Twilight Sparkle ran. The dream was always the same. She was a filly, running through the empty streets of Canterlot at dusk. Something was chasing her, though she knew not what. Panicked, she sprinted through the carefully paved thoroughfare of Alfalfa Boulevard, searching for an escape and hoping for rescue. She took a right down an alley past a small boutique named Gilded Gowns. Huge mistake; It was a dead end. Trembling, she turned around to face her pursuer. A silouhetted figure crept around the corner and slowly moved towards her, every step oozing malice. Just as she would have gotten a good look at it, there was a bright flash of white light…
"Ah!"
Twilight sat bolt upright in her sweat-drenched sheets. Why? she thought. Why does this have to happen every night? The dream never changed. For almost 11 years she had had the same nightmare. She always woke up right before seeing what she was fleeing from. Sighing, she got out of bed. Under orders from Princess Celestia, she needed to record each occurrence of this dream. “Every dream has a meaning, my little pony,” she had said upon Twilight’s questioning. “All that we can do is try to decipher it.” Walking over to her desk, she levitated a quill and opened her journal.
Entry #3869
No change. Events have progressed as expected.
But wait… There was something new. Something she had never seen before. What was it? Twilight racked her brain trying to remember what it was.
“The Street!” she exclaimed excitedly. “And the boutique!”
Could this be the breakthrough that she had been hoping for? Scratching out her last entry, she wrote:
Entry #3869-Revised
Alfalfa Boulevard
Gilded Gowns; Alleyway
Laying down her quill and closing the journal, she called for Spike.
“Coming Twilight!” he yelled up the stairs. As he rounded the corner, he asked “What do you need Twilight?”
“Spike, take a letter.”
“With pleasure,” he replied, readying his quill and scroll.
“Dear Princess Celestia,
“I believe that I have discovered a new element to my dream. I do not know at this moment exactly what it means, but I intend to research anything I can on the subject. I will notify you if I discover anything of importance on this matter.
“Your faithful student,
“Twilight Sparkle”
As she finished, Spike wrapped a ribbon around the scroll and sent it on its way. He then began to take care of the bed. Gathering the sheets into a bundle, he carried them towards the stairs. About halfway to the portal he suddenly stopped, making a small, strangled sound.
“Spike? Is something wrong?”
Suddenly, the small purple dragon let out a large belch—burning a hole straight through the bundle of cloth in his arms. A small scroll bearing the Princess’s personal seal fell through the gap and landed in the middle of the room.
“Spike, my sheets! Be more careful next time!”
“Sorry Twilight,” said Spike. Dropping the now ruined bedding on the floor, he unfurled the scroll and proceeded to read.
“My dear student Twilight Sparkle,
“I am glad that you have found additional information regarding your dream, but I urge you NOT to pursue it any further. I have some business to take care of in Canterlot, but I will be arriving in Ponyville within two days. I expect you to abandon all attempts to learn more about this subject until I arrive.
“Sincerely,
“Princess Celestia.”
“What?” shouted Twilight. “I finally find something that could help me understand my nightmares, and she wants me to just sit here?” With a groan of frustration she took the scroll from Spike and deposited it in the drawer with the rest of the letters. “Spike, take care of these sheets. I am going out.”
Gathering a small collection of books in her saddle bags, Twilight went outside to find a secluded place to clear her head. She figured that she could go out by the lake for a few hours while Spike tended to the library. If the Princess thinks that my dream is so important, why doesn’t she want me to find out more about it? she thought as she walked through town, ignoring the greetings from the rest of the ponies. At least Pinkie hasn’t seen me yet. If she does, I’ll never get any peace. After about 15 minutes of walking she finally reached the lake. Settling under a large oak tree, she pulled out Daring Do and the Azure Astral and proceeded to read.
She finished the novel around midday, and decided to head back to the library. Approaching the door, she found it slightly ajar. She dismissed this, thinking that with his arms full of burnt cloth, Spike would have had a hard time getting the door to latch. Pushing it open, she noticed a small, brightly wrapped box in the middle of the atrium.
Spike had no idea where he was. The last thing he could remember was carrying Twilight’s blankets downstairs. From what he could tell, he was in a distorted gray room. There was a haze surrounding his mind, and he was not entirely sure that he was awake, or even real. He thought he saw motion out of the corner of his eye, and sluggishly tried to turn towards it as a large, dark figure moved into his field of view.
“Rest now, my little friend,” said the figure in a deep, pleasing baritone. “You have not yet adjusted. As a dragon, it should only be another hour or so before you’re ready.” There was a flash of white teeth. “Then, we can begin.”
The young dragon faded out of awareness once more.
