Draconequus

(Editing in progress, please do leave your comments!)

Chapter 1:

https://docs.google.com/document/d/14UgKDzxUZOkFASIOdO7ulCYesYJ_CgI4hR0O_mNHKcw/edit

Chapter 2:

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1Rc_S3g6Oivn0MBmy-cOCWpaPOZw26L8mmdtg1POnbEY/edit

Chapter 3:

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1ZLYgCvnh0NLD-eL6-b0g9hbZ5qeYscg9bGdqdtNMkUM/edit

Chapter 4:

https://docs.google.com/document/d/15Y6z-XSrLePwy_plY5_3KBstgXXLGxgkV-bd8rtxepk/edit

---

Chapter 1

“Quills... check!

“Parchment... check!

“Magnifying glasses, refractive lenses, stopwatch, vernier scales, micrometer scales, sextant, photometers, quadrant, gnomon... check!

“Ah yes, the telescope...” Twilight grinned at the massive sixteen inch telescope in front of her. “Check!”

“And now, it’s time to begin... researching!”

Twilight jammed her eye into the telescope’s eyepiece, adjusting the knobs carefully with both hooves and bringing the night sky into focus. She could see the shimmering stars and constellations above, sparkling like tiny diamonds in the sky. Yet, Twilight had no interest in that, not when there was something far bigger happening tonight.

The purple unicorn rotated the telescope on its stand, finding the dark red moon hovering in the night, partially hidden behind thin wisps of clouds.

“Wow... that’s amazing,” Twilight whispered. She had heard about a lunar eclipse before, but never had a chance to actually see one. Tonight was special. And of course, thanks to her monstrous telescope, she could magnify everything twenty times larger. The young scientist felt a smile creep onto her face as she fiddled with the knobs, zooming in until she could see the craters and scars on the moon’s surface.

Perfect.

Everything was just perfect. She had gotten all her stuff done and Spike was on a visit to Canterlot, leaving her peacefully alone in the library. Now, she could read that book on eclipses and watch it happen at the same time.

Twilight flipped open her book, Everything You Need to Know About Lunar Eclipses. She felt a little dizzy with excitement. Levitating her trusty notepad in front of her, she started jotting down notes.

“A lunar eclipse occurs when the Moon passes behind the Earth, such that the Sun, Earth, and Moon are aligned exactly,” Twilight narrated. “The red colour arises from the bending of the Sun’s rays...”

As Twilight scratched her quill on the parchment, she was faintly aware of how clearly she could hear the sound of her writing. Below her balcony, the streets of Ponyville were deserted. She wasn’t surprised though, recalling how other ponies reacted to the news of the eclipse.

“Ah dunno Twilight... Granny Smith used ‘ta tell me some nasty tales of things happenin’ during eclipses.”

Twilight sighed. Applejack, being as superstitious as ever. It was bad enough that mare believed in the ‘Pinkie sense’ phenomena, which...

Twilight frowned.

...which turned out to be pretty accurate actually. But that was after much, much, much evidence. She still hadn’t figured out how the heck that worked anyway.

Well, unlike Applejack, Twilight considered it nothing less than a privilege to be able to observe the eclipse. After all, it hadn’t happened in over a thousand years.

Twilight’s gaze drifted up from the quiet streets to the red moon. She felt a small shiver pass through her spine as she stared at the ghostly orb, but she gave herself a shake, and it was gone as quickly as it had come.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Miles away, the dark red moon hovered like a dismal sentinel in the sky, its gaze hollow and cold. Shafts of its ghostly, pale red rays wormed down like ethereal tentacles, searching and landing on the treetops of the Everfree forest.

Near the forest’s edge, a few large stone statues stood among the trees. They were known to be part of a beautiful sculpture garden that had once occupied that very same spot. But over half a century, seeds from the Everfree forest had found their way into the grounds. Gradually, the forest began to take the sculpture garden into its corrupted woods, leaving only the statues as a vague reminder of what the gardens once been like. Now, the grounds were eerily silent, as if all life had deserted the area.

Nearest to the edge of the forest, a single statue lay out in the open. Its body was carved long and snakelike, ending in a monstrous, unearthly head. The moonlight was shining on the stone, its pale rays focused on the statue, bending and gathering together on its surface like iron filings to a magnet. For a few moments, the statue looked uncannily realistic under the light.

A single crack appeared on the stone, not more than a centimeter long. It began to deepen and lengthen, as if being cut by an invisible blade. A second crack appeared beside it, extending and deepening just like the first. Seconds later, a third crack appeared, and then a fourth. Fueled by the shafts of lunar light, the cracks and fissures worsened still, joining up along the statue and forming a web. Bit by bit, the surface crumbled and peeled away, thin sheets of stone breaking off and falling among the tall weeds.

A figure emerged from the crumbling stone, barely noticeable in the darkness of the night. It lingered on for a while, before slithering deeper into the dark forest.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Twilight Sparkle lay in bed after a long night of stargazing. Still, she couldn’t fall asleep, despite how tired it had left her. The sky outside was black, and it had to be a few hours past midnight.

Twilight shifted under the covers, poking her head out and snatching a quick glance at the alarm clock. She was right; it really was a few hours past midnight.

Twilight gave out a sigh and flopped back onto bed. She closed her eyes, focusing on the darkness behind her eyelids. The feather mattress hugged her body snugly, its shape gradually adjusting to her body weight and making her sink deeper and deeper into its soft material. Wrapping the covers around her, she completed a blissful cocoon of warmth.

“Soft, Cottony beds...” the unicorn murmured somewhere between wakefulness and sleep as her head sank into the pillow.

Moments later, Twilight was tugged out of sleep again. She flicked up her ears, wondering what was bothering her. Something had seemed a little off.

Twilight filtered through the sounds coming into her bedroom. She heard the chirping of crickets coming through her window, as well as the leaves of her library rustling in the breeze. A faint scratching sound came from inside the library itself.

Hmm, sounds like some small animal managed to sneak in, she thought, swivelling her ears to pinpoint the source of the disturbance.

It was coming from the main floor below.

Twilight wondered if she should go down to check it out. It was probably one of those squirrels that lived in the library’s branches. They had come in plenty of times before. She would even lay out pieces of fruit for them, watching them munch on the healthy treats.

This one sounded a little different, though, but she couldn’t figure out why. At any rate, there was nothing that she could do about it now, because her bed needed her desperately; she could almost hear it calling out to her.

“Oh irresistible sweetness,” Twilight whispered, caressing the bedsheets, “I’d never leave you for some scratchy sound.”

Hmm, speaking of which, what happened to that sound? It had disappeared, leaving only the chirping of the crickets.

A single hoofstep cut through the silence of the night. Twilight bolted upright, her bed forgotten. She was sure that was not a squirrel. Somepony was down there, and she had to do something about it. Twilight threw off the covers and rolled out of bed, landing on all four hooves with a thud.

Quick, think, Twilight. Thinkthinkthinkthink! In her head, Twilight quickly ran through her mental checklist of ‘Things to do when something bad is happening at night’.

Item one: Identify the ‘something bad’.

Twilight gulped. Maybe that wasn’t a very good idea. Getting that information meant that she had to go down to have a look, which meant that she would be exposing herself to the threat, which could lead to undesirable results.

Twilight listened to the strange sounds echoing from below, beginning to suspect some sort of burglary taking place. She must have forgotten to lock the door while Spike was away, leaving it wide open to strangers.

Item two: Devise strategies to avoid the threat.

Twilight thought for a moment. She turned to face her bedroom door, lighting up her horn. Concentrating hard, she directed a swirling pulse of magic at it, surrounding the door with a faint purple aura. Slowly, the magic seeped into the wood, its glow disappearing with it and forming a spell lock.

Okay, that ought to work for now.

Twilight knew she wasn’t going to go down to have a look anytime soon, and hopefully, that pony wouldn’t come up the stairs either. She sat facing the door, running out of ideas on what else she could do.

Over the next few hours, Twilight remained in her room, waiting for the danger to pass. It wasn’t till the early hours in the morning that the sounds faded away, and she was able to fall into an uneasy sleep.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

A light, frantic knocking on the library’s front door woke Twilight up the next morning.

“I’m coming,” the unicorn groaned. She pushed open the door and stumbled out of her room. Her vision was blurry, as if she were looking through a pair of fogged-up goggles. Still, she managed to navigate her way down the stairs, blinking occasionally to clear the bleariness from her eyes. Upon reaching the front door, Twilight gave herself a rough shake, flinging away the last remnants of sleep that clung on to her coat.

“Come in,” Twilight said.

The small golden knob of the front door wobbled as the pony outside tried it.

“I can’t get in... It’s been locked.” It was a delicate, silvery voice, sounding as if it belonged to a refined mare.

“Oh... oops,” Twilight mumbled as she flicked the lock, swinging the door open with her magic. “Hi, Rarity! What brings you here so early in the morning?”

“Forgive me, Twilight, I’m terribly sorry to bother you.” The fashion designer sounded as if she was bringing some great inconvenience, while her eyes began drifting over to Twilight’s messy bed-mane. “I didn’t wake you up, did I? I was just thinking of borrowing one of your splendid reference books for a very special client later.”

“Oh sure,” Twilight said. “Come on in.”

She watched as the white unicorn trotted into the library before closing the door and flicking the lock shut. Twilight stared at the small metal lock. It was odd that she had needed to unlock it in the first place.

Twilight gasped.

Especially since that was how the pony got in last night! The burglary! She had to—

“Twilight, I thought you would usually be up much earlier, being the ever so hardworking pony that you are.”

“Yes, yes,” Twilight cut her off impatiently. The events from last night flooded back to her, but she didn’t want cause any unnecessary alarm to her friend just yet. She needed time to work things out, to find out what went missing.

Twilight turned back to her friend. “Um Rarity, tell me if you find anything unusual around here, anything at all... such as broken windows, for example.”

Rarity gave her a curious look before shrugging it off. “All right darling, I’ll take note of that,” she said, heading off to the reference books section.

Twilight moved off in the opposite direction, checking for signs of a break-in. She scanned the windows, shelves, everything. To her surprise, things were intact and completely normal. Even the books remained neatly arranged on the shelves just like the night before.

Twilight stopped, tapping a hoof to her chin. It looked like there was no evidence of a break in to her, but she knew that there were sounds coming from the library last night. Or at least she thought she knew... Twilight let out a long sigh, wondering if it could all have been a really bad dream. Her sleep-deprived mind struggled to keep up with all her thoughts, punishing her with a throbbing headache.

“Why, what have we here?” Rarity’s voice echoed from the other end of the library.

“Hold on, I’m coming!” Twilight dropped her thoughts, turning around and cantering over to Rarity. “What is it?” she said, skidding to a halt next to her friend, who seemed to be peering at something on the ground. Twilight stood next to Rarity, mimicking her actions and inspecting the oak floor of the library.

The purple unicorn felt a small chill run down her spine. A strange marking had appeared, carved faintly into the wood. It had a simple design, consisting of a large circle, followed by a medium sized one, and finally, a tiny little circle. Three circles, aligned side by side in a neat row.

“There is another one here,” Rarity said.

Twilight looked to see another symbol several hoofsteps away, identical to the first. She stared at it, not liking the idea of strange symbols appearing in her library, especially ones that she wasn’t familiar with.

“Twilight, were you planning to draw these”—Rarity flicked her hoof—“things all over your library?” She had spotted several more of the markings, and clasped a forehoof over her mouth, her eyes widening at the impending fashion disaster.

“It really doesn’t suit well,” she continued. “At least you only drew a few... We can cover them up, and then I’ll give you some marvellous design patterns that you could use for your whole library.”

Twilight was too focused on the symbol to give a response. She traced the thin lines with her hoof. The three circles were perfectly rounded, impossible to be muzzle-carved. Even unicorns, who, despite having a better grip thanks to their magic, wouldn’t be able to draw perfect circles. To top it all off, they actually looked familiar, as if she had seen them before.

“Twilight, is there something bothering you?”

“Oh... No, nothing...” answered Twilight, her eyes still glued to the ground.

“Well, it does appear that you are busy,” Rarity sighed, “I’d best be going now. I simply cannot imagine being late for my appointment, you know.” She gave a weak chuckle and headed out of the library, a few large books levitating behind her.

Twilight paced round and round. First, it sounded as if somepony was around here last night. And the very next morning these shapes appear on the floor... 

She swirled the information around in her head. Perhaps the shapes were carved on by that same pony...

Though Twilight found it difficult to imagine exactly how that pony did it, at least it would explain the scratching sound. But there were still so many unanswered questions: Why would somepony do that? How did he or she get into the library in the first place? What do these symbols even mean?

Grabbing her notepad, Twilight traced out the shapes as accurately as she could. Satisfied with the sketches, she turned to the giant shelves that occupied every spare corner in her library. Books filled up most of them, stacked from the floor till they almost touched the ceiling. She would find the answers to the symbols in one of them, because that’s what books were for—answers.

And I’m sure I’ll have them in no time!

Hours later, the unicorn had massed up a pile of discarded books that was several times larger than herself. Still more flew out of the shelves, each given a quick scan before being unceremoniously dumped on the pile. While Rarity had a knack for picking out small details, Twilight could easily scan through book titles and get a rough overview of its contents. None of her friends were convinced that it was a hidden talent though, and Rainbow Dash had cleverly dubbed it as another ‘epic egghead habit’.

Twilight huffed in annoyance, magically flinging yet another book away. “This is ridiculous.”

The unicorn grabbed the next book from the shelf. “But you know what?” she said, staring at its rich brown covers. “I’m gonna continue searching! Because one does not simply give up in the middle of research.”

Twilight looked at the number of shelves that had yet to be searched through. Her eye gave a dangerous twitch.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Celestia sat alone at a round wooden table. Dining sets had been set up for two, one with the patterns of the sun, and the other of the moon. She tapped her plate lightly, waiting for her sister to arrive. Soon, she heard the clatter of horseshoes and looked up to see Luna approaching the table. “Good afternoon, Luna,” she said warmly.

