As everypony began to depart from the area, Doctor Whooves climbed back to the top of his lab and climbed in through the roof, closing it as he went inside. As the Doctor went back inside his lab, Derpy flew back down to the ground, hoovering slightly, looking back at the lab before being interrupted by Rainbow Dash tapping her on the shoulder.
“So, Derpy, saw you were making eyes at the Doctor during the presentation, what gives?” Rainbow Dash asked as she grinned.
“Wh-What!? Making eyes? I-I don't know what you're talking about!” Derpy said as she blushed furiously and shook her hooves in a defensive manner.
“(Laughs) Come on Derpy, I already know you have a crush on the Doctor. You told me remember?” Rainbow Dash asked.
“O-Oh, yeah, I forgot.” Derpy said as she giggled to herself.
“Seriously though, Derpy, you've had a thing for him since Twilight first came to Ponyville. When are you gonna tell him?” Rainbow Dash asked.
“W-Well, you see-.”
“Ah, there you are, Derpy. I was hoping I'd find you.” Doctor Whooves said, having emerged from his lab, free of the arms.
“Oh! H-Hi Doctor!” Derpy said as she quickly spun around.
“Hello Derpy, ah, Rainbow Dash, it's good to see-.”
“Sorry, love to chat but I got a sleepover to attend! See ya Doc! Good luck Derpy!” Rainbow Dash said as she quickly zipped away.
“Huh? Rainbow Dash, wait!” Derpy called, but Rainbow Dash was already gone.
“Oh, well, yes, I suppose that's important.” Doctor Whooves said, confused as to why Rainbow Dash had zipped away so fast.
“Well, Derpy, I'm feeling quite famished after all that talking. Would you care to accompany me to grab a bite to eat?” Doctor Whooves asked.
“(Gasp) Would I!?” Derpy cried as she smiled widely, before calming herself and chuckling nervously. “I-I mean, I'd love to, Doc.”
“Splendid. Come on, let us be off.” Doctor Whooves said as he began to walk away.
“Okay, Doc.” Derpy replied as she squealed to herself, before quickly flying next to the Doctor.
As Doctor Whooves and Derpy made their way towards one of the restaurants in Ponyville, Rainbow Dash smiled as she watched her friend walk off with the Doctor.
“Hope it goes well for you Derpy.” Rainbow Dash said as she then flew over to her group of friends. “Alright! That was cool and all, but I'm ready for the sleepover!” Rainbow Dash said with excitement.
“Alright! The presentation is over. Now who's ready for that sleepover?” Twilight asked as she turned to her friends.
Naturally, Twilight got very positive and excited responses from her friends, aside from Spike.
“You girls can have your fun at the castle, but when we get back, I'm going to my room to read my comics or something.” Spike said.
“(Giggles) You do what makes you happy, Spike.” Twilight replied.
“Are you girls sure you want me to join? If you all just want it to be the six of you, I completely understand.” Starlight said before Applejack cut her off.
“Come on now, Sugarcube, of course you're gonna join us.” Applejack said as she put her hoof around Starlight's shoulder.
“Really?” Starlight asked.
“Of course, Starlight. You're our friend and this sleepover is for us to all have a good time together as friends.” Twilight replied.
“Thanks so much, it means a lot.” Starlight said.
“It's no problem at all, Starlight. Now come on everypony! Let's head to the castle!” Twilight said as they all made their way towards Twilight's castle, ready for a fun night.
It wasn't long before the friends finally arrived at the castle. By then the sun had already set and the sky was presenting its beautiful colors of sunset. The castle doors opened and everypony was ready for the night.
“Well, I'm going to my room now. You girls have fun!” Spike said as he waved goodbye to them, especially Rarity, before heading to his room.
“Alright! Now that Spike's gone up to his room, are you girls ready?” Twilight asked.
In response to Twilight's question, the girls all cheered and raised their hooves in the air.
“It's time for most amazing super-duper sleepover in the world!!” Pinkie Pie cheered as she ran off and instantly came back with her party cannon and aimed it at her friends.