“Spike,” Twilight called, closing the door behind her. “Did Pinkie stop by?” Moving through the room, she called out again. “Spike! Pinkie! I am not in the mood for surprises right now!” After searching every possible hiding place she could think of, Twilight levitated the box over to her, peeling off the ribbon as she went up the stairs. Upon reaching her room, she set the small box on her desk. Using her magic to pull apart the small flaps, she saw what was inside: A small, clear, crystalline pyramid about the size of an apple.
Strange, thought Twilight. Why would somepony leave me something like this? Everypony knows I don’t like frivolous trinkets.
Setting the strange object aside, Twilight opened one of her numerous spell books, ready to learn a new spell in lieu of her dream’s meaning. After flipping through a few categories, she settled on a basic pyromancy spell. Intending to create a small containment field for testing, she powered her horn up…
And promptly lost consciousness.
Spike woke again, but this time his mind was clearer. Strangely though, the gray room he was in still looked hazy. Taking in his surroundings, the young dragon realized that he was magically bound to some sort of table. There was a large crystal to his left, but besides that there was only him and the table. There was not even a door. With his mind cleared, he could feel the magic holding the place together.
“Hello?” Spike called out. “Twilight? Are you here? Can anypony hear me?”
Hearing no answer, he began struggling at his incandescent restraints. After a few minutes of fighting to no avail, he heard a small hum followed by a loud snap. Turning his head towards the sound, he saw his captor: a tall, dark blue unicorn stallion clad in a black cloak. The pony’s long black mane obscured his face as he walked to the prone form on the table. As he drew closer, Spike could smell the reek of magic; his cloak was obviously imbued with a powerful enchantment.
“You will not be escaping,” the pony said, his voice deep and emotionless. ”I have tethered the spell to your own magical essence. Unless I release you or you die, you will be here for a while.” Raising his head, he revealed his eerily silver eyes. “But where are my manners? My name is Dusk. Welcome to my humble abode.” Smirking, he gave a slight bow, “I trust you’ve found your quarters accommodating?”
“Why am I here?” asked Spike. “Why did you tie me up? I hope you realize that Twilight will be here soon to get me out of here.”
“No, my little pet,” said the unicorn grimly. ”I don’t believe that I will have to worry about your friend. But enough of this talk. I need to get started or all my work will be for naught.” Lighting his horn, the unicorn began to sing slowly to himself.
"Departure of heart is an ancient rite,
“Which is wielded with a magic knife.
“Though this incantation values life,
“It holds within a fate worse than demise."
A bolt of energy flashed from the stallion to Spike’s chest. Spike cried out in agony as his flesh started to pull apart strand by strand, exposing his pale ribs. There was an eerie lack of blood.
“You see, young dragon, I have specific plans for you and your friends. They will have their time to shine, but you are the most integral part of my machinations. You see, I need to gather a large amount of magic in a short time. The problem with this arises with the natural limits of a mortal body. There is, however, a loophole. I trust that you noticed my rather large centerpiece? This specific type of crystal has the marvelous ability to absorb a large amount of magical energy, but it does have one flaw: it does not retain this power for very long. The only way to stabilize this energy so I can harness it-“ There was a loud crack as Spike’s ribs were broken to reveal his chest cavity. Spike screamed once more as his vision faded, but a foreign, putrid energy dragged him back from the sweet release of darkness. He began to realize just what was meant when Dusk recited the line about a fate worse than demise. “-is with a dragon’s heart. Don’t worry; I won’t be killing you anytime soon. I need you alive if I am to use your heart. Now, if you would please hold still, as it could be problematic if I miss an incision.”
Beginning his song again, Dusk angled his horn towards Spike’s beating heart.
"Now with the drum in sight,
“Cut in rhythm with the beats of life."
There was a small flash as his aorta was severed with a small spurt, but no other sign that any damage had been inflicted. Spike was still speechless with shock, but was painfully aware that he was probably not going to survive this. The thought brought tears to his eyes.
The black-cloaked pony angled his horn again, this time gashing his inferior and superior vena cava.
"Now external, beats march on,
"Walking on the screams of the broken one."
In a final arc of the glowing horn, the last of the vessels were severed. As the heart was lifted out of Spike’s chest, blood poured out from it. Instead of simply falling, though, it began to swirl and flow together in place of the missing muscle, continuing to move as though nothing had happened.
Dusk levitated the heart over to the large crystal, pressing it into one of its massive facets. The crystal parted like water, pulling the still-beating organ into its center.
"Gleaming gem with shards of soul,
"Accept this gift and become whole."
The large crystal flashed suddenly and turned a light pink as the last word was uttered. Spike felt as though his very being was being constricted. He gave a final, broken scream as he lost consciousness.
