Dream's End

by zaleacon

Chapter I - Introduction

Dream’s End
~ Chapter I – Introduction ~
Twilight’s Dream ~ The Silent Library

---

Twilight found herself in a rather large, circular room. The walls were covered with towering bookshelves that ran up to the dome-shaped ceiling, and the floor seemed to be made of a graying, dirtied carpet that had obviously not been replaced in years. There were no windows, but the ceiling was painted in such a way that it looked almost like stained glass. However, on closer inspection, it was just that – paint.

Twilight looked around for a second before giggling quietly. Or she would have, at least, if sound existed inside the library. Even her thoughts felt slightly muffled, though she could tell what she wanted.

She looked around again. A large staircase seemed to run down further into the library, while a purple, crystal-laden doorway (which took up space that, much to Twilight’s disappointment, was not a bookshelf) sat behind her. Of course, she paid both no mind; why would she exit when she had so many books?

Twilight paused for a moment. Exit? Where was she exiting? Surely this was her home, her refuge, and her chosen place to exist. What else could it possibly be?

Yet there was a nagging feeling in the corner of her mind that something was terribly, horribly wrong. Fortunately, though, that thought was soon discarded, as her mind’s protests were muffled beneath the oppressive silence of the library.

Smiling, Twilight approached a nearby bookshelf and selected a tome at random. It had a light-blue cover, which was decorated with black-and-red lines and shapes around the sides. Fairly lengthy, but nothing too grand – it was probably only a few hundred pages at most.

She frowned as she turned it over. What was its title? Did it even have one? Curiously, she opened it up to where the title page should have been, only to be disappointed with a blank white page. She continued to flip through it, but sure enough, the entire book was empty.

Twilight let out a sigh as she replaced the book on the shelf. Or she would have, at least, if sound existed inside the library. Some filly had probably left her diary behind by mistake and the bookkeeper had just picked it up anyway.

She ran a hoof through her straight, hornless mane in frustration. Twilight had always been an earth pony, but she did not have the endurance most of the others did. This much, she knew, was a fact. It was why she always spent her time surrounded by books, after all.

Wait, was that right? Twilight blinked and glanced around the room. Was she not a unicorn? Was she not an alicorn?

Don’t be silly, she thought. How could a weak, insignificant thing like her ever hope to be anywhere near Princess Celestia’s power? She had never even met Celestia.

Twilight felt a chill run down her spine. No, that could not be true. She had met Celestia. She must have. Her head was screaming at her that she had met the princess.

Twilight shook her head. No, no, no. That was impossible. She had lived in that library her whole life, ever since her parents had abandoned her. Ever since everypony had abandoned her.

She liked silence. It suited her. The weak, pathetic earth pony who could not run well? The earth pony who could barely talk to anypony else? She needed silence. She needed comfort.

That was who she was.

Twilight reached down for another book. An actual book. She pulled out a crimson-colored book this time, decorated – similarly to the first one, at that – with black and gray markings across its front and spine. Again, there was no title.

Twilight opened it, and she found herself looking once more into a series of what must have been hundreds of blank pages. She shut it quickly and slammed it into the shelf hard enough to send the other books rumbling. Or they would have, at least, if sound existed inside the library.

She whirled around quickly. Surely, there were some legible books in the room. Surely, at least some of the books must have had words.

She ran over to the other side of the room and tore a bright yellow book out of its shelf. Black and white markings. No title. She threw it aside.

She grabbed another book. Black, white and gray markings, no title. She threw it aside.

Green, black and white markings, no title.

Pink, black and white markings, no title.

White, black and blue markings, no title.

Again, and again, and again. Twilight grabbed books, threw them open, looked through them, and found nothing. They were all empty.

The floor was soon littered with dozens upon dozens of multi-colored books. All of them were empty. All of them had nothing.

Twilight stumbled back and away from the nightmare-inducing sight. What was going on? What was going on? What was going on? What was going on?!

Panicked, Twilight ran over towards the tall purple door and tried to pull it open. No luck; it was completely shut. She began slamming her hooves against it, desperate to force it to open, and she screamed for help.

Or she would have, at least, if sound existed inside the library.

Twilight felt her legs give out beneath her. Her eyes were watering, her heart was beating faster and faster in her chest, and her breathing had become quick and shallow. She forced herself to breathe deeply; there had to be a rational explanation, she figured.

