Tap, tap, tap.
Celestia froze. No, nopony was behind her, she thought to herself. It's just the night. You've never felt comfortable in the night. The goddess sighed and hung her head, her mane flowing smoothly behind her. Though this time, the color seemed drained and not as brilliant as it usually looked in the sunlight. She wasn't usually out in the castle at night. Then again, she never was out at night.
She always (except now, of course) had slept trough the night with an uneasy peace, but now that Luna was back, everything was better now, right?
Right, she thought, a bit more confident this time. Luna could watch over the night that she rightfully deserved. Celestia could now rest easy, knowing her dear sister was up protecting her from the things that crept in the shadows.
Tap, tap, tap.
Then why did she feel so uneasy? She looked over her shoulder and cringed. That infernal tapping... Celestia bit her bottom lip and gazed up at her beautifully crafted stained glass windows that shined with a beautiful, deep navy tint. She gazed up at the window that had the depiction of the defeat of Sombra carved elegantly into it. Bright blues clashed against deep, angry reds and was surrounded by ominous blacks and dark purples.
The memory of it made her shiver. After that short-lived war, Luna had been so different, Celestia had noticed right away. Sombra may have been sealed away in the cold, hard polar ice, but his words echoed in Luna's head until--
No... Celestia closed her eyes and gritted her teeth. No, she would not dwell on the past thousand years. Celestia let her hair droop in front of her eyes, her head sagging down to her hooves. One thousand cursed years of solitude had made Celestia jumpy and paranoid and painfully uneasy. Before the Nightmare Moon business, Celestia had never been afraid of monsters or creatures that would slink and scurry through the dark, but after the Nightmare, Celestia had barley felt safe in her own castle. She sighed, lifting her head back up to face the window.
Tap, tap, tap.
She turned around and walked slowly down the red carpet, still stiff and uneasy from the darkness that seemed to swirl and creep around her, jeering at her foalish fears. She tried to ignore the tapping that echoed around the hall, bouncing around her head as if to remind her that she might not be alone. She set out to find a more cheerful window. Perhaps the defeat of her Nightmare... maybe then she could be reminded of what wasn't a problem anymore. Once she had made her way down to the window after a few moments of silence, she gazed up at the window.
She hated that window. Even though Nightmare Moon was gone, Celestia still considered having the window removed from the hallway. Perhaps Twilight's window would remind her of better times other than--
Celestia choked back a scream. Twilight's window was there in all of it's glory, but the window had... changed. Twilight's eyes were no longer closed, they were open, and staring directly at the white mare with a red gaze. Celestia backed up so she was up against the opposite wall. Twilight's unusual red eyes glared in to Celestia's blue ones, menacing and cold.
Tap, tap, tap.
“But...” she felt her flank push up against the freezing brick of the castle wall. She jerked her head up to look at the window behind her. Instead of Twilight and her six friends defeating Nightmare Moon, each pony was upside down and crying, the black pony with the night as her mane standing over them victoriously, unlike a moment ago. Celestia reared and galloped down the hallway, running in circles so as to not touch the shadows which were now unnaturally swirling and rearing like an angry horde.
Tap, tap, tap.
No, they weren't the only ones that changed, Celestia noticed, every window had changed... Discord was holding Luna and Celestia by their tails, Sombra was holding the crystal heart, Nightmare Moon holding Equestria in eternal night...
What had happened to her precious windows? Celestia slowed down to a trot, then stood completely still. She gazed back up at Twilight's window.
Then she noticed what, no, who Twilight was standing over.
Celestia herself was beneath Twilight, her glory and regal stature diminished beneath the younger alicorn. Celestia froze. Was this the window of a coup? Was this the window of her defeat?
Tap, tap, tap.
She slowly walked towards the corrupted window, her steps echoing throughout the hollow and dark hallway. Her mouth hung open in paralyzing shock and her brain throbbed with a maddening numbness.
Tap, tap, tap.
Her breath quickened and her vision began to fog and blacken. She shook her head and stopped approaching the window.
What was this hell she had been cast into? Her mind screamed and whirled in circles, out of control and confused. What was this? What was this?
Tap, tap, tap.
Suddenly, the Twilight in the window unfolded her wings of glass and pointed at her with a shrieking hiss that resembled claws on a chalk board. Celestia screamed and jumped back away from the window. The stained glass Twilight smiled, rows of glass teeth glittering in the ominous moonlight. An eerie laugh echoed throughout the hallway and the tapping came back.
Celestia recognized that laugh.
Tap tap tap.
She heard where it was coming from. Celestia spun around to face the window of none other than Nightmare Moon. The colored glass nightmare that was once her sister was tapping on the window it was trapped in, a crude smile on her face, her teeth pointing in a thousand directions, and her eyes as angry and as red as the gates of hell itself.
Celestia screamed in agony.
Tap, tap, tap.
The darkness continued to dance around the princess.
The tapping stopped.
1. Dear Princess Luna... Trains are Awful
Dear Princess Luna,
Thank you very much for paying for my train ticket this time round; it's greatly appreciated. As for the report you've asked me to file, I'll have it sent to you by mailpony as soon as possible. But as an answer to your last letter, yes, I have had a lot of fun on my travels this winter! And since it'll take a few more days for me to finish my report on my findings, I think I'll sum up my personal experience for you instead.
