The Shadow Over Seagift

by Monsignor Gabriel

Rating: teen
Tags: My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, Dark, Other, Romance, Original Character, Sex, Adventure, Princess Celestia, Crossover, Twilight Sparkle, Main 6
Length: 17184

Princess Twilight is tasked by Celestia to investigate mysterious occurrences in a distant coastal town

"There lies the slumbering beast
Fur and salt flying with every heave
Raise the dreaded toothed hungry knife
And put it out of it's misery"

New to the princess and political game, Twilight is given a "practice run" by Princess Celestia: a seemingly minor but still strange case of mass disappearance in a coastal algae-fishing town called Seagift, which had gone quiet for years before suddenly resurfacing again with bizarre practices.

OK'd by Celestia to take her friends along for familiarity and safety, Twilight can only wonder what awaits her and her friends in the town of Seagift, where she must uncover the source and the reason behind the town's weirdness.

Afterwards, troubled by the memories of the town, Twilight retells her story in her own words in an attempt to clarify the situation for herself and for others... In case anything happens to her.

Half experiment, half dead serious. Hope you like it either way.

Published 2013-06-24 19:10:02 UTC
Last updated 2017-01-23 04:31:45 UTC

1. Train To Nowhere

Train To Nowhere

"Who am I? When I am hidden, mortal minds gleefully seek for me; when I am revealed, mortal minds fearfully flee from me," said she.

"You are the truth," said he.

"Indeed," said she. "But you do not flee, and yet you are mortal."

"I am still afraid," said he.

CELESTIAL DIALOGUES, 33:42-33:51,
"Starswirl the Bearded Answers
the Riddle of Truth Spoken by Celestia"

I remember almost everything. I remember now how it all began, and how ironic that beginning is, considering how it all ends. The thought of it manages to calm me down. It was a good day, that day. It was a time before I knew all of this. I shouldn't go back; that would be willful ignorance. But I want to. It's part of the story, isn't it? I don't care if it makes me happy.

It was a bright, beautiful, warm, windy summer morning; graceful, kind, comforting, welcoming, coronated by the rays of the sun, rather like a certain someone I thought I knew. My heart felt illuminated when she sent me a short, compact letter at the same moment I was thinking of her. I was doing my usual research when Spike coughed it up with his usual burp of arcane fire. I remember finding this unusual. I wrote letters to Celestia all of the time, and I knew I hadn't written any to her recently. I was too embroiled in researching the Dialogues and texts like it, and I assume she knew after I mentioned the arrival of the collection from the Canterlot library in the mail. That's 146 volumes of books I had to read. And it was the overly-wordy Starswirl Editions, too. When a faint twinge of worry vibrated through my chest, I immediately thought I was already worrying too much; certainly she only wanted to ask me what my opinion on the Dialogues was (they're marvelous, by the by, though she does come across as too forward with Starswirl. Like she wanted to jump his hat or something). Besides, if it was an emergency, she would have sent a cadre of guards to escort me to Canterlot and meet up with her and her advisors.

I asked Spike to read me the letter, but he said he couldn't.

"Why not?" I asked. I was still entranced with the Dialogues at this time.

"Because the first line after 'Dear Twilight' is 'This is for your eyes only'," said Spike, a little miffed.

"Oh... Sorry about that... Well, fold it up and don't read it," I commanded.

"I wasn't going to," he said, sticking his tongue out at me.

He can be such a big baby sometimes, my oblivious redundancy notwithstanding. And that's saying quite a lot, him being a baby dragon and all. I unfolded the letter in front of me on the desk and read it quietly. Spike, in the meanwhile, had run off to another part of the house, which gave me enough privacy and security to read it under my breath. It helped me concentrate on the letter, my mind having been absorbed in my research beforehand. The letter went so:

Dear Twilight,

This is for your eyes only. Try as much as you can not to let Spike read it. I'm afraid that some dire situations have arisen in the past couple of days, part of the reason I haven't written to ask what you think of the Dialogues. Personally, I think Starswirl's aide made me sound rather forward. But never mind that. As soon as you get this letter, I want you to consider how quickly you can come to Canterlot by yourself and reply to me as soon as possible with Spike's help. I would send the usual cadre of guards, but I'm afraid that would bring too much attention. This is something that requires the utmost discretion.

I await your answer. Celestia.

The strangeness of the situation overcame my thought processes, and I forgot that I wanted to write Celestia immediately back after I had finished reading the letter. I wondered what situation would make Celestia require me to operate in complete secret. She didn't mention any of my friends and said, specifically, to come by myself. What if I hurt myself? Or what if something happened to me on the way to Canterlot? Why couldn't we correspond via letters? Why didn't she just send a single guard? Or would that have been too conspicuous? What the hay was going on? At that point, Spike had climbed up behind me and was looking over me, trying to read the letter. His curiosity almost killed me.

"So, what's Celestia want?" he said, breaking the silence of my thoughts.

I yelped. He started, startled as well. "Sp-Spike... That's none of your business... Oh, Sweet Mare in the Moon, don't sneak up on me like that!"

"Jeez, sorry. I just wanted to ask if you wanted some lunch," he said.

"Sorry, sorry... I can't. I have to go to Canterlot," I said.

"Canterlot? ... Did something happen?" asked Spike, fishing for clues.

"Sorry, Spike. This looks serious. I can't tell you anything," I said.

I picked up my quill and scrawled a very quick answer to Celestia:

Dear Princess Celestia,

I'll be on the first rail out. Should we really be using our names? Or is this threat you can't tell me about some kind of evil unicorn wizard that can intercept magically sent messages?

Sincerely, Princess Twilight.

"Here, message for Celestia. You can read that if you want," I said.

Spike immediately opened it and read it. "Aww," he said, before sending the letter to the Princess.

"That letter didn't say anything about anything, Twilight," he complained.

"Oh, it didn't? That's too bad. Maybe the next one," I said, smiling at him.

"Ah, I don't care anymore. It's probably silly, like a river overflowing or something," he said.

"Lots of ponies can loose their homes because of that," I said, going to my closet.

"So they'll just build their houses again. We do it with Ponyville all the time," he said.

"True... Spike... Oh my... A little help here..." I squealed, trying to remove my baggage from the closet.

"Wait... I feel..." he began, before burping up another message.

"That was quick," I said.

This answer was even shorter:

T.

If it makes you feel better. It's rather difficult to reproduce dragon breath. But it does make me feel better.

C.

I remember finding the futility of it rather amusing. Nevermind we use our names all the time, but even if we used only our initials, it's rather obvious who is talking to whom. I decided against replying, instead focusing on packing a few essentials for the train: some food, enough bits for the rides, my documentation, and a coat, just in case I need to hide myself from ponies or the rain. I needed to make the Noon Express on time.

"So... Will you be back soon?" said Spike, rather disappointed.

"Yeah. These meetings can't be too long. I'm supposed to be her liaison in Ponyville. I wouldn't make a good liaison if I weren't here. Besides, she has her advisors to give her advice. You and Owlowiscious get along now, understand?" I said, walking out the door waving goodbye.

"Yeah yeah. I'll bake him a pie or something... Jewel pie," he muttered, closing the door behind me.

The day was ahead of me, so I promptly galloped to the train station as fast as I could without drawing attention to myself. Hopefully, nobody but Spike and Owlowiscious would miss me. Spike, while he wasn't a very good liar, could come up with something to at least reasonably account for my absence. Despite his lazyness in the morning, he at least understood when to be serious and when things depended on him not goofing off. Or, at least, that's what I thought. And as naive as it was, it would pay off. Hopefully.

A train was departing the station, but the noon rail hadn't arrived yet because it wasn't noon, which meant I had plenty of time to get things straight. I bought my ticket, keeping my wings tucked, my back to the bench, making sure nobody was staring at me. Luckily, the station was empty, thanks to the train that had already left. Which meant I could relax a bit and take the situation in. I wondered what Celestia needed me for. What couldn't wait? It had to be something minor, seeing as how I hadn't even been an alicorn or a Princess for a couple months yet. Was I ready for official business? If that was the case, where was she sending me and what did she want me to do there? Did I have to quiet down a riotous town? What would they even be rioting over? Snake-oil salesponies? Ursa Majors? I only dealt with an Ursa Minor, so that couldn't be it. Dragons? Maybe it was a dragon. But wouldn't she ask Fluttershy or a dragon expert in general for help on that?

Ponies began to arrive a few minutes before the train had arrived. I hid behind a nearby beam, pulling the coat over me. I somewhat regretted the decision: it was odd for a pony to wear a coat in the middle of thesummer, after all. I wondered whether I was being followed, and who might be doing the following. I'd seen the ponies on the platform before; they all lived in Ponyville, but I didn't know them by name. And, evidently, they were either too tired to care or they didn't know me at all, since none of them seemed too interested in the fidgety mare wearing a hood.

"Welcome aboard, ma'am. Your cabinet's right down that car," said the conductor.

"Thank you," I replied.

I trotted a bit to my private quarters, trying to hide where I was staying. I settled in rather immediately, placing my saddle bag in the net above my seat and plopping down, staring out the window. I sighed, my nervousness somewhat leaving me. I waited a while. Eventually, the conductor gave a last call and the train began to chug along. I could only stare at the countryside as it passed me by as the train slowly picked up speed. Usually, I like trains. My cabin was rather comfy, and I had a lot of privacy. I found myself, however, wishing the conductor were up for a chat. Trains can grow torturously boring when there's nobody to talk to.

I jumped in my seat when I heard a knock on my cabin door.

"... Who is it?" I said when nobody spoke before me.

"Guess," said a very familiar voice.

I opened the door and saw who it was.

"... P-Princess? Wha... How... You..." I was flabbergasted, to say the least.

"I have ways, my little pony," said Celestia, sitting on the seat opposite mine.

"... Well... Okay... You look... Good," I said, trying not to laugh.

Celestia had cast a spell on her mane and coat, making them look black and tan, respectively. She was also wearing dark glasses and a large coat that seemed to hide a hump from the outside. A disguise so conspicuous it was genius camouflage? Maybe.

"Don't I always?" she said, giggling. "Besides, discretion and all."

"Right, discretion... This is discreet?" I would hardly call it that, even to this day.

"More than you'd think; it's all part of a ploy I'm executing," said the Princess, clopping her hooves together.

"A ploy? Why would you... Do you think I was followed?" I whispered.

"Maybe, maybe not. It could be some Ponyville resident forced or persuaded to follow you. It could be the conductor. But, just to be sure, I'm glad you were spotted boarding a train to Canterlot by so many. Did you sign your name in the passenger manifest?" she asked.

"OH... Sweet Celestia, I knew I was forgetting something." I slapped my forehead at my stupidity.

