//------------------------------//
// Chapter 24 
// Story: Sleeping in the Light 
// by Wheller 
//------------------------------//


Chapter 24


As the scene changed once more, the passive observers felt the return of the oppressive atmosphere that been present in the Ponyville Public Library in the previous memory. Only now, it was much, much worse. Kelso couldn't help but rub at her eyes; the entire world looked fuzzy, as if she had just opened her eyes after a night’s sleep.

It most certainly wasn't a good night's sleep either. Twilight Sparkle was standing with her friends on a dirt road leading to a large apple orchard; all of her friends were here, minus Rainbow Dash, Vinyl Scratch and Surprise. Kelso knew where Rainbow Dash was. They did not know why she was absent, however. With each passing moment, the memory became more distorted and broken; it was almost like reality was fading out around Twilight Sparkle.

The whereabouts of Vinyl Scratch and Surprise were not known to them either, and the more they thought about it, the more possible it was that Twilight may not have known either.

Pinkie Pie, leaned over and patted Twilight on the back, she was about to say something, but the act had startled the lavender unicorn mare. Twilight’s saddlebags split open at the seam and the book that she had secretly been carrying fell out onto the ground.

‘Uh... Twilight? There any perti’clar reason yer carryin’ around that big ol’ book?’ Applejack asked.

‘Yes!’ Twilight said as she snatched the book up and pulled it closely to her chest, as if she was a mother holding a newborn foal... a sick, twisted and unnatural newborn foal. ‘Not that I’d expect an illiterate hick like you to understand’, Twilight snapped at her.

'Oh no', Dizzy said as everyone's eyes fell upon the book. 'It's actively poisoning her mind!'

Everyone’s mouths fell open and they all gasped. They couldn’t believe that Twilight had actually just said that.

Applejack's mouth slowly closed, and a look of anger began to form on the earth pony mare's face. ‘Yeah, maybe Ah can’t read like ya, but just cuz you got yer fancy Canterlot education don’ mean yer better than me!’ Applejack snapped at her, she stepped forward, ready to take a swing at Twilight for the insult, and might have had Rarity and Pinkie Pie not intervened.

‘How about you go buck some apples Applejack’, Twilight snapped at her. ‘It’s what you’re good at’.

‘How ‘bout you go soak yer head! It’s honestly what ya need!’ Applejack quipped back.

Twilight turned and ‘accidentally’ swatted Applejack with her tail and galloped away. Applejack snapped, and would have chased after her and beaten the smug educated unicorn to a pulp had her friends not held her back. Fluttershy pulled Applejack away and the two started walking down the dirt road to help her cool off.

Rarity picked up Twilight’s tattered saddlebags and looked at them in disappointment. ‘What was that all about?’ she asked as she looked back to Pinkie Pie. Pinkie Pie merely gave a shrug, and a worried look to her friend, she had not the faintest idea.

...

The scene melded into the Ponyville Public Library once more, but it was not the Library as Kelso and company recognised it. The light of the room as a sepia tone, and shapeless shadowy figures flowed freely through the air. Shapes began to run together. It was as if the world was becoming a nightmare around Twilight Sparkle.

Twilight was lying on her bed, rocking back and forth clutching the Tome of Alhazred like her life depended on it, and she looked only vaguely aware of what was going on around her.

There was a knock at the door.

‘Go away Spike...’ Twilight called out.

There was a garbled response from the aether; Twilight had not comprehended what had just been said to her. She remained silent as a the sound of an echoing creek filled the air, Kelso turned towards the door, and a ray of soft pink light cut through the shadows. The pink light became brighter as it filled the air around Twilight, and the shape of Pinkie Pie came into view from nothingness.

‘Twilight?’ Pinkie Pie asked.

‘I don’t know what came over me Pinkie Pie... I just... I just looked at Applejack and then I got really angry. I still can’t believe I said that. I’m so horrible...’ Twilight said, continuing to rock back and forth. ‘What’s wrong with me Pinkie Pie? You’ve all been so good to me...'

There was a quiet yet, shrill scream off in the distance, as the image of a ghostly eyeball flashed in front of Kelso's eyes, and she jumped in surprise, nearly letting out a scream. The Tome of Alhazred was fighting to maintain control of the situation.

However, something peculiar happened, Pinkie Pie placed her hoof on Twilight's shoulder and sat down on the bed. The oppressive feel of the memory began to lessen. The shadowy atmosphere began to lessen significantly. The shadows were still there, but they were nowhere near as numerous. The light from Pinkie Pie filled the room, and made everything feel safer.

