Interloper

Twilight stepped closer to the back door and lit her horn, pulling the door open. She trotted outside, stopping once the sky was clearly over her head. She eyed her surroundings, feeling a comfortable lightness inside her chest as she admired the calmness of the early morning. The gentle morning breeze flowed around her face, making her cheeks go slightly cold, and a small shiver travel through her frame.

She looked up to the peaceful blue sky, her sight locking on the long and thin clouds that lazily threaded by; the soon to be risen sun giving them a striking shade of red and purple, a sight which slowly brought a smile to her muzzle. The stunning showcase of colors made a small pit form inside her, this one being different from the uncomfortable sensation she was used to feel on an almost daily basis. Her chest wasn't full of fear; but instead, full of hope.

She closed her eyes, taking a slow and deep breath, the cold morning air chilling her nostrils and making her skin bristle slightly. The long breath made her feel a bit light-headed, a sensation which soon dissipated through her body, making her feel invigorated. She let out the air through her mouth, opened her eyes, and looked down to the concrete ground under her. Even the dull gray color looked good under this clear sky, she thought.

As the seconds passed by, she could feel that pit inside her grow. The anticipation of doing something she hadn't done in a long time was filling her with so much energy she almost couldn't contain herself. She was going to do it. Finally.

She slowly unfolded her wings, keeping them extended to their full length for a few seconds, feeling their muscles ache slightly from not being used in quite some time, a sensation which made her feel even more excited.

She took a few steps forward, trying to stay as far as possible from anything she could end up hitting, and looked up to the sky once more, eyeing the clouds rolling by over her head. She wondered how high they actually were, and how long it'd take for her to get there.

She focused on her wings, concentrating her will, getting ready to put all her might into them.

With a single, powerful flap, she propelled herself upwards, with each subsequent flap making her fly even faster.

The cold morning air now hushed around her face and ears, cooling them down even further, making several shivers travel down her spine, one after another. The sensation made her chuckle, which in turn gave her even more energy, making her flap her wings harder.

She kept her sight locked upwards, seeing the clouds slowly getting closer to her. She wondered how far from the ground she actually was, but decided to ignore that, as it didn't actually matter. All that mattered was enjoying this rare moment. She was flying, after what seemed like an eternity.

After a few minutes, she had ascended to the height of the clouds she had seen from the ground. Carefully she approached them, gently landing over them with a soft thud. She looked around her, taking in that the cloud she stood on was actually huge, but appeared to be much smaller when seen from the ground.

Her sight locked onto the horizon, where the red sun shyly peeked over the edge of the world. She felt a lightness inside her push its way towards her muzzle, forming a smile as her eyes lingered around that fantastic imagery. The incredible contrast the red sun made against the early morning sky made her feel relaxed and calm.

She sat down and laid on her back, staring at the clear blue sky for a few moments, slowly breathing. The sky filled her vision from side to side, and her eyes drifted across it, trying to find any discernible point to lock upon.

It'd sure be creepy if the world turned upside down and the sky ended up being the ground, she noted to herself as she rolled to lay on her belly, crossing her forelegs.

She extended her hind legs back, keeping them stretched for a few seconds, feeling her legs muscles burn a bit. She then closed her eyes and pointed her muzzle upwards, forcing her chin up the most she could, slowly breathing in as she did so. She held her breath for a few seconds before letting it go, slowly lowering her chin and opening her eyes, letting out a content sigh.

As the minutes passed by, the cloud she stood upon slowly shifted from red to orange to white. The sun was making its way to the sky, bringing with it a full day’s worth of work.

She let out a sigh and approached the edge of the cloud, resting her chin over it. From that height, she could see the whole city, and several cityscapes she knew very well.

She squinted her eyes slightly, locking her sight briefly on the people that walked under her and wondering what they had set themselves to do that day.

She narrowed her eyes and covered them with a foreleg when the sunlight finally peeked over the cloud she was on, remembering once again she also had her own matters to attend.