"You did good, Twilight. Besides, I don't think a false name was going to throw anybody off." Celestia giggled.

"... I don't get it." I honestly didn't.

"Well, you see, my student, you were SEEN boarding a train. Anypony with any kind of political clout knows who you are and what your traveling plans mean. If they're pro-active, they would follow you everywhere. If they weren't, they would at least check the passenger manifest to make sure you had boarded," Celestia explained.

"So..." I started, waving my hooves around my head.

"So, if you, say, jumped off the train mid-way and went back to Ponyville and then left somewhere else, they would be confused for several days if not a week as to where exactly you are."

A few seconds passed before realization finally reached me.

"Oh... Oh! That's clever." I smiled, pointing my hoof at her.

"Thank you." she smiled back. "Plus, this cabinet gives us relative privacy to discuss what we need to discuss." Her voice lowering, her tone changing completely, I followed suit.

"What's going on, Princess?" I asked.

"Something... Strange, to say the least. Where do I begin... Maybe at the beginning? Many years ago, before you were born, there was a little village far to the north-east of Manehattan founded by ocean-going ponies called Seagift..." began Celestia.

"That's not very clever," I interrupted.

"Maybe, but back to the story, my little pony," said Celestia.

"Oh, right, sorry." I waved my hoof around, signalling her to continue and disregard my interruptions.

"Where was I... Yes, Seagift. Seagift was a unique little town, much like all of the little towns in Equestria, one could argue. But Seagift was special because a special kind of seaweed grew along the coasts of where the town was built; it grew taller than any trees on land and tasted just as good as the sweetest apple. It inspired an algae farm boom, and algae farmers all moved there looking for a piece of the pie."

"I hear algae salad tastes really good," I said.

"It's alright," said Celestia, shrugging. "Anyway, Seagift grew and grew, and it made other towns around it grow and grow thanks to all the algae it farmed. But then... About 5 years ago... The town stopped sending algae to it's buyers."

"... It just stopped?" I asked.

Celestia only nodded.

"... Why?" I asked.

"Nobody knows," said Celestia. "When people went inquiring... The town was discovered deserted. A boomtown, deserted overnight."

"... Well, that is weird, but so what? Maybe they just got sick of algae and just moved away or something," I said, though I admitted to myself that it sounded really ignorant.

"They didn't. About a month ago, a trader speaking on behalf of the township of Seagift visited some of the outlying hamlets, asking if anypony wanted some of Seagift's famous algae. Some denounced the salesman as a phony, but then he procured a signed, sealed, official Seagift residency document, signed by the mayor who was the mayor of the town 5 years ago. It's almost like the town had gotten stuck in time and had never disappeared. It's like the ponies lost 5 years' time. The thing is, the traders have admitted they know about the strange occurrences in the town. They just don't care because they're being paid very well by the current Mayor of Seagift."

"... That's really weird," I said.

"Indeed," said Celestia. "The ponies from the surrounding hamlets say there's something wrong with Seagift, and nopony wants to find out what. Some ponies claim it's haunted."

"Pfft... C'mon, Princess, you believe them?" I said.

"Maybe they're just superstitious... But it doesn't explain what happened to Seagift 5 years ago and why they're resurfacing now. I want you to find out. I want you to infiltrate the town, introduce yourself to the mayor, and, under my authority and your own as a Princess, procure and secure evidence as to what happened 5 years ago... If the authorities and the townsponies won't cooperate and just tell you outright," said Celestia, pointing at me.

"You can count on me, Princess!" I muttered. "I won't let you down. Those weirdos won't know what hit them when I come there."

"Now, now, Twilight, take it easy... You didn't think I was going to send you there by yourself, did you?" said Celestia.

"Oh... Right.. No... That's... That would be silly," I stuttered, somewhat crestfallen.

Celestia laughed. "Not that I don't trust you or anything. It's just that we don't know the situation. We don't know what happened, nor whether there might be bandits or something in the town. I trust you and your abilities entirely, Twilight. Why else would I give you this assignment?"

"Yeah... I understand," I said, feeling a little better.

"I have two parties involved already, but they're waiting for your arrival. One are two natives I managed to contact that were willing to cooperate. They're usually part of the trading caravans Seagift sends out. Their names are Booker Gnat and Private Ike. They said that they would know when you were in town and expect you in the town library. If ever you go there, they'll be there, ready to brief you on any happenings in the town. The other is the Fourth Cavalry, stationed out of sight of the town about two miles to the northwest. If ever, ever you feel in danger, tell Nat or Ike. They'll send a magical signal to the Fourth, and the Fourth will proceed to raid the town and evacuate you. Any more questions?" said Celestia, opening the door and checking to see if anypony was eavesdropping.

"... Seriously? Booker Gnat and Private Ike?" I asked, snickering.

"Evidently, their parents weren't too creative. Gnat is the mayor's accountant and runs the library in her spare time... And is rather small for a mare her age. Private Ike is a retired private investigator, and freelances for the mayor" said Celestia. "Remarkable for such a young stallion."

"Do you know who the mayor is?" I asked.

"No... But I met the mayor from 5 years ago. His name was Matchmaker. His father ran a factory that made strike matches, you see, and he grew up making them. He was among the townsponies that disappeared. I wonder if he's returned... The current Mayor claims to be the same pony," said Celestia, struggling to remember details, or at least unsure if the details are accurate.

"Can I bring my friends?" I asked.

"I would prefer if you didn't... Actually... It would be preferable if you did. Tell them you're... Going on vacation or something. I'm paying for everything. It's a gift... Or something... When you meet the mayor, tell them they're your royal entourage or something. Use them as a cover. Now that I think about it, a group of young mares on vacation appears more benign than a single pony fidgeting about town... And an alicorn princess at that. But leave Spike here. If they believe you're taking your time with leaving, then all the better. Besides, he might just be too much of a distraction and would stand out" said Celestia, pondering the question and changing her mind several times.

"Anything else, Princess?" I said.

Knock knock.

I gasped. Someone was on the cabin door. Celestia made sure her costume was set straight and I pretended to sleep, hidden by my hood and facing away from the door.

"Tickets, ma'am?" I heard the conductor say.

"Ah, yes, of course. Let me fish my son's while I'm at it" said Celestia. She made a convincing old lady.

"That's fine... There ya go! Marked and stamped. Sorry for botherin' y'all. Thankfully, this'll probably be the only time y'all will have to put with me!" said the conductor.

"Oh, that's fine, dearie. Yer a handsome colt. I wouldn't mind seeing ya later" said Celestia, smooth and grandmotherly.

The conductor let out a hearty laugh. The door closed.

"You sound like Applejack's Granny Smith" I said, holding back my laughter.

"Well, I am thousands of years old. I could be her great-great-great-great... Well, you get the point," said Celestia, haughty and slightly embarassed.

"Well... Is that everything?" I said, giddy.

"One more thing. Take this sack of bits, just in case. Forgive me for making you pay for your ticket with your own money. THAT should be everything. Write this all down when you get home so you don't forget, OK?" said Celestia. I detected worry all over her voice and expressions.

"Princess... You can count on me. I will not fail. I promise." I meant it.

I grabbed my saddle bag, placing the sack of bits inside. It felt heavy. The thought of whether the sack would impede me from flying floated through one of my ears and out the other. I tied my coat's ropes to make sure it was nice and tight and under the saddle bag, so that it wouldn't whip about in the wind.

"I know you won't... I know you won't. Good luck, Princess Twilight. My dearest student..." said Celestia. Her smile was the last thing I saw as I left the cabin.

I looked up and down the car. It was empty. The conductor had moved on. I heard no other voices. The car was empty entirely. I walked to the nearest connecting door. The train clinked and clanged along at a medium pace, slow enough that I could jump off of it but fast enough I would whip by so fast no one would notice. A chain that acted as a railing separated me from falling underneath the train and quite certainly grinding me into the rails. I went underneath it, pushing from behind so that I could put some leverage on the two connected cars' platforms. I pushed on the platforms as hard as I could. I hurled my entire body forward. I put my forelegs forward in front of my head. I extended my wings.

The wind immediately whipped at me, sending me flying against the train's roof. Rainbow Dash taught me well when I instinctively tucked my wings to stop the wind from whipping me about. My right hindleg's hoof clanked down on it, but I then pushed myself off of it, jumping up once again into the air, extending my wings once again. The momentum allowed me to gain some serious air, though my pastern felt a little sore. I forgot about the slight pain almost immediately as the wind allowed me to glide quite high above the train and the terrain around Ponyville seemed to embrace and caress me, like a lover; red, green, brown, blue, a pastiche of beautiful color extended before me. The wind beat against my face and muzzle, making me numb to the sting of the cold air. My eyes watered at my attempts to keep them open, but, thankfully, Fluttershy had helped me get used to the wind by fanning my eyes for extended periods of time. I flapped them once or twice. The sack of bits Celestia did indeed feel heavy, but hopefully wouldn't fatigue me too much.

Flying made me feel free, liberated, revealed. It was so much, it frightened me. I understood why Rainbow Dash loved it and Fluttershy didn't. It was scary, but fun.

Author's Note

My favorite part about this chapter was writing the quote. The Celestial Dialogues are partly inspired by the Socratic Dialogues and the 1001 Arabian Nights. They're basically conversations between Celestia and several great and powerful and famous ponies recorded by those that follow her around all the time.

I'll probably even write a story about that.

2. Seeing in the Dark

Seeing in the Dark

By the time I had reached the outskirts of the village, I was exhausted. I used Fluttershy's cabin at the edge of town as a reference, and landed right next to it. I collapsed on my behind, gasping for air and wiping quite a bit of sweat from my brow with my hood. Breathing deep one last time, I wondered whether Fluttershy had seen me arrive. She wasn't outside. Only her little critter condo was, and she wasn't around it. I creeped up to her window and peered in. She wasn't inside. I could see her pet bunny, Angel, asleep on the floor in the kitchen, probably trying to cool himself in the noon. I decided she wasn't home. This was odd, considering she only does so occassionally, only when she needs to. Most of the time, she prefers to keep to herself and the critters she keeps and feeds and helps on their way. But maybe I was underestimating her. She'd grown more... Normal, as of recently. I wonder now if she was only lonely.

I started to go through a list in my head of where she could have gone as I walked back into town, an exercise at trying to make myself look normally busy. I removed my coat and put it in my saddle bag, and realized the listing was making me feel natural again. I relaxed for once in a few hours, trying not to look as though I'd just been in a secret meeting with the regent of Equestria, given a secret mission to a far away place and then jumped from a moving train. Nopony else seemed to pay much attention as I made my way back home. Back to Spike, to my things. I wondered where my friends were.

