Lavender

Part 2: In Between

Her eyes shot open, but she could barely tell the difference. Blackness. Shadows. Nothing. And, if only, silence, instead of a wet dripping echoing somewhere nearby. Her body ached all over, like she’d been tossed against a wall all night. Her heart pounded painfully in her chest; breathing was a struggle, and she even felt some dull pain digging into her side.

Where am I? What happened to my family? Why am I alone? What’s that—where in Equestria am I?!

A frigid breeze washed over her, bringing the sound of a faint wooden creak with it. Twilight gasped and looked for the source of the sound; a rickety wooden door stood at one end of the darkness, with just the faintest of light shining through. Bluish-white light.

Moonlight. So it’s still night. Unless its the next night, which means—

Another drip behind her, and Twilight curled back into a frightened ball.

No, no! Think! Dripping, water seeping through the roof. But this isn’t some building. The floor isn’t flat. It’s rough, hard, uneven—rocky!”

Slowly, she rolled over, off of her side; the pain faded away from her side, and she gasped for a breath. The air was damp, but refreshing nonetheless. In fact it was that sense of rejuvenation that let Twilight work up the courage to inspect the cave more closely; there was the door, with a few rocks nearby in the moonlight, but also a dimly lit lantern, off to the corner, with something pinned beneath it.

Twilight focused her magic, not so much an easy feat as she shook off the remnants of numbness, and managed to grab hold of the lantern and the slip of paper it held in place. Pink magic. Really pink. Not the slightest bit purple. How did I not notice this until today?

Or yesterday, or—

Between the light of her magic and the lantern, Twilight could read the runny ink printed on the page once it got close enough.

“‘Dear Twilight,’” she began. “‘You had a rough time last night. Don’t worry, you’re safe. Head outside and go South. You should see Ponyville from the door. Your presents should be in the library. ’”

When she saw the last line, her jaw dropped: “Love, Mom + Dad”.

My parents brought me here. They left me in a cave. My parents. Why? What purpose could this possibly serve?

They’re not going to lie to me, though, right? I mean, they didn’t tell me what was really going to happen, but still.

And so, on nothing more than blind trust, Twilight carefully stepped through the cave, using the lantern to look for any sharp rocks in the way. At the door, she paused to take a quick look outside between the boards. All clear, she thought; she took a deep breath before pushing through to the outside.

A pine forest running down a steep slope stood before her, the tips of the trees cutting off just low enough that she could see around the horizon. Wherever I am, I can’t be that far from Canterlot. My parents brought me here, and, well, the mountains... Where’s the moon?

Despite the beautiful greenish-blue pine trees before her, there wasn’t a light in the sky. No stars, no moon that she could tell, or at least none she could see, with the rest of the mountain behind her.

Not a moment later, the sun crested over the horizon, facing the entrance to her cave.

Oh, sweet Celestia, my eyes!

Twilight dove instinctively for the nearest shadow, cowering and covering her eyes. The blinding afterimage persisted for several seconds, while the sudden warmth lingered throughout the air around her. Once her eyes adjusted, however, the bright colors of the grass and the trees and the rocks around her were still painful to look at. She squinted, even in the shadow, and groaned. Stupid cave. I was in there way too long.

Still, there was one upside; there, just over the tops of the needly trunks, Twilight saw colorful buildings rising up out of the plains and hills well out in the distance.

Sun rises in the East, Twilight recited in her head. Ponyville lies to the South. So if nopony’s lying to me, thats where I need to go.

She stood up and trotted straight ahead, only to stop in the sunlight. “Ouch!” she yelped. The bright light not only burned her eyes, but felt something like the steam off a boiling pot. Okay, so I can’t just jump in. That’s fine, I can go around. Plenty of trees, and by the time I run out, my body will have adjusted.

Almost without thinking, she took off running, following the bend of the shadows until she had a straight path through the wood. Just the motion, with the wind whipping her mane back out of her face, and the cool shadows around her... it felt good. Nice. Relaxing.

Maybe this is all Mom and Dad wanted. To get me out of the library for once. Twilight smirked as she gracefully weaved between tree trunks. So maybe I’ll have something to thank them for after all.

At the Ponyville train station, the clock struck noon, complete with the tantalizing twelve chimes that went with it. Each one sent a shiver of dread down everypony’s spine; Rarity, Pinkie Pie, all of Twilight’s friends.

“She did says she’d come back today, right?” asked Rainbow Dash.

