Lunarium V2

Chapters

Chapter 2 ~ Trixie Will Perform The Greatestest Tricks Today!
Chapter 3 ~ Think Of Me As The Ghost Of Canterlot
Chapter 4 ~ Have You Ever Dreamt Of Dying?
Chapter 5 ~ What Are You Doing, Twilight?
Chapter 6 ~ I'm Just Prattling On
Chapter 7 ~ There Are Some Muffins Left For You (V2)
Chapter 8 ~ There Are Dreams And There Are Dreams (V2)
Chapter 9 ~ Trixie Is Not Amused With Your Shenanigans
Chapter 10 ~ I Always Wanted To Play There (V2)
Chapter 11 ~ You Can Change Everything
Chapter 12 ~ Don't You Dare Leave Us
Chapter 13 ~ Aren't You Scared Of Nightmares? Pt. 1
Chapter 14 ~ Aren't You Scared Of Nightmares? Pt. 2
Chapter 15 ~ All Dreams Die Once You Wake Up (V2)
Chapter 16 ~ Dusk Has Fallen (V2)
Part 2: Chapter 1 ~A Filly In The Dark
Chapter 2 ~ When You Hide
Chapter 3 ~ This Is Trixie's Might
Chapter 4 ~ Only A Small Wound
Chapter 5 ~ I Dreamt Of Mommy And Daddy
Chapter 6 ~ Trixie Shall Become The Greatest Wizard The World Has Ever Seen
Part 1: Chapter 1 ~ Everyday I Wake Up In A World Without Magic

Chapter 2 ~ Trixie Will Perform The Greatestest Tricks Today!

Test 2

Twilight was born with a devastating illness, found only in unicorns. It had once almost wiped all of them out, and even today it could kill the host. It was why she always had to be careful, why she always needed to watch herself. The sickness kept her body on the brink of collapsing, and every time she took a step, anypony nearby would look at her worriedly.

This illness had been the reason why she withdrew into her books. Each held worlds filled with better things, things she she would have loved to do, but she wasn‘t complaining about her life. Her papa had told her that smart ponies didn‘t complain, and Twilight was a smart pony.

But even a filly as intelligent as her wanted more out of the world than pictures and words.

She knew the way from home to the hospital, but that was as far as she‘d ever traveled. One big street with many crossings, leading to places she would never see.

To Twilight, Canterlot was only what was along the road, like Cadenza‘s Sweets. A portrait of the Princess of Love hung above it, with the her name engraved in it, and the kind, pretty mare that owned it. She had been very close to Shining Armor, and would always greet them with a warm smile and sometimes gave them candy for free.

Not only that, though, for the big road went by the new city hall. It was a large building, its stones covered in black paint, and a blue roof atop of it, and gargoyles looking down on the city below, trophies from the first invasion of the griffon lands. Guards were posted in front of it, wearing the blue coats and hats of the republican guard, carrying the traditional shootsticks with bayonets. The filly also knew of the burgundy houses, and the alleys in between them. She even knew the pubs and other places her papa went to forget that mama had died, and that his dear son hadn‘t wanted to go to the military school.

That was the Canterlot she knew, and she had never thought she‘d be seeing any more of it. Yet there she was, behind that odd filly with the beat-up face and the confident smile.

They crawled beneath the ruined branches of the bushes and over the paling grass of the hospital‘s garden. It might have been a lovely green once, but all it did nowadays was slowly wither. Only a few flowers stood now. Their colors were stale, but as Twilight passed by them, she found them quite enthralling. Six of them were even blooming side by side in the bracken.

Trixie balanced her package well, even while she provided support to Twilight, who stumbled over her own hooves now and then, threatening to fall on her nose every few meters. Her breaths were fast, but every single time she was about to fall her new friend caught her. For Twilight that lifted any remaining suspicions she had about the other unicorn. Nopony besides Redheart had cared so much about her so much.

As they hurried through the garden, Twilight noticed some ponies sitting on a bench close to the entrance. They could have easily spotted the two, but if they did, they chose to ignore them.

Lucky us, Twilight thought. If nopony noticed them, Nurse Redheart wouldn‘t find out that they had fled. She didn‘t want Redheart to be upset. The other nurses seemed to always be upset, so she really, really wanted to keep at least one of them happy. That alone almost made her go back, not wanting to have yet another one yell at her.

But, she did not turn around, and instead followed closely behind Trixie. This would be the only time she broke the rules, and Nurse Redheart was nice, she would forgive her. All those smiles, the extra food, and every time she had held the filly‘s hoof to tell her that everything would be alright – all that wouldn‘t be erased so easily. At least, Twilight hoped so.

When they reached the garden‘s front gate the small brown filly unconsciously looked back, bidding farewell to the hospital. The world awaited them, and despite the things that were here, she knew in her heart that her papa wasn‘t coming to see her. Neither would anypony else. She had to go.

Trixie gave a casual nod to the guard that was placed there, his only response being a dull gaze in their direction, telling them how little he cared about his work here, or even the safety of the two fillies leaving without their parents. It reminded her of one of the detective stories she had read, only that had been an asylum, and the detective had had a princess as his companion.

“We‘re going to the meeting point,” Trixie announced as they passed the gate, and the city unfolded before them.

Bristling with life, ponies moved seamlessly back and forth, and for a moment everything became overwhelming. So Twilight shuffled closer to Trixie, seeking comfort in being close to a pony that she could call a friend. Yet, at the sound of those words, Twilight couldn‘t help but tilt her head, and asked, “Meeting point?”

“Mmhm,” Trixie replied, not breaking stride. “It‘s our super special secret place. It‘ll be awesome, and you‘re probably going to see the others, too.”

Twilight had to strain to hear Trixie as the sounds of the city buffeted her. She could see the mouth of the other filly still moving, but couldn‘t make out anything she said. Was she explaining something important? Twilight didn‘t know, but didn‘t say anything, since walking around town like that was too exhilarating to be worried. The only way it could‘ve been better was if her mother was there smiling and helping her walk.

The filly shook the thoughts out of her head; she needed to follow Trixie. If she lost her ...

Just imagining being lost in the crowd sent tendrils of cold terror down her spine, and Twilight forced herself to take deep breaths as her heart resumed its frantic beat. She needed to calm down, but between trying to keep up with the filly and taking in the sights along the rich side of the capital, it was proving to be very difficult.

Her eyes swept the building, drinking in the sights. While they walked, Twilight forgot the ill, lonely, bed-bound filly surrounded by books.

Marveling at the city, she mentally noted down everything. From the stallions with their top hats, and the mares with their fancy headdresses trotting around on the sidewalks; the carriages, both motorized and pulled manually by deer that filled the street and created the sound of traffic at high-noon. It truly was a dazzling display, especially the deer. Her father had told her that long ago they had got in a war with Equestria, and lost their lands before being enslaved. At least, until Cadenza had freed them, and given them a chance to live in peace.

Twilight loved history, but stopped day dreaming when Trixie grabbed her foreleg and pulled her along.

“Come on,” she said cheerfully, a grin with missing teeth adorning her face. Trixie quickly led them across the street, but not before dodging a motorized carriage and having a deer pause to let them past, the pony in the carriage shouted in outrage, but it didn‘t matter to them, the two had already disappeared into the crowd of ponies. They trotted across the sidewalk until they reached an alley.

There was a pegasus nearby – he seemed to be comforting a filly that could‘ve been his daughter. Twilight paused for a moment as she catched a hint of their conversation, and curiosity dictated that she listened to all of it.

