//------------------------------//
// 14 Peeking doesn't hurt, does it? 
// Story: A new breed of evil 
// by Rarity Belle 
//------------------------------//

	The sun was still standing in the status of the high afternoon. Twilight Sparkle had left the Golden Oak library for the thing that it was. She had begun to make her daily trot through the town of Ponyville. She was in the need of some form of refreshment through her mind. Hours upon hours had she locked herself deep inside of the basement of the place while working on a thing. Something that apparently was so secret, that not even Spike was allowed to know what it was. Something she had been working for months by that point in time and managed to keep just so secret.

        Though as with all the secrets that involved the mulberry unicorn, they would eventually surface by one way or the other, whether she liked it or not. More often than not was it actually her own little assistant who managed to take care of that. He would have sniffed around her experiments before discovering the notes and scrabbles she had written. Those would eventually be sent to any higher authorities. Whether it have been friends of Twilight, or the royals themselves.

        A mad scientist was the thing she had been called numerous times because of those very same experiments. They had all the right to call her that way, though she had been doing also a rather good deed for Ponyville in the years that she had been living there. It seemed to be a mixed bag about what the folk thought of Twilight. With her being one of the elements of harmony –it being magic no less– nopony dared to accuse her in the wide open, there where she could call upon every last ounce of her powers. Almost as if they were afraid of her capabilities.

        With no clouds in the skies was Twilight just wandering through the streets and lanes of Ponyville, her head sunken in thoughts. From time to time she would be returning to the world of the wake. It was only to avoid any incoming traffic or to look just where she was. For the rest did those purple rimmed eyes just irradiate that endless stare. A stare that didn't only look to the soul of a pony, but also far through it. Uncomfortable feelings did it indeed gave, but ponies looked quickly the other way when they saw her approaching.

        Not that it meant much to Twilight herself as she was just going about she had set out to do. Her heading seemed to change every so often though. For the busy streets of the town just didn't gave her that freedom to truly topple herself into the realm of her mind. She needed to be going someplace quiet and serene in order to sort the matters out that troubled her.

        Thus the only direction she could be going in order to do that, was the hillside. And it wasn't any hillside. In fact, it was the hillside where probably her unicorn nemesis had made her home. “Ugh… I just hope I don’t encounter her again,” Twilight mumbled to herself. She continued along the path to get to the hills of Ponyville.

        Once she had arrived upon the site she needed to be, the mulberry unicorn had calmly made her way along the side of a steep hill. She reached the top quicker than she could have expected for her feeling. Yet it was worth it already as everywhere she looked it was the same sight. Not a single pony to be found and the sounds of nature were all quiet. It seemed to be the perfect place for her to think and that was exactly what she was going to be doing.

        The eyes of Twilight closed themselves completely shut. The mare took long breaths in and out while emptying her mind from everything there was. That was with the exception of the matter she needed to solve. A matter that laid a little bit sensitive to her. Something that she had been researching to for so long already. One thing that kept on gnawing, begging for an answer.

        Her mind delved itself into a deep trance-like state while her body just remained idle on the position. Hunched on her hind legs, the unicorn just sat there like a statue. A statue that was breathing in and out every so often and deep. Though she wasn't alone in the hills. For an azure coated mare slowly made the approach to Twilight.

        Her cornflower blue mane hung off to the side as the eyes of the other mare kept themselves peeled upon the mulberry unicorn. Minute by minute passed by before she stood eye in eye with her beloved nemesis. It was something that caused her to chuckle to herself really. A chuckle that slowly transported itself over to the words of speech. “Well, well, well, look at what Trixie has found here, has Twilight… Hey, you even listening to me?” Trixie spoke up before she waved her hoof in front of Twilight.

         There wasn't any response she got out of the unicorn and rose an eyebrow to it. “What in the name of..?” Only then she started to frail both of her forelegs as fast as she could before the eyes of Twilight. In the hope to somehow get her to open the things and look at her. To let her witness just how great and powerful Trixie happened to be.