“I’m almost positive,” said Rarity. “Well, either today or last night.”

“W-what if something happened to the train?” asked Fluttershy.

Rarity shook her head. “I’ve already seen six trains since last night. Besides, if there was anything like an accident I’m sure we’d have heard something about it already.”

“Oh, I hope she didn’t get in trouble with her parents,” said Pinkie Pie, biting her lip.

Applejack scoffed. “It ain’t like she’d get ‘grounded’ for it. Come on, she’s just runnin’ a little late. I’m sure she’ll be on the next train, just you watch.”

Everypony else, except Fluttershy, said at once, “You said that three times already!”

“Said what three times already?”

Twilight’s voice behind them all was as unexpected as it was sudden; Everypony jumped together in a gasp. That is, until they settled down and realized who had spoken.

“Twilight! You’re alive!” said Pinkie Pie.

“Yes, I am!” Twilight said, mirroring Pinkie’s excited tone. “Sore, but alive.”

“Where were you?” asked Applejack. “You had us worried sick!”

Fluttershy skipped over and gave Twilight a closer look. “Are you sure you’re okay? A-are you hurt?”

“Twilight, you umm—” Rarity hesitated, motioning around the front part of her mane.

Twilight took a deep breath, then set to work: “Okay, in order: Canterlot, then the woods, yes I’m sure I’m okay, and I’m not hurt.” She looked up; a pine branch twig had broken off in her hair at some point, something she easily removed with a little magic. “I hope I didn’t worry you all too much.”

“Oh, no, not at all,” said Rarity.

“M-maybe a little,” said Fluttershy.

Rainbow Dash hovered above the others and glared at Twilight. “Alright, what gives?”

“I’m sorry?” Twilight took a step back.

In sheer disbelief, Rainbow looked around at the others, then back to Twilight. “Okay, fine, I’ll do it if nopony else will. Twilight, what’s with the freaky eyes?”

“Rainbow Dash, have some manners!” said Applejack.

“What about my eyes?” Twilight gasped. Before anypony could say another word, she rushed over to the ticket booth.

Sure enough, in her reflection on the glass, her eyes were... different. It was hard to pick out details without a proper mirror, but Twilight had a hunch. She turned sideways and readied a glimmer of magic, and sure enough, they all matched: her cutie mark, her magic, and now her eyes.

All reddish-pink.

What’s going on? Why are my eyes—what, did my parents get me eye surgery overnight? Did they giveme eye surgery?

“What happened last night?” asked Applejack.

“I don’t...” Twilight mumbled, then shook her head. “I mean, it’s uhh, sort of one of those family secret type things. You know, like, uhh...”

Applejack chuckled to herself and waved her hoof. “Say no more, I understand.”

By their faces, the others seemed a little less convinced. “Are you sure you can’t just give us a hint?” asked Rarity. “You leave town for a day and come back not on a train but from the woods, and we’re not even allowed to know why your eyes changed color?”

“Well if magic can change color...”

“Hey, her business is her business,” said Applejack. “I for one am just grateful she made it home safe ‘n’ sound.”

“Mm-hmm!” said Pinkie, bouncing over and grabbing Twilight in a sort of half-hug. “Welcome home, birthday girl!”

Twilight gently shoved her off. “Uhh, thanks. That reminds me though, you weren’t too disappointed yesterday, were you?”

Everypony else spoke up at once, but the general consensus of “Oh goodness no!” was fairly easy to make out. Twilight smiled, feeling that warmth of being around friends once more. This is even better than the woods. Definitely better than my party last night. Maybe I should’ve just—

“Twilight!” shouted a young, desperate voice; Spike rushed onto the platform and leaped onto Twilight for as strong a hug as he could muster. “I missed you so much!”

“Spike, it was just one night,” said Twilight. Although that’s a lot longer than you’ve ever been left alone for before...

Just then, she felt a strange shudder. Or perhaps a shiver. And as she looked at Spike, her vision seemed to go fuzzy again, just like when she fell asleep, but only for the briefest of moments. Sounds quieted around her, and the beating of her own heart pounded in her ears.

But it was all for but a moment, as it soon came all back to normal.

“...light? Hello?” asked Pinkie Pie, right in Twilight’s ear. “You in there?”

“Who—What—” Twilight paused to collect herself. “Umm, yes?”

“Ugh!” Pinkie crossed her forehooves. “I said, ‘So when do you wanna have your real friendly friends birthday party?’”

