//------------------------------// // 3. Questions // Story: When the Stars Sleep // by Sea Gnash //------------------------------// ~*~ Chapter 3 ~*~ --- ~*~ Questions ~*~ ---------- Despite how much she hoped and wished things would somehow have been better in Canterlot, the air continued to feel just as stiflingly still and heavy as it was in Ponyville. That very same devouring darkness filling the sky and fighting the light produced by the light bulbs hung up to struggle against it. The sound of the train's doors closing almost felt muted, like the sound was trying to travel through water rather than air. Twilight had taken notice of the very same phenomenon from nearly every single noise she had heard on the unnerving trek to the Ponyville station as well. A phenomenon that seemed to alleviate itself once in the bright lights of the train car, but returned the moment she was back outside. The weight of Spike on her back helped confirm that he was still with her, but something inside her forced her to look back. The nervous, but curious eyes of Fluttershy staring back at her helped to quell her own fears of taking her eyes away from either of them, for so much as a moment, would cause them to disappear. She knew it was completely irrational, but she couldn't get that little scratching feeling out of her mind. None of her dozens of letters had gotten any sort of response and maybe what she was feeling was a simple extension of the worries that caused. They had coaxed her into dragging Spike and Fluttershy all the way up the mountain with her, after all. But now that they arrived there was no point in turning back. It would be nice to confirm that the princesses and her parents were alright, too. The streets of Canterlot somehow felt even darker than Ponyville's, despite the tighter grouping of buildings allowing lights to hang closer together. That same chill she felt while out visiting her friends days prior ran down Twilight's spine once again. A small tingle ran through her mind and her eyes turned to glance down an alleyway the sidewalk led them all past. Unlike the others that had some attempt at keeping them lit just in case, this one was pitch dark. As if whatever lamp or lantern that was inside had been broken, causing an unnerving aura to seep out from inside. “Uhm, Twilight?” The gentle voice of Fluttershy registered with her mind, but something inside of her told her not to listen. It wasn't until she felt a tug on her mane that her attention was broken and she realized she had stopped her trot to stare. “Hey, Twilight, shouldn't we keep moving?” asked Spike, a shift in weight coming to Twilight's back as he sat back down. Twilight took one more glance down the alleyway before continuing down the sidewalk once more. She instead turned her attention to her right side upon feeling a few soft feathers brush against her. Fluttershy had cantered up beside her rather than sticking behind her like she usually preferred. “A-are you feeling okay, Twilight?” Fluttershy's fears of being outside once again held clear in her shaky tone of voice. “Yeah, it's not like you to get distracted like that,” chimed Spike, adding to the voices distracting Twilight from the strange beckoning feeling that alley had given her. It took Twilight a few moments to regain enough control over her thoughts to respond. Long enough she could feel the worry in her companions grow slightly. “I'm alright. I thought I just heard something is all.” She didn't like lying to others, especially her friends, but with all of their nerves on high, it didn't feel like the right time to go scaring them even more. She would just need to make it to the castle and everything would be fine. With squads of guards, a decent chunk of which were bat ponies built to work in the dark of night for Princess Luna, there wouldn't be a safer place to be in times like these. Right? Her answer didn't get a response from either of those with her, but their change in postures told her that they had at least accepted it for the time being. A twinge of guilt still came over her for just a moment despite that. She would need to find a way to make up for the deception somehow once they were all somewhere that felt a little less foreboding. Luckily, her parents didn't live too far from the train station; it would make a good checkpoint on the way to the castle. Not to mention the amount of weight seeing them doing alright would take off of her. Oh, please let them be okay. The thought rung through Twilight's head like a gong in an empty room. Another brush of Fluttershy's soft feathers against her side shook Twilight from her thoughts and allowed her to re-assess her surroundings. She had somehow led them halfway down the path to their first destination purely out of instinct without even noticing. Though, that was definitely the least of her concerns. The opposite side of the street was pitch black. Though it most likely was simply the result of ponies leaving their homes to either stick together or leave town like back in Ponyville, that didn't make it feel any less unnerving. Now that she noticed it, that was probably what made Fluttershy feel it was so necessary to stick so