        At least that was the desired plan as for no matter what Trixie managed to be doing, it had not a single effect upon Twilight. “Of course I could end you here and now, but where’s the fun in doing that now, hm? Hmhmhm, we shall meet again, Sparkle, awake hopefully,” Trixie smirked before she messed up with the mane of Twilight for a bit.

        When the mane looked like she wanted to have it, Trixie snickered to herself. Then just left the mare alone again. The sun had been setting and that meant that she needed to go home quickly. For not even the hills were usually safe from the predators of Everfree. “Trixie shall see you, again,” the mare chuckled to herself before she booped the nose of Twilight. After that was she just gone. Gone in a plume of smoke as if she had never been there to begin with.


~~~~

                     
Though it was only after the moon had been raised for almost a quarter over the skies that Twilight woke up from her trance. She slowly opened her eyes and viewed the first bits of the world around her. A slightly annoyed groan was the first thing to leave her mouth before she dropped her head a little bit. Though it would have been than that she discovered a piece of mane that fell before her right eye. A piece of mane that usually didn't needed to be hanging there.

        “…Now what’s this?” Twilight mumbled to herself as she inspected the flock of hair a bit better and noticed the shape almost immediately. “Very, very funny, Trixie.” Twilight mumbled to herself. She got up from her position and turned around. The mulberry mare allowed her horn to be coated in the raspberry pink color before she conjured a mirror in front of her, and looked through it.

        The thing that she saw was just as what she thought it was going to be. Her entire mane had been literally reshaped and given the style Trixie always wore. A style that she personally hated and everypony pretty much knew about it. With an annoyed grumble that left through her mouth had the horn increased itself in the levels of magic just a bit more. Her entire head would have disappeared in an orb of light.

        It took only a few seconds before the orb shattered again into nothing but tiny fragments and what was revealed to the world was a much better sight. The style of Trixie was gone and replaced with the style that Twilight always wanted to have. Or better said, the style she was used to.

        Yet it did help her to come out there. Perhaps she hadn't solved the matter that she wanted to, but at least she had been in the outside world for a couple of hours. That was something that felt truly good to her. Her mind was fresh once again and she appeared to be thinking sharp again.

        It would be something that she needed to be putting to the test sooner or later for the night was out and all she wanted to do was to snuggle up in her bed and fall asleep with the starry skies falling through her window.

        Which was exactly what happened to her in the end of the late evening.

        The following morning was the sun rising bright and early. Twilight opened her eyes after a –what seemed to be– short night of little sleep. Her body rose itself up from the bed and she released a deep groan. The eyes looked through the room and noticed that Spike didn't happen to be in his basket. It was something that caused the mare to raise an eyebrow and mumbled some inaudible gibberish to herself.

        Though the time to stay in bed wasn't there anymore. She had to be out and do her things. Twilight just wanted that her experiment in the basement would be working the way she intended it for once. With another yawn she managed to get out of bed and shook her head a few times after her hooves made contact with the floor. It was in the corner of her eyes that she caught something that wasn't there the night before.

        Curiosity was the emotion that managed to take a hold of the mare. She slowly approached the desk she most of the time worked behind. On top of all the scrolls, schematics and books, laid a letter. A letter that was written in the handwriting of Spike and was addressed to her. “What was so important that he had to write it down for me, instead of just telling me it straight to the face?” Twilight mumbled to herself before her head started to pound its way into her skull. She needed to be wide awake if she wanted to truly understand the letter, and at the moment she happened to be everything but that.

        “I’ll read it after breakfast, first a shower,” the mulberry mare spoke up to herself. Twilight released a deep yawn and would have made her way over to the bathroom. There she would be preparing the tub for a moment of utterly waking up. Not to mention taking a well-earned shower. Because after the waters had been filled into the tub itself took Twilight a deep smell over her coat and the scent that it gave off was everything but something pretty.

        She quickly made the discovery that she smelled like a rotten egg, or close to it. “Blegh, perhaps that is why he went away,” said Twilight to herself. She pressed a hoof against her nose in the hope not to smell it anymore. It also caused her to jump into the tub even faster than normal. After a couple minutes of having gotten used to the warm waters, Twilight started to wash herself with both her hooves as well as her magic to reach the hard placed like her entire back.

        The warm waters helped to wake her up in a gentle manner and seemed to be doing its job a lot better than cold water. Cold water was fine for her, if she needed to be waking up quickly. But on that day, she could luckily take all of her time.

        And taking her time was what she did. The mare had been lying inside of the tub for nearly an hour before the decision to get out of it again was made. With the waters dripping from every side of her body, Twilight had allowed her horn to charge itself up. All of the sudden could the warmth of the sun be felt reflecting upon her coat.

        What she had done was placed a couple of mirrors on strategic points around her body which amplified the light of the sun to such an extent that it would actually be drying her coat and mane. It was an ingenious little system that she had for herself and she loved it. Not even a single towel would be used in the drying process. It was of course with the exception for the one used in her mane. Exceptions on the rules was a thing that always happened. Something she didn’t always like.

        Either way, with the towels wrapped around both her mane and tail, Twilight hummed softly to herself. She summoned a slice of bread, a cup of tea and the letter to herself while descending from the stairs down. All the way down to the magically locked basement. A basement where she didn't wanted and needed anypony to be snuffling around. While the slice of bread and the tea were being consumed, the locks of the door were undone from themselves and from one another. Only then was the heavy basement door slowly opened for herself.

        Twilight walked through the created opening and closed the door again while even locking it up. The letter was dropped upon the desk. Her horn discharged itself before her eyes looked over a device. A thing on which she had been working on for just such a long time. Months of her time had been placed into it and she just wanted it to work so badly. Though it was also a massive risk that she carried with her, nopony knew just what she was building down there. Not to mention the fact that whatever it was, it was strictly illegal by the orders of princess Celestia herself after she discovered just what her student was working on in theory.

        Yet it never seemed to have stopped the crazed, mulberry mare. She had continued to conduct the experiment in secret. Twilight knew that she was just so close to fining the tunes and working out the faults. All that she needed was more time and that was just the thing she gave herself. “My little, illegal brainchild,” Twilight spoke up with a smirk. She petted the cold exterior of the steel device like it was a foal to her.