“Sister, in the weeks since my return, I have come to remember how utterly boring a princess’s life can be,” Luna said. She took a seat next to her sister and began to examine the contents on her deep blue plate. It was a small daisy sandwich, made up of two slices of plain wheat bread stuffed with various spices and topped with a small white flower. After a long look at her meal, she summoned a castle servant to the table.

Celestia gave a small sigh. “Yes, a little dull. I understand how you feel, Luna. But we still have to do our duty, regardless of it being fun or not. How about that eclipse created a few nights ago, was that not interesting?”

“Well, that was rather... fun, I admit,” Luna said. “Excuse us for a moment, sister.”

The moon princess took a deep breath and turned to the servant by her side. “What is this drivel?!” she boomed, unleashing the Royal Canterlot Voice on the unfortunate soul and levitating the sandwich inches from his muzzle.

The servant shrunk to the ground. “I... er, I thought—”

“How dare you serve this filly’s lunch to your royal highnesses! Have you no shame, or have you no brains? Thou shall head back to the kitchen and bring forth a worthy meal, or face being charged in court!”

Celestia tapped her plate to catch her sister’s attention. “Luna, I personally requested a light and simple meal for the both of us. I thought a diet would do us good.”

“Oh...” Luna said, watching the servant scurry away. “How very thoughtful of you.” She looked back at her sandwich.

“Well then, shall we start?” Celestia said.

Before either of them could begin on their meals, they were interrupted again, this time by a pegasus clad in golden armor. He had a gruff voice typical of royal guards, and seemed a little nervous after witnessing Luna’s outburst. “I’m terribly sorry for interrupting, Princesses, but the tax meeting begins in fifteen minutes,” he said before briskly returning to his post.

Celestia nodded as a sigh came from her sister. Their schedule was as busy as ever, and neither of them looked forward to the notoriously dull tax meetings. She watched the moon princess gobble down her sandwich and prepare to be escorted away.

Luna noticed that she was still seated. “Aren’t you coming as well, Tia?”

“Please carry on, Luna. I have another meeting to attend to.”

Luna paused, considering Celestia’s words. “Perhaps I could go for this... other meeting, while you go for the taxes one?” She gave a Celestia a pleasant smile.

“Well, they requested specifically for me. I was not trying to avoid the tax meeting, if that was what you were thinking. But yes, we should take turns attending that one.”

“Nevermind that, sister. Good luck.”

Satisfied, the Princesses began heading for the different meeting rooms, their stomachs feeling a little empty.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Celestia stood at a white semicircular table, surrounded by professional-looking ponies, all donning clean white lab coats. These scientists were the best from all of Canterlot, experts in the fields of magical studies and science, and they looked ready to prove it.

“Your highness, we were correct in our hypothesis about eclipses containing magic,” a grey stallion began. He was wearing the Royal Canterlot Crest, a mark that identified him as the lead scientist of the team, Aether Scroll.

“As I had expected, then,” Celestia said. “Have you searched deeper into it to see what its effects are?”

“Yes, and this should interest you,” Aether said, motioning at the table.

Celestia noticed a three piece experimental setup on it, consisting of an empty beaker, a vial, and a dish. The dish—placed upon a tripod stand in the center of the setup—appeared to be made of metal, and held bits of a faded gray solid.

Celestia shifted her attention to the vial beside it, clamped by a holder. The substance it held seemed to be a light, semitransparent liquid that pulsated with a faint red glow, resembling the eclipse last night.

“So, what has your team discovered?” Celestia prompted, her eyes lingering on the vial.

“Well...” Aether Scroll shifted uncomfortably on his hooves. “In truth, we haven’t been able to explain a lot of what’s happening. But it seems like there’s potential in this one. Let me do a quick demonstration to show what I mean.”

The group of scientists proceeded to put on clear plastic safety goggles, as if they had rehearsed this long before Celestia’s arrival. She was handed a pair as well.

“Here we have a sample of Trioxychloromethyl Pentoxysillicate... ” Aether began confidently, redirecting her attention towards the scraps of faded grey solid.

Celestia gave a light laugh as she slipped on the glasses. Apparently the scientists had decided that inventing a few new terms would make up for their lack of a proper explanation.

“Commonly known as stone, or fossilized grass to be exact,” another scientist offered.

Aether tutted. “Partner, the princess obviously knows what that is. Furthermore, it is not simply stone, it is a very specific type of—”

“I do know what that is,” interrupted Celestia, not wanting to hear the scientists bicker, “but it is necessary to familiarize myself with the terms of the... laypony. Please, carry on.” She gave them a smile of encouragement.

“Of course, your highness,” Aether said. “Moving on, we are now going to add a sample of moonlight from the eclipse.”

He reached for the vial, holding it inches above the dish while gently uncorking it. With a delicate hoof, he proceeded to invert it, pouring its contents over the grey scraps.

The faint red liquid vaporised the moment it came out of the container, becoming a light, almost intangible gas that slowly floated down to the dish like a heavy cloud of mist. It didn’t spread out the way normal gases do, instead flowing steadily towards the dish like a beam of light. Once touched by the strange cloud of gas, the scraps began to change. Gradually at first, the stony grey became lighter and lighter in colour, and then the process began to speed up, warping and turning the scraps into bright green. The gas disappeared, leaving behind blades of healthy green grass.

Celestia stared, her interest now piqued. Magic, as proven yet again, was a strange element. It appears at the most unlikely places and is filled with surprises. She levitated the dish towards herself, pulling out a single blade of grass from the pile and examining it.

“Very interesting, and very well done, Aether. I trust your team to continue on this discovery. Find out as much as you can, and keep me updated.” Celestia returned the blade of grass back to the dish. “It is a pity that I could not have done this myself. My royal duties will always take precedence over my personal research. That being said, do not hesitate to ask me for assistance if you need to.”

“You can rely on us, Princess. I daresay we will have ourselves a breakthrough in no time,” Aether said, touching a hoof to his chest proudly.

“Excellent. And also, do find out what other types of fossils are affected as well. I’m curious.”

“Of course, your highness.”

Celestia folded her goggles, setting them neatly down on the table. “Well then, if there are no further queries, I will take my leave. I suspect Luna can’t wait to share her exciting experience at the tax meeting with me.” With a small smile on her face, the sun goddess made her way to the exit of the room.

---

Chapter 2

The sun sank below the horizon in Ponyville, dragging its last amber streaks from the sky. The tree’s sprawling branches swayed lazily in the breeze, its leaves gradually losing their beautiful gold as the sunlight faded from the sky. Moments later, a pair of golden sun birds dove into its leaves, returning to their nests for the night.

Within the library, a purple unicorn rummaged through the shelves. There were only a few categories of books left, yet, she lacked the feeling of accomplishment. None of them seemed to have any relevance to the three circle symbol.

Twilight paused for a moment, shaking her head vigorously from side to side in an attempt to uncross her eyes. Her mane promptly returned to the straight, neat hairstyle she favoured. She levitated up her checklist again.

“Right, next section.  And it’s none other than...” Her face fell. “Ugh... here we go.”

Reluctantly, Twilight dragged her hooves to the very end of the library, where she had hidden this particular section. It consisted of books that were as unscientific and unreliable as fiction, but she wasn’t allowed to dump the two sections together, as much as she’d love to.

Twilight listened to the steady sound of her hooves against the wooden floor, sending echoes throughout the room. She stopped at a dead end. The shelves around her had lost their gleaming layer of varnish, the wood becoming dull and plain. Searching the first shelve, she found a single line of small golden letters set into the dusty old wood.

Myths and Mysteries

The tomes looked as old as the myths that were hidden in them, their once lush and bright covers now faded. Part of the blame fell on Twilight herself, who never quite got around cleaning up this section. She claimed to be too busy—too busy cleaning up the Chemistry section.

Twilight’s eyes landed on a familiar-looking green tome, the word ‘Supernaturals’ filling up half the spine. Feeling a smile creep onto her lips, she pulled it out to inspect its covers.

“Natural remedies and cure-alls that are simply... super,” Twilight read aloud. She could proudly claim to know everything inside, having flipped through from cover to cover after her absolutely traumatic Poison Joke incident. It remained as the one and only useful book that she had found from this section.

“Yes, one out of about... an entire category? Compared to hundreds under the Chemistry section.” She giggled at the contrast, slotting the book back and continuing her search.

As she idly shifted the books around, Twilight began to feel a little guilty about neglecting these shelves. Her eyes fell on a particularly ancient-looking black tome. A fine layer of dust had settled on top of it. Sitting inconspicuously on top of another stack of books, it would have gone unnoticed, if not for the terrible condition that it was in.

“Gee, I really should clean this place up.” Twilight carefully lifted up the book, a few frayed threads dangling from its worn out spine. She sucked in a breath and blew the dust off its covers.

A row of thick golden letters made up its title, engraved into the hard covers and forming a single word that gleamed against the light. Twilight didn’t understand what the word meant, so she proceeded to flip the book open, peeling away the first page that was stuck to the front cover.

“Whoa...” Twilight’s eyes grew wide. There, three perfect circles were in the middle of the yellowed page. She grabbed her notepad, flipping to the sketches she had made earlier in the day. The proportions of the circles matched exactly.

Right... totally unexpected, Twilight thought. She brought the book to the table, getting her quill ready. By the end of today, she’d know exactly what all of this was about, and her efforts would finally pay off. Grinning, she thought of how silly it had been to waste so much time on a few symbols. Perhaps she was about to find out just how insignificant they were. With that thought in mind, she flipped to the next page.

The paragraphs of writing were fading from age. Some of them were well on their way to becoming illegible. But worst of all, not a single phrase was in Equestrian.

“Horseapples...” she cursed, scanning through the rest of its yellowed pages and trying to find something, anything that she could understand, but it was no use.

Twilight felt cheated. The library that she had relied on for so long had failed her, only able to cough up an ancient tome that absolutely had to be written in another language. She left the book on the table and trotted up to where the markings were engraved on the floor.

The three circles seemed clearer than she remembered them to be. Their sizes were in a strangely familiar ratio, with the biggest being disproportionately large. Twilight was certain she had seen something like this before, perhaps even having drawn something similar, but she couldn’t remember its meaning.

“Darn these things. I could have spent all this time studying more about eclipses—ˮ Twilight stopped abruptly as something clicked in her mind. She snapped her attention back to the three circles.

An idea had formed in her head for a split second before disappearing.

“Eclipse... something about an eclipse...” she struggled to recall the thought, staring at the circles, aligned side by side in a straight line...

Then realisation hit her like a brick.

“I got it!” the young mare shouted, her voice echoing around the library. She levitated the notepad in front of herself. Grabbing a quill, Twilight scratched an ‘S’ inside the largest circle, followed by ‘E’ and ‘M’ for the next two circles. It was definitely correct—no pony would deliberately draw the circles sizes in that ratio without a good reason.

She had drawn it before. Wondering why she didn’t see it earlier, she flipped to her notes made on the previous night.

There, on a single page, was a diagram of the Sun, Earth, and Moon, represented by circles. A horizontal line passed through them, showing that they were exactly in line.

“Woo!” Twilight released a cheer of pure joy. “Nothing gets past Twilight Sparkle!”

She bounced around in a circle like a little filly, but stopped when she realised how it was making her head spin a little. “Phew...” she panted, “no idea how Pinkie Pie does that twenty-four-seven.”

The discovery was rather insignificant though. All Twilight knew was that the symbols were somehow connected to the eclipse that had happened last night, but she was just too tired to find out what else could be extracted from the book.

The exhausted unicorn lay on the floor and flipped lazily through the worn out pages, her chin resting on a hoof. She looked for nothing in particular, but noticed that there were a few sketches and diagrams in the book. Her eyes glanced across a particularly unusual one. She peered at it, trying to make it out.

The sketch was drawn in pencil, much like the way the young scientist would do her own scientific drawings. But instead of being clear and informative, Twilight couldn’t make out what the artist was trying to show. It was too terribly drawn, with stray lines all over the worn out page, as if as a result of being erased and redrawn many times. The fact that it was starting to disappear due to age didn’t help either.

Twilight moved to the flickering candlelight, hoping that it would become clearer. The light shone across the paper, revealing more of the strange drawing.

Was it some sort of creature? She noticed the shape of its head seemed to resemble that of a pony. But no, it couldn’t be a pony. Not when everything else about it was far from being pony-like. Slowly, she began to see more and more of the creature. There was a claw here, some hoof-like stub over there, and what looked like its body was sickeningly long and thin, stretching across the page.

Twilight felt the hairs on her coat rising. It looked like some warped version of a foal’s drawing. One didn’t need to be a zoologist to know how weird it was—it would be impossible for it to move on those limbs alone.

“Doesn’t even make sense,” she murmured.

The artist seemed to have realised this as well, not bothering to add further details or colour to the freakish drawing.

Twilight examined it for a few more seconds before deciding to stop for the night. A friendship report still had to be completed, and she didn’t want to lose more sleep over it.

As Twilight switched off the lights and headed up the stairs, she failed to notice the faint red glow the symbols on the floor were giving out, previously drowned out by the bright lights.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Celestia was completely exhausted. She stretched out on the Princess-sized bed, extending her massive wings across the deep purple covers. The velvet covers felt softer than her feathers.

Shifting her head, Celestia looked at her younger sister perched at the window. She knew her younger sister would be wide awake for a few more hours, having a remarkable supply of energy at night. Sometimes, she wished that she could have that too.

The moon princess was sitting up straight, looking attentively out into the night. She glanced back for a brief moment before returning to gaze outside. “How did your meeting go, sister? Share it with me.”

“We can talk about that tomorrow, Luna.”

Celestia brushed a foreleg lazily across the covers. “Right now, I really need some—ˮ A soft pop interrupted Celestia as a scroll dropped onto the floor. “...sleep.”

