A single, guttural tone phased in and out through a plane of total darkness. It sounded not unlike an ancient metal door being forced open against resistance.
The grating sound petered out as Twilight's mind forced itself back to the waking world.
Her eyes barely cracked open at first. Black smudges of eyelashes surrounded a blurry mix of dark gray. As her field of vision slowly expanded, the world started to come into focus. Details filled out her surroundings.
She was laying across two passenger seats on a train. It was dark. No, that wasn't quite the right word for it. Twilight's world wasn't covered in the dark of night; it was darker than she had ever seen in her life. It felt like the deepest ocean floor.
The seats creaked under her weight as she stirred. Arching her back, she stretched out her wings and propped herself up. Shivers shot up each hoof as they touched the floor of the train car. It was absolutely frigid. Softer creaks drew out of the princess's neck as she turned her head to look down the aisle.
Not a soul was present. Rows and rows of seats but not a pony in sight...
Having been awake for a few minutes, Twilight's internal monologue started to come back online.
"That's right," she thought, "we were on our way home from the Summit. Guess I dozed off."
Before she could wonder why nopony woke her when they arrived in Ponyville, she noticed the windows.
They were black. Solid darkness. No town to be seen. Like huge slabs of obsidian mounted on the train car's walls.
Twilight slowly approached one of the windows. Placing a hoof on it felt like stepping in ice water.
"Did they tint the windows..?"
She pulled her hoof away. Her stomach felt heavy. A dull pain ran across her forehead.
Ten or so hoofsteps brought her to the side door of the car. The door handle was just as cold as the windows. Twilight took a deep breath and slid the door open.
The Ponyville train station stood empty in front of her. As she stepped carefully off of the train, her nerves receded back a bit. She was on familiar ground now.
The darkness present from the moment she awoke in the car persisted in town. Her eyes had adjusted, however; she could make out the beginning of houses in the distance.
She walked a few paces to the end of the platform.
"Still feels awful cold though."
A hoof raised up to scratch her chin as she thought. She furrowed her brow, then looked back to the train car.
It was just that; it was a lone car. The rest of the train was nowhere to be seen.
"...excuse me?" muttered Twilight. She swung her head to each side, looking down the track. It simply faded into the black on both sides.
Twilight took a step back.
"Okay," she thought, "something is going on here." She had started to breathe faster. Her back legs were shaking ever so slightly.
"Okay okay okay. Let's just breathe. Obviously this is strange. Anypony would be upset by this, it's okay. Let's just take a second to breathe and then we can worry about this."
Twilight closed her eyes and sat back onto her haunches. She sat until her breathing evened out.
"Okay."
She opened her eyes. It almost didn't make a difference whether or not her eyes were shut; her world remained submerged in shadow. Twilight decided that a little light would help her get to grips with her situation. A simple horn illumination spell, so second nature that adult unicorns don't even have to consciously think about it to cast.
Nothing happened.
Twilight was frozen in place. Her eyes looked up as she cast the light spell once more.
No light.
"No illumination magic. Sure. Okay."
The pain in her head faded back in. She could feel panic rising within her.
"Okay. Let's just- Let's just head home and regroup."
Her eyes clenched shut like a spring trap. In her mind she pictured her castle. Home. She focused in closer: the balcony. The edge of the balcony, overseeing the whole town. The crystal railing which she could lean on and peer out over her neighbors. The familiar crystal floor under her hooves.
With her destination locked in, Twilight mentally cast her spell.
She opened her eyes to discover she had not moved.
"No teleportation spells," she said under her breath, her voice wavering. If she couldn't cast a light spell, and she couldn't teleport, then maybe...
Levitation. The simplest of spells. Literally the first magic unicorns are taught as foals.
Twilight's eyes scanned the ground for some sort of debris. A rock would do nicely.
This turned out to be a fool's errand. The ground was...completely barren. Smooth and flat. No bumps or indents. No stray bits of rock. Not even a pebble.
Twilight's gaze lowered to her hooves. She exhaled and extended her left foreleg and allowed it to go limp. Her eyes squinted as she focused on the limb.