~~~~

 
It was a device that seemed to be like a doorway of some sort. One which was hooked up to a variety of machinery. Machinery all powered by her magical ability and seemed capable of doing all sorts of readings. “Today is going to be the day that I shall manage to get you to work, the way I had designed you all those months ago.” Her hoof continued to stroke the device while the grin calmly faded away.

        With a quick turn had she realized that the letter still laid upon the desk. The priority was to read that before doing anything else. The very risk was there, that Spike could have discovered her plans one way or the other. And that the content inside that very letter which seemed to be a threat if she continued on doing what she did.

        It seemed a little bit paranoid, but paranoid and Twilight had been holding each other’s hooves since she was accepted on the school for the gifted unicorns. And the only manner to discover just what it said was to open it up and read it for herself.

        With a confident nod was the letter levitated over to her and opened. The purple rimmed eyes begun to read through the content. While she read, she didn’t seem to be blinking one bit.

        It was odd for her, but the letter itself was basically a vacation application. “So, he’s gone to Canterlot and pay a visit to the royals. Right then, means I have free game and not him walking before my hooves. Should be a walk in the park than,” Twilight spoke up to herself. The mare had read through the letter multiple times before it was put aside again.

        She would have turned herself back around to the device and the gaze in her eyes turned itself over to a stern one. “Which makes it only you, and me.” Her horn charged itself up a bit more as all sorts of scrabbled notes were being levitated closer towards her and formed nice little stacks.

