Stargazing Twilight
It was a crisp, clear autumn night in Ponyville, one perfect for stargazing. Twilight Sparkle was never one to pass by such an opportunity, and so she and her loyal assistant Spike had set up her telescope for a little late night study session.
Twilight wiped the eye piece of the telescope clean before looking once more out into the night sky. Legends say that long ago, Princess Luna rebelled against her sister and their subjects because they were unable to appreciate her beautiful nights. As Twilight beheld the awe inspiring wonders of the heavens, she felt she could understand Luna's frustration. Countless sparkling stars floated amidst the arms of galaxies, reaching out into infinity. Looking out at the enormity of space, Twilight couldn't help but feel humbled.
“Come on, Twilight” complained a voice, dragging Twilight back down to earth. “We should have been in bed hours ago!”
“Oh, but Spike,” said Twilight. “It's so beautiful out tonight. The sky is the clearest I've seen it in months! Just give me a little longer.”
Spike groaned and muttered something under his breath. Twilight couldn't help but smile a bit at the baby dragon's crankiness. He was a brilliant assistant, to be sure, but a sleepy, cranky baby dragon wouldn't be of much use to her.
“Alright, you win. Go ahead on to bed. I just have one more thing I want to look at, and then I'll follow after you. I'll take care of the clean up myself.”
Spike let out a deep yawn and stretched out his arms. “If you say so, Twilight. Don't stay up too late, okay?”
“Don't worry, I'll be fine. Goodnight, Spike.”
Content, the baby dragon lazily clamored off to bed.
Twilight could feel her own eyelids growing heavy, but the night was so clear. That's what had made her so giddy about this night's studies. She hoped it would be clear enough to see the Pony's Head Nebula.
Back in Canterlot, she had read all about the legendary nebula in a tome written by Star Swirl the Bearded. He believed it emitted a strong aura of magic and could enhance the abilities of unicorns on clear nights. Twilight had tried to find the nebula many times, but the lights of Canterlot made it difficult to observe anything beyond the closest starts. Out here in Ponyville, away from the lights of the city, she had a better chance than ever.
Twilight double checked her almanac for the right coordinates, and adjusted the telescope. Even with a magically enhanced telescope, it was difficult to see much of anything at first. Then something began to come in focus. Twilight adjusted the eye piece, and the object became clearer. At first it appeared to be just a small burst of light. As she continued making adjustments, more details came into focus. The light was tinted red, glowing brightly from inside the cloud of the nebula. Along the bottom of the cloud, the edge bent inwards into a shape that vaguely resembled the head of a pony. A few stars seemed to sparkle brightly from inside the pony's head, entrancing Twilight. In fact, they weren't just softly glowing, they were moving about within the Pony's head, a phenomena she had never seen before. She wrote down her observations and returned to watching the strange dance amongst the stars.
It was some time before Twilight realized how late it had become. As quietly as she could, she made her final notes, gathered up her books, and returned them to their shelves in the library. She let out a yawn, and climbed the stairs up to her bedroom. Spike was curled up in his little bed, sleeping contentedly. Twilight quietly pulled herself into her bed and buried herself under the covers. She closed her eyes and let her mind drift into sleep.
The stars were shining brightly as Twilight floated gently through the night's sky. Below her was Ponyville, quiet and peaceful under the blanket of darkness. She briefly considered flying down to look in on her friends, but the stars called out to her. She zoomed upwards into space, pausing only momentarily to admire the curvature of the Earth.
As Twilight soared past the moon, she observed how lonely and barren its surface was. How alone Princess Luna must have felt there during her banishment. The thought of the Princess looking down on Equestria as her own subjects slowly forgot she had ever existed made Twilight well with pity. A few tears streamed from her eyes and down her cheeks, before floating off into space.
Off in the distance, there blazed a dazzling red light. Could it be? Twilight took off towards it, moving at incredible speeds even Rainbow Dash couldn't imagine. Planets, stars, and even galaxies blurred past as Twilight drew closer and closer until at last...
Twilight gasped at the tremendous beauty the cosmos had laid out before her. A massive cloud of gasses and stardust glowed bright red, contrasting with the stark blackness of space. Twilight observed the edge of the cloud where she had seen the pony's head, but now it was far clearer. It wasn't just a vague abstraction, the nebula's shape perfectly formed the head of a pony, right down to the fiery mane. It was an awe inspiring sight.
A few lights began to shine from within the pony's head. Curious, Twilight dove down. The lights continued to sparkle, even as the rest of the stars in the universe began to dim, eventually vanishing entirely. Soon, the only things Twilight could see were the sparkling lights and the fiery outline of the pony's head as it cast a red glow over her. As she approached, the sparkling lights also began to fade, until Twilight could no longer see them. She felt strangely lonely in the smoldering red glow.
Then a small light blazed forth from the darkness. Twilight watched cautiously as the light grew in luminosity, and to her astonishment, took the shape of a pony. This star pony shined whiter than anything Twilight had ever seen, except for its eyes, which glowed dark crimson. It began to approach Twilight.
“Um, hello there?” said Twilight experimentally.
The star pony didn't respond. Instead it stuck its muzzle out, apparently smelling the area around Twilight.
“Excuse me, can you understand me?” asked Twilight.
The star pony simply looked at Twilight before gliding back a little bit. It then looked up and opened it's mouth, letting out a strange cry. It sounded similar to a stricken bell as the noise continued out into space.
Several more lights flared into existence, quickly turning into pony shapes themselves. Twilight must have counted several dozen of the star ponies. All of them were very intently gazing at Twilight.
They were waiting for something. Twilight wished she could ask what they wanted. Maybe she could improvise a spell for communication? Her horn began to light up as she prepared to cast something.
Suddenly, all of the star ponies made the same sniffing action as the original had before tilting their own heads back. They let out their own cries of varying pitch and volume. Together they were quite overwhelming, almost painful. The star ponies all drew closer to Twilight. One star pony separated itself from the others and approached Twilight face to face. Twilight felt uncomfortable as she looked into its glowing red eyes. She floated back a little.
Without warning, the star pony charged directly at Twilight. Before she could even think to dodge it, it was already upon her. Except it was suddenly nowhere to be found.
The remaining ponies let out more cries, and prepared to charge Twilight themselves. All around her, more lights were blazing into existence.
“Wait!” pleaded Twilight. “What are you doing? What did I do?”
Another star pony charged Twilight, and it also vanished upon impact. Twilight felt completely bewildered at their strange behavior.
Yet another one charged Twilight, and then several began to charge at once.
“TWILIGHT!”
The voice that had called her name was extremely loud, more so than the strange cry of the star ponies. Twilight looked around for its source, but didn't see one. The voice seemed to have come from everywhere. Several more of the star ponies had charged into Twilight.
“TWILIGHT, YOU HAVE TO WAKE UP! Please, Twilight!”
Twilight felt herself moving. More star ponies tried to charge her, but she was being pulled away fast. The red glow of the nebula slipped away as she felt herself hurtling back through space, back towards the moon, then Ponyville, before finally catching a glimpse of her own sleeping body being shaken awake by Spike.
Art Used: http://browse.deviantart.com/?q=Space%20Twilight&order=9&offset=96#/d43srxa