"You won't believe what I've found!" Twilight said with glee as she sat with Applejack and Spike.
"And that might be, sugarcube?" Applejack asked in a rather unimpressed tone.
"When I was checking the outer limits of the old Castle of the Royal Pony Sisters I noticed a glint of metal from amongst the rubble. When I extracted the artifact I found that it was a whistle, similar to the kind that was sold at a shilling each when I was a filly. I'm not quite sure if it's brass or bronze or something similar. Judging by the position it was in it seems to suggest that it was deliberately sealed in some alcove of old." With that Twilight took the item out of her saddlebags and promptly gave it close scrutiny.
"Twi, no offense or anythin', bu' don'cha think ya should leave these ancient hidden things alone. Who knows what kinda curse it could have." Twilight was not happy about this remark and replied.
"Applejack, I told you before, there's no such thing as curses!" With that she went about scrubbing the whistle clean.
"Well, if anythin' strange starts," Applejack advised, "Ya'd better come see us and then we can work t'gether t'overcome it." With that Applejack departed the library.
"Twilight," Spike spoke in an uneasy manner, "Are you sure that thing's safe?" She sighed and replied.
"Spike, it's just a whistle. There's nothing scary about it. No curses, no magic, no ghosts, nothing but the usual function of a whistle." She then noticed something on the side of her find. "There's an inscription here." She promptly set up a stencil to make the markings easier to see. After a few minutes the characters came through.
吹口哨，我會來的。
Puzzled, Twilight tried to recall her ancient writing classes, but all she could make out were the words 'we' and 'basis'.
"Twilight," Spike warned, "Please send it to the Princess or something. I've got a bad feeling about this."
"Spike," She returned in a rather bothered tone, "It's just a whistle. Watch." She promptly put it to her lips and blew. The note it elicited was one that carried well but didn't seem all that loud. All of a sudden the wind began whistling through the cracks in the windows. "Huh? I don't remember that kind of wind being scheduled."
"Yeah. It's almost like it's whistling back at ya." Spike suggested apprehensively. Twilight rolled her eyes, sighed and said.
"Spike, I think perhaps we should get an early night."
Twilight was stunned to find that the wind was not only picking up so as to rattle the windows but she found herself feeling too unnerved to sleep. She had slept during windier nights than this so it made no sense; shrugging it off her eyes slowly shut.
Twilight found herself galloping with all her effort away from some... presence... that was pursuing her. Galloping across the wide open plain she occasionally heard a sound like some great swooping dragon crossed with a monstrous eagle.
Having this dream so soon after dozing off Twilight sprung awake quite easily but was not distressed enough to pop up from her pillow. She paused to wonder if it was worth noting for she had been informed about Princess Luna's mastery and knowledge of dreams but, unable to conjure up the effort, she dropped off again.
Twilight once again found herself galloping with the gusto of being pursued by some danger, however she momentarily noticed some dark pony-shaped cloud drifting towards her in a rather purposeful manner. She was horrified that this might be the source that led to Nightmare Moon and so galloped with an intensity inconceivable outside of the dream world.
Again Twilight started awake, this time trembling with the possibility that something akin to Nightmare Moon might awaken if she were not on her guard. Promptly she opted to try and read up a bit on the subject before attempting to sleep again.
"Twilight! What's happened to you?!?" Spike declared when she finally came down to breakfast. "You look as though Rainbow Dash has been performing stunts over your mane." Groaning Twilight helped herself to some coffee.
"Just had a bad night, Spike. That's all." There was a pause. "All things considered I suppose the rattling of the wind in the windows triggered a primal fear in my subconscious. Nothing a good sound scientific analysis can't fix." Spike wasn't really satisfied by this explanation.
"Yeah, I wasn't too comfy last night, either." He remarked as he served up some eggy bread. "I kept thinking I was being watched." Twilight paused at this before shrugging it off.
"Well, I did a re-read of the legend of Nightmare Moon last night." She admitted between mouthfuls. "However, despite what I saw in my dreams, it's pretty clear that the dark magic that dominated Nightmare Moon does not congregate so easily. Still, perhaps I should write to the Princess about this."
"On it!" Spike declared as he zipped off to grab a quill and parchment. He returned promptly but Twilight had finished breakfast by then.