        She had to run through everything, one last time and see the places she had gone wrong before even attempting to turn the thing on again. Because one mistake not seen could be the end of her existence as she knew it. If not worse.

        Though minutes had turned themselves into painfully long hours. Twilight had finally plowed through all of her notes and scrabbles. She was connecting every last bit together in order to get the device up and running. Calculation after calculation had been by her mind. Up to the point where she was getting just utterly sick of them. Yet even with the hours of tinkering she seemed to be getting it the right way. There must have been this one little thing she seemed to be missing.

        It was just driving her over to the brink of insanity, or far beyond it. Twilight wanted to continue so badly on her brainchild. Though for some reason, she wasn't allowed. Not to mention that there had been a gnawing feeling of something not being there the entire time she had been working upon the calculations. Something that was of a rather great importance to her and something she couldn't have been missing whatsoever. Something so small yet seemingly so decisive.

        Almost as if the light bulb was being screwed unto her head, did the lights suddenly turned themselves on in her brain. Twilight knew almost exactly the thing she needed the most in the moment and even thought she had cracked the formula of what she needed. With a hop in her legs, she walked over to the table and shoved everything aside that wasn't of need to her.

        Soon after that, she ended up with a black colored notebook and opened it with the help of her magic as a pencil was being levitated over. On an empty page she started to sketch out the situation as it always had been for her and how she wanted it to be. The first drawing had the device turned on with a window that was cracked, while the other had one that was in one piece.

        “Time and space aren't fixed you stupid mare! They are in flux! Always on the move and changing with every single second,” Twilight explained to herself as the notebook was laid down again and she placed both of her forelegs upon the edge of the table. The legs stretched themselves straight, raising her body over the table as the pencil kept on going. “So if the portal is wanting to be working, I don’t need a solid window to look through. All I need is a flexible one. One that is like bubblegum, rubber band? No, no, no, bendable, clear plastic? Might be good enough, but that still doesn't protect me from the radiation, not to mention if they can see me peeking in.”

        That was the purpose of the device, to look into the past and future of an alternative universe. One that always walked parallel to the one she lived in. The changes on the other side of the great unknown where just some of the things that she wanted to discover. In a manner of speaking, Twilight had been wanting to invent nothing else but time travel. Time travel outside of a spell and without physically traveling back through it.

        It was already pretty obvious of just why Celestia had forbidden her to conduct the experiment. But she was just so close to getting it right. The sheer determination that Twilight had for the project as whole was unmatched by anything. Having not only build the device from scrap but also done the math all by her own with a bit of help from scrolls found in the libraries of both her own and Canterlot, it seemed to be possible.

        But seeming to be possible and being impossible, were two different things in life. What could happen in theory, doesn't have to work in the real world and vice versa. It was too much for Twilight to not give up. Everything she had been doing just proved to her that it would work. All that was needed was the stuff the time window was going to be made from. Which happened to be the thing that she had almost cracked.

        Though it would raise only more questions than answers. If she would be finally able to turn the thing on, would the other side not cause too much troubles for her mind? Would the other side not be able to see her? And what if the other parallel world happened to be nothing but a barren wasteland caused by some kind of time triggered event? All of those questions would arise in the moment she had fully worked out the formula she was working on the very moment.

        Ponies could have called her truly insane for the very thing that Twilight was attempting. They would have been backed up by her friends, mentor and other princesses of Equestria. The fate of the other worlds was something to be remained unknown and uncertain. But Twilight was a mare who rather had the questions in her mind answered in any way, rather than to be left without any.

        A good answer was just perfect, but a bad answer still happened to be one. Whether it was actually liked or not by her. Minutes had passed by while she continued to break her mind over the matter of the flexible glass to watch through. Many things had be coming up in her mind, but all of them just didn't cut it as it wouldn't have been granted the same ability to look clearly through it.

