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// Leaf 05- Mystika 
// Story: Leaves- An Anthology 
// by FrostTheWolf 
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When you think of magic, what’s the first thing that comes to your mind?

Some would be lost in the wonder and beauty of such power. Others would be more mathematical, trying to make sense of something that can defy logic and meaning. A few would try to harness it for themselves. You know how the typical stories go.

Yet, for a particular plane of existence, there is a common denominator. No matter how it surfaces or what happens, it’s always because someone or something from the other side enters the world and their appearance alone causes a ripple effect. In some cases, it’s an artifact. In others, it’s a problem that an egotistical Gandalf-like figure doesn’t have the patience to deal with.

Most of the time though, it’s the latter.

This is the normal song and dance for the EQG. A plane that’s parallel to the Equestria we know, but a lot more like life on Earth. People going about their lives with barely anything out of the ordinary happening. The main difference though is that magic only surfaces when something from the other side is thrown in and causes a mess of things. 

Plenty of messes, more like.

However, much to the surprise of all we know, there is one outlier. A world in the EQG not touched by Equestria, but still has magic all the same. Magic that has always been there, but hidden away from mortal eyes. The populace is oblivious to it and it is hidden from many, yet there is magic in Canterlot City.

And, as we’re about to find out, all of this exists right underneath your feet.



It is a chilly December evening in the city. Snow slowly falls as the moon glows brightly in the distant sky. People who’ve just gotten off work have pulled into their driveways to hurry inside and warm themselves up by the fire. Together with friends and family, staying warm as the cold snow continued to fill the streets. It’s not that far away from Christmas, and many homes were decorated in time for the holiday season.

However, what we are focused on is not any of these particular houses or the individuals inside them. No, the person we’re focused on is in a completely different place.

On the outskirts of the city, there is a place called ‘The Drip’. And before you come to any other assumptions, let’s get this out of the way. It’s a coffee shop.

A coffee shop that’s almost near closing. Except, there’s one patron inside that’s not aware of this. A young lavender skin girl in her teens, with purple eyes, hair and a heavy jacket. There’s a spark of magenta on both her coat and a stripe of it on her hairline. She is drinking… uh, something. Can’t tell if it’s cocoa or coffee or chai tea-

You do realize that Chai and Tea are the same thing, right?

The point being, she has a drink in one hand and her phone in the other. Staring off at pictures of her and… someone else. A boyfriend? A family member? Who could say? From what we’re seeing, it’s a bit of a blur. 

Though, she’s been paying more attention to this than the person trying to get her attention. “Excuse me, Twilight?”

She slowly looks away from her phone to the individual in question. A tall man who looked to be reaching his fifties. Had work clothes, gray hairs and an apron to match as they stood behind the counter. The teenager had known this man for some time, but anytime she saw him, they were always polite and welcoming.

“Yes, Mocha?” she asked, putting her phone away to turn to him. Both hands on her drink as the faint warmth is a welcome feeling to her fingers, “Sorry, my head’s been all over the place.”

“Had a rough day?”

The young girl, who we now know as Twilight, could only give a nod. There were a lot of things that she could say right around now. A lot of things that she wanted to say. But courage to say such things was something that she couldn’t find right now.

“Is it something you want to talk about?”

Another nonverbal response followed. Instead, it was a side to side shake of the head. While Mocha was a family friend, the girl was not comfortable with talking about such… personal subjects. And even if she did, Twilight doubted that he would believe it.

“Well, I’m sorry Twilight. As much as I like our conversations, I have to close up for the night,” he warned, pulling out a key and walking towards the front door. By this point, Twilight had already got her things and prepared to go back into the cold weather again. But not without hearing a few parting words, “Have a good evening. Stay safe, alright?”

“Thank you,” was the only thing she could say as the door to The Drip was closed and locked behind her. She started walking down the streets back to her home, the wind picking up as some of the snow was getting under her glasses and almost into her eyes.

Like every other walk that she had done before, Twilight knew the route back to her home like it was on the back of her hand. However, something about her walk home this time was… different. 

