Dreams of Equestria

by Caelus Storm

Chapter 10: A Strange Summons

Chapter 10: A Strange Summons

Twilight was working on a research project at the Golden Oaks Library in Ponyville, her home and workplace. However, she was finding it hard to focus on her work. Her mind kept going back to the incident with the human. Over two weeks had passed since then, and Twilight found herself thinking about their conversation. Every time she did, she kept thinking of more questions she wished she had asked, so much so that she had started keeping a list.

Twilight shook her head. This was not the time to be distracted by the human. "Spike," she called out, "can you get me that book called Preclassical History Volume 13? Oh, and also Early Unicorn Spellcasting?"

Spike saluted. "I'm on it," he said. He used a ladder to climb up to the appropriate shelves, retrieving the books Twilight had requested. Twilight levitated the books from him. As she did so, Spike's cheeks bulged out. He belched, and in a flash of green fire, a letter appeared.

"A letter from Princess Celestia?" Twilight said, "I wonder what she could need me for." Twilight read the letter, and her eyes widened slightly. "Spike, I'm going to Canterlot tonight," she said, "I should be back in the morning."

"Ok, Twilight," Spike said. when Twilight closed the door, Spike began to clean up the mess she had left from her excessive studying.

Twilight bought a ticket at the Ponyville train station, and took the next train to Canterlot. when she arrived, she went straight to the Royal Palace. The guards let her past without incident. They all recognized hr as the Princess' personal protege. Twilight found her mentor in the throne room.

"Princess Celestia," Twilight said, "I came as soon as I got your letter."

"Thank you, Twilight," the Sun Princess said, "I summoned you here so that I could..." Celestia stopped talking.

Twilight was about to ask what was wrong when she felt a tingling at the base of her horn. Somepony was performing magic nearby, and powerful magic at that. The tingling turned into a dull throbbing, and Twilight put a hoof to her forehead. "Princess, what is..." she started, when she was cut sort by a loud thundering boom that echoed through the throne room. A flash of white light blinded Twilight, and she was thrown back off her hooves.

* * *

Seth woke up to his alarm going off. he reached over and hit the snooze button harder than necessary, then fell back into a light sleep. He was having a pleasant dream, and he didn't want to get up. When his alarm went off again, he simply reached over and turned it off. When he finally decided to get up, he realized he was running late. He leaped out of bed. He took a hurried shower, and grabbed a pair of pants and a t-shirt out of his dresser. He skipped breakfast in his haste tossed his backpack over his shoulder, and bolted out the door, only pausing to lock it.

The air outside was a bit chilly, but Seth hadn't thought to grab his jacket. He ran as fast as he could down the sidewalk, knowing that he was still going to be at least five minutes late. A taxi honked at him when he ran in front of it as the light turned green. Seth ignored the driver's cursing, and cut down an alleyway, across a side street and a small playground, rounding a corner and crossing the street to his school. Seth pushed open the doors and headed down the hall to his first class.

His history teacher, Mr. Delsher, had already started his lecture. He looked at Seth when he entered.

"Nice of you to join us, Mr. Williams," the teacher said dryly.

Seth blushed slightly and took his seat. He pulled out his notebook and started to take notes as Mr. Delsher continued his lecture.

The rest of Seth''s day looked to be going just as poorly. he found out at lunch that he had left his wallet at home. During his Literature class, he got his paper back, and had gotten a C on it. Between the last two periods of the day, one of his backpack strap broke. In art class, his last class of the day, someone accidentally knocked over a cup of paint filled water on his right leg, soaking his pants. When the final bell rang, Seth sighed and began to trudge home. He was looking forward to just crawling into bed and relaxing after a day like today.

So lost was he in thought that he didn't notice the pickup truck flying down the street. A horn startled Seth out of his daydream, but by the time he looked up, it was too late. The pickup was practically on top of him. He briefly thought about his life. People he knew, that history assignment he had to do, his and Drew's science project that was still unfinished. his mother and her problem with drinking, and a dozen other thoughts filled his head in an instant.

Could this day get any worse? he thought. Seth flinched on instinct. There was a bright flash of light, a loud bang, and then, nothing.

* * *

Twilight blinked. Her head was still ringing from the explosion, and from having hit her head when she landed. She got to her feet unsteadily, and took in her surroundings. The throne room was mostly as it had been. Princess Celestia stood a few steps back from where she had been a moment ago, but appeared unharmed. What drew Twilight's attention was the large black scorch mark on the floor not ten feet from where she had been standing. The floor was broken and buckled, and smoke was still rising from the crater. What Princess Celestia's gaze was on, and what Twilight's mind slowly comprehended, was the form lying in the middle of the blast. It was a human, and though he wore different clothes, and was covered in soot, she recognized him as the human from a few weeks ago.

Twilight cautiously approached the human, as did Celestia. Once she reached the edge of the blast, Twilight realized that the human wasn't moving. "Is he..." she started, thinking that maybe something terrible had happened.

"He is alive, but hurt," the Princess said, her expression unreadable.

"We need to help him,then," Twilight said. "Should I call a doctor?"

"No," Celestia said with an unusual amount of force. "Right now, we can't let anypony else know about this. I will take him somewhere safe, you go find Princess Luna and tell her to meet me in the dungeons."

"The dungeons?" Twilight repeated, "But he didn't do anything wrong."

Just do it Twilight," Celestia said. "Please."

Twilight nodded, knowing that her mentor probably had the best interests of Equestria in mind, and raced off to find Princess Luna. Celestia, after watching her student leave, levitated the prone form of the human, and teleported out of the room.

Author's Note:

The plot thickens (if only slightly).

As usual, Feedback is appreciated. I want to know what you think.

Until next time, see ya 'round.

-C.Storm.