all 100,000 years of this painful existence, pray to harmony. "I-i beseech thee.. please, spare me.." he begged. "Spare me from this nightmare from which I created.. please!" He said in growing desperation. The years of silence having thrown any semblance of patience out of his system long ago. "Please!" He cried out towards the heavens. But there would be nothing but silence in response to his pleas, as per usual. Casting an even further pit of depression for him to sink into. He continued staring up into the sky with his puffy eyes for a few moments before snapping his eyes shut and falling back down in anguish. He was too busy wallowing in his own despair that he never registered the light blue wisps of magic forming around him. Gently wrapping itself around his frail form and glowing brightly. Immediately disappearing from the spot from where he lay, without a trace of him. Neither was the force of harmony that oversaw his plight. Harmony would not listen to him any more. Neither will it do more for him in his situation, the sins that shrouded his entire existence having severed his connection to it forever. In turn causing the connection he had to both the sun and moon to continually dwindle with every passing decade. Up until the point of where the very event that destroyed his world and took his sister from him. For that he knew he was truly unforgivable. That with all the pleading and fruitless thoughts of better times, he would never be privileged with it again. The nightmare that he describes this as was one of his own making and he was going to suffer every single increment of it. Up until the point of his already weakening body withers into dust. His body had already dwindled to less than half of his original size, the vitality of being an alicorn without harmony supporting him sacrificed a majority of who he was so that he could live on. The endless mana supplies he harbored would soon start to completely break down his horn. Having already been successful with more than half of it missing. But harmony was not a cruel force of nature. Once the prince passes on, it would settle things back into place. Remaking and remodeling everything that it had done in tandem with the alicorns of this era. Essentially wiping the slate of the old Equestrias existence and replacing it with a much harmonious one. But the prince still had life left in him, making harmony regret ever allowing the ability to breathe in space to grace their physiology. Though it could wait until he did die, this was a punishment for him after all. A punishment that might grant him access to a rebirth in the new world. Harmony paused as their attention fell back upon the prince, or better yet, the lack of such. Where.. Did he go? A feeling of warmth caused the prince to open his eyes and slowly rise onto his haunches. Casting his gaze up to the sky, once again expecting the same ash filled and barren sky to meet his gaze. But froze when the delicate blue tones of the sky with clouds looking as if they were painted. Having to blink multiple times to see if he wasn't hallucinating again. His mind was long past the point of keeping him grounded as the years of isolation dragged on. But it was surprisingly not disappearing from his vision, not fading away and revealing the true image behind it. A semblance of hope tickled at his heart as he slowly looked down to where he was sitting. Tiles made of cobblestone registered in his head as he reached downwards and stroked it. Shuddering as the warmth of the sun pricked the tip of his hooves. He perked up and looked at his surroundings, both of his hooves instinctively pressing against each other as he took it all in. His eyes widened in disbelief as he simply stared at where he was. The beautifully trimmed bushes that were all filled with a variety of native and foreign flowers. The marble pillars and archways outlining the rest of the exotic and green.. fauna. The sight of an architectural masterpiece of a castle being visible all around him.. His widened eyes and gaping muzzle truly wanted to disbelief that they were back in the castle, his castle. No longer destroyed. He fumbled around and hastily shot up onto his hooves, his fore hooves firmly pressing against the cobblestone as he bounded over to one of the many bushes. Pressing his head into the embrace of its leaves that felt so real and smelled so real.. The growing excitement in him dulled out the rest of his sensible and more suspicious tendencies as a small smile formed onto his face. Harmony had actually listened to his pleas.. He pressed his eyes firmly shut and counted down to 100 before opening them and being met with the same scenery. Harmony had listened! It did! It really did! A laugh left his lips as he spun around in a small circle, taking in a deep breath of the pleasant aroma around him. Much better than the prevalent smell of death and his own self hygiene. The laughter grew in volume as the years once again formed and started falling. Harmony did not forsake him! A voice paused his movements and silenced his laughter, feeling a jolt run down his spine as he turned and listened lut once