        Even though she had been going through all the materialized objects in the world, there still was one powerful arcane spell that most likely would be the thing she needed. It wasn't something she came up with fast, as the spell wasn't that often used. It was actually something that came to light the moment she started to think about if the solution could be found in her magical arsenal. Which from the looks of it, it apparently could.


~~~~

                     
Another hour had been used to carefully construct the formula. The one that was required for the arcane shield to be made to act like the flux window for the device. Small bottles were eventually being filled with a strange liquid that should be just enough to create the shield on certain placed. Each of the little bottles was then transported over to one of the many glass bubbles that hung on the outside of the doorframe, connected to muzzles inside of it.

        It was all rather high-tech stuff, even for Twilight. Thought the bubbles were being filled up to their max. Once that was done, Twilight had set each of the little bottles back on the table and released a deep sigh through her mouth. “This is going to be it, the moment of truth, and to see who happened to be right on the matter,” the mulberry mare softly spoke to herself. She placed the goggles before her eyes just in case.

        Her body was already being protected with the labcoat, the goggles should be protecting her eyes. Her horn charged itself up to heights never seen before to power up the monstrous device. Prayers in the tongue of the ancient unicorns were made by Twilight as the roaring engines came to life again. While she was used to their sounds, it would have been the first time for everything to just come together at once. And the first time to see, if everything had been worth the effort.

        Power rushed through the machine as the indicators gave off their measurements as the paper with the, what seemed to be seismic activity, rolled out of the edge of the machine. Trembles and roars of the thing were being made as she had been standing before it so many times that she could almost dream the procedure.

        All that was left for her to do was to pull the massive switch on the side and watch the window to be created before her eyes. At least that was the plan she had in mind. For in the world of science, anything could happen. And Twilight knew that fact just all too well. But she either truly determined or utterly stupid, for her hoof started to reach out for that switch.

        Before she could even know what was happening, she pulled the switch.

        All the liquids that were in the glass bubbles was sprayed through the doorway. It caused a massive show of light to emerge without a warning. Almost as if she had created a raspberry thunderstorm in the doorway, for that was how it looked like. Though it wasn't a moment to celebrate just yet. She had been standing there for so long, at that exact point. It was the point where previous tests always seemed to have failed. The next few seconds would have determined whether or not it worked or not.

        Yet Twilight had the feeling that the test she was doing then, was different than others. That it would actually succeed upon that what she was hoping to achieve. The mare did a couple of steps back before she heard them once more. Those eerie voices had returned to her. Voices that seemed to be coming from the other side. Voices that didn't drill themselves through her skull for once, but instead they could be picked up as normal conversations.

        “It’s working, it’s working,” Twilight whispered to herself. The white rays of lightning only seemed to becoming more and more intense. Not that it prevented Twilight from opening the darkened pieces of her goggles and thus allowing her true eyes, to look straight into the creation. “It’s, it’s beautiful,” the mare continued to whisper. She couldn't believe what she was.

        It made her even forget the many whispers that were going through her mind. It even made her miss something quite obvious. The sheer fact that the lightning itself, created an image of a head. A head of a mare that shouldn't be alive. The head that belonged to a nightmarish entity.

        The triumph that Twilight had achieved thus far was something that went way past the dreams of the mare already. Yet the experiment was long from being over. Everything seemed to be going just as it was needed to be or even better on some other parts. It seemed to be unbelievable, even to a mare like herself. Everything she had been working towards were waiting on that unpredictable lightning.

        That would be the decisive factor in the whole case. The lightning managed to calm itself down and form a window shape. Then she could know for certain whether or not her time and effort had been a success. But even if it was a fail, the lightshow on which she was treated with, was something that had made it worth it already. Never in her life had she seen something that beautiful and she doubted if she would be seeing it again.

        The indicators erupted in sound all of the sudden. Twilight was brought out of the dream with force. She closed the goggles again and rushed over to the equipment in order to make sure everything was still going alright. But the things that she managed to be reading seemed to be unheard from. “This, this isn't possible! So many particles shouldn't be existing in the same place. Unless, unless… Hahahaha!” She could almost have started to dance on the spot, weren't it for the sheer fact that a large explosion in the door frame managed to knock her back down on her hooves.

        An explosion that didn't had that much force, but the shockwave was all the more powerful had occurred. Though it was right after it that the silence had taken over of the basement and Twilight couldn't even hear the whispers in her head anymore. Everything was silent with the exception of the device and the doorway. Only small rumbles of thunder seemed to be leaving it and Twilight gulped.

        For her feelings had she managed to be doing it. Though she required confirmation with her eyes and guts. Slowly and with trembling legs did she walk over to the doorway and opened up the goggles again. The sight that fell in her eyes was something she couldn't believe, she just couldn't believe it even though it was right on front of her. “I, I did it… I actually, did it,” Twilight whispered to herself before a massive grin came to her face.

        In the door opening itself stood the thing she had been missing since the beginning. The flexible window that could have allowed her look through time and dimensions. It was a true work of beauty for certain. Weren't it with just one problem, the fact that she still needed to be looking right through it in order to confirm the fact whether or not her experiment was a success.


