She stood atop the hill, overlooking the moonlit valley below. The view was unfamiliar, yet stirred something deep within her. The feeling was not remembrance or familiarity, but all the same, she felt a connection to the place. The valley was long and deep, densely framed on all sides by a row of high fir trees. Looking down at her purple hooves, she saw that they were muddied and swollen, as if she had been traveling for several days. Traveling to find herself here.
But where was "here?” And where had she travelled from? Considering the question, she found herself walking down the steep cliffs towards the center of the valley. As the ground leveled out, she could see several houses in the distance that could not have been there a moment ago. More houses seemed to be appearing around those. The houses were all similar, with white walls and straw roofs. Without exception, lights shone through each window, and small dots darkened each door. The purple unicorn found herself straining to look closer and her eyes telescoped in on the town. The dots in front of the doors were revealed to be ponies – one or two stood in each door, all looking her way, as if they had been expecting her. Further on, in what seemed to be the center of this mysterious town, a clearing stood vacant.
The mare’s hooves bore her slowly towards the town in the valley. She looked up at the night sky and found it blank - empty, save for the moon and four bright stars. The sight seemed significant to her, as though she’d read it once in a very important book.
She turned her eyes forward once more and found that she had already made her way into the town. She wanted to stop at the first house and ask the ponies outside where she was and what she was doing there, but her hooves would not listen. They carried her forward, calling her, she somehow knew, to the clearing in the center. The mare became frightened. She liked order and control, and now here she was, in the middle of something she couldn’t explain, let alone prevent. She willed her hooves to stop; she bade them to turn her around; she wished with all she had that she was back home, reading another pile of books.
But she wasn’t home, she was here. The questions “where?” and “how?” circled endlessly in the back of her mind, but the question that kept pushing itself to the forefront of her consciousness was “why?” She tried once more to ask one of the ponies in a doorway one of those questions, but none would answer her. All they ever did was give her the same smile one would give a friend, and, when she had passed, fall in behind her, following her to the center of the town. She craned her neck to see that dozens of ponies had started to follow her, all eyes forward, all mouths smiling. Somehow this reassured the mare; there seemed to be an entire town behind her, supporting her and wishing her well. She felt a small smile begin to play across her face in spite of the distressing nature of the situation. Maybe this wasn’t such a bad place after all. Maybe she could trust whatever was carrying her to take her to someplace good.
She looked forward again. She could tell that she was almost to the clearing. But the clearing was no longer empty. Peeking above the roofs of the surrounding houses, the purple pony could see the top branches of a large tree. Nearing even closer, she could see windows and balconies peeking from between some of the limbs. It seemed as though somebody was meant to live there.
She was in the clearing now, and she could see the entirety of the tree, complete with a large red door that seemed to welcome her inside. But what caught her eye more than the oddly-shaped home was the group of ponies in front of it. They numbered five, and like the ponies in front of the doors of the town’s houses, they were all looking in her direction and smiling. These ponies, too, had been awaiting her arrival. These ponies moreso than the others, it seemed. While the other ponies certainly seemed friendly in their smiles, this new group seemed to have missed her intently and was beyond joyed to see her again. There were even tears coming from the pink one’s eyes.
The purple mare found herself drawn to these ponies. Unlike with the others, with whom she felt little connection, she felt a strong bond to these mares she had never seen before. But she knew they were meant to be together. She knew they were her friends. As she neared her friends, they turned towards the door of the large tree. The purple unicorn followed her friends’ gazes. She knew that this tree was where she belonged. She continued her forward path right up to the door. Looking back at her friends one last time, she saw them all nodding their approval, urging her to open the door.
She put one hoof on the door and pushed. The door came away easily. For a split second, she saw rows and rows of books packed away on shelves, but then all was enveloped in a pure white light. The mare shut her eyes against the brightness. For a moment, she thought she might have glimpsed a tall, regal figure, one very familiar to her. But she couldn’t place it, and the figure was gone in a flash.
Twilight Sparkle awoke in her bed in Canterlot’s West Castle Courtyard. Her loyal assistant, Spike the Dragon, was nudging her shoulder. “C’mon Twilight, get up! You’re going to be late for…uh…well, we’re on break, so there’s not much to be late for, but you’re wasting the day! I don’t want you yelling at me later because you missed out on a few extra hours of reading. Plus there’s that thing with Moondancer tonight…”
Twilight yawned. “Thanks, Spike. What would I do without you?” she asked, playfully ruffling his crest.
“I shudder to think,” Spike muttered. “Anyways, what’s got you in such a good mood this early?”
“I’m not really sure, Spike. I just have this feeling that the next few days are going to be great.”