again. Making sure that he heard it correctly. "Sister?" It distantly said once again. He recognized that voice. "L-luna?" He whispered to himself. "Sister, are thou there? We could hear thine laughter" the voice pressed in that familiar tone of voice. His heart strained against his chest as the voice grew closer and closer, tears increasing in intensity as he stood frozen. Head turning in the direction of audible footsteps, wanting to move but feeling as if he was stuck to the floor. His shaky breathing picked up as the sight of a dark blue hoof stepped into view, followed by the rest of a dark blue alicorn. Who's eyes creased in annoyance as she turned and her gaze fell over him. Was this real? "Sis-" her words paused as she stared at him. Confusion forming onto her face as she also came to a stop physically. "Teeer…?" Her words trailed. Unexpecting to see him. "Celestia?" She said after a moment. This didn't feel real. This felt.. Her voice jabbed into his heart and caused him to stumble onto his knees, looking up at her with a messy face. A smile bypassed everything else he was feeling as he responded. "L-luna.." before his eyes shut and he collapsed onto the floor unconscious.
Chapter 2His mind was the first thing to start up once his consciousness returned to him. Went over a pseudo start-up process that went beyond him even processing the sounds, senses, and smells that hit him all at once. Even without opening his eyes, he recalled what'd happened a few moments before he'd fallen into this state, the overwhelming feeling of happiness and disbelief hitting his body all at once was too much for his damaged resolve. The sight of the beautiful flora in the Canterlot Gardens was something that he was able to recognize in an instant, with the plant life being much greener and well, alive than he was used to them being for so long. But he'd almost instantaneously lost consciousness when he saw-- --No, no. He had to situate himself first. After a few more moments of his mind settling down, he finally took the initiative and cracked open his eyes. Immediately feeling and seeing a glimpse of a bright light slamming its way into his bleary vision before he was forced to yield in form of snapping his eyes shut once again. He reached upwards and pressed a hoof to his forehead as he shook his head from side to side before bending his hoof and using it as a cover he once again opened his eyes, letting out an audible intake of air as he kept constantly blinking the grogginess that clogged up his sight. Once he was sure that he would be able to keep his eyes from shutting at the briefest instance of light hitting him was when he finally let his hoof fall back down to his side, then he shifted his elbows up and paused at the cushiony material, slowly using force to push his body up, he could feel his elbows sink a few inches into the soft material as he pressed downwards. He pushed himself all the way up into a seated position and immediately glanced down at his body, his muzzle curling into a smile as a large purple blanket was draped over his form. He couldn't help but seize the blanket in his grasp and press the soft fabric against the side of his face, pressing his nostrils against it and taking in deep inhalation, letting out a happy sigh as the scent of lilacs wafted around the inside of his nose before he let it fall from his hooves. He shifted his hooves and looked down at the soft material that he'd described to himself a moment ago, also recognizing it as one of the many things that he was grateful that was evolved into its finished product. The bed. Oh, how he missed beds, especially the custom-made ones that he used to keep in his room. Though speaking of his room, this wasn't it. Not at all. He looked up from the bed and let his eyes roam around the room for the first time, then took another look around as he slightly nodded along to himself, internally agreeing that this was fitter to be one of the many guest rooms that were held in the castle. Especially the bed now that he had that prevalent in his mind, it was much smaller than the one that he had in his quarters, though in his current state, it was albeit too large. But he could deal with that at another time, he suddenly shook his head and brushed any loose strands of rainbow-colored hair away from obscuring his vision. There were more important things that he had to address and letting himself get too deep into his feelings was going to keep him from doing so in an orderly manner. That main important detail was immediately finding Luna, while also figuring out why exactly he was resting in one of the guest rooms instead of in his room. She was the one that most likely attended to him first before the rest of the staff was inevitably aware of anything that'd happened to him, and because he simply needed to see her once again. That brief glimpse that he got in the first place was not enough to keep his heart from wanting him to simply embrace her and never let her go. He'd made that mistake one too many times and paid dearly for them. A hoof rubbed away a tear that'd started making its way down his cheek before he