Coat-Trotterby WindigogoGadgetChaptersIt Stares.Spike.ResearchBustIt Stares.Twilight Sparkle sat in the center of her room. There was nothing to do tonight, at the very least she didn't feel like doing anything. More accurately, for the first time in a while, she just wanted to sit down and enjoy some silent time before heading straight to bed. An unusual thing for her to do, with just about every time she's tried to simply 'wind down' having involved her finishing yet another almanac, story, or other tome that caught her interest in a mere eight hours and having caught zero rest whatsoever. But this time, she really did want to relax. The invasion, while repelled, and everypony had more or less gotten over it immediately once it was all said and done, had really done a number to her nerves. Especially her brief stint in the caves. She wanted to forget about the world altering realization that pony-predators existed, specifically to blend in an feast on emotions, at least for the time being. She'd been meaning to get into Daring Do a little bit more recently. A little bit of fantasy to escape to, so to speak. Safety in watching all the exciting events happen to someone else, instead of her for a change. Daring Do was guaranteed a win, because if she didn't, what would the author write next? Logically speaking, the book was too popular to simply be put down on a tragic note, and tragedy wasn't commonly read by most ponies. Besides, this Ahuizotl character seemed just a little goofy. No way it'd turn into something life-threatening like her own adventures. She picked up the book, and opened it up to the first page before shutting it gently. Fantasy was... Okay. But she was a little sick of adventures. She had a little bit of Spikes sleepy time tea, and he was out like a light in his basket. A chamomile blend of type, if the lightly fruity tones she detected underneath all the taste of rosehips were correct. Taking her teacup in her magic, she stepped out of her bed, and approached a window to look at the midnight sky. The dim yellow light inside her home shined through the window to the cold outside. The cool wind on her face as the air rushed in as the window was opened. Life. This was peaceful. A bit of time at home, maybe not buried in a book for now or running a friendship report, but this peace was something she enjoyed. A very small smile took to her face as she tried to make out various constellations from above. Manehatten was, for the most part, always lit. Ponies worked late hours, either out of passion or need, and even the relatively small lights of Canterlot were enough to conceal some of the stars, especially as the capital city grew. Ponyville was dark. Street-lights did exist for sure, but they were a little bit sparse, the townspeople relying on clear night skies instead to see. Because of that, the sky above was alit with stars. Splattered and painted and twirled everywhere, it could make her head spin just by turning too quickly. With all of these stars shining brightly, it had been a fun and distracting challenge to try to identify constellations in the sky. The Little Skipper, The Bear, The Bull, Aquarius, and a few others. Some were a little clearer to spot than others, but the dim negative spaces between the shining points made them easy to identify once one had a few in their sights. She took in the scent of her tea as she raised it to her lips, and took a sip. It was a nice cup, and Spike definitely knew a bit more about choosing these types of things than her. Sure, she learned how to drink it properly from Celestia, but she never really put in the practical effort of choosing a special blend for herself. Twilights face scrunched up a little. The air. The air smelled funny. She sniffed and sniffled, turning her head around in the dark streets as she tried to see what was going on. It smelled vaguely like smoke, burned wood and pine resin, with a very heavy layer of something like warm metal. The air smelled wrong. Warning bells went off in her head as she tried to stay calm with her tea, glancing around like nothing was wrong. An instinct, a gut reaction. To not look directly at it. Whatever it was. Something wicked. Something that stared at her. It started with the eyes. She made eye contact with it. She couldn't afford to look away from it, even if she could. Her eyes were locked in place, and could barely make out the rest of the creature. The snout was long, and almost too sharp and angular, and the purples were too drab and dusty, the wrong shades. The legs, were just outside her hyperfocused field of view, and she assumed that they too were as long as they were stocky. Everything was wrong. But she could still tell, like looking a crayon drawing, that whatever it was, was trying to look like her. She managed to tear herself away from the eyes and focused instead on the horn. It was short, blunt. The whirls were in the wrong direction too. The hair wasn't mirrored. Or at least, she was sure it wasn't. The face, she thought, twisted a little bit as it tilted its head. Curious. She tried to distract herself, avert her gaze yet still keep a little bit of it in her visual range- she was terrified what would happen if she blinked. It wasn't a changeling, it couldn't be a changeling. Changelings were perfect shapeshifters. This one wasn't. She saw the mane grow out in different lengths, not even individual hairstrands. It was like sewing new lanes of string for a doll