Sparkle No More
by Xolzyic
The wolves howled in the distance at the full moon as a group of foals, a colt and three fillies, giggled as they ran through the cobwebbed streets of Ponyville. It was that time of year again, every foal’s favorite holiday: Nightmare Night. The four friends, clad in their homemade costumes, had already got quite an impressive plunder despite the actual celebration starting in about ten minutes. They had decided, or rather Scootaloo had decided, that they should go to one more house before heading over to the festivities.
Pipsqueak the pirate, for the second year running, pounded against the heavy oak door of the Golden Oaks library. They whispered anxiously amongst one another as they waited for the door to be opened. They waited for a few seconds before sharing a confused look.
“Do ya think they’re in?” asked Apple Bloom the scarecrow.
“I think so, there’s a light on,” Sweetie Belle the spider replied as she leaned up against the side of the library, trying peak inside the lit window.
Lion Scootaloo shushed them. “Somepony’s coming!”
Sweetie jumped down to stand in a line with her three friends as they heard the door knob being turned. They inhaled deeply, preparing to scare they unwitting victim.
“Nightmare Night! What a fright! Give us something sweet to bite!” they all screamed at the top of their tiny lungs.
All four of them were disappointed when a bleary Spike stood in the doorway, completely unfazed. The four foals had been hoping to scare him like last year, but sadly they did not. In fact, the only thing Spike did was yawn.
“Oh, hi guys. What do you want?” He was met with concerned stares as he rubbed his eyes. After a moment of silence it dawned on him why they were standing at his door. “Oh right! Nightmare Night! Umm, I don’t think we have any candies.”
“What! How could you not have any candy on Nightmare Night?” Scootaloo shouted, confused as to why anypony would not prepare for the most celebrated night of the year.
“Shesh, calm down!” He yawned and blinked heavily. “Twilight’s sick and can’t use her magic properly, so guess who’s had twice as much work.”
As if on cue, a disheveled Twilight shuffled down the stairs carrying a dusty white bed sheet in her mouth. The foals watched as Spike ran over to his caregiver.
“Twilight! The doctor said you’re meant to be getting as much bed rest as possible!” he scolded her as he tried to lead her back the way she came.
Twilight gently shrugged him off and made her way down the last few steps. “I fee’ fine,” she mumbled through the sheet. She walked towards the main table, swaying ever so slightly. Slowly and moving her head as little as possible, she placed the sheet on the wooden surface before sitting down heavily on her rump.
She groaned and rubbed her head irritatedly. Spike ran over to her, worriedly fussing over her. She waved him away with her hoof and a small smile. “Spike,” she said hoarsely, “I feel awful for working you so hard, so why don’t you go to the Nightmare Night celebrations with your friends?” Immediately the four foals ran inside and smiled ecstatically with the young dragon.
“Really Twi?” he asked, unsure wether or not she was being completely serious. Twilight nodded. “Wow Twilight! You’re the best!” he cried hugging the unicorn tightly.
Twilight winced but placed a hoof on his head. “You deserve it. You can wear this to the party.” She looked back at the sheet on the table. “It’s not much... but it’s all I can do right now.” She grabbed the sheet with her mouth and draped it over the small dragons form. It was a stereotypical lazy ghost costume, complete with oversized eyeholes. But to Spike, it was a gift from the heavens.
Spike started to speak, but stopped, his nose being tingled by the dusty sheet. A jet of green fire shot over Twilight’s head as Spike sneezed. Spike’s now visible mouth hung open in horror. Almost immediately he fell to his knees and grabbed onto the unicorn’s leg. “Oh my gosh! I’m so sorry Twilight! It was an accident and I didn’t-”
“Don’t worry about it Spike.” She looked at the charred remains of her pony head statue. “I’ll clean this up, you go have some fun.”
Spike smiled through the freshly burnt hole in his costume. In a frenzy of excited chatter the foals and Spike rushed out of the door. The dragon grabbed the doorknob and started to close it. But the small worried part of his brain made him pause look nervously at Twilight.
