The Stone Temple

by Salchipipe

Rating: teen
Tags: My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, Dark, Starlight Glimmer, Drama, Trixie, Suicide / Self Harm, Horror, Twilight Sparkle
Length: 19786

After a discussion with Twilight, Starlight goes into the Everfree forest. What she finds may change things forever.

Starlight Glimmer has always been ambitious with magic studies. Unfortunately, she wishes to experiment with dangerous spells.

After failing to convince her mentor for help, Starlight decides she just needs to find a place where they can study safely. To her, the avoided and mysterious Everfree forest could a good option. Maybe she will finally achieve what she wants. Do or find something that will change ponykind's perception of the world forever.

Be careful what you wish for.

Special thanks to mikemeiers for his numerous edits.

Published 2020-02-06 17:00:01 UTC
Last updated 2020-10-30 02:49:28 UTC

1. Sleep of the Statue

"C’mon Twi! Just a little try?"

"No!"

Starlight walked down the Ponyville streets as the conversation she had with her mentor a while ago replayed in her mind.

While her main motivation for magical studies in the first place was morally questionable, she had always been generally interested in magic, perfecting spells, trying new ones, making her own, sometimes with ambitious objectives that went past what typical unicorns would think of. She had spent a long time on her own reading darker books, even studying the abhorred practices of occultism to satiate her hunger for knowledge. However, even being a gifted unicorn, she never found what she was truly looking for, which is to say, something that broke with the typical conceptions of magic, maybe even the universe itself.

Now, in her new life, changed by another experienced magic user, she had tried to drift away from such thoughts. However, the opportunity was far too tempting.

Simply suggesting that her mentor try some dangerous spells wasn’t a good way to approach the subject, now that she thought about it.

After a sermon of how trying to mess with reality is dangerous -if you don’t know how to control it- and that she has to take responsibility with her great power, Starlight had accepted Twilight’s suggestion to enjoy normalcy for a change and take a walk around Ponyville. She decided to take her saddlebags in case she found something interesting to buy.

She was a bit upset that Twilight immediately discarded her idea. It was true that she told her in a precipitated way, but some explaining might get her to understand.

In any case, the day was one of the best Starlight had seen. The sun was high in the sky, bathing the little town in its warmth and light. Ponies ran around doing their chores, others merely talked. Everypony was giving off a nice vibe, which Starlight appreciated. For a long time she was worried ponies may fear or hate her for her past actions, she was lucky Ponyville was so forgiving.

Even then, she still felt a deep boredom dragging her down. Just a tiny harmless spell, that’s all she wanted to try.

I just need an excuse, she thought, but what would be good enough?

Nothing in Ponyville gave such a chance. Everything was calm and the best she could do was a stronger levitation spell to help a mare carry her oranges.

Unless, it’s not in Ponyville. Her face lit up, surprisingly, no bulb appeared over her head. That’s it! I just need to find some place where Twilight and I can be alone and away from town.

The first place she thought of was the forest that laid on the outskirts of Ponyville. The Everfree was a place filled with mystery, despite the many times she and her friends had gone into it. While she was not really into things like camping, something about the forest always called to her, and nopony had ever explored it in detail. As long as she went with care, she should be fine in scouting it as a place to experiment, or even find something worth telling, maybe even historical.

Hope filled her chest. Thinking about what to bring to be prepared, she trotted over the stalls; a snack would do nicely for the walk. As she approached an apples stand, conflicting thoughts crashed with her plans, and her eyebrows lowered in doubt.

Would Twilight approve of this? Maybe I should ask her first.

The conversation of a few minutes ago joined her mindscape.

No, of course she wouldn’t. I’ll just go take a walk around, she won’t find out. And if she does, I can explain.

Managing to ignore the little guilt she felt, she reached for some bits on her bags, still wondering what she may find in the old woods.

The smell of the humid dirt entered her nostrils. Ugly roots emerged from the ground, like worms that crawled on mud, accompanied by dark mold and dead branches. The ones that hadn’t fallen, wavered to the gentle wind, projecting shadows that danced to inaudible music.

Between the tall trees and green bushes Starlight went, careful not to cut herself with the sharp appendages. She started to understand why most ponies feared the forest; it felt much darker and colder without her friends. Nonetheless, she kept a steady pace, knowing that she had magic on her side.

I think I’m lost though. She looked around the trees, all basically the same. Maybe I can spot Ponyville or something else with a higher view.

Her horn flared with aquamarine energy, which enveloped her body. Carefully, she levitated herself upwards, surrounding herself in a magic shield that protected her from the long branches. Rising out of the endless woods, she put a hoof over her eyes, covering the sun’s blinding rays. As the shield faded away, she squinted her eyes, looking for any point of reference that could tell her where she was.

Surprisingly, she couldn’t see Ponyville anywhere. Her brow curving with worry, she turned her head one way and then the other, hoping to see any hints of the cozy town. She could have sworn she didn’t travel that far. No luck graced her, only a sea of dark green with faraway mountains meeting her pupils. She didn’t even see the old castle Twilight had talked to her about, or the ravine were the Tree of Harmony was located. Was the Everfree forest that big?

Her worry was replaced with surprise, as she spotted something very different.

“A tower?” She spoke out loud.

A stone building poked above the treetops ending in a short conic roof. It was covered with brown and putrid vegetation, suggesting it had been up for a long time. What really caught her attention about the structure was not only that the roof and walls seemed to be fused with one another, but that it was covered with weird carvings and shapes with seemingly no order or purpose. Of course, the weeds were covering the scriptures, and erosion probably participated in making the lines seem random. It didn’t have any windows, neither cracks or lines were rock was put together.

Curiosity taking over, Starlight levitated towards the turret. Upon getting closer, she saw that the markings were more like angles overlapping each other, like one of those weird paintings she had seen in art expositions.

Something about it doesn’t feel right though. A shiver ran down her spine. Why is this even here?

Stopping at what she guessed was the front of the tower, thanks to a noticeable difference in the markings; she gently lowered herself towards the ground. Another bubble generated around her as she submerged into the green ocean. Reaching the floor, the bubble popped, revealing the great building in all its ancient glory. It was some kind of temple, the chapel simply being rectangular prism with its vertices smoothed by age. Like the tower, it was covered by moss and didn’t have any windows, but the markings were more prominent, and at some points, they seemed to represent nebulous shapes, none recognizable.

Looking over it, Starlight couldn’t find any dentations that suggested individual walls being put together. It’s like whoever made it, went and molded it right on a giant stone, she thought. What are these lines though? They don’t make sense.

A short staircase led to a small platform where the only possible entrance lied. A door, or rather, a stone plate covered a rectangular hole. Painted on it was a single white line, with five smaller ones branching out of it. Neither plants nor time had affected the rock or paint, being in a perfect state.

It must be a sigil, Starlight thought, but it doesn’t look like any sigil I’ve seen.

She slowly walked towards the stairs, taking notice of their decrepit state.

She stopped.

Once again her gaze landed on the unknown sign.

Her muscles tensed.

Something about this place didn’t feel right. It was like something that should never be disturbed, sealing ancient secrets that nopony should know. It radiated malice and warning, making Starlight’s heartbeat faster and the fur on her back stand straight. She felt like she shouldn’t be here.

She shook her head. “What’s getting into me?” She took a deep breath, which took her tension with it as it was let out. “It’s nothing, it’s nothing, it’s just a stone house… with weird, incomprehensible markings… a-and no windows…”

She raised one of her hooves to her forehead, and tapped it lightly. “Snap out of it Starlight!” She put it down and took another breath. “You’ve been through worse. Besides, look at what you found!” Her confidence had returned, and she smiled. Talking to herself always reassured her. “Twilight is going to be so excited when I tell her!”

Resuming her walk, she stepped up the stone stairs, feeling the humid moss squish against her hooves. Her eyes stayed fixated on the painted plate, making great contrast with the rest of the building.

She’s definitely going to explore it, so why not do some of my own? She reached the platform, almost in front of the door. Maybe I’ll find something of… personal interest inside.

She faced the smooth stone plate, with its purifying symbol. It had a calming aura, even though it looked rapidly painted, lines of dripping white adorning it.

Without hesitation, magic flowed from her horn as she levitated the door to the side, unlocking the age-old temple.

Immediately, a new feeling pierced her body. The inside was pitch black, only the faint light of the entrance revealing a small part of a red shiny floor. It was abnormally clean compared to the outside of the church, and it filled Starlight with confusion.

“M-maybe I should just… close it back up,” she said, as the darkness looked like it could swallow her whole.

Her facial features tightened, and she frowned. “No, no I’m not leaving. I found an ancient temple, I’m not about to leave it untouched.” She penetrated the blackness, ready to face whatever she would find there.

Her horn lit up again, this time only its tip, dissipating the darkness around Starlight. Now with more visibility, she saw that the whole floor was a shiny crimson, the only difference being that two lines of gold drew a path into the dark.

Slowly, she walked forward, the sound of her hooves echoing through the empty chamber. Her body was shaking slightly, the feeling of warning and malice returning.

She decided to speed up, breaking into a trot, turning her wide eyes here and there, expecting to see something in the shadows, ready to jump at her. Her mouth started to feel dry, and her teeth were clenched in terror. The small rectangle of light looked much more inviting now, leading to the bright and safe outside.

She stopped walking, and begun to breath slowly. Deep breaths, deep breaths. She put her hoof on her chest, taking a slow gulp of air, and let it out while motioning with her hoof to the side. Twilight had taught her about some breathing exercises against stress, nervousness or fear. It managed to help her gain some control of her berserk senses.

She trotted forward, fighting against the dread that built up in her chest. Her gut told her to sprint towards the exit and never come back, but her mind insisted going forward, solve the mystery of this place. What was she afraid of? What expelled such threatening vibes to make her almost crumble in fear?

While this internal fight continued, she realized something about the inside of the building. She didn’t see how long the building was, but judging by its front, it shouldn’t have been bigger than Equestrian churches. She assumed she was simply losing time, with all the mental strain she was put through, but even then, she was sure that she should’ve reached the end a while ago. Either the temple was much longer or magic was at work here.

She stopped cold on her tracks.

A shape had revealed itself to her, still shrouded by the blackness that resisted against her light spell. As she slowly approached it, the gray mass was slowly freed from the abyss. A lump or protuberance was the best way to describe it. It was an amorphous stone, definitely done with purpose, for no stone could have such an unnatural shape. The hard blob extended in the ground, like liquid stretching out on the floor, roots reaching out for more land. Dark holes were present all around it, like countless eye sockets, which absorbed all the light her horn projected.

It was gigantic; occupying three times the length of the path Starlight was walking on. It was marked with various symbols or letters, unintelligible hieroglyphs of forgotten times.

“What… is this?” She exclaimed, her eyes wide open and glassy, glancing upon the statue of old.

Curiosity had started to take over her once again, even if the statue was certainly repulsive. She decided not to approach it, just close enough to see if anything in ponish was written on the base. It surprised her to find some known letters in between the ignored lines, and she assumed they were trying to name the foul thing represented in stone.

“Masogda?” Starlight pronounced, baffled at the seeming jumble of letters.

She stayed pensive for a while. Maybe this was for worship. It is inside some kind of weird temple. She felt the tension return to her chest. Who would revere a deity this hideous though?

Keeping her distance, she went around the statue to check if there was something else behind it. She looked at one of the “eyes” of it, deep and dark. It had a weird attraction to it, like the further she stared, the more she would know.

About what?

She wasn’t sure, but she kept staring anyways, unto that infinite vortex. She started to feel lightheaded, and for a while she forgot of the world around her, as it faded away. She felt herself floating towards the opening, as it seemed to grow out of its seams, engulfing the whole room.

In complete tranquility, she saw small and numerous spots of light appear in the vast emptiness, the great stars of history revealing their light. Peaceful and beautiful, they went past her, floating in the blackness that supported them for ages unnumbered.