“Woah! Pinkie what are you-?”
BOOOM!!!
“.... doing with that?” Twilight asked as she and everypony else was covered in confetti, except for Pinkie Pie of course.
“(Giggle) You girls look so silly! Who's ready to party!? I know I am! Woohoo!” Pinkie Pie shouted as she zipped past them and headed for the big open room, leaving her friends still covered in confetti.
“(Cough) Okay, now that we're all covered in confetti, let's go! We've got a big night ahead of us.” Twilight as they all followed the direction where Pinkie Pie had zipped off to.
With everypony gathered in the room they would be staying in, Twilight used her magic to summon seven mats, seven blankets and quite a few pillows. Once everything was set, the girls decided to talk a bit first about their day.
“And then, Twilight totally got hit right in the face with the pie!” Rainbow Dash said, hitting the floor with her hoof as she tried not to cry while laughing.
“Yeah! You should have seen the look on her face!” Pinkie Pie added as everypony except for Twilight laughed at the hilarious accident that had occurred earlier that day.
“Yes, it was very funny.” Twilight said, albeit with a sarcastic tone.
“Come on, Twilight, loosen up a bit! You know it was funny.” Rainbow Dash said.
“It would have been, if I didn't have to deal with pie residue still being in my mane.” Twilight said as she shook her head, bits of pie falling out.
“Oh relax, Twilight! Stop freaking out like Rarity does whenever she gets a smudge of dirt in her mane.” Rainbow Dash said.
“Excuse me!? I do not 'freak out' over getting dirt in my mane!” Rarity said with a scoff.
Everypony else in the room: ……..........
“What? Why are you all looking at me like that?” Rarity asked.
“Rarity, no offense, but freaking out is exactly what you do.” Starlight said.
“Hmph! How very rude!” Rarity said as everypony laughed. “Moving on, I couldn't help but notice that somepony seemed very eager to know about Doctor Whooves's feelings for our local mailpony. Care to explain, Rainbow Dash?”
“Huh? Oh yeah! Well, you see...” Rainbow Dash said, suddenly looking very worried.
“You alright, Rainbow? You look mighty worried.” Applejack said.
“Yeah, I'm fine, AJ. It's just, Derpy's been one of my best friends since I was a filly. She always used to get teased and bullied by everypony. I'd say she was the most bullied Pegasus in Cloudsdale, after Fluttershy.” Rainbow Dash said.
“It's true. Derpy and I were always the target of everypony's laughter and teasing. She took it better than me, but I could tell it still hurt her a lot. We were so happy to have you as our friend during those times, Rainbow Dash.” Fluttershy said as she smiled warmly to Rainbow Dash.
“Aww gee it was nothing, Flutters. I'm just glad that I was there to keep those bullies in check.” Rainbow Dash said as she grinned with pride before she went back to being serious. “Going back to Derpy, I really want things to go well with her and the Doctor. She's been through a lot, and I want her to be happy. It's why I was acting the way I was earlier.” Rainbow Dash explained.
“That's really sweet that you care so much for Derpy, Rainbow Dash.” Rarity said. “However, I for one think you have nothing to worry about. Besides, it's not like the Doctor has any negative feelings towards Derpy.”
“I agree with Rarity. I mean, as far as I know, Derpy's been working with Doctor Whooves for quite a while now. If he really didn't like having her around, he would've sent her away moons ago.” Twilight said.
“Yeah! And don't forget, he told us that he has a crush on Derpy too!” Pinkie Pie added, leaping off of her mat.
“Yeah, you're right. Thanks, girls.” Rainbow Dash said as she brightened back up and smiled to her friends.
“Anypony here know how long it’s been since we were last summoned by the map. It feels like it’s been an awful long time.” Applejack said.
“The map has been pretty quiet ever since the Storm King's invasion. But I’m sure we’ll get summoned soon.” Twilight replied.
“Hey, speaking of the Storm King's invasion, where were you, Starlight? We could have used your help.” Rainbow Dash said, looking over to Starlight, who had a visibly annoyed look on her face.