Every once in a while, it looked like the people and objects that were around her were… distorting. Like a mirage, but in a cold metropolitan town instead of a desert. Brief flashes of different things were seen in short glimpses. Something was there one moment and gone the next.

To Twilight though, she saw this as all the more reason to get home as quickly as she could. There was no point in trying to think of a logical explanation for what she was seeing at the moment. It was getting late after all, and unlike some people she knew, the night life of the city was not exactly something she really cared for. 

It took roughly half an hour or so to get home, but once Twilight reached the door, a friendly sight greeted her as she stepped inside and closed the door behind her. It wasn’t a person, but instead a dear companion and friend. A young puppy with purple fur that immediately rushed over and rubbed their head affectionately against her leg as she lowered herself to the ground to pet him.

“Hi there, Spike,” she said, “Did you miss me?”

The puppy, who we now know as Spike, barked happily. He followed alongside her as Twilight started to make herself comfortable, sit on the couch and turned on the TV. The interior of her home is as simple as simple could possibly be. Aside from the decorated christmas tree by the fireplace, there weren't really too many things that would stand out if you were visiting.

Then again, aside from the mail lady and her neighbors, Twilight herself doesn’t really get too many visitors. Not even during the holidays. Her parents were visiting family out on the east coast. Anybody she knew from school were probably doing their own thing for the holidays. And her brother…

Is this the right time to bring this up? You sure we’re not doing it too fast?

Well, it’s probably a better time to say it now rather than leave the readers in suspense.

Her brother, Shining Armor, isn’t here. In fact, Twilight (and by extension everyone else) doesn’t know where he is. This is the first holiday season she’s spending without him and considering how close they were, it’s painful.

Shining was a proud member of the Canterlot City Police Department. He did everything he could to protect those in need. Yet, two days after last Christmas… he just vanished. No one knows what happened to him, not even his partner on the force or his colleagues. There were widespread searches all over town and even though they found his patrol car, they never found him anywhere.

What made things even more painful was that the little puppy that was right now curled up in Twilight’s lap was the last Christmas gift that he gave her before he disappeared.

Since that day though, Twilight had changed a lot from who she was before. Even though she was still on top of her academics, she isolated herself from any social interactions with her classmates. In fact, she did not talk much with anyone outside of her family and Mocha on occasion. 

Now, she was just sitting here. Watching TV, resting with her dog as the snow continued to fall outside. As time passed, her eyes started to close. Drifting off to sleep.

Yet, as she slept, Twilight couldn’t shake the feeling that something was very off. She could hear something faint, as if it was… a voice? But something akin to radio static was interfering, making it impossible to understand.

Then, there was a beep… and another… and another. And several more.

.-- .- -.- . / ..- .--. -.-.--

It puzzled her at first. She had heard something like this before, but where? The answer was on the tip of her tongue, yet blocked by some code-?

Code! Yes, that’s it!

Wait, she figured it out? We didn’t even build any suspense!

Not quite, but she’s on the right track. Despite her extensive knowledge on such things like computers and science, Twilight is only familiar with one particular set of code like this. Though, instead of it being taught in a computer or coding class, it was talked about in her history course. Where soldiers used Morse Code to send important messages.

The moment she makes that connection, part of the beeps stop and instead are replaced with letters. She could hear a voice that sounded like a young boy trying to speak to her. Yet, it was hard to figure out what the child was trying to tell him.

It felt like playing a game of Wheel of Fortune, but in the vast emptiness of wherever she was. Each letter being a distant audible sound that only came into focus with enough concentration.

With each moment that passed, a new syllable formed and the static became much clearer-

Wake up!

Immediately, Twilight’s eyes opened. The girl shot up from the couch, looking around to see that she was still in her home. Right in the place where she fell asleep. TV was still on, showing some late night comedy show or something. The only difference was that Spike was on the cushion next to her face and he looked to be shimmering a bit-

Wait a second.

“Twilight, please wake up!”

She blinked, startled by this and immediately got up from where she was. Her eyes went wide as she stared at the puppy. “S-Spike? D-did you just… talk?”