The train to Manehattan was fine, although many ponies were trying to steal my saddlebag on my way off (I tell you, that city is going to collapse in on itself someday) but other than that mishap, the short stay in th city was alright. On my day off I had the privilege to see the Hinny of the Hills live, which was utterly breathtaking. When I wasn't in the library or solarium, I stayed with an old friend, Chilling. Her and I met at the Academy, you might remember her.
The two day train ride to Ponyville was awful; everypony was poking in my business and trying to look in my notes. Honestly, some ponies don't know what privacy is. I spent the week in the Everfree castle room you allowed me to stay in, which was nice. My studies in the Everfree Castle was less than eventful; since the tour guide wouldn't stop fussing about the drapes. But I did visit the legendary Castle of Ponyville today. It wasn't as haunted as ponies say it is, but I think that it's surely an interesting place to study.
However, while I was there, I stumbled across the old study that you mentioned. I found it near my room as I was looking around before I went to bed. The room had towers and towers of books, and I found an old box, about the size of a small filly in the corner. It's funny... what drew me to it was the odd noises it made from the corner it was in. It almost sounded like it was whispering, in a funny way. I know you might think me nosy, but I maybe poked around it for a little while. Honestly, it was a gold mine compared to the rest of the castle! There was scientific papers, old maps and letters all crumbled up into that dusty box! I hope you don't mind if I poke around it for a bit.
Other than that, Ponyville was uneventful, save the box. While I was at a local “hoe-down” (honestly, what kind of name is that?) I burnt my horn at the bonfire. Some brainless foal knocked the fire over next to me and a few sprouts of fire managed to graze my horn. (This explains my actions of sending this by mail pony as well as the report; my teleportation spell isn't as effective when my horn is not burnt) However, I will be fine and all healed up by the time I return.
As for the other places I visited... well, I don't have enough parchment to explain all of my other travels. But I will say this though; Los Pegasus' food was to die for! (Especially the cake!) At the moment, we are about 5 hours from the Port of Saddle Arabia. I will get in contact with you when I get there. I hope you'll find this mildly entertaining and educating. I will have my report done by the day after tomorrow at the latest.
Your faithful student,
Silver Belle
Silver Belle sighed and rolled up the parchment with a flick of her horn. The scroll flew gracefully into the air and twirled itself shut, but was interrupted by a mad splutter of blue magic from her horn, allowing the scroll to wildly fly around her head. The magic around her horn flickered and spluttered in a blue and gray frenzy of sparks, then fazed back into it's normal, beryl shade. Silver Belle sighed, and ducked one last time from the raging scroll, then held it loft calmly to the terrified Pegasus mailpony that was standing in front of her.
“Uhm... ma'am? Are you o--”
“Just take this letter directly to Princess Luna at the Royal Canterlot Solarium,” Silver snapped, slamming the letter with a royal seal and forcing it into the blustering mailpony's hooves. “It's of utmost importance that it gets there before any of your other deliveries, understand?” a frenzy of blue and gray sparks shot out from her horn, landing on her silver and blue hair. The mailpony gulped and backed up cautiously. Silver Belle growled and rubbed her wrapped horn, cursing that stupid bonfire.
“Y-yes ma'am! Right away, ma'am!” he quickly gasped, unfolding his wings and dashing for the train window. Silver nodded and sighed, leaning against the back of her seat and leaning her head on the pillow. The other ponies on the train eyed her quietly for a moment, then turned back around and went about their business.
“Are you done now?” a soft voice came from the seat across her. Silver Belle looked up and met eyes with the stallion sitting across from her. He frowned and set down the newspaper that he brandished in his golden magic. “Honestly, Silver Belle, could you be any more unpleasant?” he mumbled as he flipped the page down, eying her with his rose eyes.
“Sorry.” Silver sighed and closed her eyes, absentmindedly rubbing her horn, allowing small sparks to fiz around her head. “I'm just not used to this much social interaction,” she mumbled as her blue eyes danced on the ceiling. A small grunt was heard from him as he pulled the newspaper back up to his nose. “What is it, Bow?” she growled, snapping her eyes back to Bow.
“That's an understatement,” he said airily, eying her for a moment. Bow then shook his head, then set the paper down. “All plot, this paper,” he snorted, shifting in his armor.
There was a short silence, the moment only broken with quiet chattering and the low rumble of the train. Silver frowned at the newspaper and reached out to it with her magic. The paper shuddered, then finally jerked into the air uncertainly. Silver gritted her teeth as she tried to pull the paper to her, but nothing but the paper's stubborn floating happened.
Bow sighed and stood up, his hooves rattling the ground as he landed, his armor clanking against his light fur. “We've been on this train for hours,” he moaned as he stretched his legs dramatically. “When are we getting there?” Bow asked lightly as he twisted his hind leg with a sickening crack.
“Soon, hopefully,” Silver sighed, encasing the newspaper in her blue aura. Her magic faltered once again, but she successfully lifted the newspaper into the air in a shaky, wobbly fashion. “Princess Luna said she'll have us stop at Saddle Arabia port and stay with the Duke,” she grit her teeth and narrowed her eyes as she strained once again to bring the newspaper to her hooves. “Then we'll take a boat to--”
The newspaper lurched wildly in a spit of angry red, then tumbled to the ground, the paper flying apart around the train car. Bow snorted as the front page landed over his eyes. “I think we need to get your horn checked at the next doctor's office we come across,” he said, a smile hinting in his voice.