in. They would simply extend or retract. There was no green flames. It started walking. Or bobbing. It was- It was trying to bait her to make eye contact again. She couldn't- Spike, Sweet Celestia- What if that got inside the house? Where is everypony? It can't be that late at night? Right? Deep breathes. It wasn't coming any closer. But it was circling her. Trying to inspect the home. Or maybe her? The cutie mark of the false-pony came into view for a brief moment and she burned it into her mind. A black silhouette of a unicorn, and a simple black eye in the center. The eye was watching her. She saw it move. The impossible pattern moved to stare at her, and then the beasts eyes came into view again. It wasn't nearly as flawed this time. It was almost perfect. That was her hair, her horn, her nose, her own panicked expression- the way her lips curled in terror as she wanted to- with all her might and all her strength- launch a spell or even scream for help. But again she could only focus on the eyes. They weren't her eyes. She couldn't even see anything past the snout, an impossibly dark shadow draping over face and leaving only small black eyes with faintly glowing white sclera. She had to blink. She needed to blink. She hadn't blinked. It hadn't blinked. But she didn't want to. It moved. It walked. Slowly. Step. Step. Step. It made no noise on the cobblestone road, or the dirt, or anything. The whole world was quiet. It wasn't stalking her. It was- It was hunting her. She was sure of it. Why? Why now? There was nothing like this in any of her books- she was sure of it! This had to be a nightmare! It stopped. It smiled. And she had to blink away her tears. With a jump, she awoke to a rising sun. Her tea cup was empty and apparently set down not too far from her. Her eyes were just a little dry, and she blinked away the tiredness that clung to her weary eyes. A nightmare, she thought, as she took safety and comfort in the heavy wool blanket that was draped over her. She didn't remember bringing a blanket onto the balcony, nor having one that matched her coat perfectly, but right now she didn't care. She only cared about the relief, and the realization that it was just a nightmare. A nightmare and nothing more- caused by the changelings or her mind going haywire about the nature of pony predators. Yes. Yes it was just a nightmare. Luna must have just been... Busy. Her heart only lightly pounding, she stepped into her bedroom and saw that everything was fine. Spike was missing, but she smelled food, haybacon and eggs and rejuvenating coffee emanating from downstairs. It must have been Spike who gave her the blanket then, it at least sounded plausible. With a sigh of relief as the sun reached its apex, she discarded the shifty blanket on her bed, and headed downstairs for some much needed nourishment. Today was today, and tomorrow would be another. Author's Note We all know where it went. I know you do too. Spike.The day had slipped by like water. To recap, she had nothing much to do today. Spike had made a side of hay bacon and eggs, and tried his claw at waffles instead of pancakes for the morning. The coffee was very good, and just like she wanted every day. But now it seemed like she had to go to bed again. The weather had been fair, mostly sunny and partly cloudy with a few intermittent moments of an overcast sky as a cloud would cover up the sun. There was a brief amount of catch-up time with Pinkie Pie and Rarity when they'd gotten together at the Sugarcube Corner. Rarity got something light for herself, which was then passed to Spike (Something along the lines of being a slim and proper lady). She just wanted some help moving some things around, nothing too exciting. Spike was happy to help, although visibly struggling, and she was happy to be away from the library for a while. But now she was in her bedroom again. And again she couldn't sleep at all. She could feel it, the general need for sleep after a long day with her friends. A sense of emotional exhaustion propped up on caffeinated supports. But the coffee she drank was on its last legs, and sooner or later she'd finally drift off to dreamland in her fortress of pillows. Ignoring the very dim lamp she was using a night light. Maybe she could think about things with her eyes closed. Last night's nightmare was still so vivid. She told herself it was a nightmare- after all, if it was a... A Not Changeling, then it clearly would have replaced her, she wouldn't have had a whole day out with Rarity and Pinkie Pie, and she honestly wouldn't have a clue what that thing would have done to her if it was real. But there was nothing to worry about, it was still just a nightmare, and she cozied up to the blanket some more and tried to get some sleep. Tomorrow probably would be better. Celestia probably didn't need anything from her for a while- she was letting them all take some time for themselves after the real wedding was being planned and done. Her mind went blank, as she was certain of tomorrow being just another day. Twilight Sparkles eyes shot open. It was cold. So cold. It wasn't supposed to be this cold yet- Winter might be coming but she didn't expect it so early! Her blanket. As she ruffled her main free from a mountain of pillows, she realized her blanket was nowhere to be seen in the dark room. She must have kicked it off in her sleep. The stars were up, and it was what she saw from the window as she looked around for the blanket. No