She started to understand, as she traveled towards a place not from this small universe, but beyond the angles of space.

“Gate… way…?” She whispered, as her eyelids lowered with relaxation and tiredness, as it, reached out to her.

Her eyes shot open, and she freed herself from the trance, shaking her head and backing away. She rubbed her eyes with her hooves, still dizzy and disoriented. Something had stared back at her, something that waited in the deepest gulfs of the outside. Shaking in fear, she realized she was back on the temple, the sickening statue with its numerous gaps lying in seeming contempt.

“I need to leave,” She said in between agitated breaths. “I need to warn Twilight… something is not right with this place…”

She caught something in the corner of her eye.

While backing away she got closer to the other side of the statue, and her light revealed a tall bookshelf, that looked more like a wall, filled with different books, all looking anew.

It distracted her from her worries, and she quickly levitated one of them to her face, scouring through its pages. It was filled with diagrams and drawings of all sorts, and it was written in the same letters she found on the accursed idol.

Of course, she didn’t understand any of it, but she opened one of her saddle bags and put the book in, so she could inspect it calmly back at the castle.

One of the books called her attention. It was at the center of the bookshelf, as far as she could tell, and, like the floor, it was bound in a shiny scarlet material with its seams being covered in gold, and it was thicker than the rest. Next to it was a green book, less shiny and smaller, but likewise seamed with gold.

Taking both with her magic, she looked through the first flipping through it rapidly. The same symbols were on this book, but with less diagrams.

It could be the main book of this… religion thing, I guess.

Putting it in her saddle bags, she opened the next. Extreme surprise hit her when she found it was written in old ponish. Going to the first page, she read a short subtitle, giving context:

NETHERMOST ASTRAL PLACES. WRITTEN CONSENSUS ON THE SKY-SPAWNED RACE “SAGAE”. HISTORY AND NATURE.

BY FALLING STAR.

“No way… ponies already knew of this place?” She inspected the open book throughout, and let her findings sink in. “Why is there no records of it in pony history?” She read the passage again. “Sky-spawned? Sagae? Are those some kind of extraterrestrial race?”

Closing the book, she put it along with the random book in her right bag, and stared at the bookshelf. The red book occupied the whole of her left bag, and only two of the others could fit in one of them. Thus, she was already full, making her regret that she didn’t bring the bigger bags.

Well, it’s not going to disappear, I can come back for more. The events of a few minutes ago hit her with force. Whatever was waiting in there, it wasn’t good. I have to tell Twilight. Something dangerous is going on with this place.

She kept looking at the bookshelf, merely thinking. The statue, the carvings on the buildings, the diagrams on the books, the visions on the black eyes.

She looked down at the bright floor and exhaled heavily through her nose.

Closing her eyes tight, she put everything on the back of her head. She opened them slowly, contemplating the shelf one last time, and turned for the exit.

2. Striking Guilt

Trixie squealed excitedly at the sight of the stage “It looks so good!” she turned to Starlight, “everything is ready for tomorrow.” She wrapped her foreleg around her assistant and said, “The Great and Powerful Trixie, along with her great and powerful assistant, performing a trick never seen before!”

Starlight giggled, “I’m sure it will be great.”

“Well, obviously,” she presumed, “it’s Trixie’s show we are talking about here.” She lifted her hoof from Starlight’s back. “Just make sure you come in time, will you?”

“I will possibly have some business before, so I don’t expect I’ll be free for last minute changes,” Starlight clarified. “But of course! I wouldn’t miss it for the world.”

The overused curtains, patched up with different color tones here and there, waved gently in the night-wind. The muffled noise of disappointed ponies, booing and complaining, filled the air. The nervous voice of a mare accompanied it, trying to calm down the crowd.

“W-well, that may be the fifteenth failed attempt, but Trixie still has tricks under her sleeve!”

The voices grew loud and furious, and after a few seconds, a blue unicorn with a silky, silver mane ran through the curtains, closely followed by flung tomatoes.

Trixie sat on her haunches, taking off her hat and swiping some tomato juice off it. Leaving it aside, she sighed, exasperated.

She had announced this show throughout the whole week. She was going to do a new trick, where she would hold the flame of a candle on her hooves, and then make it as if she was playing around with it. She would swirl it around the air with her magic and juggle it around, of course, with the help of her lovely assistant, Starlight Glimmer, who was going to cast a few spells to make sure everything was safe and sound, and specially, that the flame didn’t get blown out by the wind.

Problem was, Starlight never showed despite promising she would be there. Trixie wasn’t about to cancel the show, so she decided to go on without her anyway. She wasted fifteen matches in re-lighting the candle, and then was forced back-stage, unless she wanted to be soaked in red.

She sighed again, albeit shakily. She laid belly on the floor, and covered her eyes, ashamed.

She didn’t cry. She wasn’t sad, just embarrassed.

“She promised…” she said softly.

Suddenly she uncovered her face and hit the floor loudly. “She promised!” she hissed out, her face tightened into a scowl, almost as red as the audience’s projectiles.

The night had fallen over Ponyville. It’s tranquility served well for the rest of everyone, and its beauty removed any fear ponies could have about the darkness.

The friendship castle stood out with specialty. The soft moonlight reflected on its crystalline surface, making it shine beautifully, but not enough to make it blinding. It all added to the calm the absence of the sun brought, perfect for a good sleep.

Knock knock knock!

Sadly for those in the castle, the pounds a heated mare gave to the entrance door broke the calm. Trixie’s face was fixed in a stern frown, her irritation still driving her. She was going to give Starlight a well-deserved scold, maybe a little shouting. If she could do it with her, she might as well do the same.

Her eyebrows lowered further with the lack of a response. She hit harder on the door, her hoof hurting a little, but she ignored it.

“Coming!” called out a young voice.

The door opened, revealing Spike on the other side.

“Oh, hi Trixie,” he said, “how did-woah!” he was interrupted by Trixie walking through and pushing him to the side.

“Geez, talk about grumpy,” he commented.

Trixie rolled her eyes. “Where’s Starlight?” she asked flatly, not bothering to turn and look at Spike.

“She isn’t with you?” Spike responded in disbelief.

Now she did turn. “What does this face tell you?” she spit out sharply, gritting her teeth with her eyebrows almost knitted together.

Spike raised his claws defensively. “Okay, I get it, calm down!”

Trixie sighed through her nose, and rubbed one of her temples with her hoof.

“Who is it Spike?” a feminine voice called out.

“It’s Trixie!” Spike responded.

“Is Starlight with her?” she asked.

Trixie’s bitterness reached a boiling point.

Sparkle, she thought, just as always ignoring me.

Trixie’s relationship with the princess had improved since she had met Starlight, but she still held a grudge against her. It wasn’t about magic power, she had got over that already. It was that, unlike Starlight and that ‘Sunset Shimmer’ her friend sometimes talked about, Twilight had never reached out to her. It’s true she had ran away from Ponyville, but Twilight hadn’t even tried to contact her for help, after all, Trixie was still afraid the town would not welcome her after her actions. On top of all that, the unicorn-turned-princess still didn’t give her a chance when she came back in an attempt to make amends.

Thus, she wasn’t happy to bump into Twilight when she had other, more important things to do.

Before Spike could respond, Trixie turned to face Twilight. “Sorry, Miss Sparkle, but your student seemed to be far too occupied to come to my show,” she said in a derisive tone.

“Oh,” Twilight said a little surprised, “I thought she promised to come.”

“She did,” Trixie confirmed, “but it seems other business with her highness was of more matter.” She stared at Twilight accusingly.

Twilight was taken aback. She shook her head. “You got the wrong impression Trixie. Believe me, she went out after lunch and I haven’t seen her since. I’m just as confused.”

Trixie narrowed her eyes, then raised her head incensed, walking past Twilight.

Twilight tried to soothe the situation. “You can wait for her in the-”

“No thanks,” Trixie interrupted, “I’ll wait here in the center.” With that, she sat down on the floor, looking at the door.

Twilight didn’t respond. Instead, she turned and walked over to Spike.

Meanwhile Trixie turned her eyes to the floor. She was still angry at Starlight, she had the right to be, but the mare had never done this before. She always fulfilled her role as an assistant when she promised, especially since they had worked out some of their problems on the road trip. Maybe Twilight was telling the truth. Then what? Did she actually get in problems?

“G’night Trixie,” Spike said, walking past her. Trixie ignored him, eyes still fixed on the ground.

She turned her gaze back up when Twilight sat down beside her. The lavender mare looked crestfallen; her ears flopped to the sides. Trixie couldn’t help but feel a little curious.

“Something wrong?” she asked plainly.

“Huh?” Twilight was forced out of her thoughts. “Uh… well…” she sighed. “I think Starlight not going to your show may be my fault.”

Trixie’s interest grew exponentially.

“Starlight proposed something to me,” she began, “something to do with magic. She wanted us to experiment, peer into outer dimensions and other advanced stuff like that.” She rubbed her front hooves against each other nervously. “It’s not that I don’t like the idea, in fact, I was a little excited. But, the spells she proposed… ones that could… expand your perception of reality, open your mind in a way. They are dangerous, since we aren’t sure we will be able to bear the… revelations. And, there’s the chance we may… attract… something, you never know.”

“So I said no, and I think I was too sudden or harsh. I didn’t really tell her I liked the idea, just in another way that wasn’t through stuff like astral projection. So she got upset. I suggested that she go get some fresh air and reconsider, but I think she went out because she didn’t want to talk to me anymore. She probably felt I was treating her like a madmare…”

Trixie didn’t understand some of the things Twilight mentioned, but they weren’t necessary. Her face tightened.

Twilight noticed. “Trixie, I-“

Trixie grunted in anger. “Ugh! I just wish you stopped ruining everything I try to do!”

Neither of them continued, since their attention changed to the castle entrance, which was being hit hardly, not with anger like Trixie, but seeming desperation, or even fear.

Both mares stood up. Twilight stayed fixed in place, with a startled expression. Trixie, on the other hoof, wasn’t astonished at all, instead trotting towards the door with purpose. Upon opening it, she felt all her anger muster up when she saw Starlight Glimmer, who was looking behind herself and turned to face Trixie when the door opened.

“Well look who it is!” Trixie reprehended, “my lame and backstabbing assistant! I looked like an absolute buffoon, and it’s your entire fault!”

Starlight didn’t respond. Instead, she merely stared. Trixie thought it was at her, but those wide eyes looked past her. They seemed lost, hollow, drained of color.

Trixie’s features progressively softened as she looked closely at Starlight. The mare’s coat was dirty, and small scratches were all over her. Her mane was tousled, a few leaves tangled in it. The saddle bags she had on her back were all dirty. In the shock, she didn’t notice they were carrying something.

Rage was replaced by worry. “Oh… Starlight, what happened?”

Starlight’s eyes focused on Trixie, out of whatever trance she was in. For a moment, she mumbled quietly, then managed to muster up a few words.

“I’m… fine…” Starlight shook her head, and looked down. “Just… a little tired…”

“What?” Trixie got out of the way when Starlight walked in. “No, you don’t look fine! What happened? You didn’t come to the show.”

“I’m fine okay?” Starlight said, raising her voice.

Twilight had decided to approach. “Starlight? Oh no…” Her eyes turned a little glassy, “I… I’m so so-”

“I don’t have time!” Starlight interrupted, her brow furrowing. “It’s… it’s fine okay? We can talk tomorrow…”

Starlight resumed her walk, the noticeable tension on her body and responses betraying her.

Trixie insisted, “Starlight-”

“Now it’s not a good time Trixie!” Starlight shouted, staring at Trixie with eyes full of fire.

The show mare winced, taking a few steps backward, her eyes becoming teary.

Starlight sighed heavily, lowering her head. “I’m… sorry. I… I need some time alone.”

With that, Starlight went off to her room, leaving the other two mares confused and preoccupied.

