Born to Light

by Mailbox_of_d00m

Chapter 3: What They Really Were

Night was approaching. The day reached its grand finale, but there was no call for an encore. Twilight Sparkle had nearly finished examining the manuscript pages. Turns out, they were just the prototype for a novel called Departure. This story is really good, Twilight thought. It's a shame that someone lost it. Hopefully, the author wouldn't come searching for the pages anytime soon – no doubt he would never expect to find them in a small town, miles away. Concluding her expedition through the chilling text, Twilight was at a loss for words. She was surprised that she had overcome her initial horror at the murder plot so quickly – she had never read something so...controversial...before – but once she started, she just couldn't stop. Rainbow Dash would probably like this.

But what was it about this story that made it so interesting? Was it the fluent writing, the thoughtful diction? Was it the rebellious idea of a story surrounding horror and murder? Either way, it was just a story – it didn't seem to be as important as Postal Code made it out to be.

It might be a good idea to make a trip to Canterlot to return these pages. After all, the author could come looking for them at any time, and he probably wouldn't be too happy to learn that his manuscript had been exchanged all the way to Ponyville.

Twilight called out to Spike. "Spike! Tomorrow, I'm going to head over to Canterlot. If you would, please adjust my monthly schedule likewise."

"What's the deal this time," inquired an exhausted baby dragon walking into the Ponyville Library's main hall. "You need to get another time-altering spell or something?"

"Very funny," remarked Twilight, somewhat agitated by Spike's comment on a very embarrassing situation. "Actually, I need to return these manuscript pages to their rightful owner."

"That's nice, I guess. Hey, could you pick me up some ice cream while you're out?"

Twilight began to climb the stairs toward her bedroom. Without even turning around, she quickly spat out, "Maybe."

***

She couldn't sleep. With all the excitement she built up reading the manuscript to Departure, Twilight just couldn't keep her eyes shut. Using "Maybe reading it again will help me fall asleep" as an excuse to begin reading the manuscript again, she snatched up the pages as if they were recently misplaced diamonds.

The man turned to face me. His face was covered in shadows. It was hard to make him out in the darkness of the forest that surrounded us, but the axe he lifted was plain to see. It glistened with the blood of his victim.

He grinned madly. The shadows were alive, distorting his features.

It was a scene from a nightmare, but I was awake.