With a weary sigh, the sun goddess levitated the scroll towards her, unfurling it to reveal Twilight’s Friendship Report. She flipped through the pages, and confirmed that sleep wouldn’t be anytime soon.

Celestia crawled off the bed and spread out the report on her desk. She peered at the lines, willing her ancient brain to focus. Cramming in all that extra eclipses research was taking its toll on her.

Dear Princess Celestia, Twilight began, her impossibly straight and neat hornwriting somehow making the report even duller to read.

Today I learnt an important lesson about friendship...

Bit by bit, Celestia read through the report, stifling the urge to skip lines. She ran through all five pages, not missing a single word despite her exhaustion. After surviving the Twilight’s report, she forced herself to write a reply.

Celestia rummaged around her desk, looking for her quill and parchment, just to realise they were right in front of her all along.

“Um... Tia? Were you not going to sleep?” Luna’s voice penetrated into her head. It sounded a little distorted.

“No,” Celestia said. “I must finish this first.”

The mentor imagined her student at the library, eagerly waiting for a reply. What kind of teacher would she be if she neglected Twilight’s work in favor of her own private matters? She would never want to disappoint Twilight, the pony that trusts her completely, that looked to her for guidance. Twilight, her most prized pupil...

Celestia pressed the quill onto the parchment, straining to steady it.

Dear Twilight Sparkle...

Then she fell face-first on the table, snoring lightly.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The air was cold, colder than last night. It was carried by a constant breeze through the window, managing to chill Twilight even under the blankets. The lavender unicorn curled herself into a ball of fur and shivered, partly due to the cold, and partly due to the terrible nightmare she was having.

The dark Everfree forest sped past her, its tall trees looming around her as she ran, blocking out the moonlight and plunging the area into darkness. Twilight knew something was watching her, some unknown horror that raced amongst the shadows, rustling the leaves and causing the occasional snap of a twig. But every time she shot a glance back to see what was chasing her, she could only make out shadows flitting among the trees.

The rustling sound grew fainter and fainter as she galloped. Eventually, she slowed to a trot, stopping to lean against the rough bark of a tree trunk. Putting a hoof to her heaving chest, Twilight fought to catch her breath.

Just then, a faint whisper was carried by the wind from the branches of the very same tree she was leaning on. The unearthly snake-like voice spoke, just loud enough for her to make out above the sounds of the forest.

“Twilight Sssparkle....”

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Clack... Clop...

Twilight’s eyes burst open, darting wildly around the bedroom in a panic. She found herself drenched in cold sweat, the vividness of the nightmare still haunting her.

Clop

An involuntary gasp escaped her lips. It was those strange hoofsteps again, echoing up to her room from the main floor below. She had been so sure that the mysterious pony wouldn’t return. What did he want with this time? What was he searching for?

Clack

“T-That didn’t sound like a hoofstep,” Twilight whispered. Instead, it sounded more like a claw than anything.

Clop

Twilight crept out of her bed, which creaked from her weight. It didn’t help that the events from the nightmare were plaguing her mind, causing it to conjure up all sorts of terrifying possibilities. Maybe... maybe he wasn’t after the library, but searching for me instead? She whimpered at the thought.

“Okay, okay... calm down Twilight... nothing bad is going to happen. You just need to do what you did before.”

She closed her eyes, forcing the fear away. She focused her magic, lighting up her horn against the darkness and repeating the spell from the night before.

The magical lock was a simple spell, it didn’t require much time or effort to produce, yet it proved to be as reliable as ever. And that was exactly what she needed at the moment—something reliable.

“No pony would get past that....”

Sshhhhh...

She gulped at the new sound, “...unless it’s not a pony.”

It seemed as if something was being dragged on the floor... or perhaps, something was dragging itself on the floor.

Shhhh

Twilight hated it, desperately wishing she wasn’t all by herself. Somepony needed to be with her, to assure her that everything will be all right by tomorrow. But of course, no pony would come to her rescue.

Clack Clop... Shhh...

Hesitating for a moment, she pulled out her Smartypants doll from where she kept it tucked under the bed. Perhaps if she could imagine it to be somepony, she wouldn’t feel so alone. It was the only form of company she could think of.

The old doll was a little disfigured from being squashed underneath, a few threads hanging uselessly from it. But none of that mattered at the moment. Twilight hugged it tightly to her chest anyway, rubbing the soft fabric against her coat and treasuring every bit of comfort it could offer to her.

“Oh Smartypants... I’m so scared....”

The doll, of course, offered no reply.

Clack Clop... Shhh...

Clack Clop... Shhh...

The sound continued, now forming an eerie rhythm that was carried easily through the air.

Twilight listened in fear, still clinging tightly to Smartypants. It seemed to be getting clearer and clearer... then terror gripped at her chest when she realised exactly what was happening: It was coming up the stairs.

She needed to get out of the library, right now, and to move as far away as possible from that wretched thing coming for her. It was getting closer, she could hear it coming. Exiting through the door was out of the question. Only a pony with nuts for brains would try that. But yet, something had to be done fast... and the only other way out of the bedroom happened to be through the window.

Clack Clop... Shhh...

Smartypants slipped from her hooves, landing on the floor.

Wait a minute... I can teleport!

Even the obvious took a while to be realised as fear wrecked her brain. Twilight needed to concentrate in order for the spell to work. She closed her eyes in an attempt to calm her fraying nerves.

After a while, her horn began to spark with an unsteady flow of magic, flickering like a faulty light bulb. She steadied it, feeling it flow warmly through her to the tip of her horn. All of a sudden, her concentration was shattered to pieces as a loud thud came from just outside her room, as if something had landed there. She heard the door’s spell lock being sucked away by some unknown force, disappearing with a faint ‘pop’ sound.

The magic in her horn fizzled out as she lost focus, leaving the room in complete darkness once again. Twilight dived deep under the covers of her bed, curling up into a trembling ball of fur. She was trapped, utterly trapped, right in her own room.

There was absolute silence now. Twilight squeezed her eyes shut, waiting for the thing on the other side to burst in, but it didn’t. Nothing happened for a few heartbeats.

A creak came from the door—a prolonged, eerie creak that pierced through the silence and chilled her to the bone at the same time. Twilight flattened herself under the covers, desperately hoping that she blended in well with the darkness. Perhaps the thing wouldn’t be able to spot her at all, especially in this light.

As the seconds stretched out, Twilight began shifting very, very slowly. She lifted up the sheets by a fraction of an inch and risked a peek out.

It was impossible to see anything in the darkness, no matter how hard she strained her eyes. But things changed when the clouds shifted outside, letting in a faint shaft of moonlight that was enough for her to make out the chilling outline of a pony head lying at the doorway.

“EEEEEP-ˮ Twilight swiftly stifled her scream by jamming a hoof into her mouth, but she did it with so much force it felt as though a few teeth might have been loosened in the process. Her eyes watered in pain as she kept them fixed on the grim sight.

The pony head on the floor began to budge, slowly sliding into the bedroom. It lifted itself above the ground, floating in the air. It was, in fact, not just a pony head, but something far worse. From the strange shadows stretching across the floor, it looked as if the head was actually connected to some sort of long and thin body.

Twilight closed her eyes as she fought to gain control of her hammering heart. She didn’t know if the shadows were playing tricks on her. Frankly, she’d rather it be just a pony head, instead of this horrifying nightmare that could hardly be seen in the darkness. When she opened her eyes again, the head was facing away, which probably meant that it had failed to notice her.

Twilight needed to get a better view of what it was. She began to adjust her weight, carefully shifting it to one side of her body. Then, she proceeded to slide her hooves along the sheets as softly as she could into a more comfortable position, adjusting her neck at the same time. Her bed-roll-shift was almost completed without attracting any attention. She felt a wave of relief as she re-balanced her weight, then all of it vaporized as the bed gave off a loud creak. The pony head froze at the sound.

Oh... oh nonononono. Please, pleeeassee don’t, she prayed.

It flicked out something long and black from its mouth, as if trying to taste the air for her presence, much like how a snake picks out the scent of its prey. It paused, flicked out its tongue, and paused again.

Twilight didn’t dare move a muscle. She saw it taste the air again, this time a little slower. To her horror, the head began to turn slowly, twisting back by an unnatural degree to face her.

A wave of cold pierced through her entire body as she locked eyes with a pair of haunting blood-red orbs which she assumed were its eyes. The monster was staring right through that tiny crack in the sheets she was peeking out from.

Every instinct screamed for her to run, but her muscles refused to budge. She was too scared to scream, too scared to cry; too scared to do anything except watch in horror.

Then she realised that she couldn’t move a muscle.

The creature began to advance on her. It slithered up to the bed slowly, taking its time, as if it knew Twilight couldn’t fight its petrifying stare.

Clack... Clop

Clack... Clop

Her mind blanked out as it drew closer and closer. Perhaps she was falling into unconsciousness or something, she wasn’t quite sure.

Suddenly, the covers were ripped back and Twilight screamed at the top of her lungs. She regained control of her body and darted out of bed, running away from the thing as fast as possible.

She reached the end of her room and turned around, pressing her back against the wall. All around, the shadows were moving. She searched the room for the the pony head. It was gone.

Twilight felt around the wall, not daring to take her eyes off her front. Her hoof bumped into the cold metal frame of her window. Barely thinking, she bucked it open and clambered over the sill. She shot one last glance behind, just in time to see the blackness racing toward her. Not wanting to know what it was, she kicked off into the empty air.

She floated for a split second before beginning her dreadful fall.

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHH!!

Twilight flapped her hooves frantically in the air, trying unsuccessfully to imitate a pegasus’s wing beat. Searing bolts of hot pain erupted all over her body as the library’s branches whipped against her. As she tumbled through the air, the wind howled in her ears and she felt as though her heart was stuck somewhere along her throat.

There was a brief pause, followed by a sickening thud. A tremendous amount of pain exploded in her chest, shooting through every fibre in her body to her hooftips. It blasted her mind out of control and sent her eyes spinning. She couldn’t yell in pain, having all the air in her lungs knocked out clean. Twilight knew that her library was supposed to be about one to two stories high. Yet, it felt as though she had fallen from the moon.

Twilight lay on the ground, gasping and heaving for air. Every time she took a breath, a fresh wave of pain coursed through her lungs. Her coat stung from the gashes caused by the library’s branches, but she was more concerned about something else.

The monster... it’s still around.

Collecting her final reserves of strength, Twilight heaved herself to her hooves. Her battered body burned from the various cuts and bruises, yet she continued to limp away as fast as she could. She couldn’t afford to sit here and wait for the monster to finish her off. Even the dark deserted streets of Ponyville were more welcoming than her library.

Twilight headed down to the streets. Being a small and quiet town, not a single soul would be out at this time to lend a helping hoof. Instead, the trees loomed around her, forming dark silhouettes against the moonlight. She didn’t find the mild breeze comforting either. It blew coldly against her coat. Sometimes, it whistled past her ears in a strange manner, as if carrying some sort of whisper.

 

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Back in her bedroom, something snatched up Smartypants from the floor. A black mass wrapped itself around the doll, sucking out any lingering magic before tossing it far away to the corner.

---

Chapter 3

Knock... knock

“What?” Rarity’s eyes fluttered open. The two round cucumber slices tumbled down from them, bouncing off the bed and landing on the floor. She sat upright for a while, confused.

Knock... knock

She blinked a couple of times. The last remnants of sleep faded as her mind kicked into action.

“Oh...wow! How very thoughtful of somepony to visit me,” she began, “...at four in the morning?!” She rolled to the edge of her bed, flipping herself over and landing on the floor in a heap.

“These ruffians just don’t learn how not to interrupt a mare’s beauty sleep, do they?” she grumbled, pushing herself up from the floor.

Rarity stomped towards the feeble knocks on her door. Who would have the gall to commit such an atrocity? she wondered. Who could have failed the see the enormous ‘DO NOT DISTURB’ sign that she placed—oh so deliberately—on the door? There was not much time to spare. She needed to clock up the eight hours before the sun rises. It would be unforgivable if she didn’t get her eight hours of sleep. Absolutely unforgivable.

“It is time to get rid of this nuisance.” She grabbed the door firmly while an evil smile appeared on her face.

WHAM!

She flung the door open with all her might. It was meant to startle the other pony, punishing her for the crime she was committing, but instead, Rarity was the one getting the shock.

“Oh my stars! Twilight! Whatever happened to you?”

The purple unicorn was crouched in the frame of the doorway, making her look smaller than usual. Her coat, usually a bright lavender, was darkened by dried blood and covered with deep scratches. Her mane was no better, messy and filled with bits of mud and grime and leaves. Twilight’s lower lip trembled, as if she was on the verge of tears.

“I...I...”

“Twilight...” Rarity bent down to nuzzle the unicorn. “Twilight darling, what happened?”

The purple unicorn’s constricted pupils darted around in fear, as if expecting something to pounce on her the moment she opened her mouth to speak. She refused to give an answer, shaking her head and kneading the floor in distress. Finally, unable to hold it off any longer, the unicorn began to sob pitifully, tears streaming down her cheeks.

Rarity stared, stunned—first by Twilight’s appearance, and now by her sudden breakdown. Perhaps that wasn’t the best question to start off with, she concluded, giving herself a mental kick. She, being the most sensitive out of all ponies, should have known better. Did she just make Twilight cry? How could she?

She turned her attention back to Twilight.

“I’m so sorry Twilight... here, why don’t you come inside?” she offered, helping Twilight to her hooves.

The purple unicorn used a fore hoof to rub away her tears. Her voice was quivering. “I-Is it safe?”

“Why, of course it is!”

Rarity felt her stomach tightening. It was unnerving to see Twilight like this, the usually confident unicorn now reduced to a fearful little filly. Something terrible had happened to her.

And the sooner I find out what it was, the better.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Back in the Carousel Boutique, Rarity rummaged around her drawers for medical supplies.