Nothing. No aura surrounding the leg, not even the gentle hum of her active alicorn magic was present.
"No magic," she thought. The two words echoed in her head. Deep in the pit of her mind, fear was growing. In those dark recesses of her subconscious she was screaming. Pleading and sobbing for some unseen force to release her or put her out of her-
"Well, guess I'm hoofin it!" Twilight spurted abruptly to no one in particular. She fake laughed for a moment as her hooves begrudgingly moved her forward.
She ceased the laughter after only a few seconds. It was unsettling. "That's no good. You sound like a crazy pony." She sighed. "You'll be okay, Twilight. You're smart. You'll figure this out. Why don't we try to find somepony in town? That will help us calm down. Yeah, that sounds like a really good plan. Let's just think about how much better we will feel when we talk to a friend."
Her self-talk ceased as she walked into town. It really was the strangest feeling, being all alone in a place usually so full of life. Is this what it was like to wander home at four in the morning?
The buildings were all the same dark gray as the ground. There were no shadows, everything was evenly darkened. The sky was an empty slate of jet black. There didn't even seem to be any kind of breeze; everything stood still. As Twilight passed by windows she noted that they were all solid black like the train car's.
By the time she made it to the town square she was feeling more uneasy than ever. She paused and looked up at the town hall towering over her. It wasn't much more than a gray obelisk in a sea of black. "It's...kind of sad like this," she thought.
A rustling noise came from somewhere behind her. It was barely audible; on a normal day she would surely have missed it. She spun around as fast as she could.
"Hello??" she called out into the dark. She sounded desperate, but she didn't care.
The noise stopped. Twilight darted her eyes around, trying to locate where the sound originated. There was a little alley between the quill store and the bank. It seemed to best fit the direction of the sound, but-
Another noise. This time it sounded like a creaky steel gate closing. It DEFINITELY had come from the alleyway.
Twilight ran over to the gap between buildings. She steadied herself as she rounded the corner of the bank and stopped at the end of the alley.
The alley was short. It ended with a brick wall that had a cart full of hay in front of it. The dark figure of a pony was walking from the cart toward Twilight.
"Hi there," said Twilight, this time as calmly as she could muster. She figured anypony else in town would be quite frightened as well.
As the pony shaped specter came closer, her features came into view. A unicorn horn, light purple eyes, and a swirly three-toned mane.
"Starlight!" yelped Twilight. She ran over and threw her hooves around the new pony. "I'm so glad to see you!"
Starlight stood still as Twilight hugged her.
"Hi there," said Starlight with a steady voice.
Twilight took her forelegs from around the pink pony and stepped back to give her some space. Twilight gave off a small awkward laugh, a real one this time, and managed a smile despite the circumstances.
Starlight had a blank expression on her face. She watched Twilight for a moment, then grew a little smile herself. "I'm so glad to see you!" she said without missing a beat.
Twilight turned and looked back out of the alley. "Have you seen any other ponies around?" She paused for a response, but Starlight said nothing.
She turned her head back to her friend. Starlight looked at her and shrugged. She was still smiling.
"Okay," said Twilight, "I think we should head to the castle. Maybe if Spike is there we can get a letter out to Celestia. Although I'm not totally sure that will work. My magic isn't working."
"Okay," replied Starlight plainly.
Twilight began to walk back into the street with Starlight tailing behind her. "Is your magic off too?" asked Twilight.
"My magic isn't working," stated Starlight.
The two ponies walked back into the town square. Twilight tried to slow down so her friend could walk beside her, but Starlight would only go so far as walking slightly behind her right side. Twilight looked back at her. Starlight was staring at her with that same smile.
"She's acting weird," thought Twilight, looking forward again. "Well, she might be in some kind of shock. I know Starlight has been through a lot in the past few years."
Twilight led the way toward the castle.
"I hope she's okay. I'll keep a close eye on her in case she needs me. She is my pupil after all. I mean...she's my friend, yeah, but I should still be responsible for her as a teacher."
Her hooves slowed to a stop as the two ponies stood in front of the post office. Twilight turned around.
Starlight looked at her teacher attentively with her ever present grin. It made Twilight somewhat uneasy.