She reluctantly stood up and carefully stepped closer to the edge of the cloud, feeling a cold pit in her stomach as she leaned forward towards the edge, taking in how high she actually was. A small smile found its way to her muzzle, and it grew larger the more she leaned forward. She allowed her body to lean forward until she fell off the cloud, the wind once again zipping around her body.

She extended her wings slightly and maneuvered herself, making her muzzle point towards the ground before folding them back again. The deafening noise of the wind hurrying around her ears was amazing, she thought, and the ground rushing towards her looked surreal.

A few seconds away from the ground, she shot her wings spread, giving a few flaps, slowing her fall down enough to allow a comfortable landing. Her hooves hit the grass under her with a soft and wet thud, and she stood still for a few seconds, feeling the adrenaline slowly wearing away.

She then set out towards the back door, walking in the kitchen and heading towards the passage to the dining room. She halted on her tracks, looking at the fridge.

I guess I'll get something sweet to nibble on before getting to the spell, she thought, trotting towards the fridge and pulling its door open. She eyed up and down, gauging her options. Didn't take long for her sight to lock onto something that made a wide smile appear on her muzzle. A large and succulent apple pie.

Letting out a content hum she brought the pie out of the fridge and put it over the center counter. She stood over her hind legs, resting her forehooves on the counter and stealing a quick sniff at the pie, the faint but sweet aroma making her hum in delight and her grin grow wider.

She walked closer to the sink, using her magic to fetch a plate, fork, and knife from the cabinets around it, bringing them back over to the center counter and taking a seat on one of the stools.

Taking the knife on her magic, she cautiously sliced the pie, trying not to mess it up too much. The scent it released while she brought her slice to her plate made her salivate and her stomach growl.

I wonder when Applejack had the time to bring this here, she thought to herself as she brought a fork full of pie to her mouth, letting out another delight hum. I need to thank her next time I see her. She surely outdid herself with this one.

Twilight eyed around the kitchen while her mouth was being assaulted by the crunchiness and sweetness of the treat she was eating. She looked through the back door window, thinking about how bright was outside and wondering how early in the morning it actually was. Her eyes lingered around the place once more, this time looking for something which could tell her what time was it. Her eyes locked onto the wall clock that hung over the passage to the living room.

Nine oh three... still morning..., she thought to herself while chewing. She kept staring at the clock, following the second hand, wondering if she'd be able to see the minute hand moving.

Hmm... the clock seems to have stopped, she thought upon noticing that the second hand remained still, always marking seventeen seconds past a minute. What time should be now, then? I better tell Greg about this, she thought, taking another bite of her pie.

"Hello, Twilight," said Greg, walking in the kitchen through the backdoor. Twilight snapped at his direction.

"Hey," she said, staring at him while she chewed. "You didn't go to work today?"

"Yes, but I'm already back," he said, stepping closer to the counter and sitting down on a stool. "I couldn't stop thinking about a few things on the spell."

"Really?"

"Yes."

"What about it?"

"I was thinking that employing a simple ripple-search for the destination prediction part won't do. You can end up running out of magic before finding a destination."

"Yes," said Twilight, staring attentively at him while taking another bite of her pie.

"So, this is what I was thinking about. What if, instead, you used the magAWK--" Greg got interrupted, going mute.

Twilight raised an eyebrow before her sight drifted down to Greg's chest, making her jaw drop and her eyes widen. She stared at the long metal blade that went through his chest, and the torrent of blood that was streaming out of the rip on his chest.

With wide eyes, Greg slowly looked down, his jaw also dropping when he realised the irregularly shaped blade going through his body.

Twilight's sight switched several times between his chest and his face. Several words collided inside her head, never forming any coherent sentence. Her mind had partially blacked out, and she didn't knew what to do.

She looked to the left of Greg, feeling her fur beginning to stand on end when her sight locked onto something she wasn't expecting to be there.

