//------------------------------//
// The Visitor 
// Story: A Wish on a Star 
// by SmileandSoar 
//------------------------------//

	It was dark. Beyond dark to the point that there was no light anywhere. Twilight couldn't see anything, not even her own hooves. She tried to use her magic to create a light, but something was cancelling out her spells, and nothing she tried worked. Twilight sat still for what felt like hours, but was actually just a minute or two, and then decided to try walking. Again, walking with no visible progress seemed to take an eternity. Finally, Twilight saw a light. It didn't stretch far, but it was a speck against the otherwise infinite shadows. As Twilight got closer, the speck began to grow, but she still couldn't see very much. She reached the speck, which had now completely transformed. As the lines shifted and morphed, the form of a grand pony became more and more defined, and soon Princess Celestia stood over her student.

"Princess! I don't know what..." She began, but was caught off by a flick of the alicorn's wings. Twilight wasn't sure what it was, but something seemed different about the princess. Like she was less graceful, and more sinister. The princess still hadn't spoken a word, and starred at Twilight with a piercing gaze. And then it hit her like a smack in the face. This wasn't the real Princess. The normally gentle magenta eyes of this Celestia were a blood red with deep black centers. Twilight could feel her heart speed up.

"So, you've realized I'm not your Princess." The fake Celestia spoke, a bitter voice that sounded as if the speaker's throat was grating with each syllable. The being began to move closer, and Twilight backed away.

"W-Who... w-what are you?" Twilight stuttered out. "Are you a Changeling?"

"A Changeling?" The figure laughed, an awful noise that reminded Twilight of chalk scraping against a blackboard. "Interesting that would be the first thing you associate me with. Good guess, but no, girl, I am not a Changeling." As the being continued to move closer, its shape morphed again, this time into a perfect reflection of Princess Cadence. Then it changed again into the form of Fluttershy, all while continuing to advance on Twilight. Each time the creature changed its form, one thing remained the same; the piercing red and black eyes, alive with a dangerous glow that sent shivers up Twilight's spine. And then the worst thing yet happened. It was still light-less, so she could see nothing but the being advancing, but her back came up against something and she could retreat no farther. And on top of that, the being had shifted forms one more time, into Twilight Sparkle. Twilight looked at this rendition of herself, every detail identical to her own body except for those dreadful eyes. She screamed, but no sound came out. She desperately tried for a spell, any bit of magic, but nothing happened. As the creature reached right over her, Twilight closed her eyes.

"Twilight, it's time." She heard its voice. And then she soundlessly screamed again as she felt the ground disappear beneath her.

She jolted up in bed. A cold sweat was on her brow, and she felt sick to her stomach. It was twilight, and the morning sun had just begun to flit through the window. After taking a minute to slow her racing heart, she got out of bed and went over to her mirror. Her mane was even more of a mess than most mornings, and there were a few stress lines becoming visible underneath her eyes. She gave her magic a test, trying to pick up her comb, and there was no problem at all. She combed her mane and made herself look nice, but her heart wasn't in it. She was too busy trying to remember her nightmare; most of it had already faded from her memory. The only things she could recall were shape-shifting and those piercing red eyes. She told herself it had just been a bad dream. That had to be it; just a nightmare.

She stepped out of her room and saw that Spike was still in bed, so she grabbed the field guide off the shelf where she had left it the night before, and went to draw a bath. The water was warm, and helped calm her nerves. She used her magic to levitate the book off to the side, above the water. Today she needed to find the second herb, a Ceravita Plant. According to the book, the plant could be found in the Everfree Forest. They would have to move a little faster today, because she sure didn't want to be stuck in there after dark, now less than ever. Another image of the piercing eyes flashed through her mind. She shuddered. The movement caused the water to ripple out and bounce back off the sides of the tub. The water eventually returned to its calm state. 

