Sometimes, dreams are more real than you might believe...
"Don't worry, Spike. I know what I'm doing." Twilight Sparkle said reassuringly to the baby dragon.
"Maybe so, Twilight, but I still think this is a bad idea." Spike said "Remember when you went back in time and..."
"Yes but this is different. Space and time are completely different than dreams." She said rolling her eyes. " Now please, I need to concentrate."
Twilight's horn was engulfed in a purple aura as she began using her magic. Twilight started to sweat as she concentrated. Twilight found herself thrust back to reality as her magic abruptly ended. She opened her eyes and looked around the pitch black room. She slowly got to her trembling legs.
She couldn't see anything. Twilight remembered an easy light spell and, with more effort than she usually needed, cast it. The faint glow made it easier to see and she made her way to the window. She looked out and up at the sky and saw the moon shining down on Equestria.
"That's odd. It was only just after noon when I started the spell. How could it possibly be this late already?"
Twilight looked around the room for Spike and couldn't find him. She went and checked his bed. It was a mess. The blanket looked like it had been thrown off in a hurry. As she got closer she could smell the odor of sweat emanating from the bed.
The door to the library was open and she could see the faint glow of a candle from down the stairs. Twilight crept cautiously towards the stairs so she could peek down. She stopped at the top of the stairs. From where she was the library looked normal she held her breath and listened. She stood there for a few minutes not hearing anything. Wait. There was a noise. It was faint but definitely there. She listened intently and realized it was the sound of breathing. Someone was down there.
Maybe that's Spike. Twilight thought to herself, as she mustered up the courage to walk down to the library, but why is he up so late?
Twilight stepped from the doorway and onto the stairs. She crept slowly and quietly down. One of the stairs she stepped on creaked. Twilight cringed and stopped walking to listen. She could still hear the breathing and whoever it was hadn't seemed to hear her yet. She crept into view of the library and looked in. It was a mess. The wooden horse head was thrown across the room and books were scattered everywhere. There were a couple still on the shelves but most of them were on the floor. This will take hours to reorganize, Twilight thought as she looked at the library.She walked the rest of the way down and looked over towards the light. There was Spike standing with a candle in his hand. Twilight was about to trot over to him but she stopped. Spike was just standing there staring at the same spot. His arms were hanging at his sides as the melting candle he was holding was dripping wax onto the ground. His scales which were usually a bright purple and green were dull and lackluster. Twilight slowly walked over towards him.
"S-S-Spike?" She asked.
"You were... right... Twilight. I should have... listened... better." He said haltingly.
"Wh-what are you talking about?" She asked.
"When you told... me not... to trust... anyone." He said. "Especially... you."
Twilight was taken aback. "I never said that." She said. "Spike come on... You're starting to scare me. This isn't funny."
"It's not... a game... You have... every right... to be... scared." He said.
Twilight slowly walked around to look at him. She gasped in horror. His eyes were white or rolled back in his head. She couldn’t tell. Blood was trickling from them onto the ground in front of him.
"Spike! What happened?" She asked him.
"You were... right." He mumbled.
Twilight was starting to panic. She looked around the library but Spike and herself were the only ones in it. She tried to calm herself. A thought made it's way to the front of her mind. A spell she had been studying. She walked over to Spike and put her horn on his head.
*********** *********** **********
Twilight was looking at herself. Or rather looking at herself through Spike's eyes. Spike yawned and looked out the window. It was getting dark and he was tired. Spike crawled into his bed and pulled the covers up. He had just gotten comfortable when he perked up at a voice.
"Spike, don't trust anyone. Especially me." Twilight had spoken.
Spike looked up and saw that Twilight was still using her magic.
"Must be sleep talking." He said to himself as he nestled in. Spike shut his eyes and was asleep.
He woke with a start. Spike heard the door to the library open and someone begin to walk down the stairs. Walk wasn't the right word. More like slump down the stairs. The footsteps were heavy and awkward.
Spike looked around the room dark room but he couldn't see anything.