“Since you’re home, how ‘bout later today?” asked Rainbow, still looking uneasily at Twilight.

“No no!” said Twilight. “Uhh, I mean, I’m just so tired, you know? And I’m pretty sure this eye thing might be a part of that.”

Applejack scratched her head. “Sleepy eyes don’t change color... do they?”

“B-besides, I had a long night,” said Twilight. That’s right, I’m not lying yet. No need to worry them, just tell them what they need to hear.

Pinkie’s expression deflated, leaving her with a quivering lip. “Well when do we get to have your party? And don’t say never, ‘cause that’s too sad to even think about!”

Never. There, was that so hard? “Tomorrow? If not the next day. I don’t think I got much sleep, and I don’t want to just pass out in the middle of my party or anything!” Yeah, not again.

“Do you promise?”

I would if I could, Pinkie. “Well, I, you see—”

“Oh, hush!” said Applejack, prying Pinkie away from Twilight. “You know she’s good for it, right everypony?”

The collective nod from the other three brought that welcoming warmth back to Twilight.

“Now go, get some sleep,” said Applejack with a wink. “See you in the mornin’, ya hear?”

Twilight smiled and nodded. “Mhmm,” she said. “That goes for everypony, I’ll see you all tomorrow! Now come on, Spike. Let’s go home.”

“Wait, but I—Whoa!” Spike was jerked off his feet and onto Twilight’s back by a quick magical ‘nudge’ as she ran by.

Once again, the others all tried to speak at once, although this time the general idea of “Good... bye?” pretty much fell on deaf ears. By the time anypony had the chance to speak, Twilight had already bolted off towards the exit.

“Now do you think something’s up with her?” asked Rainbow.

Applejack shook her head. “Oh, hush. She’s just tired and really wants some sleep, that’s all.”

“If you say so...”

— — —

“Twilight?”

“Yeah, Spike?”

“What was that all about?”

Twilight groaned, hanging her head as she trudged through the thick heat of the sunny air. Words were difficult, both to speak and to hear. “Okay, Spike, do you really want to know?”

“Twilight, I’m worried about you. Everypony is. You need to talk to someone.”

“Fine,” she snapped. “I’ll save some for when we get home, but... I don’t know, what do you want to know?”

“Well for starters, where were you last night?”

“Canterlot. My parents’ house. You remember there, right? I think you and I stayed there until I was old enough to stay at the Canterlot archives.”

Spike put a claw on his chin. “That dinky old place?”

“It’s not dinky!”

Ponies around them paused whatever they had been doing for a moment to stare at the crazy pony screaming for no reason. Twilight took one look at their judging glares and groaned. “I’m sorry, I just didn’t get much sleep.”

“I’ll say,” Spike mumbled under his breath.

“You’ll say what?” Twilight growled.

Spike’s eyes widened. “You heard that? I-I mean—”

“Oh forget it,” said Twilight. “Long story short, I woke up... outside town.”

“What, like in the woods?”

“Basically.”

Spike smirked. “I bet you got a better sleep than I did at least.”

“How do you figure?” Twilight snapped. “I woke up with a rock halfway lodged in my side!”

“At least you didn’t try to sleep near Owloiscious’ stand.’ Spike shuddered. “I uhh, I thought he might want some company, so I—”

“You were scared of the dark, and...” Twilight corrected.

“Okay fine,” said Spike. “I wanted some company, but he took that as an invitation to try to nest on my head.”

“Hah!” said Twilight. “So did he lay an egg, or what?”

Spike gently rubbed his forehead. “He scratched my scales a lot, that’s for sure.”

Finally, they reached the library’s front door; Twilight let Spike hop off, then said, “Well next time you won’t disturb him, right?”

“Next time, he can sleep outside.”

“Oh, Spike, remember we have to share our home.” Twilight jiggled the doorknob, but it barely moved. She groaned loudly. “Spike! Did you lock the door behind you?”

Spike shyed away. “No, I swear! It just sticks sometimes.”

Twilight tried the doorknob with magic instead of her mouth this time, only to find the same resistance. “That’s locked, Spike. Don’t worry, I can get it—” Focus, Twilight. magic in the lock, find the tumblers... there’s a combination in here somewhere, it just might... almost... gah!

“Oh forget this!” Twilight shouted. She hopped back, leaned over and aimed her horn; in one clean blast, the door slammed open, almost breaking the hinges completely loose.