Past the various wooden roofs of Ponyville, there is a considerable piece of land that was left unused, separating the loathed Everfree forest from the town. It is thought this was done out of fear, but there isn’t any kind of true reason written in the foundation or territorial documents which lie at the town hall.

Right there, all alone, laid a lavender wagon, with pastel yellow contours and star-decorated window panels and roof, the symbol of a half moon and a magic wand repeating prominently.

Inside, sobbing. Sad, hurtful whimpers of the mare whose cutie mark was that of the moon and wand. Laying on her hammock, between a few boxes filled with smoke bombs or flower-wands, Trixie buried her face on the pillow, drowning her weeping and staining it with her tears. Trixie hadn’t even bothered to take her stuff out of the backstage, all animus gone.

“Such an idiot…” she told herself, into the cushion, “why do you always have to mess everything up?”

Her guilt had taken hold of her. When she had seen Starlight’s decrepit state, the fact she had called her a backstabber plunged through her heart. Her failed attempt at fixing it only managed to get Starlight angry with her, no doubt, since the poor mare was already in a terrible state of mind.

A few minutes passed, and Trixie’s sobs slowly died down. She looked up from her headrest, and stared at the back window, from which the moonlight filtered, scaring off the shadows of the cozy interior.

She would have to talk to Starlight. But how should she approach the subject? Would Starlight still be angry at her? And on top of all that, would Sparkle remember how she spoke to her? She’d have to set things with the princess too, but it would be too much to tackle all at once.

And, every time she remembered, those distant, haunted eyes…

She whimpered, burying her face on the pillow again.

I really messed up, she thought sadly.

Then, an idea.

She could just wait for either of them to come out of the castle. She wanted to talk things out with Starlight first, so she would wait for her outside the castle, inside her wagon. If Twilight went out, she was free to enter the castle and face Starlight there.

Her lips parted into a smile, and she let out a small happy squeal. Things would work out, after all, the Great and Powerful Trixie would be the one to fix it.

She shifted around, looking at the ceiling, now with a smug smirk.

Genius as always Trixie.

Her eyelids slowly began to drop, and she finally drifted off to sleep.

Curtains were enveloped by light-purple magic. They shifted away and let the light in, the sun starting to reach the top of the sky.

With a yawn and a stretch, Trixie got off her hammock, and walked over to a mirror on the wall. She floated a comb that was lying on one of the boxes, and carefully brushed her hair. Finished, she left it back on place, and made a small pose on the mirror.

“Looking good Trixie, as always.”

She giggled, and walked over to the wagon’s entrance. Her horn lit up again, and the door moved open, letting in the fresh morning air. She took a deep breath through her nose, let it out through her mouth, and began to think about the upcoming day.

First, she would go to the stage and fit all the items she left there on her wagon. It would take some time, but she was sure she would be finished by lunch. After getting something to eat, she would bring everything right outside of Twilight’s castle, and wait there.

She stepped down, walked around, and put the harness on her back. Confident, she began the walk back to Ponyville.

Trixie threw herself back first on her hammock, finally finished.

There was much less space on the wagon now, but it gave her a safe feeling. As Starlight would say, it wasn’t small, just cozy.

She made sure to leave one of the windows clear, so she could see the castle’s door. She had stationed the wagon by the side of the castle. She didn’t want to draw the owners’ attention.

On her way through Ponyville, she had gotten some looks from the townsfolk. Fortunately, rather than judgmental, they seemed more on the curious side, as if they wanted to ask her what happened yesterday night. That made her confidence strengthen a little. Her reputation wasn’t ruined, but she would have to make things right somehow.

She sighed at the thought of even more work to do. Reorganizing her wagon had left her pretty tired already.

In any case, she just had one objective now. All she had to do was pay attention to the door, leaving the window open so she would hear it when someone went through. Meanwhile, she would read the newspaper. The headlines were particularly attractive this time.

Shifting a little to get comfortable, she floated the paper up in front of her face. Her eyes went right and left, trying to focus on the reading.

She started to feel a little lightheaded. Her eyes itched, but she tried to ignore it. She began to realize how exhausted she actually felt, all the walking and moving having depleted almost all her energy. Her pillow felt so soft, so warm. Her eyelids grew heavy, slowly going down.

They shot open, as Trixie brusquely raised her head, and rubbed one of her temples.

Not now body! Trixie can’t take a nap, she has some important business to attend to! she thought to herself, pinging her eyes onto the newspaper.

She couldn’t fall asleep, even if her body felt so heavy, screaming at her to close her eyes. She had to do this, for Starlight, for herself.

A few minutes later, she had passed out, face covered by the paper, snoring softly and sometimes mumbling, waving her hooves.

She carefully left her saddle bags on top of the boxes—like almost everything else she owned—filled with different kinds of fruit.

She sighed, and climbed on her hammock again.

Trixie couldn’t still believe she had fallen asleep. She found herself in the middle of the night, the newspaper messed up by her own unconscious drooling, too late to expect anyone. It only made her guilt rise further, along with her embarrassment.

She had gotten ready this time. As soon as the sun came out, she went out to buy the food for the day, thankful that Ponyville was an early rising town. She took advantage of the extra time to look through her stuff, and found a few things to pass the time. An unfinished adventure novel she had—probably—borrowed from the castle’s library under Starlight’s recommendation, and the Cool Magic Tricks for Little Mages book her mom had gotten to her as a filly, which always brought that sweet nostalgia, though she wasn’t going to read it.

The plan was simple, stay inside her wagon for the whole day, windows open for any indication that someone came in or out of the castle.

Thus, she floated the novel over to her, taking out the simple marker and beginning from the start, since she had already forgotten how it went.

She tried to immerse herself into the blooming descriptions the writer gave, but when she finished a paragraph, she had to read it again since she hadn’t gotten anything of it.

Her mind kept drifting away to her worries, about how the conversation with Starlight could turn out. She still wasn’t sure in how she would touch the problem. She had decided to take a hunch and trust that she would work it out in the moment, but now she was doubting. Besides, how did she know Starlight was even willing to talk? What if she was still angry?

She let the book drop open on her chest, and merely looked at the ceiling. She was nervous. Nervous that she would ruin things further. Maybe she should wait until Starlight went after her? No, that would be selfish, then Starlight would think she was a bad friend. She was the one who shouted at her friend when she was hurt. Surely Starlight would understand though, she didn’t mean it, she was angry and stressed.

She jolted, forced out of her thoughts by her growling stomach, demanding food.

“Oh, right, breakfast,” she said, opening one of her saddlebags with magic and floating an apple out. She would probably be able to concentrate with a fuller belly.

She bit into it, the sweet, juicy fruit making her forget her troubles for a moment. Looking around, she remembered she didn’t have a trash can to drop the core, but she shrugged, deciding she could just throw it out of the window. It was fruit after all, decomposes easily.

Finishing it and doing exactly what she decided, she stared at the ceiling for a while again, thinking.

Then, she took out another apple, biting without enthusiasm into it, trying to drown the butterflies on her stomach rather than hunger.

It didn’t work, so she just left it unfinished on one of the boxes beside her, and groaned in frustration. She was incredibly anxious, impatient. She looked outside, but no one was there. Her stomach felt as if it was trying to implode, her chest felt empty and faintly tingly.

She lifted the open book to her face, but quickly closed it and left it aside with the apple, sighing heavily. She turned on the hammock, facing the window.

She really wanted to get it over with, but she was still scared. First Starlight, then Twilight, that was the idea. But, every second felt like an eternity, no movement, no sounds, no nothing, even the grass being still.

She whined again, and turned to the ceiling. She took a deep breath through her nose, let it out of her mouth, and repeated.

Rushing wouldn’t help, patience was key. She had already done what she had to, she just had to wait for them to take the next step. She didn’t need to worry, it would be fine. She had fought with Starlight in worse situations before, they would get through this one.

A little more calm, her horn lit up, lifting both book and apple towards her. Once again, she forced her gaze on the printed letters, focusing, imagining what they told her.

And, she managed to concentrate. She took another bite of the apple, and flipped to the next page. Time now went faster, the sun moving through the sky. Hours became minutes, minutes became seconds.

However, everything around her was still incredibly silent for the whole time.

She had gone through over half of the novel, the sun was starting to set between the mountains, and no one had come in, or out of the crystal building. Not even Spike, who she was sure was completely okay.

By that time, she was once again growing restless.

She left the book away, and turned to the window. The stillness was getting to her, and she started to feel irritated too.

“Come on,” she said inwardly, “just one pony? Anypony! Please?”

The doors stood still.

She looked down from the window, and her eyes became glassy.

The sky took on a bluish-purple hue, and the moon began to raise so it could replace the day’s fireball.

She dug her face half on the pillow, closing her eyes as water filled them.

Her horn flared again, and the windows shut locked, curtains were closed and covered the soft moonlight, leaving her in darkness.

A few sobs went out, tears running down her cheeks, into the pillow once again. She cried herself to a light sleep, even after lying down for the whole day.

Such a light sleep was the reason she woke up by the sound of a door opening, even with every window closed.

Her eyes opened brusquely, but her body was still sleepy. She shifted on her hammock a little, deciding to go back to sleep.

Then, she realized what she had heard. The castle’s door had opened.

She almost jumped off her hammock, meaning she tried to get off fast and almost fell to the floor, which would’ve been disastrous with how much stuff there was in the wagon. Steadying herself up, her body still heavy from the sudden sleep departure, she opened the window to confirm what her ears had told her.

The moonlight was enough to see that the door was clearly opened, seemingly slammed open.

Wasting no time, she exited the wagon, and trotted towards the open door. An odd mix of confusion and hope filled her, coming from the mystery of someone going outside this late, and the opportunity of making paces with Starlight. She wasn’t precipitated, peeking through the open way, standing by the side.

The castle was expectedly dark, but the milky light of the moon was enough to walk around freely. Seeing there was nobody around, she entered with the purpose of reaching Starlight’s bedroom. She went slowly, careful to not make much sound. Even if a slamming door didn’t seemingly wake anypony else, she wasn’t taking any chances. She only wanted to speak with Starlight, and if she wasn’t here, she would return to her wagon and wait for her friend’s return. It wouldn’t be the best time to talk things out, seeing she would have to wake Starlight from her sleep, but if she didn’t do it now, she may not be able to wait another whole day.

She was thankful Starlight had told her where her room was. The castle was a maze to visitors, having long halls with seemingly hundreds of doors that look equal to each other. A single mistake could mean getting lost, so she kept her eyes open and concentrated.

Soon enough, she found Starlight’s room, saddening when she saw the door to it was open, which meant Starlight was the one who went out.

Then again, she wasn’t sure if Starlight slept with her door open or not. Unfortunately, her suspicions were confirmed when she entered and saw the empty bed, with disorganized covers.

Now, she realized, there wasn’t a reason for Starlight to go out in the middle of the night. She knew that the accomplished unicorn, with her new job as a Guidance Counselor, wasn’t one for nightly departures. Therefore, Trixie was slightly baffled.

She looked around the room as if she would find some kind of answer of what was happening with Starlight. Her eyes stopped at something that could hold them, a small, hardcover book that lay in Starlight’s desk. She had never seen it before, of a typical brown color and about the size and thick of the ‘Friendship Journal’ Sparkle and her friends had written. Plastered on its cover was Starlight’s cutie mark, which led her to believe this was her personal diary of sorts. Considering this was the first time she saw it, it could be very personal to Starlight, or maybe she just started using it.

A momentary qualm kept her from floating it towards her. It would be extremely disrespectful to read Starlight’s personal thoughts behind her back. There was a reason she wrote them there.

But, they could have something to go by, a lead as to why Starlight had been so scared that night, and why she wasn’t home this one.

