Twilight stood up, went to the stairs and yelled.
“Spike! Come down into the main room, I need your help to find some books.”
“Sheesh Twilight, it’s 11 pm, it’s nighttime. You were reading that big tome Celestia sent you. What books could you possibly need for that? Reference guides?” came the muffled voice of Twilight’s trusty number one assistant out of his room.
“No, well, yes. Stella told me something and I want to check some books about it. Come down and she’ll tell you about it.” Twilight said.
“Stella is still awake? I thought she went to bed a while ago, I haven’t heard her leave her room after that.” replied Spike. “Alright, alright. I’ll be down there in a minute, just give me some time to wake up enough to be helpful.”
Soon after that, the mares could here some rumbling in his bedroom and then they heard Spike’s footsteps coming. Spike opened his bedroom door and walked into the room, looking slightly confused at the waiting mares. He sat down on his legs and looked at Stella, who retold her tale to Spike.
Spike was not longer the small purple dragon baby he was when he first encountered his friends. He was now as tall as Twilight in height, and his arms twice as long as they were before. His legs also grew considerably, matching his arms in length. The hands were also bigger and had more dexterity now, which resulted in a new hobby of his: making bottle ships, tiny models and the like. His tail was now able to grab things behind him or what he wanted it to hold, and also enabled him to support himself with it in case of a fight. The scales on his head and neck became sharper and a bit more pointed, but that is all to them. His face had stayed pretty much the same, the only difference to before was it was more masculine now, not as round as a baby’s.
“That is a pretty messed up nightmare, if you ask me. But now I see why it kept you awake.” Spike said after he listened to Stella. “What books do you need, Twilight?”
“Anything you can find on supernatural creatures and different realms. I think we have a copy of “Creatures of the Nightmare Realm” somewhere here. Also, please get me “Natural or Supernatural: A Guide to beings outside the mortal plane”, “Tobin’s Spirit guide” and “Scrying the transmundane for fun and profit”. After you get them, please look for other books with the same or similar topics.” Twilight replied, thiking about the names of the books she wanted to use.
“That is pretty hard litarature. But then again, it’s not unlike you to ask for them. I know where most of them are, but the rest may take a while to get.” Spike said in thought.
He stood up and went to the shelves to get the books Twilight requested and returned with them a few minutes later. Stella and Twilight took both two books and began to read through them to find any clue they could get.
~MC~MC~MC~
“This is pointless. We’ve scanned ALL we’ve found and NOT a single clue we can use!” Twilight complained angrily, shutting the book with a look on her face that said more than words ever could.
Stella stopped reading the book she currently had (Cygnii, Urae and other astrozoological creatures of the Everfree) and looked over to her mother. She could see that this was frustating Twilight, since most books never failed her when she wanted to look something up (The only time was when she was sent to the Crystal Empire). Stella sighed and closed her book as well. She poured the three of them (Spike had joined since he was interested now as well) another cup of tea before speaking up.
“I don’t think the creature is in any of those books. It was too bizarre, even if you say it comes from the Everfree. So reading all these books was a pointless endovour from the beginning. I also thought that I could get some information about the cave itself. But after reading through a couple of geography books I haven’t found a single note about a cave like this. Maybe it IS just a nightmare and the cave and creature exists only in my head.” Stella stated, pointing at some books set aside the creature guides.
“No, Stella. I don’t think the cave nor the creature are products of you imagination. Think about it, even if it was inside a dream, all but the head of the creature was describable. If that was a nightmare, it wouldn’t stay that way, you would have seen the head. I think it’s more like the creature or whatever it is didn’t want you to see it’s head, which makes it more and more mysterious. I also don’t think we will find anything in my library, and the only one with other books on this topic are inside the Royal Canterlot Library and maybe the Canterlot Archives. So we have to make a trip to Canterlot and see if we can find something there. We will also have to ask the princesses for permission to enter the restricted area. Spike?” said Twilight, turning her head to the dragon, who stopped reading after hearing her groan.
“A letter? Now? It’s in the middle of the night, Princess Celestia is probably asleep and Princess Luna has her night court to attend to. I don’t think she’ll be happy to have mail intruding on an important matter. Why don’t we go back to bed, and when we get up, send the letter immediately. That way, you can think about what to write her, too.” Spike replied, yawning after being woken up in the middle of the night to help with the books.
Twilight answered that with a yawn of her own. She rubbed her eyes and took a look at the clock.
“I guess you’re right, Spike. It past midnight and we’re tired. We can discuss what to do next after we get a healthy dose of sleep. But I think it’s better to clean up, unless you want to do that in the morning alone while we speak.” Twilight said, with a sheepish smile on her face as she looked at the piles of books that lie around the room. Spike, thinking about what is about to come, just groaned. Stella giggled and stood up.
“I think you’re right, mom. Let’s help Spike get the books cleaned up before he bursts with pleasure from thinking about tomorrow.” Stella said, still a bit giggling.
“You know? If I wouldn’t know any better, I would say you two enjoy making fun of me like this.” Spike deadpanned. This caused the mares to burst out giggling and Spike to groan more.
All three piled the books together into staples and were soon done with claning up. They bid the others a good night went into their respective rooms to catch some sleep before they continue to plan the next step in this strange tale.