The Neighcronomicon

Twilight lay sprawled out on the bed, watching the moon and stars drift across her field of vision. As much as a part of her wanted to get up and use the stars as a guide to check the train's progress to Coltstantinople, the fact that Pinkie Pie was laying across her back like a living blanket rendered that idea hopeless. The pink party mare had suggested sleeping in a 'puppy pile' after scavenging up the pillows from a few other rooms for some extra comfort.

At the time, it had seemed like a great idea. Everyone snuggled up would do a lot to quell nightmares and ensure a peaceful nights rest.

But sleep eluded Twilight. Closing her eyes brought on memories of how much her words hurt the girls, and flashes of places and things Twilight never recalled encountering. For all of the comfort her friends brought her, it still wasn't quite enough to banish Twilight's fears.

Biting her lip, Twilight knew that if she didn't sleep she'd be more grouchy and less aware in the morning. Which, when talking out loud seems to cause bouts of hysteria and mind-numbing terror, would be a very dangerous combination. One snarky remark not filtered through her horn could render Rarity catatonic, or send Fluttershy racing for safety in an unfamiliar environment.

Slowly, carefully gathering her magic, Twilight set about casting a sleep spell developed by Sweet Dreams, one of Starswirl the Bearded's contemporaries. Though not as well remembered as the famous archmage, Sweet Dreams did do important work in the field of dream magic. Because casting dream magic is impossible while awake, Sweet Dreams was forced to create a spell that would let her sleep whenever she needed to.

With a quiet poof of amethyst sparkles, the spell took hold of its intended target, and Twilight gratefully lay her head down to sleep.

* * *

"Twilight, wake up. Come on, I don't have time for this, get UP!"

A sharp pain blossomed on Twilight's flank, and with a yelp she sat up straight away.

"Ow! What did you do that for. . . uh . . . me?" Twilight finished dumbly, tilting her head to the side as her mirror image face hoofed. The other Twilight wasn't exactly like her though. Her eyes were much harder than Twilight's, and the dismissive scowl she wore like a badge of honor wasn't an expression Twilight gave into often. The strands of pink in her mane and tail were a much darker hue, bordering on red, and the other Twilight's cutie mark was also wrong. Rather than being a series of sparkles surrounding a larger spark, the mark was inverted, with the many lighter, smaller sparks being inside the large one.

"Cause you need to get your head in the game Twilight!" Twilight's double grabbed her by the shoulders and roughly shook her.

"Ow, wait, hey!" With a quick flare of power, Twilight teleported out of her double's grip. "Look, first off, who are you? And secondly, what are you doing in my dream? This isn't how Sweet Dream's spell is supposed to work."

"Uh, duh? You can call me Sparks by the way, since you're the head honcho Twilight and I'm just a fragment of your psyche." Rolling her eyes, Sparks swept her hoof behind her, pointing out the rest of the dream realm, "And neither of us are in your dream, dummy."

Taking her eyes off of her somehow quite rude imaginary self, Twilight finally paused to look around herself. Under her hooves was a sea-foam green stone of some sort, warm to the touch with a faint slickness or sliminess to it. All around her were towering statues and image laden pillars, depicting various legendary monsters and normal ponies. And pervading it all was a faint mist and the scent of the sea. Somehow the idea that she was in a place of worship, a temple, wormed its way into Twilight's mind and refused to be dislodged despite no evidence of an altar or other religious finery present.

"Of all my dreams, this is by far the creepiest." Twilight murmured. She couldn't shake the feeling of being watched; studied really. Like she was an amusing book or some mildly interesting insect. Worth paying some attention to, but in a fleeting, condescending manner.

Another sharp pain flared on the back of her head, knocking Twilight's vision down to her hooves, breaking her gaze with one of the monstrous statues.

"Stop staring at the, well, anything and focus on me you dummy. I don't wanna find out what happens if you lose yourself in here." Sparks groused.

"Ow, what is your problem Sparks? You can get my attention in ways other than physical trauma!" Twilight shouted.

Without warning, the temperature plumeted, the mist turning to rime, and the sensation of being watched became an absolute knowledge. Twilight felt her breath catching in her throat, panic reaching into her chest to squeeze her heart. Glancing over through a haze of icy tears, Twilight saw Sparks shivering, eyes wide in terror.

"T-teleport. Twilight, you need to teleport!" Sparks hissed. Something was moving through the mists, a vast bipedal shape whose jerking, halting movements only served to amplify the unreasoning terror Twilight felt. It wasn't natural, no sane world could hold such a huge creature, and no just and fair reality would let it exist.

A trembling pair of hooves seized Twilight by her cheeks and wrenched her head around. "Teleport us now! Now now now now NOW!" Sparks screamed. Twilight felt her magic rising without her will, seemingly summoned by Sparks's frenzied cries.

