A Sleight of Existence

by Inthend

Rating: everyone
Tags: My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, Spike, Rainbow Dash, Rarity, Twilight Sparkle, Dark
Length: 4660

The alicorn sisters stumble across a startling discovery that may redefine how everypony lives

What is chaos?

With the passing of Luna and Celestia, the princess of the sun left one final letter to her student while on the verge of death. Not long after Twilight comes across an old abandoned book that she herself threw away because of the nonsense contained within its covers. It may have been written by one of the greatest unicorn minds in the history of Equestria, Starswirl the Bearded, but they were nothing more than the ravings of a suicidal mad pony long after he lost his grasp on sanity.

Or were they?

Published 2012-12-06 20:00:01 UTC
Last updated 2012-12-06 20:00:01 UTC

Fault Lines

The screams never ended. All day and night they went on, incessantly grinding away at the last few bits of sanity she had left. Agonizing, painful howls mixed with animalistic calls and enraged shrieks that threatened to break loose at any moment. Anypony not already insane would soon be.

The white padded walls of her room did little to muffle the cries. It was unsettling that the place she felt safest at was also her cage, the small and simple chamber they locked her in. There was no discernible difference or character to any part of the room. No furniture, no television, no bathroom. The only light came from the small square, double-paned glass that looked out into the dimly lit hallway. Every now and then a flash from a passing caretaker or the flicker of one of the long halogen lights outside would momentarily paint shadows across the walls around her.

“Dinner time.”

The familiar silver bowl rattled through the slit at the bottom of the door, filled with the slop that she was forced to eat everyday just to survive. The crude scrape of the metal panel sliding back into place screeched against her eardrums before the lock clicked shut again. There was no way to tell time anymore. All she had was the word of the caretaker that it was either breakfast, lunch, or dinner.

Her heavy wings sagged against her side as she weakly padded up to the dented container, the smell of the vile gruel already burning in her nostrils. It brought a disgusted grimace to her face. She wanted to protest – to cry out – but who was there to hear her? It’d been so long since she had said a word that she wasn’t even sure that she had a voice anymore. She wanted to scream just to know that she was still alive. She was a living, breathing pegasus that deserved to fly amongst the clouds and feel the wind against her face. They had taken everything from her.

“Twilight.” Her voice was hushed at first, echoing through the empty room before eventually dissipating into its icy walls. She said the name again and again, each time growing louder until the bowl shook at her hooves. The chamber was filled with her frantic shouts saturating the air when suddenly she stopped.

“You did this to me.” The words cut through the room like a knife, the gravity of her situation finally weighing down on her more than it ever had before.

“You did this to me.” She repeated wrapping her frayed rainbow tail around herself.

*~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~*

“What’s on the agenda for today, sister?” The lunar princess looked to the other alicorn innately.

“I don’t know. I was going to look over some of my old texts from when I was a filly. Care to join me?”

“Not right now, maybe later though.” She said striding sleepily towards the kitchen.

“Suit yourself. I’ll be in the library. You know where to find me.”

The princess of the night nodded before trudging on to procure her breakfast. To no surprise, the chef greeted her with unbridled enthusiasm the second she entered the kitchen.

“Good morning, princess! I trust you had a good night’s sleep. What can I prepare for you this lovely day?”

The princess sighed at the overeager nature of the earth pony before opening one of the cupboards with her magic.

“Nothing for me today, Pinkie. I’ll just make myself some toast.”

“Oh please, Your Majesty! Let me make something for you! It’s my job to make sure that you’re well fed and have plenty of energy to raise the moon every night!” The pink mare squealed excitedly before snatching the two slices of levitating bread out of the air and rushing over to the toaster.

“Fine…” the princess sighed before mumbling under her breath. “Why does my sister get the quiet cook?”

“Speaking of Applejack!” Pinkie flipped around. “She wanted to know why Twilight didn’t show up for breakfast this morning. She’s usually finished eating before you even get up!”

“Oh she’s in the library. She wanted to read some of her old books or something.”

“That is just like Twilight! Always blowing off important things like eating to go bury her nose in a book!”

“Tell me about it.” The princess of the night groaned pulling back one of the chairs to sit at the table.

“Well I guess that’s why she’s an alicorn now!” The pink mare set the plate of toasted bread on the table in front of her.

“I guess so.” She replied absently. “Thank you for the breakfast Pinkie.”