Not without some guilt, she sat down on the small bench, and opened the journal on the first page. The first paragraph ended raising more questions:

The urge to tell someone is unbearable, but I can’t. This diary may finally be of use. Both books are safe, but I haven’t looked into them. I messed up things with Trixie and Twilight, but I don’t know what to tell them. As soon as I saw one of those things, I ran. I don’t know how I didn’t notice that revolting smell before. I forgot to put the plate back in place. I think I set them loose. What have I done?

“What?” Trixie whispered to herself. Over half of that paragraph made no sense to her, but at least she now knew this was for personal use. With the hopes of some kind of explanation, she kept reading, once again losing the trail of time.

3. The Diary

Author's Note

First of all, I want to apologize for the long wait. Hopefully it was worth it, and I'll try to post the next chapter much sooner, although it may be shorter.

Second, an enormous thank you to everyone that has commented or added to their... things I still don't really understand about the site. An inmense thank you, truly. It is such a nice feeling and motivator to see people actually liking the story. I didn't really thank people directly out of shyness, but I'll try to from now on.

Also, don't be afraid to make any kind of critisism of the story, as long as it is with respect of course.

Enjoy!

3. The Diary

“Starlight… please… at least tell me what happened…”

Twilight sat on the cold crystal floor, her back pressed against the wooden door. She looked down, simply waiting.

The air stayed quiet.

Giving up, she sighed and got to her hooves, walking away from the unopened door.

For a moment, she stopped, and talked again.

“Look… it’s been really uneventful lately. If you want to try some spells… I’m available.”

A book floated out of the shelf, and unceremoniously plopped on the table. The lavender mare looked through it uninterested and, after a few seconds, returned it to its place. Another was pulled out, and the cycle repeated.

Twilight was trying to get her head on other things, but it was no use.

The sun had barely risen, only a few faint rays of light entering the library. She normally wasn’t up this early. but the newfound stress that had been accumulating since the start of the week had done a number on her sleep.

She had messed up.

Starlight had isolated herself in her room for the past two days. At first, Twilight thought Starlight was just upset, about the argument they had, but every time she thought about it, she couldn’t shake off the feeling there was something deeper happening to Starlight. She still remembered her disheveled state, her lightless eyes.

That, she thought, was her fault.

She had been so hard on her. She should’ve just said the plain truth, how she wanted to experiment with magic, just not the endangering spells Starlight suggested.

Instead, she just exploded. Like a pressure cooker that was suddenly opened. Maybe it was all the stress of her approaching coronation. She didn’t see it as an excuse though, not even as a valid reason for what she did.

On top of all that, there was the recently surfaced grudge Trixie still seemed to hold against her without her knowledge. She hadn’t really tried to make full amends with Trixie after she had been so unforgiving with her—an apology wasn’t enough—so really it shouldn’t have been a surprise.

She let out a quiet sigh, put the book she had barely read back in place, and rested her head on her hooves atop the table. Thing was, how could she talk to Starlight without forcing things? Moreover, how would she even establish a conversation with Trixie?

You are the Princess of Friendship Twilight, she thought accusingly to herself, you have to figure out something.

Destiny decided she didn’t need to take the first step herself however. The door to the library roared open and startled her straight, she looked over, Trixie gazed back at her with wide, terrified eyes.

They merely stared at each other for a few seconds, until Trixie opened her mouth, seemingly unable to form words. Twilight had to almost guide her to the other side of the table, and tell her to sit, trying to calm her down.

After about half a minute of rubbing the mare’s shivering back, Trixie finally spoke.

“I… I need to… t-tell you something…”

Twilight relocated to her original position, so she could look right at Trixie.

“Okay… it’s… complicated and… I…” she was visibly struggling, fidgeting her hooves and shifting her gaze constantly.

“Deep breaths,” Twilight said, “let the tension out.”

Trixie’s eyes fixated on Twilight’s. “You… you won’t believe me.”

“And what reason do you have to lie?” Twilight countered comfortingly. The poor mare was in so much distress. It was her job to fix it.

“I… heh…” Trixie managed a weak smile. “I guess you’re right.”

Twilight smiled back. “Don’t be scared to tell me anything, okay?”

That seemed to be enough, as Trixie began to talk with more ease, albeit there was still a little shakiness in her tone.

“There’s a lot to see… and it’s very complicated.” Her horn lit up. “It’s better if you see it for yourself. You’re smarter than me after all.”

Twilight was a little surprised at the comment, but she let it flow. Trixie produced a brown hardbound book, leaving it on the table facing Twilight. She immediately recognized it when she saw the obvious cover.

“Starlight’s diary?” she said with a hint of surprise, “I gifted it to her a while ago.” Her gaze shifted slightly upwards. “By the look she gave it, it didn’t seem like she would use it.”

Trixie let out an almost unnoticeable chuckle. “And she didn’t… until now that is.” She put a hoof on the cover and leaned over slightly. “You can make copies of books right?” she said in an uncharacteristically serious tone. “You should make one for yourself,” her eyes shifted to the book fearfully, “Starlight will want it back.”

“Yes I can… Starlight herself showed me the spell for the Friendship Journal…” dubiety rose in Twilight’s mind. “What’s so important about it?”

“Just… trust me on this one, please.”

Twilight stared quizzically at Trixie, but her pleading eyes ended up convincing her not to doubt. She had said it herself, Trixie had no reason to lie in this situation.

Closing her eyes, magic surged from her horn, and a small ray hit the diary. It floated upwards, and from it poured more energy that formed into a spine and covers. The empty bindings opened, and from the original book, duplicates of the pages flew off, filling the mirrored coverings. Twilight’s horn glowed a soft white in the process. Trixie merely stared up, with a small glint of fascination reflecting in her eyes.

The lights faded, and now two even books lay on the table.

“Okay,” Trixie said with wide eyes, “Now just keep it safe, don’t let Starlight find out.”

The dire tone in Trixie’s words confused and chilled Twilight. It was almost as if Trixie had grown afraid of Starlight. Nonetheless, she decided to follow, and with a magenta flash, the copy disappeared, teleported away.

“I put it somewhere safe,” she said simply. “Now, even if it is hard to explain, I need some context. I’m sure you understand.”

Trixie looked down at the table. “Yes… of course.”

Trixie told her the events of the bygone days from her perspective. She told her about the failed show, her convoluted plan to face Starlight alone, and how she found the journal in the middle of the night. It drifted off when Trixie let go and expressed her grudge against Twilight. When she was finally finished, Twilight looked at her with sorry eyes.

“Oh, Trixie…” Twilight tried to solace the show mare, giving her a warm smile. “Don’t feel withdrawn to share your feelings with me, especially if it’s because I’ve made a mistake.” She leaned forward, “I hurt you, and I’m truly sorry. From now on, I promise to be there for you anytime, as your friend.”

Trixie’s eyes were glassy. Liquid was collecting and about to run down her cheeks. She closed them tightly, and nodded with a trembling but genuine smile. When she opened them, all fear seemed to be gone from them, now resolute and bright.

“There’s a few things I can tell you,” she wiped her watery eyes, “about the diary, that is.”

“Go on,” Twilight said

“Well… it’s hard to understand, Starlight wrote it for herself,” Trixie explained, “but you can tie it together if you pay attention.” She shuddered. “It’s… scary. It explains why Starlight has been so distant and where she was when she returned all…”

“I know,” Twilight said, “I guessed she went to the Everfree forest, judging by the leaves and dirt she was covered with.”

“Yes, exactly!” Trixie confirmed nervously. “She found something in there… a temple?” Trixie’s gaze started to shift around again. “It’s not something from the forest. It’s… unnatural.”

Temple…? Twilight thought to herself. She hadn’t considered it before, but now that she remembered, something in Starlight’s eyes suggested it was more than a scare. That something had truly changed in her.

“Before you continue,” Twilight interrupted, “you’ve been talking about Starlight as if you were afraid of her.”

Trixie’s eyes widened. “It had to do with the things. The things she found inside the temple.”

“Things? Like objects or beings?”

“Both maybe?” Trixie said unsure. “It’s really hard to read. You can tie the strings together but Starlight made it so only she can fully understand it so there’s omissions and shortenings and-“

“Trixie,” Twilight soothed. “Calm down. Focus.”

Trixie took a deep breath. “Okay… we need to help Starlight.”

Twilight began to worry. “Are the… things putting her in danger?”

“Not just her,” Trixie’s voice lowered, “It may be all of Equestria.”

Twilight eyes widened. A pit began to open in her stomach.

“But… Starlight does have a special relation, I think,” she said uneasily, “whatever it is, it may have taken hold of-”

Trixie interrupted herself with a small gasp through clenched teeth, as her expression changed with dread, looking past Twilight. The princess turned, and her pupils shrank when she saw Starlight herself standing in the doorway.

“Hi Twilight! Hi Trixie, didn’t expect you here!” she said cheerfully. “Were you two talking about something?” she began to trot towards them, seemingly oblivious of both mares’ expressions.

Twilight got off from her seat. “Hi Starlight!” she said in a slightly nervous tone, “haven’t seen you in a while.”

“Oh, right,” Starlight said, stopping in front of Twilight, “sorry about that… I should’ve probably been more communicative. I was just really occupied with something, you know?” she finished with a sweet smile.

“That’s okay, no hard feelings!” Twilight responded with a forced smile.

Starlight attention drifted to the mare behind Twilight, and in a sudden electric flash, she was right beside Trixie, startling the blue unicorn.

“Sorry! I’m just very excited!” she leaned towards Trixie. “There’s something I…” her words trailed off as she took notice of the book on the table, her smile falling.

Noticing the tension growing in Trixie, Twilight stepped in. “I was going to tell you about that,” she spoke on a surprisingly calm tone. “Trixie found it in one of the hallways when she came looking for you. She brought it to me in confusion. I already explained to her it’s your diary, seems like you lost it.”

Starlight raised an eyebrow. “It has my cutie mark on the cover.”

“Better safe than sorry?” Trixie suddenly spoke up with a sheepish smile.

Starlight seemed to buy it. “I guess…” she said half-rolling her eyes. “But I don’t take it out of my room.”

“Maybe you just don’t remember?” Twilight said, “It happens.”

Starlight narrowed her eyes, looking at her journal. “Eh,” she shrugged, “didn’t have anything important on it anyway.” Her horn lit up, and the book was teleported away. She then turned to Trixie again, her excitement returning. “So, I have something to show you!”

Trixie’s fear had mostly diluted, but she didn’t share Starlight’s feeling. “What kind of thing?”

Starlight winked. “It’s a surprise~!” she grabbed one of Trixie’s hooves. “Come! It’s outside!”

“Um…” As she was pulled out of her seat, Trixie looked sideways at Twilight, as if expecting approval. Twilight didn’t say anything, she merely stared at Trixie, not sure of what to do.

Trixie turned back to Starlight. The sudden cheerful attitude Starlight was displaying seemed to calm her down, as her expression of distrust began to fade. However, there was still a hint of doubt on her, which suggested Twilight the following actions were more of an act than actual trust.

“We’ll go,” Trixie said letting go of Starlight’s hoof, smirking. “But we’ll do it at Trixie’s pace.”

Starlight rolled her eyes fully this time. “As you wish, o great and powerful,” she said as they exited the library. Twilight thought Trixie gave her one last look of dubiety before walking off, but she wasn’t sure if it was real, or the ideas the mare put in her head were already getting to her.

She thought about following them, but with Trixie’s words still in her head, she convinced herself reading the journal’s contents would be best before any confrontation. She turned around and teleported the copy back to the table, but before she could sit down and read it, another creature made itself present.

“Did they leave already?” Spike said with disappointment, peeking into the library. “I thought I heard Starlight…”

“She was here,” Twilight said, trying to cheer up her assistant. “She will come back soon though, so don’t worry.”

“Okay…” Spike accepted, still a little gloomy. “Breakfast’s ready by the way.”

“I guessed,” Twilight said with a smile.

She pushed all the chaotic thoughts back. As Spike had told her many times she studied early in the morning, breakfast always came first.

She followed after him, not without giving the diary one last look of fear. Maybe she should read it first?