“Can you ask the girls if they'll visit later tonight?”
Spike nodded under the bed sheet and a little reluctantly closed the door. He shifted uneasily on the doorstep, torn between looking after his best friend or having a night out. Eventually, Twilight’s request won and he ran to catch up with his friends.
Now that Twilight was left alone in the library, she pushed herself up and looked at the charred pony head. Twilight furrowed her brows as she stared at it, trying to decide wether or not it was salvageable, even if she could use her magic. She reached a hoof towards it and lightly tapped it. The result was it crumbling to dust, leaving a pile of black on the raised platform. She frowned and tried to pick up the ash with as little of her magic as possible.
Try as she might, she could only manage to shift the ash slightly without it hurting. Twilight sighed and rubbed her horn. Of all the nights to be sick, it had to be Nightmare Night.
The floorboards creaked as she sauntered to the kitchen to retrieve a dustpan and brush. Twilight coughed loudly as she went through the kitchen door. Groaning a little, she rubbed her throat then grabbed the dustpan with her mouth.
Her hind legs trembled slightly as she stood on them, straining to get the pan close enough to sweep the ash away. Before she started sweeping however, Twilight noticed something in the pile. Something metal.
Setting the pan down, she used a hoof to brush some of the ash aside. Cleanliness could wait, for now she had to investigate. She leaned closer to the raised center and bit down on the metal sticking out.
Twilight placed it down on the table and examined her find. It was a handbell. The handle was made out of some sort of black metal, perfectly smooth and polished, despite having just been in a pile of ash. The bell casting at first glance seemed like nothing out of the ordinary, just a normal bronze casing. However, if a pony was to take a closer look, they would’ve noticed the slight waving line carved into the metal.
Curious, Twilight rang the bell. No sound was made. Twilight frowned and shook it harder this time. Still no sound.
Turning it over in her hooves, she realized something odd about it. There was no clapper.
“Why have a bell without a clapper?” she asked nopony in particular. She tapped the casting with her hoof, still no sound.
Twilight stood the bell on the table and looked at it. Why was there even a bell in the statue?
Before she pondered it any further, a book fell out of one of the bookcases. Twilight gasped and hurried over to it. She cradled it in her hooves, inspecting the damage. A corner was bent in and a few pages were crumpled. Twilight sighed irritatedly.
She picked the book up in her mouth and looked up to where it had fell from. The top shelf. Twilight turned around and placed it onto the table, she’d have to get Spike to do it. She glanced at the cover. The History of Nightmare Night.
“Hmm, never seen this one before...”
Twilight grabbed the black book and lay down with it on the floor. She flicked open the cover to the yellowed first page.
Twilight was about halfway through the book so far. She’d already learned things about the holiday that she had never even heard of before. Apparently, the festival started thirty years after Princess Luna’s banishment in a small little town on the outskirts of the Everfree forest called Hallowed Haven.
Foals had been disappearing in the middle of the night, twice a week without a trace for a few months and despite the villagers best efforts, they could never find the missing foals.
But on one night, one mare saw what was taking them. At first, everypony was skeptical, after all, who would believe a madmare screaming that a tall pony with a flowing mane would be sneaking into ponies houses and snatching foals?
A knock on the door distracted Twilight. She pushed herself up and used her magic to open the door, revealing nopony. She smirked and rolled her eyes. Probably just some foals having some fun at her expense.
She closed the door with a soft thud and trotted back to her book. She looked at the white pages and decided to take some notes on the book. Lighting up her horn in a purple glow, she summoned some parchment, a quill and a pot of ink to her side.
She dipped her quill in the pot and began to write.