An appreciative smile crept across the earth pony’s face. “Happy to help. You just call me if you need anything else, Trixie.”

*~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~*

The wagon gave a violent jolt as it rattled over the rocks. The two occupants inside were repeatedly thrown against each other until their stomachs churned uneasily and their groans finally drowned out the creaking of the wood.

“What are we going to do?”

The sudden question startled the dragon. The journey had been completely silent up until now and Spike was hesitant to break the gloomy air. He looked at the filthy white unicorn worriedly and shook his head.

“I don’t know,” was all he could muster to say.

“Spike, talk to me. Please. Just say something.” Her voice wavered as the wagon gave another violent jolt, throwing her across to slam into him again.

“What do you want me to say? That everything will be alright? That we’re going to be okay?” the subtle agitation was obvious. It was a tone Rarity could recall using very often herself.

The white unicorn took on a hurt look before using the next bump as an opportunity to move across the wagon. Spike sighed as she leaned against him, nuzzling her cheek into his shoulder.

“Tell me everything is going to be alright.”

There was a long, drawn-out sigh before Spike finally spoke again.

“Everything is going to be alright.”

The wagon teetered on, the two passengers shifting nervously inside. The chains that bound them to the floor rattled and shook with every bump.

Overlord

The purple alicorn riffled through the many folded and tattered papers which lay sprawled across the floor in front of her. The faint lavender light glimmering from the tip of her horn was just barely able to overcome the dark shadows of the corner of the library and she had to squint just to make out the familiar writing of her and her old mentor. It’d been so long since she could sit down and peruse her old collection of letters. She glared down and with an annoyed whisk of her magic sent them all spiraling through the air.

The answer had to be here somewhere.

She had unsuccessfully combed over every page of writing in the library and was no closer to the truth. Ever since her “Ascension” to an alicorn she was more miserable than ever. Nothing in Equestria could explain how two unicorns just suddenly changed into alicorns. As far as history was concerned, it had never happened before. There was no telling what this newfound power could do or if she could even control it entirely.

The papers fluttered around her and scattered to the floor, their ragged yellow hues and crumpled corners betraying their indiscernible age – except for one. Twilight cocked her head as she picked up the perfectly folded letter and began reading it.

My most faithful student Twilight,

I cannot even begin to describe what is happening to me right now. I feel my body is slipping out from under me and my mind is vanishing from the plane of existence just as quickly. Is this what death is like? Does every creature experience this infinitely heavy burden placed upon them while at the same time having an immeasurable force lifted? Has my mind already withered away to the point that I’m just raving about things that aren’t actually there? Even as I write to you I sense the conscious decision between having the strength to write and having the energy to think. I cannot do both at once. May this be the last lesson I ever teach you: Do not trust the world you live in. I am caught between the two halves of a greater reality which one cannot even begin to fathom, and yet I feel free. I can stand on the verge of death and tell you nothing more than that it is peaceful. It calls to me, beckons, and although I feel the cold fear that one should always feel towards the grave, I still wish to submit. I pledge my body and soul to a new existence, perhaps one that will take me far away, to another world, where I may start over; a place where I can teach the natives about my prospects, a place where I can learn from them while simultaneously gazing down upon them. Or perhaps that time has already come to pass. My time on Equestria has served me as such and I do not wish to further corrupt the systems already put in place. Ah, the dream of a ridiculous mare. I entrust to you, my dearest disciple, the sun and all of the power it holds. May it bring warmth to the lands long after my name has been forgotten. Rule long and steady alongside your estranged sister, for it was always meant to be that you find each other despite impossible odds. Know that you hold the lives of every living creature now. I fear my time has been cut short, farewell Twilight Sparkle.

I will be with you always,
Princess Celestia

*~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~*

Spike tried to shrug the anxious unicorn off his shoulder, but to no avail.

“You realize we have to get out of here, right?” Rarity pulled her head away to gaze up at him with big hopeful eyes.

“How?” He purposely neglected looking at her for fear that she would convince him to go along with some moronic plan to escape.

“I don’t know. We just have to.” She pressed stubbornly.

“Well if you have a plan then by all means go for it.” Spike tried to lift his shaking hands to cradle his head but the chains around his wrists cut his effort short. He sighed as the rattling continued to deafen the wagon.

“What happened to you?” The lines of dirt streaking the unicorn’s cheeks grew dark as she leaned away from him.

“I’ve grown up. I’ve accepted my fate. We’re not coming back from this.”

