It's been a day since my confrontation with that stallion that kidnapped Spike. Spike... just thinking about him makes me feel the worst. I've been unable to write properly with all these thoughts cycling through my head. The dark presence, my somehow rewritten friendship letters, the recent loss of my good friend Doctor Whooves. It's all been bashing my head open, causing way too many headaches to put up with. Or maybe those are because of Pinkie constantly openly worrying about everything, running back and forth and naming every possibility of bad outcomes. Thankfully, some fortune has come my way. I recently got a letter from Ditzy, saying that she had found some of the friendship letters and wants to hoof them over personally. We headed over there immediately, Pinkie somehow looking more excited than I do.
"How the hay did she get her hooves on the letters, anyway?" I say as we walk up to where she lives.
"I don't know. She's amazing though for doing this, I thought we were lost in this. Listen, I found lots of crazy stuff while I was digging around..." I suddenly get a surprise when my horn starts glowing. I activate it and I'm greeted by Sunset Shimmer.
"Hey Sunset, what's wrong?"
"Twilight, we have a royal guard here. His name is Bluegrass."
"Royal guard?"
"He's... anxious to see you. You'd better come to the station."
"Okay, I'll be right over." I end the call as I follow Pinkie through a double doorway attached to fencing. "Let's make this quick." We're then greeted by an older stallion who is walking towards us.
"Can I help you folks? Name's Redbay. I'm the manager."
"We're looking for Ditzy Whooves, works as a waitress at the diner?"
"Who?" he said with a puzzled look on his face. I didn't really like using that nickname everyone calls her, but seems I had to use it hear.
"(sigh) Derpy?" I nearly cringed at the name.
"Grey coat, yellow mane, bubbles as her cutie mark?" I gave him an annoyed look and he soon corrected himself. "Derpy Whooves, riiiiight. Yeah, sure. Nice mare. Who wants to know?"
"I'm Twilight Sparkle, Princess of Friendship."
"A princess, huh? I heard on the radio you were visiting. Well, I'll show you her cottage." He then turned around and waved his hoof toward where I was facing, motioning us to follow him. He had a slight limp to his walk. "That Derpy, she's a nice mare. Pretty cute too. Too bad she's already with the doctor." The mere mention of his name caused me to look down in sorrow. There was nothing I could do to save him. I just had to keep going forward. All that matters is saving Spike.
"As I was saying, Twilight, I found all sorts of weird things from the local newspapers and the old ponyfolk who live here. This place is wacko! Ponies disappearing out of nowhere, mysterious deaths, urban legends come true... and, get this, most of this stuff takes place around Coltron Lake." Pinkie was going insane telling me these things, like it was the most important piece of the story.
"Well, you ain't wrong Miss. The Bison thought the lake was a doorway to Tartarus. I'm what-you-call the superstitious type myself, since you never really know what's out there. But I don't hold with that sort of thing." The stallion gave a joking look like we were crazy talking about this stuff. Pinkie looked at Redbay like he was the crazy one.
"This is serious stuff buddy! Lives are on the line!" Pinkie walked in front of him and started poking him in the chest. She looked like she was going to pounce on him.
"Pinkie, calm down. It's fine if he has his own opinion on this." I pulled her closer to me with my wing and she looked at me with worried eyes.
"Oops, sorry Mister." she said while giving an embarrassed look. He just nodded and started leading us toward the cottage. "Anyway, there was an island there, owned by an old mare named Falebine. Now, some of the articles I found on the newspapers made her out to be a powerful unicorn. But when I asked all the ponies if they'd heard of her, they just looked at me like I was crazy or refused to talk to me after that. Those who did said they had never heard of her or any of her books. She was apparently very interested in Sombras magic. She'd learned how to use it fully, but not control it. The place was apparently always darker the everywhere else, even during sun filled days and all ponies could hear when they walked by were heavy gusts of wind and the mare screaming. So much so that it was called the Isle of the Abyss. Ooooohh." she said while waving one of her hooves at me dramatically. "Heh, sorry. The last anyone saw of the island was when a giant black magic field swallowed the island whole and took Falebine with it."
