Burn.

Burn.

Ignite.

I have a terrible fear of heights.

Through the haze of sleep, Twilight stirred, her breath catching on the faint acrid taste of smoke had filed its way into the room. Eyes fluttering, then opening, the dim glow of pre-dawn light creeping in through the slats of the high window, her chest tight. Vibration, a thrumming of strings a pulse in the walls, the air, her own fur which stood up. She sat up sharply, her hoof brushing against Celestia's sleeping form, still warm, still lost in the deepest hour of dreams.

The scent was harsh and stinging her nostrils. Twilight's eyes darted to the faint orange glow spilling under the door. Her pulse quickened, she shook Celestia’s shoulder and whispered her name, an urgency laced into every syllable of plurals.

“Celestia. Wake up. Smoke, there’s a fire.”

A groan, flutter of the lashes, Celestia’s eyes meeting hers, wide and bleary, confusion giving way to alarm as the reality of the situation sunk in within seconds. Together, they scrambled quickly, the alcove spinning around them in the dim light, all around them were silent witnesses.

A howl and a roar, wind screaming through cracks in the library, the audible hum of The Wheel, vibrating at the center of their bones. And beyond it, the voices of anger, shouting, indistinct words carried on the wind, just outside the walls. Kellipot rising.

Twilight moved first, her heart pounding, her hooves fumbling at the latch of a high window, her horn glowed and she used her magic to force it open, the coldness of the air rushed in, biting at her, the metallic tang of soil and stone bathed in flames carried upwards, fire licking at the door in a sensual exploration.

The townsfolk gathered beyond, their torches bobbing like naga fireballs, their faces pale and twisted, their eyes wild with fear, with hate, with something Twilight didn't want to name and felt deep in her gut, a familiar hatred which brewed in all corners of the world.

“We have to go,” Twilight said, her voice cracking, her magic around the window frame, her eyes scanning the ground below. It wasn’t far, a leap would do, a chance at escape.

Celestia nodded, her face resolute with a hint of fear sheltered underneath, her hooves finding Twilight’s, squeezing. Together, they climbed, their bodies pressed against the stone and wood alike, the cold seeping into their fur and leaving it damp and sticky, their breaths shallow, quick, visible in the air as a mist.

Twilight slipped through the exit first, a hoof finding purchase on the narrow ledge of the side, her horn glowed which left her dangling as she looked back to Celestia, eyes meeting as she reaching a hoof out, brushing against the white hoof, urgent.

“Come on. Quickly.”

And then, a hoof. Stallion.

It came from nowhere, fast and calloused, grabbing Twilight’s hoof, yanking her back with force that knocked the air from her lungs. She gasped, her body heaving, she slipped and the world spun as she was pulled down, down, down.

Gasp.

She hit the ground hard, coughing and spitting, ears filled by a loud piercing noise, vision blurred and the voices rose around herm shouting, screaming and condemning her. Hooves at her, her shoulders, her legs, pulling her up to the sky.

"Seducer!"

“Twilight!”

Panicked.

But the hooves were too many, the grip too tight. Twilight struggled without hope, her voice rising in desperation, in fear. the stones shifting in the gravel path, the pebbles breaking apart like a puzzle, the earth itself groaning under the weight of something vast, and above, the mountains loomed and rose, long and menacing as they fell apart, yet rose, by the ground, as it ascended. The ocean churned once more, forever crashing against the cliff in a loop, one more roar to the count.

Thrashing.

No use.

Above, Celestia disappeared from the window, rapid hoofsteps ran as Twilight was dragged across the ground, screaming, crying out for help. The fire consumed the entrance, the smoke rising as the library receded into the distance, pale light od dawn, a window crashes.

Above, The Wheel turned.

One day, you know, you're gonna fall, or I'm gonna fall, or something's gonna happen...

Author's Note