Repairing his victim’s ribs and flesh, Dusk felt an overwhelming sense of excitement. Calming himself, he teleported to his personal quarters, a large gray room much like the laboratory where he kept his prisoner. The sides of the walls were lined with countless tomes of untold knowledge, and in the center of the room was a large four-post bed. A discarded pile of burnt blue cloth lay in the corner.
As he settled in for the night, he could not help but chuckle. His dream was finally about to be realized.
"Follow me, my little sweet
“Through this puzzle
“You've struggled to complete
“Yet these horrors which you have seen
“Are more than a mere bad dream"
Twilight had no idea whose voice she had just heard, but that was the least of her worries now. She had just witnessed the horrific murder of two passersby, and now was fleeing for her life. I should have listened to the Princess, she thought. I should have stayed at home tonight. Oh Celestia, somepony help me!
She needed to find a guard, that’s it. If she found a guard she could report the crime and be protected. The only place she could think of that had guards posted for sure was the inner gates. From what she could remember, she needed to go left down Alfalfa Boulevard to get there.
“Here, little filly,” said an off-pitch voice behind her. “I just want to talk. I promise I won’t hurt you.” There was a loud bang. “Damn it! Where the hell is she?”
Twilight ran with renewed vigor, frantically trying to figure a way out of this situation. Glancing behind her, she saw the figure of a red and yellow earth pony at the intersection she had just left.
“Found you, my sweet. Let’s play!”
Twilight screamed and continued to run past the darkened windows of the shops, hoping that just one pony might wake up and save her. Looking back over her shoulder, she saw that her assailant was gaining on her. She needed a shortcut.
Looking around she saw a small alleyway past a modest boutique named Gilded Gowns. Deciding that this was her best and only course of action, she veered right, hoping to find a quicker way through. It was a dead end.
“No,” she whispered fearfully. “No, no, no.”
Trembling, she turned and faced her pursuer. The stallion rounded the corner with a wicked grin on his face. As he approached she saw that his mane was actually orange, and the red she had noticed was the blood of his previous victims.
“Ooh, girly, this is going to be fun!”
Opening her mouth to scream, her eyes went completely white. She stood there frozen in place, her mouth silently agape as her horn began to glow brighter and brighter.
“Wait, what the hell?“
Twilight began to rise into the air, a bright purple aura forming around her. A low hum was audible as her head snapped towards the confused earth pony.
“How does a filly have this kind of magic? Screw this, I’m getting out of here!”
As he turned to run, he felt an invisible force pulling on him. Suddenly he was jerked backwards and pinned to the ground. There was a pressure in his chest, building to a painful intensity as he saw his belly begin to distend.
“Wha- What are you doing to me?” the pinned stallion shouted.
When the young pony showed no sign of acknowledgement, he began to panic.
“No, stop it! I’ll do anything! I’ll turn myself in! I don’t want to die, please!”
There was a small, wet ripping sound. The cowering pony let out a choked gasp, and half a second later his organs exploded outwards, covering the alleyway in a thick sheet of blood.
The power that Twilight had summoned dissipated all at once. Landing with a small splash, she took in what she had wrought. She loosed a horrified shriek.
“Oh sweet Celestia what have I done! What will the princess say? I can’t let her know about this. What if she sends me to prison? What if she says I can’t be her student anymore? I have to fix this!”
Fix it. That was it! What were organs and blood other than parts? Surely, like anything else, if you put them back the right way they will go back to normal, right? She did not know much about pony physiology, but she figured it can’t be that complicated.
Filled with dread and close to hysteria, she set to gathering the organs into a pile so she could sort them. Her blood-soaked hair was uncomfortable, but she ignored it. She needed to get this done as quickly as possible. She sifted through the wet mound frantically, trying to figure out what went where. She managed to find the heart and lungs, but could not identify anything else. Setting those aside in what she could only assume was the proper formation. Realizing her complete lack of knowledge, she decided to use trial-and-error to figure out where everything went. She suppressed a manic giggle, swallowing hard.
In the dark alleyway she worked into the dawn, her sanity ever slipping. She ignored everything else around her; this task was the only thing that mattered right now. She was so intent on her labor that she did not notice that she had been laughing quietly to herself for hours. Her name was called, but she ignored it. There was something familiar about that voice, but that wasn’t important right now. She had to finish before the princess found out. She heard her name again and turned to face whoever was calling her, her eyes filled with impatient frustration.
Princess Celestia was sick with worry. It had only been a few hours since she received Twilight Sparkle’s letter, but she couldn’t help but feel that something bad was about to happen. Deciding to trust her instinct, she called one of her aides.
“I need you to clear my schedule and bring me Princess Luna,” she ordered. “It is of the utmost importance that I speak with her soon.”