Spike bit his lip as Twilight stomped inside, warily following her and inspecting the immediate damage: One hinge was bent, the other nearly snapped, yet the door was still capable of gently closing shut, if it ended up a little catty-cornered. “Please, Twilight, calm down! You’re scaring me even more now.”

“I am calm!” Twilight stopped and sighed. I... actually am? She opened her eyes slowly; no more blur, no more haze. She took a deep breath. The air inside felt cool. Crisp. Much better than the thick, heavy air outside.

“Spike, I’m sorry. I think the heat was getting to me.” For now, we’ll call it “heat”. Despite any other hypotheses.

She took a step forward and nearly tripped; a stack of books lay before her, neatly wrapped in a bow with a small tag sticking off the end.

“Yeah, okay,” Spike grumbled. “Oh, and those showed up this morning sometime.”

Twilight gasped. “Who brought them?”

“Some mail pegasus, I don’t know,” said Spike. “Nopony I ever got to know, that’s for sure.”

Not my parents? Well, mail makes a little more sense given the timeframe, but— Twilight snapped the tag off of the packaging and took a closer look at it. Much to her dismay, it only had “To: Twilight Sparkle” and “From: Mom + Dad” written on it. On a hunch, she compared it to the cave note; unfortunately, the hoofwriting wasn’t any different, disproving her theory before it even had a chance.

“So what are they?”

“My presents, from the party last night.” Twilight shuddered. Why could they send my books home, but not me?

Spike scratched his head. “So, do you mind if I ask what happened last night?”

“Do you mind keeping it secret?”

Spike shook his head and “zipped” his lips.

“I missed most of it. I—”

“That’s your big secret?”

Twilight glared at him for a moment, just enough to get him to apologize and back down for her to tell the story. “Last night, it all started pretty normal. My parents acted a little odd, but that’s just to be expected since they haven’t thrown me a birthday party in years. But they never mentioned that ‘tradition’ that was in the letter. Until, of course, they cast aspellon me that put me to sleep until sometime around the break of dawn this morning. When I woke up in a cave in the middle of nowhere.”

“Whoa,” Spike mumbled. “Th-think that has anything to do with your eyes?”

“Maybe,” said Twilight. She snapped the bow off the stack of books, then swirled them around herself, glaring at each one in turn. “I figure there’s got to be clues of some kind. Something they wanted me to know. So I can figure out what’s going on on my own.”

“And you said your brother already went through the same thing, right?”

“Yup! So, no offense to him, but it can’t be that hard to figure out.” Let’s see here, just by the titles... Advanced Arithmetic, Bones and Biology, Quantum Queries, Science Compendium, and Mundanity vs. Magic...

“Maybe the titles spell something, if I arrange them just so... no, the Q’s make that impossible. Unless maybe I—or, A is the first letter of the alphabet, so on the first page—or the first page of the index, I—”

Spike popped up between Twilight and her books and waved his claws in her face. “Twilight! Hey, Equestria to Twilight!”

Twilight just glared at him. “What?”

Once again, as she looked into his eyes, Twilight felt an odd shudder. There was no mistake, this time it was real. And her sight of him distorted further while the sounds around muted. He was out of focus, but at the same time... off. Nothing she could put her hoof to, but most certainly not like himself.

“...’t care what kind of genius you are! Have you seen the bags under your eyes?”

“Wha...” Twilight glanced around; again, her reflection in the mirror showed her striking new eyes, yet also the deep purple shadows that were visible beneath them. “But I feel fine.”

“You don’t look fine,” said Spike. He grabbed her front hoof and started trying to drag her towards the stairs. “Come on, you’re going to bed.”

“But it’s the middle of the day!”

“So sleep in tomorrow! Whatever happened to you, it’s not going to change by morning. And worrying about it is only gonna make you worse!”

Hopefully. Hopefully it won’t be any different tomorrow. Twilight sighed as she resigned herself, setting the books down where they came from. “Are you sure I can’t do just a little investigating? Maybe some research? I could—”

“No!” Spike led her straight up to her bed. “Go to bed, you crazy bookworm! You’re just going to drive yourself crazy if you keep this up.”

Says Spike. To me. I’m not losing it, am I?

The moment Twilight touched her bed, a wave of weight washed over her limbs, and she collapsed into the covers. It was as if she’d had sandbags strapped to her legs and chest, and possibly even her eyelids. Nothing wanted to move, and every inch of her wanted one thing; rest.

