Voices.
No biggie, Twilight thought. She knew that, when in sleep paralysis, hallucinations were likely to occur. That’s all the voices were: hallucinations. Still, knowing that didn’t stop the fear from consuming her. All she could do was move her eyes wildly as if that would make them stop.
The voices were like gibberish. No, they were gibberish. They were urgent. Twilight couldn’t understand anything, nor hear the sounds of the night. Then, a single word broke through the storm of voices, said so clearly it was as if someone leaned over and spoke directly in Twilight’s ear.
“Monitio.”
Then, the voices ceased. The sounds of the night returned; Twilight heard a cricket chirping and owls whoing.
Twilight moved her foreleg slightly, eyes widening a little at the sudden capability of moving once again. She took the chance of finally being able to move and stretched. Spike still lay curled up in his bed, sleeping peacefully. That was enough to assure Twilight that the voices were all in her head.
Monitio.
She remembered the single word that broke through the haze. It repeated in her mind. She knew it was the Latin word for warning; she had studied up on Pony Latin when she was younger. But she also learned that Pony Latin was a dead language, and, though it could possibly be useful, the chances of her ever needing it were unlikely, so she pushed it to the back of her mind. Why was it brought it up?
No matter. It wasn’t important, it couldn’t be. It was only a hallucination, she reminded herself. Twilight calmed herself from the once haunting voices before closing her eyes as sleep lulled her away.
❧
Another nightmare.
That had been the fourth one in a row. She wondered if it had anything to do with the white stallion’s omen.
She shook her head. No, that wasn’t possible. Just the curse of bad luck, that’s all it was. But even so, why hadn’t Princess Luna, the protector of dreams, come by now? Perhaps she ought to pay the ruler of the night a visit.
No. Twilight shook her head again. Nightmares aren’t anything that’s worth a fuss, not in her eyes, at least.
Twilight sat up, scratching the back of her head. As she stood and glanced in the mirror, one quick look was enough to tell her that it would be best to not leave the library without a thorough brushing through her mane at least.
The brush that lay on a dresser glowed a purple aura as it floated over and began stroking and patting down the stray hairs that flew in crooked directions. Twilight hummed softly to herself, something that she rarely ever did. But it just felt right and needed at the moment.
The song was a lullaby sung by her mother when Twilight was very young. It was like the song was a comfort for the previous night’s fears. It seemed to scare away the nightmares and voices that still haunted the back of her mind.
Most of them, at least.
The word Monitio still stood its ground, repeating in the same voice as it was said in last night as clear as the day outside. Twilight willed herself to think of something else, and, while that worked for a few moments, the word soon found itself back in Twilight’s train of thought and showed it had no intention of leaving anytime soon.
Once her mane looked well-enough, she trotted downstairs. A note lay on her kitchen table.
Dear Twilight,
I went over to Rarity’s. I’ll be home by seven o’ clock tonight.
-Spike
Twilight sighed in relief; it’s not that she didn’t like Spike, but thinking was much easier without any pony else around.
What made her write down that word she had no idea. Twilight just felt she needed to remember Monitio for some reason, and, even though it constantly repeated in her mind, she had a feeling that if she didn’t write it down it would be forgotten soon. The small piece of paper that held the word was soon folded up and tucked away in a drawer. Twilight put a few other things in the drawer so that the paper could easily remain hidden. With a smile of satisfaction, she closed the drawer.
But something still felt off.
It wasn’t the small piece of paper. Twilight just felt that something was off. She stood still, eyes cautiously wavering over every corner of the library. Something wasn’t off there; that’s for sure. Every book remained in its place and not one paper that held all of her research was somewhere different than it should be. She sighed, and then perked her ears. But she heard nothing. Nothing at all.
That was it. Not one sound. Usually the chatter of the ponies outside could make it through the door, though it was always muffled. But she could still hear it. She didn’t hear the ticking of her clock or the slight rumble of the fridge. Everything was dead silent.
She stomped softly on the ground as if to make sure she hadn’t suddenly gone deaf somehow. Nope. She heard the clop of her hoof. But once the sound finished echoing throughout the library, it was silent again.
Then, she heard something. The steady plip…plip…plip of a dripping faucet. That’s funny; she was pretty sure Spike knew not to leave the little knob turned, and she certainly always triple checked to make sure not one more drop would fall. A quick trot to the sink told Twilight that yes, the faucet was indeed dripping. She sighed; she’d have to have a talk with Spike later. The knob was turned and the dripping ceased. Then, Twilight looked at her reflection in the faucet. And she saw it.
A face.
A pale, white face of a stallion stared back at Twilight. Only for a moment, though. It came as such a shock that she fell backwards, hitting her back on the table. She would have crashed further if it weren’t for her catching herself. All the sounds then returned at once. She heard the chatter of ponies; the ticking of the clock; the slow rumble of the fridge. Everything.
Twilight cautiously took a step forward, glancing back into the faucet. No face staring back at her. She breathed out a sigh of relief.
Just a hallucination.
A knock at the door made her forget about the sudden disappearance of sounds and that face staring back at her. She trotted over, opening the door to see Rainbow Dash clutching a Daring Do book to her chest.