“Daddy‘ll go to kick some griffon flank soon! Really, RD, there‘s nothing to worry about. Daddy‘s the strongest warrior there is.”

While he spoke, Twilight realized that he wore black uniform with golden buttons, matched those of a high-ranking Cloudsdalian officer. Twilight only recognized it from a picture book her father had given Shining, it contained all the military ranks he could earn by joining up with the guard. Still, as shiny as the uniform was, it didn‘t hold her attention for long.

No, she found herself looking at the filly that seemed like it was about to to weep in the arms of a mare that might‘ve been her mother. Twilight didn‘t know why she drew her attention to the filly, except that “RD‘s” mane had six colors, ranging from black to pale blonde.

Pony manes could range from the palest blonde, to the richest brown, to even the deepest black, but never before had Twilight seen a pony with so many colors in her hair. Trixie‘s coloring didn‘t look half as weird now.

Turning away, Twilight spotted Trixie in the alley, still waiting, and then making a beckoning gesture with her hoof. Smiling with another burst of excitement, the brown unicorn moved forward, her frail legs carrying her away from the loud streets deeper into the brown alley, which was filled with bags of trash and the rotten smell of vomit, she knew that smell far too well.

However, she ignored it, and calmly continued, only to feel the strength suddenly fade from her legs, just as Trixie turned around again. She fell into a puddle in the middle of the small alley, surrounded by trash, with the small rats watching her in an extremely bored fashion. It was the moment she had been dreading, and she began to gag and cough. Her heart hammered against her chest, and her stomach began to throb in tandem with her heart. The pain was coming back and Twilight wrapped her forelegs around her stomach, tears falling to the ground. She knew what was about to happen, and soon enough she began to hurl.

“Breathe, Twilight, breathe!” the voice cut through the pain, and suddenly Twilight was looking at a new filly – no, a mare with a wagon, fighting a gigantic bear that seemed to be made of stars. With a blink, the mare vanished, and she saw Trixie standing over her. The unicorn had a fearful expression, and seemed ready to panic. Taking a deep breath she focused on Twilight.

“Calm down,” she soothed. “Look at me, watch me! Look at Trixie! Look at her! You need to breathe like Trixie! Come on! In ... and out ... In ... and out.”

Twilight watched the now pale filly who was breathing in and out in an over excessive manner. Still, Twilight copied her, breathing in and out, in sync with Trixie. She focused everything on it, and strangely enough, it seemed to help her calm down. She didn‘t really care why though, the pain was receding, and after only a few more moments, even her stomach wasn‘t hurting anymore.

Trixie stood by her the entire time, watching her recover. After a time, while Twilight lay there on the trash-strewn ground, the stink of the city enveloping them, she pressed herself close to the filly, hugging her with all her strength. She whispered reassuring words into Twilight‘s ear; that she wouldn‘t let anything bad happen to her, that she was her friend, that she‘d never leave anypony alone, that Twilight could trust her, because Trixie was honest, because Trixie was a good filly, and the best wizard in the world.

Twilight noticed in her delirium that the other filly had suddenly started talking in the third person. It was very strange, she dazedly thought, but it faded quite quickly, and relaxed. She soon slipped into the world of dreams.

Twilight woke up under a white, woolen blanket, with an unicorn filly leaning over her. Trixie was watching her with her brows drawn together, biting her lip, but her mouth immediately turned into a smile as she saw her friend open her eyes. Almost immediately she threw her arms around Twilight, not even bothering to make sure whether the weaker unicorn had recognized her. For a moment, Twilight nearly panicked, but as the other pony‘s limbs closed in a hug, she could feel Trixie‘s trembling.

“Oh, thank Celestia, you‘re awake,” Trixie whispered.

“Y-yeah,” Twilight said, lifting her arms to return the hug. It didn‘t matter how weak she felt, she wanted her friend to know she was okay.

Loosening her grip after a moment of lingering, Twilight took a look at her surroundings. The first thing she noticed was where she lay. She was on a sofa that was colored in the most atrocious green, and full of holes, yet oddly enough it was extremely comfortable. They seemed to be in a large hall. The walls were made out of red stone blocks, with wooden planks hammered into them to help support the frame.

However, the best feature of the hall was the assortment of items – there were old toasters, tables, and even a couple beds haphazardly lined about. Not to mention the spotted carpets filled with holes, moth-eaten drapes, small packages filled with clothes, and so much more. Yet, the longer she looked around, the older and more damaged everything appeared.

Spotting a window, she saw Canterlot‘s sky was filled with storm clouds, the implication of the sight made her feel slightly more nervous. Turning back to Trixie, who still hadn‘t released her, she gave a light push so they could talk properly.

“How long have I been out?”

“Maybe an hour, tops,” Trixie answered after a moment, her brows furrowing again.

“When I break down, I usually sleep a lot longer,” Twilight said with a small giggle.

It might‘ve been Trixie‘s presence that made everything feel brighter and filled her with joy, but a strange feeling seemed to be the real cause. Twilight lifted her hoof to her horn, trying to remember, she had dreamt of something, something she knew in her bones was very important, but couldn‘t remember what. Sensing an approaching headache, she tried to change the topic. “We‘re not back in the hospital.”

Trixie looked away from her for a second, then the words started to tumble out of her mouth and over each other for a second. “T-Trixie panicked and when Trixie panics she always goes here first ... BUT! Trixie knows this place is the best for resting up. Nopony can find us here, so everything is always awesome. You can trust Trixie on that. Nopony else is more trustworthy; Trixie can always keep a promise, or a secret.”

Twilight blinked at the odd tone in her voice, confused, but before she could ask what she meant, Trixie had jumped off the sofa. She then picked four different bottles up off the ground. The bottles had names printed on them in elder Equestrian and beneath in new Equestrian detailing the contents. Twilight only needed a glance to realize they were her medications. For a moment, she considered pulling Trixie into another hug. The filly was more reliable than her papa, and almost as nice as Nurse Redheart.

“Thank you,” she said, a bright but slightly strained smile on her face as she took the bottles and opened them. Twilight was proud to be able to remember how many the nurses would give her, and she quickly swallowed some, hoping that Nightmare Moon would gobble her ailment up.

“Trixie didn‘t know you suffered from that sickness,” Trixie said, with her eyes studying her hooves.

So she knows, Twilight thought. Trixie‘s expression told her that she had previous experience with it, and knew how bad it could be. However, Twilight knew she was okay, what was important was that she was outside in the real world.

“It doesn‘t matter,” she said reassuringly. “Hey, what‘s it you wanted to show me?”

Twilight was still intent on making this trip count, especially after what happened in the alleyway. Thankfully, Trixie immediately nodded. She seemed glad to avoid the topic of death and disease.

Trixie grabbed the box of her back and kicked open her tiny box with her gray hoof, and with a theatrical swirl she pulled out a purple, star-spangled cloak, and a matching hat. She rapidly fastened the cloak around her neck while Twilight watched the glittering stars on it in awe. Trixie then placed the hat atop her head, and stood up on her hind legs.

“Now watch in awe, while Trixie performs the greatestest tricks today!” she exclaimed, raising her front hooves above her head. Again, a smile adorned her face, but it was different now.

Charming, charismatic, Twilight thought as she saw the beaten up filly stand there, her hat slipping down her face. This will be fun.

