Studying for days on end weren’t as common as Twilight liked them to be. Saving Equestria and making sure ponies were safe seemed to put a hold on such luxuries as she would call them. Still, it didn’t stop her from trying to catch up on things when the opportunity came. Spike would often tease her if she fell asleep at the desk but it was a familiar ache she sometimes appreciated and almost missed when she woke up.
Being a princess hadn’t allowed her to work on a few things she wanted to. Reading some books on her backlog that was ever growing, writing down notes for various things like spells or reagents to look into, or even brushing up on more history of Equestria. They were all things she wanted to do but the fate of the land did rest in her and her friends’ hooves from time to time.
With a sigh, the alicorn leaned over from her sitting position at the desk. A parchment and dry quill lay before her with the ink well freshly opened. It was tiring just mustering the strength to force herself to do the things she missed. Sometimes it almost felt like a task in itself to achieve.
“Something wrong, Twilight?” Spike asked from the doorway. He must have heard her distressed exhale while passing by.
“No, I’m okay,” Twilight told him, turning her head to give a tired smile. “Just things have been so hectic I’m finding it hard to take time for myself. When I do, I almost feel I’m just forcing myself to enjoy the things I used to.”
The small dragon walked in with a worried expression. He clearly cared about the pony that had raised him and watched out for him since he was born. The scroll in his claws made a light crinkle as he tightened his grip.
“Maybe you just need to get away from things?” Spike suggested while padding over and placing a clawed hand to the purple pony’s back.
“You might be right. I just feel like I can’t take time to do even that. I’m afraid I’ll be called on again if I try,” she said, giving a light shrug and staring down at her bare parchment.
The two stayed silent for a while as they thought over things. If things kept going the way they were then the poor pony might just collapse from stress itself. It wasn’t like she had a lot of options at her disposal. The Princess of Friendship wasn’t something to take lightly and she was happy to do her best.
“How about-” Spike said before hearing the startled cry of Twilight. “Sorry!”
She had been so lost in thought just from those few moments she forgot where she was. The sudden voice of her assistant and friend had startled her more than she was willing to admit. With a light blush, Twilight smiled and gave an embarrassed laugh before looking to him.
“Heh, you’re fine. What were you going to say?” the lavender pony inquired sweetly.
“Oh, I was just wondering if you could maybe ask for a day off or something. I know it’s not as easy as that but maybe Princess Celestia will have a way?” the dragon told her, offering up both his arms in a shrug as if to say, ‘Who knows?’
“I wish I could, Spike,” Twilight said while staring her desk. “I just can’t simply take a day off from such things if it means Equestria could be in danger.”
Spike gave a slow nod as his eyes lowered to the floor. He knew that would be the case but it didn’t hurt to ask. As late as it was, the small dragon would have to get himself some sleep soon. Staying up wouldn’t help Twilight nearly as much as he would like.
While he gave the tired pony his goodnight leave, Twilight stayed seated and looking to the few items before her. She had wanted to write a few notes but after sitting down it seemed as if she just lost all train of thought or motivation to do so. It was hard to place a hoof on why but part of it was clearly the stress and nearly no time to herself. The thing was that it felt as if there was something more.
Writer’s block? A change in the season? Possibly a combination of things and it didn’t help to dwell on such thoughts. Her striped mane swayed with every move of her head as she looked around the room. Perhaps forcing herself to do what she had been wanting to was the wrong way to get rid of this feeling.
Whatever the case, the purple pony knew that sitting in her chair and staring at the lifeless quill would get her nowhere. With that, Twilight corked the ink well and set everything aside carefully. She was weary and going to bed a bit earlier than usual could help her work out some issues a bit better in the morning. Sleep did sound awfully nice.
The thought made her smile to herself as she placed some books back on shelves and levitated a candle nearby. A quick light and the flame brightened most of the area up plenty. It wasn’t too dark yet but she could it would only be moments before the candle would be a necessity.
As she walked out, the halls made a light echo from each step. The castle always made her a bit uneasy in the dark. A foalish thing but she didn’t dare go against her feelings. It reminded her of when she was a filly out for a midnight snack. How the house would be so dark that she could have sworn something lurked in the corners and waited for her.