“Ah, here we go,” she said, lifting up a plain white box with a red cross painted over it. Her horn glowed briefly, pulling out a small bottle of ointment and some bandages. Collecting the items, she returned to Twilight.

The unicorn was sitting quietly on a cushion, lost in her own thoughts. Her tears had since dried up.

Thankfully. Watching her cry had been... heartbreaking. 

Twilight’s eyes shifted to the bandages levitating towards her. She managed a smile, her expression softening.

“Thanks...”

“No worries darling. You just sit back and relax.”

Twilight shifted to her side, allowing her impromptu caregiver to check over her injuries.

Rarity winced a little at the sight of blood. It made her feel slightly squeamish, and she had put off any idea of being a nurse for this very reason. It also meant that she wasn’t good at First Aid.

Rarity uncapped the small bottle of antiseptic liquid, looking uncertainly at it, as if it was some sort of strange potion meant exclusively for witchcraft.

“Heavens... okay, I think this might hurt a bit.” She levitated the bottle over Twilight’s flank, carefully squeezing a few drops of the yellow liquid onto her coat. The unicorn flinched a little, but tried her best to keep still, watching the medical oils seep slowly into her coat.

Rarity proceeded to cut off a length of bandage. She noticed the long, blood-crusted gashes along Twilight’s sides and shot a glance at the purple unicorn, who remained as quiet as ever.

“Well Twilight, aren’t you going to tell me what happened?”

Twilight pawed the floor uneasily with a fore hoof.  “Well...” she began slowly, “it all started with... with...” Her violet eyes widened as she replayed the events in her head. Then, she let out a gasp and shook her head.

“...I don’t feel like talking about it,” Twilight said, keeping her gaze locked on the floor, suddenly interested with the speck of dirt that Rarity had somehow failed to clean up.

Rarity knew better than to squeeze out information and traumatize her friend further. She held her overwhelming curiosity back. Give her time, she’ll open up eventually.

Silence fell over the two ponies as Rarity continued to bandage up Twilight. The soft crackle of burning wood came from the fireplace, broken by the occasional purr from her pet cat Opal, sleeping on a rug next to her.

Not knowing what actually needed to be treated, Rarity simply wrapped up every single scratch she found, including patches of coat that simply had a bit of dirt on it.

The lavender unicorn couldn’t seem to care less, her head starting to droop from exhaustion.

After a few more minutes, Rarity was finally putting on the last lengths of bandage. By this point in time, she had—quite unnecessarily—eaten through three large rolls of the material.

“Okay, I’m done!” she let out a breath of relief, taking a step back and looking at her work.

“Huh?” Twilight snapped her head back up. Layer after layer of bandages covered her entire body from head to hooves. She could have passed off as a mummy pony from the movies, if not for her little purple horn sticking out. Noticing Rarity stifling a laugh, she heaved herself up and hobbled awkwardly to a mirror.

“Heh... I look ridiculous!” Twilight chuckled at her reflection, lifting a hoof to prod at the bandages.

“Well, I’m not exactly a qualified caretaker, you know...” Rarity muttered defensively. She flicked her mane in an attempt to hide her embarrassment.  “Anyway, it doesn’t look too bad, you’ll be better in absolutely no time at all!”

She wasn’t quite sure how her two sentences were supposed to be linked together, but that didn’t matter.

“Yes... thanks for all your help Rarity,” Twilight stumbled across the room, “it must have been a really long-” she stifled a yawn “-night for you...”

Twilight caught sight of the couch, groggily making her way towards it.

“I think I’ll just be getting... some sleep now...” Without another word, Twilight collapsed onto the floor, a few hoofsteps away from her intended destination.

Rarity rolled her eyes. She made her way over to Twilight. With a grunt of effort, she lifted the unicorn above the ground. Bit by bit, she dragged her closer to the couch, straining from the weight.

Dear me...

Twilight hardly stirred throughout the process, her head rolling around as her hooves trailed along the ground.

Finally, with one massive effort, she heaved the unicorn onto the cushions. She proceeded to shift Twilight around, attempting to move her into a comfortable position.

She let out a breath. “Twilight, if you had collapsed any further away, I can assure you that you’d be left on the floor, and the pony sleeping on the couch now would certainly be me.”

The unicorn carried on with her slumber, blissfully unaware of her.

Rarity watched the steady rise and fall of Twilight’s chest, beginning to feel drowsy herself. She reached for the blanket, pulling it over Twilight’s body, grabbed a second blanket for herself, and lay down on the floor beside Twilight.

Through the window, the first rays of dawn were beginning to pierce through the sky, turning it a light shade of blue.

So much for that ‘eight hours of sleep’, Rarity thought.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Twilight groaned.

Her body was aching all over. And she had a splitting headache. It felt as though she had fallen through the air, at terminal velocity, and landed on the ground with a splat. Well, actually, that’s pretty much what happened to her earlier last night. Perhaps not at terminal velocity though.

She twisted around on the cushions, refusing to open her eyes. The sunlight showed no mercy, relentlessly trying to pierce through the comforting darkness behind her eyelids. And worst of all, she felt a cramp creeping up her left hind leg.

Urgh... great!

She raised the leg high up in the air, waving it around for a few seconds. Her muscles stretched and flexed in response, easily working out the cramp.

Ahh... much better.

She let out a sigh of relief as her leg flopped back down on the cushion. For the moment she just wanted to lay there in the warm sunlight, with nothing on her mind. She licked her lips. Her throat felt dry. Then, a single thought popped up.

Water. I need water.

If only she could make a glass magically pop out at will. That would be the best thing ever.

Finally, giving up on her sleep, she cracked open an eye. The strong rays of sunlight flooded her vision, instantly bringing back her headache. Twilight groaned and shut her eye again.

Not a good start for a day.

Relying on her other senses, she slided off the cushions, steadying herself on her hooves.

Water...

She tripped on a blanket lying on the ground. Pushing it away, she squinted around for the bathroom, butting the door open with her horn and stumbling inside. Her throat felt so, so incredibly dry. She turned on the tap, and was rewarded by the sound of water splashing against the sink.

Ahh... water!

Twilight eagerly lapped up the sweet, refreshing goodness, proceeding to splash some on her face.

Eww... what’s this tissue stuff all over me?

She opened her eyes, staring at the pony in the mirror, whom stared right back at her.

“WHAARRGG!!” her reflection screamed. Its face was covered with an expression of shock, and also with quite a lot of bandages. The material was dripping wet with water.

Twilight began to tear away at the bandages. She had forgotten about Rarity’s not-so-spectacular First Aid attempt.

“Twilight? Twilight darling are you alright?”

After a second or two, the fashion designer pushed open the bathroom door, a look of concern plastered on her face.

“Yes, I’m fine. Just got a bit of shock from... that pony,” Twilight jerked an accusing hoof at the mirror. She paused. “Er, I mean... myself. That’s right.” she corrected quickly.

Must have lost a few brain cells from the fall last night.

Rarity gave her a strange glance. “Well... anyway, I prepared breakfast—or lunch rather. Come get it while it’s hot!” With that, she trotted back out of the room.

Twilight peeled off the remaining pieces of bandage. She felt surprisingly calm despite what happened last night. The feeling of dread was gone. Perhaps she felt safe, especially with Rarity around.

 

Hmm...

Rarity!

I’ve got to tell her everything...

She hurried out of the room.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Rarity sat across the table, listening to Twilight’s story intently.

“So, you were attacked by some creature, and you have absolutely no idea what it was?”

Twilight drained the last few spoonfuls of vegetable soup. The scorching liquid slid down her throat and sat pleasantly in her stomach. She munched on a chewy bit of celery as she thought.

“Well, I thought I saw a pony head.... But its body was really long. Like, unnaturally long. And it had really scary red eyes.”

“Twilight darling, are you sure it wasn’t—well—just a pony? I mean, you yourself admitted that it was too dark to make out anything. And ponies have red eyes. Rainbow Dash, for example.”

“Rainbow Dash has red irises, not red eyes. The eyes looked like...” she tapped a hoof to her chin, searching for a fitting description, “they looked like... like that of a cockatrice!”

Rarity pondered at her answer for a while. “I haven’t seen a cockatrice’s eyes before, Twilight. I believe only Fluttershy and yourself would know what it looks like... when you got turned into stone and such.”

Twilight gave an involuntary shudder as she briefly recounted the experience.

“And how about the book that you mentioned earlier?” Rarity asked.

“It’s sitting in the library. I can’t understand what it means though, it’s all written in a weird language.”

Rarity took a sip from her bowl of soup, making sure not to slurp out of habit. She set the porcelain bowl down on the oak table.

“Well, did you not try a translation spell?”

Twilight tapped her hoof to her chin. “A translation spell... I suppose it might work. I’ve forgotten how to do it though, because I’ve never needed it.”

..because all science reference books are updated yearly and written in plain old Equestrian.

“I suppose I’ll have to learn it again,” Twilight said.

“Oh, that won’t be necessary, dear.” Rarity smiled and puffed out her chest. “Your totally awesome friend can help you with that,” she said, mimicking Rainbow Dash. “I used it on those historical fashion books I borrowed from you the other time, just before Spike got that horrendous growth spurt.”

At the back of her mind, Twilight had the feeling that she would probably end up learning it anyway. But there were much more important things to be dealt with at the moment.

She drummed her hooves on the table, turning this new piece of information over in her mind. It swirled around, weaving out a few ideas. A new course of action began to form.

 

“Okay, so I’ll drop in the library...” She gave a shudder. “I’ll drop in the library, grab the book, come back here, and you’ll help me translate it. Then, I’ll read what it says and find out what this is all about,” she thought aloud. “If it’s bad, we’ll get help from the rest of our friends, if it’s very bad, we’ll have to inform the police or something. Or maybe go to Princess Celestia for help.”

The ‘if it’s good’ scenario was long gone.

Rarity dabbed at her mane. It was something she did subconsciously while in thought.

“Why not just write a letter to Princess Celestia now?”

“Well... no harm getting the book first,” Twilight said, “anyway, I’ll be back within an hour.”

Twilight made her way to the door, only to be swiftly blocked by Rarity.

“You can’t go out like that!” she exclaimed, indicating at the bandages hanging off from Twilight, along with her dishevelled mane. “I’ll get it for you. And besides, you’re injured.”

“Actually, I feel fine.”

“I insist.”

“Well, in that case... thanks for helping me again, Rarity. I really owe you a lot.” Twilight admitted.

“It’s my pleasure, dear.”

Twilight felt a tendril of uncertainly worming its way through her. Something told her that allowing Rarity to go off alone wasn’t a good idea.

“But... you’ll be careful, okay?”

“Oh, of course I will, Twilight,” Rarity laughed as she headed out of the door. “It’s just me getting an old book. Surely nothing could possibly go wrong.”

“Yes, nothing would go wrong. Just... be careful.”

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Rarity pushed on the door. It opened with a dull creak, revealing a large circular space that made up the library’s ground floor. Hundreds and hundreds of books filled the shelves, which lay stacked against the walls, or lined up neatly in rows. They gave the air a pleasant smell of wood and paper. Everything seemed perfectly normal, despite what apparently happened last night.

See? she thought. Nothing wrong here.

Rarity didn’t know what to make of Twilight’s story. Being attacked by a hideous monster with a pony head in the middle of the night? Impossible! If somepony told her that, she would have immediately dismissed it as absolute nonsense.

Well, unless that pony was Twilight Sparkle. That mare had seemed really frightened last night.

Her thoughts were interrupted as she noticed something glowing on the floor ahead. Curious, she trotted up to have a look.

The small red glow became closer and closer. It was the symbol. The very first one she found three days ago. It was much clearer now. But then, she knew carvings didn’t simply get clearer.

Rarity stretched her neck closer to the floor, until it was inches away from the marking. Upon closer inspection, she realised that the three circles weren’t just glowing; they were burning, and had actually burnt themselves deep into the wood.

Rarity felt a cloud of uncertainty forming in her. She didn’t like these strange symbols that did stuff on their own.

Oh, forget about those creepy things, Rarity. Get the book, and get out of here. Then she realised she didn’t know where the book was... or even what it looked like.

Great...

It has to be somewhere obvious. Perhaps on a desk or something. She began to scan around the library.

Twilight’s practicality was there in her furniture. There were lots of neatly arranged rectangular tables, but nothing fanciful. The mare did seem to have a taste for wood though, which explains why she lived in a tree.

Rarity searched through the area, finding cluttered stacks of notes, parchment, and other small things, but no ancient looking book.

Maybe it’s in her room.

She moved quickly up the stairs, eager to get the job done and get back home. She found Twilight’s room and pushed the door open. 

The first thing she noticed was the mess of white fluff on the floor. A shredded grayish brown doll lay in the middle, stuffing spilling from its wounds.

Rarity levitated up the familiar looking doll.

Smartie... Smartypants, yes, Smartypants. That was what Twilight called it.

Rarity examined the giant slash wounds on it. Smartypants was missing an arm and plenty of stuffing, as if it had been snatched up and swung violently around. She felt her cloud of uncertainty worsening into fear.

The book, dear, get the book. 

She tore her eyes off the doll, scanning the room.

There it is!

An exceptionally old looking book, lying open on the study table.

Rarity grabbed it with her magic, sending it flying across the room towards her. With the book floating by her side, she hastily made her way out of the room.

Her hooves sent echoes through the air as she descended the stairs. The library below was unnervingly quiet.

Well, libraries are supposed to be quiet.

The small wooden door that made up the library’s main entrance was in sight. It brought her a tiny bit of relief, especially after finding Smartypants. She trotted towards it, glad that she would soon be leaving the library and all the terrible things in it.

Halfway across the room, she heard a clear flapping of wings. A light flutter, probably made by a small creature.

Rarity instinctively ducked her head and jumped under a table. The fluttering stopped abruptly, making her even more nervous. She knew there were plenty of small but deadly creatures that existed around. She imagined it to be a cockatrice, and her fear rose further. She could feel her heart pounding against her ribcage.