The story which I have for a long time believed to be the origin of Nightmare Night, may in fact only be partially true. According to a book on the subject, the holiday actually stemmed from a madmare’s ramblings about a tall pony, which I believe was eventually interpreted to be Nightmare Moon. I should research this further to see if there are any other variations on the myth, or maybe even ask the Princess if she kno-
There was a rapping on the window above her. Twilight turned her head, expecting it to be Owlowiscious. It was in fact a small raven, tapping its beak against the glass every few seconds. Twilight was about to open it for the small bird, when another tapping came from the window by the door. She looked around and it was another raven, rapping against the glass like the other one.
Twilight looked between the two of them. It was a little odd that two birds of the same kind would be knocking on her windows at the same time. A purple glow encased the latches on both windows, opening them for the birds. The moment they opened, the birds flew away.
Twilight shrugged and closed the windows. She picked up her quill and turned back to her notes. She frowned as she saw that her page had gone blank. She picked up the bottle of ink, trying to see if it was one of Rainbow Dash’s pranks. There was no label this time, so she dipped her quill in it and drew a quick line across the page.
The ink rushed off the page and went in between the pages of the book on Nightmare Night.
Twilight blinked a few times. “What?” she whispered to herself in disbelief.
She tipped the pot of ink onto the page, covering it in the viscous black liquid. Like before, it left the parchment spotless and slithered across the desk to the book.
The ink pot bounced twice on the ground as Twilight, in her excitement, hurried to open the book. On the paper, the ink swirled around aimlessly. But Twilight thought she could read two words. Get out.
Yelping, she jumped backwards, dropping the book as a thin black tendril rose from the page.
The tendril continued to snake out of the book, growing longer and longer, until it was squirming around on the floor. Twilight took a slow step towards it. The inky tendril fell still. Twilight licked her lips and took another step.
The purple unicorn now stood above the foreign substance and was able to she what it had made. It spelt out a simple word.
Sparkle
Twilight’s purple glow encased the black liquid for a brief second before it seeped through the purple case. It reformed as a new word.
No
Twilight stumbled backwards as the liquid reared up like a snake. It swayed side to side as it moved towards her, seemingly enjoying itself. Twilight could hear her heart pounding in her ears as she kept backing away. She tried to teleport away from the thing, but her magic fizzled out.
More
Desperately, she spun around and charged at the door. The tendrils pounced.
Twilight jolted awake, her fur matted with sweat and her heart racing. She counted her breaths for a minute, trying to calm herself. Hesitantly, she sat up and looked down at the book.
She sighed with relief when she saw words. Then, she tried to turn a single page with her magic. She winced as a jolt of pain shot through her horn. Despite the pain, she felt relieved. At least she knew that the nightmare was over now.
There was a knock at the door, so light she could barely hear it. She pushed herself up, groaning at the aches in her legs. Slowly she shambled towards the door, stopping by the mirror to make sure she was presentable. After patting down her wild mane, she bit down on the door knob and opened the door.
“Hello? Is anypony there?” she asked loudly. She cast her gaze over the moonlit street. Not a single soul was in sight. Twilight’s heart beat a little faster. “Me and my imagination,” she whispered to herself.
Twilight was about to go back inside when a squawk pierced her ears. She looked down and was met with two pairs of beady black eyes.
Two ravens stood motionlessly by her hooves, just staring at her.
Twilight slammed the door shut. They couldn’t be here. They shouldn’t be here, she thought to herself. Twilight leaned her head against the door. There was a gentle knocking again. She yelped and stumbled away from the door, tripping over her hooves.
“Go away!”
A book fell out of a bookcase. Twilight flinched away from the sound and started to head towards the stairs.
I’m sick. I need to rest, she told herself. Another book fell out of a bookcase.
Twilight reached the stairs and put a hoof on the first step. As she put her weight onto it, the bell tinkled. She froze.
Turning her head slowly, she looked at the table where she had set the bell down. It was on it side and very definitely didn’t have a clapper. Another book fell down.
