//------------------------------// // Chapter 2 - Down the River // Story: The Darkness among the Stars // by Haseo //------------------------------// Chapter 2 Down the River This world was not always as kind as now. The birds sang, at least I thought that they were birds, the fish swam and even the hydras seemed to enjoy this great day. Now that she knew nothing here could possibly hurt her and that she was not alone made this dream just brilliant. Twilight discovered more and more secrets of this magical world, as she began to study the domiciled lifeforms of this place. Eyerything still seemed to be unbelievable for the young researcher. Normally she would never be able to watch the breeding habits of a phoenix. She began to bounce around in a manner only Pinkie could provide, until she noticed the annoyed looks of the phoenix family right above her. “Hehe, sorry guys! This is, after all, a dream right?” The mythical creatures looked at each other rather confusedly and gave the naïve unicorn a worried expression. But Twilight didn’t really seem to notice and she just wandered off to the next species of animals. With every step this world became more and more fascinating. She never read that hydras always had exactly two eggs, or that the male looked after the children, while the female looked for food. She was really beginning to love this dream. “I wish Spike were here to see this. I’m sure somewhere dragons can be found.” But something was odd at this day. The hydras seemed to be nervous and stressed. Most likely because of her presence, moreover was she a total stranger and also an seemingly unknown species to them. She must have looked so dangerous to them. “I think I should look after the basilisks now.” After several minutes of strolling through the wonderful land, the curious unicorn got closer to her destination. She had never expected to see a full field of Hearts Desire right in the middle of this forest. “Zecora would simply love this place.” Silence fell as Twilight reached the end of the forest that bordered the valley of the basilisks. She halted in shock at the sight of the empty fields in front of her, where hundreds lived the night before. “No, no, no. This can´t be! This shouldn’t be! What in Celestia's name would cause so many of them to vanish?” Cold sweat and pure fear seemed to suppress any other emotions and feelings at the moment caused by the realization of what it could be. “Come on Twilight, don´t be so stupid. Nothing here can harm you, it isn’t real!” Her thoughts stopped in an instant. A horrible scream of pain resounded from the mountainside. It surely could be heard in the entire forest. Every bird in the forest seemed to fly off at the shattering scream. Twilight's knees began to shiver, a single tear rolled down her cheek. “Wha- What happened there... . I have to go back, but … what if that creature needs help? Arrgh, come on silly me. This is a dream I must check this out” This time, in order to explore the origin of this terrible scream, she had to take an entirely different route than what she used the last time, hopefully for the better. The path was large enough that it could have easily supported a whole group of ponies. “Maybe they only went that way, and nothing really happened...” As Twilight spoke her sentence, she saw a giant tail. It was lying stiff and immobile at the corner that opened to a segment of the mountains without walls surrounding her. Slowly she sneaked around the monstrous tail. The closer she got, the more her conclusion become concrete. It was a dragon’s tail. “Don´t tell me this dragon killed every single basilisk from the valley. But there was only one scream, how is this possible?” Her conjecture was confirmed as soon as she took a peek around the corner. All over the place were basilisk corpses and half-eaten bodies left to rot. “This is a genocide! How terrible, why is something like this happening in my drea-AHHH!!” Shocked at the sight of this massacre, Twilight stumbled to her right and tripped over the tip of the dragon’s tail. Now Twilight saw why there was only one scream. A giant black claw-like thing had pierced the head of the dragon. “So this was the origin of the scream.” The unicorn began slowly to retreat in horror. “But what is powerful and big enough to annihilate a full grown dragon?” Sudden realization hit Twilight once more. Cold sweat and fear rushed through her body as she noticed the appearance of the claw. It had the same texture as the body of that being that had chased her through the paths of the mountain complex. “I should really go now. Before anything choose me as his next meal. Ouch!” Still walking backwards, Twilight hit the other wall. Suddenly, she felt the gaze of the predator from her dreams on her neck. Out of reflex she slowly bent her head upwards toward the wall behind her. On top of the cliff, stood the somehow pony-shaped, but still dragon-like being. Just as Twilight lifted her leg to take a step, the monster jumped downwards, mere inches away from where Twilight stood a few seconds before. Rocks broke loose from the impact and flew around. A terrible roar escaped the jaws of this fearsome creature. As fast as she could, the lavender unicorn began to gallop away, the path behind her still too small for her hunter. Right now Twilight is in a terrible situation. She couldn’t use her magic. In between the cliffs, it would be just a matter of minutes, until he got her. If she left the mountains back to the open valley, he would kill her in an Instant. But her only real chance was the forest... “Think Twilight, Think! There has to be a way.” Her hunter, still above her, was following every step of Celestia's faithful student, the student without magic, helpless like a newborn foal. Just as Twilight dodged one of the falling rocks, she came to a brilliant idea. “Of course! The waterfall! If I dive down the stream until I’m in the forest, I might escape him … or drown and die anyway.” The brave unicorn galloped through the slim paths until she reached the waterfall at a pace that could only be topped by Applejack or Rainbow Dash. “Now or never!” With a huge leap, the librarian took to the air straight into the murderous stream of water. Invisible from the gaze of her doom. Twilight´s Jump would not be without any consequences. Her body was just a toy to the power of the streaming water, she was smashed from one side to another. The wrath of the water showed no mercy to the little pony until her body came to a halt, lying nearly unconscious at a small riverside, her legs were covered in scratches and bruises. Everything in her sight slowly faded to black. [/hr] “Ughh, I’m … I’m back in my bed? Soooo if I die in my dream I wake up? Well that would make everything a lot easier next time. Mare, but all this running in this weird dream made me thirsty.” Twilight slowly roll out of her bed, and took a few steps. Step after step, her legs became heavier. Suddenly she fell straight on her snout. Her legs numb. “Spiiiike!” The little baby dragon jumped out of his bed, straight to the ceiling. “What is it Twilight? Have you had nightmares again?” The dragon’s face become even more scared as he saw Twilight, lying on the ground in an awkward position. Her body and legs were covered in several bruises and scratches. It looked like she was thrown down a mountain-side or like she has swam through a waterfall... . “Spike, send a letter to the Princess. Please! Quick!” Dear Princes Celestia, Twilight needs help! She woke up from her dream and now she is injured. She has gone too bed like every other time. After she woke up, her legs somehow were scratched and bruised, like she had fallen to the ground! Please send some help! In worry for my best friend, Sincerely, Spike Twilight tried to move in pain, but her body refused to obey properly. Something odd has happened. Her dreams were never so dangerous before.