“(Sigh) I already told you, Trixie and I were captured by those monsters and locked up in a cage until you girls saved the day.” Starlight replied.
“I'm sorry we didn't get you out sooner, Starlight. We kind of had to flee before we got captured too.” Twilight said.
“It's fine, you did what you had to do.” Starlight said.
“Continuing the topic of the Storm King's invasion, have you heard much from Tempest Shadow since then, Twilight?” Rarity asked.
“I haven't really heard much from her sadly. The last time we spoke was right before she left Ponyville, shortly after we defeated the Storm King. She told me that she was going to help spread the magic of friendship throughout the land. But I'm sure she's doing okay.” Twilight said.
“Got that right. Tempest may not have a horn, but she's still one tough pony. I reckon she's doing just fine.” Applejack added.
“Tempest Shadow? Um, don't you mean, Fizzlepop Berrytwist?” Pinkie Pie asked.
“Still hard to believe that's her real name. But in any case, I'm glad she changed her ways and joined us.” Twilight said, looking towards one of the windows and seeing that it was already dark out. “Well, I think it's about time we moved on to our activities. Fluttershy, why don't you pick our first activity for the night.” Twilight said, looking over to Fluttershy, catching the Pegasus off-guard.
“Oh, me? Well, um, why don't we braid each other's tails?” Fluttershy suggested.
“What an absolutely splendid idea, Fluttershy! Good thing I brought the essentials.” Rarity said as she levitated a small basket of make-up materials and brushes up for the others to see.
“Ugh! Come on! Really!?” Rainbow Dash cried, dreading what was to come.
For the next half hour or so, the mares spent their time braiding each other's tails, making them nice and pretty. Once everypony's tails had been nicely braided, Rarity insisted that they move on to doing each other's make up and then applying mud masks. This lasted for about an hour and a half before Starlight suggested they all play some games. For their first game, the girls decided to play a nice round of 20 Questions. Pinkie Pie managed to win as nopony was able to find out what she was thinking of. Twilight and Starlight came close to winning but they both managed to beat each other with their final questions. After the game, the girls moved on to playing a game of Never Have I Ever. This went about as good as anyone could have guessed; learning interesting things about your friends, getting some pretty embarrassing answers, and a few awkward glances exchanged between friends. Despite all that though, the game was still at least enjoyable and entertaining. After that, a few more games were played, including Truth or Dare and Would You Rather. Once all the games were played, the girls sat around for a bit, talking amongst themselves, before Pinkie Pie started talking about some movie that involved very… familiar characters.
“And that's why I think our movie should have gotten a sequel.” Pinkie Pie said as she finished her proud speech, leaving her friends in confusion.
“Pinkie, I get that you really enjoyed our adventure, but what do you mean by ‘our movie’?” Twilight asked.
“Oh? You don't know, Twilight? Well, we’ve got our main show of course, but then we had our big movie! You know, the one where we faced off against the Storm King. It was really good! I think it would have been amazing to get a second movie, don't you agree!?” Pinkie Pie asked, giving Twilight a wide and innocent smile.
“Uh.... girls? Back me up here?” Twilight asked as she awkwardly looked at the rest of her friends, all of them with equally confused looks on their faces.
“I think this is one of those moments where you all say that it’s just Pinkie Pie being Pinkie Pie.” Starlight said.
“Yes, I say we just leave it and not speak of this again.” Rarity replied.
“Oh, hey Rarity, you got something on your face.” Pinkie Pie said as she pointed to Rarity.
“I do? Where? I don't feel any-pmff!” Rarity said before she was suddenly hit in the face by one of Pinkie Pie's pillows.
“It was my pillow, silly!” Pinkie Pie said as she laughed, not noticing Rarity slowing rising up like some sort of evil robot.
“Oh. It. Is. On. YA!!” Rarity said as she used her magic to throw a pillow at Pinkie Pie.
“Oh, no.” Fluttershy said as she knew what was about to go down.
For the next few moments, no pony said a word as they all locked eyes with each other. Everypony realized what had to be done.
