Twilight Sparkle was at her home in Ponyville. She was still learning her duties as the newest princess in Equestira, but Princess Celestial had insisted that she take a leave of absence to be with her friends. Twilight hadn't been happy about it; she wanted to learn everything there was about being a princess. Still, she hasn't complained too loudly. She would get to see her friends again, and the new magic and responsibilities she was undertaking were grinding. It would be nice to have a short break.
"You sure about this, Dylan?" John asked.
"Of course I'm sure. What're you talking about," Dylan replied scornfully.
"It just seems like a bad idea to go exploring an abandoned mine. I mean, they must've shut it down for a reason."
"He's got a point there, man," quipped George.
"You guys are a bunch of pansies. There's nothing wrong with the mine. My pa worked in it for 20 years before they tossed everyone out on their asses."
Bryce raised an eyebrow. "Yeah, they said it was a cave in. The mine wasn't safe any more, so they abandoned it."
"That's a munch of bullshit. They want you to believe it was a cave in. My pa was there that day, and he said there weren't no cave in. Just all of a sudden everyone was shouting and hollering about something on the lower levels, and the next thing he knew, they were all out in the rain."
"Sounds like a cave in to me."
"Naw, man. You can feel cave ins, and my pa said he didn't feel nothin. Plus, a bunch of Feds came in the very next day. Trench coats and everything. Feds don't come out just to close down a mine for a cave in. They're hiding something down there."
"That's crazy, man, and you know it."
Dylan scowled at John. "Whatever man. I'm sick of you pussyfooting around. Are y'all coming with me, or not?"
The entrance to the mine leered ominously at them. The darkness contrasted sharply with the bright yellow DANGER tape stretched across the cavernous entryway.
All in all, it had been a good day. Twilight had arrived in the morning; more than enough time to check up on the library, drop off her luggage, get Spike settled in, and check up on all of her friends. Her stay in Canterlot wasn't going to be a permanent thing, so Old Oak Library remained open for her.
Nonetheless, her friends had been excited to see her. She'd gone to AJ's first to see how the farm mare was doing, but Rainbow Dash had seen her on the way, and before she knew it, she was in the middle of Pinkie's first Alicorn Princess Welcome Home Party wearing a brand new dress Rarity had given her and partaking in the Apple family's legendary baked goods.
Either her friends were getting better at this, or Princess Celestial had been planning to send her back home for a week or more.
Still, Twilight didn't complain. It was good to be back.
It was late afternoon before she finally got back home. Home - she till thought of Old Oaks as home. Twilight gave a small smile at the thought. She let that little pleasantness roll around in her head as she climbed the stairs to her room. The library smelled nice. Old books and old wood. She loved that smell. She'd tried to replicate it with magic in Canterlot, but it didn't have the same impact. It just made her miss home a little bit more.
Twilight shook her head. It didn't matter, now. She was back,for a while at least. Spike was asleep in his basket. The last few weeks had been as hard on him as they'd been on her, so she didn't begrudge him any sleep. She walked over to her the luggage that she'd left piled on near her bed. Not a whole lot; Twilight liked to travel light. Just a few essentials. Besides, most of her stuff was still here. Nearly everything in Canterlot had been gifts from her coronation, and everything else Twilight needed the princesses had generously offered.
Twilight rummaged through one of her bags for a moment before pulling out a checklist. Arrive? Check. Drop off Spike/luggage? Check. Check on friends? Check. Enjoy Pinkie's first ever Alicorn Princess Welcome Home party? Check. Twilight grinned to herself. Princess Celestial and her friends weren't the only ones getting better at planning things.
It looked like she was ahead of schedule. No need to wake up Spike yet, and she didn't want to start putting away the luggage all by herself. A good portion of it was Spike's, anyway. Just enough time for a quick bit of meditation. She quickly found her meditation pillow among the luggage and plopped it onto the floor. She settled herself comfortably on the pillow. Princess Celestia preferred contorting herself in strange ways, but that only made Twilight's joints hurt. Princess Luna had told her that it wasn't really necessary, anyway. She just folded her legs neatly under herself and closed her eyes. Slowly she started the breathing exercises that Princess Luna had taught her. Breath in, hold, breath out. Breath in, hold, breath out. She felt the awareness of her body begin to dim, her mind expanding. Eventually she was able to let go of her body completely, casting her consciousness out into the world around her.
Twilight had never felt so free as she did when she meditated. Concepts and ideas that eluded her when she was tied down in the world came easily when she was meditating. Lunar fire, but she could think. She could understand. Most importantly, though, she could, quite literally, let her mind wander.
She still remembered the first time she truly meditated. Princess Luna was there, guiding her through the steps, but instead of feeling like she was falling asleep as she normally did, she felt like she was waking up. She was so enthralled by the process that it took her several minutes to notice the presence of the night princess, or how she was laughing at Twilight.