She locked her eyes on the library’s exit. It was still a fair bit of distance away. 

Okay, run on the count of three.

All she wanted to do was get out of this dreadful place. Rarity crouched under the piece of furniture, feeling the solid wood under her hooves. She noticed the black book lying on the floor, where she had dropped it earlier.

One...

Two...

THREE!

“YAARRRHHH!” Rarity made a final, desperate dash. She ran as fast as she could, her hooves pounding against the floor. The wind blew against her mane, getting the hair in her eyes. She snatched up the book between her jaws and swerved towards the exit, drawing closer and closer to it.

Five metres...

Four metres...

Three metres...

Two...

One...

She burst through the door. A huge wave of relief crashed over her as she ran out into the bright sunlight and out onto the street.

Oh Celestia... that was the most frightening experience EVER.

Rarity spat out the book and panted from the mad dash, her limbs and jaws aching. She looked at the library, wondering what that fluttering was about. Then, the image of Smartypants floated up to her mind and she shuddered.

Thank goodness that’s over.

Flicking a strand of hair out of her eyes, she levitated the book and made her way back to the Carousel Boutique. For once, she wasn’t concerned about the mess her mane was in.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

There was a flutter of wings again in the library. Something small flew out of the open window on the second floor. It landed in the branches outside with a soft rustle. A set of large yellow eyes peeked out from the swaying leaves. They were fixed on a white unicorn, tracking her every move, watching her hurry down the street. They followed her until she moved out of sight.

---

Chapter 4

Twilight jumped in fright as Rarity burst into the Carousel Boutique, hitting her head painfully on one of the antique lamps that hung from the ceiling.

“Ow!” Twilight winced, lifting a fore hoof to massage the bruise on her head.

“I got the book,” Rarity panted, not noticing that she had startled Twilight. She waved the old tome in front of Twilight’s face.

“Oh okay. Thanks...” Twilight said, plucking it from the light blue magic. She shifted her gaze to the white unicorn. Beads of sweat had collected on her forehead, and her pupils were constricted. Twilight’s eyes moved past her face, finally landing on her unusually messy mane.

“Um... are you feeling okay?” she asked, tilting her head to one side in confusion.

“No!” Rarity cried. “It was horrendous, ghastly, absolutely vile! Why, first there were those terrible symbols from last time, glowing all on their own! Then I found that doll of yours, gruesomely ripped to pieces. And when I finally got hold of the book, something was flying around and tracking me down. Heavens, if I had to spend one more moment in that library, I would have...”

Twilight was finding it hard to keep up with Rarity’s spluttering. “Wait, you said the symbols were glowing?”

“Yes, certainly. Glowing and burning, actually.”

“That’s unusual. They wouldn’t be doing that if they were just carvings...” Twilight’s eyes widened in shock, “meaning that those symbols must have magic in them! They could have been cast by a unicorn, or... or...” she gulped in fear, “...or whatever that thing was.”

Twilight levitated the book in front of her and trotted back to the oak table. She set it neatly in the middle as Rarity came up beside her. The large golden letters gleamed against the light, in contrast to the black covers that they were engraved on. She knew that there was only one thing left to do.

“Okay Rarity, are you ready to cast the translation spell?”

“Well, yes. It is quite a simple little spell, really, ” Rarity said, lighting up her horn. She surrounded the black book with her magic. The light blue glow around the book grew steadily stronger and stronger, turning into a hot, bluish white. The book began to float, hovering a few inches above the table.

Twilight watched as Rarity worked her magic. She couldn’t resist pointing out the little errors in the way the spell was being cast, despite having forgotten it.

No, channel the magic slowly...

Don’t burn the pages.

Oh Celestia, I really hope she doesn’t burn the pages.

Twilight could see something happening to the large golden letters on the book’s cover. They began to vibrate, squiggling and squirming about their positions. Magic continued to pour in, causing the book to tremble lightly in the air. Its letters simmered, as if placed over some sort of magical fire. Then, they began to melt before her eyes, forming thick golden liquid with the same consistency as glue.

Better not drip any of that, or I’ll be reading junk with missing letters.

Not one drop of the liquid fell off the black covers. It moved around, as if being pulled by gravity, joining up and pooling in several spots side by side, roughly equal in size. The spots of liquid cooled off, beginning to mould themselves into distinct shapes.

Twilight realised that she biting on her lip and stopped. She gritted her teeth and continued watching.

Eleven spots of gold began to harden into eleven recognisable letters. They engraved themselves back into the book, with the same thick, block-like font style they had previously, forming one single, simple word.

Draconequus

The two mares stared at it.

“Dra-con-e-quus.” Twilight murmured. A confused look appeared on her face. She cocked her head to one side, looking at the title from an angle, which didn’t help to draw any further inspiration. She shot a glance at Rarity, and saw a similar expression reflected on her face. None of them knew what that word meant.

“Well, I definitely did the spell right. Even well done, if I should say so,” Rarity said.

“Terrifyingly well done,” Twilight muttered. Her lower lip throbbed in pain. She picked the book up, giving it a tentative sniff. It had a stale, musty smell—the type old books usually gave out.

She traced her hooves on the book, feeling the depressions made by the engraved letters. The surface of the hardcover was soft and frayed, but its bulk was still sturdy. She tapped it twice, producing two solid knocks while Rarity waited patiently by her side.

“Right.” Twilight finally flipped open the cover.

The faded writing was cursive and hard to read, nonetheless, it was now in Equestrian. She began to read the first paragraph.

Little is known about the creature cast in stone...

It seemed to be some sort of cryptic poem. She skipped to the next one, finding another mass of vague literature.

She was intending to find simple, solid facts, not some mysterious verses that hardly told her anything. Flipping through the first few pages, she landed herself on what appeared to be an event log consisting of short passages and outdated articles from newspapers, reports, and other sources. That was what Twilight needed ─ facts from reliable sources. Or reliable looking sources at least.

Rarity squeezed in beside her. Together, they began to read the paragraphs of cursive writing.

A burglary took place in Red Ruby & Diamond Star’s Jewelleries. The jewellery shop was reported to have been ransacked, presumably over Monday night. The store owners, Red Ruby and his wife, Diamond Star, claim to have up to fifty thousand bits worth of jewellery missing. However, the unicorn couple were puzzled to find that valuable gemstones, such as the fifty carat Fire Ruby, remained untouched. They noted that the majority of the stolen items seemed to contain enhancer spells and other traces of magic. The Fire Ruby was not known to have contained magic, leading to a possible explanation of why it was not stolen.

Police began searching for leads to this mysterious magical-gemstone loving thief two days ago. However, a police spokespony reported that investigations were not yielding results. Officer Ice Heart confirmed the statement, adding that efforts were ‘frustratingly fruitless’, and that they had found ‘zero evidence’. However, he added later that the store owners noticed several ‘strange markings’ on the floor, which they claimed were not there the day before. They were assumed to have appeared overnight. ─Equestria Daily, 10/5

---

A team of researchers claimed to have spotted an unusual set of tracks appearing in the Everfree forest. Originally on a project to investigate the self-governing characteristics of it, the team stumbled upon the tracks in the mid-west region of the forest. The group’s head, Dr. Greenleaf, decided to pursue the trail after a brief discussion with his fellow researchers.

As quoted from True Wonder, a junior member of the team: “We found these really weird imprints on the ground... like some footprint combination of two or more different animals. At first we thought of a cockatrice or something... but there were markings made by a hoof as well. It didn’t make sense! I thought it was some observational error. But when we followed the trail further, the different imprints appeared to have a distinct sequence, and remained the same distance apart,  meaning that they had to belong to the same creature. I’m thrilled that we’re gonna search for it. This is so exciting!”

The research team announced that they will set off again on Wednesday to further the investigation. ─Equestria Daily, 11/5

---

A letter to the Police Headquarters, Canterlot

Sir,

All is well in Ponyville. We have not much to report, except a few petty thefts. The suspects were, of course, promptly arrested. Our force strives to uphold its flawless reputation at all times.

On a side note, The Night Guard Border Patrol reported a strange sighting while on duty. It was approaching Moonhigh when they heard the rustling of leaves from within the Everfree Forest. They suspected that a large creature was hidden among the leaves, but could not identify it due to the darkness of the night. Conflicting accounts of what the creature could have been were given. But they identified a set of ‘gleaming red eyes’ staring at them from within the forest.

Shortly after the incident, two of the guards submitted in their resignation forms.

I hope that this update was found to be useful, and I await your response. The subsequent update will be sent next Thursday, as usual.

Yours sincerely,

Officer Brightheart

---

Dr. Greenleaf and his team of researchers, the group that discovered the ‘unusual tracks’ in the Everfree Forest, have since cut short their trip and returned to Canterlot. They did not reveal the outcome of their research. Instead, ‘safety reasons’ were cited for the termination of the project. Members of the group declined further commenting. ─Equestria Daily, 14/5

---

A letter to Officer Ice Heart (misplaced in a document folder):

Ice Heart,

I’ve returned early from Dawn Patrol, because most of the other guards were so focused on getting the job done and reporting back. They’re a pretty boring bunch of ponies to hang out with sometimes.

Anyway, I saw something weird on the way back. It was like... some small sack of fur, lying on the grass. No pony else noticed it, so I went to have a closer look. I think it was actually the corpse of a squirrel. I wasn’t sure, because it didn’t quite look like a squirrel anymore... It looked like the poor creature had been sucked out dry from the inside, and even the colour of its coat had turned into a sickly grey.

I didn’t have the time to examine it further, because my patrol was leaving. And wandering alone near the Everfree was the last thing I wanted. I can take you to see it if you want. I don’t mind getting a second look too—it’s sick!

Your friend,

Leafwhistle

---

An urgent report was filed to the police department five minutes past midnight by a young mare. Apparently, the mare was taking a regular midnight stroll when she heard ‘unnaturally high pitched’ screams coming from the Everfree forest. She could not pinpoint the exact location of the source, but described it as ‘bloodcurdling’.

Hours later, similar complaints were filed to the department, all reporting about the same unnatural screaming. The residents claimed that the screams subsided only in the early hours in the morning. ─Equestria Daily, 17/5

---

For the first time in years, a murder has taken place in Ponyville. Police barricades sprang up along Orange Grove Street, cordoning off an estimated 20 by 20 metre area. When reporters flocked to the scene, they found it to be completely shielded off from view, and were denied entry.

An officer on duty took queries from reporters, explaining that the nature of the crime was ‘particularly gruesome’ and ‘unfit for news’. He could not reveal the details of the crime, except that paramedics had pronounced the victim dead upon arrival.

However, rumours have it that the victim was a unicorn mare, and was also said to be the owner of a Jewellery shop...

Twilight slammed the book shut, her hooves trembling.

“Twilight, you don’t mean to tell me that those symbols I saw...”

“I think they’re markings,” Twilight croaked, feeling as though a ball of ice had been shoved down her stomach. “Markings to mark me out... I-It’s hunting me, and when it gets me, it’ll... it’ll... ”

She gulped down the rest of her sentence, feeling nauseous from fear. “I need to write to Princess Celestia.”

“Good idea, let me get you the quill and parchment,” Rarity said. She moved shakily to the stairs.

Twilight pushed the book away cautiously, as if it was some sort of dangerous object. “I think I’ll just go and—” She paused abruptly, perking up her ears.

Rarity looked back at her. “Is there something wrong?”

“Not really, I just think something has been flying past the window a couple of times.”

The two mares began to look at the square windows all around the boutique. Rarity’s eyes were wide open, and she shifted from side to side on her hooves. She stiffened in fear as the flutter of wings was carried through the air. Something had zipped past the an open window behind them.

“Oh my stars...  It’s that sound from the library!” Rarity whispered under her breath. She spun around, magically slamming the window shut. She did the same for the other windows around the boutique. The room fell into an abrupt silence as the sounds from outside were cut off.

Twilight bit her lip and tried to keep her eyes on all the windows at once. She knew that anything that followed Rarity all the way from the library couldn’t be any good.

Thump

She whirled to face the window behind her, pricking her ears and holding her breath. Unable to see clearly from where she stood, Twilight inched her way forward, curiosity getting the better of her. Behind her, a second set of hooves thudded on the ground as Rarity followed close behind.

The amber rays of sunset streamed in through the window, forming a faint orange square of light on the floor. Twilight reached the window, feeling another coat brush against hers as Rarity squeezed beside her. Together, they looked through the small square panel of glass.

A single tawny brown feather fell in front of them, making its slow descent to the ground.

Twilight stared at it falling past, her violet pupils shifting lower and lower down as they tracked the feather. Leaning in closer, she peered at it go past, her snout pressed against the cool glass and leaving a small wet mark on it.

THUMP!

Twilight screamed as a brown mass smashed itself directly in front of her, mere centimetres of glass away from her snout. Jerking her head away, she spun around and bolted away with Rarity. Together, they jumped behind a couch for cover.

“What was that?!” Rarity cried.

Twilight crouched behind the cushions, her heart still pounding. If not for the glass, it would have landed squarely on her face, whatever it was anyway. She recalled the oddly shaped brown mass, and then the tawny brown feather. Both had seemed a little familiar. Then, a sheepish smile began to form on her face.

“I think that was Owliscious.”

Rarity stared incredulously at her. “What? Are you absolutely sure?”

Twilight trotted back to the window. She pushed it open and poked her head outside, looking around for her feathered assistant.

She noticed that the sun was setting, the fiery ball sinking behind the rooftops of several tall houses. She scanned the area, but Owliscious was nowhere to be seen.

Puzzled, she pulled her head back inside.

“I thought it was Owliscious...”

Just at that moment, as if to prove her right, the small brown owl shot through the window, barely missing Twilight’s face for the second time. It tumbled through the air and completed its undignified entrance by crashing onto the oak table.