The bell sounded again, louder this time. There was a knocking at the door. Another book fell down. Twilight tried to take another step to retreat to the safety of her bed. But the sounds were overwhelming and she curled up on the step, hooves over her ears trying to block out the sounds to no avail.
The bell rang viciously. The ravens cried horribly. Two books tumbled to the ground. Twilight started to sob.
Then there was silence.
Twilight opened her eyes.
Then there was the sound of books flipping open.
Twilight sat up, focusing wide eyed on the fallen books.
Then a tearing.
Pages flew out of their books, scattering across the floor haphazardly. Twilight tried to move, to run out the door screaming for help, but she couldn’t; her body wouldn’t.
Solid words floated up from the papers, twirling around each other in a slow dance. They danced for a few seconds before they jerked to a halt.
The words latched onto each other, pulling them closer together. The pages kept joining together, forming four spindly legs. Twilight stayed rooted to her spot at the bottom of the stairs, paralyzed by fear and awe. The papers kept joining together, folding in places and interlocking. A shape started to become more defined as the yellow sheets overlapped each other.
The figure was akin to a pony, like a life-sized origami or paper-mâché. It tried to stand up on its paper limbs, but like a newborn foal tumbled forward. Twilight held her breath as the figure wobbled on its new appendages. Eventually, it stood up straight. It shook its head and a waterfall of words fluttered out from where a mane would’ve been. The creature turned its head, sticking the tip of what would’ve been a snout out, as if it were sniffing the air.
It took a single step, testing its footing, before it sniffed the air again. More confidently, it took several steps in the direction its head was pointing. Twilight watched as it silently smelt the bookshelf. Seemingly irritated, it turned sharply around, sniffing the air again. This time it strode briskly towards the door. For a time, it simply stood motionless at the door before it pawed at the floor and turned around, heading towards the window.
It passed Twilight, lightly brushing against her hoof. The paper thing paused, turning its head slowly towards the frozen unicorn who was doing her best not to tremble, least she alert the thing to her presence. It lowered its head towards Twilight, inching closer and closer. Twilight could smell the familiar musk of old tomes. She could’ve tilted her heard and touched it with her horn by now. Twilight’s eyes were screwed up tightly as the creature was nearly a hairsbreadth away from her muzzle.
There was a collective cheer from the celebration outside which distracted the thing. It craned its neck in the direction of the sound before sliding over the the window. Twilight took a very slow breath, trying to make as little sound as possible. If she could get to the door she could slip out and get help.
She opened her eyes and turned them to the thing, hoping it was still distracted. The creature was holding up a quill with its mane of words, turning it over and scrutinizing it with an eyeless glare.
Slowly, Twilight rose to her hooves, taking particular care not to make the wooden floor creak. Trepidatiously, she took her first step, easing her hoof onto the ground silently. She froze as there was a soft creak. Out of the corner of her eye she saw the thing tense up and look back over its shoulder. It took a step away from her window desk and wobbled over to the main table; right in the way of the door.
Twilight’s body refused to move as the tendrils of words wrapped around the bell. It was lifted to the things face. It tilted its head as it examined the bell. Its paper snout connected with the brass.
The bell hit the floor with a loud thunk and the creature screeched, its mane rippling furiously as it stared down the fallen bell. That screech invaded Twilight ear’s, making her cry out as pain surged through her. The pain overcame her, and she collapsed, hooves pressed against her ears.
The paper creature heard her. It fell apart, leaving only a pile papers where it had once stood. Twilight took steadying breaths and slowly stood up and looked at the pile. The yellow pages stayed still. Resolving to get out and find help, she staggered towards the door.
She was halfway to the door when a sudden urge overcame her. Be it fate or just paranoia, she looked back at the pile, just to make sure the thing was gone.
The paper was gone.
Her eyes widened and she whipped her head back round, about to charge to the door, ignoring her aches and pains.
She was met was a blank face of paper.
Princess Luna, Spike, the four foals and the elements of harmony laughed as they trotted through the moonlit and cobwebbed streets of Ponyville.
