After a short while, Twilight was ready to move again, but AJ and Rarity were both sharing ghost stories on the hill off in the distance. At this moment, Big Mac decided it convenient for him to wake up. Just as Twilight began trotting away towards the girls, he began to stir. Twilight saw this movement in the corner of her eye and flinched slightly, as she really didn't like the thought of having to put Big Macintosh out again. Instead of hearing a growl, however, she just heard a low, painful groan.
“Ugh... Ow...” Big Macintosh croaked. He began to train his vision slowly onto his restraints, then swayed towards Twilight, who was merely fifteen feet away from him.
“Uh... Twi'? Why am I tied up? And why does my head hurt...?” He managed to say in a low tone. He wanted to seriously rub his head, but his restraints denied him that ability.
All Twilight could do was jump up in excitement and hug the big red stallion. “Your okay! Oh, thank Celestia! I don't think I could ever knock you out again...” Twilight yelped as she realized the awkward position she had put Big Macintosh in.
“Eeeyup. I'm okay, although my head is hurtin' like buck. Now, could ya untie me and tell me what is happenin'?” He asked calmly.
“Oh! Of course, sure! I'm so sorry!” She said, slowly regaining her composure. Her horn began to glow brightly, and the ropes loosened within seconds.
“Thank ya kindly, Twilight. Now, care to tell me what's happenin' and why I was in such a bad position?” He asked, putting on his signature smile.
“Soon, but first, let's go gather your sister and Rarity, I want them to see that you're okay now.” Twilight said, pointing her hoof at the nearby hill, showing two silhouettes in the distance.
“Ah, alright, let's go then.” Big Macintosh said, nodding in agreement.
They both began trotting towards the hill, except Big Mac noticed something black move at unimaginable speeds beside him. He glanced in the direction of the shadow, but to no avail, found nothing. He picked up his pace to catch up with Twilight, and soon they were all reunited, with no big red stallion threatening them.
Applejack heard hoofsteps, and put a hoof over Rarity's lips to silence her so that she may listen. She tensed up as she heard two pairs of hooves coming towards her. Rarity noticed this movement after being so rudely shut up, and tensed up as well. Their tension eased up immensely, however, after seeing Twilight and Big Macintosh in his normal state of mind... BIG MAC!
“Big Macintosh!” Applejack shouted as she gave her big brother a huge, caring hug.
“Darling! You're okay! Thank Celestia!” Rarity said, giving Big Mac a gentle, but loving hug.
Big Mac was somewhat taken aback from all of this affection, but he didn't mind it, so he returned the hugs.
“Not that Ah don't appreciate all of the caring hugs and all... but can somepony tell me what's goin' on? Mah head hurts somethin' fierce!” Big Macintosh asked inquisitively.
“Ah... well... long story short, you may have went crazy... and almost hurt your little sisters...” Twilight winced at that last statement, and for good reason too. Big Macintosh takes great pride in defending his family, and just hours ago, he was trying to mercilessly pound them.
“Ah... W-what?!” he nearly shouted, smile turning to a gasp, and eyes becoming wider than anything.
“Twilight!” yelled both Rarity and Applejack in astonishment of Twilight's explanation.
Ignoring the girl's outburst, “You weren't in your right mind at the time, and looks like me knocking you out seemed to do the trick. You had sort of... a strange yellow glow to your eyes, and your face seemed... void of all emotions... excluding one: Hate. Do you remember anything before falling into this sort of... trance?” Twilight was now extremely curious, as he might recall some connection he had with his possessor.
“So, those dreams... were true...” Big Macintosh muttered under his breath in fear.
“I'm sorry, what was that?” Twilight asked, almost fearing what she had might have heard.
“During my sleep... I was having a strange dream, I was watching myself pin Applejack... and Applebloom against the wall... I looked like I had so much malice and hate in me... I was afraid of myself...” Big Mac said lowly. He could feel his eyes become moist, and he felt something start to well up that hasn't shown itself in a long time... Tears.
“Oh dear.... I'm sorry for bringing that up... Big Macintosh...” Twilight choke on tears, as her eyes were becoming to become wet aswell. “It wasn't your fault. You were being possessed by something unbeknownst to all of us. Don't blame yourself that something else was going to cause.” Twilight said, giving him a reassuring hug. The other two mares began to hug him as well. They didn't want to see him cry at all.
“Ah... Ah know... Ah'm sorry. Ah shouldn't be beating myself fer this. Thanks girls... for helping me out when I and everypony else needed it the most.” He said, returning the hugs.