I froze dead in my tracks. Through the window, I thought I'd heard a scream. I was right.

"NO PLEASE... DON'T DO THIS!" Spike's voice echoed out.

"Sorry, kid. You forced our hand," said another voice.

"NO! PLEASE! YOU CAN'T!" Spike cried out.

I ran for the door of my house and kicked it open. I remember now the kick wasn't hard enough to slam the door, which is what I was probably going for; it only gave a slight tap; a weak kick I thought strong.

"Twilight! Dagnabbit, girl, we's all been lookin' for ya," said Applejack.

"Good morning, Twilight. So good to see you," said Fluttershy.

"Hi Twilight!" said Pinkie Pie.

"Good near-noon, my marefriend," said Rarity.

"Twilight... 'Sup?" said Rainbow Dash.

"Um... Hi, girls," I said, both pleasantly and unpleasantly surprised.

"Twilight... They made me do it," I heard a familiar voice say from behind them.

"Made you do WHAT? Tell the truth? I oughta..." began Rainbow Dash, annoyed.

"You girls were looking for me?" I asked.

"Eeyup," said Applejack. "Ah was th' first one that made it to yer house, I reckon. Granny Smith made a great big apple parfait for breakfast, but there was leftovers, so ah reckoned I'd give all y'all some. I knocked on th' door and Spike said ya'll wasn't home, that ya'll'd gone over ta Fluttershy's house."

"But you never did. I would have remembered you come, Twilight," cooed Fluttershy.

"I think I was second," said Rainbow Dash. "I was gonna come over to see if you had kept up your flying lesson homework. Spike said you were at Pinkie Pie's."

"But I woulda remembered you, Twilight. Even if I was face-deep in frosting," said Pinkie Pie.

"And that's where I entered the drama," said Rarity. "Spikey-Wikey said you had gone to MY place. And that's when everyone arrived and we swapped the stories Spikey-Wikey told us."

"Ah figured he was lying. And ah was right," said Applejack, looking at Spike and frowning as though she had smelled something stinky. "But it took a little persuadin'."

"What kind of persuading? Were you torturing him? It sounded like it," I said.

"Yup. I was tickling him to death," said Pinkie Pie, waving a feather around.

"Twilight... It was horrible... I'm sorry... They made me tell you were going away..." started Spike.

"That's alright, Spike," I said, giggling. "There's been a change in plans."

"Plans? What plans?" asked Pinkie Pie.

"Celestia has an important mission for me. I need to go to a town on a diplomatic envoy and meet the mayor. It's a big boom town and she said I should take you guys along. You know, for extra security," I explained.

The girls began to chatter, excited at the prospect of being an entourage for a princess on official business.

"So... That's it?" said Spike, obviously dissapointed and confused at the hubbub.

"Actually... I need to talk to you about that, Spike," I said, leading him away.

We went up to my room, where we could talk in private. "So, what's up?" he said.

"Spike... The princess thought it would be better if you stayed behind," I said.

"... You're leaving me here," said Spike, looking at his feet as he realized what I said.

"It's for the best. She's executing a ploy. Apparently, someone's been trying to follow me."

"Who?" he said, suddenly very interested. I guess political intrigue can be exciting sometimes.

"I don't know. But in order to convincingly make whoever it is believe I'm still here, there needs to be signs I'm still here," I explained.

"And that'll help you?" he said.

"Yes. If whoever's following me thinks I never left, they'll get confused. I can't be in two places at once, can I? It'll take them a while to figure it out, and by that time I'll be gone from the town," I concluded.

"Well... Alright. I'll get food from the Apples or something... I'll miss you and Rarity, though."

"I'll miss you too, Spike. Besides, by my calculations, the trip shouldn't take more than a week or two. It won't be for too long. You won't have time to miss me."

"OK... I'll do it. This is... Kinda cool," said Spike, his voice lowering furtively, conspiratorially.

"Attaboy," I said.

We hugged. He can be a great friend sometimes, too.

I returned back to where the girls were chattering.

"Alright, girls. We'll be gone as soon as you're ready. Tie up your loose ends and try to be ready by tomorrow morning, OK?" I talked over them.

"Eh, I been thinkin' about a vacation anyway," said Applejack, apparently needing convincing.

"Yeah, same here. I was getting sick of working the skies every day," said Rainbow Dash.

"So many new friends I could meet... I'll throw a great party!" Pinkie Pie thought aloud.

"My animal friends have always said I babied them too much. I think they'll be happy that I'm taking a little break. I hope they can fend for themselves while I'm gone..." worried Fluttershy.

"Animals take care of themselves every day, my dear Fluttershy. I don't see why they won't be able to. How about we talk about REAL problems for once. Like how I don't know how much clothing I'll need. One set of luggage? Two? Three? We'll look DREADFUL for the party Pinkie Pie'll throw. I don't want you all or me to look like commoners when we get there! That mayor of the town will probably be a handsome chap and what if he doesn't like..." ranted Rarity.

Rarity's rant went on uninterrupted for nearly 5 minutes. I didn't really catch most of it, I must confess.

"Um... Rarity, I think it'll be fine" I said, finally. "Celestia gave me a sack of bits for the time we're there. Considering how many, we could splurge and still be under budget. So don't worry. Bring as many as you want, I guess. I'm certain we could help you pack for the trip once we're ready."

Somewhat relieved for the excuse to interrupt Rarity, the other girls pushed Rarity out and filed out of my house one by one. My guess was, their loose ends would be minor details compared to the help Rarity would need. Me and Spike were alone again. While I gathered some things from my closet into a steamer trunk under my bed along with my books and papers, I could feel Spike watching me from behind. I could tell he was anxious about asking me about my trip, about the town I was going, and whether he could still come along. It broke my heart to leave him, knowing he wanted to come. I even riled him up by suggesting that it would actually be entertaining and not, you know, serious diplomatic business involving bizarre incidents on a border town. But, like Celestia said, he would most certainly stand out among a host of ponies. Plus, most ponies in Equestria hadn't really seen a dragon, and baby or not, Spike would probably bring too much attention, maybe even more than an alicorn would, and even then, the fact I'm an alicorn isn't immediately obvious if I hide either my horn or my wings or both.

"Something on your mind, Spike?" I finally asked.

"Just what you can't tell me," he said.

"Oh, just that, eh?" I said, trying to drop the subject.

"Can you at least tell me where you're going?" he pleaded.

"I'm kind of afraid to tell you." I meant it.

"Aren't you afraid of leaving me here, then?" he said, though I think he already knew my answer.

"Ponyville is safe. Everypony here is good and kind. Where I'm going, I'm not sure that's the case."

Spike sighed. "And if you told me, someone might come after me, right?" he said, almost like he knew I was going to say exactly that.

"You got it" I said.

"Well... They already know you're going where you're going, right? So why would they ask me where you're going. If they come to me, they obviously figured out you're not here, so..."

"I said NO, Spike." I cringed at my own harshness. "I'm... Sorry... I can't tell you, Spike."

"... You're not just a little scared, then," said Spike, frowning. "Twi... What's going on?"

"All I know is someone is stalking me and I don't know why. That scares me enough. I haven't even done anything yet. I've only been a princess a few months. I even denied Celestia when she wanted me to go to Canterlot. I couldn't. I couldn't leave my friends, leave you, leave Ponyville, leave my life."

"Well... Maybe they knew Celestia wanted to give this job to you?" theorized Spike.

"Maybe... Maybe they expected it. But that doesn't explain the 'why'. Why do they want to watch me? What are they hiding?" I thought out loud.

"Maybe... If you told me, I could have heard something somewhere and remember..." started Spike.

"Spike..." I said, slightly loosing my patience again. But... Maybe if he was ignorant about it, it would make it better. Just in case they came to see him anyway.

"If I tell you where I'm going... Will you promise to drop it and never speak about it to anypony?"

"I promise" he said. He sat down, eager to listen. "Cross my heart, hope to fly, skip... A loo... I forget. I promise though."

"Fine... Celestia is sending me to a town called Seagift in the north-east" I forced myself to say.

"Wait... Seagift..." said Spike. I could tell he recognized the name.

"You've heard of it before. Where?" I said.

"From Pinkie Pie," he said.

"Pinkie Pie?" I said, smirking, incredulous to the point of doubting it's where he heard it from.

"Yeah. Pinkie Pie told me a story once about a town that was built next to the coast... She said it was haunted," said Spike, voice lowered, eyes bright and wide.

"Haunted by what?" I said. For a second, I thought maybe he had found something I never could... That Celestia never could...

"By a zombie changeling sea cucumber," he said, genuinely terrified by the thought of it.

I could only stare at him for a while. "Sea cucumber, eh?" I said, trying and failing to sound interested.

"Yeah. Is that what Celestia sent you to take care of?" said Spike, sounding as though he thought he'd figured it out.

"Sure," I said, hoping very much he'd latch onto that thought.

"That's so cool!" he said. "And the guys following you are the sea cucumber's zombie slaves?"

"Yup. Probably. Maybe it's somepony it bribed or something," I said, humoring him.

"Nah. Sea cucumbers don't have pockets."

He trailed off along that same line of thought for the rest of the day, which I welcomed very much. And for the rest of the day, I tried to examine him, to see whether he really believed it. If he did, I was happy because he was still a kid and would be benign in the light of the things that could come for him; keep him safe from the things that came for me in the night. And if he didn't, I was even happier, knowing he was smart, and smart enough to know to act ignorant. And I figured I should at least begin to act accordingly as well. I did take to mind, however, for how long I could keep things to my friends. My calculations on the time the trip would take included the week I would have to stay there to be thorough in my investigation of Seagift plus the two or three days I would spend on the train to get there in the first place. That's 3 days I would be with them where they could pick apart and analyze anything I lied to them about and force me to talk. What horrifying tortures would they have in store for me?

I stared off into the darkness in disbelief at my own sillyness as I thought about these things while trying to sleep. But I did worry about how I should tell them, because it was inevitable that I would have to tell them if I didn't want to hurt their feelings or make them uncomfortable or scared like I almost did to Spike, and thankfully he was either lost in fantasy or understood the idea that if I told him, he could be in danger of, at best, severe harassment. I couldn't use that excuse with the girls, and even if I could, NOT telling them could actually put them in danger. They wouldn't be mentally prepared for the possible situations that might arise. They wouldn't know to stay alert, to notice if someone is following them on the way home, to write some things down, to help me as much as they could. In hindsight, I was already ashamed for deceiving them with the guarantee of fun in the sun. It was inevitable. I have to tell them. But when? And how?

My drowsyness soon overpowered my worries, and they melted away with my slumber.