“PILLOW FIGHT!” everypony shouted as they all started throwing pillows at each other.
What followed was a pillow fight that looked more like an all-out war to defend Equestria rather than a simple game. Alliances were made and teams were formed in a matter of seconds. Pillow forts were built very quickly and being destroyed just as fast as they were built. There was a ton of yelling and shouting, sounding like battle cries. When the forts were destroyed, the girls switched from long-range combat to close combat, using the pillows as if they were swords, spears, or shields. Soon, alliances were broken, and it was everypony for herself. While there was no blood shed during this war, there might as well have been a ton of it due to the intensity of the fight. Many lives were lost that day in Equestria, all deaths caused by soft fluffy pillows. It wasn't long until there was nopony left standing except for Fluttershy, who tried desperately to crawl to safety. However, she never made it to freedom as she went limp and closed her eyes. It was quite a massacre. The most brutal pillow fight in the history of Equestria. Or at least it would have been, as the girls soon got back up and laughed at how ridiculously intense their pillow fight had gotten. Once everypony had settled down from the pillow fight, they decided to have some snacks and relax a little before their next activity.
As the night grew darker, it was finally time for the last activity on the list, Scary Stories. Twilight helped get the mood set by shutting off the lights, with the only light source remaining being from a small little lamp she summoned in the middle of the room they were staying in. Before they started, Twilight pulled Fluttershy aside, asking her if she was okay with the scary stories. Fluttershy admitted that while she was a bit worried, she was willing to power through for her friends. Fluttershy then thanked Twilight for being very considerate of her. Twilight smiled warmly at this and led Fluttershy back to the group. It seemed that this night, everypony had a scary story in mind to tell. All except for Fluttershy and Starlight. As the stories were about to begin, there was a huge flash of lightning, signifying the start of the frightening tales.
Rainbow Dash was the first to go as she insisted, she had the best story out of everypony. Rainbow Dash then proceeded to tell a darker version of the story of the Headless Horse, explaining how the version she told at their annual sister sleepovers was a tamer and more kid appropriate story. Even though both stories had basically the same plot, there was still some pretty creepy things added to this new version. The Headless Horse for one, no longer was just a solid black pony without a head. This version still had the same body, but it wore a long dark cape, solidifying the fact that it had no head. The Headless Horse also wore a dark suit of armor, as he used to be a soldier before he died. Probably the most frightening change to this version of the Headless Horse was the fact that on its sides, two long creepy arms came out with sharp claws. One of its hands held a jack-o-lantern that had a scary and creepy looking face. In the other hand, a long sharp blade was held, no doubt used to cut the heads off of unsuspecting victims. The story neared its climax as the Headless Horse chased his final victim through the woods. There was an old rule to the tale, if you can cross the bridge of Sleepy Hollow, the ghost is through, the Headless Horse's power ends. So long as you don't look back, you're safe. The story ended as the Headless Horse decapitated his final victim, before running off into the night, waiting for when new victims would dare to enter his forest. No pony is safe, after all, any head will do.
Next, it was Applejack's turn to tell a story. Applejack did not disappoint as she told a very disturbing tale about a stallion who went by the name, Jeffery Hooves, AKA Jeff the Killer. This poor stallion had been bullied so much his whole life. One day, however, he managed to stand up to his bullies and talked them down. Unfortunately, this did not end well as the bullied threw some sort of acidic substance at Jeffery Hooves, permanently melting and scarring his face. His eyes would glow brightly in the dark and his teeth were as white as the clouds, leaving a horrific smile on his face. It didn't help when Jefferey carved a smile on his mouth as well. After all, he just wanted to be happy forever. His whole family was murdered one fateful night and Jeffery Hooves was nowhere to be found. Not long afterwards, the bullies who hurt Jeffery were found dead in their homes, each with a knife in their head and their throats slit. No pony ever saw Jeffery Hooves, until a small filly claimed that he broke into her house and watched her sleep. All the while, he was just waiting for her to wake up so he could properly greet her with a big smile. Jeff doesn't like rule breakers, and he hates it when you don't sleep at night. Follow the rules and go to bed on time, maybe you'll live to see, tomorrow.