“This year’s Nightmare Night was a hundred times more enjoyable than the previous!” Luna exclaimed proudly, gaining cheers from the surrounding ponies and an especially loud one from Pipsqueak standing her back.
“Oh I agree your highness,” Rarity said happily. Sweetie Belle nodded from her seat on Rarity’s back.
“It sucks that Twilight couldn’t come though,” Rainbow Dash said to the ponies below.
“I hope she’s okay,” Fluttershy said. The others added their agreements.
“Don’t worry Flutters, I’m sure she’s okay. She’ll be super duper okay when we give her these candies! Right Spike?” Spike nodded to Pinkie as he shoveled some more candy into his mouth from the basket in his left hand.
“Whoa there Spike, we don’t wantcha eatin’ all of them before we see Twi,” Applejack said with a roll of her eyes. “Same goes for you two,” she continued when she saw her sister and Scootaloo trying to steal a few from the basket. The fillies flashed innocent smiles and scurried over to Sweetie Belle.
The group was nearly at the library and were chatting about the events from earlier that night. The group kept walking as Spike pulled off his pumpkin stained ghost costume. As he ran a claw through his spines, he noticed two ravens perched on the windowsill, peering into the library. Their head swiveled around, their beady eyes locking with his own. The ravens tilted their heads slightly before squawking and flying away.
Spike shrugged and ran to open the door for his friends. He twisted the knob and pushed against it. It didn’t budge. He tried again more forcefully with the same results.
“Hey Twi?” he called through the door. “Did you lock the door?”
No answer.
“Twi? Are you okay?”
“Maybe she’s sleeping?” Fluttershy suggested.
“She doesn’t usually go to bed at this time...” Spike said as he tried to peer into the dark room through the keyhole.
“She is sick, correct? Then she has probably gone to get some rest,” Luna said.
While the others talked amongst themselves, Spike was listening for any sounds that Twilight might’ve made.
For a split second, he thought he heard a whimper.
“Maybe we should just let her get some sleep and come back to check on her tomorrow,” Rainbow Dash said.
“I think that’s a good idea,” Applejack agreed.
“We need to open the door,” Spike said flatly, ear still pressed up against the keyhole.
A chorus of whats answered him. “Something’s wrong. I heard crying.”
“Step away from the door Spike,” Luna ordered.
Spike scurried out the way as Luna ripped the door of its hinges, revealing Twilight lying on her back in the middle of the room with a tall, dull yellow figure standing above her. A stream of black was pouring from her eyes and into the creatures mane.
“Step away from her fiend!” Luna roared at the apparition.
The creature’s head jerked towards the group, severing the stream. Luna’s bravado faltered when she looked at the creased face of paper.
It glanced down at Twilight. A slight crumple appeared on its paper face, as if it were grinning. A grating chuckling filled the room as the creature fell apart into sheets of musty paper.
“Twilight!”
“Twi! Can ya hear us?”
“Oh please oh please be okay.”
“It’s my fault! I shouldn’t have left her alone!”
“Get a letter to Celestia and get some doctors here now!”
“Twilight!”
“Twilight Sparkle!”
Twilight could hear them. She couldn’t see them or feel them, but she could hear them. She tried to open her mouth to speak, to talk to her friends. To be with them.
Try as she might, she couldn’t do what she wanted. But she was feeling a little sleepy. Perhaps everything would be better after a nap.
Three months had passed since Twilight had been found on that fateful Nightmare Night. Spike and Twilight’s friends were busy preparing the library for the mare’s return. They had only seen her once since that night, and it hadn’t gone particularly well.
They worked mostly in silence, even the normally jubilant Pinkie Pie. There was nothing else to say. Tears had already been shed. Guilt had festered in self-loathing. Hopes had been dashed.
Twilight had been taken to Canterlot and put into Equestria’s best hospital under the watch of the most highly qualified and experienced doctors. Physically, Twilight was perfectly fine, but mentally, she was far from it.