monster. No real monsters. Just a nightmare. But... Who turned off the light? She couldn't find the blanket. Not in the dark, too dark to see. The lamp turned on with a simple spell as the chain was yanked gently down. Still no blanket. And she still felt unnaturally cold. In an instant, the light burned away the strange darkness, and she still couldn't find it. But she did find something else. It was in here. With her. Next to Spikes basket. It wasn't a nightmare. It wasn't a nightmare. It was inside her library, it was inside her home. It was whispering something. Not to her. To Spike. She could see the lips moving, making the beginnings of vowels and consonants, but no sound. It hadn't even focused on her yet, or even the light having been turned on. The coat was off-color and patchy. Too saturated, too gray, but the cutie mark was different this time, curiously and stupidly, she stared at it. It was her cutie mark. Her star, her element, incomplete, missing colors and pieces of its design, but it was recognizably intended to be hers. It turned abruptly to face her, and she pointed her eyes downwards as she kept the chain of the light in her magic. She had to stay calm and focused. Don't look. Don't blink. Don't let it leave. Why was it hovering over Spike? She couldn't see anything wrong with him. Her peripheral showed him still in his basket, possibly sleeping. Then the legs of the creature blocked what little she could see. It was tall. She thought it to be taller than her. The proportions were worse this time. It loomed over Spike, the dragon having no idea of the danger either of them were in. She didn't even know what the danger was. Twilight thought for a moment that she could feel it smiling at her, as a limb began to scoot and drag the basket away, slowly, taunting her. She took the bait. It was obvious- but she could never live with herself if something had ever happened to him. Especially not like this. She yanked the chain down, and the light went out, and the sound of wicker sliding on wood stopped. She couldn't see a thing, but for the first time she heard hooves walking towards her. Step. Step. Step. Stop. It stopped somewhere in front of her. Looking at her. Why was it inside? How had it gotten inside? It clearly wanted her. It was trying to be her, trying to get inside her head. Clearly it succeeded, in some way. The two of them knew they cared about Spike. So why target him? Why can't it speak? She stared at where the head of the false pony would be, and she... She swallowed her fears, and tried to speak to it. "W-What are you?" Twilight uttered. Her voice was quieter than Fluttershy when they first met, but it felt louder than anything else in her ears. "WHAT ARE YOU?" It parroted back. It's voice was scuffed, like a broken record, and made her wince. "T-WHA-E-T ARE-T." It copied. Her voice echoed back, mixed, chopped up and restitched in something else. "TWI-WHITE. ARTKLE." "...That's my name." She whispered. It was trying to say her name with her voice. It wanted her name. It knew her name. It was taking her voice. Don't say your name. Don't say you're Twilight Sparkle. She... She possibly had it distracted, it was thinking. She thought it was. The both of them were thinking. She had to be fast. Quietly she tried to slink away to Spikes bed, she had to run away, call for help. It was dark, possibly dark enough neither of them could see- It was weak hope and stupid reasoning, but it was all she had. She brushed up against the braided basket, she could hear Spike breathing, and prepared to make her escape. A minute, maybe less, just enough time to cast a spell if it walked towards her. Her horn flared with a sharp inhale, then s- "THATS MYNE." It gurgled. Her parroted voice was a torrent of sharp nails as she stopped in her tracks, her heart skipping a beat. In the black abyss she saw the basket slide paces away from her, and her mind was filled with horror. Her head peered back at her, stretched and twisted facial expressions in an attempt to display discontent. Rage. Resentment. Anger. Dominion in the shadows. She closed her eyes and pressed herself to the cold wood floor, plugging her ears and focusing on the light as possibilities of dark and terrible fates tried to work their way into her brain. Click. Light filtered in through her squeezed eyelids. It wasn't the light of her lamp, and she waited for it to attack, to scream at her or for her to simply stop existing or to open her eyes and Spike would be gone instead- A minute of silence. Deep breathing. Her ears twitched. Shallow breathing. In front. Blindly stepping. Only one other is breathing. Her hoof stretched out precariously, and she felt something soft wrapped around something firmer. Indentations of scales. Steady rise and fall. Twilight Sparkles eyes opened to reality. Sunlight trickled in through the bright room as she saw Spike, blissfully unaware of what she'd seen for another night. Relief washed over her. He was safe. They were safe. For now. The blanket wrapped around Spike was tucked and curled in ways she knew she didn't do, in ways that Spike couldn't have done, in a colour she knew now that she didn't own. She carefully disarmed the blanket, unwrapping Spike from the tightly curled cradle of bundled fur he was lightly clinging to. She set Spike down on his pillow, and promptly threw the balled up blanket faster than she could see out the window. Exhausted, she collapsed in a heap shortly after. ResearchNothing. She