She had ran back to her room the moment she had her glass of milk to avoid any spooky beings trying to scare a filly in the night. Of course, nothing ever happened. It was all just her mind playing tricks on her but those thoughts and feelings never went away, only seemed less intense at times.
The doors she passed that were closed were no issue to her. It was each opened door into the blackness of the room she couldn’t see that made her uneasy. The sun had set and the flame from the candle guided her way more than ever now but even the light from the wax stick refused to show her any hidden atrocities lurking in those rooms. Twilight decided to walk a bit faster.
Every night she had stayed up and roamed the halls it always seemed to bother her. Whether it was just heading to bed, as was doing so now, or trying to find a misplaced book, the castle was almost haunting in the way it got so quiet and dark. It was downright eerie to her. At least she had comfort in the fact she knew nothing was truly there, despite what the back of her mind wished to say.
Once she arrived in her room, Twilight took a moment to set the candle on the nightstand and stretch. Glancing around, she noticed Spike already curled up in his own bed and embracing sleep like no pony ever could. The thought did manage a quiet giggle from her.
“Goodnight, Spike,” the purple alicorn whispered before giving his sleeping head a light nuzzle. He was like a little brother to her and she appreciate his hard work greatly in every attempt for her.
She had no idea what she would do without him. Her violet eyes scanned the darkened room with the single flame illuminating only a bit. Somehow she still felt that sense of unease in her own room. Especially with Spike nearby. Perhaps the stress of events really were taking a toll and the early rest might help her far more than she let on.
Shaking her head, mostly to clear her thoughts, Twilight magically drew her bed sheets away and crawled up onto the mattress. Her tail gave a little swish as she clambered up before nosing under the covers and pulling them up with her to rest her head on the pillow. The coolness of the sheets was relaxing and had her feel as if she had dropped weights she seemed to be carrying.
Her magic fizzled the flame on the candle out as she yawned and snuggled into the fabrics more. If there were any comfier place, she didn’t know it. The pony let out a deep breath and finally let her body and mind relax as best as they could.
•••••
Those violet eyes blinked awake as Twilight looked around from her bed. It was still dark out but she didn’t feel tired any longer. In fact, she felt like finally doing something. Perhaps she just needed a power nap or something to feel better.
Instead of waiting to see if the feeling wore off, the alicorn hopped down silently and quickly trotted her way to the door. A glance back made her smile as she saw Spike still dozing off and even hugging a stuffed doll of his. She almost forgot to grab the candle to help light her way through the halls and turned back to grab it. The sight she saw made her freeze in place.
There, lying in her bed still sound asleep, Twilight saw herself. Twilight’s eyes were fixated on the figure occupying the very spot she had just left. She studied every detail of the figure she could make out in the dim light closely. Its breathing was light and calm, apparently in a deep sleep and one with the dreams. Twilight was scared yet curious about what was happening. The whole instance felt as if time itself had slowed or halted in her stunned state. It slowly dawned on her that she must be having quite the surreal dream.
Slowly, the purple pony made her way around the bed as she examined herself from all angles. It was such a strange thing and made her curious all the more. It was some wild dream. When she lifted a hoof to try and touch her sleeping self’s cheek, she noticed her body was slightly translucent. The feeling of being cold or warm wasn’t present either.
“Interesting,” Twilight mumbled to herself and looked through her foreleg at the candle.
If she were dreaming, she should be able to pick up objects, correct? Her hoof reached out and gently took the candle by the metal base stand before bringing it closer. She could almost feel it but also couldn’t. Did her magic work in the dream world just as well?
The faint glow of her horn lit a small radius around her before she levitated the candle from her hold and smiled. Perfect! She had to be lucid dreaming. A strange but interesting event she had never been able to witness herself. That is, until now.
It was an exciting and new experience for her. The pony gave a silent gallop in a circle in her happiness while mentally noting how she was unable to make noise with her hooves. Her mane danced behind her as she toyed with the idea more and managed to light the candle to brighten the room.
In her glee, she didn’t take in all the details at first. Her thoughts were suddenly clouded with random questions and ideas for testing. Those wings spread as she got ready to fly around and take a tour of her castle, no! Ponyville! To see all sorts of wonders before she woke up. Then something caught her eye.