I had a dream that night. The first dream I ever remembered for weeks, now that I think about it, though that wasn't the reason I remembered it afterwards and it's not the reason I remember it now.

I was standing at the foot of a great ruin, a city, older than anything I could possibly comprehend, maybe even older than Celestia or Luna could comprehend, but with none of the characteristics or markers or signs or clues that would indicate it as such except for a skyline, but the skyline itself was strange, uninhabitable, not designed for living things: buildings bereft of windows or entrances, whereas others only had one of the two; streets narrow and jagged, zigzagging and circling before ending abruptly; statues of creatures I couldn't identify loomed large, imposing, oppressive, occupying the empty spaces in the sky. The buildings, the statues, their designs blocked out the sun, or the muddy haze of my dreams made it appear so, because I was almost entirely devoured by darkness, capable of sight only a few feet in front of me, and even then tinged with a greenish hue of reflected, refracted, weakened, recycled light. I wondered whether these designs were a feature or a fluke, designed by hooves or by wind and water and time. I slowly realized as I stumbled through the ruins, the buildings and streets blending into each other, that this couldn't be a habitable city. This was a farce, a facade, an imperfect recreation of a city, never intended as such.

I bumped into a wall, and I realized as I regained balance that I was covered in freezing dew, and eroded, liquified stone that had turned into slime. The more I advanced into the city, the more I found the ground beneath me equally aqueous and slippery. My breath puffed in a cloud before me as I struggled, and the freezing humidity in this mask of a city began to make icycles on the hairs of my muzzle. I could only walk further. I could only knock around here and there, blind and lost. I came upon a street greater and larger than any of the others, lined by colossal statues of the same creature, repeating all the way down, like guardians or trees; this city's equivalent of a boulevard or main street? The creatures depicted in plaster and stone were unlike any I had ever seen. Even now, I can't describe what they look like because I can't find words to describe them without making sense. They were alien and monstrous. Their faces drooped and cascaded into strings and strips of flesh, like a waterfall of skin. They were winged, like pegasi, but they were built haphazardly, as though they were broken and reset. I wondered if they could hold any weight at all. I couldn't find any eyes on them. Their hooves were stringy in the same way. They looked as though they could reach and grab, and were probably made for that purpose. I walked down the street, my heart leaping at the creatures depicted by the statues, until I saw something.

I saw, through the fog, a building greater and more featureless than any I had ever seen in this dead city. It was longer than it was wider, with a great hole that most likely substituted for an entrance symmetrically at it's center, meeting the road with some restraint, judging from the rubble and debris at it's feet. The thought finally hit me, as random as any of them at this time, and incomprehensible to me at the time and hard to form into words at this time: this wasn't just a fake city. It was a monument. It was a temple. It was a graveyard. And this great building before me, it was a mausoleum. It was a Sarcophagus. I climbed the fallen stones that once composed the walls of the Sarcophagus. And I saw, in the dark, great eyes staring back at me.

I woke up at that point. It was morning. My bags were still packed from the night before. Spike was making me a portable breakfast. I kissed him on the cheek goodbye and I sprinted to the train station, dragging my steamer and my saddle bag behind me haphazardly. The girls asked me why I was so pale. I allowed myself to forget it, but my mind never did. I can still see them in here, with me, in the absence of the moonlight; eyes staring back at me in the darkest part of a dead city.

3. Deepest Secrets

Deepest Secrets

We settled into the train, the only ponies occupying a passenger car. Our conductor was young and handsome. Rarity led an effort at teasing him a bit, convicing him to let us stay and eat there instead of packing into the dining car with all the other ponies for the full-blown breakfast service. That early in the morning, we weren't all that hungry, but hungry enough to eat a snack. Rarity even got him to bring her some food from the dining car. I wonder now whether I approved of it, knowing Rarity was using her "feminine wiles" to make him think he had a chance. The poor colt's probably bitter about it; he might've even gotten into trouble with his boss or something. I unwrapped the breakfast Spike had cooked for me to take on my trip, and I again felt rather saddened about leaving him behind. I suppose the emotion registered on my face, because Rainbow Dash piped up.

"Hey, Twilight, what spooked you so much when we were in Ponyville?" she asked.

I still had Spike on my mind, and didn't hear her at first. "Uh, spooked?" I said.

"She's right, Twahlight. You looked like you'd seen the ghost of the Drowning Mairy," said Applejack.

"Oh, that was nothing. I bumped into the door and it hurt something awful," I lied.

"Doors can be really scary and all, but I've never been that scared of them, Twilight," cooed Fluttershy, though I could barely hear her as she was rather far away from my chair.

"It was probably just the shock. I was half-asleep, had a bad morning, I guess. I'm fine, really."

I didn't understand why I was holding back. I was going to have to tell them eventually. Indeed, I wondered whether I wanted to tell them about the dream I'd had last night. They're my friends. Why should I hide anything from them? They'll help me. But I can't tell them. I couldn't tell them. I wanted to wait for a better moment. I wanted them to eat first. The situation still wasn't clear, even to me at that time. I didn't really understand why Celestia was so worried about Seagift. I was blissful, ignorant, willing to dismiss the situation. Celestia always said it helps with nerves, but I knew I was making a mistake. I knew I shouldn't dismiss this. I knew I couldn't. I was nervous. I had to accept I was nervous. I had to accept I was maybe even scared. What was I thinking? Why didn't I realize it sooner? Why didn't I snap myself out of this stupor and protect myself, protect my friends, protect anypony from this terrible truth? I can't remember now. I drifted on and off into sleep. The train was a shepherd, herding me to places I didn't understand or know, craning my neck with a harsh pull. I wanted to bite. I didn't know any better.

"Hey, what's this town we're going to like, anyway?" said Rainbow Dash.

The girls started chattering amongst themselves, churning out theories. Some of them thought it would be a snowy town with snowy cliffs and plenty of chances to slip and slide on skis; Rarity thought it was a decadent coastal city, fashionable yet exotic; others thought it was a tropical resort town with shady markets and really humid, hot weather and palm tree beaches. They all got really excited when the latter one was suggested. I felt silly listening to such things.

"I think you guys already knew it was a coastal town. Otherwise, you wouldn't have brought all of that beach stuff," I said, feeling smug about their assumptions.

"If it's a coast, it's a beach, isn't it?" said Pinkie Pie.

"Not necessarily. It could be a rocky coast," I speculated. "It's in the northeast, after all."

"Aw, shoot. Ah didn't know that. Can't swim if we're more likely to end up with a case of the Muzzle-Meets-Stalagmatites," lamented Applejack.

"Nah, I had a cousin who lived in Manehattan. They got beaches fine," said Rainbow Dash.

"Although..." said Rarity, rather quiet until this point. "I SINCERELY doubt the Princess sent Twilight and allowed us to accompany her if the business wasn't of supreme importance... I hope."

"Beaches're kinda important, if you ask me," joked Applejack.

Fluttershy giggled. "Well..." scoffed Rarity, unamused by Applejack's pedestrian, bare-bones humor, I'm certain. "I doubt that's the reason the Princess sent Twilight along."

"Ah, come on, Rare. Twilight already told us. Dontcha remember? The Princess wants Twilight to cozy up to the Mayor of Seagift and ask him for some of his algae," said Rainbow Dash.

"I hear stallions like cozying with mares," said Pinkie Pie. I'm unsure if she intended innuendo.

"Yeah, they been known ta do that," said Applejack, smirking.

"Yeah... I wonder if his coach ponies won't mind him getting cozy," said Rainbow Dash, chuckling.

"Oh... my," said Fluttershy, her eyes widening in realization. Oddly enough, Fluttershy is who finally put me on the defensive.

"No, no, no, no, no, no, that's not what Celestia meant... She would never... I..." I could barely stay coherent. I felt my cheeks burn a bit.

"Then what?" said Rainbow Dash, a sudden insistence on my retelling of what Celestia told me.

"Look... It's really rather boring. Economics, too much algae importation from the surrounding hamlets. It's all really technical," I tried explaining.

"Yeah, you're probably right," said Rainbow Dash. "Besides, stallions are more Rarity's game."

"And WHATEVER would you mean by that?" said Rarity, audibly annoyed.

"'Sides, ah know sumthin' about that, runnin' th' orchard an' all. Maybe ah could help ya out, Twi" offered Applejack.

"Um... Twilight? Can I ask you a question? I'm a little confused" cooed Fluttershy, gentle and sweet as ever.

"I dunno, Fluttershy... Well, alright. What's up?" I said.

"If this is so small, why did Celestia send you? Doesn't she have auditors and officials for that?" asked Fluttershy.

"She said this was my introduction to this. It's practice. I think" I said, sounding not too sure of myself.

Applejack picked up on it and decided I was making things up. "That's still kinda too small for ya, dontchathink, Twi? Yer an alicorn an' a princess! You've got magic powers an' all. Isn't a local thing kinda counter-productin' and wastin'?" she explained.

"Yeah, Twi. She should save you for something really crazy. Like an Ursa Major or something. That's what anypony would do. RRRRRROAR!" said Pinkie Pie, raising her arms up like a bear.

"Yeah... That doesn't make any sense" said Rainbow Dash, scratching her chin with her hoof. "She would keep you on retainer until something... WEIRD happened, don't you think?"

I sighed deeply. I saw the futility in hiding it, and, thankfully, it didn't take me that long. I felt some relief telling them, as, I must admit, everyone was ignorant when it came to Seagift.

"Yeah... You guys are right. I should tell you. Celestia DID send me because something weird happened."

The girls went quiet. The ambience became tense, to say the least. I was suddenly afraid to tell them again.

"It's... Not THAT weird," I said, trying to settle the mood.

"What's the sitch already?" said Rainbow Dash, impatient.

"Alright, alright... Well..." I began. I told them. About Seagift. About the mass dissapearance five years ago. About the resurgence a month ago. About the possibility somepony was stalking me. About how Celestia recommended I travel in a group for my own safety.

"... Th' hay is goin' on?" began Applejack.

"So, wait... That's it? They just dissapeared?" said Rainbow Dash.

"I'm not entirely convinced I believe that... It sounds like an old ghost story, Twidear" said Rarity.

"But... Celestia wouldn't send Twilight there for nothing... Would she?" whimpered Fluttershy.

"Hey... I heard of Seagift before," said Pinkie Pie.

"You have?" said Applejack, inredulous. "What'dya hear 'bout it?"

"It was a zombie sea cucumber that made everypony disappear," I said, dead-pan. "That's what she told Spike."

There was a brief silence as everypony, even Fluttershy, frowned and looked at Pinkie Pie in mild dissaproval. Pinkie Pie's usually ever-present smile faded as she looked at around at all of us, feeling the weight of our accusatory stares.