"Dear Princess Celestia," Twilight began, "I don't wish to cause undue panic but, in light of a disturbance I experienced last night, I wish to inquire as to the exact nature of the darkness that culminated in Nightmare Moon. I fear that somepony may succumb to its influence in the near future, so if there is a risk I'd like to know what I can do to prevent it. Your faithful student, Twilight Sparkle." With that Spike sent it on its way.
During the day's activities Twilight almost completely forgot about last night's incident and merely carried on until Applejack drew her attention in the marketplace.
"Say Twi, have yer had much trouble with'at whistle yer found?" Upon hearing this Twilight realised it was still in the library.
"Oh. I forgot about that." She blushed. "Wouldn't say there's been any real trouble. It was a bit windier than scheduled last night, wasn't it?" Applejack gave her an incredulous look.
"Not really." She answered. "Just a smidge of a breeze." Twilight was stunned by this.
"Spike, the wind was rather strong last night, right?" He nodded firmly at this.
"Yeah, windows just went on rattling and rattling." Applejack looked between the two before stating.
"If yer two are havin' some kinda joke, Ah don't see the funny side." With that Twilight paused for a moment before excusing herself and made her way back to the library.
Twilight looked hard over the whistle, trying all she could to find anything new about it. She could now affirm it was made of bronze and close scrutiny of the inscription compared with a repository on the subject of this ancient scripture brought out the words 'blow', 'mouth', 'me', 'convocations', 'come' and 'target'. From this she figured that it meant to say 'We blow from the mouth and I shall come to target the basis of convocations', though she couldn't figure what this was supposed to indicate.
She was suddenly interrupted by a rather rapid knocking on the door. With a sigh she called out.
"The library is open." Whereupon the door swung open and Pinkie Pie jumped in.
"Course the library's open, Twilight." She remarked. "I mean it's only three o'clock." Twilight cocked an eyebrow at this and asked.
"Then why did you knock?" Pinkie Pie was nowhere in sight when she looked off for just a moment and suddenly found her right by her side.
"Because I wanted to talk to you, duh." She answered. "Had I wanted to borrow a book I'd just come in like I usually do." Twilight paused for a moment.
"I don't recall you borrowing books all that often." She said.
"Oh, well since I don't normally see anypony at the desk when I want to I go through the whole process myself." Pinkie produced one book that clearly had a checked-out stamp on its internal issue card.
"Pinkie, Spike and I usually take turns keeping an ear out for the bell to ring so we can get to the desk ready to issue books. How can it be that you manage to check the books out without us noticing? You don't use the library when it's shut, do you?"
"Oh, silly filly. You don't hear the bell because I don't come in through the door." At this Twilight stared incredulously. "I always come in by L-Space." Twilight stared at her.
"Pinkie, L-Space is a hypothetical extra set of dimensions first conceived by Pony Cratchitt in the middle of the First Age, which has been subsequently disproved by Chicken Bells shortly before the outbreak of the Second Griffon War." Pinkie cocked her head at this.
"Come on, Twilight. Knowledge is Power, Power is Energy, Energy is Matter and Matter is Mass, right?"
"Wrong." Twilight affirmed. "Knowledge is power but not power in the sense that electricity's a type of power."
"You read your silly books on physics," Pinkie promptly dismissed, "I got my own." Twilight couldn't figure what bizarre books she was referring to. "So, whatcha doin'?" Blinking a few times Twilight replied.
"I've been performing an archaeological study on this whistle I found at the Castle of the Royal Pony Sisters." Pinkie began an exaggerated examination of the article in question. "The inscription on top appears to be talking about blowing convocations or something like that. I'm still trying to figure it out." As she concluded Twilight took a glance out the window and thought she saw a dark figure moving in a slow canter towards the library, failing to make any headway. At first Twilight took this to be Zecora but she was not inclined to gallop and most certainly would not be in shadow these days; something about this sent a chill down her spine when Pinkie Pie interrupted.
"Hey, what about this inscription here?" Turning back Twilight began.
"I told you, Pinkie, it appears to translate into..."
"No, no, silly. This one with the really tiny letters." Pinkie turned the whistle over a couple of times until the second inscription was facing Twilight. Floating a magnifying glass over Twilight looked very carefully at these words:
Chun pwy bynnag fhaigheann seo, nid ydynt yn ymyrryd gyda fy ngwaith. Cuir gladdu seo i bpoll domhain áit éigin beidh aon duine a dhéanamh ar an botún céanna d'fhéadfadh tú. Rydych wedi cael eich rhybuddio, lleidr.
