The moon shone silvery light on the little town of Ponyville. Amongst the homes and businesses was a library inside a tree. And inside the library, Princess Twilight Sparkle tossed and turned.
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The sun beat down on what appeared to be a small town with mudbrick homes and thatched roofs. Moving amongst the homes were other ponies going about their daily business. Sitting at a grinder grinding herbs was a yellow earth pony stallion with a braided sky blue mane. Suddenly a shadowed figure peeked around a nearby building. Closer and closer the figure drew until it was towering directly behind the stallion. Then the figure leaned in and gave a shout right into the stallion's ear. The stallion gave a jump and yelp of surprise and turned to his stalker, a charcoal grey almost black earthpony mare with a white and purple mane and twinkling blue and purple eyes that made the stallion's heart flutter.
"I gotcha." The mare said playfully. The stallion frowned.
"Aren't you a little old to be pulling foalish pranks?" He asked as he picked up his dumped bowl.
"Too old to make you sqeal like a foal?" She said in mock horror. "Never."
The stallion rolled his eyes and tried to gather his spilled herbs. The mare's eyes shone with a violet light and the herbs floated back into the bowl. The stallion simply watched then turned to her.
"Did you come here for something?" He asked gesturing to the basket's slung over her back.
"I was wondering if you'd like to accompany me to the forest. I'm out of herbs and was on my way there."
The stallion glanced at the dark forest not too far from the village and shivered. "Why don't you ever get your herbs from the medows."
"Because the forest herbs are more robust. So, are you coming or not?"
The stallion glanced between his bowl and the mare. "Perhaps another time." He finally said. "I need to finish this mix soon."
"Alright." The mare said with a shrug. "I'll hold you to it."
As the stallion watched the mare trot out of sight and into the forest, he felt his stomach twist uneasily.
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There was another reason why the mare loved the forest. The forest was beautiful and mysterious. She'd always wanted to travel beyond her village and the forest made her feel like she'd stepped into a new world. Even the parts she was familiar with. She'd already filled her baskets halfway and was gazing up at the canopy when she heard a nearby snap.
She paused and looked around the area with a scrutnizing eye. A rustle drew her eye to a nearby bush. Slowly she approached the bush and poked her muzzle in. At first she saw nothing. Then a pair of large red eyes burned bright in the deep shadows of the bush. In a swift movement it surged forward. The mare jerked back in surprise, but not fast enough. Something dark threw itself from the bush and tackled the mare in the face. The mare's momentum threw her into the larger bush behind her, the baskets discarded and spilling various plants.
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The earthpony stallion sat there on the charred earth. A bloodied strip of cloth was wrapped round his head and his hindleg was matted with blood. His body was covered in other scrapes, cuts and burns. All untreated. He didn't care. All he could see through the tears in his eyes was the massive crystal orb held up by jagged crystals as though the entire structure had erupted from the ground. Behind him was an elderly made with a greying blue coat and white mane streaked with dull grey. A trickle of blood ran down her face and she tightly clasped a curved staff. Her dark blue eyes stared at the sobbing stallion in sadness like he was expressing, but she gave voice voice to.
"It's my fault." The stallion finally choked out. "If I'd gone with her then maybe..."
"Don't you dare think that." The older mare snapped, interrupting him. "The fault lies not on your shoulders nor her's."
The mare raised her staff up and brought it down with a bang. There was a groan then the earth split open and out snaked a silver white root that wrapped itself around the orb and with a crack, broke the orb off and retreated underground. The crack sealing up behind it as though it had never been there.
"But if I had just gone with her... If I had been there with her, then maybe..." The stallion slowly whimpered as he stared at the area where the root had been.
"There was nothing you could've done." The older mare said softly as she came up next to him and leaned on him for support. "Her path now lies in a different direction. The Tree shall keep her safe till the right time. And when that time comes she will make new friends who shall give her the strength to drag herself out of that thing."
The stallion sniffed and looked at her with a glimmer of hope. "You think so?"
The older mare looked back at him with a small twinkle in her own eye. "I know so. I have seen it."
Through the smoke and ashes that swirled in the air, the mare's cutiemark could be seen. A crescent moon cradling an eye.
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Twilight Sparkled found herself curled up in darkness. Darkness that felt alive. All around her she could feel hundreds of shadows writhing and moving all around her. Each one radiated maliciousness and a desire to kill and destroy so strong in made Twilight feel sick and she curled up even further in an effort to shut them out. Her ear twitched when a sound reached her ears. A tiny broken voice crying for help
'Help me. Someone please help me!'
Then with a snap, she woke up.