As soon as he heard that, the pupils in Spike’s eyes shrank. Shock soon followed afterwards along with a tinge of panic and a slight bit of relief as the gears in the little dog’s brain began to turn. Though, it seemed like he wanted to be certain, “W-wait. You can… hear me?”

Twilight was speechless at this, but the expression on her face was all that the dog needed to see. But before he could say anything, his focus was interrupted when heavy winds began to rattle the windows along the side of the house. The dog’s expression rapidly changed from one of joy to one of concern and panic.

“We need to leave, now.”

“W-what?” the teenager said, puzzled by his words as panic started to creep in, “Why-? W-what’s going on? What’s happening!? Why are you talking?!!”

“Twilight, please. Calm down,” the dog rushed over, putting its paws on Twilight’s shoulder as he did his best to try and get the teenager to not freak out. Something that, in her position, was very hard not to do.

And who would blame her? Her perspective of how the world worked shattered the moment that she realized her puppy could speak. “W-what are you?”

That was a short, but loaded question. Yet, it was one that Spike actually had an answer for. “I’m what’s called a familiar. I was magically created by your brother so you didn’t have to be scared of being alone.”

Immediately, Twilight’s heart skipped a beat. “M-magic-? No, no no. T-that can’t be right. Magic’s-”

“-real,” Spike interrupted, “Twilight, I don’t know how to tell this to you, but magic is real. You’re in the Mystika… and right now, we need to run before what’s knocking at the front door gets in-”

Just as he said that, the rigid cold air began to creep around the room, snuffing out the embers that were in the fireplace. The sound of crumpling wood started to echo along the floor, forcing Spike to lead Twilight away from the living room and farther into the house. It was footsteps, but there was an eerie white glow coming from where they just were.

For a brief glimpse, she saw what it was… and it horrified her. It looked human, but the body was made of a spectral cold color. Anywhere its head moved, anything in sight started to freeze.

“W-what’s that-?”

Oh, Spike knew exactly what it was. And the thought of it sent a shiver down his spine. “We’re going. Now.”

“Wha-”

With a powerful tug, Spike yanked her away farther down the hall. As she looked, Twilight could see the eyes of the familiar darting around the room. He was… looking around?

Not with the intent that was in his eyes. He was searching for something. What that something happened to be? Well, that’s for us to know and-

“Come on, come on… Where is it?” Spike murmured, putting his nose to the ground and sniffing what was around him. Despite being under pressure, the familiar put his nose to work, rushing towards a solid wall on the far end of the kitchen. The moment he had something, Spike immediately whispered to Twilight, “Over here.”

The girl just stared blankly at what Spike was looking at. There was… nothing here but a blank wall. No doors, windows and certainly not a place to hide from whatever that… thing that was breaking into the house was supposed to be.

“Spike, what are you doing?”

“Just trust me. Shining had a plan in case something like this happened,” The familiar whispered, before placing a paw on the door. A few words were spoken after that Twilight could not understand. Yet, the longer she stood there, she felt a cold chill creep down her neck.

That thing was getting closer. The windows were fogging up. Any trace of heat that was once in this home had been sucked out like a vacuum. They couldn’t stand here. This thing would kill them-

“Come on!”

The wall that was once there split open as Spike and Twilight tumbled down a stairwell that wasn’t previously there before. As quickly as they fell, the wall closed up. 

The moment she got up and saw what was down here, Twilight was speechless. The room looked like if you fit something akin to the Batcave in a basement. Only instead of a bunch of fancy tech and numerous bat suits, you would find various different mystical items and contraptions. Several different pieces of parchment with weird shapes written on it were plastered on the walls, faintly glowing in the presence of the two of them.

“S-spike? Where… are we?”

“This is Shining’s Sanctum,” Spike told him, “Anything involving Magic or the Mystika he kept in here for safe keeping.”

	He continued to say a few other things… but instead, Twilight’s attention was on something else. For one of the books that happened to be on a workbench in the back of the room was a small journal with a shield on the cover. This was the first time seeing it and yet, it felt vaguely familiar to her. Like if you found something buried under a bunch of things you have laying around in an attic and realized that it was yours.