"What? I can be wrong sometimes!" said Pinkie, somewhat offended at our implications. "... It was a zombie fungus."

The silence lasted for a while longer.

"Celestia did mention the ponies around Seagift are spooked by the way the citizens have been behaving. The ghost stories have been coming from them for about that long. Local legend and whatnot," I explained.

"If you ask me, it sounds like a lot of..." began Rarity.

"Hoopsnake," said Applejack.

"I think the word is 'hoopla'," said Rainbow Dash.

"Is it?" asked Pinkie Pie.

"But... Twilight, I still don't understand. It's really confusing if you think about it. Why would all those ponies stop coming to talk to all the other ponies?" asked Fluttershy. "Are they hiding something? What are they afraid of? What happened 5 years ago that made them stop coming?"

"I don't know, Fluttershy," I said. "That's what I'm hoping to find out. With you girls' help, of course. I feel way safer now that I know you guys could come along with me."

"Ah, don't mention, Twi," said Rainbow Dash, smiling. "We're glad to help you out."

"I'd feel AWFUL if I knew something bad happened to you, Twilight," said Rarity.

"'Sides, y'all don't know what kinda varmints could crawl outta th' woodwork," said Applejack, patting me on the forehead.

"We're friends! Right, Fluttershy?" said Pinkie Pie, wrapping one of her forelegs around Fluttershy's neck.

"Y-Yeah... Friends," said Fluttershy, a little smile creeping up on her face, directed at me but also at everyone.

"Thanks, everypony," I said.

I felt joy for once in many hours; I felt safe, comfortable, in control, for the first time since Celestia surprised me with the letter yesterday and I stumbled onto the train looking behind me, wondering if I were being followed, lurking in secrecy, hiding, scared, paranoid. Like I am now. Like I am now that I know. Now that I'm here. Alone. Wondering if they're safe. Wondering if I'll live if I fall asleep. Wondering if I'll have another dream. Wondering if I'll wake up tomorrow and find out something bad has happened. Wondering if my heart won't want to quit on me when I find out about it. Wondering if I won't loose it.

The girls shouldn't have stopped probing me; they shouldn't have stopped forcing me from revealing anymore. For two days, we only talked about our lives, about our family and about the friends we'd left behind only for a while. About whether we'd done it because we were sick of them, and laughing when we concluded in the positive. We played games, told jokes, appreciated Rarity's knitting skills, tossed Rainbow Dash off the train on a dare as it rocketed down a tunnel, tossled and styled poor Fluttershy's mane in many fashions and colors, and joined Pinkie Pie in the dining car when she threw a party.

And afterwards, when we were finished doing all of the fun things, they all asked me to bust out some ancient history books, so I could educate them a little. Before I knew it, it was only early in the night of the second day, and they were all in a deep sleep. I giggled, and read quietly until I too succumbed to slumber. I was stupid. I did what I always did when I was around my friends, what felt natural and pure and beautiful and what friends are supposed to do around friends. I forgot about my problems. About Seagift. About the duties Celestia had given me.

About the dream I'd had in Ponyville. As though I was being punished for my joy and the joy of my friends, I slipped back. A darkness crept over my mind and my heart once again felt enveloped by a polar hurricane that froze the blood in my veins. The warmth of my friends and my distance from Seagift mattered not. I could be taken by this stupor anywhere, anytime, anyplace. It is like I am a target and someone else holds the gun. I now barely consider these dreams. They feel real. They're too real. They feel too real. They last too long. I can feel my heart beating in my ears.

I was standing on the shore of a beach at the bottom of a hill. My mind felt blank and bland and I could only stare into the distant horizon. That quickly faded into dazed realization, and the accompanying horror at the fact that I seemed to be inhabiting a world that wasn't in my own mind. It was someone else's mind, or a real place, but it can't be a dream. It just can't be. I felt the freezing whip of a northern wind strike me against the face, an insult from nature itself. It was strong, and I hid my face. The ocean crashed against the jagged rocks that seemed to invade the ocean from land. The scent of salt water, bittersweet and alluring, and the reek of fish, the funk of incompetence and of creatures both foul and pathetic, assaulted my sense of smell.

The ocean roared once again as it crashed against the rocks.

"NO... Ah..." I gasped.

The seawater had crept up along the sandy beach I stood on, cold as the wind itself, and sunk my hooves under the water. I recoiled, taking several steps back to avoid it.

"It's good you've come." Someone spoke. I was sure I was alone. I had previously looked all over, behind, to my sides, to the rocks, to the empty beach.

I looked in the direction of the voice. There was a pony, I think, standing there, appeared from nowhere I saw. I can't be sure even now. I can say he was in the shape of a pony or something that resembled it, but I'm not sure if he was a pony for certain, for he was covered in a haphazardly sewn series of cloth rags that seemed to be standing in for robes. The robes didn't have eye holes. He was a faceless robe, a ghost of things yet to come.

"Where am I? Who are you?" I spoke out of ignorance; I was frightened.

"That's not important. What is important is that you're here. He's been waiting for you," said the robed figure.

"Who... Who has been waiting for me? Who are you?" I get the feeling now he was never intending to answer.

"I hope you like to fly and swim, beautiful," he said. "Look."

He pointed behind me. He had a stallion's voice. I fell, and I crawled away from the edge.

I never felt myself move, nor did I see myself move so much. I wasn't on the beach anymore.

I was high up on a cliff overlooking the ocean, but that couldn't be; I was on a beach. I never felt the move.

"Fly," the robed stallion whispered. He started to push me.

"No... What are you doing... Please... No!" I struggled. I tried to run away. But he mounted me and pulled on my mane and dragged me. And he tossed me.

And I flew, I fell, I plummeted, and I screamed my lungs out as I did. As I approached the water, my thoughts were of death. And then... I went in.

I felt no pain, no sudden stop, no freezing water. I had my hooves over my face, closing my eyes forcefully, hoping I didn't see what killed me. But now, I opened them. And I saw the great blue expanse of the ocean before me. The first thing I noticed was the temperature: it was mildly cool, but not freezing. The water was freezing before. I was staring out into the great blue beyond and it was like there was no water. I could breathe. I flailed upwards, trying to reach the surface, thinking it was only a matter of time before I drowned, because it clearly had to be some kind of illusion or damage to my mind. But I realized I kept sinking, and my flailing subsided as fatigue began to set in. I was sinking. I was sinking very quickly. I was plummeting through the ocean. I was flying through the ocean. I saw below me the sea floor, and the life that usually occupies it. Fish, crabs, octopi, sea slugs, all swam about and below me, filter-feeding and poking through the sand and grime for food. I sank further. The water around me began to grow cold and began to press on my body and my head. I became deaf and mute in the water. When I tried to exclaim, water bubbles floated by my head.

And soon, I was in darkness. I stared straight ahead of me.

And then I saw light. A firestorm of bioluminescence, deep in the crag off of the rocky coast. It was so bright it lit up everything around and in front of me. It was a city. A city, underwater. And I saw in front of me a great divide that separated me from the city. I saw movement around the spires of great towers in the distance: schools of fish, as I looked more. I felt the water around me vibrate and shake me. The earth was moving.

And out of the great divide, I saw at last: a great beast arising out of it.

"Twilight." It called my name.

Twilight. Twilight. Twilight.

"Wake up."

My eyes opened. I was covered in cold sweat.

"What... What is it?" I said.

"We're here. The conductor said we're here." It was Pinkie Pie.

"Eeyup. Ya gotta get up, Twi. We gotta tell th' conducter which bags are ours and whatnot. Hate this part ah trips, personally." It was Applejack.

"Twilight... Were you having a bad dream?" I heard Fluttershy speak behind my head.

"No... I'm fine... Why do you ask?" I said.

"You were fidgeting around like you were running away from something. You looked like a sleeping doggie!" said Pinkie Pie.

"And... You're covered in cold sweat," said Fluttershy. She passed a dry towel over my face. I felt the sweat she was talking about cause the smaller hairs of my mane to stand on end.

"It's fine... It was just a bad dream. It can't hurt me," I mumbled, drowsy.

Pinkie Pie smiled at me. She was right in my face, too. "Can't it?" she said.

Author's Note

Twilight's dream is partly based on a dream I had.

4. Salt and Grime

Salt and Grime

"Excuse me, conductor, can I ask you what you know about this town?" I asked, doubting if it was worth asking.

"Eh, there ain't much I know about this place. All's I know is we drop off merchants here every now and then. Judging from the trees and the lumber mill y'all probably noticed getting here, I'm pretty darn sure this is a lumberjack's town," said the young conductor.

"Y'all might wanna try asking in the general store," said an older conductor. "I heard people talking about the owner like he was the goddamn mayor or something. Now, if you'll kindly step away from the platform, ma'am... The train lets out a lot of steam and it could burn you."

"Thanks, I guess," I said.

Darn conductors never seem to know anything about all of these places they visit. Applejack was right about how tedious getting our luggage off the train would be, and everypony was quite irritated that the majority of the luggage was Rarity's, and that nopony else cared because she kept batting her eyelashes and enticing them onwards. I, on the other hand, rather appreciated the more charismatic... Baubles of her personality, shall we say; they were mostly harmless, and sometimes they even proved themselves useful. Pinkie Pie somewhat shared my feelings, commenting on whether everypony was jealous of Rarity. Fluttershy was somewhat embarassed by the implication; Rainbow Dash brought up the incompetence of stallions and called question on what they were really for other than blocking doorways with their large frames; Applejack commented on whether stallions had any brains to speak of; Pinkie Pie looked confused entirely; Rarity defended her honor by saying most stallions could never live up to her very high expectations; I was mortified, smiling and cringing at the same time.

I realized that the girls were having fun, regardless of their feelings toward each other. We were laughing, poking fun. They were dressed in beach finery, Rarity wearing sunglasses, Rainbow Dash perching her own pair on her forehead, Fluttershy wearing a beautiful bonnet, Pinkie Pie carrying a great abundance of snorkeling and free-dive accessories in her big pack. I realized I was more unassuming, and, ironically, worried about standing out. My coat was somewhat old and ratty, worn by use and time from when I bought it many years ago. It was quite warm, though, and I had no regrets on parting from it. I thought about borrowing something cute from Fluttershy as the conversation on whether Rarity was a wanton mare or not eventually led us into town, dragging Rarity's luggage behind us, and into the embrace of newfound confusion.

"Wait... I thought we were going to Seagift," said Rainbow Dash. "Where the hay is 'Deepwood'?" Rainbow Dash pointed up at a sign next to the road, rotten and the painted writing faded. It read "THE HAMLET OF DEEPWOOD. POPULATION: 200"

"Oh, right, forgot to mention that," I said, extracting a rail plan from the inner pocket of my coat. "Seagift never constructed a railway. I guess Deepwood is the nearest town to it. Looks like we'll have to hoof it to Seagift."