cleared his throat and moved to throw the blanket off of his legs and went to roll himself out of the bed and onto his hooves, though he was only able to successfully roll himself into what seemed to be a solid wall. Causing him to simply bounce off of it and back onto the soft covers of the mattress. Confusion was evident on his face as he rolled onto his stomach and crawled his way back towards the edge of the bed, only making it so far before his head collided with the wall once again, though this time he was able to see a flash of amber briefly flare up before just as quickly disappearing. Why was there a magical barrier here? He lifted a hoof and pressed it against the magical barrier, watching as the amber light flared up once again and simply kept itself centered around where his hoof was pressed against. He traced his hoof along the magical barrier and let his hoof drop back down onto the bed, the amber light leaving a trail of where his hoof touched before immediately dispelling once again. Strange.. who'd put this here? Did he? No... He turned to the other side of the bed and crawled over to test whether or not it was also blocking him from there, being met yet again with the same magical barrier flaring up whenever he touched it. He squinted his eyes and looked over towards the foot of the bed before picking up a hoof-full of the blanket and tossing it over to that side to see if it were any different. Though he was disappointed to see it flare up once again. He needed to get rid of it. But he really couldn't rely on his horn at the moment, even if Harmony was gracious with giving him his magic, it was still dangerous for on to practice said magic with a shattered horn. Though he didn't have to push that risk as there were multiple ways a magic user could tap into their magic, although it was just a tad bit more difficult to get a hang of, it was just as effective. Also with this barrier seemingly being much less powerful than he assumed it was, he was sure that this way would most definitely work. He let out a small exhale before shifting himself over to where he originally physically met the barrier, brushing away another mess of hair from his face, he raised a hoof up and pressed it flat against the barrier once again. He reached into his central pool of mana and focused on a small droplet of it and channeled it through his arm, the sensation was always a curious thing. The mana stopped just around the coronet of his hoof and he twisted his fetlock around and drew out a hoof-sized circle on the barrier, he closed his eyes and let the magic pulse outwards from his arm before opening them and removing his hoof from the barrier. He let out a small sigh and dropped his arm down, no longer focusing in on his pool of mana as he watched the barrier flash the same amber color before it shifted and glowed a bright gold color, his magic having overtaken the one making up the barrier. He smiled as the barrier pulsed one final time before it crackled and collapsed, leaving a field of strange yet familiar feeling magic hovering around the bed he was sitting, causing him to raise an eyebrow at the familiarity before getting out of the bed. His steps were wobbly as his rear hoof was caught in part of the purple blanket on the bed, causing him to stumble as he shook it off of him. He was able to stabilize himself after a moment of struggle and walked towards the middle of the room, the feeling of carpet against his bare hooves was pleasant. He would've stood there for longer and reveled in the sensations but his attention was quickly caught by the reflection of himself across the room, causing him to trot over towards it and stop to stare at himself. Taking in the sight of how far he'd fallen. He took a step back from the mirror and twisted his body around so that he could take a look at his profile and the rest of his features easily. A small sigh came from him as he did so. He would've thought that Harmony would've done something to make him look more.. presentable. But he quickly shook that thought out of his head as he turned back to face the mirror and look at his facial features, focusing on that instead of what Harmony could've done for him. He had no right to complain to Harmony now that it'd given him a second chance at things. Lowering himself down onto his haunches and reaching both hooves up to feel at his face. It'd been such a long time since he was able to look into his own eyes, the vibrant purple color that had once been so filled with vigor had long since dulled out, leaving them a depressing grey. Another sigh left his muzzle as he traced along the sides of his face, the telling of lack of proper intake was visible with how gaunt he looked. He was certain that the reason he didn't look any worse than how he is now was because of his alicorn heritage. It wouldn't be a surprise to him if his little ponies no longer recognized him as an alicorn. He'd severely shrunken in height and weight and wasn't even sure that he could revert that. It was something that he would have to look into once everything was settled. He looked at his wings and gave them a test flap, wincing