close to her. Not that she objected to it. It was nice having that confirmation that her friend was still with her without having to crane her neck to actually look every few moments to make sure. “Hey, Twilight, we almost there?” Spike's voice suddenly shattered the nervous silence that had taken hold of the trio. “We've been out in the city at night before, but this is really giving me the creeps. Even more than Ponyville.” Twilight craned her neck in order to glimpse Spike on her back. “Just a few more minutes, just please sit tight. I want to get back inside as much as you do.” To Twilight's relief, the shortest path to her foalhood home was indeed lit. It was a small blessing, but one she was more than thankful for. She never thought the image of an old and worn lantern swaying precariously on its hook would ever give her any kind of emotion other than worry about the fire hazard such a thing posed. It only took a moment for her relief to shift into confused realization. The air was still as still and heavy as it felt in Ponyville, if not somehow even more stifling. Before she could question it, however, that old rusty hinge keeping the lantern up finally gave out and allowed the light to fall with a crash. The sound almost felt deafening in the silence despite the muted feel of it. She almost couldn't hear Fluttershy's surprised scream over the echo that seemed to bounce around within her own ears. Not taking the time to question why the spilled lamp oil hadn't caught fire, Twilight instead lit up her horn in her signature purple-pink magic in a vain attempt to replace the lost light. Despite the spell usually packing enough power to light up an entire room perfectly, she could hardly get it to so much as light up the face of Fluttershy as she cowered right up against her flank-to-flank. “How did...” Fluttershy's quavering voice died off before she could finish. That, or she simply couldn't be heard through the heavy air. “It was probably just old and couldn't stand its own weight anymore,” reasoned Twilight, the answer more to help comfort herself more than anything else. After plenty of urging given to Fluttershy, Twilight started her trot forward again. She had to arc their path around and into the street covered in that pitch dark blanket just to make sure neither she nor Fluttershy stepped on any of the glass no doubt scattered by the fallen lantern. The last thing any of them needed was an injury on top of everything else. The portion of unlit road only spanned a dozen feet or so, but the trot that only took seconds to get through felt so much longer. It wasn't until she took her first few steps in that Twilight realized it was the closest she had been to venturing into the shroud of darkness without a light source of any kind. No lamps or open windows or doorways like her other trips out. Though the light of her horn helped keep her head and neck lit, the rest of her body remained in shadow. Every inch of her body not in the comforting light of her magic felt hard to move, like a weight had been tied to each of her legs. Every time one of her hooves touched the ground, she had to fight to lift it back up again. As if an unseen force was grabbing at her. With how close Spike was keeping to her neck, he surely felt it was well. Fluttershy had also taken to keeping as close as she physically could manage. Twilight could only guess how the ordeal felt for her. If it weren't for the contact of her friends, she could imagine getting sucked right into the shadows like a deep muddy swamp. However, the most uncomfortable feeling of being in that darkness was just how deeply wrong everything felt. At any other time, a light shining in the distance could be seen hundreds of feet out, even if it couldn't illuminate the area for you. But as she crept along, she couldn't see anything outside the limited range of her magic. As if what had come over the land was a solid mass simply getting pushed back by the light, neither able to fully overcome the other. Just as suddenly as the blackness overcame her upon stepping out of the previous sphere of light, Twilight's vision of the street came back to her. Where there was nothing but a sheet of blank pitch, the front porches of homes came back into view and luckily nothing had followed them back into their new little safe zone. As safe as a pony could possibly feel after such an intense feeling. Fluttershy dropped to her rump once everything appeared alright and Twilight had to resist the urge to get after her. She knew her friend was already scared and that little romp through a nightmare probably didn't help her. Maybe it would be best to take a short break. “Okay, that was something.” Twilight knew she didn't have to describe what she felt, if there even were words for it. “Let's take a few minutes, but then we really should continue on. We just have one street left.” Spike liked to play tough even in these kinds of moments, but Twilight could feel the trembling in his arms as he climbed off her back so she could rest her own hooves. She always teased him for his efforts before, but that little bit of strength was welcome in that moment. A small hint of normalcy can go a long