She paused and turned around slowly. Right behind her, Twilight could see the stairs heading downward. She had never used them before; why should she have? They were ominous, with carpeting that looked even older than the carpet in the first room. And even those times when she had tried to use them, Twilight had fled as soon as they creaked harshly beneath her hooves. Or they would have, at least, if sound existed inside the library. But she could feel them creak, as though they were going to give way any second.

Those stairs terrified her. Twilight felt there was something – somepony, maybe – standing at the bottom, and it terrified her. Somepony she did not know. Somepony who wanted to hurt her.

But now, it seemed as though she had no choice. Her little box was no longer safe. Her home had been contaminated by some kind of malevolent force, and Twilight knew she would go mad in a place where every book was empty.

Twilight crept over to the stairs slowly. Not that it mattered, of course; if anything was down there, it was not as though it would have been able to hear her. But nonetheless, Twilight’s hooves slowly moved across the graying carpet and towards the mysterious stairwell.

She paused as soon as she reached the top. Could she keep going? Could she truly use the stairs that had terrified her for so long? She hesitated. No, that was a bad idea. She could just return to her books. Maybe they would return to normal on their own.

But that was stupid, and Twilight knew it was stupid. It was just a hope. A painful, obviously fake hope that Twilight knew could never come true. If she wanted to find out what was happening, she would need to take the plunge.

She breathed in deeply, steeling herself as she took another step forward. Her hoof pressed lightly against the top step, which felt as though it were creaking beneath her weight. Twilight pulled her hoof away as though she were touching a hot stove, staring nervously down at the step.

It was an innocuous thing. It was made from some kind of dark brown wood and covered with carpet, at least in places where the carpeting had not completely decayed. The railings were the same type of wood, but they looked slightly jagged and sharp. Dangerous.

Twilight closed her eyes and breathed in deeply once more. She just had to take the step. She just had to make herself take the step. It would be difficult, but she could do it.

Her hoof trembled as it moved towards the step, and she set it down quickly and harshly. The step did not move; it felt like it creaked, but it did not move at all.

Twilight paused. Was it all in her head? Had the difficulties of moving forward just been an unfounded fear all along? She had to test this theory.

More confidently, now, Twilight pressed a second hoof to the step. Again, it did not move, even though it felt as though it had.

It was psychological. It had all been psychological. Her entire life spent in that room, hiding from the insults and jeers of her social peers, had all been psychological. She could have left any time she wished.

Twilight moved her hooves down the stairs, not worrying about what sound they might have made. They were surprisingly sturdy; she had no reason to fear them. Her hooves pressed against the wood again as she stepped down.

No reason to fear.

No reason to fear.

Twilight had already moved down a sizable portion of steps and could see the next floor down. She had almost made it. Soon, she could see what she had been missing out on for so long.

She stepped down from the last of the stairs and found herself staring at a sight that was both new and old alike. A simple librarian’s desk sat at the base of the stairs, although nopony was sitting there. There were a few tables and chairs, several windows that showed a dark and stormy night outside, and a sight that took Twilight’s breath away completely.

What must have been hundreds of bookshelves sat before her across the one-hundred-or-so-foot-wide space, arranged in an odd, maze-like fashion. They reached up to the ceiling, to the point where even a pegasus would not have been able to navigate the area easily. Massive walls of bookshelves spanned from one side of the room to the other, with only a small area serving as the “entrance” to the massive maze.

Normally, Twilight would have been terrified of being lost, but the sight of so much reading material did nothing but entrance her further. Besides, as long as she only read the books near the beginning of the maze and did not go inside, she figured she would be fine.

She glanced down at the carpet near the passage into the maze. While the carpeting was already threadbare and gray, there was a visible layer of dust near the maze’s entrance. It was as though nopony had entered it before.

Twilight shook her head. All she had to do was stay outside and she should be fine. That was all she had to do. She could grab a few books, go back to her little chamber, and live out the rest of her life in blissful ignorance of what lay beyond that ominous entryway.

She stepped forward to one of the nearby bookshelves and grabbed a tome from it. However, on inspecting it closely, her heart stopped.

Purple, black markings, no title.

Twilight dropped the book as though it were hot and frantically grabbed another. She ripped it open quickly, not even bothering to look at the cover, and found that it was completely empty of any writing. She closed it and stared at its cover.

Gray, white markings, no title.

It slipped from her hooves and hit the ground with an audible crash. Or it would have, at least, if sound existed inside the library.