had nothing. The library was empty, she'd decided to send Spike away for the day. He'd earned it, for everything he'd done. And everything he slept through. In all honesty, Twilight couldn't trust the library. Nor did she really trust anyone else to keep him safe, but it was day time. And things, that thing, didn't work in the light. That had to be one of its rules. It shut out the lights. It shut off the lights. Twilight Sparkle took a deep breath, and nursed a cup of hot coffee. Too little sleep. Too much fear. She felt herself fraying at the edges of her mind. She didn't exactly have nothing, now that she calmed herself. But she didn't have much. On the nature of pony predators, nothing evolved explicitly to eat them. Changelings ate love, and it was likely convergent evolution that made them appear like ponies. An ancient race of shapeshifters, and for all she knew there might even be ones shaped like griffins. They were parasites sure, but they needed their quarry alive and well. Psychologically? Possibly not. But physically, yes. Those pods- were proof of that. She wondered if there were any still inside. Somewhere out there. Locked away in deep storage somewhere underground, widely forgotten about. The thought scared her. Lots of things scared her. She could make a list. A bigger list by this point. Griffons could eat ponies. So did dragons. Hydras. Bears. Other ponies, if extremely desperate. That bit of forgotten pegasi mythology was something she wasn't ready to learn about. But there was nothing that actually pretended to be a pony. Changelings had pony-like sillhoutes, likely to avoid detection in the dark, or to appear as a pony while fleeing. One might be more likely to chase after a thief and in turn get caught, rather than investigating something like a wild animal running off. That was a new theory she'd have to look into when her mind was... Less foggy. Words didn't work right. And yet, there was something. Uncanny. She knew that whatever she saw, wasn't a pony. It wasn't part of a very large list of existing predators. An instinct told her that it was something wholly wrong, an instinct that told her to avert her eyes from it. And it wasn't using magic, it wasn't trying to disguise itself with magic or with glamor or practical camouflage. It wanted to be. It wanted to mimic, it could mimic. And it wanted to be her. It was real. Real flesh. Real hair. Skin and muscle twisted around every which way like putty. There wasn't any magic. It learned by watching, hearing, experimenting. It heard her speak, so it tried to speak. It knew in some capacity her name, and she'd never said it outloud. Why? It had to be intelligent then. The simplest solution, was that she had come into contact with a predator. A predator, that mimicked its prey. One that actually ate them. Twilight Sparkle had long since drained the coffee cup in her thoughts. Barely enough for a cup half full remained in the half empty pot. She hadn't prepared much. Yes, she wanted to get to the bottom of this, but for once, keeping calm and sane was more important than staying awake and powering through. There were rules. There had to be. Otherwise... She didn't want to think about that right now. The best case scenario was that it fed on fear. She caught a glimpse of it, and she was afraid. Then she was afraid of what it was doing- what if it got into the house, what it would do, to her- to Spike.. Then it did, it did get into the house. And it didn't do anything to Spike. But she was terrified that it would. Logically, if a predator ate meat, it would do so quickly and efficiently. It hadn't done that to her. Her best case scenario was that it fed on fear and not flesh, because the alternative was that this was either a persistence predator. Trying to wear her down. Or it was taking its time. Sadism. It wanted to scare her before it lunged. Or maybe she was already- No. Nope. No, no that is not what we are thinking about today. She was already scared enough as it was and she did NOT need to make it harder on herself. A hug from Mister Smarty Pants felt really tempting. Mom. Celestia even. Why hadn't she thought of getting her involved? A myriad of rebukes came up in an instant against that thought. She wouldn't know. She wouldn't understand. She'd be too busy. We can solve it on our own. We won't be caught off guard again- it'll spiral out of control if we get more ponies involved. Twilight slammed her hoof down on her table. The coffee cup was empty and rolling faintly on its side before it caught itself on its own handle, a dent in the wood evident. Zecora knew about the... For the lack of a better word, the supernatural. The things that most ponies scoffed at. No such thing as curses- stupid. Why wouldn't they exist? The Alicorn Amulet was absolutely cursed. Hexes, jinxes- in any case she didn't understand them, but Zecora did, and she understood avoiding predators and getting them to avoid you. So, she'd march right on through the Everfree and straight to Zecora for help. As soon as her countertop stopped being comfortable enough to rest her head on. BustShe couldn't find her. She wandered around in circles in the Everfree. She followed the path to Zecora's and was then diverted by something unseen, she even tried to close her eyes and walk around the spots she knew with the assistance of a clairvoyance spell- but frustratingly enough she still couldn't get there! She couldn't find her. Nothing. But at least she had that mid-day nap in.