With a painful surge of magical energy, Twilight's horn flared into incandescent light, and the world around them vanished.

* * *

That was a wall. Twilight knew it was a wall because she had smashed into it. Somehow, her blind teleport had spat her and Sparks out at a velocity, and the other unicorn lay in a heap of paper scraps nearby. Looking around, Twilight marveled at her surroundings. She was in a room with eleven walls, and each one was heavy with paragraphs of writing. Bundles of notes and piles of scraps littered the room, creating an air of clutter that calmed Twilight immeasurably. It all evoked a sense of knowledge, of learning at the expense of all other worldly considerations, and it spoke to Twilight's love of learning.

"Celestia's fat flank that sucked. See this, this is why I'm not in charge of the magic bits." Sparks grumbled, slowly sitting up. Her mane and tail were greatly frazzled, and her eyes bloodshot and baggy. Droplets of sweat beaded her brow, and she faintly wheezed while her legs shook.

"Where are we anyway? It's not possible to teleport without a destination in mind."

"Rainbow Dash is right; we are such an egghead." Sparks rasped, letting her front legs kick out in front of her. Chin resting on the floor, she closed her eyes and continued. "We're in the psychic space created by reading the Neighcronomicon."

". . . what?"

Sparks groaned. "The tome wants to protect us because we are tied to it, and since it shares something of a link with R'lyeh we were able to jump between the two. How many walls are there?"

"Uh, there are eleven walls Sparks. Can. . . can you not see?" Twilight sat down by the other unicorn, reaching out to stroke her mane. Sparks might be something of a grouch, but it was clear to Twilight that she was in pain and had saved them from something.

"Everything's a bit fuzzy and too bright. Listen, Twilight, you're gonna feel like I look right now until you read at least eleven more pages. The Neighcronomicon saved our flanks, but such generosity isn't free. Get one of the others to watch you and get you to stop reading once you finish. The more you read, the harder and harder it's going to be for us to function."

"What does that mean?"

"You already can't talk and can't move away from the tome, take a wild guess egghead." Cracking open one eye, Sparks glared at Twilight. "Look, I'm just your inner meanness, impatience, and a lot of other less than nice things. But where we're going, I'd appreciate it if you didn't repress me too much. You're not gonna be able to solve this one with just friendship."

Twilight opened her mouth to question Sparks further, but her inquiries were lost to a massive yawn.

"Aw crud, guess I'm out of time. Have fun on the train ride Twilight, and make sure you only read eleven pages. . ."

* * *

Cold water splashed against Twilight's face. This was deeply disorienting, but then again so was waking up on the floor of the dining car. Twilight looked up blearily at Applejack and Fluttershy, the former of which was holding a still dripping bucket.

"How're you feelin' sugercube?" Applejack said, setting the bucket down. Twilight feebly tried to pull herself to the bucket, knowing what was coming, but it felt like her legs were still dreaming.

"BLUUuuugh." Twilight heaved, shivering and shaking. She felt so weak it was all she could do to keep her head up and pointed away from the girls. Gentle hooves gathered up her mane, and Twilight faintly heard "There there, it's okay Twilight. We're here for you. Is there something you need? Applejack, why don't you get some more water and the others, I'll sit here and help Twilight."

"Alrighty Fluttershy, Ah'm on it." Twilight felt the bucket being gingerly pressed into her hooves before the soft sounds of retreating hoofsteps. As the door separating the dining car from the overnight car opened, Twilight was caressed by a chill breeze and immediately retched again, visions of that forsaken temple brutalizing her exhausted mind.

With memories of the temple and the strange, jerking horror that resided within it came the memory of Sparks and their shared flight into the Neighcronomicon. Spitting the last stringy globules of sickness into the bucket, Twilight reached into herself for her magic. It took far more time and energy to achieve the needed degree of precision and magical strength, but after a minute or so Twilight felt the speaking spell take shape again.

"Fluttershy, I need you to get the Neighcronomicon." Almost instantly, Twilight felt better, and at the same time much worse. The Neighcronomicon wanted her to read more, and it was willing to help her and hurt her in order to make it happen. She was trapped, like an insect in tree sap, struggling fruitlessly against an inevitable fate.

"Um, Twilight? I don't think that's really such a good idea. I mean, you seem so sick right now, wouldn't it just be better if you just rested a little bit more? I especially don't want to leave you like this." The concern in Fluttershy's voice would normally be of great comfort to Twilight. Normally. Fluttershy's words washed over Twilight, and for the briefest moment Twilight agreed with them. Unsurprisingly, the Neighcronomicon offered a powerful counter-argument to this turn of events. The sunlight which had seemed warm and gentle just a second ago suddenly became brighter than Celestia's most potent magics, stabbing deep into her eyes with spiteful ferocity.