She had never been to a magician‘s show before. Twilight giddily clapped her hooves together. No matter what happened next, it would be the greatest thing she‘d ever see. Papa and Shining couldn‘t see it, but that didn‘t matter, this was her moment, for her alone. Her ears perked up, and her heart beat against her chest, but for the first time she didn‘t care. Trixie was about to show here the best tricks in the world – what more could she ask for?

Yet, what happened wasn‘t quite what she expected. Instead of marvelous tricks, a voice sounded off from the hall. It was very quiet, but steadfast, full of of innocent beliefs and childish dreams. A voice that filled Twilight with wonder, but made Trixie furrow her brows and twist her mouth. The voice only asked one question, for the filly cared only about one thing whenever she saw a wizard or magician performing.

“Could you grow me hands?” Lyra asked.

Chapter 3 ~ Think Of Me As The Ghost Of Canterlot

Test 3

A white earth pony with a pale blond mane had wandered into the room. She was looking at Trixie and her hazelnut eyes were sparkling. Those were things that caught Twilight’s attention, but only momentarily, for two other things marked this pony, one of them quite literally. White, red and black were the burns that were plastered on her front, her chest and upper legs only lightly, while the right side of her face had little fur left and the area above her hooves wasn’t a sight Twilight wanted to see, but she just couldn’t avert her eyes. Not only that, but this earth pony’s lips were drawn into a smile so wide, Twilight wondered if it would hurt more than her wounds. It was like this new filly was forcing herself to enjoy the situation, and Twilight had no idea why. However, it wasn’t hard to guess Trixie’s feelings about the newcomer, considering she was glaring daggers at the earth pony.

“Thanks for ruining the show, Lyra,” Trixie said with so much venom in her voice that Twilight shrank instinctually. She might have been enjoying the fluffy blanket more than was necessary, yes, but the bigger reason was the fear from seeing how Trixie's face contorted at the sight of the newcomer.

“Can you do it, though? Can you? Can you? Can you?” The earth pony rattled on, bouncing up and down towards Trixie, but while the words sounded happy, there was something just off about her.

Her grin was the most spectacular thing, mostly because, unlike Trixie and despite the burns, her face otherwise looked just fine, with teeth that were almost white. It was almost beautiful, yet Twilight couldn't tell whether or not this “Lyra” was merely insane or playing her own mood up for reasons that escaped Twilight’s grasp. Not only that, but whatever Trixie read into it mustn’t have been very flattering either. A filly with such an ugly face looked truly horrifying when she was angry like this.

The mightiest magician managed to calm herself down, breath by breath, before she spoke up again. “No, Lyra,” Twilight was amazed just how much spite Trixie could put into that one name, and how much disappointment went into the three that then followed; “I can‘t.”

Downtrodden, that was the perfect word for how Trixie said those words, and it was obvious to Twilight, because those three tiny words did hurt, draining whatever energy she had. Twilight was a smart filly though, and she had read that there was no magic in the world. She knew that, so she needn’t be sad.

The smile didn‘t fade from Lyra‘s face however, instead she just literally hopped over to Trixie. “Well, don‘t you worry. Maybe one day you‘ll be able to do it,” she told the unicorn with a bright smile, which Twilight took for encouragement. “I mean, you‘re still a fully functia-, funtio- … working unicorn, right?”

She gave Trixie a nudge, the stupid smile still plastered on her face, but while the facial features of Trixie relaxed somewhat, the frown remained in place and she just pushed Lyra away. “Shut up! Trixie is the bestest magician around!”

Strands of pale blond fell on top of Lyra’s right eye, covering up the worst of her burns. Still, she laughed it off, while Trixie fumed, but instead of letting her rage out in a more violent manner, she took a long, deep breath before speaking again.

“Anyway, Lyra-” Really, Twilight couldn't understand how much hatred Trixie was able to fit in that one word and how Lyra either didn't notice, or just didn't care. However, before the “fully functional” unicorn could finish her sentence the white newcomer spotted Twilight. Just for a moment, as they looked into each others' eyes, Twilight saw for one, single instant into the brown eyes of the beaming filly. They seemed hollow, unlit by the outward facade of joy.

“WOAH!” Lyra shouted and pointed at Twilight, “Who‘s she?”

Trixie glanced back to Twilight, wearing a more neutral expression as she did so. With both the fillies' full attention focused on her, she started to feel more aware of how she looked, ragged and small, covered up by a blanket which she didn’t want to leave, while the armchair also became more and more uncomfortable with the passing seconds. A chill ran down her spine, while she tried to avert her eyes, find something on the ground that would relieve her of her worries, yet she found nothing and then, for another moment, there were was only her heart, hammering against her chest. Oh, alicorns, give me strength, she prayed.

She found some relief as she remembered that Trixie had spoken about meeting others, so this might well become a good thing. Yet, despite the knowledge of Trixie's support, she couldn’t help but feel a strange sensation, one she couldn’t quite pin down. She had rarely ever talked to strangers before, and, despite her outward joy this new pony wasn’t easily to be judged. She might've appeared quite engaging, but there was just something so forced about her. It was for the best when Trixie answered in Twilight’s stead, apparently noticing how she nervously shifted in her blankets.

“That‘s Twilight Sparkle, I met her in the hospital.”

Both Twilight and Lyra gave each other an appraising look while Trixie spoke. Twilight couldn’t honestly see why she shouldn’t try to speak up, to befriend this one. Considering she hadn’t had any friends before, she might well be enthusiastic about this. There was only so much time in the world, after all. Then Trixie fell silent and Twilight could only try her best to look welcome for the two of them. Weirdly enough, Lyra’s own changed a little, showing less teeth for a second, but there was no reaction otherwise. Lyra looked at her and then at Trixie, while Twilight didn’t quite get what was going on. She realized a couple seconds later, the awkward silence that had fallen between them. It seemed as if none of them knew where to go with their conversation.

But how? How could she pick it up? Maybe she should take initiative, but she could still feel the beating of the drums in her chest. She didn’t want to break down just after waking up again, so instead of risking it, she stayed silent. Twilight felt angry at herself, or more specifically, at the miserable state of her body. Whose cruel idea was it to make it dangerous to simply open their mouth, and speak something? Why couldn't she say, 'Let's explore this place!' without fear? Why couldn’t she just become healthy right there and then.

Because some things just aren't meant to be. To calm her rising heart, Twilight breathed deeply again. If she couldn’t win against it, she decided, she would still live her life as best she could.

Returning to the silent fillies, Twilight tried to think of something to break the ice. What interests could we share? Should I ask about their past? She thought about the times she had talked to her brother, her father and nurse Redheart, all those conversations that had gone so easily, almost naturally even. She thought about her books and how the characters spoke to each other in them, but she still wasn't sure how to proceed. Then, she looked at Trixie, and all her bruises and her bandages.

That was something.

“So … Why were you at the hospital?” Twilight asked.

Instead of answering, Trixie immediately looked at her hooves. Twilight tilted her head in confusion, wondering whether Trixie had understood the question, or if she had just stepped on a minefield. It took a moment, but she thought that Trixie visibly shook for a moment, and maybe she even tried to speak, but only a whimper reached Twilight’s ears. That was indication enough that she had just asked the wrong question, but there was nothing she could say then, even though she was smart. Luckily for both unicorns, the earth pony took charge of the situation before it could get worse.

“So you‘re Twilight,” she said stepping up to her, still smiling bright and welcoming, almost as if she hadn’t noticed Trixie’s behaviour, once again. “I‘m Lyra, Lyra Heartstrings and no, I can‘t play any kind of instrument, even if my name might suggest so.”