Near Greg stood a creature which seemed to be made of gray smoke, and its shape resembled a tall man.

Twilight felt paralyzed when she locked eyes with the beast. Its dark and deep eyes pierced through her, and she felt it drilling a hole down to her very soul.

The creature swiftly pulled the blade away, still staring at her, making her flinch with the suddenness of the movement. The creature kept staring at her, just as if it wanted to gauge her panic through her facial expressions. Greg leaned forward slightly, resting his left forearm over the counter and bringing his right hand to his chest, trying to stop the blood from flowing out of his body.

Twilight's sight kept locked onto the creature while her mind quickly went over all the spells she knew, looking for one that could save Greg. Her mind locked onto the teleportation spell, but regardless of how hard she tried, the spell wouldn't work.

Feeling the pit deepen inside her and her mind starting to get clouded by panic, she decided that a brute force solution was all she'd got left. She concentrated on Greg, trying to build a shield around him, but her horn wouldn't obey.

Time seemed to have slowed down for her as she saw the scene before her completely still. Instants felt like minutes inside her head, and no magical solution had presented itself functional. She decided that she had to do something to save Greg's life. She had to get that creature away from him, regardless of how.

She decided to somehow tackle the smoke beast, but her body wouldn't obey either. She looked down to her hooves, staring at them, switching her gaze between them as they remained still over the counter, completely oblivious of her will. Her joints were stuck. She wasn't in control of her own body anymore.

She stared wide eyed as the creature raised his arm, bringing the enormous blade over its head. She looked back to Greg, who was staring at her with a terrified expression on his face. She looked back at the creature, madly glaring at it when it, with a dry blow, hit Greg on the top of the head, slicing his body in half.

Twilight's eyes shot open, and her body gave a violent jolt. She quickly sat up on her bed, spastically eyeing around her dark bedroom, gasping for air. Her forehooves were shaking, and the shortness of air made a pit form inside her guts. She brought her left forehoof to her chest, trying to lessen the overwhelming lack of air she felt while her just-awoken mind tried to reason about what was going on.

C'mon, breathe. Breathe! she thought to herself, trying to regain control over her body. Her head was spinning, but after a few seconds everything started to subside. She kept staring forward, feeling the panic slowly fade away, and the pit inside her vanish.

She let out a sigh of relief and covered her eyes with her forehooves, breathing slowly, feeling her eyes get slightly damp. The sensation of her body finally settling down made her wonder why those nightmares happened, and for how much longer she would manage to endure those badly slept nights.

She opened her eyes and looked down, letting her forehooves rest limply over the mattress. She stared at her forehooves for a little while before bringing them closer to her face, moving them, making sure her joints were functional and her limbs were well under her control. Seeing how effortlessly she could move them made her wonder why her body always locked up in those nightmares. She was sure she would act swiftly in case somepony was in danger, but still couldn't fathom the reason for her to become utterly useless in her dreams.

She let out a sigh and allowed her forehooves to rest over the mattress under her once more. Her mind sneakily shifted to the part which had stuck on her mind. That creature besides Greg. The gigantic blade. The blood.

No! she screamed mentally, closing her eyes tightly and shaking her head, making the gory scene disappear from her mind. No, it didn't happen. It's a nightmare, she thought, trying to force her mind not to replay that specific part of her dream. None of that happened. He's alright. He's alright.

Her ears twitched towards the window when the sound of a lightning bolt far away echoed, muffled inside her room. She opened her eyes and looked at the window, seeing the heavy rain falling over the window, rolling down the glass. The sound of the violent storm hitting the roof made it hard for her to hear her own thoughts.

She looked back to the walls of her bedroom, her mind insistently shifting back to the part of her dream she tried not to think about.

Stop it! she demanded, hitting her forehooves onto the mattress in frustration, the agitation making the horrid images go away.