"Hey," said Twilight, placing her hoof on her friend's shoulder, "are you okay?"
A pause filled the air between them. Starlight stood as still as a a statue for a few seconds. Her eyes moved down and to the right as if she was trying to remember something.
She raised her front legs up and wrapped them around Twilight. Her head pressed against the princess's neck. "I'm not totally sure," she said quietly.
Twilight shivered. Starlight's body was cold against her coat.
Another noise. This time from the other side of the post office. It sounded like hoofsteps.
"Hello?" yipped Twilight, gently pushing Starlight off of her.
"Wait...Twilight?" came a nasally voice from behind them.
Twilight and Starlight turned around to see Trixie walking toward them. Her signature cape flowed off her back, however her usual magician hat was not present. Her face was one of confusion. As Trixie stepped up to the two, she noticed the other pony.
"Starlight!" she said, looking relieved.
"Trixie, what are you doing here?" asked Twilight.
"Nice to see you too, your majesty," replied Trixie as she gave Twilight an annoyed look. Twilight rolled her eyes while Trixie turned to Starlight and smiled. "I'm soooo glad I found you. I was beginning to freak out a little bit, haha. At least as much as the Great an Powerful Trixie is able to freak out, which isn't very much, obviously."
She extended her hoof to Starlight with a smug grin on her face.
Starlight stared down at the hoof. After an uncomfortable pause, she lifted her own hoof, shook Trixie's, and shifted her attention back to Twilight. She didn't say a word.
Trixie blinked. She looked down at her recently-shook hoof that was still held out to nopony in particular. Her eyes moved from her hoof to Twilight and caught her attention.
Twilight frowned.
"Oh yeah," she thought," I thought those two had this intense secret hoof shake. That's odd..."
"My magic isn't working," stated Starlight plainly.
"Mine either!" said Trixie. She started to look around the street. "Also, I can't find my hat. Have either of you seen it?"
"Nope," said Twilight, shaking her head.
"Nope," added Starlight.
Trixie looked at the ground by the other unicorn's hooves and sighed. Her eyes looked tired.
"Do you want us to help you find it?" asked Twilight. She watched as Trixie raised her chin back up. "We could check Sugarcube Corner. Pinkie has a 'lost and found' bin for Ponyville there. If anypony found your hat they would have brought it there."
Trixie raised a hoof slightly, looking nervous. She looked over at Starlight. Her hoof lowered as her eyes moved back to Twilight. "Um, okay," she said.
"You don't sound so sure," stated Twilight. She wasn't one to look out for Trixie, but something seemed odd to her. "I think this place is getting to all of us," she thought.
"No, it's okay," replied Trixie, fake chuckling and waving a hoof in dismissal. "Let's just stick together, okay?" She stepped over to Twilight's left side.
Twilight looked over to her right to see Starlight still standing still and smiling at her. She blinked and looked back to her left, where Trixie was looking ahead with a frown. Twilight watched as every so often the magician would peek quick looks over to Starlight before averting her gaze.
"Quite a group..." thought Twilight as she started walking again. Both unicorns tailed her on either side as they all marched further into the black.
The streets to Sugarcube Corner seemed to go on forever. Tall, gray buildings surrounded Twilight and her companions. It felt like they were mere ants walking through a graveyard for giants; every towering headstone a grim reminder.
Trixie was fidgeting. She looked extremely uncomfortable in the macro mausoleum.
"Did you just wake up here?" Trixie asked. She looked to the pony next to her.
"I did," Twilight replied while still looking ahead, "I woke up on the train." She squinted as she spotted the outline of the bakery in the distance. "What about you?"
"I came to in my wagon," said Trixie, "but...all my stuff was gone. It was just me and my cape."
Twilight hummed to herself quietly as she processed this new information. "Will there even be anything in Sugarcube Corner?" she thought. "Will there be anything in my castle?"
She put that thought on hold as the three ponies approached the front of Sugarcube Corner. It looked as desolate as everything else in town. The sign above the door hung completely still.