“Don’t say that!” Rarity almost sobbed, batting him with a frantic hoof. “We’re going to get out of here! We’re going to escape into the wilderness and forget all of this ever happened! We can live out our lives without anypony else bothering us. Just you and me.”

“You’re about two years too late.” Spike mumbled with a defeated groan. “If you had just said that before all of this happened, before we ended up in this mess, we could have done that.”

“It’s not too late! Let’s get out of here!”

Her words fell flat as the wagon teetered on.

*~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~*

How long?

The memories of sunlight had faded completely from her mind. That’s how long. She couldn’t recall the sensation of a summer breeze or the smell of the dew-speckled grass in the wee hours of the morning. There was nothing left to keep her alive. There was no reason to remain breathing when her freedoms had been stomped into the ground right before her eyes.

The sickly pegasus stifled another gag as she happened to catch her disfigured body out of the corner of her vision. Bile rose in her throat at the pathetic excuse for wings which clung to her side with nothing more than a skeletal branch wrapped in leather. She could hear the painful creak of her bones against the strain of her own weight every time she moved. There was a time when she used to fly about her cell, to circle and smash against the padded walls just to remember what it was like to be in the air again. That time had long since passed.

Her ribs poked out through her cyan skin as she gazed emptily at the reflection of the once beautiful mare looking back at her from the polished silver bowl. The dull glow emanating from it was the only thing that hinted at something alive in the room.

How long?

It was no longer a question of how much time she had spent there but rather a question of how much longer she was going to spend there.

Let it Reign

“We can’t spend much longer in here.” Rarity shook the adolescent dragon nervously.

“Then what do you suggest we do to get out of here?” Spike grumbled. “These are heat-proof chains, not like the ones back in Vanhoover that I could just melt through.”

“They may be heat-proof, but they’re not magic proof. Keep still.”

Her horn shimmered with a transparent sparkling blue that soon enveloped the cuffs around her hooves. Suddenly there was a loud pop and the sound of chains crashing against the floor of the carriage.

“I told you we’re going to get out of here.” She smirked rubbing the red bands left from the cuffs with a triumphant smile.

“Not so fast. Undo mine first and we’ll think of a plan to escape.” Spike hunched down as Rarity focused her magic around his cuffs and popped them loose in the same fashion. Instead of letting them clatter against the wagon, though, he caught them midair and placed them gently on the wooden flooring.

“I’m sure we can just outrun them. They’ll never know if we leap out the back. We’ll be miles away before they even notice.” The white unicorn abruptly kicked open the back doors of the wagon.

She quickly looked back at the dragon as the ground sailed dangerously beneath them. “We’ll jump on the next bump.”

“No! Rarity that’s a terrible idea –“

“NOW!”

The mare jumped without a moment’s hesitation and Spike watched on as she tumbled raggedly against the ground before promptly becoming encased in a thick shell of green magic. He groaned and sat back as the wagon lurched to a halt and a lime-green unicorn appeared in front of the doors.

“We will be taking you to Canterlot and you will not escape again.” He hissed.

*~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~*

She had to get away. She had to be free again.

Fire stirred in her heart as her bright rainbow bangs fell over her eyes. Despite all the pain she had endured and the time lost to her, the color in her mane hadn’t faded one bit. She was still a pegasus. She was still the greatest flyer in all of Equestria. And she was still Rainbow Dash.

She sat staring at the rusty panel at the bottom of the door like a hawk watching a mouse. The moment it moved she lunged for the hoof on the other side. With a surprised yelp, the appendage was pulled into her room right behind the silver bowl.

“Let go!” a shaky voice whimpered from the other side of the door.

“Let me go.” Rainbow Dash growled pressing her weight down on the limb. “Or the leg comes off.”

“Okay! Okay!”

A series of clicks echoed through the chamber before the door rattled open for the first time in many, many years. The pegasus saw her opportunity to escape and desperately threw her entire body towards the sliver of freedom with an unbridled amount of force. The caretaker was thrown onto his back as she rushed down the dark hallway.

She didn’t make it far before a purple bubble encapsulated her body and levitated her to stare into the menacing eyes of a royal guard.

“It’s just as well. I was coming to get you for your execution in Canterlot anyway.”

*~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~*

Her eyes watered as she looked at the disconnected ramblings of the alicorn she had looked up to for so long. Clearly a level of insanity had taken ahold of her mentor before her tragic death. Yet there seemed to be some amount of truth that could be gleaned from it.