"Well, shoot, Twi, ya coulda told us," said Applejack. "Where we gotta be gettin' to?"

"Dunno... Maybe we should ask around," I said.

I was startled by a roar greater than any I thought I would ever hear in my life. I don't know why, considering what it was; I'd heard it before, after all, and grown accustomed to it over the years, from filly to mare.

"Oh no... Oh sweet Celestia, no... That was thunder." Rarity jumped up next to Fluttershy, stretching her bonnet to it's limit as she put her own head under it, her head almost ejecting Fluttershy's from under it. "IT'S GOING TO RAIN! SOMEPONY DO SOMETHING!"

"Ah, fer Quick Draw McGraw's sake, it's just a little rainin', Rare," said Applejack under her voice, her cheeks burning red.

Rarity's hysterical screams had attracted some unwanted attention for everybody involved. Fluttershy, in particular, being the pony in charge of sheltering Rarity from the rain now, was supremely ashamed now to be associated with someone so oblivious to the concept of appropriate outdoor voices. Yeah, there's a reason why indoor voices are quieter than outdoor voices, but being outdoors doesn't justify screaming like a bear was eating your hooves off.

"Rarity... It's going to be okay, I promise," whispered Fluttershy, trying very, very hard to calm Rarity down.

"QUICKLY! We must find shelter! My hair is at stake!" It didn't work.

"It's alright, we kinda need information anyway. Let's go in here," I said, taking the lead.

At first glance, the town of Deepwood is impossibly dissapointing to behold; to call it rustic would be to call it frilly. The first thing I noticed was the haphazard way the majority of the buildings were built. Log cabins, fractured wood plank, overgrown with mold and fungi were the dominant building materials. The roads were a complete after-thought; it was one thing not to pave them, it was another to not try to make them at all. The spaces in between buildings were mostly uneven, and in some places might be downright dangerous. The town was clearly an DIY pioneer upstart. The smell of freshly cut wood permeated the air; in the distance, I could hear a commotion and the sounds of milling equipment, hoof-powered hacksaws and all, powering down. I remember thinking it's name poignantly and suitingly beautiful; the town was nestled deep in the woods of the northeast, where the trees grew tall and strong. Residences were sparse and loosely organized, evidently built according to the wishes of the occupants and accomodating to the forest environ.

I looked up and around. The town's simulation of a main street was populated with only four "stores": leftmost, a tool workshop with a sign above it called "TOOLS", followed by a windowless "WOOD" warehouse, where they stored wood to be exported and kept dry with a whole bunch of hay, lining the outside and a bit of the inside of the place, a messy and clumsy but effective way to keep wood from rotting while it awaited buyers; it didn't seem all that full, come to think of it. To the rightmost was a "CIDER" house, from whence you could hear whooping and hollering of various types and tones and intentions, all of which made me glad very few ponies in and around the train station had noticed us.

Snuggled next to the cider house, the smallest of the stores and yet the tidiest, cleanest, and least haphazardly constructed, was a tiny shack with a sign that said "STORE" over it. The only thing to even acknowledge it's intention of selling things, I deduced this was what the conductor meant by the "general store". I hurried everypony along. Rarity, as melodramatic and prone to hyperbole as she was, was quite correct. Dark, judgmental clouds loomed in the distance. I also deduced, being in a deducing mood, that it was going to be an ugly morning today.

We piled into the store and quickly realized just how tiny it was. The girls, riding Rarity's Roller Coaster of Girly, also gained a fear of rain, and decided waiting inside was the best option. We completely filled the store, which made it quite odd and near-uncomfortable as we huddled together near the single-door entrance.

"Ey, who's hoof is that?" barked Rainbow Dash.

"Ah dunno, ah can't see anythin'!" cried Applejack from the door, the last of the line.

"That's... Not my hoof" said Pinkie Pie, holding in a laugh by shuttering her mouth closed by biting her lower lip.

"Then... What is it?" said Rainbow Dash. "On second thought... I don't wanna know."

Luckily, I led the pack, and had landed quite snugly near the booth-like structure that was where apparently the cashier, whom wasn't at attention at his or her position, conducted business. I noticed that the tiny room we were in had no shelves, no items on display. It's probably why it was so tiny and why the store in general was so small. Nothing flashy here; evidently, the owner didn't need to advertise his wares.

"Um... Hello? Anypony in here?" I called.

"Dagnabbit, Pinkie, get yer flank outta my face!" exclaimed Applejack.

"♪ That's not my flank ♪," sang Pinkie Pie.

"... Yeah it is," replied Applejack, confused.

"Hey, uh, girls, d'you mind? I don't think he heard me," I said, annoyed.

"Ah, tah hay with this. Ahm waitin' outside," said Applejack, going back out the door she barely entered.

Everypony save Rarity agreed that the store was far too cramped, and piled themselves outside. I looked around the back of the store, separated from the room we were in by a wall. It was a weird store setup, to say the least. Even with everypony outside, the "room" was barely big enough to hold me and Rarity. There was nothing in it. It was more like a lobby, space to qualify the store as a store and not a stall with a big sunroof.

"Hello? Anypony? We want to buy something!" I called again, hoping for a response. Nothing.

"HEY, WE'RE PAYING CUSTOMERS AND WE DEMAND SERVICE OUT HERE!" My ears were ringing somewhat from Rarity yelling right next to it.

"Wha... Who... Who'ssere?" Someone was back there after all.

It sounded like a stallion on the older side. And, sure enough, with more of Rarity's egging and yelling, the cashier emerged from the back of the store. He was an elder pony with a thick, mangy, yet short and trimmed graying beard. His mane was greasy and cut short as well, though it contained far fewer grays. The top of his head was hidden by a beanie, the type that I've often seen sailors wear. He always kept one of his amber eyes closed, as though he had no use for it, or it simply didn't work. The pony was reaching his elder years, but hadn't gotten there quite just yet. He was healthy enough to be a cashier and service customers somewhat promptly, at the very least. I wondered, half-seriously, if this had been a former pirate.

"Huh... Tourehsts. Don' git mucha those 'round here no more," mumbled the stallion. His voice was gruff and gravelly, with a drawl, his damaging fondness for smoking more obviously observed by the pipe in his lips. His accent was common in this part of Equestria; sailors pass it down to sailors.

"How did you know we were tourists?" I said.

"Ain't many Deepwoods fellers and mares dressin' like yeh, lil' filly. Heck, I say we're'n don' got nuthin' like what ye wearin' fer meeles and meeles. And I knowr'd damn nearbohdy in this'n piss'ole. Aye, ye ain't foolin' nopony. Ha!" The stallion's bark of a laugh caused him to start hacking and coughing, before forcing phlegm up out of his throat and spitting it hard enough into a nearby spitoon to make it ring.

This was enough for Rarity, her face already contorted into an expression of pure horror. "I'llbeoutside," she said, very quickly, before trotting away to the door, whimpering hysterically under her voice.

"Uh, sorry about her. She's a bit of a..." I began.

"A silly frilly filly. Me second wifer's like'n that... Celestia rest 'er soul, ah suppose," he said, more an afterthought than a sincere tribute.

"Uh, Right... I'm Twilight Sparkle, sir. What's your name?" I asked, attempting to remain as polite as possible.

"Mos' folks call me The Captain." The Captain spat out another large wad of phlegm into the nearby, out-of-sight spitoon before continuing. "I never was'n fee. Me real name's Bombarda. I was'n First Mate fer nigh 38 years'n the algee farmin' ship called The Salty Barnacle, helmed by me uncle, Arlesey Bomb. What'n brings ye tah the frozen coasts'er Clydesvale, Miss Filly Sparkle?"

"Well, like you said, I'm a tourist," I said. I wasn't entirely sure at the time whether Bombarda bought that, and I definitely know he didn't buy it now. "And, uh, we're wondering what there is to see around here."

"Ain' nuthin' tah see 'round these 'ere parts, Ms. Filly Sparkle. Deepwood's fer the kinda stallion're lookin' fee land where'n nopony canae say nuthin' to 'em 'bout it. Thas why'em fools respect mine input and whatwhat. Ye and yer lil' filly friends oughta git back on that train ya came off and go somewheres yer wan'ed."

"Um... Right," I said.

I was barely containing the slight outrage and the anger I felt at how rude Bombarda was being. I was only here visiting, or at least, that's about as much as I thought he knew. But then it hit me.

"Wait... How did you know we came here by train?" I asked.

"Ain'tonly one aways in an' one aways out, missy. Now ya best be quittin' with the gibbergabble. Ye tell me what yer wantin' in Deepwood, lest I kick ye out by yer tout and tigh' arse," said Bombarda, poking me hard in the chest with his hoof.

"Look, sir, I don't want any trouble with you. I'm just passing through." I meant it, and it was nothing but the truth.

"Bullhucky. Yer a lyin' lickle swallow-mare. Me pappy for-more told me mares was only good fer one and one things. One was fer making ye dinner. 'Udder was fer lyin' and takin' yer money, bit by bit."

"Sir, please, I meant no disrespect. I'm just a tourist." I felt my chest swell in anger, and I uncosciously rolled my eyes.

"Whatsa matter, lil' one? Ye're afraid of the truth being shoved full in yer muzzle? Well, you just stand there and take it, whydontcha. That's all yer good fee." He poked me in the muzzle, and this time I tried to swat his hoof away vainly. It only made him pester me more.

My face contorted and convulsed as I attempted to contain my anger. "Sir, please, I was just..."

"Nay! Yer nothin' but a lyin' little harpy. Go suck the brother ye married's cock whydontcha. It'll wash out yer mouth faster 'an soap." He laughed out loud, and, after a while, started to hack and cough and spit.

I wanted him to be quiet. I wanted him to shut up. I hated this old stallion. I hated his guts. I just wanted him to shut up.

"I'm looking for Seagift." I gasped. I said it in a moment of impatience.

Bombarda's eyes widened in surprise. He chuckled under his breath. He looked at me, amused, with his one good eye. He stared me down, looked me over, analyzed me, whilst I stood there, embarassed I had let such a vital secret slip out in the heat of the moment, a moment of ignorance and rage. He pushed me to it. It's only now I realize that he pushed me to it purposely. I wonder now whether he hasn't done something like this before; brow-beating a lost tourist into upchucking their business. If I had stood there any longer, I wonder what other terrible secrets about myself he would have forced me to distill.

"Tell me, Miss Prissy Sparkle... Whatsa mare like ye wantin' in a dirty old place like'n Seagift?" he whispered.