Just a nightmare. It was just a nightmare, she thought, trying to reassure herself nothing bad had happened. She swallowed, feeling her throat dry and sore, and a faint headache appeared.

Well, there goes another good night of sleep, she thought, letting out a frustrated sigh, throwing the covers to the side and getting out of her bed. She slowly made her way to the bedroom door, tripping on her still slightly dormant legs, feeling her eyelids were still quite heavy.

Using her magic she pulled the door open, halting and squeezing her eyes closed when the bright hallway light shone on her face, making her eyes hurt and head throb. She instinctively covered her eyes with a forehoof, letting out a groan.

Stupid light, she cursed in her mind, focusing her magic on the light switch in the hallway, flipping it. She let out a relief sigh when the place turned dark, and the pain on her head and eyes diminished.

She flared up her horn, filling the hallway with her weak purple light, and resumed her way out of her bedroom. She stopped in front of Greg's door, noticing it slightly open. She looked into the room through the gap from the middle of the hallway, but didn't see anything other than darkness. After frowning heavily for a few instants while trying to see him through the gap, she approached the door, gently pushing it open and peeking inside. The only noticeable feature was the small amount of light coming through the window, falling over the white translucent curtains.

Her mind quickly shifted back to her dream, making her feel a pit inside her guts. She knew it was a dream, but she wanted to be sure. She wanted to make sure he was okay. That nothing had happened. But she didn't want to wake him up either.

After a few moments of intense pondering she gave up and made her light brighter, making the purple light fill the room. Her eyes locked on Greg, and she stared at him attentively for a while. She sighed mentally once she saw his chest slowly raising and lowering enough times, the faint sound of his breathing finally putting her mind at ease.

It was just a bad dream, she said to herself once again, stepping back to the hallway, using her magic to pull Greg's door closed. She wondered if those nightmares had any actual meaning, or were just meant to be a prank the universe was pulling on her.

She quickly rejected the last option as being utterly ridiculous, focusing on the first one instead. She wondered what her subconscious wanted to tell her, and why it needed to use such horrid images to do so.

Feeling unwilling to actually put her mind to work on that she instead resumed her way to the staircase. She cautiously stepped down, focusing on her hooves as she set them down, trying to hit the wooden steps as lightly as she could. Once she was at the bottom of the staircase, she took a left, walking into the kitchen.

She stopped, eyeing around the barely lit place, feeling a small pit forming inside her chest. Her sight locked briefly on every dark corner of the kitchen, making her frown while she tried to decide if there was something in there, or if it was just her mind playing tricks on her.

She focused her magic on the light switch, flipping it and regretting it in the very next moment when the sudden brightness made her head hurt again.

Ugh, forget it, she mumbled, turning the lights back off.

She stood still, rubbing her forehead, trying to push away the irritant throbbing pain inside her head that came and went.

She swallowed, the dry throat reminding her why she was there, making her move forward again. She stepped closer to the sink, using her magic to fetch a glass from one of the cabinets, bringing it over the center counter. She then pulled the fridge's door open, taking a bottle of water in her magical grasp and setting it over the counter as well.

She took a seat on one of the stools, filling her glass to the brim and taking a sip of it, feeling a profound relief when the water brought back the moisture to her mouth and throat.

Once she had emptied her glass, she eyed around the place, feeling the strange uneasiness inside her grow back as the place made her remember how she felt in her nightmare. Useless. Defenseless. Feelings she surely hated.

She shook her head, trying to forget about that. She then looked at the clock that hung over the passage to the living room, narrowing her eyes as she tried to read it. She locked her sight on the second hand, letting out a sigh of relief once she saw it moving.

She looked back down to her glass, pondering on how paranoid she had become in those last few minutes. She already knew it was a dream, but still felt the need to check everything she could. Just to have another piece of evidence to prove this was reality, and everything was fine.

After a while, she decided she already had enough of that paranoia, and there was no reason to keep thinking about the dream. There was just one thing she wanted to really do in that moment. Kill her thirst.