Twilight placed the letter aside only to realize that it had been covering a similarly formatted paper beneath it from Starswirl the Bearded.

Life as we know it is a stranglehold on a reality that does not exist. Our minds embrace it and wrap our self-consciousness in the warmth it offers but there is nothing more. To what end? Why do we exist in this world that teeters on the brink of death day by day? We may exist, that is every one of us, outside of this world of laws and mediums in a universe that is unbound, a universe that knows no limits. However nothing is without rules and order. Can there ever truly be a world without laws and boundaries?

I believe there is.

Mother Nature has betrayed us. The tyrant witch who has reduced us to nothing more than her underlings chained down for her own amusement. She promises love and compassion for those of us who stay and fear and misery for those of us who threaten to walk out. The truth she keeps hidden under a labyrinth of secrets and misdirected ideals couldn’t possibly be more contradictory to the true reality. Our freedom is only a stone’s throw away. The darkness you see every time you close your eyes, the black emptiness that spans the regions between the stars, even the murky waters and dark caves that still elude our probing grasp for knowledge – these are the pathways to existence that we all may eventually realize.

Existence is a powerful thing. Why else would we be held down and convinced that this is the only life that we could ever know, that any fleeting desire that would endanger our lives is not worth the endeavor?

This force that holds us back, that stands between our individual enlightenments, simply put, is nature - a recycling reality that traps us in its vices and holds us here to prevent us from existing anywhere else. With all false realities there is always a few glitches, a few phenomena, that don’t belong and trigger doubt. Stories of unmatched talent and power from specific individuals and strange, unexplainable occurrences plague every corner of our world and yet everypony passes it off as something that simply cannot be perceived by our simple minds. We fail to give ourselves credit where credit is due. We are not simple. We are the most complex beings ever to exist within realities and yet we are told from the first day we awaken in this reality that we can only do so much. We are more, so much more. We simply need to realize that.

The reality knows that it is false and seeks to destroy itself and rid the universe of its corruption. Every disease, every predator, every death imaginable, was set in motion to help us escape this cage.

Everything is chaos.

Everything is Discord.

“Come sister, it is time to go.” The silver-maned alicorn beckoned from the doorway at the edge of the library.

Twilight sat up and nodded, her eyes glimmering with a sudden understanding which outweighed everything else she had ever known.

Chaos Theory

She knew it had been coming for a long time but there was no possible way she could ever prepare for it. Of all the time she had spent locked away and all the times she wished it would come sooner; it had to be today, at this very moment, that the guard came to take her. The point when she finally snapped and was about to be free, it was once again taken from her.

The purple bubble that surrounded her drifted through the elaborate labyrinth of hallways, followed closely behind by the royal guard. An unimaginable amount of eyes watched her from behind the square panes of glass as she passed. She had no idea that the place was so large, that so many ponies had been locked away just like her.

The dank corridors continued on for what seemed forever – at least she wished they would continue on forever. The faded white doors on either side blurred past until they eventually came to the end and she was roughly flung into the back of the wagon outside. She stared out through the metal bars as the cart creaked to life and rattled through the peaceful streets of Canterlot. It was a dark, overcast day that she looked out upon, but it was still enough to lighten her spirit. She was finally outside. She could finally see the natural light of the sun. She could finally feel the ethereal breeze through her mane. She had made it. If nothing else, she was free in her mind once more.

Ponies of all types began to gather in the streets to watch the wagon wobble past. Many wore sad, downcast looks as they saw the repulsive figure staring desperately out at them. Some couldn’t even stand the site of the pegasus and promptly went back inside. Others shook their hooves defiantly in the air and still others raised their hooves in triumph. The platoon of royal guards showed no emotion as they continued to lead their prisoner forward.

Eventually the wagon slowed to a stop before the impossibly high walls of the royal palace. One of the guards threw open the wagon doors and grabbed Rainbow Dash with his magic. Cheers rang out as he dragged her through the dirt like an animal towards the eccentric white and gold doors. She didn’t resist as the mud and grime built up around her coat and clods of dirt stung her eyes.

“Traitor!”

She flinched as a glob of spit landed below her eye from one of the guards lined up on either side of her. Soon a chorus of insults and threats rang out all around her and by the time she got to the palace her entire face was coated with a thick layer of saliva. Her body screeched against the cold marble floors, a long brown streak of mud revealing the straight path where she had been dragged across the courtyard to rest before the hooves of the princesses.

