//------------------------------//
// Chapter 2: Confrontation 
// Story: Silent Ponyville: Redemption 
// by Apple Bloom 
//------------------------------//

Chapter 2

The ground was cold, the air was still. Not a sound could be heard from outside. Groaning, Twilight sat herself up, her head was throbbing. 

“Wha-what happened?” she asked herself as she looked around at the empty library. A thick layer of dust coated everything; the paint was dull and peeling, the smell of rotting wood filled the air. The windows were broken, her tattered curtains fluttered in the wind. Thin wisps of mist crawled through the gaps in her windows.  

Her home was oddly still, it usually wasn’t busy, it was never busy. But you could usually hear activity from outside. As she started to stand, a wave of nausea hit her. Falling to one knee she wrapped her chest with both her arms. After a few moments, the nausea passed. Grimacing, she made her way to her bedroom. The old wood creaked beneath her hooves, the handrail was missing and some of the steps were broken. 

She didn’t know why she went to her room; it just seemed like the right thing to do. Sitting on the edge of her bed, she looked around. She sat in silence for a few minutes before deciding to head back downstairs. 

“Wait.” She told herself as she stopped at the top of the stair case. “ “Actually let’s go check the balcony first.” she told herself, thinking that before she went outside she would get a good view of what was going on first. Her balcony widows were boarded up, with a little effort she managed to pry enough off so she could open one of them.

“Ohmygod.” she breathed raising a hoof to her mouth. Usually when she stepped out onto her balcony she could see the entire town, instead she was met with a solid wall of grey. She moved to the railing, climbing up she stood on her hind legs. Nothing, no houses, no streets, just the fog. “Heloooo!” Twilight called out to the fog, no response. As she jumped down from the railing, a small voice whispered 

“Once upon a time, there was a little filly” Twilight spun around but no one was there. She scanned the fog, searching for the source of the sound. She saw a something black out of the corner of her eye, 

“she was really lonely and scared, so she made a new  friend.” Twilight spun around again, this time staring back into her room. Nothing looked out of place, she called out 

“Hey, w-who and where are you?” no response. She walked back into her room. Something shiny caught her eye, walking over to her bed she saw something peculiar. Sitting on her bed was a small dark purple box, it was a curios little thing. With a big dial in the middle, a glass plate at the top, with small black letters and numbers behind the glass.

Picking up the small box, she flipped it around. On the side was a switch with the word ON above it and the word OFF below it. Flipping the switch upward, the box sprang to life. Letting off a soft melody. 

“Wow.” she whispered as she gazed in wonder at the small object. Slowly the tune started to fade out to an even softer static sound. “Huh?” she said as she shook the box. Each second it grew in intensity, getting louder and louder until it was too loud for the small room. She flipped the switch off, silence suddenly filled the room. 

“That’s better.” she said as she nestled the box between her mane and ear. "Wait. . ." she stopped as she head a soft clicking sound behind her. Her heart started beating fast as she slowly turned around. The face of a pale hairless pony filled her view, instinctively she jerked her head backwards. Just dodging the pale ponies hooves. 

“heeEEEYAAAAAAAaaaaaaaa!” it screeched, its mouth stretching wide. Twilight turned and ran past it and down the stairs, all the while screaming “OHMYGODOHMYGODOHMYGOD.” Running straight for the door she slammed into it, knocking it open. She ran out into the street, breathing hard as she looked left then right. She didn’t care which direction she went, just as long as it was away from the library and that. . .thing. 

Sprinting down the streets of ponyville, she stopped suddenly.
“Wha. . .what the. . .” she gasped, catching her breath as she stared at the deep canyon tore into the road in front of her.