The door felt more like ice than wood as she pushed through it into the bakery. It was harder to see inside, but from what she could make out there wasn't anything in the room save the counter. She stopped in place with a frown. This certainly wasn't getting any easier.
The door continued to swing behind her as the other two ponies followed their leader inside. A few clumsy hoofsteps pittered out before she felt a warm body bump into her backside.
"Ack, sorry," came Trixie's voice from somewhere behind her. She felt a hoof tap her side, then her shoulder, and finally her chest as Trixie's face came dimly into view.
"Sorry," repeated Trixie, "it is crazy dark in here."
"Are you okay?" came Starlight's voice from beside the other two.
Twilight looked over to see Starlight's face to her right. She was also barely visible, but her attentive look was still recognizable. Even in the dark her eyes were locked to Twilight.
"I'm fine," said Twilight. She turned to Trixie, who was once again looking nervous. "Looks like there isn't anything in here, Trixie. I'm sorry."
"Well..." began Trixie, before trailing off. Her eyes darted around the room, then back to the huddle. She looked at Twilight.
"Twilight, can you come upstairs with me to check Pinkie's room?" Her voice carried a sense of urgency. Her eyes were focused very tightly on the princess in question.
Twilight would normally avoid splitting the group in such a circumstance, but something in Trixie's voice gave her reason for concern. She nodded and turned to Starlight.
"You keep looking down here, okay?"
Starlight nodded quickly.
"Okay."
With that, Trixie shuffled toward the wooden staircase at the end of the room. Twilight followed behind her, keeping a hoof on her back in an attempt to stick together.
Twilight carefully climbed the first few steps behind Trixie. It was a bit of a challenge in the dark.
Before she could continue, she noticed a creak in the floor behind her. She turned to see Starlight standing behind her at the foot of the stairs.
Twilight jumped before letting out an irritated sigh. She extended a hoof and gently pushed against Starlight's chest.
"We'll be right back," she said," if something happens, just yell up to us. Okay?"
Starlight stood still for a moment. She then nodded slowly and backed away from the stairs.
Twilight looked down at her hoof. It was freezing cold after pushing Starlight away.
Trixie grabbed her hoof and pulled Twilight up the rest of the stairs. She had to regain her balance after she was shoved through the door to Pinkie's bedroom, with Trixie coming in after her and closing the door behind them.
"Trixie," said Twilight sternly, "what is going on with you?"
"Your hoof feeling cold?"
Twilight could hear Trixie's voice waver ever so slightly as she asked this.
"Yeah," said Twilight, looking down at her hoof, "this whole place is cold as the tundra..."
"It's not that, it's..."
Trixie shivered. "She's cold."
Twilight looked back toward the door. She had noticed her protege was rather chilly. Starlight hadn't acted cold, though. She wasn't shivering. If anything, Trixie was the pony who looked like she was fighting hypothermia.
"Look, Twilight, I...I-," Trixie muttered. Her usual proud voice was coming undone more and more. As Twilight turned around, Trixie continued stuttering.
Her wispy, white-blue mane was drooping down her muzzle. Her eyes were looking down and beginning to get teary. Even her mouth seemed to quiver ever so slightly now.
Twilight's eyes widened. She turned to the other pony.
"Trixie?"
"I...I know I'm not your favorite pony, but-" continued the distressed unicorn. A tear slide down the side of her muzzle. She sniffed and wiped it away with her hoof.
"Trixie..."
"I'm just...I-I...I'm so scared that-"
Twilight lifted her forelegs up and pulled the other pony into her embrace. Trixie inhaled sharply, and then was silent.
"Trixie," said Twilight, an air of calm in her voice,"I don't have any ill will towards you. Past is past, okay?" She squeezed the magician harder as she heard her sob. "You are my friend. I'm here, and I care."
Both ponies stayed interlocked for a moment. Trixie's sobs slowed and her breathing evened out. Twilight rubbed her friend's back gently. She could feel the warmth of Trixie's breath against her shoulder. For the first time since both ponies had awoken in the foreboding town, they were both able to reach a level of calm.
"Feel any better?"
Trixie let out a steady sigh. She pulled back, so Twilight let her go from her grasp. She sniffed a final time before giving a small smile.