“Oh,” was all Twilight could manage, still worried about Trixie, and despite the joking tone that carried through Lyra’s speech.

“Yeah, I know, everypony reacts the same. You should‘ve seen Tavi when we first met, she was like ‘wow, you make music?‘ and I was like ‘No I totally don‘t even know what music is,‘ and she was like ‘Whaaa-‘ and I was like ‘yeah, I am totally unaware of what music is, what I do know however is, that you look like you might know how I get hands,‘ to which she replied-”

Twilight caught a glance over Lyra‘s shoulder, the small filly with her cape and hat recovered moments after Lyra had opened her mouth. The innate sadness faded and was instead replaced with a seething hatred, a feeling Twilight could understand less and less the more the earth pony went on. Lyra told her own, irrelevant tale, and she did so with a wide smile. It was actually pretty funny to watch, especially since it seemed like her sentences never stopped either, and all while she kept her enormous grin up the entire time. Pretty soon,Twilight had forgotten about her question and how it had caused Trixie to break down, if only for a short moment. She quickly decided that Trixie only looked weird and Lyra was all-around weird, but not in a bad way.

While the words that came out of the earth pony’s mouth held little meaning, the voice itself was beautiful, too. There seemed to be something about Lyra, something naturally melodious, it was in her voice, and in her movements. The way she articulated and intoned her words led Twilight to the assumption that Lyra was, well, musical, in her own, weird way, even if it didn’t involve instruments.

She forgot all about her frail heart during these moments, and she completely forgot about the excitement and the stress she had felt. But she still listened to the strange filly in front of her and noticed everything about her. Lyra‘s mane for example, was a tangled, wild mess of hair that looked like it had never seen a comb before. Twilight only considered it because it just drove the point further in, that Lyra was different, even when compared to Trixie. The unicorn had a not-so-good looking face but her mane was well cared for. Now that Twilight thought about it, she saw how Lyra was constantly moving, never standing still for more than a second, even her eyes were constant shifting around. The only constant being the smile.

While Lyra talked, Twilight noticed more and more about her with every word. She started to feel like she was learning the filly's core personality through her extremely long monologue.

As the lull of her voice drifted over them, Trixie turned away, probably angry that nopony was paying attention to her, but Twilight closed her eyes and gave in to the voice, finding it relaxing. The sound reminded her of something, a distant field, the smell of apples, and all the other things she often dreamt of. Why that was, she couldn’t tell, but it resounded with her, melodious and dreamlike.

Tell me, little filly. What *do** ponies dream of?*

Her eyes flung open, “What?”

Lyra had her hoof raised to the sky and seemed like she was about to make some kind of world-shaking speech when Twilight posed her question loudly. “What?” she asked in return.

“There-” Twilight began, looking around in confusion, “there was a voice.”

“What are you talking about, Twi?” Trixie asked as she stepped towards them both, dropping her sullen, angry mood instantly.

“There was a voice, like from an old stallion. Is one here?” Twilight asked, looking around frantically. Both ponies looked first left, then right, and then shook their heads in unison. Twilight felt slightly frazzled. “But I heard it.”

Had she been day-dreaming? No, she couldn‘t have, she wasn't all that tired, and she-

Well, well, well. I didn’t expect for you to hear me. That’s funny. Really, it is. You‘re the first in quite a while to hear my voice.

Twilight‘s eyes widened, her heart began to pound. “Wh-what?”

Trixie and Lyra looked at each other, clearly weirded out. Twilight didn‘t know what to say, what to tell them. There was a voice in her head. Her eyes moved across the room, looking for a source of the voice, something that might help, while her heartbeat grew faster and faster once more, just as her breath grew quicker. She felt a drop of sweat on her forehead and really wanted to start panicking.

Such a talent, so young and already having such a connection with magic that she can actually hear my voice. Well, not that that’s really helping you, right, my little pony? Don‘t fret, I‘m a friend.

“Where are you?” she asked loudly.

“Who?” asked Lyra

Sad to say I am everywhere. Think of me as the ghost of Canterlot and you‘re the only one I can talk to ... so please, don‘t stop breathing.

The voice was still talking calmly to her and that, surprisingly, was the weirdest thing. She didn‘t know how to respond. She didn‘t even know what exactly was going on. Twilight just looked at Trixie and Lyra. Maybe she should tell them.

“There‘s a ghost here.”

I doubt they will believe that, the voice stated, sounding amused.

“What? Does that mean Trixie‘s ritual from three weeks ago worked?” Trixie asked, suddenly all signs of negativity exchanged by a smile as she jumped up thrice, “Praised be Trixie!”

At the same time, Lyra answered: “Wow! Really? I didn‘t know you could talk to ghosts, that is so exciting. Tell him ‘hi‘ from me!”

And I stand corrected. Kids these days ...

For a moment only silence remained, Twilight didn‘t know what to say.

Wait, we can make this work, we can get you all in on this conversation. You‘ve got a lot of raw talent and you three are unicorns. Put your horns together and … believe? … That’s a bit cheesy, but, yeah, *believe*, that‘s the right thing to do.

Twilight frowned, the only unicorns here were Trixie and herself, Lyra was … Wait, hadn’t her father said something to her before? Something important, what had it been? She frowned, but then she remembered his words, how he had once told her brother that he would’ve had better chances at finding work and a decent wife if he just got rid of his horn.

And so Lyra simply grinned as she was asked that question and shook her head. “Nope, my uncle just didn‘t want a freak of nature to run around their house.”

Magic didn’t exist. It was a truth she had been raised to know. It had existed when alicorns still roamed the world, but it was gone and it would never come back again. The stories were just that, and no matter what Trixie said, she wasn’t a real magician, and Twilight was a smart enough filly to get that.

It's why, when nurse Spot Syringe had told her that the horn on her forehead was a sign of her impurity and worthlessness, she had taken it for granted.

No, wait … I just remembered, even if you have the talent you can’t do magic anymore. Just having found one pony I can talk to is a miracle enough.

“There has never been such a thing as magic” Twilight said, continuing to the others: "He didn‘t know unicorn horns are merely decorative.”

Lyra smiled, that was all she ever seemed to do, but didn’t disagree. Trixie on the other hand glowered at Twilight now. She really does believe her own lies, Twilight thought, because she was a smart filly, and smart fillies weren’t superstitious.

Heh. Don‘t tell me you really believe that? The little filly, always reading stories, always drawing pictures of knights and mighty princesses who can move the sun.

She tugged her blanket closer, stared into the nothingness. “What do you mean?”

For a few seconds silence reigned while the other unicorns glanced at her, and then at each other. They didn’t know how to handle the situation at all, but what Twilight did was look up, as if the one she was talking to was in the ceiling.

Twilight Sparkle. That‘s a good name. A very good name. You’re probably a smart filly, Twilight, so listen. Magic does exist, that you can hear me should be proof of that. It vanished with the fall of the dragonequus, but I can feel it, just as you, coming back. Twilight, I know this is sudden, but this needs to go over quickly. Stand up, take your friends. *Go*. Run. Don‘t look back. Go to the old castle plaza and then take the dive. If you don‘t-

The voice tried to say something else, but at that moment, Twilight’s attention shifted. The ground began to shake, every stone moved and every piece of wood creaked. With a loud, roaring noise, the quake broke loose. Things fell down, a mirror shattered on the other side of the hall, and somewhere outside, thunder crashed, and someone screamed. It took her not even a second to realize what it was, because once in a while, the city trembled with the force of the earth, and so she did the only thing she could and cowered beneath the blanket, she clutched her legs and prayed to Celestia, to Luna, to Cadenza for it to end. As the world around her shook, the unstable items began to fall. A cabinet fell over, the bang as loud as an explosion to her ears. Terrified, she could only close her eyes, too scared to even pray.