Instantly, Twilight screwed her eyes shut and screamed, thrashing about wildly to try and move away from the sunlight. The scent of burnt fur reached her nose, and a tacky wetness spilled down her cheeks. "Close the blinds! Please, blessed Celestia please, stop the light!" Twilight screeched, her magic making noise no mortal pony throat could hope to replicate. Every mote of sunshine felt like a wicked ember of flame, tiny fire-flies made of molten lead and motivated by seething hatred for her and her alone.

With a whimper Fluttershy swept through the room, frantically pulling the blinds closed. Despite almost every window being unveiled, Fluttershy managed to close every blind in less then ten seconds flat. But from the way Twilight screamed and sobbed, Fluttershy couldn't help but wish it had been Rainbow Dash attending to her. Her fastest still wasn't fast enough for her friend.

Tugging at the satchel filled with first aid items, Fluttershy landed gently next to Twilight. Tiny patches of fur had been scorched away, leaving vivid red burns in their wake. Twilight moaned softly, laying limply on the floor. Fluttershy carefully began laying out ointments and bandages when the clatter of hooves alerted her to Applejack's return. Spreading her wings wide, Fluttershy leapt over Twilight and placed herself between the recumbent unicorn and the door.

Just a moment later, the door slammed open, and all the others struggled to let themselves in at the same time. The sunlight, however diffuse, made Twilight whimper and squirm. Groping blindly, she seized Fluttershy by her wings and pulled the pegasus closer to her in a bid to hide from the sun's cruel rays.

"Eep!" Fluttershy squeaked, feeling the blood rush to her face as her friends filtered into the room. Rarity's quite titter from behind her hoof was almost enough to make Fluttershy want to fly away and hide. "Pinkie Pie, Twilight needs the, um, she needs the N-Neighcronomicon. She's very sensitive to the light though, so close the door on the way out, and make sure to knock. . . um, if that's alright with you, that is."

"Okie-doki-loki." Pinkie Pie whispered, moving with exaggerated slow motion out of the dining car. As the door closed again, Fluttershy breathed a great sigh of relief and closed her wings, making an effort to climb off of Twilight. The purple unicorn whimpered slightly before curling up into a ball hiding her eyes from the world.

"Jeez-louise, what on Earth happened here Fluttershy? Ah wasn't gone but fer a few minutes and it looks like Twilight took to rollin' around in a campfire!" Applejack whispered. Rainbow Dash flitted behind the bar and popped up with large bottle of water, passing it off to Rarity. The fashionista in turn, took a set of napkins from a nearby dining table and soaked them, laying them over Twilight's burns as Fluttershy applied a burn ointment.

"I don't really know Applejack. She asked me for the Neighcronomicon, but when I resisted and said I didn't want to leave her to go get it, she sudden-," Fluttershy sniffled, her composure breaking at the harsh memory, "she suddenly started screaming about how the lights hurt. Somehow it burned her Applejack, oh it was just terrible!" Tears trickled down Fluttershy's cheeks, but even under duress she continued to minister to Twilight's wounds.

With gentle words and a bit of coaxing, Twilight eventually was turned on her back so Fluttershy could attend the few burns on her barrel. Rarity let loose a soft gasp when she saw the state of Twilight's face though.

"Oh sweet Celestia, she was crying blood!" Rarity whispered, one hoof pointing to the crimson trails down Twilight's cheeks.

Fluttershy collapsed at the sight, sobbing wetly into her hooves "Oh please forgive me Twilight, I'm so sorry, I'm so sorry!"

Rainbow Dash and Applejack took it upon themselves to wipe away the bloody stains as Rarity did her best to comfort the distraught Fluttershy. Just as Rainbow Dash finished wringing out the napkin to leave a cool compress over Twilight's eyes did Pinkie Pie silently slip back into the car. The pink party pony looked shaken up, and the scene within the dining car did nothing to lighten her mood. With much care, Pinkie slipped the Neighcronomicon out of her saddlebags and lay it by Twilight's hooves.

"Here you go Twilight, I got the Neighcronomicon for you." Pinkie droned dully. Sitting down a little bit further away, Pinkie Pie closed her eyes and began humming to herself, an almost dirge like song slowly filling the cabin.

Twilight's hooves snapped the Neighcronomicon up to her, and a flick of purple magic flung the napkin from her eyes. Gazing at the Neighcronomicon with crimson stained sight, Twilight felt magic surge through her. Calling upon the sudden flood of energy, Twilight sat up, delicately opening the rare tome, setting her horn buzzing as she refreshed the speaking spell.

"I only need to read eleven pages. Please stop me before I read more." With an imploring, almost desperate look, Twilight caught her friends gazes as they nodded their agreement. Pinkie even went so far as to wave her hooves about in a silent Pinkie Promise, a sad sort of smile adding gravity to the gesture.

And so Twilight began to read the accursed tome once more.