It Stares.Twilight Sparkle sat in the center of her room. There was nothing to do tonight, at the very least she didn't feel like doing anything. More accurately, for the first time in a while, she just wanted to sit down and enjoy some silent time before heading straight to bed. An unusual thing for her to do, with just about every time she's tried to simply 'wind down' having involved her finishing yet another almanac, story, or other tome that caught her interest in a mere eight hours and having caught zero rest whatsoever. But this time, she really did want to relax. The invasion, while repelled, and everypony had more or less gotten over it immediately once it was all said and done, had really done a number to her nerves. Especially her brief stint in the caves. She wanted to forget about the world altering realization that pony-predators existed, specifically to blend in an feast on emotions, at least for the time being. She'd been meaning to get into Daring Do a little bit more recently. A little bit of fantasy to escape to, so to speak. Safety in watching all the exciting events happen to someone else, instead of her for a change. Daring Do was guaranteed a win, because if she didn't, what would the author write next? Logically speaking, the book was too popular to simply be put down on a tragic note, and tragedy wasn't commonly read by most ponies. Besides, this Ahuizotl character seemed just a little goofy. No way it'd turn into something life-threatening like her own adventures. She picked up the book, and opened it up to the first page before shutting it gently. Fantasy was... Okay. But she was a little sick of adventures. She had a little bit of Spikes sleepy time tea, and he was out like a light in his basket. A chamomile blend of type, if the lightly fruity tones she detected underneath all the taste of rosehips were correct. Taking her teacup in her magic, she stepped out of her bed, and approached a window to look at the midnight sky. The dim yellow light inside her home shined through the window to the cold outside. The cool wind on her face as the air rushed in as the window was opened. Life. This was peaceful. A bit of time at home, maybe not buried in a book for now or running a friendship report, but this peace was something she enjoyed. A very small smile took to her face as she tried to make out various constellations from above. Manehatten was, for the most part, always lit. Ponies worked late hours, either out of passion or need, and even the relatively small lights of Canterlot were enough to conceal some of the stars, especially as the capital city grew. Ponyville was dark. Street-lights did exist for sure, but they were a little bit sparse, the townspeople relying on clear night skies instead to see. Because of that, the sky above was alit with stars. Splattered and painted and twirled everywhere, it could make her head spin just by turning too quickly. With all of these stars shining brightly, it had been a fun and distracting challenge to try to identify constellations in the sky. The Little Skipper, The Bear, The Bull, Aquarius, and a few others. Some were a little clearer to spot than others, but the dim negative spaces between the shining points made them easy to identify once one had a few in their sights. She took in the scent of her tea as she raised it to her lips, and took a sip. It was a nice cup, and Spike definitely knew a bit more about choosing these types of things than her. Sure, she learned how to drink it properly from Celestia, but she never really put in the practical effort of choosing a special blend for herself. Twilights face scrunched up a little. The air. The air smelled funny. She sniffed and sniffled, turning her head around in the dark streets as she tried to see what was going on. It smelled vaguely like smoke, burned wood and pine resin, with a very heavy layer of something like warm metal. The air smelled wrong. Warning bells went off in her head as she tried to stay calm with her tea, glancing around like nothing was wrong. An instinct, a gut reaction. To not look directly at it. Whatever it was. Something wicked. Something that stared at her. It started with the eyes. She made eye contact with it. She couldn't afford to look away from it, even if she could. Her eyes were locked in place, and could barely make out the rest of the creature. The snout was long, and almost too sharp and angular, and the purples were too drab and dusty, the wrong shades. The legs, were just outside her hyperfocused field of view, and she assumed that they too were as long as they were stocky. Everything was wrong. But she could still tell, like looking a crayon drawing, that whatever it was, was trying to look like her. She managed to tear herself away from the eyes and focused instead on the horn. It was short, blunt. The whirls were in the wrong direction too. The hair wasn't mirrored. Or at least, she was sure it wasn't. The face, she thought, twisted a little bit as it tilted its head. Curious. She tried to distract herself, avert her gaze yet still keep a little bit of it in her visual range- she was terrified what would happen if she blinked. It wasn't a changeling, it couldn't be a changeling. Changelings were perfect shapeshifters. This one wasn't. She saw the mane grow out in different lengths, not even individual hairstrands. It was like sewing new lanes of string for a doll in. They would simply extend or