Something was in the corner of her room. Not Spike, not a friend. Not a pony. The shadowy figure seemed to be hunched over. Tall and thin, there were hardly any features she could make out on it. The flame from the candle hardly shed any light on it at all.
Then its head turned, shifting from her sleeping body to where she was now; her dream self. She couldn’t see the eyes, not exactly, but it was clear it noticed her now. With that, it leaned in slowly and took a creeping step forward.
Twilight gasped and lost concentration on the candle. The light dropped and the stand made a loud clattering along the floor. The candle itself popped free and extinguished in the quick bounce. The room went dark.
•••••
In an instant, Twilight shot up from her bed. Her wings fanned out as she tossed the sheets all over the place. The nightstand bumped and made a loud screech against the floor. It all happened so fast she didn’t know what else to do but scream.
“Twilight!” Spike called from the darkness. “Twilight, wake up! It’s just a bad dream!”
Holding her forelegs close to her with sheets bundled up, the alicorn stifled herself. She could feel her heart pounding in her chest and her breath nearly caught in her throat. What had she seen? What kind of dream was that?
“I… I’m okay, Spike,” she called out, barely managing even that. “Everything’s okay. Just a… bad dream.”
Even she didn’t feel like believing herself but it felt better to say it aloud. Her wings gently lowered as she calmed down and took some deep breaths. The only thing she could rationalize was that stress played a big part in her nightmare.
“You going to be okay?” she heard Spike say quietly. He more than likely heard her breaths coming in short gasps for a bit.
“Yeah. Yeah, I’ll be okay. Thank you,” Twilight assured him and slowly tried to lay back down.
It was an odd encounter for sure. One she didn’t understand and would have to talk to Luna when she got the chance. Perhaps the Princess of the Night could tell her what it meant or perhaps why she had it. There was a moment Twilight thought about writing down the ordeal but she knew she wouldn’t forget it so easily.
Slowly, her head laid upon the pillow once again. Her eyes closed and she did her best to get back to sleep. She didn’t know how long it took but eventually she did manage to drift back to sleep. The only problem was that she felt as if she were being watched for some reason.
•••••
In the morning, Twilight woke up and stayed laying in bed for a while longer. Even though she had no more dreams after she felt worn out just from the one. Her eyes stared at a window for a while as she contemplated what to say to Luna. There wasn’t any easy way to state it other than she had a nightmare and wanted help in understanding it.
Things felt jumbled in her head. Time sort of ebbed and flowed randomly for her as she tried piecing together what she thought she saw. The pony pulled the covers over herself more as she remembered how it had turned to her and seemed intent on harming her. It may not have shown signs of doing so other than one step but she could feel it.
It didn’t matter now though. The alicorn was awake and no nightmare could hurt her. Luna could protect her from them anyway. The only issue was why didn’t she last night? Was there more to it? Could Luna have just been a bit busy and only managed to pull Twilight from it instead of altering it?
Sitting up, the purple mare grunted and rubbed her eyes with a foreleg. After a yawn, she looked to the corner of her room and shivered. Why did she still feel like she was being watched? It was just a dream.
Hopping down and getting ready for the day ahead, Twilight turned to pull the covers up and froze. Her eyes fixed on the candle and candle holder on the floor. Her body felt ice cold as she saw the wax that had spattered the floor and hardened. The sudden sound of the door opening made her cry out for a moment.
“Twilight, it’s me! It’s Spike!” the dragon said, poking his head into the room with a worried look. “What’s gotten into you? You’ve been jumpy since last night.”
“I’m sorry,” Twilight groaned, leaning against her bed and frowning. “I had a really bad dream last night.”
“I know. You startled me too when you knocked the nightstand and toppled the candle,” he stated while walking in with a tray. He had made her breakfast.
The sight of the tray with a meal made her smile as she stood up and carefully picked up the wax stick and holder. Setting them aside and readjusting her nightstand, Twilight slowly made her bed before sitting down and accepting the meal.
“I guess I did knock it down when moving about from the nightmare,” she agreed, wanting any excuse other than what she had originally thought. “Thank you for the breakfast.”
“Heh, hey, it’s no problem!” Spike said, chuckling a bit. “What did you dream about?”
While munching on some daffodils, Twilight thought about telling him before shaking her head. It took a moment for her to speak. She didn’t wish to frighten him or make him worry any more than he has over her.