Or, in this case, a basement.

Curious, she undid the band that kept it together and opened it. However, when she looked at the words that were printed on the page, Twilight gasped. Whatever she thought was going to be there… turned out to be far from what actually was printed on the page

For, the first thing she found was a message…  from her brother.



Twilight… If you find this, then something awful has happened and I can’t be there to protect you. I know that you may have a lot of questions, but I want you to take a moment and read what I have to say.

	For the last two years, I’ve learned much about our home that I don’t even think scratches the surface. There is a place that’s parallel to ours called the Mystika. Here, everything that we thought would be just something out of a fairy tale is real and magic exists. The thing is, much of it is hidden from us… it’s complicated. Trust me.

	My job, as a police officer, is to serve and protect the people of Canterlot City. When I learned about the Mystika, I was asked by the head of the Canterlot Occult Society to make sure that I apply my responsibilities here too. However, if I am gone, that means that whatever monsters I helped lock away could and possibly will come for you.

	To that extension, with the help of a dear friend, we created Spike so that he could be a guardian for you. Someone to watch over you in the instance that I can’t be there for you. With him, head to the statue in front of Canterlot High. There will be someone waiting for you that will welcome you with open arms and explain more to you that I can’t.

	I know this may seem scary, but I have faith that you will do the right thing.

	Love you,

	Shining Armor



As she finished reading, Twilight… had no idea what to say.

I mean, in her position, who would? With everything that she learned about her brother and what he had been doing all these years, anyone would start to wonder what the hell is happening. Not to mention, the glowing ghost thing that’s wandering around her house and looking for her.

“Twilight?”

She stopped, putting the journal into a jacket pocket. The puppy familiar was looking back at her, worry and concern present on his face. He wasn’t sure how Twilight was taking all of this, and who would blame him? So many things had started to unravel within the last few minutes. Her view on how she believed the world functioned had cracked wide open.

However, their current situation did not leave any room to contemplate anything.

So instead, the teenager had to set aside any questions she had and focus on what was going on right now. For unless they dealt with what was on their doorstep, they were practically stuck here.

“Spike, w-what was that… thing we saw?”

The puppy’s ears perked up, before he looked over to the bench that the journal was found on as he pointed at a thick covered book on the shelf. “Can you get that down? I think it would be easier to show you rather than me just explaining.”

Without even questioning it, Twilight did what he asked. Books were a specialty of hers, so this was a promising start. Pages were rapidly turning faster than Twilight could see as Spike was… skimming through?

More like scanning. His eyes can process things faster than the average human. And given how time is not on their side, the faster they went through this, the better-

“Right there.”

Immediately, Spike placed a paw on the page as the book’s pages stopped moving. When Twilight looked at the page, the image was enough to send a chill down her spine. It looked exactly like the creature they briefly saw, but if the person on the front cover of John Carpenter’s ‘The Thing’ was given form. It walked like a person, but had no face. Just a cold icy glow where its head should be and it wore old & tattered clothes.

Things even got more disturbing once the familiar started to read what was on the page, “Frostbitten Shambler. Said to be the embodiment of those who died from extreme cold, but whose spirit still resides in the living realm. Shamblers are created as the embodiment of winter’s wrath, but who or what’s behind their creation is largely unknown.”

That would definitely explain the cold chill… and layers of frost being everywhere. That still doesn’t explain why it was at her doorstep?

Who cares about why? The one thing that should be concerning is how exactly are they going to deal with it?

“Spike, w-what should we do?” Twilight asked, “H-how can we get rid of it?”

“That’s… tough to figure out I’m afraid,” the puppy groaned, “Normally, the go-to solution would be to fight it… However, even though you’ve woken up in the Mystika, I’m not sure if you have magic or anything.”

As he spoke, Twilight just started to glance around the room. This was Shining’s little secret base. Surely her brother had some weapons or something stored down here. Yet, the harder she looked, the more that she realized that this was more of a panic shelter than an armory.

And even though some of the books down here were rather big, she doubted that using it as a weapon would do her much good.