We came to a short stop when we noticed something unsettling. It was a passenger car of a train. Pinkie and I just stood there staring while the stallion laughed.
"He he, yeah how about that! It was there in the morning, as if it had fallen from the sky. But it would take a tornado to lift something like that here. Thank Celestia nopony got hurt." He turned and opened up a wooden fence door as Pinkie and I followed through.
"Did you find anything else that could help us Pinkie? Anything at all?" It took her a moment, but then she started bouncing happily.
"Yes, this one might interest you a little. Trixie apparently went there a week later and was never seen again. Trixie was learning magic from Falebine!"
"She wasn't learning dark magic was she?" A look of utter shock was plastered on my face.
"No no of course not. In fact, she might've went there to save Falebine, but was taken herself."
"And where did you learn all of this about Trixie and Falebine?"
"From Cynthia Weaver. That old mare who is worried so much about the lights. She knew Falebine before she disapeared and she had some kind of a breakdown. I'm filled with so much information I feel like I'm going to--"
Her words were cut short as she didn't realize where she was going she slammed the side of her head into a wooden pole and fell back on her flank. I helped her back up and we looked at Redbay. He was looking at the last cottage in the area.
"Well, M'lady, this here's Derpy's cottage. Mind me asking what you want with her, if you don't mind me asking of course?"
"We're just here to talk to her." I said with a light smile. He returned the smile and trotted back the way we came. I walked up to the front porch and it looked liked well kept. I saw Pinkie come up behind me and she looked like she had something on her mind. "What's the matter Pinkie?"
"Do you think we should tell her about what happened to the doctor?" I could tell she didn't want to tell her, but she felt as though it was the best thing to do.
"It's better than hiding it from her" I said as I walked up to the door. I was about to knock when the door just swung open. "Hi there Ditzy, mind if we..." I held my tongue as I fully looked at her. She appeared as though she had fallen down a hill. She was still wearing her diner uniform, but it appeared disheveled and ripped apart. Her eyes had bags under them and she had no emotion on her face at all. She also seemed slightly...darker than how she usually looks. "...come in?"
"Oh dear, Ms. Sparkle, I'm -- I'm so glad you're here." Her tone matched her face, void of any emotion. "Please come in, your friendship letters are in here."
"What's wrong with Derpy?" Pinkie whispered in my ear with large amounts of worry and a slight amount of saliva. I couldn't answer and we just followed her inside. The place didn't have a single candle or light source at all. Even all of the blinds were gone and large pieces of cardboard were blocking them. "Hey Derpy, are you okay? You seem less...bright than usual." I slightly scowled at Pinkie for that. Now is not the time for puns.
"Ditzy I would love to talk with you, but now's not the time. I really need those letters for something. It's very important that I get them quickly."
"Yeah, plus there's something we need to tell you." Pinkie trotted over and put her arm around Ditzy's shoulder. "The Doctor--"
"Is gone, I know. It happened after he took a little trip down the rocky road." she said, still having no emotion in her voice at all.
"How do you know that Ditzy?" I asked while slightly backing up. Things were definitely wrong here. Before I had a chance to react, I felt a cold and metal object clank me in the back of the head. I fell to the floor as my vision faded in an instant. All I could hear was Pinkie screaming for me.
***
My eyes were assaulted with an aura of bright light shining in my face. I was surrounded by darkness, but something was holding it back. I started to hear a very familiar voice calling out to me.
"Twilight! It's coming for you, hiding in Falebine's skin, my once great and powerful teacher. I'm to weak to stop it. You must turn the lights on."
The light then vanished and I could feel a dark presence surround me. I was turning in all direction, but I couldn't activate my magic. I felt like a trapped animal. Suddenly, a new, but also familiar voice began speaking to me.
