FlutterShy wiped her eyes as she prepared to tell her tale. "Exactly midnight," she repeated. "I was awake because I had had a nightmare. First it was just a n-normal dream, I was in a field, picking f-flowers, except-t they were also a-apples; I'm s-sorry if this sounds crazy... I can stop; if you want..." the pink-maned pegasus averted her gaze from the lavender unicorn, embarrassed by how stupid she knew she must have sounded.
"Oh no no," cooed the unicorn, "please FlutterShy, go on. I'm interested in what you have to say."
"You-you are?" asked FlutterShy incredulously, looking up meaningfully into her magical friend's eyes. She had such lovely eyes... Wait - what? FlutterShy shook her head to focus herself, then continued. "W-well, I was picking the apple-flowers, then I suddenly noticed that it got all dark; and black; and scary and stormy out. Then Nightmare Moon came jumping out at me from the dark clouds. She leaped at me. She h-had such big f-fangs..." the pegasus let a slight whimper slip out. "A-and she was p-pouncing at m-me ... And just as she was about to grab me, she just kind-of ... *poofed* ..."
"Poofed!?" asked Bon Bon in a manner that sounded slightly mocking. "What in Equestria does that mean?"
Twilight Sparkle glared angrily up at her, then returned her gaze to the cream-colored pegasus. "It's okay FlutterShy, you're doing great! But um, could you be a bit more ... specific?"
"S-sure thing, sorry Twilight. I guess she just kind-of ... evaporated? She turned into a like a mix of snow and mist. And when it hit me I felt really cool and refreshed, and like my brain could think so clearly!" FlutterShy, who's tears were mostly gone now, positively swelled as she remembered the feeling; her face aglow. "I felt ... I felt ... Enlightened! Like I could understand so much!" the pony's face suddenly grew darker, "But then I just felt cold. So cold. And all the knowledge I had gained: I didn't want it anymore... It started to hurt... And I felt almost... almost..." She looked up and stared deeply into her beautiful friend's entrancing eyes. FlutterShy's mind went blank. By a remarkable coincidence the word that swam into her head was the very same one that she had meant to say before becoming distracted. Though when she did utter it, it was accompanied by a very different train of thought. "...Heartbroken..."
"Heartbroken?" repeated a puzzled Twilight.
"What?" stammered FlutterShy as her cerebellum snapped back to it's original state. "Oh, right yeah, heartbroken. I felt that the knowledge I had learned was something very sad, and I wish I never knew it. But at the same time... I felt like if I didn't know it I would have been more unhappy, but without knowing it. Oh..." FlutterShy moaned as she buried her head in her hoofs. "Does this even make any sense?" Bon Bon scoffed at the question, JuneBug scratched her chin with her hoof, and Snazy Doo swapped confused glances between the two of them. Twilight however, rubbed her chin thoughtfully.
"Great knowledge? Who wouldn't want that? But once you have it ... You don't want it anymore. Hmm..."
"That's right," went on FlutterShy, "and that's when I woke up. I was in a cold sweat, and the I still felt the way I had felt in the dream. My head was all woozy, so I went downstairs to get some water, and when I did, I just sort-of looked outside towards the EverFree Forest; I don't know why I did, but I did. And when I did ... I saw ..."
"Yes?" coaxed Twilight, leaning closer and quite intrigued by her friend's story.
"... I saw ..." FlutterShy tried again. She gulped deeply, tears just beggining to well up in her eyes again. "... I saw ... a stallion, but he was very ... i don't know, strange I guess. I couldn't really make him out that well; every time I tried my eyes started to hurt. Then he looked at me. I couldn't see him, but I saw his head turn and I felt him looking at me. By Celestia Twilight, it felt like my head was ripping open. He just stood there looking at me, I felt like I was being frozen from my mind out. I felt really cold! And then I ... I fainted. But as I was passing out I heard a voice in my head say: 'You never really wanted to know.'
FlutterShy looked up at her friend, not sure what to expect. "Do you know what he could have done?"
Twilight pondered this, this sounded like magic, but like magic she'd only ever heard of. She pondered this; so deeply in fact that she hardly noticed as Snazy Doo used her wings to slice a final strand of Twilight's mane off.
