Unbound

Unbound

By Sojourner

Can't you see me hiding here,

Out amongst the trees?

Can't you tell the difference, then,

Between the many leaves?

Luna sighed and sat up in her bed, her sheets making little more than a whisper of sound. She looked out her window at the magnificent moon, just rising over the horizon.  It did little to raise her spirits. She had had the dream again. And it was getting worse.

Unable to stay in bed, Luna slid out from under the silk bedsheets, and moved to her vanity. Her hair was a mess from tossing and turning all night. She smiled as she looked herself over. She actually liked her hair like this. It always made her wonder what it would be like to be normal, to be able to leave her room without brushing her hair, or putting on her shoes, or pruning her wings, let alone the makeup she used to accent her features and hide the bags that had been developing under her eyes from the constant harassment of the dream. She gave a small chuckle before levitating her hairbrush out of its drawer. Even if she didn't particularly feel like brushing her hair, the long bristles always felt amazing as they ran through her hair and across her head, tickling and scratching and leaving her feeling fresh.

This dream had been haunting her for a while now, ever since her return. She shuddered again at the image of Nightmare Moon. Each time she attacked, her fangs never quite touched flesh, but Luna knew those fangs were inching ever closer each time. The storm also grew worse each time, and this was the first time the mast had broken off the ship. She wasn't quite sure what the dream entailed, but she knew it couldn't be anything good. Something was coming. And it made her even more uncomfortable to think it might involve her.

She began her daily scavenger hunt for her shoes. The small silver dainties she wore on her hooves were always hidden in the most unusual places, whether under the bed or on top of the bookshelf. She'd even managed to find one out in the flower box hanging from the window sill once.

She had analyzed each part of the dream, but it never came out quite clear what it meant. Being the connoisseur of dreams, her own were still quite a mystery. The only sense she could make out of it was some sort of impending doom.

The one fact that always bugged her, though, was the very, very beginning of the dream, before the storm would begin. The ship would be full of ponies, the sky bright and cheery, and the sun shining down. And always it would end the same. The ship devoid of life, the inhabitants fled, the sun blotted out by the clouds. Luna knew the sun represented Celestia. It always did in the few lucid dreams she remembered. Each time before, the sun had always been there to comfort her at the end, its rays warming her no matter the circumstance. But what of it this time? Was something different between her and Celestia now? Were those rays of shining light forever lost to her now? Was Celestia's devotion to her sister gone?

Luna shook her head, trying to dislodge the thought from her head. Celestia was her sister. Luna knew Celestia loved her. She had to. They were siblings. Though, the more she thought about it, the more recent events had caused her to doubt that very sentiment.

Finally finding the last shoe hidden in the dumbwaiter, she slipped it on her hoof. She looked into its reflective silver, seeing only a sad and confused pony looking back at her.

The ponies abandoning the ship was of significance as well, she knew. It was a reflection of how things were now. She had few friends beyond her night-guard, and even those friends were cursory at best. She was almost always alone. And that was the thing she hated most of all about controlling the night.

Not that she had taken care of the night anytime recently. Celestia had not seen it fit to return that duty to Luna yet. The only thing she could ask was why? The answer was always the same; either because Celestia didn't feel Luna had recovered, or, more recently, that they would talk about it later. Luna had barely spoken with her sister since she had returned, and those few times they managed to have time together, it always felt awkward. Luna couldn't quite put her hoof on it. Was it because her sister had changed? Was she not the sibling she had known? Or was it Luna who had changed? Did Celestia resent her?

The final dab of makeup under her eyes finished her evening sprucing. She wondered why she even bothered though. Almost all ponies slept during the night, so there was no one to actually impress or show good face to.

She looked at herself in the mirror. Again, she saw the hurt in her eyes.

Not this time.

She forced herself rigid, her eyes taking on their usual mask of shrewd cunning. This time, she would make Celestia tell her why. This time Luna would know for certain her sister's plan.

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What... What is this?

Oh, good! You can talk back! I was almost afraid for a moment the Spectre had taken all forms of communication away from you!

Twilight was taken aback by the suddenness of the situation. Her mouth opened and closed rapidly, her attempts to speak in vain.

“Twilight! What's wrong?” Spike spoke again, this time fear riddling his tone. “Say something!”

I don't how how many times I can apologize, Twilight. I am really, really sorry for this, but just listen for a few moments, okay?

Something touched her shoulder, and Twilight jumped away instinctively, hunching down and trying to see what had touched her.

“Twilight...”

What's going on here? What are you! Stop talking to me!  Twilight thought feverishly.