~~~~

                     
Slowly did Twilight appear by the doorway. She gave her eyes the time to look at the various things she could be seeing. And what she saw was something truly unbelievable. Through the still surging magical doorway did she gave her eyes the time to look through the dimensional window. The purple rimmed eyes watered up behind the goggles. Months of work had then come to an end. She was looking straight into the basement of the building. Yet the time of day and the arrangement were both different on the other side. Whether it was future or past was uncertain. It could even been present for all she knew. Yet out of everything there was one thing that she knew, she had done it.

        For minutes had Twilight just kept on watching through the gateway while also keeping her eyes strictly on all the measurements. From what she could tell, everything was just as good as it could be getting. Though caution was placed at the top of her priorities list.

        Then, out of nowhere, was the door on the other side opened and the mare was greeted with an alternate version of herself. A version who looked a couple months younger than the one who was conducting the experiment. This is going to be interesting, alternative dimension and me in the past, Twilight thought to herself. She avoided any direct eye contact with her other self. The purple rims never even once laid themselves on the other mare for obvious reasoning. It was better to play the game safe than sorry.

        Though from the sounds of it and the whispers spoken by the other side, whatever the other Twilight was to be planning on doing, the chemicals and spells heard weren't the most safest ones either. Only glimpse and pieces were caught in the lab coat wearing unicorn before the realization went through her body.

        The version of herself where she was looking at, was about to conduct an even more dangerous experiment. One that even she had classified as too dangerous. Twilight wanted to watch, if not warn her other self but the consequences of doing so could be a true disaster. What if she did screw up the timeline? Because who was to say it wasn't the actual past she was looking into?

        It made the unicorn realize just how much of her own experiment she still needed to discover, in order to advance to any next stage that may be following through it. Though Twilight couldn't believe that her other self was at the point of doing it. The exact specifics of the subject weren't known to the coat wearing mare at the time though. Her head filled itself with all sorts of possible outcomes and even intentions.

        In her ears she could hear the liquids being mixed together in the bottles and the goggled mare flipped them back down, just to be safe and to prevent her eyes from looking directly at her other self. With perhaps risk for her own life had she dared to look down and rest her eyes on the back of the other Twilight. The one who was conducting the experiment. Though the eyes quickly darted all over the place for everything wrong that she saw.

        Though her little darting had the unforeseen side effect. Her other self gazed over to the doorway all of the sudden. She looked straight into the eyes of the real Twilight. With the bottles held in her magic, the mouth of the mare fell open in silence. A second later was the flow of magic interrupted and ceased. It allowed the bottles of the liquids to fall down to the ground.

        The goggled Twilight couldn't do anything then to just stare right back at her even image in that same silence. In the moment seemed both their breathing and heartbeat to be in perfect sync with one another. Though then it just happened. The bottles crashed on the floor of the basement. Before either of the two could react, was it too late already. The deadly chain of events had been set in motion. One that would determine the fate of both of their lives.