"It's a Unicornian dialect!" Twilight declared passionately. "Hmm, I can't quite work out what's being said."
"Hey, Twilight?" Spike interrupted as he came down the stairs. "When you got up in the night, did you perchance get into the guest bed by accident?" Twilight looked at him from over her shoulder before answering.
"I don't recall doing so. I'm sure if I had I would've woken up to find myself in it." Spike appeared to be rather unnerved for some reason as he hesitantly gestured to the staircase.
"Then how come all the sheets are rumpled?" He asked. Bewildered Twilight cantered up to her bedroom and looked over all three beds. Spike's basket and her own bed were made as was expected of Spike, but the spare looked as though Applejack had kipped there for the morning, for Twilight was sure that it was made-up as normal when she rose.
"Some kinda phenomenon." Twilight mused.
"Do-do-diddle-ado." Pinkie chanted as she popped up. "Oohhh. Looks like somepony's got a new houseguest. Hey! You gotta introduce us sometime, Twilight. I must prepare a 'Welcome to Ponyville' party for them. Who is it, Twilight? Who is it?"
"Pinkie, there's no houseguest. I'm telling you it was just me and Spike last night. Whatever's happened here's not because there's somepony kipping in the library. At least, not to my knowledge." Twilight put a hoof to her chin and said. "I must conduct a search of the library." She was just on her way to scour the basement when Spike burped. Taking the letter a fraction of a second before Spike did Twilight read:
Dear Twilight Sparkle, while I do enjoy receiving your letters and reports I must say I was slightly shocked by the information you've proffered. It so happens that I have also undertaken an investigation as to the possibility that the negative energies that dominated Nightmare Moon would seize upon another open mind and the results, confirmed when Luna was able to overcome her sorrows, point to there being no risk to anypony. However, to ensure that you can enjoy peace of mind, I will welcome any suggestions you may have that could help us monitor the psyches of our subjects without seeming to be too intrusive. Signed, Celestia.
Once Pinkie Pie had gone and Twilight had all the library searched for intruders and squatters she promptly closed up. Her mind now focused on translating the second inscription on the whistle.
"For who..." Twilight started her deciphering, "Event? No, no, that can't be right." She crossed out this translation and carried on in the hope that the context would unveil the real meaning behind the third word. "Finding this... Aha! It's a message directed at me." Twilight sighed with relief at this realisation. "So we have 'To whoever finds this...', yes, that makes sense." She wrote this out in a more permanent manner and moved on. "No they in?!?" Twilight groaned in exasperation when she found the next portion not making any sense. "Perhaps I should call it a night."
Twilight found it difficult to sleep again that night; the wind was modest now but her mind raced in an effort to work out the context of the Unicornian inscription. It gave her pause for thought that if it were from the later years of the First Age, then whoever made it needn't have made an inscription in that ancient tongue. If that weren't enough there was a sound of someone else tossing and turning in their bed.
"Oh, Spike." She murmured sleepily. "Please relax; I'm here." There was a drowsy groan from the dragon but something seemed off; the sound of rumpling sheets was coming from the opposite direction to where she heard his groan.
Twilight found herself looking over a wide rolling landscape in vivid detail. To one side there was a suggestion of some old castle and, to the other, tall striking mountains. It was at once familiar and strange, as though Ponyville had vanished and Canterlot had been entirely moved across the world and given a redecoration. In the midst of all this she saw a pony galloping like the wind, clearly desperate to escape some pursuer. As Twilight retraced the pony's line of travel she saw, to her horror, a dark mist seeping through the vegetation, occasionally balling up into a vague pony-like shape before once again seeping after its target. Twilight spent a seemingly long time watching this in transfixed apprehension before she caught something emerging from the castle out of the corner of her eye. It was only a couple of seconds but there seemed to be this rising cloud of prismatic glitter that was trying to take on the form of a pony's head.
When she woke Twilight decided that she must write down what she could remember of her dreams of late in the hopes that, when she had an opportunity, she could discuss the implications of them with Princess Luna and, hopefully, find peace of mind once again. Once that was done she then returned to the Unicornian inscription.