I see words aren't going to help. I'm going to have wait for you to calm down first. Just stop for a moment, and collect yourself. Think your words once your okay.

Twilight again felt something touch her, tentatively this time. The small clawed hand was warm against her clammy skin, a cold sweat having broken out across her body.

“Should I go get help?” Spike asked. Having managed to straighten her thoughts out, she nodded numbly. “Okay. Okay, I'll be right back! I'll go get Rarity. She's closest. Hopefully she'll know what to do.” Twilight nodded in response, and heard the patter of Spike's footsteps, and the quick opening and slamming of the front door.

So, are you better?  The voice said again.

Alright, I'm going to get some answers,  Twilight thought in the meanest voice she could imagine. First off, what is going on? Why can't I speak? Or even see, for that matter? And who in the hay are you?  She heard a sigh, or the voices version of a sigh in her head.

I'll do my best to explain. It's the least I owe you for this. The book you read the ritual from? I happen to be that book.

It took Twilight a moment to catch on.

So your-

An animate book, yes. And before you go off on me for this, let me explain, okay? I will do everything I can to fill you in.

Start talking.

I am an animate book, as I said. I was written with the express purpose of helping ponies find the right spell for the occasion. In this case, you needed something to undo the knot you had tied someone in, and a knot untying spell wasn't going to do the trick.

How do you know about what I did? And why wouldn't a knot untying spell have worked?

I need to be able to tell what you need, so quite clearly I am able to read into your thoughts. In a limited fashion, of course,  It added hastily when it felt Twilight mentally recoil at the thought, and through that limited telepathy, I could also tell that, well, your absolutely horrid when it comes to untying knots.

Twilight''s ears sunk a little bit. It was a rather strange aversion (as she liked to call it) she had,  but knots had never been one of her specialties. In fact, she had never managed to untie one with her magic. And Spike had been worked in such a good one there was no way simple manual labor would have done the trick.

So, I chose the next best thing I could think of, that being the time spell. And of course, as you can tell, that's gone horribly wrong.

Why?  Twilight thought in return. Why did it go wrong?

Because the Spectre woke up. If it hadn't of been so close to awakening,  you would have been fine.

Twilight was completely lost.

What in the name of Celestia is a Spectre? And why can't I see or talk?

I'm getting to that, almost there. I'll start with the Spectre. What it was, specifically, was a Death Spectre. What that means, is that is the creature which will ultimately be responsible for your death.

A strange numbness settled across Twilight. She had seen death? She had seen, quite literally, her own mortality?

Every pony has their own Death Spectre, the book continued, and these creatures feed off of your life force to sustain themselves. In the end, they maintain themselves while ending you. Now, using time spells pulls on the energy of the Spectre, making it wake faster and force it to pull more life from you to maintain itself. It doesn't realize this if it's asleep, but it just so happened yours was on the verge of waking anyways, which was the worst possible moment for the ritual. And it seems it decided on a rather impish way of taking the life it needed from you. It's taken your sight and your voice.

So, you mean...?

You are blind and mute, yes.

Twilight felt something inside her snap. The carefully constructed life she had made for herself here in ponyville was shattering. Without her eyes she couldn't read, and she had never learned braille. Without her voice, she couldn't speak. She couldn't debate, she couldn't lead, much less see where she was going. The snap let loose a wave of horror. Her limbs starting shaking, and her eyes began watering.

She couldn't read her books anymore. She couldn't hush Pinkie when she got of hand. She wouldn't even be able to watch Rainbow Dash when she performed a new trick. She began to sob, quietly. This wasn't something that bawling could even hope to represent. She sank to her knees, her head bowed down between her front legs, her tears running freely out onto the floor.

Twilight! Pull yourself together! I can fix this!

Twilight perked up at the thought.

What? But, how?

The how is easy, but I'm going to have to ask you to trust what I tell you. Can you do that?

Twilight nodded eagerly, a small smile forming on her lips.

Good. First things first, get to the front door. And don't stop for anything, understand? Even if you hear your friends voices, you can't stop. Understand?

But, why?

Simple. Your Death Spectre is awake, and more than likely very angry about what I'm doing. It will stop at nothing to keep you from gaining back what it has taken. Your friends may not even be your friends. Even Spike there was trying to keep you still, remember? Stay here, he said. If you stay here, we'll never manage to fix this.

Twilight moved carefully toward the stairs. Though she knew the library well enough, once outside she would be lost.

I'll be sure to tell you where to go once we're out the door,  the book reassured her.

With hope filling every step she took, Twilight edged out the front door.

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