Web of Deceit

by AliceA020

1 - The White Stallion

Twilight’s lungs burned and her legs ached, but she did not dare to stop. Flying? Out of the question. Her wings were sore from all the flying done before. If she attempted flight, it would surely end with a crash.

Twilight wanted to look back, to see exactly what was chasing her, but that could cause a misstep, and one misstep could be fatal, so she did not look back.

She didn’t see it though. She didn’t see the shifting tree root and she soon found herself on the ground. She couldn’t pick herself up. Everything ached as she panted. Even so, she found herself turning onto her back, gritting her teeth through the pain. And then she saw him. It.

Twilight’s mouth worked, but her voice did not. So here she was, at the complete mercy of this monster, unable to give it the pleasure of hearing her scream.

She closed her eyes, and waited for the inevitable.

❧

Twilight shot up, her trembling undeniable. Her eyes were wide as the horrid images of her nightmare flashed through her mind. She felt the some sweat roll down her cheek. Or was it tears? She couldn’t tell.

Whatever it was, she wiped it away and looked around, as if to make sure she had returned safely to her room. Sure enough, she was under the warmth of her blanks in her cozy bed. Spike was curled up in his own bed, and the moon and stars still gleamed brightly outside.

Twilight didn’t know how long it’d be until sunrise, but she knew it’d at least be a few hours. Not wanting to close her eyes again, she crept out from under the covers and trotted ever so carefully to the door; after all, she didn’t want to make a sound and wake the sleeping dragon.

If it weren’t for the small fear still coursing through her veins, she would have given a little amused chuckle.

Once the door was shut behind her, she lit up her horn to provide some light, and then trotted to the bottom of the staircase. Owlicious whoed at her, and Twilight offered him a small smile.

Does he get lonely at night, being all by himself? she thought. But she brushed it off and carried on with her original mission: getting a glass of water.

In the kitchen, a purple aura enveloped one of the many glasses. The faucet turned on, and Twilight put the cup underneath. When she decided it was full enough, she turned the faucet off and brought the glass to her lips. The water definitely helped. It seemed to push away the remaining fears, or at least, made her feel like she could handle whatever created those fears.

The glass was soon empty and so she was careful to set it in the sink slowly so it would not break. Just as she turned to start heading back up to her room, the shadows seemed to shift. Twilight raised an eyebrow as she averted her gaze over. But there was nothing. The purple unicorn shrugged it off and trotted onward.

❧

Sombra watched his newfound prey gulp down her precious water. If he knew for sure she wouldn’t be able to hear him, he would have given an amused chuckle.

Giving her those nightmares had been so easy. Keeping them locked away from Princess Luna was even easier.

Make her break. That was part of Sombra’s plan. Push her to her breaking point, because when she is weakest is when she will be easiest to manipulate.

Sombra must’ve shifted to early, because he saw Twilight flicker her gaze over to exactly where he was. He stopped his movements and held his breath; if he were to be discovered now, the agreement with the King would’ve been for naught.

He wanted to sigh in relief when she turned away and began to trot away, but he didn’t. Only when he couldn’t see her any longer did he release his breath.

Sombra stepped out from the shadows. Her little owl pet seemed to notice him, and when it did, it would not stop making the annoying sounds. Only when he shot the thing a glare did the sounds stop as it flinched back and trembled slightly. He sighed angrily, but it was also slightly in relief. Hopefully it didn’t alert Twilight that there was something else in her house.

Sombra closed his eyes as his lips curled back into a smirk, revealing his fangs that glistened in the moonlight.

Tomorrow, his plan would begin.

❧

Twilight woke with a yawn. Her mane was clearly disheveled, but it didn’t matter; Spike was already downstairs so she could brush it before anypony saw it.

She stood in front of the mirror, staring at her reflection as the brush pulled through her mane, getting rid of any tangles. For an instant, she swore she saw her eyes flash an emerald green. She blinked a few times, and when they did not return, she set her brush down, turned around, and trotted for the bottom level.

“Good morning, Twi,” Spike said. He appeared to be doing some cleaning around the library.

“Good morning, Spike,” Twilight said. She walked over to the door, floating over a couple saddle bags and setting them on her back. Then she slightly pushed the door open before turning back and looking at the purple dragon. “I’ll be out shopping.”

“Alright, Twi,” Spike said, focusing on his cleaning. Twilight chuckled and exited her library.

The sun’s light bathed her, warmed her, like a blanket in the chill of winter. Out in the streets, Twilight saw a crowd of mares. An eyebrow raised, she pushed through the group, a task easier said than done.

Finally at the front, she saw what all the commotion was about: a stallion. A pure white coat, like a gentle snowfall; alluring crystal blue eyes; a black mane that flowed like a calm river; he definitely held the qualities of a prince. Evert step he took, every word he spoke, was filled with such elegance that only a prince could possess, possibly only a king.

But as far as Twilight knew, this was no prince or king – just a stallion that wandered into the streets of Ponyville.

It seemed that the princess – other than stallions – was the only one that didn’t fall for the stallion’s charms. Every mare watched him with eyes full of amazement. One familiar unicorn caught Twilight’s gaze, and the pony waltzed over.

“Rarity? What’s going on? Who is he?” Twilight questioned.