If only I could get my mind calm again, she thought. She drained the bath water and got out, re-brushed her mane, and in a few minutes was out, waking Spike up. The baby dragon groaned like usual, saying he was having a nice dream about feasting on gems, and Twilight felt a twinge of jealousy that his sleep had been relaxing. Bu the feeling passed as Spike got out of bed to prepare for the day. Forty-five minutes later, the two were ready to go. The snow wasn't as deep as it had been yesterday, so it was easier to travel. Along the way, they ran into Fluttershy and Rarity, who were off for one of their spa appointments. Seeing Fluttershy made Twilight flinch, as it stirred a memory from the nightmare. She tried to regain her composure, but Rarity had noticed already.

"Are you all right, dear? Something the matter?"
"No, I ... I'm fine. I just got hit by a cold breeze." Twilight responded.
"Oh ... well ... I can understand that. A breeze in the face isn't fun..." Fluttershy said quietly.

Twilight agreed. Rarity didn't seem convinced, but a reminder that they were almost late for their spa appointment got them to move on after saying their good-byes. Spike had been too busy gazing at Rarity to notice anything unusual about Twilight's behavior. The two then continued through Ponyville until the reached the outskirts, and the entrance to the Everfree Forest. The woods were thick and green, opposite of the fields she and Spike had explored yesterday. She had been here several times before, though not every visit made her eager to go back in, and her recent dream didn't make her any more excited about exploring a dark forest. But Spike was getting curious as to why she had stopped, so she took a deep breath and went inside.

The forest was dark, as expected, even though the sun was getting higher in the sky. But it would have been darker still had it been night, and that thought helped her feel a little better. She used her magic to try and locate one of the Ceravita Plants, but she kept getting distracted by shadows, jumping at the slightest things. At one point, she screamed when she tripped over a root.

"Are you okay, Twilight? You seem a little upset."
"It's... It's nothing." She was starting to wonder why she was so upset over the nightmare. That was all it was, and she hardly even remember most of it. "We should get back to searching."

She started to perk up, and was no longer timidly distracted by every little thing. Her magic was much more focused now, and her spell honed in on the location of one of the plants. After a little more searching through the thick forest, she found the plant, growing alongside a particularly tall evergreen tree. The plant was a colorful flower, a mix of hot pink, a royal purple, and a majestic blue. It seemed to glow with the essence of life, and just looking at it made Twilight feel warm inside. When she touched it, a burst of energy swept through her, dispelling any fears or doubts she had left. She took the plant and carefully placed it in her saddlebag, of course after she placed a protective spell on it so it would survive the trip home. The two turned and started to make their way out of the forest. Spike made for good company, and they had various random conversations: friendship lessons, which one of Pinkie Pie's parties had been the greatest, which one of Rarity's dresses was the most fashionable, and so on. Soon, they reached a part in the trees and came out into a field. At first, Twilight was surprised, but then she realized she had made a wrong turn during a conversation about apple cider.

Looking up, it was still bright out, maybe mid-afternoon. And then she saw another light blazing across the sky. She thought it was another shooting star. And then she realized it was broad daylight, so she probably shouldn't have been able to see it. And then she realized that whatever it was, she could see it because it was falling straight at them. Spike and Twilight made a dive to get behind a tree. Spike succeed, but Twilight stumbled over her own feet and fell face-first into the ground. Her eyes were closed, but she heard Spike yell her name before she fell unconscious.
...

When she came to, the first thing she saw was Spike, leaning over her. When he saw that she was awake, he started.

"You're alive!" He yelled, throwing his arms around her. 
Twilight was still dazed from the shock and couldn't respond. She shouldn't have been alive; the object should have crushed her. But before it hit the ground, it had dissipated, and the impact was more of a shock wave; one created from a magical origin. She hadn't been out long, and the debris was just now settling. There was a crater in the ground, not very deep, but noticeable. Twilight re-assured Spike that she was fine, then stood up and walked towards the center. AS she moved closer, she began pondering what kind of spell could have done this. She didn't know of any spells that could create a force like this, dropping a magic blast from the sky. She was still thinking about this when the last of the dust settled and she got close enough to see what lay in the crater's center. Spike saw it at about the same time, and the two of them exchanged a glance of disbelief. In the center was a young stallion.