For the first two weeks she wouldn’t talk. She wouldn’t move. She had to be fed through a tube and be hydrated through a drip. She would only shake her head and screw up her eyes when she was conscious.
Eventually, when she could handle herself relatively well, she asked to go to Ponyville for Hearth’s Warming Eve. Her doctors only released her when the princesses reassured them that both of them, along with Twilight’s family would go with her.
How terribly that had ended.
Spike had tried to melt the bell after Twilight went back into care. Incredibly, it had refused to melt even to dragonfire. In the end, he had gone into the Everfree forest with his friends and buried it deep inside. Things like that belonged in there.
The sound of wingbeats came from outside, followed by an impact then the whinnying of the guards.
“Everypony! She’s here!” Pinkie cried excitedly, her happiness immediately restored when her friend had arrived.
They waited with baited breath for Twilight. The door opened, and the princesses walked in, followed by Twilight’s mother and Cadance. Lastly came Twilight, cowering between her father and brother with her Smartypants doll clenched between her teeth.
Their hearts sank when they saw Twilight. Her mane was cropped short, her pink highlight barely visible. Her shoulders were drawn inwards and she walked slowly, taking small steps. Her head was low and her eyes darted sharply from side to side. She was in worse shape than she was at Hearth’s Warming Eve.
Spike took a deep breath and stepped smiled at her.
“Hi Twi,” he said softly. She flinched at his voice.
She peaked out of one eye, trying to see who had spoken. She cracked smile when she saw her friends.
Conversations started flowing about small things, like who did what yesterday or a funny little anecdote, anything that wasn’t related to... it.
Her friends talked about what had happened while she was gone, hoping to get some kind of opinion or input from her. However, she was content to just sit there with Smartypants between her legs and holding a glass of water between her hooves, taking the odd sip.
Talk died down after a while and Twilight’s friends smiled at one another. Spike hopped down from his chair and ran upstairs. Rarity cleared her throat before speaking.
“Oh Twilight dear,” she said carefully.
Twilight looked up from her half empty glass and smiled at the white unicorn.
“The girls and I-” Spike loudly from upstairs. “And Spike,” she added quickly, “went around Ponyville and got personal messages from everypony wishing you well.”
Fluttershy smiled as she spoke. “A lot of foals drew pictures for you too.”
“My lil’ sis made a mini statue for ya,” she said quite proudly, nodding towards a wooden carving of Twilight standing where the pony head used to be.
“We made it into a book for you,” Rainbow Dash said, rubbing the back of her head with a goofy grin.
“They said I couldn’t wrap it up,” Pinkie said with a shake of her head and a disappointed tut. “But I still think it’s a super welcome back present!”
Spike came bounding down the stairs with a rather thick spiral bound book in his hand. He presented it to Twilight with hopeful eyes.
“Welcome back Twilight.”
Twilight looked down at it, then at her water. She looked at her brother to her side and offered the glass to him, which he took with his magic. Taking the book reverently with her hooves, she looked at the cover.
There was a group picture from Shining and Cadance’s wedding below several hundred ‘For Twilights’, all in different writing. Carefully, she opened it to the first page. There was a crudely drawn picture of Twilight waving next to two foals. It was signed “love Pumpkin Cake and Pound Cake” in a childish scrawl.
Twilight continued to flick through the pictures, a growing smile on her face. “I love it,” she whispered quietly, but was heard by all. Her friends and family started to talk again, saying what their own personal favorite entry was.
Their conversations were unheard by Twilight. She drowned out all sounds, focusing on every detail, every color, every line in the pictures for her. She reached the last picture, one from Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo, and turned the page to the first written message.
Twilight read slowly, savoring each word from her friends. She finished the first one, a joint one from her best friends and turned to the next. Twilight read the first line, then she heard it.
A bell ringing.
The words began to dance.
She screamed.