"Well I'd say we're about done here dearie." the mane-dresser said. "And I hate to have to say so, but the sun is setting, and the I still have to get to some shops before they close."
"Oh! Right! I'm sorry Mrs. Shave! We didn't mean to keep you so long!" exclaimed Twilight, peering out of the open window to find that the sun was indeed setting; and had even disappeared behind some of Ponyville's taller buildings. "We'll be going now." she gestured to her pegasus friend to follow, which she gladly did. "Good-Bye Mrs. Shave! Thanks again for everything!" the unicorn waved goodbye to the other earth ponies before proceeding up the staircase with her pegasus pal in tow.
Clean Shave looked up from the mane trimmings he was sweeping up in time to see the two fillies crossing under the threshold. "How did my wife treat you Ms. Spark ... errr ... Twilight? Were you 100 percent satisfied?"
"Hmm? Oh yes, thank you Mr. Shave I quite enjoyed it." Answered Twilight Sparkle absentmindedly. Her thoughts were still on FlutterShy's story, mind buzzing with questions. What kind of magic was this? She'd never heard of any such spells preform-able by ponies. Where did this stallion learn such things? Did he maybe invent them himself? Was it perhaps possible for her to learn these abilities? Did she even want to? She saw what kind of effect that raw power had on FlutterShy, and she just only witnessed it. Could she handle that kind of power?
"I um, really like your mane Twilight."
The soft voice of her friend snapped Twilight back to reality, and making her jump about a foot into the air. "Whoa-oh. What? Oh .. um, thanks FlutterShy." She hadn't even realized that they had left the shop. Looking back, she saw that they had actually already walked several blocks away. Turning to the nearest shop's window, she studied her image in the reflection. Her mane was teased up in a bun, and there were elegant waves and curls all around in different places. With a hoof, she twisted a small springy curl that hung in front of her ear. While she did have to admit that the do did her justice, she didn't think she would wear it more than a day or two; maybe just long enough to let Rarity see it. She'd stick to her normal mane-style: nice and simple and orderly and efficient; just like her.
"You look really beautiful in it." whispered FlutterShy so that just her unicorn friend could hear, just the faintest hint of scarlet creeping up her cheeks.
"Thanks!" the lavender mare smiled. "It's not often you can say that about me huh?" FlutterShy looked as if she made to say something else, but never did; Twilight took this as a good opportunity to take her leave. "Well I've got to be going; a new episode of 'The Alfred Hoofclop Hour' will premiere tonight and it should be starting soon." The cream-colored pegasus didn't say anything, only stared at her friend with a look that the unicorn found quite unreadable. "Sooo ... goodnight FlutterShy"
"Goodnight ...Twilight." the pink-maned pony said quietly as she watched her friend turn and walk away. She sighed softly as she outstretched her wings wings and took off towards her forest-side cottage.
Twilight arrived home just as the east side of the sky slowly turned from a pink, the same shade as the streaks in her mane, to a light purple, the exact same shade as her coat. The western side of the sky was just beginning to reveal a few faint stars as the unicorn strode up to the library's front door and opened it.
Her number one assistant Spike was inside, busily tidying up in anticipation for his master's arrival. He looked up from the table he was dusting as Twilight closed the door behind her. "Hey-a Twilight! Nice mane-cut! I'm just about done with today's cleeeeeeeeeaaaaaaaaaannnnnnniiiiiiiinnnnnnnnnnggggggggg." he said, trying and failing spectacularly to stifle an enormous yawn as he spoke.
"Spike, that's rude," chided the librarian as she removed her boots, "you should at least cover your mouth."
"Sorry Twilight," he sheepishly replied, folding his hands behind his back, "I'm just really tired todaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaayyyyyyyyyyy." Seeing Twilight's glare mid-yawn, the baby dragon attempted to cover his mouth, forgetting that he still grasped the feather duster in his little right claw. The resulting noise was something between a yawn, sneeze, cough, hiccup, and burp; and it's nature is still debated by many top scientists today.