There hadn‘t been any earthquakes in the past few months, so everypony had said they were gone completely, but now the upheaval struck and she heard the walls cry and the wood break and Twilight knew that everypony had been wrong. Yet the quake only grew in power, she heard more things begin to break, both mechanical and organic; she could hear the wood of the hall slowly bend under the pressure. But Twilight still couldn’t look up, she never could, because a certain memory was still fresh to her. Once in her hospital room, a part of the ceiling had come down, and squashed the empty bed beside her own. It could’ve easily hit her, and as the unknown surroundings burst they might hit her too. She felt cold and her whole body shook, but her legs felt to weak to move and her heart raced while her breaths became harder, though she hardly noticed with the adrenaline shooting through her veins.

Somewhere in the distance the ground must have moved with such strength that it tore down a building. She could hear it, the falling stones crashing into the ground, and the screams of the ponies that must’ve been so far away. It was too loud to miss, even from here.

Suddenly, she heard Lyra scream, and felt somepony wrapping their arms around her. It was an unprecedented warmth and an alien feeling, yet, she felt one more pony adding to the hug. Twilight kept her eyes closed, but somehow, between the shaking and the distant screams, a piece of her felt safe. Once more the earth’s roar bellowed across the city, and then, finally, it stopped and silence filled the air.

Twilight slowly crawled out from beneath her tiny fortress. Lyra had apparently dragged Trixie to her and pulled both of them into a hug, trying to keep them safe, and Trixie had returned the embrace with fierce strength, her hooves shaking and tears running down her cheeks.

Eventually, Lyra asked, “Is every pony alright?”

“Trixie is always fine,” Trixie answered between sobs, but she didn‘t come out of Lyra‘s embrace. Instead she hugged the other two even stronger, and Twilight had to wonder from where she summoned such a force. Twilight couldn't tell whether or not Trixie wanted to stop herself from crying then and she herself didn’t know whether she wanted to hold her tears or just continue wailing, even if nopony would hear them. For a moment she wondered if she wanted to break the hug now. She felt safer than she ever had at home, almost as if nurse Redheart was there.

“This wasn‘t supposed to happen,” Twilight said, and unconsciously added, “I wanna go home.”

Lyra looked at her, putting her strange smile on before saying, “Yeah, that‘s probably for the best. We can all go to the hospital. It‘s safe there.”

“Can I take the blanket?” Twilight asked.

Lyra however had shifted her attention to Trixie, breaking the hug to wipe the tears from her eyes despite minor protests, so Twilight just decided that she could do whatever she wanted. That marked the point where the three finally parted, though only carefully. Twilight observed the other two, not knowing what to do.

The caped unicorn got to the task of stuffing Twilight‘s medicine in the pockets on the inside of her cape. Lyra watched the walls and let her eyes slowly follow them to the ceiling. Her ears went down and her tail whipped around nervously. “We should go,” she said with a shaking voice.

Twilight followed her gaze at once to see why, there were cracks in the roof and dirt fell from them as they slowly grew.

They got everything together as quickly as they could and jumped from the armchair. Twilight fell again as she touched the ground, her legs not managing to hold her up even after some rest. By now she grew weary of her weakness. She gritted her teeth as she tried to stand up, but her knees shook and she couldn’t keep her balance. Why? she wondered, looking up to the ceiling and cursing herself to Tartarus. But she wasn’t alone; Trixie and Lyra both moved to her side quickly, helping her up and out of the building.

“Don’t worry,” Lyra said, behind a wide smile that made Twilight question whether she really was just faking it now, or was just brave. “We got you.”

With that, they went out to the streets, with the dark clouds moving across the sky, mixing with the smog from the factories. They’d rain soon, Twilight thought, and she might just stand beneath the rain for once. It had always looked so pretty from behind the windows. But the white room was far off, and the city was before her.

Canterlot itself wasn‘t pretty. When somepony walked through the alleys that was especially true. Beneath one‘s hooves were stoney streets full of dirt, with puddles whose origins nopony ever wanted dared to question, and the whole city was filled with the stink of motorized carriages and trash that was taken away only once a month, if at all. Rats housed in the trash cans and on dry days, Twilight had heard the nurses say, the stink became unbearable in most places, if not all.

A pony could easily wander off into the alleys and get so lost they‘d never find their way out again, and she had heard of changelings abducted runaway children in the deeper darkness. Remembering that also made her question why she had left the hospital in the first place. Not only was there an earthquake, but now she would also get abducted by changelings! There wasn‘t even any means to actually navigate through Canterlot, she found, as every alley looked the same.

The alleyway they walked through was no exception to these rules, there were pipes and clothing hung to dry, leaving little to no room to look through and if there was, then the sky was hidden behind a mixture of smog and rainclouds. As expected, trash lay splattered across the ground and shards of glass made her glad to have hooves.

Despite all that, Canterlot was still considered one of the prettier cities in the republic, if Nurse Redheart was to be believed. It had the castle garden and even a few trees on choice streets.

“Sure, most of them are dead but there’s some,” she had told Twilight once, and the filly had to agree with the grown ups sentiment.

It couldn’t compare to the mule’s wandering cities which she had read about, or the artful camel metropoles of the far east. She had seen the beautiful pictures in her books, and even the griffon holds, with their walls of stone might’ve been considered finer, if only because they had less trash. Her father had told her that Canterlot was the capital of the republic and they should be proud of it. Twilight was proud.

“... and for the little bits of beauty your mother loved Canterlot, Twily,” he had said, looking out of the window when she had been at home, unsmiling. She had never catched what it was that had caught his attention back then, but at least her agreement had soothed his rage.

There were cracks in the walls and small fissures in the ground. Somewhere in the distance smoke was rising, and somehow Twilight just knew it had nothing to do with the local industry. Screams echoed from where it was rising, and Twilight felt a strong need not to go in that particular direction.

Every wall seemed dangerous, every fissure seemed like the beginning of another disaster. Twilight was scared, she was utterly afraid of what could happen now that another quake had happened.

“Why was there an earthquake?” Trixie asked. She looked pale, and her tail was tucked between her legs. Much like Twilight, she never took her eyes off the fissures.

“I dunno, but we‘ll be safe at the hospital,” Lyra answered and gave a smile that Twilight took for reassuring. Trixie wasn‘t even looking. It made her happy that Lyra could be so positive about this despite that. Maybe it wasn’t that fake a smile after all.

As they walked through the dirt-filled street, Twilight stepped on some clothing that had fallen down on the ground and spotted one of the pipes from above having crashed into a window. Nopony else had noticed, so she wondered if the houses were empty. Her attention drifted past the windows, and nopony was looking outside. She gulped and perked her ears, not quite sure why. Somewhere in the distance parts of the city had been destroyed and ponies were screaming. Yet that didn’t change the truth that these alleys were empty and if not for the far-off sounds, she would‘ve said they were the last ponies in Canterlot. That thought scared her and she was quite happy that they‘d return to the hospital. It was good her two new friends helped her trot, too, otherwise she was sure to be lost here forever.

