No Tears, Just Dreams

by sunnypack

2 - The Darker The Night Gets, The Stranger The Creatures That Prowl It

Chapter 2: The Darker The Night Gets, The Stranger The Creatures That Prowl It

When one sits by the candlelight, one is usually drawn to the mesmerising act of a flame dancing on the wick with its graceful curves and flutters. The candle flame burns fiercely trying to suffuse the room with its warm glow but it is a fragile thing, with the merest wind to set it scampering in fright, or a wayward breath to send it flapping in terror.

The life of a candle flame is a torturously fragile existence.

A pony that studies magic in the gathering hours of the night knows this, but does not understand what it means. For if she truly had then she would not be using such an awkward continuance. A continuance balanced on such a thin thread of disaster to illuminate its partner through the night. A light must be made bright and steady, for the briefest moment of weakness, a shudder or a flicker and then the night can consume you.

Twilight does not know this. So she remains blissfully unaware.

While a certain white alicorn was feeling a rising sense of dread, only partially allayed by her dear sister, Twilight felt the electric tingle of excitement. For she delved into the interesting tomes of writ and wit and she scoured the pages for knowledge that had eluded her and to which she believes she must grasp and obtain, at all costs.

Contrary to popular opinion, the night is not a silent affair. Especially when one resides in a vast wooden structure, the slow contraction of wood makes for squeaks and creaks that permeate the darkness. Sometimes, when one listens carefully enough, the sounds may remind one of hoofsteps or perhaps clawed footing. Twilight liked to believe, and rightly so, that such noises were more the result of thermal expansion and contraction rather than phantom ghosts, or barring that, would most likely be the nightly escapades of her dragon assistant to fetch some sort of comforting sustenance to last the wee hours of the weary night.

So when Twilight heard the creaks, she was not disturbed. Such things were common among the strange sounds of the darkness and certainly not the most original. The creaks, though, were getting louder. When she strained her ears, she could hear the regular thumping noises from what was likely a bipedal creature.

She turned around.

“Spike," she stated rather than asked.

The dragon had been creeping along with a blanket held out. He had frozen mid-step.

“Oh, Twilight you’re awake," he replied sheepishly. “I thought you had dozed off again.”

Twilight smiled sweetly.

“Thank you, Spike," she said, wrapping her hooves around him in a quick hug. “I was just doing some reading.”

Spike rolled his eyes in a long-suffering manner and he yawned.

“Gee, I wonder what else you would be doing… ever," he replied wryly, giving a long stretch of his stubby arms.

The purple dragon headed back towards the stairs giving Twilight a reproachful look.

“At least get more than a few hours of sleep," Spike added. Twilight froze guiltily, mid-way in returning to reading and rubbed a hoof to the back of her head sheepishly.

“Hehe, maybe one more chapter and I’ll head off.”

Spike just shook his head. “It’s always one more chapter," he grumbled more to to himself than her. He plodded up the stairs.

Louder, he called out, “Night, Twi!”

“Night, Spike!” she called back, biting back a yawn. She glanced uneasily at the daunting tome, debating whether or not to continue the imposing work now, or perhaps later, early in the morning. The unicorn couldn’t help herself this time, she yawned deeper.

Ok, that’s it, she thought to herself. I’m definitely going to sleep.

Twilight brought the candle up with a simple levitation but the candle flame flickered as she brought it up too fast and it guttered, plunging the small study room in darkness. Twilight gave vent a snort of frustration as she placed the candle carefully back on the table, while she still had a clear idea where things were. Her horn sparked as she lit the room with a small light spell. A soft pink-lilac glow gently filled the surroundings.

There was a flicker in the shadows, by her table.

Now normally, this would not concern Twilight as shadows tended to jump with candlelight. But this was a mage light, and it hovered stationary just above where Twilight had left it. Candle light would make shadows jump, but magelight did not. Frowning, Twilight shook her head. Just tired. That was it. Or she moved and she spotted her own shadow.

Twilight rubbed her eyes with her hooves.