It was now Rarity's turn to provide a scary story. Rarity told the tale of the Bloody Mare, a mother who had lost her precious colt and now sought revenge against those who she deemed unworthy of living. There wasn't all that much to her tale, but it was how to summon her that caught everypony's attention. They say, if you go in a dark room with a mirror and candles and call her same three times, she will come to you from the mirror. However, those who summon her have the chance to meet two very scary fates. If she catches you, she will bite and mess you up so badly that you will bleed out and die. If you manage to get away from her, she will leave a horrible scratch and bite mark on your face; a warning to never come back. The mirrors can hold dark and bloody secrets, do you dare to try your luck?
With Rarity's story finished, it was time for Twilight to tell her story. Twilight decided to go with a classic that at least everypony had heard once. It was the story of Slender Mane. The very tall and pure white pony with a black suit, who is said to lurk around the woods and forests in all of Equestria. Slender Mane would lurk around, searching for anypony who had lost their way in the woods. If he caught you, your fate was never known. You would simply just go missing as no bodies were ever recovered. Nopony knows where Slender Mane came from, but that didn't matter. What mattered was knowing how to run and how to hide should you ever cross paths with him. Slender Mane was known to have powers of magic, despite having no horn on his head. His magic can create dangerous illusions and even trick your mind into thinking you are safe from his power. Foals should be most careful as it seems they are Slender Mane's primary targets. Slender Mane lurks all the time and there is no time where he rests. The forests are always a dangerous place. Should you venture too far and come across a tall slender pony with long tentacles protruding from his back, best of luck to you. If Slender Mane sees you, run. Don't look back, don't stop, don't ever try to reason with him, just run. Cause if you don't, you too will disappear, just like the others who weren't so lucky.
Now that Twilight was finished with her story, it was time for Pinkie Pie to shine. Out of all the stories they had shared, Pinkie's story was by far the most disturbing and horrific. Pinkie Pie told the legend of the Candy Mare. The Candy Mare was an evil undead creature who lurked around every Nightmare Night, killing, and eating anything that either crosses her or dares to disrespect Nightmare Night. The Candy Mare wasn't always like this, however. She used to be a little filly named Pumpkin Patch. Pumpkin had a loving family and lived a fairly decent life. However, one day, Pumpkin and her father were visiting the big city, they met a candy shop owner by the name of Lemon Drop. Lemon Drop appeared friendly on the outside, but inside he was a sick and twisted monster. He managed to lure both Pumpkin and her father into his shop and then he attacked. Lemon Drop killed Pumpkin's father and then forced Pumpkin into a room where he forcefully fed her many of his experimental candies and sweets, including a soup that contained bits of her father. He tortured her and experimented on her until she finally died. Then one day, she rose up and had a horrible hunger for candy and sweets. Pumpkin killed Lemon Drop and fled. Now, they say every Nightmare Night, she lurks around and evokes her wrath on anypony she wants. Her body fused and adorned with candies and sweets and a hunger of great intensity. There are two ways to avoid being eaten by the Candy Mare, either you offer her all your treats and wish her a happy Nightmare Night, or you avoid her and always respect Nightmare Night at all costs. Nightmare Night is fun and joyful, but never forget the truth and the horrors behind it, unless you want to become a treat for the hunger of the Candy Mare. The song of Nightmare Night is horrifying if you really listen to the lyrics. It's the Candy Mare's favorite song, "Nightmare Night, what a fright, give us something sweet to BITE!"
A sudden flash of lightning and a roar of thunder made all the girls scream in terror as they hugged each other. A few moments later, they all laughed and did their best to calm themselves down. Once everypony had settled down, they decided it was time for bed. The girls all snuggled up under their warm blankets and bid each other a good night. As the lamp shut off, the girls began to drift off into a nice slumber. At the end of the day, they could all agree that this was the best sleepover ever!
Somewhere in Equestria, a few hours later...