It recovered quickly, flapping its wings and rising into the air. It moved a short distance before settling down onto one of Rarity’s plastic clothes stands beside the window.

At this moment, the owl decided to give his signature greeting to the pair of mares staring at him.

“Hoo.”

        

“Oh thank goodness it’s just you Owliscious!” Rarity sighed in relief. “If only I had known you were the one there at the library.”

“Hoo?”

“You had me absolutely terrified back there you know.”

“Hoo.”

“What? Who?”

“Hoo.”

Rarity’s eye gave a little twitch.

“I think I’ll just be getting the quill and parchment,” she muttered. With that, she made her way up the stairs.

Twilight couldn’t be more relieved to see her assistant. “Oh Owliscious, it’s so good to see you! Something awful has happened. My whole life is in danger. I don’t even know what I should do.”

Twilight raised a hoof to stroke the small owl’s back. Its glossy feathers evened out as her hoof ran along them.

“But I’m going to ask Princess Celestia for help. She will know what to do. Yes, of course she would! And it won’t be too late. Everything will turn out fine...”

The owl seemed indifferent to Twilight’s words. It faced out of the window, its back turned towards her.

“I’m scared, Owliscious,” whispered Twilight.

It gave no response.

“Owliscious?”

The tawny brown owl remained still for a few moments. Then, keeping its body still, its head began to rotate slowly, twisting and turning backwards.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

A terrified scream pierced through the air from down below.

Twilight!

With the quill and parchment enveloped in her magic, Rarity sped down the stairs.

“Twilight! Are you alright?”

The purple unicorn was crouched low to the ground. She shielded her head with her fore hooves.

“It’s Owliscious! He... he scared me.” Twilight’s voice quivered. She blinked a few times, pulling herself together and rising off the ground.

“Sorry for overreacting like that. I think I’m fine now.”

Rarity looked around for Twilight’s feathered friend, but she couldn’t find it anywhere.

“Where did he go?”

“He flew off. I must have startled him when I screamed,” Twilight said guiltily. She took a deep breath and exhaled out. “I’m fine,” Twilight repeated.

“Darling, you have to tell me what happened.”

“It’s hard to explain...”

Twilight levitated the quill and parchment from Rarity. She set it on the table and began to scribble down her letter, forming line after line of writing. Her face screwed up in concentration as she tried her best to translate everything into words.

Satisfied, she rolled up the parchment and lighted her horn, enveloping it in a cloud of purple magic. A moment later, the scroll disappeared with a faint ‘pop’.

Twilight fell back on her rump with a sigh of relief, as if a huge weight had been lifted off her.

“Okay, all we have to do now is wait for a response.”

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 

Back in the Canterlot castle, Celestia flipped through a scientific report. Her team of scientists were, without a doubt, trying their best to find out the inner workings of the eclipse, but they were not making much progress.

 

Celestia scanned through the final page of the report, littered with complicated magic formulas just as most of its earlier pages were. The sun goddess was familiar with this stuff already, being a master of magic herself. Yet, her face creased up in worry as she read the report. She felt like she was missing something, something important, and that bad things would happen if she didn’t find it out soon.

 

Just then, a tiny scroll popped up inches from her face, its parchment slightly crumpled as if the sender wrote it in a hurry. It was one of Twilight’s Friendship Reports again, which Celestia found odd, because Twilight had already sent one this week.

“My dear Twilight, as hardworking as ever,” Celestia sighed.

 

Feeling a little guilty, Celestia placed the scroll carefully on top of her growing pile of royal business letters. She couldn’t afford to read extra bits of homework when there was such a serious matter at hoof.

Her thoughts returned to Aether’s strange experiment. She couldn’t quite put her horn on what was wrong, but gut feelings nurtured over thousands of years shouldn’t be dismissed easily; they had somehow grown to be accurate over time. Perhaps she would have to take this matter into her own hooves...

 

Celestia caught sight of Twilight’s Friendship Report sitting on top of the pile of letters. The little white scroll looked meek compared to the other scrolls underneath it, with their crisp white parchment and shiny golden seals. Ironically, it was that little scroll that held the most importance in her heart.

 

“Tomorrow night, Twilight, I promise.”

---

Chapter 2

It was dusk at Ponyville. The Sun was below the horizon, casting its last rays into the sky— rays that struggled to remain, slowly dying off to the darkness of the night.

Twilight was back in the library, rummaging around the shelves. She had continued the search upon returning home, which happened to be quite a few hours ago. Now, after all her backbreaking effort, there were only a few categories left. It wasn’t exactly something to be thankful about, though: The search was going good, yes, but the search results were terrible ─ not a single useful book had been found.

Can’t believe I didn’t get anything!

She paused for a moment, shaking her head in an attempt to uncross her eyes. Her mane promptly returned to the straight, neat hairstyle that she favoured.

Twilight picked up her checklist again.

“Right, last one!  And it’s none other than...” Her face fell when she saw the next item, “the Myths and Mysteries section.”

The shelves around her grew duller and older, clearly from neglect, as she dragged her hooves to the very end of the library. She avoided this section most of the time ─ it was as unscientific and unreliable as fiction, but yet she wasn’t allowed to dump them together. As much as she’d love to.

Her hooves clopped against the wooden floor, sending echoes around the library. Finally, she reached the end.

A single line of small golden letters were engraved on the dusty old wood.

Myths and Mysteries

She scanned along the shelves, doing a quick run-through of the books.

The tomes looked as old as the myths that were in them. Their once lush and bright covers were now dull and faded. Part of the blame fell on Twilight, who never quite got around cleaning up this section. She claimed to be too busy ─ too busy cleaning up the Chemistry section.

Her eyes landed on a green tome. It looked familiar. Then, she noticed the word ‘Supernaturals’ filling up half the spine.

Feeling a smile creep onto her lips, she pulled it out to inspect its covers.

“Natural remedies and cure-alls that are simply... super,” Twilight read aloud. She could proudly claim to know everything inside, having flipped through its entire volume after the Poison Joke incident. It remained as the one and only useful book that she had found from this section.

“Yes, one out of like... an entire category? Compared to hundreds under the Chemistry section.” she giggled at the contrast, slotting the book back before continuing her search.

An ancient-looking black book was the next to catch her attention. It was sitting inconspicuously on top of a stack of books. She wouldn’t have noticed it, if not for the fact that it was probably the most uncared-for book in the entire category. A fine layer of dust had settled on top of it, covering its torn covers. Twilight couldn’t make out the text on its worn out spine, instead noticing a few frayed threads hanging.

“Gee... this one needs to be thrown out.” She carefully pulled it out, taking care not to damage it further. Twilight blew off the dust and examined its front cover.

A bunch of large gold letters made up its title, forming a single word that gleamed against the light.

She didn’t understand what the word meant, so she proceeded to flip the book open, peeling away the first page.

“What the...” Her eyes grew wide.

There, drawn randomly all over the yellowed paper, were a familiar bunch of symbols.

She grabbed her notepad, flipping to the sketches.

They matched exactly.

Right... totally unexpected

She brought the book to the table, getting her quill ready. By the end of today, she’d know exactly what all this is about. Her efforts would all be paid off. Grinning, she thought of how silly it had been to waste so much time on a few symbols. Perhaps she was about to find out just how insignificant they were....

She flipped to the second page.

“WHAT?!” she screeched.

The paragraphs of writing were fading from age. Some of them were well on their way on becoming illegible. But worse of all, not a single phrase was in Equestrian.

Twilight closed her eyes. Fatigue had caught up to her, making it seem like it was written in another language. But when she opened her eyes again and stared down at the page, the text remained the same as before.

“Horseapples....” she cursed, scanning through the rest of its yellowed pages and trying to find something, anything that she could understand.

Twilight felt cheated. The library that she had relied on for so long had failed her, only able to cough up an ancient tome that absolutely had to be written in another language.

She left the book on the table and trotted up to where a particular marking was engraved on the floor.

The three circles seemed clearer than she remembered them to be. Their sizes were in an uncannily familiar ratio, with the biggest being disproportionately large.

Twilight was certain she had seen something like this before, perhaps even drawing something similar, but yet she couldn’t remember its meaning.

“Darn these thingies. I could have spent all this time studying more about eclipses-ˮ she stopped abruptly as something clicked in her mind, before snapping her attention back to the three circles.

An idea had formed in her head for a split second before disappearing.

“Eclipse... something about eclipse...” she struggled to recall the thought, staring at the circles, aligned side by side in a straight line...

Then realisation hit her like a brick.

“I GOT IT!” she squealed, her voice echoing around the library several times.

The notepad levitated to her.

Grabbing a quill, she labelled the largest circle ‘S’, followed by ‘E’ and ‘M’ for the other two circles. It was definitely correct— no pony would deliberately draw the circles sizes in that ratio without a reason.

She had drawn it before. Wondering why she didn’t see it earlier, she flipped to her notes made on the previous night.

There, on a single page, was a diagram of the Sun, Earth and Moon, represented by circles. A horizontal line passed through them, showing that they were exactly in line.

“Woo!” she cheered, “nothing gets past Twilight Sparkle!” She bounced around like a little filly, but stopped when she realised how tired it was making her.

“Phew...” she panted, “no idea how Pinkie Pie does that twenty-four-seven.”

After a while, Twilight realised how insignificant her discovery was. All she knew was that the symbols were somehow connected to the eclipse that happened last night. There were still a few others left, but she felt too exhausted to find out what else could be extracted from the book. Instead, she was contented with simply browsing through whatever pictures and diagrams she could find in it.

She flipped lazily through the worn out pages, not trying to find anything in particular. A few pages in, her eyes glanced across a faint sketching.

Twilight peered at it, trying to make it out.

It was terribly drawn, with pencil lines running all over the worn out page, some of them looking like a result of the sketch being erased and redrawn many times. The fact that the drawing was starting to disappear due to age didn’t help either.

She moved to the flickering candlelight, hoping that it would become clearer.

It was the strangest thing ever. Was it some sort of creature? She thought the shape of its head seemed to resemble that of a pony.

Twilight stared at it. No, it couldn’t be a pony. Not when everything else about it was far from being pony-like. Slowly, she began to recognise more and more parts of the creature. There was a claw here, some hoof-like stub over there, and what looked like its body was sickeningly long and thin, stretching across the page....

In truth, she was getting a little creeped out by it. It looked like some warped version of a foal’s drawing. One didn’t need to be a zoologist to know how weird it was— it would be impossible for it to move on those limbs.

“Doesn’t even make sense,” she said.

The author seemed to have realised this as well, not bothering to add any detail or colour to the freakish drawing.

Twilight examined it for a few more seconds before deciding to stop for the night. A friendship report still had to be completed, and she didn’t want to lose more sleep over it.

“Princess Celestia wouldn’t be pleased to know that I’m studying this stuff instead of the magic of friendship...” she sighed.

She made sure to lock up the library tonight, even though it seemed unlikely for the mysterious intruder to return. At least nothing bad has happened so far... right?

As Twilight switched off the lights and headed up the stairs, she failed to notice the faint red glow the symbols were giving out, previously drowned out by the bright lights...

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

“And then after I announced that, they all started staring at me like I was from the Moon! Well, I was from the Moon, actually, but that’s not the point. And then I said I was joking but they still stared at me like that! Can you believe it?” Luna babbled away.

Celestia, on the other hand, was completely exhausted. She shifted on the Princess-sized bed, marvelling at her sister’s seemingly endless supply of energy at night. This was one of the times when she wished she could have that sort of energy too.

“So... how did your meeting go Tia? It’s your turn to share now.”

“I’ll tell you tomorrow, right now I really need some-ˮ a soft pop interrupted her as a scroll dropped onto the floor. “-sleep.”

Groaning, she picked up Twilight’s Friendship Report.

She counted the number of pages in it, and confirmed that she wouldn’t be getting sleep anytime soon.

Celestia brought the report to her desk. She peered at the lines, willing her ancient brain to focus. It seemed that cramming in that extra session earlier to study about eclipses wasn’t a very good idea after all.

Dear Princess Celestia, Twilight began, her impossibly straight and neat handwriting making the report even duller to read. It was as if she used a typewriter or something....

Today I learnt an important lesson about friendship...

Bit by bit, Celestia read through the report, stifling the urge to skip lines. She ran through all five pages, not missing a single word despite her exhaustion. After surviving the Twilight’s report, she was still tasked to write a reply.

Celestia rummaged around her desk, looking for her quill and parchment, just to realise they were right in front of her all along.

“Um... Celestia? Aren’t you going to sleep? You’re looking a bit like that mailmare from Ponyville...” Luna said.

“No.” she replied firmly, “I must finish this first.”

Celestia imagined Twilight at the library, eagerly waiting for her reply. What kind of teacher was she if she neglected her student’s work over her own private matters? She would never want to disappoint Twilight, the pony that trusts her completely, that looked to her for guidance. Twilight, the pony that was her most prized pupil...

She pressed the quill onto the parchment, straining to steady it.

Dear Twilight Sparkle...

Then she fell face-down on the table, snoring lightly.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The air was cold, colder than last night. It was carried by a light breeze through the window, managing to chill Twilight even under the blankets. She shivered, partly due to the cold, and partly due to the terrible nightmare she was having...

The dark Everfree forest sped past her, its tall trees looming around her as she ran, blocking out the moonlight and plunging the area in darkness. Twilight knew something was watching her, some unknown horror that raced among the shadows, rustling the leaves and causing the occasional snap of a twig. But every time she shot a glance back to see what was chasing her, she could only make out shadows flitting among the trees.

The rustling sound grew fainter and fainter as she galloped. Eventually, she slowed to a trot, stopping to lean against a tree trunk. Chest heaving against the cold bark, she fought to catch her breath.

A faint whisper was carried by the wind from the branches of the very same tree she was leaning on. The unearthly snake-like voice spoke, just loud enough for her to make out above the sounds of the forest.

“Twilight Sssparkle....”

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Clack... Clop...