“It was nothing. Just a simple bad dream was all. I’ll talk to Luna about it today,” the pony answered and began munching on her meal again.
The small dragon gave a light shrug and crunched on his own gem sandwich nearby. The two ate in near silence other than that. Sounds of a quiet breakfast were all the room carried. It wasn’t until near the end of their meal before Twilight suggested they head downstairs. She didn’t feel comfortable in her room suddenly.
They got the dishes cleaned and the lavender pony brushed her mane to work out any tangles and not look so disheveled. Just from the look in her eyes she could tell she hadn’t slept well. Maybe talking with Luna should be a top priority so it doesn’t happen again. It seemed like a good enough idea.
Twilight got Spike to send a letter ahead of time so her visit wouldn’t be too much of a surprise. No details were added other than she wished to talk with Celestia’s sister about a dream she had recently. That was all. Getting out of the castle and some fresh air might soothe her nerves a bit anyway.
Upon stepping outside, she did feel a bit better. The air was clean and the sky was clear. That alone lifted her spirits greatly. A small train ride would be in order to take in the sights to Canterlot. Hot air balloon sounded good too but she was in a slight hurry.
The time between leaving her castle and boarding the train was all a blur. Twilight hardly even remembered getting her ticket, much less when she sat down in a seat. It wasn’t until she was already near Canterlot that she snapped out of her daze. Getting lost in her thoughts again about last night.
When the train came to a stop at the station, Twilight got up and hurried out. She couldn’t help but be a little eager to get the meeting out of the way. It bothered her to have so many questions and not understand any of them. Princess Luna surely would have something to say about it all.
Moving around Canterlot, the Princess of Friendship slowly made her way to the palace and past the various royal guards. Her eyes wandered to the stained glass windows once she got into the main hall and carefully made her way up to the thrones. It was strange coming here to see the princesses again after she was announced as one herself.
“Twilight Sparkle,” Celestia spoke gently with a warm smile. “I heard you wished to speak to my sister. Is this correct?”
The smaller princess gave a nod in response as she sat before the thrones. Her eyes glanced between both sisters a few times before she spoke up. Her voice was nearly a whisper before she cleared her throat.
“I wanted to talk with Luna, if that was okay. It’s about a dream I had,” Twilight announced and looked sheepishly around. The guards appeared to pay no mind to any conversation going on.
“What dream? When?” Luna asked, leaning forward for a moment and waiting patiently.
“Last night,” Twilight said and opened her mouth to detail it before Luna spoke again.
“Twilight,” the Princess of the Night said slowly, her eyebrows furrowed, “You didn’t have any dreams last night.”
•••••
The whole train ride back to Ponyville was spent in anxiety. There was nothing she could think of that could answer any of the questions she had. Luna had seen no dreams from her last night and looked utterly confused at the explanation of her experience. Celestia looked just as troubled over it but Twilight could tell they had a hard time believing her.
It wasn’t the way they spoke but how they looked at her after. She sounded crazy to them and had nothing more to help her side of explaining things. When things were said and done, both sisters waited until they thought she was out the door before raising their wings to whisper to one another. Twilight was no fool and saw it when she turned and thought to ask for a pony who might help her.
Sighing, she stared at the trees and land pass by her window. The light sound of the tracks did seem soothing to her. Her ears did their best to focus on that and let her thoughts drain out instead of trying to worry herself sick. Leaning against the window gently, the purple pony could feel her eyes slowly close and open.
The rough sleep, the stress, and now the lack of answers wore the poor pony out. Maybe it was just a fluke and she just thought she saw something. Instead of actually holding her candle she just thought such a thing happened. It was just a strange phenomena was all.
That’s all.
•••••
The jolt awake made Twilight look around the train car to see the few ponies still aboard. She hadn’t missed her stop so that was a relief. From the looked of the land, there seemed to be several more minutes left of the ride before arriving back in Ponyville.
When she sat up straight, her eyes glanced to the window again only to feel a bit of panic wash over her. Twilight Sparkle was still slumbering against the cold pane of glass. Despite not feeling heat or cold she did certainly feel fear and panic. It was happening again and she didn’t know how to wake herself up.