"Hang on." Her somewhat rested mind finally found a connection. "It mentions the burying of something, and... 'no one will make the same mistake'? Is this some kind of old chestnut used as a deterrent? But why's it in Unicornian and not in Proto-Equestrian or even Transitional Equestrian?" She moved this translation work off to the side and recovered a tome on the subject of ancient wards. She found a passage mentioning that for a few thousand years after the ascension of the Princesses it was popularly believed that the original languages of the pony tribes could wield protection magic over chosen possessions. "So, the pony who originally owned this must've been a unicorn who was reasonably well-versed in the old Unicornian tongue and they couldn't have been alive any time after 4100FA. This is great! Why it could be that nopony's blown this whistle before me in the space of four thousand years. Oh, when I send Princess Celestia my report on this finding it could open a whole new archaeological survey." Twilight was about to return to translation when she noticed that the time had rolled on and she had a luncheon appointment with three of her friends.
"Say what?!?" Rainbow Dash blurted out upon hearing Twilight's testimony regarding the night before last.
"As sure as the grass is green." Twilight affirmed. "Spike was witness to it, too. The wind blew quite potently that night round the library, and yet Applejack says it was nowhere near as fierce."
"Quite right." Applejack pointed out. "Say, ya weren't engaged in some studies with magic and the air, were ya?"
"No." Twilight replied in a most blunt manner. "All I did was blow that old whistle to prove to Spike that superstitions about the old castle are unfounded."
"Wait, what?" Rainbow Dash interjected. "What whistle?" Applejack did not look comfortable at all now.
"She went and uncovered some ancient whistle at the castle in the Everfree Forest." She pointed out.
"Yeah, and there are a couple of inscriptions on it that I'm currently trying to translate." Twilight responded excitedly.
"You mean to say that you blew on a whistle that's been hidden in the old castle," Rainbow Dash sought confirmation, "Before finding out what its inscriptions say?!?"
"Dear, dear Twilight!" Rarity bemoaned. "Whatever have you done?"
"It doesn't make any sense." Rainbow Dash continued. "You maybe more bookish than us but even I wouldn't dare blow a whistle that's been sitting underneath those ruins, even if it had been cleaned... unless of course somepony had the audacity to dare me." She added when Applejack gave her a slightly cocky glance.
"Twilight! Twilight!" Came a terrified voice across the street and they all turned to see Spike running with such gusto as hadn't been seen since an Ursa Minor had intruded on the town. "The bedroom... white... spectre... thing... come, look!" Spike was just about to run back with a little less enthusiasm when he found himself floating through the air towards the girls.
"Spike, calm down." Twilight insisted. "Now, why don't you tell us exactly what happened." After a few steaming breaths he began to tell his story.
"I was just heading back with a few groceries," Twilight nodded at this when she recollected their routine on this particular day, "When I happened to glance up at our bedroom window and I saw... a thing waving from it. Oh, it looked horrible, like a timber wolf with the proportions of a pony and yet... it seemed as though it wasn't solid, like it kept reshaping itself under that shroud." A quick glance between the four of them confirmed that they should investigate into this, despite some apprehension amongst a couple of mares.
Returning to the library Twilight found the shopping bags scattered about in a small area, indicating where Spike was when he was taken with fright; as Rarity gathered these things together Twilight stood at the exact spot and looked to the window in question. As she could understand it there was no way Spike could've just seen the fluttering of bedclothes caused by a stray gust from a passing pegaus or the like. Promptly they then stepped inside and snooped around.
"It's not Pinkie's style," Rainbow Dash identified, "But if the door was locked and the windows shut then nopony could've got in without being able to teleport."
"And nopony I know has the ability and the motivation." Twilight added. "I can conceive of ponies with one or the other but not both." Just then Rarity let out a horrified scream, prompting the others to come galloping into the bedroom.
"This is horrible!" Rarity cried. "I've never seen such a grotesque sight in all my life." Neither Applejack or Rainbow Dash were prepared to see what unspeakable terror she had found.
"Do you see it, Rarity?" Spike asked uneasily.
"How could you let your bed remain in such a state?" She directed the question at Twilight. She immediately set about making the bed.
"But nopony's been in that bed." Twilight confirmed. "Not last night, not the night before." As AJ and RD gathered round, glancing between the bed and the window, Applejack spoke up.
"If Ah were you, Twi, Ah'd move tha' bed outa here." With that they departed once Rarity had finished.
Twilight had only just managed to complete the translation of the Unicornian inscription when Rainbow Dash had returned almost right upon the moment the sun was set.
"Rainbow!" Twilight declared enthusiastically. "You've just gotta hear this transcription I've made. To think that millennia ago ponies would've taken it so seriously." Dash did not seem so eager.
"I think you'll find some ponies these days can be just as readily persuaded." She remarked before Twilight read out her translation.