Twilight shuddered and looked over at the entryway into the maze. Were the books she was seeking beyond that point? No, it could not possibly be worth it. It could not be. It would not be.

Unlike the stairs, the maze just radiated danger. Going beyond that entrance would be a surefire way to get herself killed. Twilight knew that much. She was too weak; she could not cast magic, she could not fly, and she could most likely not be able to outrun anypony else.

In other words, if that maze was as dangerous as it looked, she had no chance of survival.

“No chance of survival.” Those words rung in her head, even as they were strangely muffled by the library’s influence. Was it the library? Yes, of course. What else could it be? Surely not her.

Twilight shook her head and backed away from the entrance to the maze slowly. She looked out a nearby window to see lightning strike a tree before striking it again and again. Every time, the tree seemed to have no damage, but it still burst into flames on the initial charge.

She turned around to look back at the stairs. In that moment, she realized that she could easily just leave. Twilight could go back to her box and live there, safe and secure. She would not have to go hunting for books. And then everything would be fine.

For a moment, she seriously contemplated this line of thought, but she reminded herself that she would be returning to nothing but an empty room – an empty, barren room, in which she would doubtlessly go insane upon entering.

But at the same time, that entryway was far too terrifying. Twilight did not even know why, exactly, but it simply felt wrong. It felt dangerous and disturbing, like it did not belong.

She shifted in place for just a moment before turning around the area. The librarian’s desk was still unmanned, the tables around her were empty and deserted, and the bookshelves were filled with those bland, wordless books.

But more than that, it was safe. It was clear to Twilight that the strange hub seemed to keep whatever was in the maze out. If there was anything in the maze at all, of course. If she were in danger, could she escape to the entryway?

Twilight seriously thought about this matter. Books were all that mattered to her. Books were all that she had, or would ever have. And if there were no books of value outside the maze, were there any within it?

It would not hurt her to check, would it? She could run in, grab a book or three, escape, read them, and see for herself what was going on. In a worst case scenario, she could always go in deeper; perhaps anypony inside would not find her there, and perhaps the books within it would be even better.

Or they could, at the very least, have some substance.

Twilight stepped over to the entrance and peeked inside. Yes, it was certainly a maze, or at least a maze-like structure. But the path before her was completely clear. Books lined the shelves; hundreds of them, and they all looked somewhat different from the ones she had seen before.

Twilight glanced from side-to-side, making sure the coast was clear, before she ran inside the maze, grabbed a single book from a nearby shelf, and sprinted back outside.

She glanced down at the cover, and found herself extremely excited when she looked over it further. It was a white book with purple and black markings spread across the sides, front, and back, with the word First written on the cover in black ink.

Even more jubilant now, Twilight opened the book. However, her grin fell from her face the instant she saw the first page.

The title was printed at the top in small letters, but after that there was nothing. More blank pages, more empty pages. More nothing.

Twilight set down the book with a loud sigh. Or she would have, at least, if sound existed inside the library. Instead, she had to settle for complete silence.

It was progress, at least, but not much. She looked up, glancing back at the maze within the bookshelves. How far did it go? Did the books become more complete the further in she went? Would she eventually find one that was completely filled out?

Twilight bit down on her lower lip. To enter or to stay – which was the better option? Did she risk madness or risk death? Either way, things were not looking good for her.

She looked over at the shelf from which she’d grabbed First. Was it truly worth it? Did she dare to take that risk for the sake of literature?

Twilight looked ahead and nodded to herself. Yes, of course. It was always worth the risk. She could not give up, no matter how weak, insignificant, or worthless she was. Even if she could not fly, even if she could not cast magic, and even if she could not outrun anypony else, she knew that she had to do this.

It was strange, though. It was almost as though the maze was calling to her. Was that it? No, of course not. That made no sense. The only things that she wanted from that maze were books. Nothing else truly mattered to her.

So Twilight steeled herself, swallowing a lump in her throat, and forced herself to walk forward and into the mysterious maze of the silent library.

Author's Note:

Well that was fast. It turns out that when I focus on getting something done, I can get it done. Anyway, I probably won't be getting too many chapters out for this story until next week. I may get one or two, but I'm going to be very busy, so I can't make any promises.

The next few chapters are also going to have a noticeable lack of dialogue due to the strange condition of the library, so don't expect any dialogue for a bit. It will come up in a couple of chapters, though.