Instead of moving around, the alicorn sat still and stared at her sleeping form for a minute. It could be that it’s the same instance but it might not scare her again. Just like dreams can follow a theme but not be the same. Right? The concern was heavy on her face.
If there was a reason she was having these episodes then she wanted to help cope with them. A psychiatrist might be good but would they give her answers as well? Maybe if she just sat there and waited she would wake up and nothing would happen. No need to get herself in a fit over things she didn’t know.
A double check on her sleeping body showed she was breathing so that was good. The land outside moved by quickly and the train still made its noise along the tracks but there was something off. The sounds seemed slightly muffled, as if she were hearing them through a wall or several of them.
After a couple more minutes, she figured she had chosen the best option. Do nothing and wait. It didn’t sit right with how she wanted to explore the whole thing but it felt best not to tempt things. The only thing left was her worrying if she would wake up in time for her stop.
Looking out the window again and watching the landscape, Twilight noticed something a bit odd. A smudge or something against the glass. The weird thing was it looked like it moved a little here and there. The purple mare stared at the spot for a moment longer before noticing the odd shape of something with it.
It suddenly made her stomach turn when she realized what it was. That creature was in the window. No, not in it. Behind it? In front? Twilight’s brow furrowed as she stayed still before realizing exactly what was off. She had been staring at the light reflection of it in the glass.
In a quick turn to the side, the purple alicorn came nearly face to face with the creature. Its mane was gray and looked to cover most of its features in long rivers. There was little time to take any other details before she started screaming.
•••••
Screaming and kicking the seat in front of her, Twilight writhed and squirmed until she opened her eyes. She had nearly pushed herself as far as she could into the corner of her seat with the few ponies in the car looking back at her in surprise and slight irritation. The panicked pony breathed heavily as she glanced around and her face flushed with embarrassment. She uttered a quick and quiet apology as she looked back to the window.
No odd shadow or reflection. Just the station coming into view. What was going on? What was causing her to see the strange being? The only thing left for her would be to book a session with a psychiatrist and hopefully do some research on what she was going through.
The train lurched to a slow stop and the ponies all got up to leave. All but Twilight. Instead of going with them she wished to wait. The disturbance moments ago didn’t need to be highlighted with her making more of a scene or anything.
Once she got out, the winged unicorn took her time to head back to her castle. She would have to look through her library to find out something, anything. Talking to herself in thoughts left her unsure if she was hearing her own name bounce around in her head.
“Twilight!” came a voice to her side.
It took her a moment longer before it registered she had actually heard it. Not only that, she knew that voice. It wasn’t some trick nor was she making it up.
“Twilight! You there?” Applejack asked, trotting up alongside her with a raised brow. “Been calling ya a bit and you seemed lost in your own head.”
“Oh! I’m so sorry, AJ. I was. Just been having a rough day. Bad sleep and stressed out of my mind it feels like,” Twilight told her while trying to keep a smile on her face.
“That so?” the earth pony said rhetorically. Her green eyes studied her friend for a bit before she added, “Why don’t you go on and get some rest? You sound like you need it.”
It was a nice thought but Twilight shook her head slowly. Her mind wasn’t going to rest if she saw that thing again. Her eyes lowered a bit as she tried to understand herself before meeting her friend’s gaze. There was worry there and plenty of it.
“I… should, yeah,” the purple pony admitted but knew she wasn’t being entirely honest with herself. “Guess I must look a bit worse for wear, huh?”
“Well, you ain’t winning any beauty contest if you keep yourself all wound up,” Applejack admitted, giving an apologetic shrug as best she could while walking.
The two of them laughed lightly before talking a bit more. Once they came to the castle, Twilight said her farewell to her friend and they parted ways. As right as Applejack was, there was still the issue with talking to Spike about finding an appointment for a psychiatrist. Just one session might help her cope with it.
The large doors closed behind her as she walked inside, magically pulling them shut and walking down a hall. There was plenty of light out in the day still. Perhaps reading a little bit wouldn’t hurt her. She hoped, anyway.
Traveling along the way, her head poked into a few rooms before finding what she wanted. The books lined the shelves and proudly presented their spines for easy access of finding what she needed. Carefully, almost methodically, Twilight began picking out a book here and there dealing with dreams and a few extra she figured might sound like the odd occurrence she had been through.