So this is the backlash from a sleep spell. Such a screwed-up sleep schedule that any familiar bed feels like a sanctuary.

All she managed to say was, “Backlaa... sleep... spell...” It took only that long for her eyes to refuse to open anymore.

Spike pulled the covers over her and whispered, “Goodnight, Twilight.”

Yet even as he spoke, she began to drift off and out of consciousness...

Darkness surrounded Twilight once more, as in the cave, but not quite the same. This wasn’t the same kind of darkness. It wasn’t even real. Combined with a misty fog and the frantic ramblings of her thoughts, this was deep sleep. Dreaming, without the dreaming. Only when something substantial came about, rationalized as “plausible” by her subconscious, would she have anything to make of this.

For most, it would be an object. Or somepony. Or a place.

But for Twilight, it was a color. Two colors.

The white mist glowed with these colors. Alternating, and faint at first. Twilight’s mind began to settle as she “saw”. Rational thought back, all she could think of, all she could identify of the images was where they came from.

Purple... and pink... my magic... my eyes?

The blinking and the mist became more distinct; the light didn’t just shine over the mist, but rather it acted as a filter. Even the darkness tinted in Twilight’s vision, ever-so-slightly.

Had she been awake, Twilight would’ve twitched her ear at the faint sound building up in the distance. What seemed like quite the distance, anyway. Voices, two of them. Both so familiar... similar, yet different. One left, one right.

“Just do it. Do it and see what happens.”

“You know what’ll happen, and you know why we won’t.”

Both voices sounded exactly like Twilight’s own. More importantly, as the first spoke, the pink filter was visible, while the purple appeared for the second.

What are you talking about? Do what?

Pink spoke up again, “Nothing’s certain. We want to. And we won’t know until we try.”

If you don’t take risks, you’ll never accomplish anything. But what are we talking about?

“Absolutely not,” said Purple. “Just because we want to doesn’t mean we should. What would Mom and Dad say?”

There’s no need to rush into things. With a little careful analysis of all the potential consequences—

Pink’s voice dropped to a sinister muttering: “You know damn well what Mom and Dad would want.”

“The Mom and Dad who raised us, not the ones who left us in a cave!” Purple snapped. “They’d want the best for their little girl, and for all the good they’ve done us, we owe them that.”

Twilight finally tried to speak for herself: “Why are we fighting?”

“They don’t own us! We’re our own pony. We’re all grown up now. Nopony gets to tell us what to do. Nopony!” Pink summarily ignored Twilight.

“Are you saying we just ignore everything they’ve done for us?” asked Purple.

“Hey!” Twilight screamed.

In but an instant, the colors faded and the fog began to dissipate. Silence filled the empty darkness. The empty air. But it wasn’t empty, and it wasn’t quite silence.

— — —

Twilight blinked her eyes open; she found herself standing, not laying. As her eyes adjusted to the light—the dull pink glow off her horn—she dared not move her gaze. Before her was Spike, resting sound asleep in his bed.

Pink was beginning to be an understatement, with how vibrant this glow appeared in the otherwise pitch-black room. Red. That was a better word.

Yet she stared at Spike, swathed in the magical glow, and watched him breathe. Each inhale, each exhale stood out of its own significance. The only other thing in the world, it felt, was her own heart, racing violently. Maybe even dangerously.

Thoughts escaped her. Breathing, her racing heart; and the subtle lick of her lip—

Finally, she shook off her staring as the shock of the sudden awakening wore off; outside, the moonlight glowed softly over the town, yet even the street lamps had been doused for the night. In this light, she saw her own bed, by the balcony. The covers were curled up and thrown aside in a mangled mess.

What time is it? Normally, she would’ve immediately thought “too late”, but this evening, she had no sense of time on her own. She could’ve slept for twelve hours for all she knew, in the pitch black of the library.

I had a weird dream, she thought. And... maybe I’m sleepwalking now. I can look into that in the morning. I need to get some sleep.

She slinked through the shadows, silent as she could manage so as to avoid disturbing Spike, and slipped back into bed. She tossed around uncomfortably on the sheets. But I’m not tired. In desperation, she opened the window, letting in a cool, refreshing breeze. She even tried straightening out her blanket and fluffing her pillow, but it was all the same.

I’m wide awake in the middle of the morning. Tomorrow is most definitely going to hurt.