Luna quickly apologized, of course, and promised to make it up to her, which she did in a most spectacular fashion. After a short lesson on how to move around in her new ethereal form, she spent the remainder of the night showing her the various wonders of Equestria. Luna culminated the lesson by bringing Twilight high above the sprawling nation of ponies to where the air grew thin and cold and showed her the stars. "You can go anywhere you want to, now," the night princess told her. "The cosmos is open to you, now. Remember that."
"Princess Luna, I don't know what to say! Nobody's ever given me such a wonderful gift in my life! Thank-"
Twilight realized that where the night princess was a moment ago there was nothing but air.
"you..."
Twilight realized that, other than that she was at the edge of her world looking out into the cosmos, she had no idea where she was. More importantly, while Luna had walked her though the process of separating the body and soul, she had never explained how to reunite them.
It took Twilight several hours to return to her body and work her soul back into its normal resting place. When she finally managed it, she stormed through the palace, mane and coat disheveled, eyes bloodshot, aching all over, glaring at any servant or guard who dared even look at her, only to find Princess Luna having a serene conversation with her sister over a light breakfast of fruits and cream.
The princess of the night could give Rainbow Dash and Pinkie Pie a lesson or two on pranking, Twilight thought to herself bitterly.
Pushing that thought to the back of her mind, she cut off the last connections with her body, leaving only a single chord of magic that she could follow back when she wanted to return. She double checked her mental checklist of things she had to do that afternoon, triple checked her magical life line, and made extra sure that Spike was asleep. When she was absolutely sure that everything was as it should be, Twilight gathered herself and sprang into the black depths of creation, flying deeper into the cosmos than she had ever traveled before.
John shivered. Luckily, they'd found the power switch for the mine's lights. Even more luckily, the mine was still connected to the power grid, but the incandescent lights bolted to the ceiling and walls of the mine flickered and buzzed. Every once in a while one would give a sharp crack and fall dark. Five so far, not that John was counting. With each snap, the mine seemed to grow a little darker, the shadows a little deeper. They danced at the edges of his vision like fingers reaching out for him. Every time he jerked his head to look at them, they fell still. He pulled out his flashlight as they walked deeper into the mine and started twirling it in his hands. It wasn't dark enough to justify turning the silly thing on, but the cold steel felt good on his hands. A sudden crack split the air, making John drop his flashlight, and suddenly the mine went dark.
"Son of a bitch!" shouted Bryce.
"Hang on, let me get my flashlight out." Said George
John padded the ground with his hands, trying to find his own flashlight as he heard the murmur of cloth from the direction of his friends. Clicking mixed with the water dripping down the walls of the mine. The clicking became more and more frantic until it was cut off by a quiet expletive.
"Shit."
"What's wrong?" asked Dylan, voice cracking in the darkness.
"My batteries are dead."
"I thought you checked those before we came!"
"I did! I don't know what's wrong!"
"Crap. I can't find mine," inserted Bryce.
"I can't believe you guys."
"Look, dude, you didn't even bring a flashlight."
"That's because I thought you guys had it."
George sighed. "What about you John? I know you brought one."
"I dropped it when the lights went out."
"... Son of a bitch."
"Look, it can't have gone far. Just help me find it and we can get out of here."
There were several murmurs of reluctant agreement. One by one, quiet thuds joined him on the floor. John and his friends patted the ground, trying to feel for the wayward flashlight and filling his nostrils with dust. They worked in relative silence, but slowly John could hear someone's breathing become more labored. He could feel his own heart beating frantically in his ribcage. Sweat started to pour down his face. This was taking too long. They should have found the silly flashlight by now.
"What was that?!" Dylan's voice was high pitched and quavering.
"I didn't hear anything."
"It came from over there!"
John stopped moving and silence filled the gallery. His heart was beating so fast now that he could feel his chest vibrate. He swallowed, his throat suddenly dry. He took a deep breath, trying to keep himself from shaking. Still silence.
Finally George spoke up. "There's nothing there, man."
"Look, I heard it. Something's there."
"There's nothing there, Dylan."
"Yes there is! I heard it!"
"There's nothing there. Now just calm down, an-"
George was cut off by a sudden wet thump that made the walls of the mine shake. Dust fell on John's head, making him flinch.
"George?" he called.
Silence thickened the air.
"George?!"
John could almost feel the shadows crawling on his flesh, caressing his cheek. He frantically began to pat the ground for his flashlight.
"GEORGE!"
"Forget it man, I'm getting the hell out of he-" Dylan's voice cut off in a scream.
John felt his throat catch as he frantically scraped the mine floor for any sign of his flashlight. Dylan's screams grew louder and more incoherent. He could almost feel something reaching out of the dark to grab his own leg, and between Dylan's screams he could hear something. A dry, corse laugh. Whispers. Promises of pain. Dylan's cries grew more and more violent as John searched. Finally, John's palm closed around the smooth, cold steel of his precious flashlight.
John immediately clicked it on, and just as quickly wished he hadn't.
George slumped against the wall, blood dripping from his mouth and nose. His chest was flattened and his ribs were sticking out of his skin at odd angles. Crimson spatter coated the wall behind him, extending out from his corpse like wings of blood.