Pinkie Pie merely smiled at Twilight, patting her on the shoulder for support as she sat down on the bed next to her. ‘I don’t think that there is anything wrong with you Twilight, you’re just hurt, and you want to lash out at the pony that hurt you, except she’s not here’, Pinkie Pie said.

Twilight nodded and started to cry. Pinkie Pie approached her and wiped the tears from her friend’s eyes. Kelso had never seen a more heart warming scene in her entire life. The Tome of Alhazred had to be hurting from this! 

‘Thank you Pinkie’, Twilight said as she struggled to smile, eventually managing a small one. ‘You’ve been so good to me...’

‘You’re my friend Twilight, I care about you!’ Pinkie Pie said with a bright smile.

Twilight’s smile grew slightly. She loosened her grip on the Tome of Alhazred and allowed it to fall onto the bed. Twilight sat up and gave Pinkie Pie a tight hug. ‘Pinkie Pie, you’re the best friend anypony could ever want. Thank you so much’.

‘Oh... Twilight! I’m not that great’, Pinkie Pie said modestly, rubbing a hoof against the back of her head.

‘Oh, don’t sell yourself short Pinkie!’ Twilight said as her face grew into a full smile. ‘You’re great! I... I wish that I’d seen how you felt about me before... you would have never hurt me...’

The two of them sat quietly for a moment, Pinkie Pie wasn’t really sure what to say to that, but nevertheless, she tightened her grip on Twilight, giving the unicorn a big hug. ‘I’m always here for you Twilight’, Pinkie Pie said finally.

Twilight placed her head against Pinkie Pie's shoulder and her lips curled into a small smile. She enveloped the large book in her telekinesis and levitated it into the air, placing it on the shelf. The scene began to become more normal, and the shadows had all but completely faded from view.

'Yeah Twilight! Fight the book! Don't let it control you!' Dizzy cried out.

‘Pinkie Pie... can I ask a favour?’ Twilight asked.

‘Of course you can Twilight!’ Pinkie Pie said smiling brightly at the unicorn mare.

‘I didn’t sleep very well last night... I’m... I’m not used to sleeping by myself anymore’, Twilight said. ‘Would... would you like to stay the night?’

Pinkie Pie wasn’t sure what to say about that. ‘Um... Twilight... I don’t know if that would be appropriate...’ she said nervously.

Twilight frowned, but then gave Pinkie Pie a weak smile afterwards. ‘You’re always trying to look out for me Pinkie Pie. I appreciate it... I just... I just don’t want to be alone, that’s all’.

Pinkie Pie gave Twilight a small smile. ‘Okay’, she said finally.

Pinkie Pie and Twilight laid themselves down on the bed. They looked up at the ceiling, and the shadows were struggling to maintain their presence, the Tome of Alhazred was losing this fight. Twilight stretched out her right hoof and took Pinkie Pie’s left and gave her a smile. ‘Pinkie Pie? Thank you for being such a good friend to me’, she said as a single tear ran down her cheek. Pinkie Pie smiled back at her, and reached around and wiped the tear away. Twilight closed her eyes and slowly drifted off to sleep.

'Yeah!' Kelso cried out. 'Go Pinkie Pie! You did it! You won!'

The shadows were gone completely.

A book fell off the shelf and landed on the floor with a hard thud. Kelso and company looked over towards it. ‘No!’ Kelso cried out as they looked upon the Tome of Alhazred. Pinkie Pie sat up on the bed and looked at it oddly, discovering that it was the same book that Twilight had been holding onto before. Pinkie Pie rose from the bed, and trotted over to it, nearly picking it up.

‘No! Don’t touch it!’ Dizzy cried out instinctively.

Pinkie Pie froze, suddenly, her entire body began to shake and she pulled her hoof away, she could feel the malevolent aura from around the book. Slowly, it all began to make sense to Pinkie Pie, this book; this was what had caused Twilight to act erratically earlier. They could tell from the look in Pinkie Pie’s eyes, she knew this book had to go. The problem was getting it out of here without touching it. Twilight was sure to not part with it willingly. Pinkie Pie looked around the room for anything she could use to safely pick up the book, finding nothing, she trotted over to a door at the far end of the room, pushing it open and entering Twilight’s washroom. She pulled out as many towels as she could find and brought them back into the bedroom, tossing them over the book and doing her best to wrap it up without actually touching it. She took the bundle in her teeth and walked with it over to the window, pushing it open and dropping the book out into the bushes. It may not have been the most permanent solution to the problem, but it would have to do for now. Pinkie Pie took the towels back into the washroom, folding them up and returning them to the place that she got them. Satisfied that she had returned everything to the way it had been, she went back into the bedroom and crawled back onto Twilight’s bed. Now all she had to do was make sure that Twilight kept away from that book.