As she served herself another glass of water, a bright light shone in her eyes, making her instinctively cover them with a foreleg. She tried to peek over her foreleg to see the source of that light, but the brightness of the light wouldn't allow. A lightning bolt struck nearby, its brightness revealing something that made her jaw drop and her eyes widen.

Still, on the other side of the back door, stood a dark silhouette, resembling a man.

Her still slightly foggy mind put the pieces together. There was someone outside, spying in with a flashlight. And whoever was there was seeing her through the window.

Feeling her hooves beginning to shake and a pit form inside her chest, she quickly made her way down off her stool but, in the frenzy of the moment, knocked it down with one hind leg. The loud noise caused by the stool hitting the floor made the light vanish.

She ran towards the living room, stopping in her tracks when she noticed another flashlight had just vanished from the living room's window.

She stood frozen in place for a few seconds, hearing her heart thumping inside her ears, before gathering the courage to step closer to the window. She got onto the couch and stared outside. She eyed around the street, straining her eyes to see through the heavy rain. Her sight stuck on a white car parked on the other side of the street under a street light, and what appeared to be two people getting inside it. She stared at it briefly, before the car quickly accelerated away.

She stood in silence, the only noise making her company now coming from the heavy rain hitting the outside of the house and any occasional lightning bolts.

She got down from the couch and made her way to the staircase, walking up it. At the top of it she took a left and, almost trotting, reached Greg's bedroom. She pushed the door open and approached his bed, trying to find a way of waking him up without startling him.

"Greg," she whispered, drawing her muzzle to his ear.

"Greg, wake up," she insisted, resting a forehoof over his shoulder and pushing it.

"Please, wake up," she said, her voice shaking just as much as her legs.

"AH! Uh, wha-- ugh... Twi--light...?" he tried to say, but his hazy mind kept stumbling on the words. "What ha… uh... d-did something... uh," he slurred again, rubbing his face with both his hands before stretching his arms. He let out a sigh, allowing his arms to fall limply over the bed.

"Hey," he asked, looking at her, squinting his eyes slightly when the light from her horn fell over his eyes. He then looked at the room’s door, frowning.

“The hallway is dark… did… did you turn off the--”

"There were people outside," she replied, almost whispering.

"What?"

"They were peeking inside, using flashlights."

"Fuck," he said, throwing his covers aside and sitting up on his bed, rubbing his hair with his left hand.

"They saw me."

"They?" he said, letting his hands fall limply over his lap. "How many were there?"

"I think I s-saw two."

"Two..." he said, locking his sight at the floor before him. "And they saw you."

"Mhm."

He remained in silence, his sight shifting between different spots on the floor.

"Greg, who are those people?"

"I don't know," he said, standing up and grabbing the shotgun near the head of his bed. "I'll check outside to see if there's still someone there," he said, walking towards the door.

"No, please... they... they're gone. You don't need to go outside," she said, walking towards him.

"Yes, I need to," he said, stopping in front of the door, turning around to look at her. "I need to make sure no one is there."

"But they could be armed."

"Well, they better be. Because if I find any of them outside, things are gonna get ugly. For them," he said, walking out of the bedroom brandishing his shotgun.

Greg walked into the kitchen through the back door. He strapped his shotgun to his back and closed the door, checking each of the locks twice to see that they were in working order.

"Alright," he said, walking in the living room, resting his shotgun against a wall. "There's no one outside."

Twilight kept staring at him.

"Damn, this rain is freaking cold," he said, using his hands to wipe away the water that was dripping from his forearms. "You said there were two?"

"Mhm."

"Hmm. And where did they go? Did you see them running away or..."

"A car. I saw them getting in a white car."

"A white car..." he said, slowly approaching the couch and sitting beside Twilight.

A white car... could it be the same car?, he thought to himself, leaning forward and resting his elbows on his knees, interlacing his fingers. His sight stuck on the floor while his mind was being flooded with the memories of the white car he saw a few hours prior, parked a block away.