as the muscles tensed up along his back and as many different-sized feathers slipped out of place and fluttered down onto the ground. He shook his head and furled his wings back along his back, pushing off the ground and getting back onto his hooves he stepped away from the mirror and took another look at the room. His eyes landed on the door to get out before he went to approach it. If his memory served him correctly then he would be able to efficiently navigate around the castle to clear things up since there was bound to be a substantial amount of questions and concern over his rather sudden and haggard appearance. But he would have to stop by Luna's room before anything. Just to make sure that.. He came to a stop as his ears flicked upwards and the fur along his back rose. The feeling of static all around his body suddenly flaring up was a clue in as to what exactly was happening. The sheer amount of magic being displaced in the natural mana field into one location was very telling as to what exactly it was. Somepony was teleporting. Strange. There wouldn't be probable cause for somebody to just up and teleport into a room that he was in without reason, not even Luna would've pulled something like this. Well, in this era. She was passed the point of teleporting into his room and dumping a bucket of milk over his head and all over important documents. Either way. He quickly took a few steps back and briefly turned his head away as the familiar-sounding crackle of magic filled the room. He noted that the magic had a familiar feel to it but didn't dwell on it as he could sense more than one ponies now inhabiting the room with him, causing him to shake away the effects of the bright display of magic and attempt to put on one his usual smiles before turning to address the ones that.. that. He found himself at a loss of what exactly he was looking at and it seemed like the sentiment was shared between the two that were currently staring at him with different mixtures of shock and confusion on their faces. The smile that he tried to keep on his face immediately slipped off and was replaced by slightly widened eyes and parted lips. No thoughts came to his head other than confusion over who exactly he was looking at. They were both alicorns, sure, but he only recognized one of them, which was Luna. But was at a complete loss because the other one was... well. It was him. Or at least he thought it was him because there were not many alicorns that.. well, there weren't many alicorns in general and the last time that he checked, there weren't any females version of himself running around. But he couldn't help but feel something familiar emanating from her. Luna seemed to be the one that held a more minuscule feeling of shock and instead was the first one to snap out of her stupor and break the silence between the three of them, by turning and looking over at the female version of himself. Regardless of the silence being broken, the two of them held eye contact with each other. "Sister, we told thou that it wasn't just another one of your fan club members sneaking into the castle dressed as thou self." was what Luna said to other him. Glancing back over to him before looking over to the bed that he woke up on moments ago. "He was able to collapse the barrier that thou set up to keep him in, surely thoust mind has been changed? A better fit would have been in the dungeons with the rest of the changelings.." she remarked with a small huff. "Especially with this one making such an egregious effort to replicate thine appearance." Sister? what did she mean sister? He was her brother, they didn't have any other siblings besides the two of them... He was taken aback by the sheer aggression towards him, causing him to falter in his staring contest with his opposite self and instead look over to Luna "w-what?" internally wincing at the sound of his voice after all the years of keeping silent. "A changeling? what would make you believe that I'm a changeling? Lun-" though he was unable to finish his statement as she was quick to silence him. It was the same effect when he tried again "Luna I'm you-" "I have no patience for your kind, changeling." she lowered her head and he instinctively took a step back as she charged up a particularly powerful spell from her horn, his ability to sense when magic is being displaced flaring up once again as she narrowed her eyes at him. Though was stopped as the other version of himself placed a hoof upon Luna's withers, causing her to stop charging the spell and instead look up at her. "Celestia?" Celestia? Is that what her name is? Celestia shook her head. "I don't believe them to be a changeling, Luna." she finally said. Her voice was much deeper and more mature than he sounded at the moment. "I feel something about them that feels.. familiar," she said while turning her attention back towards him. "It might just be the way that they are a haphazardly mirrored version of myself, but I am not so sure that your concerns will come to fruition." A million thoughts started running through his head as Luna looked up at Celestia with a glare as she removed her hoof from her and moved to approach him, causing him to have to strain his neck upwards at her as she got closer. A surreal feeling filled him as she stopped a few feet in front of him and tilted her head as she looked down at him, to be the one being looked down at with eyes that oozed a sense of comfort, it just caused his wings to twitch nervously. "Now.." she started. "I am Princess Celestia, and this is my sister" she motioned with a hoof and Luna reluctantly walked up next to her. "Princess Luna, We share the duty of ruling Equestria." "Who might you be?" Her words repeated in his head. 