No, she said, turning her gaze back forward, I may worry Spike if I skip breakfast. I’ll have something simple and come back to read it in no time.

In one of our many travels looking for land outside of Grogar’s reach, we stumbled upon a wide forested area, filled with tenebrous creatures of all sorts, no wonder the spawn of Grogar’s terrible beasts. It was hard, but we managed to set a camp, hoping to regroup and gain forces. We had to wait for Gusty’s return, since her magic skills were essential for the dark goat’s defeat.

Unfortunately, things did not turn out as we expected. One of our explorers, Runeheart, if memory does not fail me, returned from another routine walk outside. She said that she had found a “great city of pure stone”. Since trust in our circle was of utmost importance, we had no doubt of her words. She guided us through the vegetation, and we confirmed her allegations.

It was a landscape of gray, with different buildings of not too dissimilar architecture from our own, albeit with carvings of unintelligible complexity that should not be ignored. Even then, we fearfully admired the seemingly perfect masonry, as if the awesome cathedrals had been sculpted directly on giant solid rocks.

What we found there, was far from something even the evil Grogar would make. I will not go into detail of our encounter, for the horrors we endured are many and unspeakable, but, after moons of fighting and running, we managed to seal them in their lifeless city, through what we learned from those who made the great sacrifice of sharing their hive-mind through our spells.

We understood the why of their shape and nature, since they came from another realm of what we may call infinity, but I will leave that for the hundreds of pages I shall write soon. The mere memory of those monstrous creatures and their fetidness makes me tremble, and almost wish we had not built our camp in that accursed forest.

A quote from the ‘green book’, rewritten in contemporary ponish, as Starlight had labeled under the excerpt. The first fully understandable writing she had found so far. Left unnamed was the author, if there even was one. There were, supposedly, two other books in Starlight’s possession, one of them was of importance, the other was considered useless.

She recognized the obvious names of the legends of Gusty the Great and Grogar, Father of Monsters, which struck her with a new fear.

Those were just legends, right? She had considered them possibly real, but there were inconsistencies and so much flowery language in their telling that she always saw it as a fairytale with hints of truth. Now, the possibility of it not only being fully real, but that the legends covered a far greater, abominable secret, hit her on her beliefs like a rock hits glass.

She pushed the open book away for a second, and began to look at nowhere in particular, trying to make sense of what she had thus far. It would be better to focus on Starlight’s situation; the possible changes of perspective on ancient pony history would have to be left for later.

This is ridiculous, she thought.

The writings of the diary were jumbled and, as Trixie had said, had many abbreviations and cutoffs of stuff only Starlight knew. There were exotic names and references to things that repeated on them. Masogda, Sagae, the temple, the Everfree, Lugthox, the Red Book, Yog-Sothoth. Diagrams were reduced to random lines and geometric shapes in her lack of understanding. However, the last paragraphs had given her some answers, and her mind began to work, tying the dangling ropes together.

Starlight made constant references to ‘the temple’ in which the ‘Sagae’ resided. She guessed this temple could be one of the buildings on the ‘great city’ the old unicorn tribe had found. In addition, the Sagae could be the ‘monstrous’ beings they sealed, considering how Starlight called them ‘horrid’. She made mentions of ‘revolting smell’ in reference to nameless beings, but the statement itself, and the fact that she wrote she had ‘set them loose’ made a clear connection with the aforementioned paragraphs and the terrifying Sagae.

‘Lugthox’ was probably the realm—maybe another planet or dimension?—from which this Sagae had come. Starlight treated the name as corresponding to a place. It could be the name for the temple or the city, so she wasn’t entirely sure what Lugthox specifically referred to.

For the other three things, she had next to no clues. ‘Masogda’ was only written one time, without any hinting as to what it could be, same went for ‘Yog-Sothoth’. The ‘Red Book’ was said to be ‘written by accursed extremities’. Maybe those extremities were from the Sagae.

She floated the diary towards her again, and flipped the bound sheets until she was back on the starting page to reread the first paragraph.

It made much more sense now.

She flipped through the pages again, back to where the Green Book’s quote was. It was a minor surprise now, but for two days, Starlight had written a lot. Now that she thought about it, it was as if Starlight wrote down as she thought, not really organizing anything.

After the quotation, there were a few paragraphs from Starlight that were more in line with the first one, although what they said and the shaky writing filled Twilight with fear and worry:

Every time I close my eyes I see what they see. I see how they see, a thousand images at a time. They slide and crawl through the leaves and dirt, disgustingly plastic and… they tell me they need me to come back. That I will be given power in Masogda’s reign. But I don’t want to live in a world where nopony can’t think and my friends won’t remember me and

No no no no leave me alone! I won’t go! I won’t curse all races with such a destiny, which would happen if I were to call Yog-Sothoth so he gives power to the Gateway again… Shut up! Just shut up… I didn’t want this… I wanted to change the world for the better not to… I’m a good pony… I was just curious and dumb, how was I supposed to know that

My head hurts. The walls fade. They become grey and aged like… No no no leave me alone leave me be! The eyes, the eyes darker than black, they are opening again. I see the stars and they beckon and mock me. They are tinkling away. Or am I going past them? I can´t tell, but it’s so dark and the gulf is shifting like worms.

The red light. The red light is there, it’s pulsating and dancing around, swirling on itself and burning with desire. It wants to come, it wants to conquer. No malevolence, just desire.

My legs move on their own. They are tugging at my mind. I can’t leave them without something. I need to warn them. The book. I need the book…

Twilight’s eyes were wide. Before the pit on her stomach could swallow her heart, she flipped the page, and read the last paragraph on the diary, another barely legible quote from the Green Book:

Masogda, the Mind Devourer, lives up to its title. Through certain practices it can be called forth from the sphere it inhabits beyond our material world, where things are drastically different, even more than where it spawned its servants, the Sagae. It tricks lesser beings with promises of illumination, and those naïve enough to fall will know the outer frost. It eats at the mind and replaces it with its own essence, making use of the body, like a puppet of meat…

“Twilight?”

She almost jumped on her chair. On reflex, she shut the journal and teleported it away with her magic. She turned to look at Spike, who stared back with concern from the doorway.

“Dinner’s ready, it has been a while ago.” He raised an eyebrow with worry. “Are you ok? You’re sweating.”

“Uh…” Twilight’s mind was still lingering on the diary´s revelations. She shook her head. “No, no… I uh…” she raised her hooves and rubbed her temples with her eyes closed tightly, feeling the coldness that had accumulated from the salty liquid. She let her forelegs fall with a sigh, and managed to smile at Spike. “I’m coming. Just give me a few seconds to… organize what I was reading.”

“Okay…” Spike said with some dubiety, “I was worried you would skip with studying or something.” His expression took a turn with a grin. “Starlight is back for dinner now!”

Twilight froze. “Starlight… is having dinner with us?”

“Of course! Like you said, she came back. Seems like she finally snapped out of whatever she was in the past few days.” Spike turned and walked away. “Don’t take too long if you want to try the cupcakes she brought!”

In his excitement, Spike didn’t notice the expression Twilight was carrying. One that was contorted with a deep, seething fear that seeped through every hair on her coat.

‘It may have taken hold of-’

Her mind.

Trixie had known. Yet she still had gone with Starlight—or what claimed to be Starlight—. She knew it was dangerous, and she decided to follow Starlight’s game.

Was it so she had a chance? A chance to figure out a solution?

‘You’re smarter than me after all.’

She got off the chair. There were still so many questions that surfaced and spun in the maelstrom that were her thoughts, but one had taken great priority. She had to help Starlight, and make sure Trixie was okay. Then, she’d go to the Everfree, and seal back whatever monstrosity Starlight had freed on accident. She couldn’t tell her friends. This was something better buried forever, like it had been millennia ago. The lesser ponies knew, the better.

Nevertheless, what should she do? Restrain Starlight and question her? That would be way too hard, and she wouldn’t be able to do it without calling more attention, or hurting Starlight herself. Spike believed the pony sitting with him at the dinner table was Starlight as she had always been. How could she keep this out of his knowing?

Her eyes widened. A pressure almost painful spread on her torso.

Spike was alone with Starlight. Alone with the monster that used her as a mask.

She sprinted out of the library. She almost opened her wings to fly off, which made her stumble. Her heart pumped with so much force, she could hear it on her ears. Fire and fear ran through her limbs, and they hit the floor with force, echoing throughout the crystal hall that seemed infinitely long, as if she would never reach the dining room. She would never forgive herself if something happened to him. She had sworn she would take care of him. If just one scale on his body was hurt…

Immense relief came over her when she saw him happily munching on a cupcake, sitting on one end of the table. The pressure returned when her gaze shifted and she saw Starlight on the other end, sipping from her cup.

She didn’t say anything. She just averted her gaze and walked over to the table, sitting down in one of the middle chairs, while Starlight levitated a cucumber sandwich in her magic and took a bite out of it.

“Mmm!” Starlight squealed in delight before gulping. “You make the best sandwiches Spike!”

“Aww shucks,” he said waving a claw, “just making what I know you like.”

Starlight giggled. “Well thank you then.” She took another bite out of the bread, her cheeks colored with a soft redness.

Twilight tried her hardest to not even glance at Starlight. There was a feeling of danger if she looked at her. Her eyes chose to look around the table, at the many kinds of nice food besides the cupcakes and sandwiches. Spike had truly gone all out with Starlight returning.

Starlight noticed. She put down her food and raised an eyebrow at Twilight. She smiled.

“Hello,” she said, waving softly at the princess, “have we met before?”

“Huh?” Twilight muttered, her head brusquely turning to Starlight. “Uh…”

Starlight tittered. “Sorry, you just didn’t say hi.”

“Oh…” Twilight said. Her words drifted off as her eyes locked on Starlight’s own.

The interaction had gotten a chuckle from Spike. “Well, she probably forgot with how long you were gone!”

Starlight made a nervous laugh. “Hahaha… yeah…”

Twilight didn’t even hear what they were saying. All her attention went to Starlight, in whose eyes she swore she could see a faint, reddish phosphorescence dance around her pupils and iris.

“Twiliiiight~,” Starlight insisted, “what’s so pretty about my eyes?”

Spike laughed noticeably this time, snapping Twilight out of her trance. “You’re on fire Starlight!”

“Oh, I’m just trying to be more ‘active’ you know?” She responded in a tone that Twilight didn’t consider normal. It was too smug. Too joyous.

“I’m sure you would!” Twilight suddenly said, deciding to follow Starlight’s game. “I mean… you haven’t talked to us in over two days! I’m sure there is a lot of stuff that you’d like to tell us.”

This seemed to catch Starlight off guard, whose expression changed with surprise.

I got you now, thought Twilight, now smiling herself at Starlight.

However, to her surprise, Starlight’s smile returned, and, closing her eyes, she turned her forelegs elbows down, raising her hooves and tapping them together under her muzzle. She let out an uncharacteristically dark chuckle, which made Twilight’s nervousness grow.

“Yeah… I was going to tell you about that in private,” she said in a strange tone. She shrugged. “But I guess I can talk about it now.

“I thought it was something important, but it was a false alarm. I could bore you with the details, but believe me; it’s unnecessary and doesn’t deserve your worry.” She looked at Twilight with a relaxed yet slightly ambivalent stare. “I am sorry I worried you, but I was a little lost and confused those days. All is well now though. I have figured it out. When you least expect it, this will all seem like a fussy dream.”

She turned to look at Spike. “I’m sorry for worrying you too Spike. I should have assured you two I was fine, just concentrated. But, like I said and insist, it was nothing to worry, in the end. I guess I blew things out of proportion due to fear. I was naïve, and I hurt you.

“Now look at us! Sharing a nice dinner together. We don’t have to pressure ourselves with imaginary weights anymore! I promise you, things will get much better from now on. I have taken more control over myself, I have learned from my mistakes in magic and my impulsiveness. Believe me, you are better not knowing all the useless work I did those two days.”