"Thank you."
Twilight exhaled her own sigh of relief.
"Alright," she said, regaining focus, "tell me everything you've noticed." Her hooves moved on their own as she started to pace around. It was time for problem solving. The strangeness of the town would have to wait; she needed to know what was wrong with Starlight first.
Trixie lifted a hoof and opened her mouth to speak as a voice came from downstairs.
"I found it."
Both ponies froze in place.
Twilight locked eyes with Trixie. The nervousness quickly returned between the two.
Trixie lifted a back hoof.
"Trixie."
"If there's a chance it's-"
"Trixie, don't."
"Twilight..." Trixie stammered. Her eyes looked away. "That hat is special. It was my dad's. I need to..."
Trixie trailed off, and a deafening silence filled the air between the two ponies.
With a jerk of her whole body, Trixie spun around and jolted to the door. Twilight flinched for a split second before running after her.
"TRIXIE!"
The fleeing unicorn had said something back to her pursuer, but Twilight's senses were all simultaneously cut off as the door to Pinkie's bedroom was slammed into her face. There was no seeing stars or even a spinning room; it was a moment of sharp pain and then the world turned off.
Eyes opened back up to the bedroom ceiling. Twilight winced in pain as she lifted a hoof to her forehead. Banging your horn directly on something was akin to stoving your elbow, except if your elbow was directly connected to your brain.
She inhaled sharply through her teeth as she rubbed her head. A few pained groans escaped her as she found her way back up onto all four hooves.
Silence filled the air.
"Trixie..?" Twilight managed as she opened the door. The quiet of the bakery didn't falter. As she stepped carefully down the staircase, the oppressive dread of the dark town reinstated itself in the back of her mind.
Back on the first floor, what looked like a pony was standing in the middle of the room. The pony-shaped figure was like a statue; out of the corner of her eye Twilight thought it was a mannequin.
"Who's there?" Twilight croaked, feeling her stomach twist up.
The figure lifted its head. Starlight stared at her with a vacant expression. She blinked once, then displayed a familiar smile.
"Hi."
Twilight swallowed her nervousness. "Um, hi," she said, "what happened to Trixie?"
Starlight just smiled.
Twilight started laughing quietly under her breath. Her mouth was curving into a small smile against her will.
"She c-came down here, you must have saw." Twilight stifled herself best she could. Her eyes were fit to tear up, but she held it in.
Starlight turned and lifted her hoof to point towards the front of the building.
"Took her hat."
Twilight only allowed her eyes to move halfway between starlight and where she was pointing, but she could just make out what the unicorn pointed to from her peripherals. The front door to the bakery hung open.
"She wouldn't just run, would she..?" muttered Twilight under her breath. Remembering the other pony in the room, she cleared her throat. "I can't believe this," she stated in a feigned whine, "just like Trixie to run away from her problems." An exaggerated nicker alongside a frustrated look at the floor concluded her faux dismissal. After a moment of pause, Twilight moved her eyes back to Starlight.
Her smile remained strong.
"Just like Trixie."
Twilight felt her stomach tie itself tighter.
"Well, we had better get a move on then," she stated. Keeping Starlight in the center of her vision, Twilight carefully moved so that she was a bit farther from the door than her protege. Once in place, she gave Starlight an impatient look.
Starlight nodded.
"You lead," said Twilight, motioning with her hoof, "I insist. Let's go to the castle."
The smile plastered on Starlight's face wriggled ever so slightly. Her eyes looked out the front door. After what felt like an eternity, she lifted a front hoof shakily. She walked back out the front door of the bakery and into the black.
Twilight followed behind the unicorn.
After a few wrong turns, Starlight did start moving in the direction of the castle. Twilight followed behind her warily. She kept turning around every so often to try to switch places, but Twilight would stop in place till she continued.
The alicorn was mentally locked on to Starlight, if it even was Starlight. She wasn't sure of the details yet. For one, it felt good to now be the one staring down their companion. Starlight was still visibly nervous about something.