'Princess Celestia.' 'Princess Luna.' 'Co-rules of Equestria.' He looked at their waiting faces and looked down at the ground, sighing before lifting his head back up "M-my name is...Solaris, Prince Solaris." "Co-ruler of Equestria.."
Chapter 3The received notion from the two sisters was a mix of confusion and aggression, with the latter emotion being emoted by the one who looked exactly like his sister, but she wasn’t. Everything about her was the exact same, her mannerisms, the irregular usage of words and phrases, and her looks. It was just. She had no idea who he was, and neither did she have any intention of finding out who exactly he was because the first thing that she called him was a changeling. It made his heart twinge with sadness as she refrained from taking any actions against him because of the influence of her sister, Celestia. The other alicorn looked exactly like him, spoke as he did, and would be a complete carbon copy if not for their genetic differences. Also for how stark the differences between the two are now that he isn’t in the healthiest of forms. She was the one to soothe the Luna look-alike into simply giving him harsh glares from afar, causing even more pain to his internal conflict as an unjust feeling seeped into his mind every time he found his gaze lingering on her form for more than a few moments. She was also the one to give him a chance to actually explain who he was. Her expression was neutral, almost unreadable as she questioned him, but he shared more than enough with her to know what exactly she was thinking. Or maybe he didn’t, his thoughts weren’t all there in recent times. Celestia... It was weird at how similar yet distinctly different it was from his own name. But nevertheless, it seemed as if she was something within him that made her make that comment of him giving her a semblance of familiarity. Maybe on a deeper level than himself, he wasn’t sure. What he was sure of was the feeling that he could feel radiating off of her the more that they spoke, he left out major points of where he was from and what exactly happened to it, instead, he gave general answers. Answering the question yet not truly answering them as he used his rusty word knowledge to dance around them. He didn’t really have a reason to hide his origins, he didn’t know why he was being so lucrative with it. Neither did he have anything to keep safe by lying. It was just a force of habit to do so when speaking to somepony of similar status to himself, well, was at a similar status. He couldn’t really count himself as having a status anymore, even if he tried to convince himself that he did, there was no thought in his mind that actually thought of him as worthy of retaining that title. The conversation seemed to drag on for a few moments before the latter of the two, Luna, left in a huff and left the two white alicorns staring at each other in silence for a brief few moments before Celestia offered to continue the conversation over lunch. Since that was what the two sisters were going to indulge in before he manifested into this reality, giving him another up-and-down look before offering him the shower to clean himself up. She would send for two guards to guide him to the dining room in a few moments. He gave her a small nod before she smiled and turned to walk out of the room, letting the door shut with a soft ‘click’. He found himself at a mental standstill. Staring at himself for what seemed to be hours in the mirror, his mind going through every single instance of him ever being as confused as he was at the moment. Or rather, completely befuddled. There were quite a few moments here and there, mainly when everything made sense and was more light-hearted than in recent times. His later situation didn't give him any more time to be confused over mindless and random things, it only gave him a deeply scarring sense of guilt and sadness. But that wasn't something he needed to think about at this moment, he was back in Equestria after all! Everything was happy, carefree, and alive. Oh, how the sight of his kingdom burning to the ground in front of his eyes gave him ever deeper care for life, for how short and fickle a concept it is. Even if he himself isn't one to even need to heed its call, he knew how cold and desolate of a feeling it left in its wake. A small shudder brought him back from his trance. Taking a few steps back in order to regain himself, he shook his head and looked back into the mirror. Taking a few more glances at his being before looking over towards the