“Uh… okay?” Spike said with a dubitative smile. “I’m just happy you are fine.”

“Yes… we both are.” Twilight followed, looking down at the table, not really focusing on it.

“I’m happy to hear that,” ‘Starlight’ said with a seemingly genuine smile.

The rest of the dinner was ‘Starlight’ exchanging with Spike, since Twilight kept herself on her thoughts. Sometimes Spike would call her attention about whatever he was commenting with the other mare, to which she gave weak smiles and chortles. Spike seemed to get on her case, but whenever he looked about to ask her what was wrong, ‘Starlight’ would change the subject, quickly starting to talk about something else.

Later, plates were left on the sink, leftovers on the refrigerator, and Twilight said she was going to bed early. Closing the door behind her calmly, she sat on her bed, pondering.

She had thought if she drove ‘Starlight’ to a corner, she would try to isolate herself again, or something similar. Instead, she had found out that ‘Starlight’ knew very well what she was doing. It was easy to tell, however, that it wasn’t the same mare she had known. Her tone, her wording… it was all wrong.

Enveloped in magenta magic, the drawer of her desk opened revealing the copied diary inside.

Twilight levitated the book to herself, and merely looked at the cover.

Whatever the Sagae and Masogda were, they had taken hold of Starlight. And, as the Princess of Friendship and Starlight’s tutor, it was her responsibility to cure Starlight before it was too late.

But how?

Her sleepy mind wouldn’t let her think. If she wasted more time, the danger would grow, but if she let herself get weak, ‘Starlight’ would surely take the chance.

Her eyelids began to get heavy, and she yawned. Maybe sleeping was the better option. She wouldn’t get results if she tried to work with a tired mind.

However, this time she dreamt. About a shifting shape that strode and slid in the dark, always hidden. And Twilight merely glanced at it sideways, too afraid to look at it directly for too long. Fortunately for her, the shape never approached, and she wasn’t even sure if there would be a shape to see.

A most ghastly smell stabbed Octavia’s nose, rudely pulling her out of her peaceful sleep.

It ran up her nostrils and, in her drowsy state, shot a sharp pain through her head that went all around her forehead and temples. She clenched her teeth in hurtful surprise, pulling her left hoof out of the bed covers and over to her head.

She groaned softly, her mind still clouded, but when she breathed in again, that horrid scent came in, startling her to full consciousness.

Sitting up, she chose to put her left hoof to her nose and breathe through her mouth. She would not be able to describe the odor exactly. It was strong, acid, and downright unpleasant. Not like the putridness of a dumpster, it was something different.

Reaching out with her unoccupied leg, she turned on the small but potent bedside table lamp. The dark was replaced by the plain brown walls of her room, along with her neatly organized instruments on one side—her favorite violin always prominent—, and music ornaments in their shelves on the other.

She stared right at the door in front of the bed, doubtful. She would probably have to find the source of the smell, since it would be impossible to conceal sleep with it in the air. A tinge of fear was what kept her from going out. Whatever was the source of that aroma, it couldn’t be normal.

Maybe it would go out on its own, or she’d get used to it. She decided to lower her hoof, and inhale through her nose.

Immediately her snout scrunched and she winced, covering her muzzle with both hooves, coughing, as she felt nauseous.

With a sigh close to a groan, she got off her bed and towards the door, her right hoof now on her nose. Opening it, a sudden thickness filled the ambience, which made it harder to breathe. Her lungs filled heavily with a weird, viscous air. Her eyes began to itch, and got teary. At the light coming from her bedroom, which dissipated enough of the black on the living room to see, she saw a pale fume float around.

Trying to fight through it, she stepped into the living room. It surprised her to see that Vinyl was not awake. The DJ had some of the deepest sleep, but there was no way it would’ve been enough to not notice that terrible stench. Nonetheless, she looked around, and her eyes fixated on the door.

She approached it slowly, disgusted at the sight. There was a small, glistening puddle right under the door, bluish lumps like splattered jelly accompanying it.

She had found the source.

Not sure what to do, she slowly lowered her right hoof from her nose, still making sure she breathed through her mouth. The rest of her body seemed to retract while her leg reached out to the substance. Afraid, she hesitated, shivers running through her back, but she took a deep breath, and lightly touched its surface. Her teeth clenched with how cold it was, and the repulse she felt only grew when the sticky liquid trailed after her hoof like slobber.

“Hey.”

Her eyes widened, and her muscles tensed. In less than a second, she turned around to see another pony standing on the hallway that led to the kitchen. By the voice, she could tell they were a mare, but her features were hidden by the darkness. She could only faintly see her hooves, but she couldn’t make out the coat tone.

“Sorry about that, but it couldn’t find another way to enter.”

That voice… she had heard it before.

“What… what are you doing here? Who are you?!” Octavia demanded.

“Does that really matter?” The mare said, not with sarcasm or malice, but in a tone that suggested she genuinely thought her reasons for being here lacked importance.

“It doesn’t matter?!” Octavia’s own tone went from fearful to indignant. She rose her voice defensively. “You… you broke into my house!”

The mare let out a sound of surprise. Then, to Octavia’s fear, she began to laugh shrilly, a laugh not of joy, but of imbalance.

“Sorry… I’ve been a little lost lately,” her voice sounded broken, uneven. “It has been a pretty crazy week! With the visions… the calling… the memories of that temple…”

Octavia didn’t find any words to respond. She merely looked at the veiled face, becoming harder and harder to breathe with the pressure on her chest and the thickening air.

“Don’t bother to scream,” the mare said flatly, “I’ve put on soundproof spells. Not even your friend can hear you… or smell them.”

“T…them…?”

The mare didn’t respond. Instead, the darkness did, releasing more of that thick mist with a hiss, and Octavia’s face contorted in dread. She tried to scream, but all that came out was a weak whimper, as she saw the nightmarish thing emerge from behind the pony. The immense, amorphous, indescribable thing that oozed viscously into the room, a red phosphorescence appearing in the blackness above it all.

Ponyville woke with a scream. A scream from vocal cords most ponies had never heard before.

When the scared residents looked out their windows or stepped through their doors in worry, they saw a familiar white unicorn mare of messy blue mane; her characteristic purple glasses had been replaced with tears and an expression of absolute terror. She was running right towards princess Twilight’s castle, and nopony could call her attention.

“Has anypony seen Lyra?!” were the words that called everypony else’s attention. They came from another mare however, vanilla coat, pink with dark-blue curls, and lacking a horn.

“She wasn’t home for breakfast!” Bon Bon spoke with fear and desperation. “She’s never late! Has anypony seen her?!”

Nopony knew about Lyra’s whereabouts. Panic quickly began to spread. Without much organization, the denizens began a search. A clueless and headless, but determined search. Some went to encourage Bon Bon, but others still remembered DJ Pon-3 and that pungent scream. What happened to her?

Princess Twilight would get the answers. She received Pon-3 in her shaken, crying state. She rambled with a trembling voice, and, in the end, she only managed to ask Twilight to come to her house. Something horrible had happened, the marks were in the living room. Octavia could be in danger.

Twilight agreed to go without doubt. However, fear had also gripped her. The memories, those blasphemous contents on the diary crept slowly into her head, and thoughts began to fly again. As they both walked down the paved street, the sun seemed dimmer, with the sky covered in wispy shapes of black. The shadows looked longer, threatening, like giants of darkness.

Those that had been set loose. The Sagae. What were they? Did they feed? Were they intelligent? Could they be around Ponyville? Could they be under the darkness projected by the houses, watching her and the DJ as they walked? Did they even have a corporeal shape?

The house of the musicians was visible. A fetid odor filled the air.

And when she opened the door, with the wave of foul smell bursting out, weaponizing the disgusting coat of bluish sticky slime that covered the whole room tinted with soft, blood-like red, she had to fight to not faint right at the spot, the first time she would’ve fainted of nothing but horror in her life.

Mustering up all her strength, she told Pon-3 not to worry and to stay in somepony else’s house meanwhile if she could. Pon-3 merely nodded, shutting her eyes and hanging her head down. A few tears fell to the floor. Twilight didn’t notice, since she had begun to make her wobbly walk back towards the castle.

The world began to feel distant. It spun and faded slowly, becoming unreal.

Rainbow Dash suddenly landed in front of Twilight, bringing her back to reality again. The things in the shadows still tittered maliciously.

“Sorry!” Rainbow exclaimed with a sheepish smile. “I was in a rush looking for you.”

Twilight’s eyes shifted, staring at Rainbow. They didn’t focus fully on her.

“I guess you already know what’s going on,” Rainbow continued, “It’s bad, we haven’t found Lyra and we’ve looked over half of Ponyville.”

Twilight didn’t respond. The shadows shifted.

Rainbow raised an eyebrow. “Are you okay?” upon not getting a response, she waved her hoof in front of Twilight’s face. “Hellooo? Equestria to Twilight?”

Twilight’s eyes widened, and they finally managed to focus on Dash.

The Pegasus frowned. “Have you been staying up late again?”

Trying to clear her brain, Twilight shook her head. “No… I…” She grunted when a sharp pain shot through her head, and she fell to her haunches, rising her hooves to rub her temples.

“Twilight?” Rainbow’s voice echoed far away.

Twilight couldn’t respond. The Ponyville houses seemed to fade, slowly turning dead and gray. The clouds turned toxic, the sun wavered and weakened. The stone towers rose high, and that shape, the formless thing from her dream lurked around again, haunting, but never approaching.

“Twilight!” Rainbow shouted, grabbing Twilight’s shoulders.

Everything returned as it should be. Twilight stared right at Rainbow and nothing else.

“Go get some rest, okay?” she assured, “we’ll take care of the problems.”

Twilight took a few seconds before nodding, and shakily standing up.

“Uh… before you go though,” Rainbow said awkwardly, “did Vinyl tell you what was going on? Uh, DJ Pon-3, I mean.”

“It was something with Octavia,” Twilight said.

“Oh?” Rainbow’s tone turned curious, with a drop of fear. “Is… is she okay?”

She’s dead.

“She’s also missing,” Twilight responded.

“Oh shoot!” Rainbow’s wings opened, “I better tell the rest then!”

With that, Rainbow shot into the sky with a multicolored trail following behind her. Twilight looked until she was out of sight. Then, she simply continued walking, until she reached the castle.

Nobody received her at home. Not Spike, not Starlight.

She went straight to Starlight’s room. She looked under the bed, as well as in, under and behind her furniture. Framed pictures were thrown in frustration, the whole room was almost trashed.

No sight of either of those books, nor the diary.

She entered her room, and opened the drawer on her desk.

The copy was gone.

She threw herself in bed, looking at the roof of the canopy.

Everything was breaking down.

She had to find Trixie. She had to stop Starlight. But all her energy and resolution had vanished, replaced by the sight of those grotesque glimpses, the infernal revelations of the diary. Had she dreamed that? Had something finally snapped in her after years of pressure in saving the world?

She didn’t have time to debate, as her world slowly turned to black, and her eyelids closed over her eyes. And her dreams were plagued again by those dark unshaped things, what she thought could be the Sagae, and their Lord, Masogda, looming in the distance.

4. An Offering

She was running.

No place to go, but she ran. As fast as she could, with all her fear and distress fueling her, she ran and ran, adrenaline strengthening her muscles that carried her through the obstacles, the tiny light above her being the only guide.

A bush branch cut into one of her hind legs, and she fell. Her lower jaw hit the dirt floor, sending a wave of electric pain through her teeth. The injury on her leg already began to burn. She ignored it, stumbling to her hooves and began sprinting again. Her gait became slower; she couldn’t place her back leg right. It hurt. But, even if her whole leg were to be cut off, it would never compare to what would happen if they caught her.

How did she get here? She was in the castle… then a void. A lapse in her memory she couldn’t push through. It irritated her. No matter how hard she tried, she couldn’t remember after she felt they were tugging at her brain, after her will began to fade.