"I wonder what we're gonna do about all this," said Twilight. She watched as the unicorn in front peered back at her. "I wanted to get a letter out to Celestia, but I don't know if Spike is even here."
Starlight was looking back attentively. She waited patiently as Twilight "hmm"-d and rubbed her chin.
"Where are the Elements of Harmony?" asked Starlight.
Twilight flinched. She took a final step before stopping herself and giving Starlight a genuinely confused look. The unicorn calmly turned around and stood still, smiling comfortably.
"What did you just say?" asked Twilight.
"The Elements of Harmony," repeated Starlight. "Where are the Elements of Harmony?" She stood awaiting a response.
Turning her head up slightly, Twilight looked over the unicorn.
"You know the answer to that, Starlight." Twilight looked behind the other pony at the houses attached to the street they were on. It was a side street, she would never go this way to get to the castle. A frown grew over her face. In the distance, she could see the tall town hall building and a faraway darkness that should have been Sweet Apple Acres.
"I'm not sure," said Starlight. Her eyebrows moved down and she looked apologetic.
Twilight moved her eyes from the far away fields back to the conversation. She stared at Starlight for a moment, blinked, then over-wrote her question.
"What is the name of Applejack's farm?"
The unicorn's smile began wriggling in place.
"You have been friends with my close friend Applejack for years now," continued Twilight, unfazed, "what is the name of the farm she lives at?"
Starlight's eyes darted around. Twilight had her eyes glued to her, until another voice pierced the silent street.
"TWILIGHT!"
Her dark purple bangs whipped around and Twilight saw the source of the noise.
Trixie was galloping quickly toward her and Starlight. Her cape from before was gone, and the expression on her face screamed urgency.
Twilight turned to Trixie as she skidded to a halt in front of her. The panicked unicorn grabbed her by the shoulders.
Trixie took a sharp breath.
"YOU HAVE TO D-"
Starlight jumped over and grabbed Trixie in one fluid motion. She stood up on her hind legs: her right foreleg was wrapped around the side of Trixie's head so she was holding one hoof over her mouth. Her opposite foreleg wrapped around the magician's neck.
Twilight's eyes opened wide. She stepped back out of instinct.
Starlight twisted her right foreleg violently. A quiet crunch could be heard at the same time.
Trixie fell to the ground as Starlight dropped back to all fours. Her head now jutted out to the right too far. An agonizing wheezing sound came from her mouth, but her lips didn't move. Her eyes stood still as her hooves clawed desperately at the dirt around her.
Twilight watched her friend twitch in pain. A tear rolled down her cheek, but she couldn't make a sound.
Her eyes rose slowly back up to Starlight. She looked up past the fake smile and into her big, light purple eyes. She swallowed sharply.
"Starlight has blue eyes."
Starlight frowned.
In a split second, Twilight took off into the sky. She spread her wings and quickly directed herself at the tallest building she could see besides her castle. There was not a shred of air resistance, so it took only a moment for her to glide down to the rooftop.
Twilight perched herself on the edge of the town hall roof. She had ducked down to hide at first, before slowly but surely making her way to the edge so she could try to see if Starlight was aware of her.
It seemed that Twilight was currently not in immediate danger; Starlight moved around but never looked her way. It was as if she couldn't look up.
Twilight leaned over the edge as she watched Starlight dragging Trixie's body down the street. The unicorns looked like tiny figurines from up high. She wondered if Trixie was alive.
Starlight dragged the other pony into an alleyway with a cart full of hay parked in the middle of it. She lifted the paralyzed unicorn up with her head and nosed her into the cart. Trixie's figure disappeared into the hay.
Twilight shivered and moved closer to the center of the roof. She looked back towards the black hole that should have been Applejack's home. The farm Starlight couldn't name.
"'You have to...'" Twilight thought. "What was she trying to say?"
The dull pain of being in the dark town had seemed to move to her chest. Her mind raced, trying to find an explanation for any of what was happening. She lifted a hoof to her chest as her breathing became labored.
"What did she mean!? What is happening- am I having a heart attack? No, this isn't the right area for that pain...right? I can't remember! It- it feels like everything is heavier; Gravity is stronger? Something is weighing down on me, it's crushing me, it's-"
Twilight fell silent. Her eyes grew wider. Beads of sweat dotted her forehead. She felt so very cold.