"Oh Spike..." Twilight sighed, rolling her eyes and suppressing a smile; "what am I going to do with you?"
"Well, Owlicious won't be here to help you tonight, so that's a really good question." responded the baby dragon as he replaced a few books to their corresponding shelves. "I understand if you need me to stay up to help you tonight." the reptile went on in a tone somber enough that it wouldn't have been out of place at a funeral.
Twilight however, took pity on the little guy. "Oh, that's alright Spike, I probably won't do much tonight other than curl up and watch Alfred Hoofclop." Spike's gratitude showed as he ran forward and leaped int an embrace with the purple pony.
"Thanks Twilight! Also it's really cold out tonight; is it okay if I light a fire?"
"Sure thing Spike, just so long as there's not a repeat of last time." answered Twilight in a semi-stern tone. The baby dragon chuckled apologetically as his foot unconsciously slid across the hardwood floor to cover a rather conspicuous black burn mark. He thanked Twilight again before running up to the fireplace and lighting it with a small jet of green flames from his mouth. Once the flames were adequately high enough, he jumped straight into the heart of the fire. He snuggled up among the logs as the flames licked his scales; heating him up immensely. For a dragon: a crackling fire is better than any blanket. A small contented 'Ahhhhh' was heard before the reptile emitted a barrage of noisy snoring. Twilight telekinetically grabbed a cushion from her futon and made her way down into the basement. Once there she fluffed up the cushion and set it down in front of a crystal ball. Squeezing by some complicated electrical equipment, Twilight grabbed the orb and began to rotate it in it's stand.
"Oh come on, it's a clear night. I should be getting better reception than this." she grumbled as the mist withen the crystal ball began to form a picture. "There we go." she sighed as she settled down onto her pillow. She let out a great yawn as the programs familiar theme music began to play. Lying on the pillow, she suddenly felt as tired as if she hadn't slept in years. 'Man, Spike's yawning must have really gotten to me...' she thought as her eyelids began to droop. She really was quite eager to watch the program, the portly Alfred Hoofclop's random monologues always gave her a good chuckle; the way he would open his mouth so wide when he spoke: as if stretching it. But she scarcely made it past the "Good Evening..." before losing consciousness.
Good Evening...
Good Evening...
Good Evening...
Twilight was staring into two large bottomless pits. As she did so a cool breeze blew up from the both of them; it seemed to penetrate her head and wrap around her brain. The sensation could best be described as having a spearmint lightning bolt try to make savage love to her medulla-oblongata. It was remarkably pleasant, as she felt her brain filling up with knowledge the same way a glass might fill with water. A small blue fire suddenly appeared before her. The flames split and it formed a face. It spoke in a voice not dissimilar to Discord's.
"A difficult choice is yours to make,
There is no correct solution, each a colossal mistake.
One is knowledge: which will make your heart ache
the other is ignorance: which is easier to take."
The flame dissipated and reformed into a large white wooden door. In brass letters, an inscription read: Enlightenment. A faint knocking could be heard from the other side. Twilight strode forth towards the door, preparing to open it; when suddenly another unfamiliar voice echoed from nowhere: "But do you really want to know?" Twilight grasped her head in her hooves as a terrible headache suddenly ravaged her. She closed her eyes and felt the world around her dissolve; but the knocking could still be heard.
Knock
Knock
Knock
Twilight's eyes flew open. She was looking up at her crystal globe. A few hours hd evidently passed, the broadcast day must have ended as there was nothing but mist inside.
Knock
Knock
Knock
"Spiiiiiiike? Could you get that?" called the unicorn. As if in answer, she heard a loud snore just a moment later.
Knock
Knock
Knock
Twilight stood up groggily, steadied herself, and began to walk up the basement stairs. Who would be calling at this hour?
Knock
Knock
Knock
As Twilight reached the door, she suddenly realized that she was being chilled by an icy wind. Where did it come from though? Her library was magically protected from drafts.
Knock
Knock
Knock
Twilight grasped the handle, turned the knob, and allowed her jaw to drop at what she saw. Or rather, what she did not see...
"Good Evening ... Ms. Twilight Sparkle I presume?"
Do you feel adequately chilled yet?