“Hey, Rainbow,” Twilight said. “What are you doing here?”
“I need the new Daring Do book. Now!”
❧
Rainbow Dash didn’t leave when she first got the book. Instead, the two friends decided to have some tea together. They made idle chit chat, and Twilight began to wonder whether or not she should tell Rainbow about the nightmares. Sure, Rainbow might think she’s crazy, but at least she’d finally tell somepony instead of keeping it to herself.
Rainbow was currently going on and on about the last Wonderbolts show, and after finally making her decision, Twilight held up a hoof. Rainbow paused. “Rainbow… There’s… Something I need to tell you.”
“Sure,” Rainbow replied, “what is it, Twi?”
Twilight bit her lip and took a deep breath. Then, Twilight said, “Lately, I’ve been having a lot of nightmares. I’ve been having nightmares ever since Tuesday night.”
Rainbow dismissed her with a wave of the hoof. “Every pony gets nightmares, Twi. I’m sure it’s nothing to worry about.”
“But Luna should’ve stopped them by now! She should’ve come in the first one and ended it! But she didn’t! And that’s not all. Last night, I heard voices. I couldn’t understand a thing they were saying. Then, this morning, just before you came over, I saw a face in the faucet!” She questioned whether or not she should mention Monitio to her, but decided against it.
“Twilight, I’m sure you’re just overreacting. The nightmares are probably just getting to you and now you’re hallucinating.”
“But–”
Rainbow cut her off by waving her hoof. “Twilight, seriously. It’s not that big of a deal. Nothing strange is happening at all. And even if it is, you’re the princess of friendship and magic! I’m sure you could handle it just fine.”
Twilight sighed. “I guess you’re right.”
“Of course I’m right!” Rainbow Dash boasted. “Anyway, I better get going. Applejack and I are having a competition! See you later, Twi!” Then, Rainbow was gone, a trail of a rainbow following behind her along with a wind that gently brushed against Twilight.
The purple alicorn sighed. Was it really all in her head? Twilight had seen some pretty strange things, but something like this just didn’t seem like it’d happen. Perhaps all she had to do to end the nightmares was send a letter to Luna. Yeah, that sounded like a good idea.
Twilight checked the clock. It was one in the afternoon, which meant she had plenty of time to figure out exactly what she should say in her letter before Spike returned.
Her gaze flickered over to her many shelves of books. Maybe she could get a little reading done. Twilight hadn’t exactly been doing much of it lately, and she did still have quite a bit of time until Spike came home.
She trotted over to the nonfiction section. Her hooves clopped against the hardwood floor, echoing through the library. She could still hear the murmurs from outside and the slow rumble of the fridge, and she hadn’t been as grateful to hear sounds in her life before. Once she stood in front of the history books, Twilight scanned over every title. A lot of them she had already read, but she also hadn’t even picked up a lot of them. She continuously looked them over until one caught her eye.
Monitio: Diabolus
Twilight’s gaze stopped on the title, and wouldn’t budge. Monitio? Surely it was all a coincidence? Either way, Twilight wouldn’t feel satisfied unless she read the book. A nagging feeling kept telling her to pick it up, and so she did. Twilight was pretty sure she also felt another slight feeling that said to throw away the book, but instead she chose to ignore the feeling.
She lay on the floor, constantly shifting until she had a comfortable enough position, before open the book. Surprisingly enough, there were words on the first page. Usually the first page was left blank. Twilight raised an eyebrow at this, but brushed off her questions and began reading.
And so it shall be. The Fated One shall fall and the Destined One shall rise. Never shall one perish by aging, but rather the deathly claws of him. He is one whose very name will send chills down every spine in every nation. He is one who shall strike fear into ones who have no reason to. He is the one that will create a want for there to be savior in every pony. But that savior will not come; the chills will not stop; and the fear shall course through the veins straight to the heart. Not even I could’ve seen something like this; surely fate would be more merciful? But it is so that the prophecy states the Fated One shall fall and the Destined One shall rise. It is unavoidable. I can only hope that the Fated One will not fall to the Destined One’s demise, and instead bring a new age of hope and prosperity to the people.
Twilight stopped there, almost unable to turn the page. Or maybe she could. Maybe she just didn’t want to.
A knock at the door snapped Twilight out of her thoughts. She closed the book and set it on the table before trotting over. She opened the wooden door, the thing creaking ever so softly. There, standing in the threshold, was the white stallion.
“Twilight Sparkle,” he began, “I have an important message for you.”
❧
Princess Celestia stood on her castle balcony that overlooked the rolling hills and fields. One quick look at her would tell any pony that she was deep in thought.
“Sister,” Princess Luna said as she approached, “you know it is almost time. A few months at the most.”
Celestia’s head hung low. “Yes, Sister, I know that very well. I just wish it didn’t have to happen.”
“No pony does,” Luna consoled. “But it must happen, and you know that.”
Celestia nodded. “I just hope that she will be able to be saved.”
❧
Twilight’s pupils shrank at the white stallion’s words. How could this be possible? She slammed the door and leaned against it, sliding down. Her thoughts were a mess. No, it’s not possible. He must be lying. He is lying.
There is no way that I’m the Fated One.