retract. There was no green flames. It started walking. Or bobbing. It was- It was trying to bait her to make eye contact again. She couldn't- Spike, Sweet Celestia- What if that got inside the house? Where is everypony? It can't be that late at night? Right? Deep breathes. It wasn't coming any closer. But it was circling her. Trying to inspect the home. Or maybe her? The cutie mark of the false-pony came into view for a brief moment and she burned it into her mind. A black silhouette of a unicorn, and a simple black eye in the center. The eye was watching her. She saw it move. The impossible pattern moved to stare at her, and then the beasts eyes came into view again. It wasn't nearly as flawed this time. It was almost perfect. That was her hair, her horn, her nose, her own panicked expression- the way her lips curled in terror as she wanted to- with all her might and all her strength- launch a spell or even scream for help. But again she could only focus on the eyes. They weren't her eyes. She couldn't even see anything past the snout, an impossibly dark shadow draping over face and leaving only small black eyes with faintly glowing white sclera. She had to blink. She needed to blink. She hadn't blinked. It hadn't blinked. But she didn't want to. It moved. It walked. Slowly. Step. Step. Step. It made no noise on the cobblestone road, or the dirt, or anything. The whole world was quiet. It wasn't stalking her. It was- It was hunting her. She was sure of it. Why? Why now? There was nothing like this in any of her books- she was sure of it! This had to be a nightmare! It stopped. It smiled. And she had to blink away her tears. With a jump, she awoke to a rising sun. Her tea cup was empty and apparently set down not too far from her. Her eyes were just a little dry, and she blinked away the tiredness that clung to her weary eyes. A nightmare, she thought, as she took safety and comfort in the heavy wool blanket that was draped over her. She didn't remember bringing a blanket onto the balcony, nor having one that matched her coat perfectly, but right now she didn't care. She only cared about the relief, and the realization that it was just a nightmare. A nightmare and nothing more- caused by the changelings or her mind going haywire about the nature of pony predators. Yes. Yes it was just a nightmare. Luna must have just been... Busy. Her heart only lightly pounding, she stepped into her bedroom and saw that everything was fine. Spike was missing, but she smelled food, haybacon and eggs and rejuvenating coffee emanating from downstairs. It must have been Spike who gave her the blanket then, it at least sounded plausible. With a sigh of relief as the sun reached its apex, she discarded the shifty blanket on her bed, and headed downstairs for some much needed nourishment. Today was today, and tomorrow would be another. Author's Note We all know where it went. I know you do too.
Spike.The day had slipped by like water. To recap, she had nothing much to do today. Spike had made a side of hay bacon and eggs, and tried his claw at waffles instead of pancakes for the morning. The coffee was very good, and just like she wanted every day. But now it seemed like she had to go to bed again. The weather had been fair, mostly sunny and partly cloudy with a few intermittent moments of an overcast sky as a cloud would cover up the sun. There was a brief amount of catch-up time with Pinkie Pie and Rarity when they'd gotten together at the Sugarcube Corner. Rarity got something light for herself, which was then passed to Spike (Something along the lines of being a slim and proper lady). She just wanted some help moving some things around, nothing too exciting. Spike was happy to help, although visibly struggling, and she was happy to be away from the library for a while. But now she was in her bedroom again. And again she couldn't sleep at all. She could feel it, the general need for sleep after a long day with her friends. A sense of emotional exhaustion propped up on caffeinated supports. But the coffee she drank was on its last legs, and sooner or later she'd finally drift off to dreamland in her fortress of pillows. Ignoring the very dim lamp she was using a night light. Maybe she could think about things with her eyes closed. Last night's nightmare was still so vivid. She told herself it was a nightmare- after all, if it was a... A Not Changeling, then it clearly would have replaced her, she wouldn't have had a whole day out with Rarity and Pinkie Pie, and she honestly wouldn't have a clue what that thing would have done to her if it was real. But there was nothing to worry about, it was still just a nightmare, and she cozied up to the blanket some more and tried to get some sleep. Tomorrow probably would be better. Celestia probably didn't need anything from her for a while- she was letting them all take some time for themselves after the real wedding was being planned and done. Her mind went blank, as she was certain of tomorrow being just another day. Twilight Sparkles eyes shot open. It was cold. So cold. It wasn't supposed to be this cold yet- Winter might be coming but she didn't expect it so early! Her blanket. As she ruffled her main free from a mountain of pillows, she realized her blanket was nowhere to be seen in the dark room. She must have kicked it off in her sleep. The stars were up, and it was what she saw from the window as she looked around for the blanket. No monster. No real monsters. Just a