Spike bolstered his courage and called out. "Twilight?" He didn't sound very confidant.
"I'm here Spike." The voice came from the stairs.
"What are you doing up?" He asked.
"I was just going to do some studying." Twilight responded. Her voice was kind of raspy and hoarse. Twilight continued to walk down the stairs.
"Are you.. alright?" Spike asked.
"I'm fine." She responded.
"Okay, if you say so." Spike said. He laid back down in his bed.
"Say why don't you come help me study? I could use the help of my Number One Assistant." The way she spoke was nerve racking.
Spike felt it too. He shook his head. "Umm no thanks. I need my sleep."
Twilight continued to walk down the stairs. Spike was scared and nervous. Twilight reached the library and he could hear her walking and dropping books on her desk. After a few minutes she called out.
"Spike is that you? Spike? No wait get away from me. Spike! Spike! Help!"
Spike could hear stuff being tossed around in the library. Books hitting the floor; the horse head hitting a desk.
Twilight called out again. "No please get away. No." Then she let out a bone chilling scream.
Spike threw his blanket off and ran and grabbed a candle from the dresser. He lit it with his fire breath and ran down into the library. He looked around and saw a large pile of books on the ground right beside Twilight's inert body. He slowly walked over to her.
"Twilight?" He said softly.
He looked around and saw some blood on the ground. Something shifted in his peripheral vision he looked over and saw Twilight getting up blood dripping from her mouth.
"She was right, Spike." Twilight said as she reached a sitting position.
"What do you mean?" He asked.
"You shouldn't have trusted anyone. Especially me."
She slowly turned to look at him. A dangerous look in her eyes and a wicked grin. Spike took a startled step back and was going to turn to run but Twilight lunged at him.
*********** *********** **********
Twilight snapped back to reality. Spike was still standing there muttering to himself incoherently. Twilight took a few steps back. She was shaking all over. She almost lost her balance as she stepped on a book. She took a deep breath to steady herself. It didn't help.
"What's going on here?" She asked herself. She could feel tears starting to well up in her eyes.
Thump! Twilight jumped. She looked over to the window by her desk and saw a hoof slide across the window with a sickening noise. Twilight couldn't see anything else outside through the window from where she was standing. She moved over to the door and opened it. It was dark and quiet out in Ponyville. She looked up and saw that the moon had moved behind some clouds darkening the world even more. She took a tentative step outside and stepped in something. It was wet and sticky. Twilight was glad she couldn't see what it was. She took another step out and looked around. She didn't realize how quiet Ponyville was at night until just now.
She walked out of the library and over to the window. She could see where the hoof was dragged across the glass. She couldn't tell what was left on the window in the dark and she knew she probably didn't want to know what it was.
Twilight turned away from the window as the moon broke through the clouds. In the distance she could just make out the silhouette of a pony heading towards Fluttershy's cabin. Twilight started cautiously making her way there.
It was hard to see where anything was in the dark. She passed a few houses on the way but they were all dark inside. No sign of any of the inhabitants being awake. Being out in Ponyville at this time was kind of eerie. There were no ponies running around having fun or busy with their daily tasks. And after what had happened at the library her nerves were starting to get the best of her. The unicorn kept looking behind her and jumping at every noise she heard.
Twilight still couldn’t comprehend what she had seen in Spike’s memory. What had happened at the library tonight? She kept replaying the events that had happened that night in her head as she walked through the town and out into the fields surrounding it heading towards Fluttershy’s cabin.
After a while of walking Twilight finally found herself at the walkway to the cottage. From where she was Twilight could see that the cabin door was ajar and there was a faint light coming from inside. She slowly walked up to the door and nuzzled it open. She looked in and saw Fluttershy sitting at a table humming an unfamiliar song to herself. There was a lit candle on the table and it looked like Fluttershy was busy making something at it. Slowly Twilight opened the door farther and stepped inside.
"Fluttershy?" Twilight asked.