Then she heard it.

A creak.

Right behind her.

It couldn’t be Spike, she was looking at the stairs, he couldn’t have snuck up on her like that.

She whipped her head around.

Twilight let loose a breath she didn’t know she was holding.

Nothing. There was nothing there.

She almost laughed then.

Her, a mare of rational thought was taken by a little bout of superstition in the middle of the night! What an embarrassment. Twilight yawned again. She must be getting tired.

Gently she took the mage light in her telekinetic grasp and trotted forward.

Her mage light extinguished.

Now, that was strange. Magelights don’t extinguish themselves.

She heard a creak from behind her again.

This time it was closer than ever before.

Frantically, Twilight summoned the magelight once more frantically scanning behind her for the source of the noise.

But there was still nothing there.

Twilight chuckled nervously to herself. Was she hallucinating? Perhaps she was studying too hard and had developed a condition that could induce hallucinations? She frowned. Now she wasn’t making any sense.

She turned around to the stairs again.

The creak was so close, it filled her sensitive ears with its ominous sound.

Twilight froze, feeling her blood run cold within her veins. She felt a prickling sensation run down her neck as a soft wisp of air brushed past a strand of hair in her mane.

Slowly, oh so slowly, she turned around.

She came face-to-face to two deep black orbs.

Twilight almost gasped but was interrupted as the strange creature slid a slow, thin appendage on her soft, yielding lips.

“Shh," it cooed, stroking her mane with its other hand.

Twilight’s eyes slowly becoming wider and wider.

“No tears," it whispered in her ears, with a hot, humid breath. “Just dreams.”

Twilight chose that moment to scream.

There was a stumbling sound as Spike was roughly awoken from his sleep and he quickly pounded down the stairs, shouting Twilight’s name.

Twilight whiplashed to the stairs, tackling Spike with a hug and pointing a shaking hoof in the direction of the terrifying bipedal creature.

Spike cast his gaze forward, looking at the room filled with the gentle glow of a mage light.

“Twilight," he said gently. “I don’t see anything.”

“But it was…” Twilight sniffed as turned her tear-stained face towards the place where that creature had stood. Her eyes darted around the room, but she saw no hint of that horrifying presence. She sagged with relief.

“Oh Spike," she cried, burying her muzzle in her hooves. “I swear it was—”

Spike lifted a draconic eyebrow slowly and deliberately.

“Twilight, I think you’ve been studying way too hard."

Twilight made to argue but Spike just folded his forelimbs.

Twilight suddenly laughed, albeit weakly. “Oh, I guess I have been studying too hard," she replied, grinning weakly.

Spike gave vent another yawn. “Alrighty then. Night, Twi," he repeated, stomping back up to his bed.

Twilight chuckled, it was just a fanciful dream. A mere figment of her hyperactive imagination.

She rubbed her eyes with her hooves.

She glanced at her magelight, shaking her head once more.

The unicorn made to turn back, but something caught her attention on the floor.

It was a note.

I didn’t write a note, did I?

Curious, she brought it up to inspect it.

Your mane is soft, Twilight Sparkle,

I look forward to stroking your tail, next time.

Twilight turned ashen.

And so did the note.

Author's Note:

Hah. Have a double whammy.

Next Chapter: I'm unoriginal, tell me what happens.

As always, my collective readers, thanks for reading.

NB: This fiction has gracefully upgraded from random thing on the side to maybe I like this a bit because scaring ponies is fun.

Comments

[Handyman]

Holy fuck this human is creepy.

Made more so by the oddly sensual descriptions of their lips when he puts his finger on them and dem notes.

[sycotic]

you could do one with rarity and have a fake...or real spider hanging from her hair by webbing holding the note that the human placed...somehow

[IkioStar]

5134691 I don't know whether to think him creepy or caring. I don't particularly care about the others at this point, as I've not been convinced to CARE.

[Vlad]

"I look forward to stroking your tail, next time..."

Sweet baby Jesus on a stick, it can only be this face...