“Yes, princess,” said the White stallion with a salute. As he trotted off, Celestia let out a long sigh. Twilight, I hope you are okay. In a few minutes, the guard was back, trailing slightly behind Luna.
“What do you need, my sister?” the dark-hued pony asked bluntly. “I was told it was urgent, so I came as fast as I could.”
“I fear that there may be something wrong with my student. I need you to check the memory block I set for that – certain incident. I will be leaving in a matter of minutes regardless.”
“Alright, sister,” said Luna, closing her eyes. “This should only take a few seconds.”
Almost immediately her eyes shot open, wide with worry and shock. “We must hurry. Twilight Sparkle needs us.”
Princess Celestia called for somepony to prepare the carriage and dismissed all others in the throne room. Turning to her sister, she asked, “Luna, what did you see? Did the seal break?”
The blue pony looked down at her hooves. “It wasn’t broken, Celestia. It was… inverted. I couldn’t detect the presence of anything else. What you created - what should have been a shield - has been turned into a prison. And what I saw there…” She shuddered.
“Inverted? How is such a thing possible?”
Luna looked at her older sister with sadness in her eyes. “I don’t know, but I fear we may have lost her.”
As they walked to the carriage, Celestia said, “I hope that is not the case. Twilight is… more important to me than you can know.”
Instead of taking the carriage, the two flew off the throne room balcony, leaving the rest to wonder why they were taking so long. They needed to keep this trip as secret as possible without looking suspicious. They did not speak for the entire trip, but when Luna glanced briefly at her elder sister, she could swear that there was the faintest glisten of a tear.
In a couple hours they caught sight of Ponyville and honed in on the library. They took care to use the cloud cover to mask their approach, as the sight of both princesses flying overhead might draw unwanted attention. As they neared, they saw that no pony was in sight of the library. The two sisters, sure that they would remain unseen, touched down immediately outside the door. Celestia knocked on it, calling out for Twilight. When there was no answer, she pushed open the door into the dimly lit room.
They both gasped. What lay before them was utter carnage. The room was coated in gore, and a mail pony’s hat was lying next to the door. Twilight was huddled in the middle of the room, emitting a low, manic chuckle. Something she did made a loud, wet plop.
“Twilight?” called Celestia.
There was no response. A loud ripping noise was heard followed by an increase in the volume of laughter.
“Twilight Sparkle!” Celestia said firmly.
The purple pony went silent and slowly turned to face the two alicorns. She looked frustrated to have been interrupted. That was when they saw what was behind her: a dead mail pony, his eyes and mouth open in an expression of shock and his belly blown out violently, tatters of flesh hanging from the opening.
“What do you-“ Twilight snapped before realizing who she was talking to. Her eyes went wide. “Princess! I’m sorry for my outburst, please forgive me!”
It’s all just like last time. “Don’t worry, my little pony, I’m not angry with you. What happened here?”
Twilight’s expression changed to one of fear. “He- He was after me. I ran to find a guard, but…” She got a far away, confused look in her eyes. “And then I…heh...heh…heheh hAHAHAHAHHAHAHAH!” The sudden hysterical cackling surprised the princess. She approached the blood soaked, crazed pony and embraced her. Tears began to flow down her face.
“Luna, I need your help. We need to try and fix this.”
Luna walked to her sister, trying not to look into Twilight Sparkle’s insane eyes. ”I can’t fix this, Tia. I’m sorry, but the best I can do is put her to sleep until the seal breaks by itself. I don’t know what kind of state she will be in when she comes out of it, provided she ever does. It’s your choice.”
“Do it,” the white alicorn choked out.
“Alright. I will need your help, though. I did not create the block, and it could interfere with my magic.”
The princesses craned their necks and touched their horns to Twilight Sparkle’s forehead. Focusing, Luna began to sing a lullaby as her horn began to glow. Celestia joined the melody and ignited her own horn.
Twilight’s face went slack and her eyes began to close. Celestia, blinded by tears, lowered her slowly into a lying position. Turning to her sister with red eyes, she said in a clear voice, “Luna, I need you to go back to Canterlot. Form a group to help clean this up. Also, find her a cell and furnish it with a proper bed and books. She may be broken, but she is still my student. I will wait here.”
Luna dipped her head and walk to the door. Opening it, however, she discovered something rather off-putting.
“Princess Luna? Ah didn’t know y’all were in town!” the orange pony said jovially, leaning around the surprised alicorn. “Is Twilight in th—whut in tarnation?”
Upstairs in the study, a small purple star appeared in the center of the small crystalline pyramid sitting on the desk. It flashed brightly before disintegrating in to dust, which floated into a gray rift in the air.