“Kneel.” The guard ordered.

Rainbow Dash choked on the dust in her lungs before shakily doing what she was told.

*~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~*

“Get out.”

The white unicorn turned to Spike uncertainly before stepping out of the wagon with the guard.

“It’ll be okay.” He tried to sound reassuring but the mare knew he was lying.

Spike followed her out with the signal of the guard and couldn’t help but gasp as he saw the lines of ponies watching them. Every one of them was silent as the two captives marched past them through the streets towards the royal palace. Whispers broke out behind them but Spike couldn’t make out what any of them were saying. Rarity had seemed to finally accept her fate just as he had. She walked with her head down beside him, her mane and tail dragging through the dirt.

The royal palace had once been a beautiful shining symbol of a utopian society, but no longer. The platoon of guards around them led what was left of the resistance. Any hope of freedom would die with them.

The glorious white of the castle walls stung their eyes until they had to squint just to see where they were going. Suddenly the guards stopped. They all remained stoic as they awaited the massive pearly gates to open. A thunderous boom echoed through Canterlot as they finally began to swivel. Spike dreaded every second.

“Kneel.” One of the guards ordered.

Rarity and Spike both did as they were told, devastated at the condition of the chromatic pegasus beside them.

*~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~*

“You stand before us as rebels, sought to rattle and shake the foundations of our way of life until nothing remains. We will not stand for this. We have brought peace and prosperity to a land that has only known struggle and hardship. What do you have to say for yourself?”

“You have brought struggle and hardship to a land that only knew prosperity and peace!” Spike stood up pointing an accusing clawed finger at the silver-maned princess. “You have perverted the ways of Princesses Luna and Celestia and every living creature in Equestria has suffered because of it!”

“Mind your tongue.” One of the guards snarled pushing the dragon back down to his knees.

“It hasn’t been easy reconstructing a broken society, and it’s only made harder by the meddling of you and your rebellious cohorts.” Twilight picked up. “My sister and I rose to power not long after the passing of the old alicorn sisters. We sacrificed everything in order to help Equestria grow as a nation. We even offered our most loyal subjects and friends a place by our side. Why is it that you feel so inclined to bring us down?”

“Because you stood idly by while thousands died!” Rarity spat. “Wars, famine, plague – they all broke out while you sat up in your palace doing nothing. Equestria is still a broken state and you somehow are able to justify it. You’re more concerned with a petty rebel group then you are the lives of everypony!”

“You rebels are the cause of everything bad in Equestria! If it weren’t for you everypony would be flourishing and not afraid to step outside the walls of Canterlot!” Trixie shouted, slamming a defiant hoof down on the marble floor with an ear-shattering crack.

“Don’t blame this on us!” Spike jumped up again. “Ponies are afraid to leave Canterlot because you ordered every guard to return to the palace before constructing the giant white walls around the city! Anypony who steps outside is instantly banished, never to return.”

Twilight sighed. “I tried to give you all a chance, I really did. After the passing of Fluttershy it was obvious that I had let the power go to my head. I offered you all jobs in the royal palace, Pinkie Pie and Applejack both graciously accepted the positions of personal cooks for my sister and I, but there was no getting through to the rest of you. I was hoping that a short stay in the institution would sway your hearts towards my endeavor. I see Rainbow Dash hasn’t spoken out against us yet. Perhaps it worked.”

“You’re sick.” The pegasus breathed dangerously.

“We will never forgive you for what you did to Fluttershy!” Rarity snapped.

“Examples had to be made.” Trixie replied coldly.

“I see there is no further use in arguing with you.” Twilight continued. “As you all must very well know at this point, attempting to overthrow the matriarchs is one of the most heinous of crimes in Equestria and it will not go unpunished. But seeing as you already lost your friend I am willing to free you of your vain mortal struggles.”

The two mares and dragon kneeling before the princesses looked up with astonishment. They were all speechless as the alicorns turned to leave.

“Execute them.” Twilight murmured to one of the guards as she was turning away.

Screams of fear and panic rang out behind the sisters as they heard the three friends being dragged away by the guards.

“You’ve done a terrible thing, Twilight Sparkle.” The voice in her head sounded familiar.

She looked to Trixie uncertainly and for the first time her sister looked back at her with the same feeling of doubt.

Somewhere out in the royal courtyard the distorted figure of her idol smiled with lips of stone.