The night air was chilly, and the wind howled as the moon rose and lit up the night sky. The creatures of the night came out of their hiding places and began to make their calls. At the edge of a cliff that looked over the land, King Sombra stood, watching the land, searching for anything that could interest him. As Sombra watched over the land, he heard the sound of a magic spell come from behind him. Sombra recognized this particular sound as this was no ordinary teleportation spell. Without turning his head at all, Sombra spoke to the cloaked pony behind him.
“There's only one pony in all of Equestria who has that book and knows how to use its powers.” Sombra said, awaiting the cloaked pony's response.
“(Chuckle) But of course, your majesty. You entrusted me with the book before your banishment after all.” the cloaked pony said as Sombra finally turned his head to face him.
“Professor Screw Loose, I take it? You're still alive?” Sombra asked, as the cloaked pony removed the hood from his head, revealing a unicorn horn.
“Yes, it is I, your majesty. And yes, I am still alive. The spell you placed on me was successful as you can see.” Professor Screw said as he bowed to Sombra.
“If you're here now, then it means you're still willing to do my bidding?” Sombra asked as he raised his eyebrow.
“I gave you my word, didn't I? I swore that I would serve you until death takes me away from this world.” Professor Screw said.
“Good that you still know your place. Now, straight to the point, I have work for you.” Sombra said as he turned his whole body to face the Professor. “Now that I am back, I wish to get my revenge against those who wronged me. Particularly, the Princess of Friendship herself, Twilight Sparkle.”
“Ah, the alicorn who lives in Ponyville, correct?” Professor Screw asked.
“Yes, that's the one. However, I'm not ready to reveal myself to her just yet. I want to see if I can break her slowly by causing destruction throughout Equestria. For this, I need somepony from Ponyville who knows everything there is to know about that little town. Somepony who is capable of working for me and ensuring that my orders are carried out. Somepony who can lead my future army against Equestria.” Sombra said before the Professor spoke up.
“Forgive me for my interruption your majesty, but I have been to Ponyville, and I believe I have found a worthy candidate for your plan.” Professor Screw said.
“Hmph, very good. You will bring this candidate to me, and I will decide whether or not they are worthy of the task I will be giving to them.” Sombra said.
“I will have him here by tomorrow. Though just in case, I think it would be better if we met at my old lab. Would that be too much of an issue, your majesty?” Professor Screw asked.
“Fine. Your old lab, tomorrow. Go now, prepare your lab for visitors. Wouldn't want our candidate to have a bad first impression, now, would we?” Sombra asked as he grinned at the Professor.
“(Evil Chuckle) Of course not, your majesty. I will go now. It's good to have you back, I knew you wouldn't abandon me.” Professor Screw said as he bowed again before turning to leave.
“Professor… if the candidate is unworthy or a pathetic weakling, I'll kill you. I have no time for mistakes, do I make myself clear?” Sombra asked as he glared at the Professor.
“(Chuckle) I can assure you, oh king, he will not disappoint you.” Professor Screw said.
“He better not. Be gone now!” Sombra said as Professor Screw bowed one last time before using a dark spell that teleported him away. “(Evil Chuckle) Oh Princess, I hope you’re ready. I've got big plans for you. Sleep well tonight, it might be the last time you ever sleep peacefully.” Sombra said as he laughed into the night, his eyes glowing their green color as he faded into the shadows, disappearing.
Meanwhile...
It was very late and everypony was fast asleep in the small town of Ponyville. In Twilight's castle, everypony was sleeping nicely, well aside from Twilight, who was tossing and turning quite a bit in her sleep before she finally woke up. Twilight didn't recall having a nightmare of any kind, so she was a bit confused as to what woke her up like this. Still feeling a bit unsettled, Twilight decided to get some fresh air. Twilight very slowly got up and looked at her sleeping friends, all of whom were fast asleep, with Rainbow Dash snoring very loudly. Twilight made sure to be as quiet as possible as she slowly made her way across the circle of sleeping friends. Twilight was just about to get past her friends when suddenly there was a roar of thunder and a flash of lightning outside, causing Twilight to let out a yelp. Thankfully she was able to cover her mouth before she full on screamed, but she still definitely made a noise. Twilight stayed completely still as she looked at her friends, all of whom appeared to still be sleeping.