nightmare. But... Who turned off the light? She couldn't find the blanket. Not in the dark, too dark to see. The lamp turned on with a simple spell as the chain was yanked gently down. Still no blanket. And she still felt unnaturally cold. In an instant, the light burned away the strange darkness, and she still couldn't find it. But she did find something else. It was in here. With her. Next to Spikes basket. It wasn't a nightmare. It wasn't a nightmare. It was inside her library, it was inside her home. It was whispering something. Not to her. To Spike. She could see the lips moving, making the beginnings of vowels and consonants, but no sound. It hadn't even focused on her yet, or even the light having been turned on. The coat was off-color and patchy. Too saturated, too gray, but the cutie mark was different this time, curiously and stupidly, she stared at it. It was her cutie mark. Her star, her element, incomplete, missing colors and pieces of its design, but it was recognizably intended to be hers. It turned abruptly to face her, and she pointed her eyes downwards as she kept the chain of the light in her magic. She had to stay calm and focused. Don't look. Don't blink. Don't let it leave. Why was it hovering over Spike? She couldn't see anything wrong with him. Her peripheral showed him still in his basket, possibly sleeping. Then the legs of the creature blocked what little she could see. It was tall. She thought it to be taller than her. The proportions were worse this time. It loomed over Spike, the dragon having no idea of the danger either of them were in. She didn't even know what the danger was. Twilight thought for a moment that she could feel it smiling at her, as a limb began to scoot and drag the basket away, slowly, taunting her. She took the bait. It was obvious- but she could never live with herself if something had ever happened to him. Especially not like this. She yanked the chain down, and the light went out, and the sound of wicker sliding on wood stopped. She couldn't see a thing, but for the first time she heard hooves walking towards her. Step. Step. Step. Stop. It stopped somewhere in front of her. Looking at her. Why was it inside? How had it gotten inside? It clearly wanted her. It was trying to be her, trying to get inside her head. Clearly it succeeded, in some way. The two of them knew they cared about Spike. So why target him? Why can't it speak? She stared at where the head of the false pony would be, and she... She swallowed her fears, and tried to speak to it. "W-What are you?" Twilight uttered. Her voice was quieter than Fluttershy when they first met, but it felt louder than anything else in her ears. "WHAT ARE YOU?" It parroted back. It's voice was scuffed, like a broken record, and made her wince. "T-WHA-E-T ARE-T." It copied. Her voice echoed back, mixed, chopped up and restitched in something else. "TWI-WHITE. ARTKLE." "...That's my name." She whispered. It was trying to say her name with her voice. It wanted her name. It knew her name. It was taking her voice. Don't say your name. Don't say you're Twilight Sparkle. She... She possibly had it distracted, it was thinking. She thought it was. The both of them were thinking. She had to be fast. Quietly she tried to slink away to Spikes bed, she had to run away, call for help. It was dark, possibly dark enough neither of them could see- It was weak hope and stupid reasoning, but it was all she had. She brushed up against the braided basket, she could hear Spike breathing, and prepared to make her escape. A minute, maybe less, just enough time to cast a spell if it walked towards her. Her horn flared with a sharp inhale, then s- "THATS MYNE." It gurgled. Her parroted voice was a torrent of sharp nails as she stopped in her tracks, her heart skipping a beat. In the black abyss she saw the basket slide paces away from her, and her mind was filled with horror. Her head peered back at her, stretched and twisted facial expressions in an attempt to display discontent. Rage. Resentment. Anger. Dominion in the shadows. She closed her eyes and pressed herself to the cold wood floor, plugging her ears and focusing on the light as possibilities of dark and terrible fates tried to work their way into her brain. Click. Light filtered in through her squeezed eyelids. It wasn't the light of her lamp, and she waited for it to attack, to scream at her or for her to simply stop existing or to open her eyes and Spike would be gone instead- A minute of silence. Deep breathing. Her ears twitched. Shallow breathing. In front. Blindly stepping. Only one other is breathing. Her hoof stretched out precariously, and she felt something soft wrapped around something firmer. Indentations of scales. Steady rise and fall. Twilight Sparkles eyes opened to reality. Sunlight trickled in through the bright room as she saw Spike, blissfully unaware of what she'd seen for another night. Relief washed over her. He was safe. They were safe. For now. The blanket wrapped around Spike was tucked and curled in ways she knew she didn't do, in ways that Spike couldn't have done, in a colour she knew now that she didn't own. She carefully disarmed the blanket, unwrapping Spike from the tightly curled cradle of bundled fur he was lightly clinging to. She set Spike down on his pillow, and promptly threw the balled up blanket faster than she could see out the window. Exhausted, she collapsed in a heap shortly after.
