A Long Time Ago…

“I am tired of waiting! I have been more than reasonably patient, and you mean to tell me that the council still has nothing for me down there?!” Opaline asked incredulously.

“It has nothing to do with your ‘readiness’, Preserver Arcana. It has to do with there being any need of you down there, which there is not. In actuality, it seems there is no need for any of us here any longer,” the advisor replied.

“What?”

“In addition to the two Equestrians that have ascended to aethereal alicorns, our seers have sensed the natural birth of one as well. They have taken it as an omen that we are no longer needed,” the academy advisor told her.

“And that means what?”

“The council has decreed that the uplifting of Equestria is complete. We are departing at the top of the hour.”

Opaline slowly nodded, and made an effort to have the surprise fade from her face.

“I see. I am well-versed in preparations. I will make sure all possibly unstable artifacts are secure,” Opaline told him.

“Very good, Preserver Arcana. You don’t have long, so I’ll be on my way,”the advisor said, before making his way back towards the main hall.

Inside, Opaline was seething.

It had been just over a millennium since Celestia and Luna had departed for Equestria, and since then, there had been little to no noteworthy contact, other than the two aethereal ascensions. Now, there was a natural-born, non-Skyrosian alicorn down there.

So that was three reasons why she was continually denied her destiny, and thus remained up here maintaining ancient artifacts for the Mage’s Guild.

If she did not act now, who knows how long she would be up here. With her luck, the council would find another realm, just in time for another prodigy to skyrocket through the ranks of the academy.

No.

It was time to blaze her own path, and seize control of her destiny.

After the departure of Celestia and Luna, her magical talents had developed quickly, and after graduation, she very quickly settled into a position as Preserver of the Mage’s Guild, responsible for keeping the variety of magical antiquities of the Guild in working order. Even before her knowledge grew considerably with the work, it was a career she immediately deemed mundane.

Mundane, but considerably knowledgeable, and that would be useful in a pinch if she had precious little time to take action.

She quickly returned to the wing of the guild she was most familiar with; Artifact Storage. She knew exactly what she would need, and luckily it wouldn’t be terribly hard to conceal. The streets would likely be crowded by citizens to watch the departure, it was apparently quite the spectacular light show in what passed for the sky in this realm.

Going over to her desk for one quick moment, she grabbed an empty glass vial, before heading over to the corner shelves, with nine enchanted barrels. Carefully removing the lid of the third from the left, she dipped the vial in slowly, and filled it halfway with the volatile Sand of Scintillation. Too little, and it wouldn’t have the necessary effect for long enough; too much, and it would very likely attract too much attention, no matter what the light show up above was like. But if it was precise enough, it would effectively stun any one alicorn that was close enough to the vial shattering.

The other item she needed was also close by, and luckily under what little authority she had as well. She trotted three rows down, then headed down the aisle, leaning down to the second shelf, and carefully lifted the glass display case, and picked up the small golden bangle that sat on the velvet platform.

“Alicorns of Great Skyros,” came the booming voice of a High Councilor that echoed across the entire city. “Our watch over the realm of Equestria has come to an end at long last. Once again, we journey into the great unknown. May our travels be swift and safe.”

Opaline glanced at the timepiece on her desk; she had ten minutes before the top of the hour. She had to go, now. She knew once the ritual was started, it would be unable to be halted. So not only would it be a one-way trip, but it was very unlikely that even if she was missed in the next few minutes, there would be nothing they could do in time, and who would run from their life here in pursuit of a mere Mage’s Guild preserver?

Having what she needed secured in the inside folds of her cloak, she left her office, and shut the wooden door behind her, heading towards the main entrance.

The gateway out of the realm was near the center of the city, under continuous watch. It wouldn’t take long at all to vanish once she was at the portal.

Her ambitions had gotten her nowhere here. She would happily take her chances down in Equestria.

Once out of the main entrance of the Guild, she trotted down the stairs and onto the wide main street of the ancient city of Skyros. She stayed with the small crowd as they made their way towards the center to see the city ascend into the infinite expanse of the void, where they would remain until the High Council found a realm or civilization they deemed worthy of uplifting.

She wanted no part of it.

As soon as she came to a suitably dark alley, she slipped off of the main street, put her right hoof into the folds of her cloak, and slipped the Bangle of Invisibility, and she and her cloak vanished from the visible spectrum.

Spreading her wings, she took to the sky as the streaks of light got brighter as they arced across the sky. She kept her flight as steady as possible to avoid any noticeable bends of light as she silently glided towards the Hall of Departure.

Suddenly, the marble pillars that lined the main road began to glow blue, as the energy needed to ascend into the void began to course through the entire city. Opaline saw a single solitary watchmare standing at the entrance of the Hall of Departure. She began to glide downwards towards the steps, and reached into her cloak again, pulling the vial out of the other inner pocket. Right before she landed on the steps in front of the watchmare, she threw the vial downwards, and it hit the stone ground and shattered right in front of the guard’s front hooves. There was a small flash of white light and a puff of gray smoke, and the watchmare began to wobble, dazed, but stayed on her hooves.

The invisible Opaline took a step forward, and deftly removed the ringed skeleton key from the mare’s bandolier, and immediately continued towards the large set of double stone doors. She slid the key into the iron keyhole, turned it, and as soon as she heard the lock click, she pulled the door open just far enough to slip inside as she pulled the key out of the lock, and pulled it shut.

The Hall of Departure was empty, save for the burning wall sconces on the pillars that led down the large hall, to a central elevated platform in the main chamber.

A moment later, Opaline saw the Bangle of Invisibility lose its charge, and she and her cloak rejoined the visible universe. She dropped the bangle along with the key behind the first pillar she galloped past, as the chamber began to glow as well as the city continued to magically charge for its journey.

From everything she read about the ritual, she had one minute, maybe two, and by the time the watchmare outside regained her senses, the city of Skyros would be roaming the expanse of the void. Of course the city leadership would eventually discover what she had done, as the Mage’s Guild would be down one of the longest serving Preservers.

But in just under two minutes, there wouldn’t be anything they would be able to do about it.

She ascended the trio of steps to the central elevated platform, where a large magical portal was built into the floor of the chamber. The portal shimmered with the blue and white of Equestria’s sky and clouds, and a pair of large chest-high braziers burned bright with orange flames on either side of the portal.

Opaline removed her cloak, bunched it up, and tossed it into the left brazier, disturbing the flames briefly before it began to burn.

The dark orchid alicorn gazed down into the sky on the other side of the portal, turned to look back down the hall for a moment, then turned back, took a deep breath, leaned forward, and jumped.

Author's Note

Special thanks to reader Max Stroberger for helping me flesh out Opaline's backstory in Skyros today!