        A massive explosion of a magical fire filled the basement of the other Twilight. A fire that not even lasted for thirty seconds. But those same thirty seconds, seemed to be like thirty years in the eyes of the goggled mare. Who opened the black lids again in order to watch for anything to be happening. If she could be as much as catching a single glimpse of what had happened in there.

        When the fires finally died down was the utter devastation is revealed to Twilight. The entire basement has gone, up in nothing but smoke and on the place where her other self stood, only a skeleton remained. “She, she didn't even had, the chance,” Twilight whispered to herself. Yet she dared to take a step closer to the window and look further.


~~~~

                     
Though the step did more good than she could have asked. The force of the explosion had caused the flexible window to be pushed far over its limits. It was meant to hold the flux of time in its place. It was never meant to counter the force of such a powerful blast. Little did Twilight knew, that the window was about to become a doorway.

        Cracks and creaks were heard loud and clear in her ears but she didn't gave them any heed. The sirens of the device were wailing through her ears as well but went unheard. All she could think about on that moment was the fact of how hard her other self must have screamed when life was literally blasted out of her. It was her own fault no less.

        Then it happened, the window became too fragile. It just shattered into both dimensions. In an instant had it created a doorway for the mulberry unicorn to enter through. Not only would the mare have been able to come through, so would the deadly vapors of the explosion. It was in the second that she realized that, that the horn charged itself up and made the room become an air lock. But not just her own, also that of her counterpart.

        Not a single bit of oxygen would be going in or out through any of the openings. “And so it happens then, doesn't it? A captain going down with his ship? A scientist going down with his greatest experiment?” Twilight questioned herself. She was at the verge of crying. She knew that her life would be ended soon enough, there wasn't anything she could be doing but pray.

        Twilight prayed on the fact that her soul be granted some mercy and that her magic would be able to hold the vapors inside after she had passed away. Both were long shots but worth praying for in those final seconds. If she had ever believed in some kind of god other than the princesses of the day and night, there would be the time and place to do so.

        The venomous vapor had started to enter both her nose and mouth with every breath she took. It caused Twilight to cough deep before she collapsed on her side. The immobilization had set in even faster than she had expected and closed her eyes. Twilight would then simply be waiting, waiting for her life to end and her to end in the afterlife she always refused to believe in.


~~~~

                     
When the eyes of Twilight opened themselves up again, it was just that. Just the eyes being opened and they watched over their situation. She blinked a couple of times slowly before her head turned itself over to one side. The side where Pinkie laid and the unicorn noticed that she seemed to be the only sane out of the bunch. “W-What happened to us, w-where are we, Pinkie?”

        Before Pinkie even spoke a word to Twilight, had her theory been confirmed once more. Twilight had woken up ten minutes after Rainbow. It seemed to be odd that the number ten came back just so often, but it didn't matter in the moment. Each of them were awake and seemed alright. Which only left the question of just where they happened to be.

        “Hey Twi, good to have you back in the land of the wake again,” Pinkie spoke up without any of the usual happiness she carried in her tone. “Celestia knows where we ended up, but I think nightmares happened to each of us.”

        That answer caused Twilight to tilt her head a little bit and look over all the other mares. Each of them just terrified for something. “I see what you mean. But from the looks of it, it looks like we are in Canterlot.”

        “How do you know?”

        “…You don’t want to know how many times Shining Armor either ended up here, or carried me here to visit a soldier he had beaten to the hospital. Sometimes, he doesn't even know his own strength,” Twilight returned with a chuckle to lighten the mood just a little bit.

        It seemed to be working. Pinkie cracked a gentle smile and a single chuckle. Yet only then she fell right back in her bed while sighing deeply. There wasn't much that Twilight could be doing to lighten the mood other than being right. She could have prayed that either Luna or Celestia had any kind of explanation for them.