You‘re going in the wrong direction.

The voice was lying, she knew. Nurse Redheart was in the hospital, the doctors, too. They were mean, of course, but they only meant to help. They would help them and the adults would find a solution, because earthquakes never happened in quick successions, had never done so. Twilight hoped and told herself that she was a smart filly, and so, she knew all that.

“Do you think the others are alright?” Lyra asked, looking at Trixie on the other side.

“I- I don‘t-” Trixie stammered, eyes widening as her thoughts took some surely gruesome turn.

“Right, stupid question, of course they‘re alright. Derpy‘s probably even the cause for this, considering her record,” Lyra laughed. Twilight, of course had no idea who this Derpy was and how she could have been responsible for an earthquake, but she didn‘t ask. There was enough time for questions later and right now, all she longed for was to find Nurse Redheart and apologize for running away.

They took each step carefully, Twilight breathing in and out. Her heart was racing and their pace was slow, but despite that they took the twists and turns of Canterlot, hopefully towards their goal. Strangely enough, with each step she felt her heart less and less, and instead her legs became more steady, her breathing less forced. That usually didn’t happen, and whenever she normally grew better, it never was this quick. Was the medicine working properly now? Was it because she wanted to see nurse Redheart again? She didn’t know, but either way, she felt herself recuperating.

“I can walk on my own now,” she said after a few steps. Trixie and Lyra both gave her worried looks, but they let Twilight prove herself by allowing her to move on her own. And move she did, steady on her hooves, like she wasn’t ill at all.

You‘re really going into the wrong direction, Twilight.

They advanced, slow at first but then they sped up. Twilight felt her legs growing stronger with every meter, and then the trot transformed into a canter. Twilight moved her hooves with easy, it felt like she had done this all her life, like she had never been a bedbound filly and instead one who had pranced and danced across the western flower fields. With every step she felt herself not growing more fatigued, not weaker, no. Her heartbeat became unnoticeable and suddenly she was putting hoof before hoof at a speed she had never reached before.

Twilight galloped.

The other two could barely keep up, so Twilight slowed down again once she noticed that. Alone, she would‘ve never been able to move through the maze of alleys, and even though she suddeny felt a surge of energy, she was still aware that she had no idea where she was.

Despite what she had thought however, the main street was only two turns away, and with the other two by her side, she stepped onto it to look at what had been somewhat peaceful when they had left. Motorized carriages were standing in the middle of the road while ponies hurried around. Twilight knew not from whence they came and where they were all going, all she saw was sheer chaos in the wake of trembler. There was smoke coming from a distance, too. Twilight couldn‘t make out anything because of how far it was away, but some ponies were yelling something and it seemed to terrify and anger them. She didn‘t know why but somewhere down the road one pony was attacking another, shouting with an anger-filled voice.

They had just come out of the alley and then Twilight saw something else, to their left the road had a huge cleft. She saw doctors hurrying around, directly from the hospital. Motorized carriages were turned upside down and she saw some ponies lying unconscious. She had felt the rumbling but it looked so much worse than she had thought it would be. Then again, from everything she had heard and read, maybe all the quakes were more terrifying when they first appeared to be.

She felt a drop of water on her nose. Twilight shook her head bewildered and looked up at the darkest sky she had ever seen. Blinking, she felt a light breeze on her coat and then felt another drop touching her muzzle. She had the blanket though, so even as the rain started to pour down on them, she felt little and less. Plus, she was stronger than ever, even her heart didn‘t give her any problems. Yes, she didn‘t even feel it beat as she normally did and that was probably the best thing. Water came down from the sky; small, greenish drops that felt and smelt bad as they dripped on her. Twilight’s father had always liked to remind her not to drink it, since it was dangerous. Some drops had a shade of grey she noted, they had probably wanted to take some dust back to the ground.

That was the moment one of the adults finally noticed the three fillies. A male pegasus, wearing a black uniform with golden buttons on it. It was the same one she had seen before with ‘RD‘ and this time actually had time to see that his coat was as black as his outfit and his mane just added to the monotony. From what she could remember, he was the complete opposite of RD with her six-colored mane.

“What are you doing here?” he asked with a pressing tone in his voice, “Go home to your parents where it‘s safe.”

Twilight wanted to open her mouth, wanted to answer something but no words came out as she spotted something that her mind surely conjured up out of nowhere. All she could do was blink, just to check if her eyes weren’t lying to her, and as she confirmed it, she realized that she did not know a single word to explain what it was. She could see it, right behind the pegasus, whatever it was. It looked like a tower of mud with thirteen black sticks for arms, atop its crown was what looked like an eyeball. What should‘ve been white was blood red and it appeared cut, with more mud leaking out of it. It moved and the way it did sent shivers down her spine, so unnatural it was. Like the motions it should have made were missing, like she was blinking and the arms had moved in between. Then, as Twilight followed the thing, she noticed the ends of the arms, scissors.

Twilight Sparkle, this is important. Look at it and then tell me: Have you ever dreamt of dying?

“What?” she asked.

Because you‘re about to die. So do as I tell you … Twilight–

“Run!” she yelled, following the instruction, not even daring to look away from the creature.

The pegasus stood there, bewildered. “What?” he asked and raised his hoof, “You don‘t need to-”

There was a noise. A snip. His own hoof moved against his will, higher than intended, not the way he had planned, and he did not realize why. It took a moment, blood flying across his sight as he noted that he hadn’t really moved it, it had been cut. The pegasus didn’t react, Twilight, however, did. She screamed as loud as she could but did not know where to go, not that it mattered anymore.

She stood in an open field, rainbow colored grass waving in the air, mountains of gingerbread with sugar on top of them rose in the distance, and pink clouds of cotton candy were above her. That sight wasn‘t enough to stop Twilight, in fact she didn‘t even notice that the ground beneath her was made of solid chocolate. She just galloped with all her strength, she just galloped, screaming for help. The stallion himself hadn’t even screamed, had been silenced before he could make a sound. Now he was gone and she was in a field of candy. She saw a blue unicorn running across the distance, the purple cape Trixie had just worn fastened around her neck. That one suddenly stopped and turned towards Twilight. She must have recognized her, because she quickly hurried towards her.

Twilight herself didn‘t know how to react to this. She wanted to close her eyes, look down and gallop horn first. All she managed was the part where she looked down. That was when she noticed her own coat was a mulberry color. It was pretty, too, and oddly familiar. Still, she hadn‘t time to question it as a screech sounded behind her. An otherworldly howl that made her head hurt immediately. That was how she knew that thing was coming, with its thirteen stick arms with scissors for hooves. Despite herself, she turned around, to look at it, but there was nothing but the strangely colored grass, mountains of candy, and earth of chocolate. Then she saw them in the distance, and looked up, and saw them even above her.

Around them the clouds were falling down, dropping down on the ground. She quickly noticed that they were cotton candy and they had arms and legs like lines of chocolate. They all held umbrellas with candy canes and canopies that looked like they were made out of flowing caramel. The moment they landed, they created noises like a mixture of dropping a stone into water and breaking a young filly’s legs and as they rose on their thin legs, they immediately grew moustaches and top hats made out of chocolate. It was all Twilight could do to take the strange sight in, not knowing whether she was scared or hungry. By then, the azure filly stood by her side. Stood, because now they were surrounded … by cotton candy clouds with moustaches and top hats. Twilight’s vocabulary had no words for this.