Without wasting anymore time, the pony sat herself down and used her magic to draw open a couple of the books while hovering them nearby. The appointment could wait until tomorrow, she decided. For now, she just wanted answers.
•••••
Hours later and a few glasses of water, courtesy of Spike, she had narrowed down a few possibilities. One thing was for certain and she was happy to come across it. Her episodes or that odd phenomena was something a few books called an out of body experience. It sounded as if it were a lucid dream and sometimes was, yet she had no dreams.
The sheer knowledge of just that almost had her in tears. She was just happy to finally have at least one thing she understood even if it was loosely so. A couple of the books talked a bit more about it but nothing on how somepony could achieve it without trying consistently. It was strange that it sounded so hard to achieve for most but she was barely able to nap without being thrown into such a thing.
As for the creature, she only had a vague idea at best. If she was honest with herself, she didn’t even think she was close. Other ponies had seen something similar when waking up but only for a moment. Something linked with sleep paralysis, yet Twilight had no idea if she was experiencing that since she was having a different thing occur.
Some said the pony or creature, whatever it was, wore some kind of hat while others mentioned some hag-like being. The idea was spooky enough to know others saw the thing but with the accounts stating one thing or the other it made her wonder if there were more than one of them. It wasn’t a thought the lavender coated pony liked.
With the time of the day drawing close to and end, Twilight knew she would have to sleep soon. Or try to. She was starting to get scared. Why did she have to be the one scared to go to sleep? Why couldn’t she just enjoy her nights like she used to?
Reading further into the strange things yielded nothing. No idea if they wanted something or were just simply there. That seemed to be as far as she could get on any research. At least she wasn’t going crazy. Rather, the idea of being loony was further than it was prior to her reading.
Fresh knowledge and ideas had filled her mind and she was glad to have taken time to read. The purple alicorn didn’t feel nearly as stressed and the thought of sleep was sounding pretty welcoming. Sure, she was worried but maybe it was just a rare chance she had something like that happen twice in a row.
Smiling and giving a nod to herself, Twilight got up and stretched while placing the books down. Her joints ached and she made sure to move a bit before getting ready for bed. The sun would lower beyond the horizon probably by the time she laid down. A good time to try and get some rest.
Her hooves echoed out in the hall once again as she made her way to the bathroom and grabbed her toothbrush. A little teeth cleaning and then she could go try to get some proper sleep. Vigorously, she brushed along and used a hoof to pat down some frazzled parts of her mane. Applejack was right, she did look out of it.
There were the beginnings of dark circles under her eyes as well as them looking just a tad red. Twilight Sparkle was one worn out pony. She gave herself a giggle before leaning her head down to rinse before looking back up.
Behind her stood the odd figure, taller than her and staring down at the purple pony. It didn’t move but kept the hollow gaze on the alicorn. Twilight froze in fear as she studied the thin figure, noticing the gray mane dangling down its head obscured most of its facial features. That didn’t stop her from feeling watched.
The thing looked up into the mirror and Twilight could tell it knew. It knew she saw it. She wanted to scream, to call out to Spike or anypony around to hear. Her voice was caught in her throat every time she tried with only a whimper managing to escape. In a last minute thought, she finally turned around, thinking moving might make her find the voice she lost.
It wasn’t there. Nothing and nopony but her. A look back into the mirror showed the same thing. Just empty air behind Twilight. Nothing stalking her or even there.
Twilight finished up in the bathroom as quickly as possible before rushing to her room. She didn’t want to be out in the rest of the castle before dark anymore. Spike would be in shortly and she would feel safer with just another in the same room that she knew. Yes, everything would be okay.
Almost forgetting she had wings, Twilight climbs into bed once again. Her whole body was shaking as she scrambled to get under the blankets and lay there. The window let the last bit of sunlight show as it diminished into the dark.
The alicorn was suddenly aware of how many sounds she kept hearing. Odd creaks or light scrapes rooms away. A thump of something falling. Spike must just be cleaning up and dropping a few things. That was all. Her desire to be rational was as worrying as her fear.
There were more things she heard and she did everything she could to tune them out. Light sounds of the clopping of hooves coming down the hall? No, that was just her mind making things up. A whisper from the corner? No! Stop it.