"... Something important." I growled it. I was angry at Bombarda; I was sick of him, and I wanted him to know.

"I'll betcha them's correct an' all." He was giddy. He was pushing me for more answers. I swore to myself not to give him anything else. "Oh, isn't that sweet'nall. Ye think ye canae go and dig somethin' up about it. I'll betcha ye think're a big-brained girly girl, right? Whatcha lookin' fe init, Miss Twilight Sparkle?"

"That's... None of your business." I put my hoof up on the counter.

"Methinks I have a right tae know. Y'ain't thinkin' o' tellin' me, me could just ring up a couple of me boys. Their wives're no longer satisfyin' 'em as much as they'n thought'ed would. Ye have some fine child-bearin' hips, ya do."

A chill ran up my spine. I said nothing. My face was contorted in a fury that made my entire body go numb. I wanted to jump over the counter and trample him. I would have, come to think of it, if he had pushed me just a bit further.

"I could hurt you instead, if you'd rather have it that way." I couldn't believe my own ears then, nor do believe I said such things now.

"... I like ye, Miss Prissy Sparkle. Ye ain't all that prissy atall. I sees it in yer eyeballs. Anyfoal can reach're way ter Seagift. Just tread along're road northways. Would ye be wantin' anything else from me shop? Some raincoats, mayhaps?"

"Five. For my friends." I never took my eyes off him.

"Aye. They and they're not the best dressed, I estimate. Quite odd fer a pony bright as ye fer havin' ditzies like tha' as friends. Hehehehe."

My legs were so numb from being stiff with fury that I nearly stumbled out of the store.

"Here. Raincoats." I shoved them into everypony's hooves.

"Ugh... Where did you get these, Twi?" said Rainbow Dash.

"Store," I said, struggling to contain my frustration, breathing deep, calming breaths.

"They smell somethin' awful," said Applejack, sniffing them.

"There's no way I'm wearing THAT," exclaimed Rarity.

"You either wear them or you get wet." My voice was venomous again and I hadn't even noticed.

"Twilight... Did something happen?" said Fluttershy. "You look... Angry."

"It's nothing... That old stallion was just being grumpy and rude is all."

"Eeyup. Granny Smith can' git that way sometimes," said Applejack, smiling, trying, I figure, to defuse the situation somewhat.

"Yeah, whatever. Wear the coat, Rarity. Stop complaining so much," said Rainbow Dash, throwing the raincoat on with flair.

"But... Idontwannawearthecoat..." murmured Rarity under her breath. It was whining, wheezy and funny. She put it on anyway. It made me laugh inside. Fluttershy and Pinkie Pie glanced a brief flash of a smile on my face, and giggled. Applejack and Rainbow Dash looked smug. Rarity was mortified.

"It smells like dead fish," said Rarity.

"My grammy used to say that's what dead ponies smelled like!" blurted Pinkie Pie.

Rarity screamed very loudly, throwing the coat off her mane. The rest of us howled with laughter at the sight.

"Th-That's not f-funny!" she said. "OH NO!" Rarity picked it straight up off the mud and turned it inside out, very quickly draping it on herself once again.

With some light thunderclap, the storm brewing overhead finally began it's downpour. The rain drops were heavy and cold, and came down with some ferocity.

"Guess we gotta thank ya lots for th' coats, Twi. We'd be soakin' wet tryin' to get to that podunk algae town," said Applejack, speaking over the patter of rain by raising her voice. "Did th' store owner say which way we gotta go?"

"Yeah! He said we gotta go north, that there's going to be a pathway. I think he was telling the truth; the coast is that way," I cried back.

The rain eased up on us somewhat as we treaded the mud roads of Deepwood deep into the forest. The great, towering alpine trees made the day seem all the more like the night, the sun obscured by clouds almost completely, a great grey blanket that extended as far as we could see. I heaved and sighed and breathed deeply with the others, as our stroll along the mud had turned into a hiking trip up haphazard terrain. The more we got away from Deepwood, the more the road seemed to disappear... Until there wasn't any more road.

"Well... Poop," I said.

"Twilight!" said Pinkie Pie, brow furrowed and disgust on her lips. "Such... Language!"

"This isn't good... Should we just keep going north?" asked Fluttershy.

"Oh, for Celestia's sake..." said Rainbow Dash, smacking herself on the forehead with her hoof. "Why haven't I thought of this before? How about I fly up and take a look?"

"That's a great idea!" I said. "Do it now before..."

We all twitched and jumped a bit at another obscenely loud thunderclap that sounded as though it landed too close for comfort. A slight roar came to our ears. The hairs on my back stood up on end as the cold of the rain enveloped me. My cloth coat was soaking wet. The girls squealed and swore, some of them covering their faces with their legs or pulling their hoods over their eyes. The rain was now coming down as hard as it could. Intense gales whipped at us as though somepony were trying to rend our skins as punishment. We had to yell almost at the top of our lungs to hear ourselves over the whistling roar.

"I can't... See anything!" shouted Rarity.

"We have tah go back! This is dangerous!" yelled Applejack, right next to my ear.

"We can't now! We couldn't see a road when it wasn't raining cats and dogs; we're going to get lost in the woods!" I yelled back.

"Let me get up there! I think I can kick away some clouds and get the rain to ease up!" yelled someone.

"Rainbow Dash, DON'T!" I heard a voice say.

"OW! WHAT THE HAY IS WRONG WITH YOU, FLUTTERSHY?" Rainbow Dash sounded furious.

"You can't! You'll get struck by lightning or hurt yourself from the wind!" said Fluttershy, her voice breaking.

"I DON'T CARE, DON'T PULL ON MY TAIL, IT HURTS!" yelled Rainbow Dash.

"We need to stick together ANYWAY, silly!" yelled Pinkie Pie at Rainbow Dash. "We can't see anything! Were you going to kick at the clouds WITH YOUR EYES CLOSED?"

"We need tah move and y'all need to stop fightin'! Twilight, please tell me y'all have a plan, right?" said Applejack.

"Alright..." I said. I thought for a while, and then yelled at the top of my lungs so everypony could hear me: "Everpony, huddle together tight. We can't see too far ahead, so use the forest lines and each other as a reference. If you can't feel each other's fur, then huddle closer! Keep walking forward... We should be fine." I said the latter part under my breath.

"ALRIGHT, EVERYPONY HEAR THAT?" roared Applejack.

"YEAH!" the others said almost in unison.

Like a strange battalion of soldiers, they locked each other to the other using some part of their body. To a bit of embarrassment, somepony pressed their cheek against my flank, though I was certain there were more embarrassing positions I could be in.

I was stuck at the front, and was glad to somehow lead the group forward. We were silent; we probably would have to strain our voices further in the storm, and any effort at communications should have probably been kept between the nearest pony. I felt fear in them. None of them wanted to break their bond from the other, lest they get lost and attacked by the weather. We learned that maybe this was the best idea as a particularly powerful gale wind almost swept us away. We were frightened, and screamed. I dug my hooves into the ground.

"IS EVERYPONY OKAY?" I yelled.

Nobody heard me, or I didn't hear them reply. I only heard the rage of the storm.

And just as we struggled, blindly, through fog and haze and hail and sleet and cold rain, it stopped. Completely, the storm ceased, and I felt water drip off of me.

I raised my head and saw it.

"We're here," I whispered. Everyone heard me. They looked up too.

Author's Note

This chapter went through several re-writes, and I'm still not completely happy with the content and style, and at this rate I never will be; better to publish it and fix it later when I figure out what exactly is wrong with it than succumb to perfectionism.

5. Ruins

Ruins

The rain petted me, soft and impotent as the storm ceased. The veil of mists parted away, as we stood upon a hill overlooking a small, muddy path. And we saw it in it's completeness. A gale whipped at the shore and at our faces and against the wooden structures, and the town gave a great moan as it's boards creaked and shifted against the great breathing of the ocean, a living beast that had clearly punished the town with his crushing, terrifying presence. We had arrived. We beheld the town of Seagift at last, after 3 days' travel, 3 days' talk, but apart we were no more.

I looked at the girls, and in silence we assumed, correctly, what the others were thinking, as though we were reading our minds, but we couldn't possibly do so, could we? They followed after me, single file, as we treaded the muddy path down to where the town sat, nearly below sea level. Our hooves were covered in mud, and we would see no reprise despite us stepping into the town proper, as the roads were not maintained here either. And as Seagift embraced us, we came to know it like a brother. Even from atop the hill, we could tell what the town was like: it was wooden, but much more refined than Deepwood, with boards rather than straight logs constructing it. Once upon a time, this town was great and rich and maybe even homely, like Ponyville. But now, it was not; once upon a time was long ago. The town did not stir from above, and as we approached it, it did not stir upon closer inspection. I assumed, at the time, that it was still abandoned. It was a ruin. A wound. A festering boil. A mistake.

We detected an odour we had tried to grow familiar with, thanks to the raincoats, but now it overpowered us and set our noses to burn and our eyes to water, and Rarity to feel dizzy: dead fish. The town reeked of it; the buildings seemed to produce the smell, and yet it also wafted from the ocean. It had become a part of the town; I could swear an invisible but thick miasma of the odour wrapped around us like a python, though I knew for a fact it was merely fog and mist from the prior storm, though I am sure now that even this was infected with the smell. The buildings seemed to emanate with an aura of decay. I saw the wooden houses' exterior walls and confirmed it's spirit: the wood was rotten with little exception, with mushrooms and lichen and moss growing in great patches. With every whistle of the wind, we heard the entire town emit a creaky cry of supplication, wishing for the charity of a final death. The signs over the buildings that were once businesses were faded and liquefied, or, alternatively, mouldy and haphazard; one sign read "BRAND - INE SA OO ", another "GENER L O RE", and yet another "HAIR ND H F". As we treaded the muddy places in between the buildings, I caught a subtle whiff of an after-smell underneath the great wall of dead fish: I smelled pine. Pine trees. The wood of the town was made of pine, from the nearby forest.

A curious thought entered my mind as I caught the scent of pine. I thought, "these are not houses. They're coffins. For dead fish." Then and now, I find the thought oddly amusing. I feel I should clarify, though; you must understand: there is no pleasure here, in this town at the edge of civilization, in this dark corner of the world. There is only moisture, and misery. Rather than cry, I must laugh. That is my insanity, my disease, my affliction, my illness, my impurity, and, at the same time, it is my treatment, my cure, my salvation. I must laugh. My friends at my flank, their fur wet and muddy, Rainbow Dash clutching her nostrils shut, Applejack searching in disbelief for ponies, Pinkie Pie quiet and staring at the ground, Rarity near tears, Fluttershy whimpering and gasping, and I confused and lost, I feel my heart beat, baby sister to the silently quaking earth. I hear it in the night.