Twilight’s eyes burst open, darting wildly around the bedroom in a state of confusion and panic. She found herself drenched in cold sweat, the vividness of the nightmare still haunting her.

Clop

An involuntary gasp escaped her lips as realised what woke her up. It was those strange hoofsteps again, echoing up to her room from the main floor below. She had been so sure that the mysterious pony wouldn’t return... What does he want with the library this time? Was he was searching for something?

Clack

“T-That didn’t sound like a hoofstep.”

Instead, it sounded more like a claw than anything.

Clop

Twilight crept out of her bed, which creaked from the shifting in weight. It didn’t help that the events from the nightmare were plaguing her mind, causing it to conjure up all sorts of terrifying possibilities. Maybe... maybe he wasn’t after the library, but was after her instead? She whimpered at the thought.

“Okay, okay... calm down Twilight... nothing bad is going to happen. You just need to do what you did before.”

She closed her eyes, forcing the fear away. Her horn lit up against the darkness as she focussed magic into it, sealing the door shut.

The magical lock was a simple spell, it didn’t require much time or effort to produce, yet it proved to be as reliable as ever. And that was exactly what she needed at the moment— something reliable.

“No pony would get past that....”

Sshhhhh...

She gulped at the new sound, “...unless it’s not a pony.”

It seemed as if something was being dragged on the floor... or perhaps, something was dragging itself on the floor.

Shhhh

Twilight hated it, desperately wishing she wasn’t all by herself. Somepony needed to be with her, to assure her that everything will be all right by tomorrow. But of course, no pony would come to her rescue.

Clack Clop... Shhh...

Hesitating for a moment, she pulled out her Smartypants doll from where she kept it tucked under the bed. It was the only form of company she could think of. Perhaps if she could imagine it to be somepony, she wouldn’t feel so alone.

The old doll was a little disfigured from being squashed underneath most of the time, with a few threads hanging uselessly from it. But none of that mattered at the moment. Twilight hugged it tightly to her chest anyway, rubbing the soft fabric against her coat and treasuring every bit of comfort it could offer to her.

“Oh Smartypants... I’m so scared....”

The doll, of course, offered no reply.

Clack Clop... Shhh...

Clack Clop... Shhh...

The sound continued, now forming an eerie rhythm that was carried easily through the air.

Twilight listened in fear, still clinging tightly to Smartypants. It seemed to be getting clearer and clearer...

Then terror gripped at her chest when she realised exactly what was happening: It was dragging itself up the stairs.

She needed to get out of the library, right now, and to move as far away as possible from that wretched thing coming for her. It was getting closer, she could hear it coming. Something had to be done fast... but the only other way out of the bedroom appeared to be through the window.

Clack Clop... Shhh...

Smartypants slipped from her hooves, landing on the floor.

“W-Wait a minute... I’m a unicorn! Yes, yes... unicorns have magic, unicorns can teleport!”

Even the obvious took a while to be figured out as fear wrecked her brain. Twilight needed to concentrate in order for the spell to work. She closed her eyes in an attempt to calm her fraying nerves.

After a while, her horn began to spark with an unsteady flow of magic, flickering like a faulty light bulb. Only a few more seconds were needed to steady her magic....

But before she could finish the spell, a loud thud came from just outside the room.

All of a sudden, her concentration was shattered to pieces as she heard the door’s spell lock being sucked away by some unknown force, disappearing with a faint ‘pop’ sound.

She jumped in fright, the magic in her horn fizzling out and leaving the room in complete darkness once again. Unable to continue the spell, she spun around and dived deep under the covers of her bed, curling up into a trembling ball of fur.

Twilight was trapped, utterly trapped, in her own room. She squeezed her eyes shut, dreading what was about to come.

There was absolute silence. The thing right at the other side of her door was going to burst in at any moment now...

Instead of a loud bang, a creak came from the door— a prolonged, eerie creak that pierced through the silence and chilled her to the bone simultaneously.

Seconds ticked by.

She waited under the covers, desperately hoping that she blended in well with the darkness. The covers of the bed could hide her well, and perhaps the thing wouldn’t be able to spot her at all, especially in this light, or lack of light rather.

After what seemed like a long while, she shifted very, very slowly, lifting up the covers by a fraction of an inch, just enough for her to risk a peek out.

It was impossible to see anything in the darkness, no matter how hard she strained her eyes. Then the clouds shifted outside, letting in a faint shaft of moonlight that was just enough for her to make out the outline of a pony head... lying on the floor.

“EEEEEP-ˮ she swiftly stifled her scream by jamming a hoof into her mouth. It worked efficiently, but she did it with so much force it felt as though a few teeth might have been loosened in the process. Her eyes were watering in pain as she kept them fixed on the grim sight.

The pony head on the floor began to move, slowly sliding into the bedroom. Then, it lifted itself above the ground, floating in the air. It was, in fact, not just a pony head, but something far, far worse. From the strange shadows stretching across the floor, it looked as if the head was actually connected to some sort of long and thin body.... Were the shadows playing tricks on her?

Twilight closed her eyes as she fought to gain control of her hammering heart. Frankly, she’d rather it be just a pony head, instead of this horrifying nightmare that could hardly be seen in the darkness. It looked as if the monster was facing away from her when she opened her eyes again.

It was risky to attempt to move to a better position, but she needed to get a clearer view, and her neck was starting to ache as well.

Slowly, she began to adjust her weight, carefully shifting it to one side of her body. After that, she proceeded to slide her hoofs along the sheets, as softly as she could, into a more comfortable position, adjusting her neck at the same time. The bed-roll-shift was almost complete. She was moved around, rebalancing her weight.

The bed gave off a loud creak.

Twilight froze

 And so did the monster.

Oh... oh nonononono. Please, pleeeassee let it not notice me, she prayed.

It flicked out a tongue, if that longish thing could be even called a tongue.

Oh Celestia, what’s it doing?! Was it... tasting the air?

It paused, remaining still for a few moments. Then its head began to turn slowly. Keeping its body fixed, the head twisted and turned by a shocking degree, until Twilight was sure that nopony else could have done that with their heads. It managed to go about half a round now... half a round to face the bed squarely.

Instantly, a wave of cold pierced through her entire body as she locked eyes with a pair of haunting blood-red orbs. The monster stared directly at her, right through that tiny crack in the sheets she was peeking out from.

Every instinct screamed for her to run, but her muscles refused to budge. She was too scared to scream, too scared to cry... too scared to do anything except watch in horror.

The creature began to advance on her. It slithered up to the bed slowly, taking its time, as if it knew Twilight couldn’t fight its petrifying stare.

Clack Clop Clack Clop

It made those nightmarish sounds as it moved towards her.

Twilight’s mind was swirling in panic as she remained crouched under the covers. She had no idea what in Equestria that monster was, but she was certain of one thing though— that it wasn’t going to do anything nice to her. Was it going to eat her? Turn her into stone? What did it want with her?

Her mind was starting to blank out as it drew closer and closer. Perhaps she was falling into unconsciousness or something, she wasn’t quite sure.

Suddenly, the covers were ripped back by the monster. The eye contact broke for a split second.

Twilight screamed at the top of her lungs.

For a few heartbeats, she regained control of her muscles and darted out of bed, backing away from that creature as fast as possible. It moved towards her with surprising speed, catching up to her quickly. Then she felt solid wall pressing against her back.

She was trapped, and there was no way out except... the window!

Barely thinking, she scrambled over to the window, clambering over the sill. She shot one last glance behind, just in time to see some sort of black cord racing toward her. Not wanting to know what it was, she kicked off from the window sill....

For the most part, Twilight Sparkle was happy being a unicorn. She had a nice little horn that had a surprising number of uses, including magic, which her whole life revolved around. There wasn’t anything else that could beat the feeling of magic coursing through her veins. Although she didn’t like comparing the different races, Twilight thought that being a unicorn was actually the luckiest thing ever. But at that moment, however, she realised that perhaps being a pegasus wasn’t that bad either...

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHH!!

Her heart flew up to her throat as she tumbled through the air. The branches of the library whipped painfully all over her body as she felt the wind rushing past her.

There was a brief pause, followed by a sickening thud.

A tremendous amount of pain exploded in her chest, shooting through every single fibre in her body right to her hooftips. When it reached her head, it blasted her mind out of control and sent her eyes spinning in opposite directions.

She couldn’t even yell in pain, having all the air in her lungs knocked out clean. Wasn’t her library supposed to be only one or two stories high? Instead, it felt as though she had been blasted to the moon and back in the span of a few seconds.

She lay on the ground, gasping and heaving for air.

Every time she took a breath, a fresh wave of pain coursed through her lungs. Her coat was stinging from the gashes caused by the library’s branches. But she wasn’t safe yet, knowing that the monster was still nearby. She couldn’t just sit here and wait for the monster to come and finish her off, could she?

Collecting her final reserves of strength, Twilight heaved herself to her hooves. Her battered body burned from the various cuts and bruises, yet, she continued to limp away from the library as fast as she could. Even the dark, deserted streets of Ponyville were more welcoming than her own home at the moment.

Twilight headed down to the streets. Ponyville, being a small and quiet town, meant that not a single soul would be out at this time to lend a helping hoof. Instead, the trees loomed around her, forming dark silhouettes against the moonlight.

She didn’t find the mild breeze comforting either. It blew coldly against her coat, chilling her. Sometimes, it whistled past her ears in a strange manner, as if carrying some sort of whisper....

 

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Back in her bedroom, something snatched up Smartypants from the floor. A black mass wrapped itself around the doll, sucking out any lingering magic before tossing it far away to the corner....

---

Chapter 3

Knock, knock

“Wha...?” Rarity’s eyes fluttered open. Two slices of limes initially placed on them tumbled down, bouncing off the bed and landing on the floor. She sat upright for a while, confused.

Knock, knock

She blinked a couple of times. The last remnants of sleep faded. Her mind kicked into action.

“Oh...wow! How nice of somepony to visit me,” she began with sarcasm, “...at four in the morning?!” she rolled out of bed, flipping herself over and landing on all four hooves.

“These ruffians just don’t learn how not to interrupt a mare’s beauty sleep, do they?” she grumbled.

She stomped towards the front door. Who would have the gall to commit such an atrocity? Who could have failed the see the enormous ‘DO NOT DISTURB’ sign that she –oh so deliberately- placed on the door? Aggh... there wasn’t much time left. She needed to clock up the eight hours before the sun rises. It would be unforgivable if she didn’t get her eight hours of sleep. Absolutely unforgivable.

“Right, time to get rid of this... nuisance.” She grabbed the door firmly. An evil smile appeared on her face.

WHAM!

She flung the door open with all her might. It was meant to startle the other pony, punishing him for terrible crime he was committing. Quite a meagre punishment actually.

But instead, Rarity felt her own eyes bulge out from shock.

“Oh my STARS! Twilight! Whatever HAPPENED to you?!”

The purple unicorn crouched in the frame of the doorway. She looked smaller in that position. Numerous scratches covered her violet coat, which was darkened in some areas by blood. Her mane was messy and speckled with grime.

Twilight’s lower lip trembled, as if she was on the verge of tears.

“I...I...”

“Twilight...” Rarity was still recovering from her initial shock. She bent down to nuzzle the unicorn.

“Twilight, who did this to you?”

Twilight’s constricted pupils darted around in fear, as if expecting something to pounce on her the moment she opened her mouth to speak. She didn’t give an answer. Instead, she started to knead the floor in distress. Finally, unable to hold off her tears any longer, she began to cry, tears streaming down her cheeks.

Rarity stared. She was caught off guard ─ first by Twilight’s appearance, and now by her sudden breakdown.

Perhaps that wasn’t the best question to start off with, she concluded.

Rarity gave herself a mental kick. She, being the most sensitive out of all ponies, should have known better. Did she just make Twilight cry? How could she?! That’s the most terrible, terrible thing ever!

She turned her attention back to Twilight.

“I’m so sorry Twilight... Here, why not you come inside?” she offered, helping Twilight to her hooves.

Twilight used a fore hoof to rub away her tears. “I-Is it safe?” she asked in a quivering voice.

“Why... of course it is!”

It was unnerving to see Twilight like this, the usually confident unicorn now reduced to a scared little filly. She shifted uncomfortably on her hooves. Something terrible must have happened in order to break Twilight like this.

And the sooner I find out, the better.

-----

Back in the Carousel Boutique, she rummaged around her drawers for medical supplies.

“Ah, here we go,” she lifted up a white box with a fat red cross printed over it. Her horn glowed briefly, pulling out a small bottle of ointment and some bandages. Collecting the items, she returned to Twilight.

The unicorn was sitting quietly on a cushion, lost in her own thoughts. Her tears had since dried up.

Thankfully. Watching her cry had been... heartbreaking. 

Twilight’s eyes shifted to the bandages levitating towards her. She gave Rarity a grateful look.

“Thanks...”

“No worries dear.”

Twilight shifted to her side, allowing her impromptu First Aider to check over her injuries.

Rarity winced a little at the sight of blood. It made her feel slightly squeamish, quite like the same feeling she got from looking at dirt. She had put off any idea of being a nurse for this very reason.

And that also meant that she wasn’t good at First Aid.

Rarity uncapped the small bottle of antiseptic liquid, looking uncertainly at it, as if it was some sort of strange potion meant exclusively for witchcraft.

“Erm... okay, I think this might hurt just a tiny bit.”

She carefully squeezed a few drops of the yellow liquid onto Twilight’s flank, causing her friend to flinch a little. The unicorn tried her best to keep still, watching the medicated oils seep into her coat.

Rarity proceeded to cut off a length of bandage. She noticed the long, blood-crusted gashes along Twilight’s flanks.

She glanced at the purple unicorn, who remained as quiet as ever.

“Twilight, aren’t you going to tell me what happened?”