way in such abnormal times. * * * The sight that greeted Twilight's eyes was a sight straight out of her nightmares. Her parents' home, the one place she felt secure other than the castle or library, had no lights coming from inside. She had seen many similarly dark and silent homes on her way there, but something about seeing one so important to her in such a lifeless state made a pressure bear down on her with an immeasurable weight. “Maybe they left to be with Princess Cadance and Shining Armor in the castle?” The sound of Fluttershy's voice did little to shake Twilight from her shock, but it did wake her up just enough to start up the small set of steps leading to the front door. She gave a soft knock in hopes that somepony was still inside to greet them. Maybe they felt safe enough in their home to actually turn the lights out when going to sleep? Those thoughts crashed to a halt when her knocking caused the door to swing open and away from her hoof. Even when they were home, her parents kept the door locked. She felt her mind go blank as she stared into the pitch black entry way. Not even Spike giving a tug on her mane could get her to take another step forward. “Hey Twily, what are you doing standing out there? Come inside already!” Twilight's ears perked. The voice of Shining Armor seemed to echo out of the darkness of the home. She took one small step forward, laying a forehoof just on the doorway's threshold. “Shiny? If you're home, why do you have all the lights off?” “The power went out for the whole street, but they should be working on it. I came over to make sure mom and dad are safe until it comes back,” clarified Shining Armor. The words rung through Twilight's head like the castle's giant bell. They were startling, but comforting. “Thank Celestia you all are alright. I got so worried when I saw the lights turned off.” “Where are mom and dad right now?” Twilight couldn't wait to see, or in the current situation, hear her parents. They were the ones she was the most worried about since getting on the train. Shining Armor gave a little chuckle. “I told them to stay in their room to make sure they stick together. Here, let me take you to them.” A sudden explosion of light made a gasp of surprise escape from Twilight as she held a foreleg over her eyes to protect them. Once she felt her eyes had properly adjusted, she found herself standing in the middle of the home's entry way. She must have wandered inside during the conversation without noticing. With a turn of her head, she spied Fluttershy with a hoof resting on the light switch next to the doorway with Spike now atop her back instead. If he had jumped off her back to Fluttershy's when she moved inside, she hadn't noticed. “Uhm, Twilight? Who are you talking to?” asked Fluttershy while lowering her hoof back down to the ground. “What do you mean who -” In that moment, something finally registered with Twilight's mind. She turned the way she had been facing more. “Shiny, you said the power was out! Were you just trying to scare me or something?” The recipient of the accusation didn't respond. All that met her ears was the sound of the door getting closed and locked behind her. “Alright, this isn't funny, Shining Armor! Stop hiding and come say you're sorry!” “Twilight, seriously, what are you talking about?” asked Spike in vain. Twilight turned her attention to the still-dark rooms and shook her head. She knew what she heard and her brother must just be hiding somewhere in the home. She would find him and prove everything was fine. They had to be. * * * “Everything is not fine!” Twilight dropped herself to the living room rug. “Where are they? And how is this place empty?” Though she had galloped through the house and turned on every light possible, she hadn't been able to find a soul. Combined with the strangely dim feeling from the lights that left the corners of each room just a bit more shaded than usual, she could hardly form a sensible thought. Spike laid a gentle claw onto Twilight's shoulder, though it didn't coax her face out of hiding behind her hooves. “Please Twilight, calm down. They're probably just at the castle like Fluttershy said.” Twilight snapped her head toward Spike this time. “I know what I heard, Spike! I heard Shining talking to me!” “And I'm still trying to tell you that neither of us heard him or any other pony.” Spike turned to look back at Fluttershy who gave a shaky nod of agreement. “But, I...” Twilight allowed her words to trail off into silence as she buried her face in her hooves again. “No, you two are right. There's nopony in here but us.” She could feel a gentle hoof pet her head, but didn't look up. As she laid there, she could feel just how exhausted she felt. Maybe it had just been her mind playing tricks on her. She hadn't exactly been sleeping well for the past few days. She was never good at sleeping with the lights on, even when she didn't have theories and worries hanging over her mind. A few quiet words came from Fluttershy above her, but they hardly registered with her mind. The day's journey had been weighing on her much more than she thought and her body's needs took over. She let the world slowly drift away.