She tripped again. A rock she didn’t see. It hit her front hoof, another shock of pain. She clenched her teeth, and this time made sure to not fall on her face. Her other leg paid the prize, although it was small compared to her back and right legs.

She grunted as she pushed herself up. She could try to teleport, but she didn’t know where to. Besides, they could still find her, or worse, threaten to hurt her loved ones. Fighting was out of the question, magic couldn’t affect them.

She yelped when her right leg gave out. Her hoof hurt so much. She began to sob. She had to try something, anything. Again, she attempted to push herself up, and her horn began to glow brighter.

Her mind was struck.

The magic flow stopped, and her head boiled as if it was going to explode. She screamed through her clenched teeth, grabbing her head with her front legs. It was calling, ordering, shouting at her. The machination couldn’t continue without her. She shouted back.

“Leave me alone! Stop!”

It kept its grasp on her mind for a few seconds before deciding to comply. As the incorporeal tendrils retracted, Starlight stayed belly-down on the floor.

She kept her eyes closed as tears flowed from them, wetting her hooves. Her sore muscles began to loosen, not from tranquility, but surrender.

She didn’t even bother to look or move when she heard the sloshing and damp shifting that slowly crawled up behind her.

At least they would cure her injuries.

Twilight woke with a jolt.

She shot up straight, clutching the covers against her chest.

Her gaze was lost, looking past the wall, into her dream-memories. Her breathing was shaky and cold drops ran down her temples.

There were the shadows, the crawling and running, the colossal thing looming above, and then…

She sighed.

Letting the covers go, she got off the bed, dropping on her hooves. It was dark. The day had gone by in a second; she couldn’t lose more time. She could only hope nothing else had happened, but if nopony had disturbed her, chances were things stayed calm. Maybe they even found the missing ponies.

She shook her head. She would be lying to herself if she believed that.

She didn’t feel rested. It felt like she had fainted, rather than falling asleep. That could explain why she was out so long.

Now she had to make some kind of plan. Without the Elements of Harmony, the best immediate options she had were vanishing or imprisoning spells. Problem was, the old unicorn tribe learned how to seal them via connecting directly to the “hive-mind”. Magic had come a long way since then though. If Starlight could vanish Discord himself, it could work on the Sagae.

‘We understood the why of their shape and nature, since they came from another realm of what we may call infinity…’

But what if it didn’t? Would magic apply the same way to something that comes from somewhere else, wherever that may be? And wouldn’t Starlight have tried it already, before they took her?

She shook her head again. There was no point in overthinking it anymore. She was out of options, and she lacked knowledge. The only thing she had was a symbol that Starlight had scribbled seemingly at random. Some kind of branch or un-webbed leaf. If it was a sigil, she would use it, somehow. For now, she could only go with her great arsenal of spells that hopefully wouldn’t become useless.

A chill ran down her back, and doubt began to accumulate around her. The feeling of duty, however, was enough to push her past the growing swirl of fear, past her bedroom door, and into the hall.

She stood there for a few seconds. There was a growing feeling of paranoia, of impending danger from something invisible, of something intelligent that heard her every step and movement. Her ears flicked and shifted, trying to hear back.

And she heard.

“…it’s almost ready… waiting past the walls…”

Starlight.

All her attention poured into the voice. She tried to make out as much as possible, but it was far away, probably at the entrance.

“The words… no need to worry… very little…”

She was tempted to get closer, but she couldn’t risk alerting Starlight, and whoever—or whatever—was with her.

“…in the wagon…”

Her eyes widened. She had forgotten. It had slipped her mind, brushed aside by everything else. The enveloping doubt was fed by guilt, by the fact she had forgotten about Trixie and her own promise to be there for her.

“…blood… needs an offering…”

The swirl of emotion didn’t engulf her. Instead, it concentrated and pierced right through her stomach, which contracted in response.

But before she could think about what she heard, another feeling immediately followed. Some kind of buzzing, a mental brume suddenly surged on her head. Like a pulsation that came from all around her. Yet, at the same time, it flowed right unto and from her mind. It began to cloud her senses, wavering in her cranium. Her ears felt plucked, only a soft ringing audible. Her vision began to slowly blur. There wasn’t any strong pain, but she felt lightheaded.

She began to lose balance. She sat down, trying to focus her sight on her forelegs, which shifted and doubled. Twilight rubbed her eyes, and then pressed her hooves against the bridge of her nose, her face pulled in a wince of nausea.

She tried to move as little as possible. That seemed to work, as the disorientation began to fade. Her hearing came back and the ringing faded, and when she lowered her hooves from her face, there were only two of them, now clear.

“What… ow!” She shut one of her eyes when a small knot of pain went through her temples. She rose a hoof to her head. “What was…?”

Her ears suddenly flicked, catching sounds again. She thought there were steps, Starlight walking out of the castle, and something else she couldn’t quite make out.

Time was running out. She sprinted down the hall, and her mind began to work again. Dealing with ‘Starlight’ would be another problem. There was a chance whatever used Starlight’s body maybe didn’t know everything about magic. Unless it was only mind control, then they would know each and every spell Starlight had at her disposal. Friendly magic competitions already showed Starlight was a formidable opponent, and she had already fought her seriously once, although she was sure neither of them truly wanted to hurt each other. How would a fight without moral restraints turn out? She didn’t want to hurt her, but ‘Starlight’ would surely have less hesitation.

‘It eats at the mind and replaces it with its own essence, making use of the body, like a puppet of meat…’

She gritted her teeth, as her brows knitted and tightened. She couldn’t accept that. There had to be a way. She would stop ‘Starlight’ and then bring her friend back. Nopony, no creature, nothing would take her loved ones away from her.

Anger began to surface in her heart, pushing through all the dubiety and paranoia that pressed her down. She began to run faster, with more determination, but it wasn’t long before the air became poisonous, and acrid.

She had arrived, there was the door to the entrance room. The horrible stench already seeped through the door, making her face scrunch. As she began to breathe through her mouth, the memory of the stained living room—the deathbed of Octavia—flashed through her skull.

Why didn’t she at least help DJ Pon-3 clean? Would that have even helped? A hideous thing, which left its gruesome mark, had defiled her house and she had just left, far too encased in her own mind to try to help.

Twilight shook her head with force. There was no point, it had already been done. She would fix Starlight, she would fix her and they would once again greet each other in the morning, have breakfast together, speak about their problems and things they liked and have fun in friendly magic competitions and experiments that didn’t have to do with age-old entities and promises of the world’s end.

All she had to do was say yes. All she needed to do was to explain herself and say yes. Instead she went all bossy and upset her friend. And now she had once again unleashed the greatest threat to everything she knew and loved. No excuses this time, no lack of insight or knowledge. It had all been her fault.

With tears flooding her eyes and heaving breaths, she almost tore off the door with her magic, throwing it open with a scream of rage.

The puddle of sludge was there, uneven and loathsome. She ignored the nasty lumps in it, instead following the trail that went towards the open door.

Her eyes widened slightly, the dripping tears stopping for a moment. That hadn’t happened with the musicians’ house. She tried to control her energetic panting, and walked towards the door, eyes still on the lining of slime.

The door was wide enough for the thing, since the whole threshold wasn’t covered in slobber. Careful not to touch the substance, she stepped out into the cold, fresh night air. A bit of relief came over her since she could breathe better without the compacted smell of the air inside the castle. She took a few calming breaths, her beating heart slowing its rhythm. She wiped the tears she had left, and looked over the trail again. It went further into town, as if a giant snail had crawled through the dirt street.

She didn’t think about the monster being in town again, or wherever it may be going. Instead, she looked up. The moon was bright, looking down at her like a great white eye, lacking a pupil to see. Around it, the stars twinkled and sparkled, making up the many constellations she had devoted to learning as a filly.

She looked right at the starry sky, at the stars she had once wished to reach in childish fantasy, the points of white or blue light that always hid away from the sun.

Starlight had mentioned stars, Twilight thought, stars that beckoned… yet mocked…

Did they come from the stars? Or from somewhere beyond them?

The light from the celestial bodies reflected in her eyes. She kept her gaze on them, as if awaiting a response. However, the stars stayed silent, as always, preferring to keep their many secrets to themselves. They didn’t mock or beckon to her. They just stared back, quietly.

She hung her head, letting air out heavily through her nose. Maybe it was for the best that they never responded. Besides, it wasn’t like she would understand them either.

She turned back to the stinking slime, and began to walk besides it, hoping it would guide her towards an unseen, but known destination.

With the dim moonlight, the darkness hesitated to cover the woods, but the strange leaves of the crooked trees aided the dark in its purpose. In spite of that, another, softer light shoved the shadows away, keeping them at bay, unable to engulf the creature that produced it.

Even then, the whitish magenta point of clarity on the tip of her horn wasn’t necessary. The spectral light of the night sky broke through the twisted branches enough so the world was visible. But the cold air and bulky, callous trunks made Twilight’s senses stay sharp, her ears were tense, flicking attentively for any sound, and her eyes hurt in their attempt to dilate and look further, deeper into the eerie forest around her. The light spell, at least, gave her a minimal but welcome sense of security, even though the beast that had stained the dirt and left the bushes dripping would probably not care for her magical candle.

The trail was constant, always straight, without turns or changes in direction, even in seemingly impossible spaces, like prickly brambles or between two closely grown trees. Twilight had to encircle or fly over these locations, though she never went above the trees, scared that she may lose the messy, odorous streak.

The last obstacle were some deformed roots that bulged from the ground. After that, a change in scenery finally happened. Her breath caught in her throat, and her heart hammered against her chest.

There wasn’t a clearing, nor an opening between the trees. Nature had been merciless, but failed in its task to devour the elder building that still stood tall. The tower got lost in the shrouding arms of the trees, leaving the steeple—if there was one—unseen. Vines, moss and greenish-brown stains had managed to cover the walls, but some of the shapes on the flint had already been there a long time ago, carved on its foundation.

Twilight stared, mouth open, eyes wide, standing in front of the shattered stone steps that had strands of grass, glistening with fetid ichor, growing in them.

She was here. She was finally seeing it. The source of everything that was wrong. The reason Starlight wasn’t the same.

Her eyes shifted from the stairs, to the open passage that they led to, a rectangular chasm in the Temple’s forth, then back at the stairs.

For a few seconds she stood there, afraid. She was still shocked; even with all the proof, what she had gone through, it still felt unreal. Had this building really been here since before Equestria itself was founded, possibly even further back?

She closed her eyes, focusing. She took a deep breath, opening her wings, her horn lighting up fully. With risen defenses, she began to take wary steps forwards. She firmly stepped up the stairs, ignoring the strong stench of the slime beside her.

She couldn’t ignore, however, the returning, growing paranoia, the extreme maliciousness that the corroded stone-house in front of her reeked, the fact that the trees at the edge of her vision seemed to lean in, their branches lowering, their roots rising like giant claws. She ended up looking to the left, to the right, behind her shoulders. She had the unending pressure to watch out from every direction, to keep an eye on everything, may something miry move and brush on her side, or jump towards her, or bite right into her neck with needle-teeth and glowing eyes.

The only reason she didn’t raise a shield was because her mind told her she was being irrational, and that would mean she was succumbing to fear. Her gut screamed loudly however, and her rapidly beating heart didn’t help in the slightest.

Her eyes finally settled in something when she reached the top, beside the unclean, gaping entrance. Under the light of her spell, she saw a plate about the size of the door-hole, which looked as if it were brand new, since there wasn’t any moss, or any kinds of organic life for that matter, covering it. The only thing on it was the symbol. The five-armed branch, painted white, with uneven drips that ran down dry and still.

It is a sigil! she thought, as a small spark of hope flashed in her eyes.