Her heart was beating a mile a minute as she shut her eyes tight and whimpered. Why did she see this thing? What caused it to happen? Even though questions racked her mind, keeping her eyes closed slowly but surely worked in getting Twilight Sparkle to sleep.
•••••
The purple pony awoke again. It was the middle of the night once more and she could hear Spike snoozing soundly. Instead of getting up, Twilight stayed still, hoping whatever it was didn’t know she had woken up. If it was there in the room with her then she didn’t want to see it or know about it.
Several agonizing minutes passed before she couldn’t bear it. The one big question had to be answered and she slowly reached a hoof out from the covers. In the darkness it was hard to tell if she could see through it or not. Maybe a quick look with the candle could help.
Her foreleg stretched out quietly as she did her best to appear asleep. Once she lit the wick then she would have to think of what to do quickly. Scooting closer to the edge of her bed, she reached out further until her hoof lightly smacked the top of the stand. The sound rang out in the silent room and made her freeze in place.
It took a minute before the frightened pony carefully reached out further. She could have used her magic but in her current situation with the panic running strong, poor Twilight had simply forgot. If she had to guess then she was close to getting the candle.
Something grazed over her foreleg. It was as cold as ice and made her gasp. Pulling her leg back in the covers with her, Twilight bit her lip to remain silent and still. Her shaking was getting worse. If she called to Spike would he see it? Did he even know about it?
The silence in the room made her uncomfortable. Instead of getting up, her eyes shut tight as she did the only thing she could think of and tried to will the unpleasantness away. Every second lasted an eternity as she laid in bed, afraid of everything and nothing.
It was probably an hour later when she finally mustered the courage and remembered to use her magic to light the candle. The warm glow was calming and revealed nothing out of the ordinary upon giving a glance around the room. No translucent appearance from what she could see either. Just as she had tried telling herself before. Or maybe she didn’t. In fact, she couldn’t remember. All the alicorn cared about was using the candlelight to maybe get more sleep.
If it meant she had to have every night, so be it. A simple remedy to help her sleep. Twilight nodded to herself and did her best not to shed any tears at her internal plight. Whatever ghoul or strange being her mind was making up seemed to be breaking her down quickly.
Slowly, she began slipping back into a weak sleep the best she could.
•••••
Again. Twilight woke up again for the second time that night. Her heart was beating furiously and it felt like there was a dead weight on her. Breathing was hard to come by no matter how much she tried. The sudden panic urged her to get up but her body refused.
Why couldn’t she move?! What was stopping her? Every breath felt like she was using a straw not to suffocate. The only issue was nothing seemed to be blocking her muzzle she laid on her side. Those violet eyes strained and squinted open.
The candle had lost half its former self but still stayed lit. The melted wax was pooled along the nightstand and made drips down the edge. There was a noise in the room. Not Spike. No.
She couldn’t move her head to see where the source had come from. It was near the bottom of her bed, close to her tail under the covers. A sense of dread suddenly came over her, feeling like every sound and sight might just be the last she notices.
Steps. Soft and almost silent. Hooves were coming around the bed to her side. It became a struggle to keep her eyes open as much as she wanted. They closed.
When those tired eyes opened again, Twilight saw the figure. It was slowly swaying and moving over to her. The darkened rags and tatters it wore almost floated with a mind of their own. It gave a look down to where Spike lay before continuing on.
When it was nearly halfway to her, Twilight’s eyes failed again and shut. Her breathing struggled more but she was somehow managing. No limbs moved despite her best efforts. Was this sleep paralysis? Another attempt at opening her eyes succeeded. She wished it didn’t.
Before her stood the creature, rags and all. It swayed slightly as the head was craned down. That face, obscured by the gray, dirty mane was mere inches from her own. She could see the worn coat and pelt beneath. A body that hadn’t been tended to in years. Decades, possibly centuries. Light from the candle flickered. Darkness threatened to consume all.
Twilight wanted to scream. The hag-like being leaned in closer as those hollow eyes stayed on her. The first breath upon her cheek was like ice. What was this stalking her? Why did it want her? The purple pony’s eyes shut again, willingly. Cold washed over her as the flame was snuffed out. She could feel its presence drawing closer.
Then nothing.