Fluttershy stopped humming and spoke. "Good evening, Twilight. Back again?"
Twilight got a bad feeling in the pit of her stomach at those words. Spike’s memory coming to the front of her mind.
"What do you mean again?" She asked
"Why you visited me once already this evening." Fluttershy responded. She resumed humming.
Twilight looked around the dark cabin but something was off. Usually there was a certain white rabbit that was always with Fluttershy at home. And since she was thinking about it there weren’t any other little critters in the cabin with them.
"Where's Angel?" Twilight asked.
"Angel? Why Angel is where the angels come from." Fluttershy said.
Twilight saw Fluttershy drop a something to the floor. It looked like a bloody knife but Twilight only caught sight of it for a second before it clattered on the floor. Fluttershy started to turn and for a few seconds Twilight thought that she saw white rabbit ears on the table. Twilight took a few tentative steps back from what she saw on the table. Slowly Fluttershy turned to her. Twilight shook her head and slowly started walking onto the front walk of Fluttershy's cabin almost stumbling a few times from the horror in front of her. Fluttershy stared at Twilight with coal black eyes and smiled.
"Why Twilight, you look very tense. Why don't you rest here for a spell."
Twilight turned and ran from the cottage. Fluttershy's laughter rang out into the night behind her. Not the quiet, happy laugh but a dark, sinister laugh. Twilight could hear the laughter until she was halfway to Ponyville.Even being out of earshot of the laughter she kept running.
Twilight only slowed down once she was on the edge of Ponyville. She slowed and caught her breath. Tears were starting to roll down her face as she trotted into town. What was going on here? This wasn't right. It was like something out of one of her nightmares.
Twilight turned towards the library so she could go home and figure out what was going on. She trotted down the street and stopped as she saw a faint glowing over at Sugarcube Corner. She made her way over towards it.
When Twilight arrived at the sweets shop she tried to open the front door. Locked. She should’ve known it was going to be. The light though wasn’t coming from the main part of the shop. The light was coming from the kitchen.The lavender unicorn slowly made her way around the building to the side entrance. Twilight stopped and looked in. Inside standing at the counter was Pinkie Pie. Twilight opened the door and heard Pinkie humming and giggling as she stood there.
"Pinkie Pie?" Twilight said after some hesitation.
"Oh hey Twilight. What brings you here?" Pinkie Asked. Not looking away from what she was doing.
"I was just heading home when I saw the light from Sugarcube Corner." Twilight said. "Why are you up this early?"
"Oh you know," Pinkie said, "Just baking some Cake's."
Twilight felt bile starting to rise up into her throat as she started to comprehend what Pinkie had said.
"They're almost done. Since you made all that effort to come visit again why don't you stay for a bite." Pinkie said turning to Twilight.
Pinkie was grinning widely something red on her lips. Her eyes weren't right either. They were dilated and looking in different directions. Twilight backed out of the store and Pinkie started giggling even harder as the buzzer on the oven went off.
Twilight turned and ran from the store as Pinkie walked over to the oven and started opening it. She could hear the giggling for a few houses before it stopped. Twilight ran into the night not caring where she went anymore. She opened her eyes and found herself in the park. Twilight slowed her walk being tired and slumped against the fountain. She couldn’t stop the tears from streaming down her face as she looked into the fountain at her reflection. Her tears falling in and mixing with the water causing it to ripple. She was at her nerves end because of everything that had happened this night
"Why is this happening? What's going on?" She said to the empty park through her sobs.
"Don't be like that, Twilight." A familiar, yet wrong voice said.
Twilight wiped the tears away and looked up towards the voice. Right away she knew something wasn’t right. It only took a second for her to piece it together and scream as she realized she was looking at herself. But it wasn't a reflection. Twilight was too shaken, and too tired, to move as the doppelganger walked around the fountain and over to her. She put her foreleg around Twilight and sat down next to her.
The doppelganger leaned close to her ear. "Don't worry ,Twilight. Everything will be just fine." She whispered.