'Ugh! Stupid thunder! Why do you always have to have such bad timing?' Twilight thought to herself.
Twilight waited a few seconds and then slowly made her way to the stairs, still hoping that she hadn't disturbed any of her friends. However, as Twilight was walking up the stairs and nearing the top, she failed to see or hear that Applejack had woken up, no doubt due to her little yelp a few moments ago. Applejack shook her head slightly to try and wake herself up as she looked around to her friends, her eyes landing on the spot where Twilight should have been sleeping.
“Huh? Twilight?” Applejack whispered as she perked up, seeing her friend wasn't there.
Applejack was about to call out to Twilight, but she stopped when she heard footsteps heading up the stairs. Applejack looked over to the stairs and saw Twilight at the top of the stairs and walking away. Worried that something was wrong, Applejack slowly got up and began to quietly make her way to the stairs.
Meanwhile, Twilight was making her way through the halls of the castle. The sound of Twilight's footsteps echoed as she walked down the hall that would lead to the balcony. Before Twilight made it to the balcony, she looked over and saw that she was right next to Spike's room. Twilight carefully opened the door and peeked inside. Twilight was pleased as she saw Spike sleeping peacefully like a little baby. Twilight walked into the room and stood next to Spike's bed. Seeing that everything was okay, Twilight gently readjusted Spike's blanket and left the room, closing the door behind her. Once Spike's door was closed, Twilight continued walking until she finally made it to the balcony. As soon as she stepped outside, Twilight was hit by the chilly night air.
As Twilight looked over from her balcony, she felt a cold chill run down her spine. However, this chill wasn't caused by the night air, it was caused by a feeling of unsettlement. As Twilight shivered a bit, she tried to wonder what it was that had made her so worried. She was having one of those moments where she knew something was wrong, but she just couldn't put her hoof on it. Twilight had a very bad sensation that something just wasn't right in Equestria. Twilight tried to calm herself down as best as she could, but she just couldn't relax. She knew that something was coming. Twilight was so worried that she didn't even hear Applejack come up from behind her.
“Hey, Twilight.” Applejack said as she tapped Twilight on the shoulder, causing her to jolt.
“(Gasp) Sweet Celestia! You scared me, Applejack.” Twilight said as she relaxed a bit, that was just her friend.
“Mighty sorry, Twilight. Didn't mean to scare you.” Applejack said as she saw just how startled Twilight was.
“Don't worry about it, no harm done. But it's super late, what are you doing up, Applejack?” Twilight asked.
“I was gonna ask you the same thing. You alright, Sugarcube? You seem a bit jumpy.” Applejack said as she stood next to Twilight.
“(Sigh) Well, have you ever had one of those moments where you just know that something's wrong, but you can't tell what it is? That's pretty much what I'm feeling right now. I'm really worried, Applejack.” Twilight said as Applejack put her hoof around her Twilight's shoulder.
“Heya, Twi, it's okay. You've got nothing to worry about, Sugarcube. Cozy Glow and Tirek are still locked up in Tartarus, and Chrysalis hasn't been seen in ages.” Applejack said, trying to calm her friend down.
“Thanks Applejack, but it's not them I'm worried about. It's something else... I just don't know what.” Twilight said as she tried desperately to think of what was stressing her out.
“Hey now, look at me, Twilight.” Applejack said as Twilight looked into Applejack’s eyes. “Take a deep breath in... and let it out. Everything's gonna be okay. As far as I know, you have nothing to worry about. You're not alone. We're all here for you, remember that.”
“(Sigh) Thanks for being such a great friend, Applejack.” Twilight said as she hugged her.
“Aw it's no problem, Sugarcube. You can always count on me. Come on now, let's get some shut eye.” Applejack said as they smiled to each other.
“Right behind you.” Twilight said she followed close behind Applejack, unaware that somewhere in Equestria, a pair of glowing green eyes were glaring at her.