“Now that Ah know what's happened so far, do we know what's been causing this?” Big Mac asked curiously, eager to get back at the pony who put the hex on him.
“I have an idea... as I had similar dreams to yours, except I wasn't being controlled, I was simply receiving a glimpse into the possible future... During this time, I met a strange pegasus with a broken wing that was strapped to his body with a large bandage that enveloped his entire torso. The strange pony was standing right in front of a colossal statue of Discord... He had a dark gray coat, while his mane was a mixture of white, gray, and black. His eyes glowed a bright red, and his mood seemed to be very dark... but at the same time, calm. The aura he seemed to emit frightened me to the point of being paralyzed.... I could simply speak and watch as he noticed me. He inched towards me, a wide grin creeping onto his face...” Twilight recollected the dream like it had happened just a second ago in real life, this made her recoil with fear in front of her friends. She put her hooves on her face and began to sob.
“Sugarcube... ya don't have to explain tha whole dern thing to us... Ah think we get tha idea...” Applejack said in a reassuring hug that she gave to Twilight. The others joined in as well, they didn't want to see her in such a stressed out state.
“Thanks... it feels good to get it off of my chest though...” Twilight croaked with a sheepish smile.
They shared a moment of a caring group hug, then Twilight decided to part from the circle.
“I feel better now, I think we should head off to the library and arrange a meeting with the rest of the girls.” Twilight suggested, but everypony could see the tiredness in her eyes.
“Sorry sugarcube, that meeting will have ta wait, Ah'm sure everypony is mighty tired from tonight, we'll let the girls know, but Ah need to check on Applebloom and Granny Smith.” Applejack said sheepishly, trying with all of her might to suppress a yawn herself.
“I agree with Applejack, darling, we all do need our beauty sleep.” Rarity nodded, letting out a yawn instead of suppressing it.
Twilight opened her mouth to argue, but thought better of it, as she was starting to notice her sleepiness catch up with her. She instead just nodded in agreement.
They decided to stop by Rarity's boutique to check on Sweetie Bell. When they arrived, they were relieved to find Sweetie Bell, open the door to give Rarity a huge tackle hug. The shock they got came from the tears that were coming out of Sweetie's eyes, they looked bloodshot red...
“Sis! Oh thank Celestia that you came! Something has been outside for the past few hours, and it's constantly been knocking at the windows! I've been hiding... I was so scared! Please don't leave me again!” She cried out, muffling her sobs into Rarity's chest. This sent a pang of guilt through Rarity, as she realized just how long she had been gone.
“Oh, Sweetie.. I'm so sorry... I'll never do that again... I promise...” she said, letting out tears of her own, as they trotted slowly back to the boutique.
“If those things were banging at the boutique trying to get at Sweetie bell... then that must mean... they'd go for...” She said lowly, but loud enough for AJ to hear.
“SPIKE/APPLEBLOOM!” They both yelled out in unison. Big Macintosh had remained silent and calm until now.
“Applejack, Big Macintosh go back to the farm and check on your family! I have to go check up on Spike! Meet back up at the library later on this evening!” Twilight shouted as she regained her bearings, galloping full speed towards the library, while AJ and Big Mac were doing the same thing towards Sweet Apple Acres.
“Please be okay, Spike...” Twilight muttered as a tear began to appear. This was becoming too stressful for the girls. Memories of Spike and Twilight together began to flash through her mind, causing her mind and body to rush even faster. Her body burned, but she ignored the pain as she wanted to make sure Spike wasn't in trouble.
Back in Applejack and Big Macintosh's mind, they were thinking the same exact thing for Applebloom and Granny Smith.
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At the speed that Twilight was going, she arrived at the library in less than twenty minutes, but when she finally arrived at the door, she nearly collapsed from exhaustion. With her remaining strength, she used her magic to swing the door open.
When she saw the state that the library was currently in, she nearly fainted from shock. The entire library was wrecked. Books were laying in piles all across the floor, making it barely visible.
“Nononononononono....” She thought out loud. She switched her eyes to where Spike usually slept, and let out a loud sigh of relief, as Spike was resting soundly under his blanket. “Oh, thank Celestia... but what could have done this to the library...?” She began to ponder about this subject, but with the adrenaline gone after seeing that Spike was okay, she immediately felt drained of all of her energy. She tried to reach her stairs, but instead made to the couch. She pushed herself onto the comfy couch, and muttered before going into a deep sleep.
“Night, Spike...” was all that was said, as sleep brought her into peaceful tranquility. For once, she slept without dreams.