Slowly, she craned her neck to look skyward.
The sky was black.
Her words only escaped her mouth as a shrill whimper.
"Where are the stars?"
Her legs all trembled as she stood up.
"W-where is Luna's moon?"
Stray feathers fluttered away as she shot up into the sky.
Twilight had never really flown straight up; it felt wrong. Normally it would result in staring straight into the sun. Now, it was black on all sides. It was impossible to gauge her progress without looking back to Ponyville.
Her body hurt from fatigue, but it didn't matter. She had to know. She had to-
Twilight smacked her head and tumbled back down for a second before catching herself and fluttering in place. She shook her head a few times, then looked up.
Jet black. Nothing different.
She raised a hoof up until it came in contact with a smooth surface above her.
It took a moment for her to move again.
Maintaining her altitude, she moved forward, keeping her hoof on the surface.
It didn't end.
The twisting pain in Twilight's chest grew as she moved across the sky. Her hoof never reached an edge. By the time she lowered her hoof to let the blood recirculate into the limb, droplets of sweat and tears fell from her face. She lowered her head and looked over a tiny Ponyville.
It was surrounded on all sides by shadow. It looked like a circular diorama in a dark room.
Twilight's mind centered on the sentence she had been pondering.
"YOU HAVE TO D-"
Her breathing grew faster still. Her eyes looked at the town a final time before sealing closed tight.
She folded her wings around her body. As she began to lose altitude, she brought the tip of each wing up to her mouth and bit down. The taste of pegasus feathers and sweat grazed her tongue.
The ruffling of her self-denied wings grew louder as she plummeted toward the dark town. Her muscles in each wing spasmed with instinctual panic. She bit down harder.
Her eyes forced themselves open as the dirt road of the market zoomed toward her like a freight train.
A numb pain danced across her forehead as Twilight's eyes slowly opened. The steady sound of train tracks somewhere beneath her faded in as her blurry surroundings took shape. She was seated, upright, her head leaned lazily over her left shoulder.
Her view was that of a train car window. Outside, the moon barely shown through a group of gray clouds. Various heights of trees flew past the window.
Twilight smiled weakly. Her face felt numb, in fact, she could barely feel any part of her body.
With a bit of effort, she slowly and carefully moved her neck so she could look down.
Her front hooves were crossed over her chest. She was leaned back a bit in her chair. A strange tube stuck out of her right foreleg.
Frowning, she fidgeted her neck again. This time she noticed a bit of resistance. Starting to gain a bit of feeling back to her face, she noticed some sort of fixture was attached to her head. It was definitely placed over her mouth, but she was still able to breathe fine.
Moving her head to the right, she saw some sort of device on the floor next to her seat. A large metal canister was housed in the center of it, with various liquids filling other capsules and tubes.
Something large and white was lying next to the device. Twilight squinted to focus, then opened her eyes wide.
A royal guard lay on the train car floor. His eyes were open wide and glossed over. He wasn't breathing.
Panic brewed in Twilight's chest as her eyes moved past the guard. The floor was covered in limp bodies of ponies. Pale and lifeless, strewn about seemingly at random. She could see Starlight's tail sticking out from under a pile of them.
Instinct made her scream, but nothing came out. Her throat burned with silence.
Her eyes darted up from the floor.
Dark, bipedal creatures with some sort of canisters fixed to their heads stood at various places in the train car's cabin. Many were looking out a window or down at the floor. One sat slumped over in a seat a row away from her. It seemed to have various tubes attaching it to something beneath the seat.
Scanning the room, Twilight saw Trixie sitting in a seat across the aisle. She was crumpled over in an uncomfortable looking position. Various tubes jutted out of her foreleg as well. She was totally still.
A loud sound came from the center of the cabin.
Twilight jerked her head back to where she was looking before.
Every one of the creatures had turned and was looking at her.
She felt a force press the mouth device hard against her face.
The world in front of her faded to black.
A single, guttural tone phased in and out through a plane of total darkness.