"To whoever finds this, do not interfere with it. Bury it deep in the ground somewhere so that no one shall make the same mistake you did. You have been warned, thief." Rainbow Dash did not look happy to here this. "Whoever had this was very keen to stop other ponies getting their hooves on it, weren't they?"
"Yeah." Rainbow answered uneasily. "Anyway, Twilight, I'm gonna be kipping above the library tonight so, if you want me, just holler." Twilight arched an eyebrow at this before settling with the explanation that she was letting her apprehension determine her decisions regarding loyalty. "But did ya get to translate the other inscription? The one with the weird writing."
"It's not weird," Twilight affirmed, "It's one of the most ancient forms of magical scripture known, but none of my translation efforts make sense."
"Well don't look at me." Rainbow Dash argued.
"I wasn't." Twilight stated simply. "*groan* Maybe I should just call it a night for now. I'll have to go all out tomorrow, though."
The same rustling of bed sheets was heard by Twilight that night and she listened a bit more intently, especially when she could find no sign of a draft. She had made sure where Spike's bed was at this time, but he was still in the bathroom since she had opted for an early night. Noticing that the sound was coming from the spare bed she considered the possibility that some small animal was moving around in there; Twilight thought about asking Fluttershy to check the library for lost animals until the sound shifted in such a way that it was like someone was getting up while still tossing.
Twilight Sparkle's eyes became fixed upon that very same bed and watched in bewilderment and nervousness as the sheets began to rise up into the air without any help from her. Anxiously she slipped out of her own bed and cautiously sidled as best she could towards the pole rod, trying to convince herself that somepony was having her on. As she levitated the rod the sheets bundled up into a vaguely pony-esque form and began to move towards her own bed, reaching out with vague facsimiles for hooves to search for the occupant. The way it moved was almost like a cross between floating and crawling. Twilight figured that who or what was behind this had no visual reference for the inside of her bedroom as she gingerly moved the pole over the form to search for any controlling wires; none were found and there was no sign of unicorn magic being worked upon the sheets. The only remaining option was that control of the sheets was being performed from underneath, and there was nothing alive that could account for the strange morphology that had occurred unto the linens.
When the form had finished inspecting Twilight's empty bed it then shifted into the light of the window and now Twilight could behold the general form in more detail, to her utter dread she found that the sheets around what should've been the head were taught in such a way that no living creature could possibly have been able to breathe without shifting the front of the sheets. As more detail became clear Twilight found that she was not looking at some practical joker under a mound of linen, but instead she saw a mound of linen trying to take on the form of a pony. Anxiously Twilight stepped back and knocked a shelf with her tail, which was all this thing needed. It suddenly leapt right at her, exhibiting a face that, in keeping with the most recent description, seemed to suggest the face of a deceased pony left to decay for at least one month and then had all the moisture extracted. Twilight could not fight her equine instincts any longer and cried out in horror and distress, doing all she could with the prop to try and push her assailant away but not once could she find the courage to pounce upon it with her bare hooves. The terror permeated itself so deeply that she even feared using her magic to yank the sheets off whatever had possessed them. A hoof teetered on the edge of the internal balcony as the spectre steadily drove her further and further back.
At that moment the window burst open and Rainbow Dash thrust her head in and gaped in shock at the sight before she flung herself down onto the form of sheets, which collapsed beneath her hooves, and then Spike entered the room with a cry.
"What is it?!? What's the problem?" Before he saw Twilight having trouble returning her hind hoof to a solid surface. Swiftly he ran up and gave her a boost, just as Rainbow Dash grabbed a forehoof.
"I don't know what that was," Rainbow remarked, "But I can't help but think that if I weren't here you'd be in need of a hospital visit."
"I don't get it." Twilight stammered. "What in all the wide world could make a bunch of sheets do something so terrifying?"
"A ghost?" Spike suggested in a rather tongue-in-cheek manner.
"Yeah." Rainbow affirmed. "But whatever kinda spectre you had here it clearly didn't have any real fight in it. You could've just pounded it down."
"I don't understand." Twilight sat upon the floor in shock. "For some reason I just couldn't bring myself to make physical contact with it."
The impact of her experience was such that Twilight Sparkle felt no comfort in sleeping alone, and so invited Rainbow Dash to kip in the spare bed for the rest of the night after swapping the sheets for fear of what might happen.
"I've really got to figure out that inscription." Twilight mumbled as midnight approached.