We think we hear whispers in the mist, and trot towards it. To our great surprise, we see the first pony in this town, a stallion. And, indeed, he appears equally surprised, if not frightened, at our own presence. Nopony wants to go to talk to him for about a minute, until Rainbow Dash volunteers her ever-courageous self. As she talks to him, I recall his appearance, and how it set me at unease. He was gaunt, dressed in a fisherman's raincoat, similar to the ones Bombarda had sold me and the girls. While it made sense for us to wear it, it didn't for him; he was under cover, in his house, staring out of a window at us, as if something had drawn him to the window at that moment to look outside. Rainbow Dash made her way to the window.

"Hello, sir!" said Rainbow Dash. "We're, uh, passing by and we were just wondering where we were. We're kind of lost..."

The stallion cut her off. "Geroff me porch, foal," he hissed.

Rainbow Dash froze, and I saw why: the stallion was brandishing a dull harpoon, and his eyes were not eyes but great torches of hate and anger.

We backed away, quietly, and continued on our way.

To our surprise, and, again, the surprise of the Seagift pony, we ran into another one, this one another, older stallion walking down one of the muddy alleys in between the wooden buildings. We averted our eyes as Rainbow Dash, again, soldiered on with a question.

"Excuse me, sir," began Rainbow Dash, with more caution and finesse, with slow gestures and movements. "We're travelers, and we were wondering whether you knew where we could stay for the night. A hotel, maybe?"

The stallion seemed breathless, confused, as though he couldn't believe his eyes that we were there. Very swiftly, though, his behaviour towards us changed. I felt it coming. His eyes furrowed; his expression hardened. I looked at the stallion, and I felt my fur shift, like grass whipped by the wind. Rainbow Dash didn't seem to see it. This stallion was... Changed.

"What are you doing here, tourist? You are not welcome. Get away from me!" Whilst his accent was clear and clean, his tone was icy and hostile. Rainbow Dash was crestfallen, at first, but this was brief.

"Hey, what's your problem, buddy?!" she yelled.

But the stallion paid her no mind as he trotted off into the mist once again.

We all heard Pinkie Pie giggle. Applejack caught the bug, but nopony else was in the mood. Especially Rainbow Dash.

"Oh, I'm sorry, Pinkie, is me getting treated like trash funny to you?" she said, poison in her tone as well. "How's about YOU go and talk to these jerks?"

Pinkie was visibly shocked by RD's harshness, and looked sad. "... I'm sorry, Rainbow. I didn't mean to..."

"Ah... I... It's fine. Just... Sorry. This town... This town..." began RD, stuttering.

"Yes. I think everypony should just... Calm down," I said.

"Twi... Look at me! I'm FILTHY. HELP ME, PLEASE, I'M BEGGING YOU I CAN'T TAKE IT ANYMORE." Rarity was now bawling.

"Snap out of it, Rare!" said AJ. "Pull yerself together, girl! It's just a little grime! How many times ya plan on loosin' yer marbles tahday?"

"Now that the storm's cleared up... Shouldn't Rainbow go up and see where the hotel is?" said Fluttershy.

"Oh, darn it! I completely forgot again!" exclaimed RD.

With a flurry, Rainbow Dash threw her raincoat to the air, her ascension whipping air in our eyes. She rose to a height where she was above all the other buildings. Hoof over her brow, she scanned the horizon.

"I SEE SOMETHING! TO THE WEST!" she roared, and we heard faintly.

Fluttershy also flew up into the air, but only half-way. I assume now as I assumed then that she did so so that she did not have to scream as loudly as Rainbow Dash in order for her to hear her, or us.

"How far away is it, Rainbow?" yelled Fluttershy, her voice reverberating against the panelled wood of the eerily empty, quiet town.

"NOT FAR!" roared RD back.

"We should get going," I said. "I don't think it would be wise to spend any time outside at night."

We made gestures of further moving into the town, to the West, following the setting sun. We were shocked to hear a voice calling out from the great coffins, echoing, like Fluttershy's own voice; a wiry, whiny harpsichord of a voice, a flute with one acoustic hole, a cat with laryngitis.

"OI! OO'S MAKIN' ALL THA' RACKET? I'S TRYIN' TO SLEEP OU' 'ERE!"

It was a screaming mare, approaching in our direction, growing louder, like a marching band easing it's way down the road. She turned the corner, and we were horrified. She was bruised and dainty. Her eyes were big and bulbous, bulging like balloons fit to burst; one would think you were seeing her face through the glass of a fishbowl. She was skinny; skinny enough to see her ribs and her skull. And she was deathly pale. Her look of utter disrepair was completed with a dirty bonnet and circling flies. The only thing missing, in my opinion, was a visible miasma to warn us of her horrible smell. She became quite panicked and frightful, though this also quickly mutated into outrage and hate.

"What're ripe brood mares doin' in these 'ere parts? Ye best git tae trottin' yer flanks otherwheres or else ye'll get thrown inna ditch 'ere the stallions are done with ye," the old mare said. A cold chill ran up my spine, and I rather felt it in everyone else's.

"Oh, look, another one," said Rainbow Dash, back from the heights.

"Whaddya MEAN OTHER ONE?" roared the old mare. "I'LL KILL YE!"

"Ah, go bother someone else," said RD.

With a great, gale-force whip, Rainbow kicked mist at the old mare, causing the old mare to screech and curse at us as she was soaked in ice-cold water materialized from nowhere.

"WITCHCRAFT! WITCHCRAFT!" she screeched, all the way home, well out of earshot.

"If you ask me, I think we've met enough of the locals," said RD, clopping her hooves together, job well done.

"Uh... Right. Well, you saw the hotel, so maybe you wanna lead us?" I said.

"Sure, why not?" she said, taking the lead.

Whilst she beat a path to the hotel's door, a little more afraid than RD was, me and the other girls trailed behind her.

"I'm so dirty..." I heard Rarity mumbling. "Dirty... Dirty... Dirty..."

"I tell ya what, Twi... This place gives me da willies," said Applejack, shakily.

"No kidding! And the people are really mean," said Pinkie Pie.

"And... Scary," whimpered Fluttershy.

"They're old," said RD. "Old, grumpy, stupid, slow. Seems to be a thing around here, dontchathink, Twi?"

"I think we should just get to the hotel and rest." I said, avoiding saying anything when I wasn't sure there was anybody listening. "We've been trotting all day and the sun's going down... I get the feeling ponies around here aren't too keen on lighting the streets..."

At the thought, I looked up and down the street we were on: there were no street lights, and I got the feeling there wouldn't be anyone around to light them and keep them lit anyway.

"I'm seriously doubting they're residents, either," said RD. "They look more like squatters to me."

"What kinda cooky critter would wanna live in this creep carnival?" said Applejack.

"Not a matter of wanting to, AJ. Having to. Although... You'd think there would be more hospitable places than this place. I'd rather live in the forest than here," said RD.

"Girls..." I heard someone say. I was still trotting behind RD. I wanted to speak, but AJ beat me to it.

"It ain't just that, RD. This place is more rickety an' unstable than a barn house in a sand storm! Forget not gettin' sick from the rain; what about all the mold and the crumblin' wood? You're more likely to hurt yerself than settle in."

"Girls..." Someone spoke up again, very lightly. But AJ and RD were still talking, loudly.

"Never said squatters were smart, AJ. By the look of them old farts we just ran into, I'm guessing they were less than smart."

"Girls." I finally recognized who it was, and turned around to face the direction. It was Fluttershy, barely speaking above a whisper, the only reason I noticed her this time was because she finally spoke to an audible volume, which was still miniscule in decibel compared to AJ and RD.

"You need something, Flutter... Fluttershy," I said.

I saw the look on her face. It was horror. Pure horror. Her eyes were wide, her mouth open, and I could almost hear her hyperventilating. She was looking up, to the side, to where there was nothing but boards and mold.

"Fluttershy... What is it?" I said, loudly and clearly, as I stopped dead in my tracks. AJ and RD stopped yacking, and also seemed to stop.

Fluttershy only continued to stare, as if she hadn't heard me. As if, whatever she had seen, had her under a spell or so terrified that she feared death if she looked away.

I spoke again. I could feel a chill crawl up my shoulder again. I wonder now whether it was realization or the freezing moisture of the ocean. Calling to me. Talking to me.

"They're... They're watching."

My heart sank into my right hoof. Or was it my left?

I was afraid to look up. But fear is a silly thing, isn't it? I knew it. I felt it. I felt them inside of me. I felt their eyes touching me everywhere. Their eyes were there. And so I didn't look up. The girls did, and they were silent. I wanted to run, but my legs were paralyzed. And it would have made me look stupid.

I saw them at the edge of my vision. Their eyes seemed to glow like stars in the middle of the day, in the shadows of Seagift. The townspeople had gone to their windows, most likely hearing all of the racket we'd made getting into the town in the first place. They were in the windows. Looking. They were on their roofs. Staring. They were coming out onto their porches. Glaring. Their glances burned our skin as the sun was doing, aided by our wet bodies. They were all looking at us. Hundreds of them. If not a thousand of them. They were staring at us. I could see their eyes in my mind. White. Squamous. Slitted. Damning. Judging.

It was the damned racket they made I thought.

"Don't," I hissed at Fluttershy. "Don't look at them. Look at the floor, keep going. Keep moving. Move it." I pushed her flank with my head, roughly.

I was angry at her revelation. Furious.

I wanted to hurt her. The more she whimpered and shook, the more I wanted to knock her against the wall. And she would squeal. And I would stomp on her legs until they were dust.

"Twilight, this way." The voice was to my left.

"We made it. It's the hotel," said someone.

Author's Note

College is the monster under MY bed.

A Sleepless Prologue

Prologue:

I can't sleep. My paranoia has overcome my bravery. Instinct drives me to act.

To make sure that the truth is told, regardless of what the Princess feels should be hidden from everypony, anypony.

I disagree. But why do I disagree? A few days ago, I wanted to forget it ever happened.

But I have to. I want to write this. I don't think I'll be able to sleep if I don't.

It would be going against who I am, or at least who I think I am, if I have any shred of dignity left in me. I needed to find out the truth then, and I never really did. I want to know the truth.

Even if the truth makes me want to die, even if it kills me, I want to keep looking for it. I need to know. I have to know. Everypony has to know. Everypony needs to know.

I am Princess Twilight Sparkle. And I have a story to tell.

I want to tell you this story.

It's about a little town called Seagift.

Author's Note

I felt this kind of story needs a prologue and an epilogue.

Any comments are highly appreciated.