ResearchNothing. She had nothing. The library was empty, she'd decided to send Spike away for the day. He'd earned it, for everything he'd done. And everything he slept through. In all honesty, Twilight couldn't trust the library. Nor did she really trust anyone else to keep him safe, but it was day time. And things, that thing, didn't work in the light. That had to be one of its rules. It shut out the lights. It shut off the lights. Twilight Sparkle took a deep breath, and nursed a cup of hot coffee. Too little sleep. Too much fear. She felt herself fraying at the edges of her mind. She didn't exactly have nothing, now that she calmed herself. But she didn't have much. On the nature of pony predators, nothing evolved explicitly to eat them. Changelings ate love, and it was likely convergent evolution that made them appear like ponies. An ancient race of shapeshifters, and for all she knew there might even be ones shaped like griffins. They were parasites sure, but they needed their quarry alive and well. Psychologically? Possibly not. But physically, yes. Those pods- were proof of that. She wondered if there were any still inside. Somewhere out there. Locked away in deep storage somewhere underground, widely forgotten about. The thought scared her. Lots of things scared her. She could make a list. A bigger list by this point. Griffons could eat ponies. So did dragons. Hydras. Bears. Other ponies, if extremely desperate. That bit of forgotten pegasi mythology was something she wasn't ready to learn about. But there was nothing that actually pretended to be a pony. Changelings had pony-like sillhoutes, likely to avoid detection in the dark, or to appear as a pony while fleeing. One might be more likely to chase after a thief and in turn get caught, rather than investigating something like a wild animal running off. That was a new theory she'd have to look into when her mind was... Less foggy. Words didn't work right. And yet, there was something. Uncanny. She knew that whatever she saw, wasn't a pony. It wasn't part of a very large list of existing predators. An instinct told her that it was something wholly wrong, an instinct that told her to avert her eyes from it. And it wasn't using magic, it wasn't trying to disguise itself with magic or with glamor or practical camouflage. It wanted to be. It wanted to mimic, it could mimic. And it wanted to be her. It was real. Real flesh. Real hair. Skin and muscle twisted around every which way like putty. There wasn't any magic. It learned by watching, hearing, experimenting. It heard her speak, so it tried to speak. It knew in some capacity her name, and she'd never said it outloud. Why? It had to be intelligent then. The simplest solution, was that she had come into contact with a predator. A predator, that mimicked its prey. One that actually ate them. Twilight Sparkle had long since drained the coffee cup in her thoughts. Barely enough for a cup half full remained in the half empty pot. She hadn't prepared much. Yes, she wanted to get to the bottom of this, but for once, keeping calm and sane was more important than staying awake and powering through. There were rules. There had to be. Otherwise... She didn't want to think about that right now. The best case scenario was that it fed on fear. She caught a glimpse of it, and she was afraid. Then she was afraid of what it was doing- what if it got into the house, what it would do, to her- to Spike.. Then it did, it did get into the house. And it didn't do anything to Spike. But she was terrified that it would. Logically, if a predator ate meat, it would do so quickly and efficiently. It hadn't done that to her. Her best case scenario was that it fed on fear and not flesh, because the alternative was that this was either a persistence predator. Trying to wear her down. Or it was taking its time. Sadism. It wanted to scare her before it lunged. Or maybe she was already- No. Nope. No, no that is not what we are thinking about today. She was already scared enough as it was and she did NOT need to make it harder on herself. A hug from Mister Smarty Pants felt really tempting. Mom. Celestia even. Why hadn't she thought of getting her involved? A myriad of rebukes came up in an instant against that thought. She wouldn't know. She wouldn't understand. She'd be too busy. We can solve it on our own. We won't be caught off guard again- it'll spiral out of control if we get more ponies involved. Twilight slammed her hoof down on her table. The coffee cup was empty and rolling faintly on its side before it caught itself on its own handle, a dent in the wood evident. Zecora knew about the... For the lack of a better word, the supernatural. The things that most ponies scoffed at. No such thing as curses- stupid. Why wouldn't they exist? The Alicorn Amulet was absolutely cursed. Hexes, jinxes- in any case she didn't understand them, but Zecora did, and she understood avoiding predators and getting them to avoid you. So, she'd march right on through the Everfree and straight to Zecora for help. As soon as her countertop stopped being comfortable enough to rest her head on.
BustShe couldn't find her. She wandered around in circles in the Everfree. She followed the path to Zecora's and was then diverted by something unseen, she even tried to close her eyes and walk around the spots she knew with the assistance of a clairvoyance spell- but frustratingly enough she still couldn't get there! She couldn't find her. Nothing. But at least she had that mid-day nap in.