Dylan was being held in the air above him by a writhing mass of black tentacles that extended off into the darkness. Eyes and cheshire grins appeared along the length of the squirming mass that cradled him carefully, gently almost. Dylan struggled against them, kicking and screaming as best he could. His screams only grew more urgent when he saw what was actually holding him. A single solid white eye split the darkness behind him and another tentacle slithered out of the darkness to caress Dylan's cheek. He tried to pull back, desperately trying to avoid the inky blackness that slowly coiled around his face and neck. The tentacle grasped him just below his mouth and slowly, gently began to turn Dylan's head.
Dylan's screams quickly turned from screams of horror to screams of pain. The muscles on Dylan's neck popped out as he tried to resist the inexorable pull of the darkness, but the creature didn't appear to notice. It slowly forced Dylan's head to turn farther and farther around. Suddenly, there was a loud pop and Dylan fell silent. The writhing mass of tentacles dropped him unceremoniously to the ground. John could see his friends eyes still blinking, still moving. He could see Dylan's mouth gulp for air. Dylan's eyes focused on John's, and John could see his friend mouth two final words.
Help me.
John ran.
Terror hit Twilight Sparkle like a ton of bricks. Pure blind terror. She couldn't even think. Her senses reeled as she tried to cope with this sudden, visceral emotion. She fought it down, getting a hold of herself.
What was wrong?! She wasn't in any immediate danger, and she hadn't forgotten anything, had she? One moment she was examining a quaint blue world orbiting a small yellow star when a wave of unbridled terror struck her.
It took Twilight a moment to realize that the fear wasn't hers.
Instantly she homed in on where the fear was coming from and followed it to the source.
What she found there chilled her to the core.
Darkness, huge and ancient, in a cave of some sort with four sparks of life, three of which were rapidly fading. The scope and power of the darkness stunned her. It was ancient, far older than she was, and malicious to the core. She could feel the waves of sick joy come off the dark presence as it devoured what was left of the fading sparks.
There was no way she could take that thing on. Not by herself, and there was no time to get help, but she couldn't just leave the last lifespark to the darkness' mercy. Twilight thought hard and fast. What could she do?
She felt a sudden tug on the magical thread she'd left leading back to her body and an idea sprang into her mind.
She just hoped it would work.
John ran as fast as he could. The flashlight jumped and wavered in his hand as he ran, and he could barely see where he was going, but he didn't care. He had to run, had to get out. He gasped and wheezed, lungs burning, but the cold pit in his stomach and the sickly white eyes on the walls kept him going.
Tears streamed down his face. Out. He had to get out.
He could feel it right behind him. The thing that killed George and Dylan, and probably Bryce, too. He couldn't let it get him too. He had to get out.
His pant leg snagged on something, and John went sprawling forward. It was only through the barest of luck that he managed to keep ahold of his flashlight, but he struck his head on something hard. His world spun, but he forced himself to his feet, stumbling forward. Something streamed down his forehead and into his eye, but he forced himself to start running again. He could barely keep his feet, now. His legs burned, and the ground shifted beneath his feet. More eyes appeared, and the walls began to split and crack, revealing cheshire grins filled with pointed teeth.
John tripped again, and this time lost all sense of direction. Desperately he pushed his back against a wall, shining his lit out in front of him, trying to look everywhere at once, to ward off the thing that lurked in the darkness with his tiny little light.
The darkness laughed at him.
Right in front of John, the darkness opened its milky white eye. It lacked iris or pupil, and seemed to hang there, unsupported in the darkness, as large as a man's head. It looked down at him, studying him. John gave out a whimper, and a mouth, big enough to swallow a person whole, split the darkness. It was filled with crooked, broken, teeth like grindstones. The mouth curled up in a grotesque smile. A laugh fell from the darkness' cracked lips, and dozens of claws reached for John from out of the darkness.
Twilight wrapped herself around the strange biped on the floor, grabbed the magic thread that lead back to her body, and pulled. She dumped everything she had into her magic, desperately trying to pull the creature she was trying to save back with her. The darkness as getting closer. Twilight was sure that it could sense her too, and she was equally sure that it devour her just as eagerly as it had devoured the others. She pulled and pulled with all her might, and she felt herself stretching thin.
The claws we getting closer.
Just a little bit longer; she almost had it.
The dead eye was looking right at her.
She could do this, she could save them both.
The darkness' mouth opened, breathing out fetid, putrid air.
"Please let it be enough," Twilight thought.
She could feel the claws invading her being, touching her very soul with dead, rotting flesh.
Twilight screamed and there was a flash of light.
A thunderclap shook Old Oak Library down to the roots, shaking Spike from his nap. He snapped upright, ears ringing. The first thing he noticed was Twilight sprawled against the wall like a great big hand had picked her up and thrown her like a doll. He jumped out of his basket and was running to help her up when he noticed that on the other side of the room, directly opposite Twilight, sat a monster.