“Please tell me this is a dream,” the blue filly asked with a familiar voice, so Twilight took one look at her face. The black eye, missing teeth and all the other bruises gave Trixie away immediately.

“Sadly it‘s not.” They both heard the ghostly voice. Trixie looked up, clearly hearing it now, too.

“You two are either very lucky or incredibly unlucky, but you‘re the first to see that thing since the princesses.”

The thing stood behind the cotton clouds. Twilight couldn’t make anything out but a deep blackness, like she grew blind the moment her eyes turned on it, and also a deep, lingering feeling that she should run away from it. Far and farther she should move. Two red orbs grew out of its form, and as they turned towards the two fillies, Twilight found herself starting to shake. Just looking at it was like watching her father walk back to her, telling her he had a solution for her illness.

For a second, it felt like there was a rope tightening around her neck, and then a sound echoed across the plains. It was a sound that could be described the noise a pony made when rusty saws cut through their flesh, and Twilight had no idea how she came up with it, but it terrified her.

“What is that? What is going on? Where are we?” She asked, breathing heavily and with sweat running down her coat.

“Oh, Twilight. You‘ve stepped into the first phase of this world‘s end, of what will happen when magic isn‘t brought back. My little pony, that thing is the embodiment of fear, the king of nightmares.

Both ponies stared at the thing, but Trixie turned around as those fluffy clouds started moving towards them, their every movement as eerie as the one from the beast itself.

“Dreamy called it, Magia.”

Chapter 4 ~ Have You Ever Dreamt Of Dying?

Test 4

The ground cracked beneath their hooves as they stumbled on, its sweet smell touching their noses, lingering there while not truly reaching their heads. Twilight only managed to catch faint glimpses at her surroundings, because her attention was drawn elsewhere. The grass was colored like a rainbow, the ground was made of chocolate and the air tasted a bit like lemonade. Really – if it were not for those pink cotton candy clouds with scissors for hands, snipping wildly at the air it seemed like an ideal vacation spot. Under any other circumstances, she might have even found it in her to enjoy it, probably.

Trixie’s eyes were fixed on the front and sweat was running down her forehead, she didn’t truly try to grasp what was all around them, instead closing her eyes and mumbling something to herself, something about a tower. She was probably looking for courage, something which Twilight couldn’t do right now. Her friend looked so different, so strange to behold, much like all the things around them, and Twilight had no idea how to take it. Everything about her colors had changed, well, everything aside from cloak and wizard hat. The blue coat, the icy mane, Twilight was unsure how to process that, so she focused her attention away from that, away from the strangeness of this place.

And she didn't even want to look at herself. Everything had changed, and she felt unusually strong. Still she shivered, because the blanket was gone. To where she did not know, but its absence made breathing so much heavier. Sweat was running down her body, she shivered and then made the mistake of looking back. They were still advancing, these clouds who had fallen, and in the distance, there was the echo of innocent laughter. Black top hats and moustaches of chocolate, the entire coloration reminded her of something.

An egg of purple with darker dots on it, a dragon baby looking up to her.

Twilight turned her head around, catching another glimpse at Trixie, who did the same to look at her with huge eyes as they remained close by each other. "We need to get out of here,“ she cried, tears flowing down her bruised and cut ruin of a face.

All Twilight could think of was to look around, search for an exit, even though the scissors were snipping and the clouds were walking forward, each and every step a mind-boggling motion. It was like there was something missing from them, something that was needed to move and yet they still stepped forward. And with every step they took, Trixie and Twilight moved closer together, feeling the warmth of each other and failing to find comfort in it.

“We can’t,” she suddenly heard Trixie speak up again. “I’m scared.”

What should she do? What could she say? Her hooves were crashing against the ground, whirling up the sweetest dirt, leaving it to clutch against her coat and skin. The horizon was far off, and something was in the distant, laughing at their meager escape attempt. Red bulging eyes, bleeding like mountains of fresh corpses. The image became clearer in her head the longer she lingered on the thought. What could she do? What would the heroes in her books do?

Fight on, she remembered, and just at that moment promised herself to do just that. Whatever was going on, she knew they were in danger, and a hero always managed to find a way.

"No, we can … I'm sure we can, we just need to–“ At that moment she realized that she didn't know what to do. If they ran they'd get pierced and sliced, if they stayed the same would happen, there wasn't even going to be much of a time difference as it stood and they were both just little fillies. Children weren’t heroes, children relied on them.

Now that she thought about it, it seemed kind of unfair actually. She had just gotten the strength back to her legs, she was smart and her Papa was going to miss her. If he wouldn’t have before, at least now, since she was healed. Yes, now that she thought about it, her body was working, for the first time in her life. She did not know how, or why, but she could stand and breathe and if they’d go back to the hospital she could show herself to her papa. He would be proud and happy again, Shining Armor would return and everypony would acknowledge the brave and smart filly.

And the clouds advanced one step after another.

Twilight felt Trixie’s tail nervously whipping across the ground, while her own remained close to her body, unmoving. She was too afraid to do anything, to say anything. There was nothing she could do, and neither nurse Redheart nor her papa would ever find out that she got good in the end.

An unworldly scream echoed across the plains as the creatures mouths opened, each revealing a thousand teeth like nails, and eyes like abysses of a violent blackness stared at them before the creatures leaped at them, their motions broken and abrupt. Twilight could only close her eyes, praying that Shining Armor would come to save her.

"CANDY!“

The yell easily overshadowed the screeching noise the candy attackers made, and as Twilight opened her eyes she saw an aquamarine unicorn with a cyan mane with white highlights. Her horn stood out strangely, since it hadn't been there before. She noticed and understood that because something else was there, a smile so wide it looked like it hurt this filly so much.

Lyra smashed through one cloud head on, the chocolate dissolved into ashes and the body into strings. But the filly did not stop, instead galloped on and jumped over her friends. She immediately made a turn upon landing and bucked another cloud, that came too close to them. Only then did she look at her friends.

"Run!“

She didn't need to say it another time, and Trixie reacted but a split second faster than Twilight. Their worries dissolved somewhat, there was a path before them now and so all three started into a gallop. But as they did that, Twilight Sparkle felt it almost immediately, the scissors at her tail. She didn't care how much of it she'd lose however, she just needed to hurry up. All they needed to do now was get out of her. So they went at their quickest speed, the weight of their tiny hooves enough to transform the ground into chocolate sprinkles for the grass. Once or twice she felt herself running straight into a puddle but the mess that made of her coat was the least of her worries now.

She heard the stomps, heard her own sharp breaths, but what she didn't hear was the sound of them being followed. While she didn’t really know how that could be, she deduced that they must’ve been too quick for the beasts. After seconds, maybe even minutes of running, she started to giggle. The sharp sound of scissors, teeth like rusty and rotten nails, and the violent swirls on the horizon. They had escaped that.

Her giggling became laughter, a maniacal guffaw that echoed across the plains louder and louder. Sadly, that left her almost incapable of breathing and resulted in a sharp pain, stinging in her side.

"What're you doing?“ Lyra asked mid-run, looking at her with a frown on her face.

"There's nopony following us,“ she answered truthfully, barely able to contain her laughter.

That made the others stop, and Twilight immediately broke down on the ground. The tears kept flowing despite herself, and the laughter did not stop either. They looked over the fields to find that Twilight had been right. Almost a second later Lyra let herself fall to the ground, and started to laugh too.

"Never again,“ she complained.