It was at that particular moment that both of them realized that their small safe haven wasn’t entirely safe. A loud thud against the brick wall at the top of the stairs, followed by the crackling of ice from the top step as it made its way down the makeshift stairwell. 

Even with the magic that was in this tiny room, it did little to slow the advance of what was coming for them. 

To make matters worse, even though Spike was trying to say something, Twilight could not hear him. In fact, she can’t hear anything right now. Despite her seeing what’s happening, the whole world had gone silent around her.

“W-what can I do?”

She looked back at the journal, remembering the words from her brothers. Thoughts began to linger in her head as they bounced in the walls of her mind.

We can’t fight this thing! We need to escape!!

Escape? How!? Nevermind that, where would we even go?!

Shining left instructions for us! We can go to Canterlot High! He said that somebody would be waiting for us if we go there!

Can we even trust them though? Shining had been hiding this from us for so long. What else is there that he didn’t tell us!?

So many different thoughts, doubts and ideas were flooding her mind at once. So much that something started to change in the room. More specifically, she was starting to change. Vibrant violet light was radiating from her whole body, glowing brighter with each passing second. 

Of course, this sudden and rapid change had Spike gravely concerned. One moment, Twilight was okay. The next, she was beginning to panic and now was glowing brighter than the christmas tree that was in the living room. To make matters worse, he could feel magic coming from her. 

Things were quickly starting to get out of hand. And unfortunately, it was about to get much worse. 

“T-twilight-?”

The second that left his lips, a heavy impact was felt on the wall above as chunks of brick and mortar started to crumble its way down the frozen steps. The Shambler looked down, its non-existent face making their blood run cold as it moved closer to them. Twilight, not even noticing or caring about what was happening with her, immediately grabbed hold of Spike tightly and closed her eyes.

She expected her life to end right there and then…

… Unfortunately, her magic had other plans in mind.

The violet light from her body began to expand and warp everything in the room, before wrapping around her and the familiar. In the blink of an eye, the two of them felt their bodies and everything they had pulled away from their home… leaving behind a blistering blast of light that tore through the figure that was hunting them, turning their frozen body into dust that scattered on the winter winds.

When both of them opened their eyes again, Twilight and Spike could feel the chill touch of snow on their faces as she rose to her feet. It was immediately clear that both of them were no longer in their home. But not so much as to where they arrived.

“S-spike? W-what happened?”

“I-I don’t know,” the familiar stuttered, before looking back at her, “I-I never experienced anything like that before. H-how did you do that?”

Twilight herself was unsure how to answer that. All she did was think about getting as far away as possible from what was coming for them. Now, they were out in the cold and… wait, where actually were they?

Oh, that part. Well, bits and pieces of Shining’s words to her may have been caught up in that flare up of magic just now. Specifically, the part where they head to Canterlot High.

As it so happened, the spell that went off had them arrive directly in front of the statue.

Before she could even give a proper answer, or the lack of one, the sound of a voice caught their attention. “Oh, good evening.”

Immediately, Spike hopped to his feet. He knew this voice all too well and was relieved to hear it. “Celestia! Oh, thank goodness.”

The woman, who Spike called Celestia, looked to be somewhere between her late thirties. Perhaps early forties if we had to get specific. She had long teal hair with shades of cyan and light magenta mixed in. Her pants were a mid shade of violet and the winter coat she wore was a vibrant shade of yellow. Not like Curious George yellow hat man colors, but close to that.

“You know this lady, Spike?”

The moment that Twilight said that, Celestia’s gaze shifted from the familiar to her. Not with a look of seriousness, but… familiarity. “You’re… Shining’s sister. Twilight Sparkle?”

“H-how-? W-who are you?”

Instead of answering, she walked over to the back side of the statue at the front of the school. In a swift motion, the backside of the statue opened up into a sprawling staircase that descended downwards, before going off at different angles and spiraling around like an MC Esher painting.

As the woman turned back around, she only had one response for Twilight.

“My name is Celestia, head of the Canterlot Occult Society. And I believe we have much to talk about.”