Nightmares Of The Former Librarian
All I wanted to do was respond to the cry for help. Twilight Sparkle was apparently having nightmares. Naturally, I decided to enter her dreams and help her with whatever her fear was.
Allow me to introduce myself. I'm Princess Luna. It is my duty to enter the dreams of the troubled, the scared, and help them with their fears. Not only was it the only thing Sunbutt didn't steal while I was away, but it helps me become closer to my subjects.
I usually enter the dreams of anyone who needs me to, but ever since it happened, I may need to rethink my method.
So I'm in the mindscape, everything is okay. I had no idea where Twilight was, but I figured it was somewhere she would normally be in reality.
I love her mind. It's so organized. You can navigate your way through her Ponyville like it's the real Ponyville. It almost scares me how much it's like real life. The only difference between the two is that in Twi-ville, there's always a Starswirl the Bearded statue in the middle of town.
That's why I was so surprised when I couldn't find Twilight's castle. It's so big, there's really no way to miss it. All there was to see was a huge, gaping hole, and a few crystal shards.
I trotted around for a while, looking in other shops, and buildings, but there was no sign of the purple alicorn anywhere. As a matter of fact, there was no sign of anypony anywhere. I almost gave up and left, that is, until I heard the horrible, ear piercing laughter.
At first, I had no idea who was laughing, but whoever it was, she was someone who belonged in an asylum. At least, that's what I thought at the time, and boy, was I right.
I followed the sound. In and out of town, it led me. Up and down the streets of the lonesome town. It only stopped when I reached the opening of the Everfree Forest, and a huge glow coming from inside. Reluctantly, I followed the dirt path towards the light. I hate to admit it, but I was afraid. Nightmares are usually are only scary for the one creating it, but this, all coming from Twilight, it was so bizarre.
The closer I got to the light, the more things I noticed about my surroundings. First, I found that the light was actually a fire, then I smelled smoke, then I saw a figure, a black figure, a shadow, moving in the darkness.
The heat from the flames began to make me sweat. I wiped the beads away from my forehead and continued moving forward.
I gasped. Books. Hundreds and hundreds of books, fueled the flames. The paper, now back and distorted, crumbled and blew away in the breeze. "Twilight Sparkle. What is this? Speak to your princess. Your friend.'
"Friend?" a voice lulled in the dark. "Who said we were friends?" I paused. She was insane. This wasn't a cry for help, this was something far worse.
"Come forth, Twilight Sparkle!" A scratching sound could be heard in the distance. The clawing of hooves on wood, cutting deeply into the bark. It seemed almost impossible to do, but this was something she was dreaming.
"You'll have to find me first." Something wet fell from within the trees. "We'll make it into a game! It's called dodge the match! We're going to have so much fun!" A lit match fell. It missed me by an inch. The air was full of chemical fumes that couldn't be mistaken for what it was. Gasoline.
"No more games! Tell me, why did you do all this?! Why did you burn these books?!"
"Well, that's easy!" she slinked towards me, stomach touching the ground. "When they locked me away, there was nothing fun to do. I had to sit quietly everyday or they would hurt me. I hate them. Every single one of them there. They hurt me-" she stood up, now nose to nose with me. "-now I'm going to hurt them."
Before I could respond, I was tackled by the purple pony and held down. Smacking me with everything she had Bucking, kicking, punching, biting, it was all there. Even though it was a trick of the mind, I could almost feel the pain.
"Calm dow-" I was knocked out of the dream before I could finish.
"Has she always been like this?"
"Ever since Celestia brought her here."
I locked eyes with my sisters former student. She glared at me in return. I'm sure she would have clobbered me if she wasn't restained.
"Is she really insane?" I asked the doctor.
"Most likely."
"How did this even happen?"
The doctor looked away. She nervously pawed the floor with her hoof. "Well...after the accident...she..."
"What! I need to know everything!"
"She...injured one of our guards. He's...okay now but...don't worry about it princess."
"Let me see him."
The guard's eyes were scratched out completely. The eyeballs were nowhere to be seen in the picture the doctor had shown me. I cringed.
"He's...okay. He can't see...but...he's alive."
"Why would she do something like this?" I muttered to myself before abandoning the doctor and heading back towards the cell. Twilight Sparkle ruler Equestria alongside me. I couldn't let this happen.
I ran at full pace towards the room, opened the door and looked at Twilight. "Who did this to you?" I asked. All she did was snicker in response.
Without warning, I felt a piercing sensation in my leg, and I fell to the ground, darkness absorbing me.