She looked at it attentively, memorizing every curve and length, saving its exact shape in her mind. She still wasn’t sure how she could use it. Maybe she could project it with her magic, but the fact that it was drawn on a solid object gave her doubts. She thought about maybe engraving it on a stone or branch with her magic, but then what was she supposed to do with the thing? Wave it around?

She sighed, looking at the opening. With a full glow of her horn, she tried to clean the viscous substance away, but confusion arose in her face when, no matter how hard she tried, she seemingly couldn’t even make contact with the substance.

Realization suddenly set heavily, painfully, throughout her chest and abdomen. If a simple levitation spell didn’t work on some slobber… What about all her other spells?

The concentrated darkness of the entrance felt almost alive, about to ooze out pressing at the seams. Twilight stared at the hole as if it extended forever forward, further and further away, black and cold, inapprehensible, an abyss of uncertainty that was sure to devour her reason, her normalcy.

Her heart was beating so hard she could feel the pounding in her neck, in her ears. She shortly managed to break the visual connection with the dark rectangle, floating up a pebble from the green-gray floor. From her horn a zap was shot, and the rock now had the branch-like sigil engraved on it.

She turned back to the nighted gulf cut from stone, holding the improvised amulet close to her chest. For a reason she could only guess came from the sigil, a small wave of serenity washed over her, although it was far too weak to clear off her crushing fear, her screaming, incessant paranoia that hadn’t left her since she came out of her room.

She wouldn’t step on the revolting slobber. Instead, she made the point of light she held above her brighter, and she managed to see some of the floor inside the Temple. Bright, red and immaculate, it was the complete opposite of the outside. There wasn’t even a drop of the acrid pus, which brusquely cut off, besides some drippings that had slid in.

Her horn began to glow brighter, but this time the magic burst in a flash that enveloped her for a second, leaving nothing of her or the rock behind.

She reappeared in another flash inside the Temple. When she reopened her eyes, she took a few steps back, startled.

Instead of unending blackness, there was a wall. A tall stone wall that, like the outside of the temple, was highly carved, senseless lines and curves covering the whole expanse.

Her eyes weren’t on the wall however, but in the thing embedded in it. What seemed to be an inky black orb, like a spider’s eye, protruded from the grey surface. As her mind tried to make sense of the engravings, she realized that almost all of them seemed to intersect, or start in the orb, extending outwards like waves or rays.

She looked back, finding only a tangible darkness where the only exit should’ve been a few steps away.

Her breathing was already disheveled again. She kept her eyes in the dark for a few seconds, not daring to look away. An object floating on her line of sight broke her trembling vigilance. She stared at the small sigil, still steaming slightly on the pebble.

Unsure, she floated it against the dark, simply leaving it suspended in midair. Her gaze stayed for a moment on the tiny rock, seemingly helpless against the vast, threatening darkness that filled everything in front of it.

Her ears flopped down as she turned back to the blackened sphere. Once again there was a pause, nothing was said or done. Twilight was truly now without lead or direction, lost inside a building whose nature itself seemed defiant. The entire floor was only red, flat and uniform. She was sure she had concentrated her thoughts right on that point in the front of the entrance.

She didn’t even think of doing what happened next. The Temple—or the presence within it—suddenly seemed to envelop her, to press against her, to affect her own decisions, as her horn suddenly began to flare, and Twilight could do nothing but look up in terror as a ray of magenta energy shot out against her will, and struck the shimmering orb right in the center.

The output was short, but Twilight’s muscles stayed tense, almost sore, with her eyes fixated on the increasingly shining sphere, whose light started as a point, and now filled its entire circumference, almost no magenta shade left with the blinding white that was taking over.

Nonetheless, she didn’t have to cover her eyes, since in a brusque turn, the sphere changed color, tinting her face and walls with the most horrid, seething shade of radiant red.

A single pulsation followed, a wave that flowed through all the lines and markings. Then, they were slowly filled with the red phosphorescence, not becoming clearer, but blinding, terrifying. Nebulous shapes and geometrical figures gained a burning life, and they seemed to shift and waver in place, as if the red filling them was brume.

Everything faded suddenly, expect a branchy arm, which Twilight, maybe in coincidence, thought looked similar to a neuron’s axon. It went far into the right, barely visible in the dark, until it went out of view.

Now she had a direction to follow.

She ignored everything that had just transpired, placing her mind deep in the present. Never seizing her illumination spell, she followed the axon, the sound of her hooves echoing into the shrouded insides. The axon went relatively straight, though it twisted or crooked brusquely at some points. The red light inside it pulsated slowly, and at some point Twilight thought she could hear a soft buzzing. She didn’t bother to stop and check. She just wanted to finish this.

She had already lost her sense of time. Had she spent minutes, hours, maybe a day going forth, down by the red river? Maybe, since her legs were getting slightly sore, but her alicorn stamina kept her going. The only change was around the red arm. The numerous carvings, once so chaotic and shapeless, not following any patrons, began to lower. There was never a defined shape, just less lines, less angles overlapping and fussing.

She reached a point where there were barely a few random lines thrown here and there, always around the axon now, never intersecting it like the ones before. She didn’t notice, or at least didn’t pay attention to it, now basically categorizing the changes on her surroundings subconsciously. She kept a steady, trotting pace, her senses still alert, her defenses still risen. Her mind hadn’t forgotten of that feeling, of some crouching thing waiting behind the shadows. She didn’t look at the darkness, however, only forward or at the red branch. If she looked right at the massive pit beside her, she would be paralyzed again.

Her gaze and almost blank expression only changed when her surroundings changed. She hadn’t noticed it at first, but the single line of red suddenly spread, dividing into many dendrites that spread out. And it formed an image.

At the center, there was a vast splotch or mass of red. From it sprouted many appendages or dendrites that connected to things around it. Guessing by the shape the light took in this carving, Twilight guessed the artist had attempted to imitate a cloud, or something that was cloud-shaped, since its edges were irregular, making it formless. However, while this was the center of the carved scene, being the biggest figure, it was its surroundings—the things that the cloud connected to—what made Twilight give a low, but horrified gasp, her expression tensing in a grimace of terror.

There were some sort of beings, far too hideous and deformed to be any animal she knew, making most, if not all beasts in Tartarus pale in comparison. Their bodies didn’t have a defined shape, seemingly lacking any kind of bone structure, only a few tentacular growths or pseudopods that varied in number acting as extremities. At best, she could say they were proboscidean, since from their heads—if a bloated globe can be called a head—sprouted a sort of trunk, ended in a sucker or mouth she couldn’t quite make out. The worse wasn’t their appearance however, but the things they did to their companions, that, while they didn’t glow red, were still visible under her own magenta illumination.

Ponies. Pegasi, unicorns and earth ponies alike, being attacked, grabbed, and devoured by those bestialities, with crudely made, but still evocative expressions, desperately running, screaming for help.

She didn’t break eye contact, not until her vision lowered, following the tendrils from the central shape that went down, and she would wish she could erase that from her memory, that the blasphemy carved on that wall was just her overloaded imagination playing a sickening joke.

The thin, red appendages didn’t finish on another monster. It finished in a pony. A pony that, as soon as she placed her eyes on them, made the extreme distress be joined by familiarity. A pony with a streaked mane and tail, with the horn of a unicorn, and a cutie mark, carved in detail, glowing with that hellish red that had haunted her since the start…

Twilight managed to open her wings in time and cover her mouth, so she could stifle the piercing scream that tried to come out at the top of her lungs. She almost fell as she backed away, a heartrending fear coiling around her chest, slithering around her ribs and lungs, crushing them, making it harder to breathe right. She went back until the blasphemy against her control over her own sane world was out of sight. Then she sat down, wings still over her mouth. Now they weren’t trying to stifle a scream, but to control the extreme nausea that had suddenly come over her.

She ended up lowering her wings, raising her head and trying to breathe, which came out as shaky panting, cold sweat running down her forehead. Her stomach felt like it had become a single point, feeling the pressure on her bosom and throat, which bobbed with each raspy breath. She ended up coughing, her head palpitating in pain.

It’s not real… It’s not real…

Suddenly, her eyes opened. She looked around, but there was only darkness. When a literal hole seemed to be tearing open in her abdomen, she let her horn flare fully, searching.

The stone… where’s the stone…

She felt something. Her eyes widened, and she pulled with her magic. The tiny stone with the powerful symbol floated at exceeding speed towards her. Her hooves were stretched out towards it, almost like a frightened filly reaching for her teddy bear. Twilight grabbed the stone as it were one, holding it to her chest with her hooves, closing her eyes, and trying to normalize her breathing.

Her heart pushed against the solid pebble, right on the face where the sigil was. Twilight tried to ignore, to reject the whispers, the cackles from the demons in the dark around her, the same demons from her dreams, the same she felt first in the shadows at Ponyville.

If she had her eyes open, she would’ve seen the rock glowing softly, the sigil brightening and dimming in rhythm with her heart. Each beat sent a calming wave through her whole body. The hairs in her back lowered slowly, the trickling sensation on them fading. Her muscles loosened, her breathing rightened. Her paranoia stayed, but she couldn’t hear the demons anymore.

She opened her eyes, staring at the solid dark for a few seconds. Her senses began to reopen to the outside, and her ears began to attempt to hear something, anything. Before, there had been an almost absolute silence, only the very soft, possibly illusionary humming of the accursed red axon breaking it. Now, her ears caught something else. Something she recognized. For a second, that glowing image floated back into her mind, but she pushed it back to her subconscious, concentrating, once again, in the present, in the unintelligible vocalizations she was hearing, that could barely be qualified as words.

“H’ee-lgob fk’nee… ya-b’thm… ph’bme Masogda… n´ghai, Yog-Sothoth…”

For some reason, it took her awhile to notice. The words, guttural and seemingly without meaning, didn’t come from the distance. They came from right behind her.

She practically jumped to her hooves, turning brusquely, horn shining. She floated the rock and left it suspended between her and what was in front of her. Her defensive stance fell immediately when she saw the scene of dementia, but the rock stayed in its position.

There was, what at first glance seemed like a rock, but was far too uneven to be a natural one. What gave away its intelligent origins were the many light-absorbing holes in its surface.

‘The eyes, the eyes darker than black, they are opening again.’

It seemed to extend across the floor, which she now noticed had two golden streaks that lead towards the statue. It was as if it was melted, spreading around like water. It stayed solid, however, never disappearing from her sight, as much as she wanted it and the whole scene to be an illusion.

Beside it, was Trixie, laying on the floor, her head resting against one of the stone roots. With her limp but accommodated legs, she looked peaceful, as if she was asleep, her silver mane and tail in almost perfect condition. The crimson liquid that ran out a cut in her neck told otherwise, trickling down the gray foot of the statue and into some of the red floor. The stain wasn’t big, but she could suffer severe blood loss if the wound wasn’t treated.

In front of the statue, was her. A completely disheveled dark purple mane and tail with aquamarine streaks, sitting down with her hooves raised in seeming praise. There was a common, but sharp kitchen knife beside her, already stained with red.

“N’gah n-yha Yog-Sothoth… cf’ayak, gh’fom bwan, muggodon, Masogda…”

Starlight lowered her hooves, letting them rest on the floor in a normal sitting position. Then, she got up, each step echoing deep into the lightless chamber and into Twilight’s head, who stared at the mare with eyes that screamed disbelief.

Twilight didn’t really react when Starlight turned to face her. Somehow, Starlight had managed to cut a deep gash into her chest just with that kitchen knife. The reddish dark liquid had completely stained her torso, and continued to drip against the floor. Her face didn’t show any pain, her eyes were both lightless and alive, and she actually received Twilight with a small smile.

“You’re here… It took you awhile.”

Author's Note

Finally got time to post this. The chapter had been ready about a week ago, but school assignments ate up all my time.
I was planning to finish the story this month, sadly, I couldn't. I really should make some kind of schedule.
Hopefully, I'll finish it this year at least. We are close to the end!

P.D.: I'm not sure if I should add the gore tag.