generously sized bathtub that sat on the far side of the bathroom, his wing lifted up and he sniffed in between them, grimacing at the smell. Though he wasn't surprised. Years without proper tools to care for himself left him smelling rancid. It was a miracle that the plant life didn't wilt at his mere presence. It was the only bit of humor that registered within his mind as a small smile seeped onto his features. He didn't even recognize the action until the strain of his muzzle stretching outwards caused him to raise a hoof towards it. He didn't have anything to say about it and turned back to look at the bathtub, its pristine condition made him hesitant to touch it, too afraid that it will break if he were to come in contact with it. Instead of resorting to tentatively staring at the side of the tub for a few moments of contemplation, his mind didn't want him to touch it. His body on the other hoof made it very evident that he needed a bath. The piercing aroma he emitted wafted into his nostrils once again, causing him to grimace and turn his head away from himself. Grimacing in resignation this time as he looked down at his shoes, his eyes closed and he let out a grunt. His horn sparked for a moment before his aura reached out and grasped around each individual shoe. As they slid off his forehooves, he used them to grab at the chest piece he'd not taken off in recent memory. The clasps had long since rusted away and he was forced to grip onto either side of the chest piece and pulled at it. The metal scraped at his skin as he slowly but surely was able to Peel the metal from his body and set it down next to his shoes. A hoof ran along the matted fur on his chest before he stood up and walked to the other side of the tub. Taking one final glance down at it, reaching up and lifting himself onto his hind legs, he grasped the handle and twisted it. There was a small rumble before the water started rushing out from the tub's faucet, he let his grip slack and looked down as the water started pooling against its sides. It was nice to see water after such a long time of not being able to, the sensation was all the more pleasing as he dipped a hoof into the water. A shiver ran along his spine as the chill of the water registered in his senses once more, the only temperature he was really used to was the scorching heat at the beginning and the dry atmosphere that followed. So his reaction wasn't a quick jerk as most would, instead he quickly fumbled to climb over the side of the tub and sat himself down in the waist-deep water. His immediate reaction was a long and drawn-out sigh as he settled onto his haunches. Letting his eyes close and simply sitting in silence to relish the feeling of the water on his body. As the water continued to rise up past his waist, past his shoulders, and finally he reached up and closed the faucet as it settled right around his shoulders. This small moment of reprieve was like heaven. Looking at himself bare left him with a weird feeling. One that he couldn’t quite explain as he looked at his body now that he was finished with his long overdue bath, the amount of dirt and grime that stuck to his fur made the clear water turn a murky brown. His mane also seemed to have some of the life it had in its return to it, with the colors being not as faded out as they were. Though it wasn’t much of a difference, he still looked like a complete and utter mess. Albeit cleaner. There were still many things he could and would have to do to make his outward appearance look how it did back when everything still made sense. Maybe it was just his addled mind trying to play tricks on him. Trying to convince him once again that the current reality he was living in was just a facade of what was truly happening behind it. Shaking his head once more, he released his grasp on the towel that was wrapped around his mane and let it drape around his shoulders, the bangs drooped over his eyes before he swept them aside with a hoof. He grunted and forced magic from his horn once again, grasping both the ends of his mane and tail before tying them into two separate buns. Otherwise, it would be even more annoying to stumble over and drag them along the floor, his new height didn’t allow them any sort of height advantage. He made sure that they wouldn’t unravel before letting the magic dissipate and did a little spin to make sure that it was secure. Once it was he went to turn away but paused as his eyes glanced over his cutie mark before immediately turning his eyes away from it, instead choosing to walk away from the mirror and back outside towards the room he was staying in. It felt off. But he shook his head and turned towards the door, walking over towards it and reaching for the handle. He pulled inwards and peeked his head out, looking from left to right before he spotted two guards' ponies walking around the corner off towards his left. The two seemed to be in quiet conversation before they spotted him looking over at them, returning to their neutral gazes and posture as he stepped further into the hall and closed the door behind him. He let out a small sigh. This would be weird.
