She awoke abruptly the next morning. Her eyes opened almost instantly; it took a few seconds for the world to come into focus. She was breathing quite heavily, almost as if she was in a state of hyperventilation. Her heart conducted a symphony in 8/16 time. As soon as Twilight Sparkle calmed, she realized that she had returned to her bedroom. Thank Celestia it had all been a dream.
Twilight rubbed her hoof against the side of her head – had the nightmare come alive, that would have been where the axe had struck. Twilight could still feel ghost pains in the area; she could almost sense the axe still stuck in her temple. It just seemed so...real. Could it have been something she ate? Pinkie Pie's cupcakes did taste a tad strange the other day. Then again, she rarely makes mistakes while baking.
Gleaming rays of light penetrated the glass window. For any other pony, the light would signify the beginning of a beautiful, eventful day. For Twilight, however, it only signaled that she had overslept...and was behind schedule.
She sped through her morning routine, said goodbye to Spike, almost forgot to grab the manuscript papers, and sprinted to the train. Just in time, too. She planned to arrive at the train station 45 minutes before departure; luckily, she had at least managed to arrive with 26 minutes to spare. She still had some time before the train left, and it takes approximately one hour to reach Canterlot by train, so she decided to read over the manuscript to Departure one more time.
At the last instant, I changed direction and threw myself down; the axe splintered the trunk of a tree.
I stumbled into the pool of bright light. My lungs burned; I was too exhausted to move. I tensed as I waited for the killing blow, but it never came. I raised my head. Nothing moved in the darkness beyond.
For the moment, bathed in the cold light, I was safe.