"I promised I'd come visit you and your cute little friend. You must finish what you started!" I felt as though something cold touched my arm, but when I turned, there was nothing there. "I insist."
The first voice came back, sounding urgent.
"You must turn the lights on." I was beginning to panic. "Turn the light on."
***
I awoke on a bed in a dark room. It appeared to be Ditzy's room, but dark, except for a small T.V. in the room illuminating the surroundings in white. I moved my eyes frantically, but I couldn't move. I looked up and noticed an old mare leaning down towards me. It was the same old mare who gave me the keys to the lodge. The same old mare who appeared in my dream.
"Back to work, filly."
"Haagh!" I screamed as I gained control of my horn and shined the brightest light I could. I looked around the room and found the mare was gone. I lowed the brightness after realizing I was safe. I felt nauseous, hung over. Only anger and confusion kept me going. I looked at the T.V. as it flashed with light. I could see myself speaking gibberish again.
"I can't tell reality from dream anymore. But it seems I have an imaginary assistant to help me. She's an old mare in a funeral dress. I call her Falebine. She's very strict. I'm writing faster and faster. My lessons are being heavily changed. These changes are getting very aggressive and each day there's less of the meaning of friendship and more of her. I hate it, but I know she's right. She promises me I can save Spike this way. She knows more of this than I do. About the complex incantation I'm attempting, about this place. She has worked with a unicorn before under similar circumstances: Trixie Lulamoon, one of my long time friends. The meaning of the letters seems to be shifting. Their turning chaotic, into hatred letters. I'm getting close, I can feel it."
After the T.V. shuts off, I walk out to the living room to find the mess that was in the living room. Pinkie was on the floor unconscious, a small bit of blood on her head. Ditzy wasn't in a better situation. She was on the floor curled up in a ball, silently sobbing. As much as I felt bad for her, I was angry. Ditzy had taken a day away from me. I had less than twelve hours left to meet the kidnappers. All I could do was get Pinkie out of her and work something out at the cabin. I left my gun and flashlight at the cabin. I'd have to fly Pinkie out of here as quickly as possible. There was no time to waste. I was going to find Redbay and tell him we were leaving. As I left, I noticed a page on the ground near the entrance of the porch. It was a friendship letter!
Dearest Princess Celestia,
I am happy to report that one of your youngest subjects has learned a valuable lesson about friendship. Sometimes, the thing you think will cause you to lose friends and feel left out can actually be the thing that helps you make your closest friends and realize how special you are...
"Thank goodness I got at least one of these!" I folded it up and began flying above the cottages. I noticed bright red and blue lights and what sounded like a stallion making siren noises.
"You don't need to do that every time we go to do something!" The stallion making the noises stopped slowly, then looked up and freaked out. He must've thought I was trying to escape because he soon shot a bolt of magic at me. I felt my wings lock up and I fell down. I landed on some discarded pillows though, so thankfully the landing was soft. I saw Redbay walk up to me with a frustrated look.
"Oh, you're gonna get it now! Celestia knows what you've done to that poor girl." I gave him the most confused look as I heard heavy hoof steps moving towards the gate fast.
"This is Bluegrass of the Royal guard! Get down, Speckle! You're going back to Canterlot. You move a muscle, I'll blast you right here I don't care." I began to lower myself slowly as I moved behind Redbay, keeping eye contact with the guard. "Stay right where you are, Twinkle!" I tried to teleport, but my teleportation spell wasn't working. That spell must've affected all of my transportation abilities.
I quickly bolted to the left, hearing a large spell fly right past my back. In fact, I heard multiple magic bolts fly past me. I don't know how I managed to dodge them all, but I did and I managed to make it over a fence, but I tripped and fell rather non gracefully. I could overhear Redbay freaking out at Bluegrass about almost killing him. I was now a fugitive from the law and I still had to meet the kidnappers. How was my life continuously getting worse and worse?!