I stared at them for quite a long time. If they were spying on us, that'd have made them go away. But whoever was there...

Why would someone spy on us? Who could it be?

"Greg?"

"Uh! What?!" he said, unburing himself from his own mind.

"You... you think they're after me?" she asked, looking at him.

"Uh... no?" he said, looking at her. "That's very unlikely. Why would someone be?"

"I don't know, I..."

They remained in silence for a few seconds.

"I agree that having people looking inside with flashlights is not good, but I…” he trailed, going silent.

“Hmm?”

“I suppose it's more likely to be burglars planning a robbery than anything else."

"Could they get in?"

"Well, of course. But not without making a lot of noise. And they'd struggle a bit. The doors have some pretty decent locks."

Twilight stood in silence, rubbing her left foreleg with her forehoof nervously.

"But I'll be adding one more lock to each door by the morning. Just in case."

"You think they'll come back?"

"Not tonight," he said, resting his back against the couch, staring at the ceiling. "I guess they took advantage of the heavy rain to uh... well... yeah. They won't be risking being caught twice in the same night. I think we're good for now."

She let out a sigh, resting her head against the backrest, closing her eyes.

"I'll call the cops, tell them we saw someone looking in. And by the morning I'll hand them the security camera footage. Maybe they’ll find something,” he said, staring at the ceiling, feeling his eyelids becoming heavier. “So, let's go back to sleep?" he said, looking at her.

He kept staring at her, a smile growing on his face as he saw that she had already fallen asleep.

"Twilight," he said smoothly, trying not to startle her. Twilight shot her eyes open, snapping her sight at him.

"Don't you wanna go to your bed?"

"Mhm," she slurred, rubbing her eyes with her forehooves. "I... don't know if I'll manage to fall asleep tonight."

"Uh, well... you just managed to do it."

"Yeah," she whispered, resting her head against the backrest once more and closing her eyes.

"Well, I..." he trailed, making her look at him. "I could... read a bedtime story for you. To help you fall asleep. What do you think?"

"I already read all the story books you have here."

"Oh... uh, well... that's... that's a problem."

"Mhm," she said, closing her eyes once more.

"What if..." he said, going silent and staring at her for a few seconds. She raised an eyebrow, without opening her eyes, signaling for him to continue.

"Instead of reading a bedtime story... I... TOLD you a bedtime story?" he said, smirking at her.

Twilight opened and rolled her eyes before staring at him with a small smile.

"Yeah," he said, shaking his head slightly, his sight trailing towards the ground. "Why did you wake up so early?" he said, looking back at her.

Her smile vanished. "I had a nightmare."

"Again?"

"Mhm," she said, letting out a long sigh and looking away from him. "You were there..."

"Yeah?"

"Mhm."

"And what happened?"

"You... uh... you came back early from work because... I think because you were thinking about the spell."

"Oh... me thinking about the spell?"

"You said something about using uh... I guess... you said something about ripple-search."

"Ripple-search?"

"Mhm."

"What's that?"

"It's one mechanism used to find the destination of a teleportation operation," she said, looking at him.

"Hmm... wow, you're even dreaming about the spell."

"You were going to tell me that you'd had an idea of how to solve the missing part of the spell, but..." she trailed, looking away from him, going silent for a few seconds.

"But...?"

"There's a creature that showed up and... it... it had a blade and..." she trailed, the horrid images of her nightmare flooding her mind, stopping the words from coming out of her mouth.

"And?"

"And... nothing," she said, shaking her head slightly. "Nothing. It was just a stupid nightmare."

"Hmm."

"Just a stupid nightmare," she whispered to herself. He kept staring at her for a little while resting his back against the couch.

"Well, I'm sure it won't happen again tonight. What do you say we go back to sleep?"

She let out a sigh. "I guess that's a good idea."