//------------------------------// // Chapter 1 // Story: Soulrend // by Cliophidian //------------------------------// “Twilight, TWILIGHT!” Spike shouted from the basement. “I cleared out a space in the lab for the box.” “Coming Spike!” Twilight shouted back. “Just let me find it, I think I passed out, and I had the weirdest dream.” Twilight looked at the table where the box had first landed. “Twilight, you up there?” Spike shouted again. “Yeah Spike! Like I said, I can’t find the box, I’ll be down in a second.” Twilight yelled towards the basement. Twilight crouched down and looked on the floor near the table, around where she passed out earlier. Suddenly, Spike opened the basement door behind her. “Twilight, Twili...” The second half of her name caught in his throat. Twilight could hear choking sounds coming from behind her, quickly followed by rapid footsteps. She turned in time around to see Spike running out the door, slamming it closed behind him. “What has him all worked up, did Rarity write some hate mail to him?” Twilight thought aloud, chuckling at her own joke. Twilight turned around to see what Spike had run out of the house for. She looked down out the ground near the basement door and saw... Herself. “Bu...bu... but i’m right here,” Twilight stuttered, she raised a hoof to her face, on the surface it was normal, she was still her normal lavender color, but that was where the similarities stopped. She could see straight through her hoof, and a halo of pale mist hovered around it. “This is probably just one of Pinkie’s pranks, she probably borrowed one of Rarity’s mannequins and painted it to look just like me.” Twilight attempted to rationalize the situation. “And my hoof,” she tentatively glanced at the offending appendage. “She probably slipped something in my coffee. Although that wouldn’t explain why Spike was so panicked, maybe he’s in on it too.” Twilight started laughing, her pulse still racing after the scare she had just received. “Ok Pinkie, you got me, you can come out now.” There was no reply. “Pinkie, did you hear me, I said you got me.” Once again, silence. “Pinkie? Your kind of scaring me now,” Twilight slowly approached the door, looking cautiously to both sides out of nervousness. She attempted to turn the knob with her magic, but there was naught but a flicker, nowhere near strong enough to turn the handle Twilight looked up quizzically at her horn, crossing her eyes as she did so. Still nothing, not a spark not a glow, nothing. The unicorn frowned, whatever Pinkie put in her drink must have weakened her magic as well, Twilight rationalized quickly. She reached out to turn the knob with a hoof. Her hoof went straight through the door. Twilight gasped sharply and ran back to the body, her hooves making no sound as they passed through the floor. She bent down to the face. Her eyes were wide open, as they were the moment she was overcame by the strange fluid. Her mouth as well was frozen in the shape of a scream. But by far the most disturbing thing, was the hole, driven straight through her head. From the forehead directly below her horn, out the back of her skull, slowly dripping her life-blood on the floor. Twilight staggered backwards and slammed into the table. Or would have if she hadn’t passed about half-way through it. It was only at this moment that she heard the voice of a baby dragon outside. “Twilight is dead!” It shouted, “Twi-Twilight is dead!” She could hear the sobs choking his voice, as well as the hoof-steps of bypassers who heard the shout and came to his side. “I’m, dead?” Twilight whispered. ___________________________________________ “Whosdeadwhatnow?!” Applejack shouted, stopping almost mid-buck when Rainbow broke the news. Rainbow Dash had been among the ponies near the library at the time, and took it upon herself to tell the others. She nodded solemnly, the new tears running down her face mingling with the dried streaks leftover by the old ones. “Oh mah gosh, she was so young, and imagine how Spike feels.” Applejack could feel the tears starting to build in her eyes, and she did not hesitate to let them fall. Rainbow replied seconds later but it may as well have been hours. “yeah, he was really upset, he burst out of the library crying and screaming, Twilight was like a mother to him.” Suddenly Applejack remembered something important, important enough to briefly snap her out of the atmosphere of grief. “Spike is going to need somewhere to stay now, at least temporarily.” Rainbow picked up a little as well, remembering she needed to tell her other friends as well. She flapped her wings and rose toward the sky. “You go tell Rarity and see if she can take Spike, I’ll go over to Pinkie and tell her, meet me near the path to Fluttershy’s, we should all tell her together.” The rainbow maned pegasus said before she sped back towards inner Ponyville. __________________________________________ Rarity heard somepony knock on her front door, “Come in.” she said, barely loud enough to be heard through the door. Applejack opened the door slightly and stuck her head, now bereft of stetson, through the opening, before walking fully into the room. She was both surprised and not at all so at what she saw. There was little out of place around the room, except a small pile of handkerchiefs shoved off to the edge of a counter. One part of her expected this, knowing how neat Rarity was. But another expected a much larger affair, knowing how much of a drama-queen Rarity was. In the nd she shoved both of those to the back of her mind in favor of realizing that Rarity already knew, some thing that made her job a lot easier. “Hello, Applejack, I suppose you’re not here for a dress.” Rarity chuckled slightly at her own joke, but only for a moment before returning to a more stoic expression. “ You’d be correct in assuming that, but I guess you already know why I’m here.” The orange mare replied. Rarity didn’t need to answer, all was clear when she pulled out a clean tissue to wipe the tear that fell from her eye, before being discarded into the growing pile. Rarity turned quickly to face the staircase of her boutique. Rarity turned back and added, “If you’re wondering about Spike, I picked him up as soon as I heard the news. He’s upstairs in my room, the poor dear hasn’t stopped crying since it happened and I don't think he will until he doesn't have any tears left.” She and Applejack look solemnly at the ground for a moment. Applejack looked up first and informed Rarity of their plan to meet at Fluttershy’s. Rarity wrote a quick note to Sweetie Belle telling her that Spike was here, and that she and her friends were not to bother him, and then they departed. ________________________________________ “No Pinkie Pie! We are NOT making cupcakes!” Rainbow Dash shouted, “I’m not covering for you a third time!” _________________________________________