Twilight remained silent. She pawed the floor uneasily with a fore hoof.  “Well...” she began slowly. Then, her violet eyes suddenly widened in terror as she replayed the events in her head. It lasted only for a few moments, but Rarity caught sight of the change in her expression.

“...I don’t feel like talking about it,” Twilight finished firmly, keeping her gaze locked on the floor, as if searching for specks of dirt that Rarity had somehow failed to clean up. It was unlikely that she would find any though.

An overpowering curiosity began to gnaw at her insides, but Rarity ruthlessly forced the feeling away. She knew better than to squeeze out information and traumatize her friend further.

Give her time, she’ll open up eventually.

Silence fell over the two ponies as Rarity continued to bandage up Twilight. The soft crackle of burning wood came from the fireplace, broken by the occasional purr from her pet cat, which happened to be sleeping on a rug next to her.

Not knowing what actually needed to be treated, Rarity simply wrapped up every single scratch she found, including patches of fur that simply had a bit of dirt on it.

Twilight didn’t seem to notice, her head starting to droop from exhaustion.

After a few more minutes, Rarity was finally putting on the last lengths of bandage. By this point in time, she had, quite unnecessarily, eaten through three large rolls of the material.

“Okay, I’m done!” she let out a breath of relief, taking a step back and relaxing her shoulders.

“Huh?” Twilight snapped her head back up. Layer after layer of bandages covered her entire body from head to hooves. She could have passed off as one of those mummy ponies from the movies ─ if not for her little purple horn sticking out. Noticing Rarity stifling a laugh, she heaved herself up and hobbled awkwardly to a mirror.

“Heh... I look ridiculous!” Twilight chuckled at her reflection, lifting a hoof to prod lazily at the bandages.

“Well, I’m not exactly a qualified First Aider, you know...” Rarity muttered defensively. She flicked her mane in an attempt to hide her embarrassment.  “Anyway, most of your wounds don’t look too bad, you’ll be better in absolutely no time at all!”

She wasn’t quite sure how her two sentences were supposed to be linked together, but that didn’t matter, as long as it changed the subject of the conversation.

“Yes... thanks for all your help Rarity,” Twilight stumbled across the room, “it must have been a really long-” she stifled a yawn “-night for you...”

Twilight caught sight of the couch, groggily making her way towards it.

“I think I’ll just be getting... some sleep now...” Without another word, Twilight collapsed onto the floor, a few hoofsteps away from her intended destination.

Rarity rolled her eyes. She made her way over to Twilight. With a grunt of effort, she lifted the unicorn above the ground. Bit by bit, she dragged her closer to the couch, straining from the weight.

Dear me... did she eat ROCKS for dinner or something?!

Twilight hardly stirred throughout the process, her head lolling around as her hooves trailed along the ground.

Finally, with one massive effort, she heaved the unicorn onto the cushions. She proceeded to shift Twilight around, attempting to move her into a comfortable position.

She let out a breath of air from exhaustion.

“Twilight, if you were lying any further away, I can assure you that the pony sleeping on the couch now would certainly be me.”

The unicorn carried on with her slumber, blissfully unaware of her surroundings.

Rarity watched the steady rise and fall of Twilight’s chest, beginning to feel drowsy herself. She reached for the blanket, pulling it over Twilight’s body, grabbed a second blanket for herself, and lay down on the floor beside Twilight.

Through the window, the first rays of dawn were beginning to pierce through the sky, turning it a light shade of blue.

So much for that ‘eight hours of sleep’

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Twilight groaned.

Her body was aching all over. And she had a splitting headache. It felt as though she had fallen through the air, at terminal velocity, and landed on the ground with a splat. Well, actually, that’s pretty much what happened to her earlier last night. Perhaps not at terminal velocity though.

She twisted around on the cushions, refusing to open her eyes. The sunlight showed no mercy, relentlessly trying to pierce through the comforting darkness behind her eyelids. And worst of all, she felt a cramp creeping up her left hind leg.

Urgh... great!

She raised the leg high up in the air, waving it around for a few seconds. Her muscles stretched and flexed in response, easily working out the cramp.

Ahh... much better.

She let out a sigh of relief as her leg flopped back down on the cushion. For the moment she just wanted to lay there in the warm sunlight, with nothing on her mind.

She licked her lips. Her throat felt dry. Then, a single thought popped up.

Water. Need water.

If only she could make a glass magically pop out at will. That would be the best thing ever.

Finally, giving up on her sleep, she cracked open an eye. The strong rays of sunlight flooded her vision, instantly bringing back her headache.

Twilight groaned and shut her eye again.

Not a good start for a day.

Relying on her other senses, she rolled sloppily off the cushions, steadying herself on her hooves.

Water...

She felt around for the bathroom, butting the door open with her horn and stumbling inside. Her throat felt so, so incredibly dry.

She turned on the tap, and was rewarded by the sound of water splashing against the sink.

Ahh... water!

Twilight eagerly lapped up the sweet, refreshing goodness. She proceeded to splash some on her face.

Eww... what’s this tissue stuff all over me?

She opened her eyes, staring at the pony in the mirror, whom stared right back at her.

“WHAARRGG!!” her reflection screamed. Its face was covered with an expression of shock, and also with quite a lot of bandages. The material was dripping wet with water.

Twilight began to tear away at the bandages. She had forgotten about Rarity’s not-so-spectacular First Aid attempt.

“Twilight? Twilight darling are you alright?”

After a second or two, Rarity pushed open the bathroom door, a look of concern plastered on her face.

“Yes, I’m fine. Just got a bit of shock from... that pony,” Twilight jerked an accusing hoof at the mirror. She paused. “...Er, I mean... myself. That’s right.” she corrected quickly.

Must have lost a few brain cells from the fall last night.

Rarity gave her a strange glance. “Well... anyway, I prepared breakfast ─ or lunch rather. Come get it while it’s hot!” With that, she trotted back out of the room.

Twilight peeled off the remaining pieces of bandage. She felt surprisingly calm despite what happened last night. The feeling of dread was gone. Perhaps she felt safe, especially with Rarity around.

 

Hmm...

Rarity!

I’ve got to tell her everything...

She hurried out of the room after the unicorn.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The fashion designer sat across the table, listening to Twilight’s story intently.

“So, you were attacked by some creature, and you have absolutely no idea what it was?”

Twilight drained the last few spoonfuls of vegetable soup. The scorching liquid slid down her throat and sat pleasantly in her stomach. She munched on a chewy bit of celery in thought.

“Well, I thought I saw a pony head.... But its body was really long. Like, unnaturally long. And it had really scary red eyes.”

“Twilight darling, are you sure it wasn’t – well – just a pony? I mean, you yourself admitted that it was too dark to make out anything. And ponies have red eyes. Rainbow Dash, for example.”

“No! The eyes looked different...” she tapped a hoof to her chin, searching for a fitting description, “they looked like...”

Hmm... what DID they look like?

“Like that of a cockatrice!” she blurted out.

Rarity pondered at her answer for a while.

“I haven’t seen a cockatrice’s eyes before, Twilight,” Rarity reminded her, “I believe only Fluttershy and yourself would know what it looks like... when you got turned into stone and all that.”

Twilight gave an involuntary shudder as she briefly recounted the experience.

“And how about the book that you mentioned earlier?” Rarity asked.

“Yes. It’s sitting in the library. I can’t understand what it means though, it’s all written in weird sentences.”

Rarity took a sip from her bowl of soup, making sure not to slurp. She set the porcelain bowl down on the oak table.

“Well, did you not try a translation spell?”

Twilight stared incredulously at her.

“Translation spell?”

“Why, are you not aware of this spell? It does exactly what it says – translates writing into another language. I used it on those historical fashion books I borrowed from you the other time... just before Spike got that horrendous growth spurt.”

“Hmm... that’s interesting. I’ve never heard of such a thing.”

Perhaps because all science reference books are updated yearly and written in plain old Equestrian...

At the back of her mind, she knew that she would probably end up learning it nonetheless. But there were much more important things to be dealt with at the moment.

She drummed her hooves on the table, turning this new piece of information over in her mind. It swirled around, weaving out a few ideas. A new course of action began to form.

 

“Okay, so I’ll drop in the library, grab the book, come back here, and you’ll help me translate it. Then, I’ll read what it says and find out what this is all about,” she thought aloud. “If it’s bad, we’ll get help from the rest of our friends, if it’s very bad, we’ll have to go to the police or something. Or maybe even call in Princess Celestia.”

The ‘if it’s good’ scenario was long gone.

Rarity dabbed at her mane. It was probably something she did subconsciously while in thought.

“Why not just write a letter to Princess Celestia now?” she pointed out.

“Well... no harm getting the book first,” Twilight countered, “anyway, I’ll be back within an hour.”

Twilight made her way to the door, only to be swiftly blocked by Rarity.

“You can’t go out like that!” she exclaimed, indicating at the bandages hanging off from Twilight, as well as her dishevelled mane. “I’ll get it for you. And besides, you’re injured.”

“Actually, I feel fine.”

“I must insist.”

“Well, in that case... thanks for helping me again, Rarity. I really owe you a lot.” Twilight admitted.

“It’s my pleasure, dear.”

Twilight felt a tendril of uncertainly worming its way through her. Something told her that allowing Rarity to go off alone wasn’t a good idea.

“But... you’ll be careful, okay?” she gave Rarity a look of concern.

“Oh, of course I will, Twilight,” Rarity laughed as she headed out of the door. “It’s just me getting an old book. Surely nothing could possibly go wrong?”

Twilight didn’t feel as confident. But perhaps she was just overreacting, or still shaken from last night.

I suppose it’s better if I just stayed here, I guess...

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Rarity pushed on the door. It opened with a dull creak, revealing the large circular space that made up the library’s ground floor. Hundreds and hundreds of books filled the shelves, which lay stacked against the walls, or lined up neatly in rows. They gave the air a pleasant smell of wood and paper.

Everything seemed perfectly normal, despite what apparently happened last night.

Rarity didn’t know what to make of Twilight’s story. Being attacked by a hideous monster with a pony head in the middle of the night? Impossible! If somepony told her that, she would have immediately dismissed it as absolute nonsense.

Except if that pony was Twilight Sparkle. And Twilight was very, very frightened last night. Whatever the case is, that mare sure believed her own story...

Her thoughts were interrupted. Something small glowed on the floor ahead.

Curious, she trotted up to have a look.

The faint red glow moved closer and closer. It was the symbol. The very first one she found three days ago. It was much clearer now. Which was strange ─ how did it get clearer?

Rarity stretched her neck closer to the floor, until it was inches away from the marking.

Upon closer inspection, she realised that the three circles weren’t just glowing; they had actually burnt themselves deep into the wood.

All on their own.

Why, where were they getting all that energy from?

Rarity felt a cloud of uncertainty forming in her. She didn’t like these strange magical symbols.

Oh, forget about those creepy things, Rarity. Get the book, and get out of here.

Then she realised she didn’t know where the book was... or even how it looked like.

Great...

It has to be somewhere obvious. Perhaps on a desk or something.

She scanned around the library.

Twilight’s practicality was evident in her furniture. There were lots of neatly arranged rectangular tables, but nothing fanciful. No expensive oak table or anything like that. However, the mare did seem to have a taste for wood.

Rarity searched through the area, finding cluttered stacks of notes, parchment, and other small things. But no ancient looking book.

Maybe it’s in her room.

She moved quickly up the stairs, eager to get the job done and get back home. She pushed open the door.

Smartypants lay in the middle of the room.

“Oh dear...”

The doll was covered in giant slash wounds. An entire limb was ripped off, cotton stuffing spilling from the shredded fabric. Fluff was strewn all over the floor, with some bits flung metres away. The doll looked like the victim of some gruesome crime.

Rarity could feel her cloud of uncertainty worsening into fear.

The book. Get the book.

She tore her eyes off the doll, scanning the room.

There!

An exceptionally old looking book, lying open on the study table.

Rarity grabbed it with her magic, sending it flying across the room towards her. With the book by her side, she hastily made her way out of the room.

Clip clop Clip clop

Her hooves sent echoes through the air as she descended the stairs. The library below was unnervingly quiet.

Well, libraries are SUPPOSED to be quiet.

The small wooden door that made up the library’s main entrance was in sight. It brought her a tiny bit of relief, especially after finding Smartypants. She trotted towards it, glad that she would soon be leaving the library and all the terrible things in it.

Suddenly, the flutter of wings was carried through the air.

Rarity froze. She had no idea what that was.

The fluttering stopped abruptly, as if it noticed her.

She could feel her fear rising steadily upwards. Her heart pounded against her ribcage. The exit was still a fair bit of distance away. She wished it could have been closer. All she needed to do was get out of the library, and she will be safe.

Rarity locked her eyes on the door, feeling the solid wood under her hooves.

Okay, run on the count of three...

One...

Two...

THREE!

“YAARRRHHH!”

Rarity made a final, desperate dash for it. She ran as fast as her hooves could take her. The speed caused the wind to whistle past her ears. She could feel it blowing through her mane, getting the hair in her eyes. Her sight was locked on the door. It acted like a beacon of light, encouraging her, welcoming her.

She drew closer and closer...

Five metres...

Four metres...

Three metres...

Two...

ONE...

WHAM!

She burst through the door. A huge wave of relief crashed over her as she ran out into the bright sunlight and out onto the street.

Oh Celestia... that was the most frightening experience EVER.

Rarity panted from the mad dash, still clutching on to the book with her magic. She gazed at the library, wondering what that sound could have been. The image of Smartypants floated up to her. She shuddered.

Hopefully this will be sorted out soon.

Flicking a strand of hair out of her eyes, she made her way back to the Carousel Boutique. For once, she didn’t seem to care about her messy mane.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

There was a flutter of wings again.

Something small flew out of the library’s open window. It landed on the branches with a soft rustle. A set of large yellow eyes stared out from the leaves, still swaying from the disturbance. They were fixed on a white unicorn, tracking her every movement. They followed her until she moved out of sight.

---