Twilight looked at the far off mountains, the sun above them and the clouds. With what had just happened, she didn’t know what to make of them, but she really hoped they wouldn't suddenly fall down. She remained there on the ground, slowly regaining her composure by Lyra’s side, while Trixie just stood there, looking around. Yes, Twilight suddenly thought, as if she remembered something important, and indeed it did make click in her mind. She realized something, something that had escaped her grasp. Not just the mountains, the fields and the clouds. The whole thing was wrong.

"Where are we?“ Twilight asked. And how did we get here?

The question hit home instantly and even Lyra turned her head around, as if she hoped to find a shield with all the answers on it. Only silence was there with them at that moment, however. Silence, until the second question fell.

"Why do you have a horn?“

Trixie stared at Lyra, who stared at her in return. "I've got a horn?“ the green filly asked, touching her forehead. For a moment she didn’t seem to know what to make of it though, as she tensed up, and Twilight noticed how her gaze fell, how she visibly shrunk, before she broke out into another laugh.

"I've got a horn. I've got a horn,“ Lyra sang, stretching her arms out to the sky before she jumped up, much to both Trixie’s and Twilight’s surprise.

Twilight looked at the filly who now was dancing around Trixie, finding it in her to smile.

There was magic in this place, she understood. Whatever was going on, they were on some kind of magical place where they were all actual unicorns again, not just the powerless, useless bags of worthlessness. Twilight had no idea where they were, nor what was going on, but that, that alone was the most awesome thing ever.

The blue filly didn’t seem to find it as amazing as her other, technicolor compatriots, and as Lyra danced in circles around them, all she had to offer was a look of minor annoyance, and careful glances in every direction. The smart part of Twilight at least acknowledged that neither she nor Lyra did anything like that now, but they had just escaped death and, well, Lyra had a horn. That would've maybe made a good enough cause for a party, not that Twilight knew how to throw one.

Thing was however, she had read about parties. Loud things with everypony having fun, which was about just the thing she needed and wanted right now, now that everything was clearly going to be okay. The filly couldn't quite imagine a lot of ponies together without there suddenly being problems but then again, her papa had never allowed her to have a party. She had heard that Shining Armor had done a lot of of those before he'd left and her father had not been pleased. That thought alone drowned her laughter, because she didn’t want her father to be mad at her, she didn’t want to do more bad stuff. So a party was out of question.

"Here you stand, hunted by the emperor of horrors, in an impossible place, where clouds are made of candy and long for blood, where your worst fears linger in every shadow. And you ponies decide to dance. I admire just how much effort you put into your management of the situation.“ The voice spoke, sarcasm dripping from it like honey from a spoon. Yet, what caught Twilight’s attention was that it wasn’t just sounding from within her head, but instead echoed across the entire land.

"What?“ Lyra asked, obviously surprised, Trixie just gazed around.

"Lyra, was it? Let’s get the introductions out of the way; I'm the ghost Twilight talked about. You can call me ... A wise goat? Yeah, wise goat. I like goats, they’re funny.“ The explanation wasn't enough to tell them anything, though.

Twilight took it upon herself to ask the important question, "And who are you, Mister Goat?“

"Not important.

Twilight grumbled at how he shot her down immediately.

Right now, the only thing that matters is you Twilight Sparkle. That *Magia, it’s old, and it hasn’t been in direct contact with our home for, I don’t, millennia. It's just been in this world and ponies **shouldn't be able to enter here. Which, together with all the other evidence, leads to only one conclusion: Twilight Sparkle, you, out of all the beings in the universe are the only one with a talent for a dead thing. For some strange reason you're still connected to magic.*“

Twilight blinked, a question echoing through her head, but it was Lyra who spoke up before it could come out of her mouth, "Wow, Twilight is a magician!“

She would've been glad to see that wise goat herself at this very moment. She just had Lyra to stare at now and the way she grinned did nothing for any kind of suspense that the voice had built up. Still, there were more questions, but before she could ask any of them the voice spoke up again.

"Sadly, it doesn’t really matter anymore. Though Loonie did her best, this is quite the horrible outcome. After centuries of nothing, magic has found another connection to this world, and soon enough, both it and our own will meld together. They’re probably coming soon enough, and I have no idea how you little ponies could escape from this place. No matter how talented you are, or how creative, I doubt that–“

"Can I cast a spell?“ Twilight asked, thinking of something.

"What?“

The filly finally rose from the ground, however, Twilight couldn't elaborate as the screeching echoed over them. Her eyes went over to the distance, where she saw the sky itself move in strange, indescribable motions and clouds were raining down like droplets of rain. They were in a world of magic, she had a connection with it, something was happening, and she had no idea what any of this was about, but Twilight Sparkle decided at that very moment, that if she was really a unicorn, a wizard now, she would do something.

"We need to run,“ Lyra said and turned, making for another gallop.

"NO!“ shouted Twilight, stopping her friends in her their tracks. "I'll handle this.“

That was the moment she knew she gathered her confidence. If the voice had been right, then maybe this would be just like the stories she had read. She was about to become a hero, she was about to save them all. This was the first step, and so she took a deep breath, lowered her head and closed her eyes.

Then, she just took it all in. The gushes of wind around her, blowing the sweet scent of this world into her nose, the grass that brushed against her legs and the chocolate that felt soft beneath her hooves. She heard them in the distance now, falling, crying, marching, snipping, wailing, hurling themselves towards the three who didn't belong. All those things made the world up but she felt something else, too, something warm, something nice. Something she hadn't felt before, and yet it was oddly familiar. That was the feeling Twilight Sparkle wanted to take in, and so she did, with a deep breath she let it wash over her.

For a moment longer, it was like she was lying on the beach, wave after wave of sugary water washing over her, the warmth making her feel all fuzzy inside. Yes, it felt like the embrace of a parent; so warm, so nice, like a good friend returning home, like a peace of mind found only in the most remote of places.

"What are you doing, Twilight? Your horn is glowing,“ she heard Lyra's astonished voice, "You really are a magician!“

That was the moment. A wind started to blow around them, lifting the little filly off the ground. She felt the warmth, she felt the peace, she felt the strings of magic unravel around her. They engulfed her, and took new shapes, and with these a new strength came to her muscles, a power like she had never felt before. Every part of her body felt so much better than before, like she was never going to be sick again. Twilight felt herself so happy, she was finally okay.

With a surge she stomped her hooves on the ground and suddenly, rain was falling down on them.

"We're back,“ Lyra exclaimed loudly as the ghastly wind vanished.

Twilight only barely heard her. She found herself touching the ground again, feeling the warmth moving through her body. Everything was fine now, she had saved everypony, she was a hero. Twilight Sparkle was finally a pony that would be praised. Weird, she almost regretted transporting away.

Only then she opened her eyes again, and for a moment she saw the alley, she felt the blanket against her back, the rain, stinking like chemicals, ruining her mane. She took a deep breath and then opened her mouth to breathe out but something other than air came out. Blinking, she looked at it, wondering what was going on. She needed to go to the hospital, everypony would be happy to see her there.

Then she was thrown into another world. A hell of pain and hurt. She collapsed onto the ground, into the red and brown stuff she had just vomited out, and there was only enough strength in her left to twitch miserably.

The last thing Twilight heard was Lyra shouting her name. The last thing she saw was an ugly, small piebald pony wearing a wizard attire, looking at her with a mixture of resentment and pity.

Chapter 5 ~ What Are You Doing, Twilight?