Twilight Sparkle wrote furiously on her piece of scroll, only pausing to dip her quill into the inkwell when she ran out. The candlelight being the only thing shining onto her desk to illuminate the parchment that is quickly being filled up with words and equations. Twilight knows that Spike told her to get some rest, but she can’t stop writing, not now, she’s so close. So close to getting everything she’s been thinking down on paper.
A week ago, Twilight needed to go through a magic mirror to retrieve the Element of Magic after it was stolen. She found alternate versions of her friends in the human world, and though they were very similar to her friends, they also were different. Of course, that didn’t stop her from becoming friends with the humans, it’s just impossible to not be friends with them when Pinkie Pie is there to put together a Let’s be Friends with Twilight who’s an Alicorn Princess from an Alternate Universe Party. After defeating Sunset Shimmer and getting the Element of Magic back, Twilight returned back to her world after saying goodbye to her new friends. Her pony friends and the other three Princesses then greeted her when she came out of the mirror with Spike, and everything resumed its normality.
At least, until Twilight decided to scan the magical signature of the mirror, after that, she just kept coming up with theory after theory until she decided to try and figure out a way to replicate the effect of the mirror, but stronger.
And that is why Twilight is furiously writing in the middle of the night with nothing but a candle that’s about to burn out. Twilight sits up after finishing another page, and then proceeds to grab another piece of parchment from the stack of blanks to her left.
“Hoo.”
Twilight jerks up in surprise and looks behind her at the source of the disturbance.
“Oh, it’s you Owlicious. You startled me.” Twilight says to her pet owl perched on his stand slightly behind and to the right of her.
“Hoo.”
“I know Spike told me to get some rest, but I’m so close, I can feel I’m going to make a breakthrough at any point now.” Twilight responds to the concerned tone of her pet’s single sound.
“HOO!” Owlicious says a little louder than normal, indicating he’s getting irritated.
“Alright, alright, I’ll go to bed. But I’m going to test a dimensional viewing spell first, it isn’t what I’m working towards, but it will let me know whether I’m on the right track or not. I’ll go to bed right after, it’ll only take a minute.” Twilight negotiates with her pet.
“Hoo.” Owlicious replies, nodding, satisfied with his owner’s compromise.
“Alright then, I’ll get to it right away.” Twilight says while moving to the center of the library.
Twilight’s horn glows brightly as she concentrates on her spell, a clear disk forming vertically in the air in front of her as she does. A few seconds later, Twilight’s horn stops glowing and the disk is displaying trees and other animals in it, some of them nonexistent on Equestria. Twilight’s eyes light up at seeing the success.
“IT WORKED!!! That means that the Rift spell is only a few steps away from being complete.” Twilight says enthusiastically… before yawning tiredly.
“And it’s time I go get some sleep like I promised. It’s probably not a good idea to keep going while tired. With the way things work in Ponyville, I might just botch the spell at the very end and cause another catastrophe to occur. Thank you Owlicious for looking out for me. Goodnight.” Twilight says to her pet before heading upstairs to her bed.
“Hoo.” Owlicious replies, happy his owner is finally getting some sleep.
Metuo felt Aduro’s wing-talon rip through his left shoulder, the searing white energy passing through his flesh and bone with ease. Metuo screams in agony as his limb falls off, still smoking from the cauterized cut. He channels energy through his wings to strafe away from the older dragon, but Aduro is faster and channels through his wings to flank Metuo at blinding speed. Metuo turns in midair, his element enhancing his reflexes, but not fast enough to avoid a channeled blow to his midsection. Metuo flies straight into the wall, the wind getting knocked out of him in the process. Before Metuo can even cry out, he gets pinned to the wall by spikes of light impaling Metuo in numerous parts of his body, especially through his limbs. Then, and only then, does Aduro finally let up in order to let Metuo scream.
Only to find he can’t, because Aduro impaled him in his throat, disabling Metuo’s ability to breathe. Metuo’s body convulses in both pain and desperation.
“I’m sorry, son, but you didn’t give me much choice. You were resisting too much for me to be able to remove your core. You won’t be able to pass on until you’re unable to draw upon your element anymore.” Aduro says consolingly. “I promise, I’ll make this next part quick.” He says while walking towards Metuo briskly on four legs.
Metuo is too desperate to breathe to reply, not to mention that he can’t speak with his neck impaled.
“Tell your mother that I’ll be with you two in a little while, I still have some things I have to do before following.” Aduro says to Metuo with finality, before raising his right foreleg in preparation for one last strike.
Metuo is finally able to fight through the pain and lack of air in order to focus on Aduro. Metuo’s eyes staring at his supposed father with terror, his mouth silently pleading words he cannot speak.
‘No, no PLEASE NO!’ Metuo mouths and thinks desperately, his element urging him to avoid the next strike, but unable to due to his immobility.
Aduro thrusts his claw towards the center of Metuo’s chest.
‘NOOOOOOO!!!!!!!’
Aduro’s claw plunges deep inside his chest.
Metuo violently jerks awake, gasping in terror, all the while clutching at his chest where he thought he felt Aduro’s foreleg pierce it. He looks around frantically; slowly realizing it was just a nightmare.
‘A dream… just a dream.’ Metuo thinks to himself, trying to slow his heartbeat down.
Metuo concentrates on breathing for several long minutes, too rattled by his nightmare for his normal methods to work immediately.
Metuo raises his left foreleg to his sight, his slitted eyes able to see it shaking, due to the adrenaline still rushing through his bloodstream. He opens and closes his fore-claw slowly, still relieved that his element was at the point where he can regenerate lost limbs. ‘Still doesn’t mean I want to lose any more.’ Metuo thinks to himself, before looking down to his chest, realizing he’s still clutching it.
Metuo moves his right foreleg to see the somewhat jagged scar underneath, he sighs. ‘After all of the ugly injuries I’ve experienced, this one is the only one that actually scars.’ He thinks to himself morosely.
Metuo closes his eyes to try and calm himself down the rest of the way, the quiet of his room comforting him. 'Again... the same dream happened again. Why?' He silently asks the air around him.
Metuo gets up out of his bed, the sheets falling off of him as he steps onto the stone floor. He reaches out to the desktop next to his bed to grab his pendant, diamond shaped with a red crystal embedded in the center. After putting it on, he walks over to the mannequin in the opposite corner of his room. He removes the gauntlets from the armor and puts them on, before reaching for his sword and slips into the strap of its sheath. Satisfied that he has everything he needs, Metuo opens the door to his room, steps out, and closes his door again.
Metuo turns around to look across the hall, the open doorway revealing the empty bed of his younger sister, Starry Night, and feels a pang of sadness. ‘I wonder when she'll get back from her training with our aunt.’ He thinks, missing his sister.
Metuo stares at her room for a little longer, before turning down the hall to walk in the direction of the courtyard, intent on training until dawn.
‘I need to get stronger...faster… he found me once… he can find me again. I need to get stronger.’ Metuo says to himself, his eyes focusing on the ground as he walks.