“That,” Rarity said, pointing a hoof at the stallion, “is a magician. He came into town just this morning. He’s moving here!” Her voice rose with excitement. Rarity looked back at the stallion. “Isn’t he simply amazing?” Rarity admired.

“Does this stallion have a name?”

Rarity looked back at Twilight. “Of course he does, but no pony knows it. He’s so mysterious.”

Twilight raised an eyebrow and turned to look at the stallion, only to see he already had her eyes on her with a smirk. But the smirk was soon replaced by a smile as he lifted his hooves and made his way over to Twilight and her friend.

“Why, hello,” he said. His accent told Twilight he definitely wasn’t from anywhere close. The princess casted a glance to Rarity to see she was trying to keep in her squeals of excitement by biting her lip. The stallion reached behind Rarity’s ear and produced a red rose. “For you,” he said with a flirtatious smile. Rarity could no longer keep in her squeals. She let one slip as she grasped the flower in her magic. The stallion’s smile widened. Then he pulled away and looked at the surrounding crowd. “I must now take my leave, but worry not, for we will see each other again soon.” One more quick look to Twilight, and then in a puff of smoke he was gone.

But Twilight noticed something, noticed something before the smoke engulfed him and took him to Celestia knows where.

He had no cutie mark.

❧

Can a full grown stallion have no cutie mark?

That was the question that constantly bothered Twilight for the past hour. Twilight knew it wasn’t impossible, but the chances of him going throughout his whole life and not discovering his special talent were very unlikely. Besides, he did seem to be pretty great with his magic tricks; why didn’t’ he get a mark for that?

Twilight lay sprawled out on the floor, pondering the question a few moments longer before standing with a sigh. Spike was at Rarity’s, so she had the whole library to herself.

She was determined to find out this stallion’s name and learn more about him. Deep down inside of her, she had a feeling that this stallion and the nightmares were somehow connected. She didn’t want to accept it, but something in her kept kicking her until she did.

Twilight knew the chances of any record of the stallion being in her library were as minimal as the chances of a stallion still not knowing their special talent when they were fully grown, but that didn’t stop her from looking.

She must’ve been searching for an hour, reading the title of every book, before she finally gave up. She sighed and sat down. Spike walked through the door, the door’s creaks making Twilight’s ears perk up. She stood; an idea crossed her mind.

“Spike,” Twilight said, “take a letter.”

❧

Twilight groaned.

She had sent a letter to Princess Celestia, letting her know that she would be coming to study the Pony Records that were surely in the castle library. Celestia immediately replied, but denied Twilight access to the library and refused to tell why.

A quick glance out the window told Twilight that it was lunch time. “Spike,” Twilight said. “I’m going out for some lunch. Need anything?”

Spike dismissed her with a wave of the claw. “Nah, I’m good. I ate over at Rarity’s.”

Twilight shrugged. “Alright, if you say so.” Then she trotted out.

The chatter of ponies immediately filled her ears. Most talked while they ate, only after they swallowed their bites of course, while others ate in silence.

She sat at a table at an outdoor restaurant; it was such a beautiful day. There were only a couple clouds in the sky, although later there was a scheduled thunderstorm.

But for now, ponies enjoyed the outdoors as if the storm wasn’t coming.

A stallion dressed as a waiter approached her table. “May I take your order, miss?”

“Just a salad and a glass of water, please,” Twilight said.

The waiter jotted down what she wanted. “Your order will be here shortly.” Twilight nodded, and the waiter trotted off to put her order in.

After a few moments of nothing but her thoughts, she was again approached but this time it was the same stallion from before.

“Hello,” he grinned, catching Twilight’s attention. “It’s Twilight, right? Twilight Sparkle?”

“How’d you know that…?” Twilight asked in a suspicious tone.

“Why, I know every pony’s name in this town.” He pointed to an orange pony with a carrot for a cutie mark. “That is Carrot Top.” He pointed at a grey pegasus. “That is Derpy.” He pointed at a bouncy, pink earth mare. “That is Pinkie Pie.” He turned back to Twilight.

Twilight gave him a suspicious look, and then quickly glanced at his flank. Definitely no cutie mark.

“May I sit?” he asked, snapping Twilight out of her thoughts.

“I guess…”

He smiled and sat in the chair across from hers. Then, he leaned in, and in a hushed voice he said, “You’ve been having nightmares as of late, correct?” Twilight’s eyes went wide in shock. “Yes, I can see it. I am warning you, Twilight Sparkle, be very careful. Troubled times are coming for you.”

A bowl of salad was placed in front of her, and she turned to the waiter. “Here’s your order, miss,” he said.

“Thank you,” she said. Then the waiter trotted off. She turned back and was greeted by an empty chair.

No puff of smoke, no sign of him being there in the first place. Just an empty chair, her salad, and her thoughts.

She probably wasn't going to get any sleep that night.

Comments

[SuperNerdy7777]

I am loving it so far! Keep up the great work!

[Moonlit Oasis]

This is getting interesting.

[Gdenofa]

Very good do far... Getting interesting.

[Glitter101]

Update soon!

[DuskPhoenix]

Oh, this is one of those stories where I'll tell myself that I am going to wait until it updates fully so that I can just read it all at once, but I'll end up caving and reading it before then anyways. The goodness... it's just too much!

[-Brutus]

Moar moar!