(38) Eye See You
Th⍀r⍾ Wi⊑⍜d⊑r’s POV
Phan☌⎅⍜in
Argh!" Story released Button’s head and clutched his own, giving out a hiss of pain as his eyes were clamped shut. "Ow—Owwww!”
...
“He had two others at school,” Applejack told him. “What does this make, four? Story, are ya sure yer alright?”
“I’m—I’m good. Good, yeah, good.” Story took a deep breath and shook his head. “They’re not...They don’t last. Long. Besides, it's not like the halluci— I mean. I’m fine now.”
...
"Button, it's fine. I’m good now.” Story shook his head one last time, standing up straight. “See? Nothing to worry about."
See? Nothing to worry about.
At those words, my body seized in pain. Enough to make me awaken for a short time. But, when the pain passed, so did my mind and I was gone until this tingling sensation danced across my tongue. Healing magic. Magic red liquid that restored blood lost from wounds. I knew that feeling from before. Rava used it to wake me up last time. This time, it was Glemerr.
“Thorn, wake up!” She shouted. All her wounds from the red caped killer fight returned. She had not yet drunk the liquid herself. She gave it to me. “We need ya on yer feet!”
When my blood was restored, I took Glemerr’s arm and she threw me to my legs. My vine pulled against my arm. It was still and failed to answer me. It was still like the people in town. And I felt hollow. But the part near my arm was alive enough to allow for movement. It let me grab my scythe when Rava offered it, at least.
“Okay! Rava, you next,” Glemerr tossed the liquid to Rava. Rava tossed it right back.
“Aw no. Not me! Yer a walkin’ bag a’ stabs! Yer chuggin’ next.”
“We do not have time for this!” The other elf of us shouted from behind. She drank her own healing liquid as Stostine hung over her shoulder. Stostine's breathing was fast. Faster than humans normally breathed. Her eyes also flickered one color to another. We knew what it meant. “We have maybe a minute before it kills us again! We need to come up with a plan!”
Rava looked past Glemerr who drank liquid. “RICVEN! Ricven, Platick, hurry up!”
There was no reply.
“HURRY UP!” Glemerr spat out last sip of liquid. Her scream roared across this village. Silence followed.
“Stostine.” Other elf stood Stostine up straight. “Last time, you realized what was killing us. That’s what you said. Remember?! You need to tell us!"
Stostine blinked a few times. Her irises swirled green and red. “Oh, puh-lease, what can you do with my insights?! The last three times we fought it, YOU fucked off to the shadows and let it tear up your sorry a—”
Elf slapped Stostine hard across face and Stostine hung in an unnatural, crooked pose. Like a sapling bent from a windstorm. Stostine’s hand twitched like a spider in many directions. It made my hair prickle seeing it. But Stostine took a deep breath and I calmed with her.
“Th-Thank you,” Stostine breathed. Her eyes were gold again. “And deepest apologies. Now. Everyone.” Stostine looked across us. “It’s the Nothic. It took us out one by one last time. We must be cautious about its gaze. Its eye does not just read secrets. It accelerates the rotting of flesh.”
“Good ta know, but why’s it keep comin’ after us?!” Rava passed the liquid to Glemerr and readied her hammer and shield. “An’ why now?! An’ why ain’t it frozen like all the others?”
“In dat second time, Ah 'eard it,” Glemerr called with a low tone. “It was jus’ me an’ Platick left. It was eatin’ you guys. It was shoutin' 'bout bein' hungry. Den it go' us.”
Rava gagged. “It ate us?!”
“The Redbrands did say Glasstaff made skeletons,” Stostine said. Her eyes shown blue. Emotion left her face. “Rotting flesh may attract rats. Rats that gnaw on bones the necromancer would want. Counterproductive.”
“Vareén, she’s gettin’ upsy again!” Glemerr called.
“Stostine, we need you to focus,” other elf told her. She then knocked an arrow in a direction no one watched. “Weaknesses! What is a Nothic’s weakness?”
“I...I don’t know,” Stostine answered when blue faded away. “I guess, it’s not too hard to hit? Maybe?”
“What do ya mean maybe?” Glemerr asked. “Every time Ah move in, it don’t give me dah chance! It gets me first. And, where are Platick an’ Ricven?!” Glemerr cupped her hands to mouth. “RICVEN! PLATICK! IT DON’ TAKE DIS LONG! WHERE ARE YA?!”
The darkness answered. A lone dagger was thrown from the black expanse and to our feet in Stostine's flames. The toss was unskilled, not from the human man. Worse, skewered on the blade was a set of small, severed hands. Chewed off by how the markings looked. The gnome's hands stuck to the human man’s stolen dagger. It threw it from beyond our darkvision.
“I grow so tired feasting on you all,” its voice creaked from beyond the shadows. All of us focused on its sound. Stostine and other elf prepared fire and arrows towards it.
“Each time I kill the last of you, the world shivers in an inky, black haze. And your meat leaves my body. I was promised meals by him, yet he is living stone. Every creature but you is living stone. And not only can I not feast on them, I cannot GLEAM! Their minds are false! Even your minds are false. This world is false! EVERYTHING! IS! FALSE! WRONG! A FABRICATION OF LIVING STONE AND FRAILTY!”
“That has nothing to do with us!” Stostine shouted back, both hands wreathed in flames. Its mad screaming unnerved us, yet Stostine sought her prey in the darkness. “We are stuck just as you are. We are not the cause of your hunger, nor your anger!”
“But you still are a cause,” it told us. “Catalysts of something more. Something beyond this world. And yet still! I can gleam from you all! Not of the falsities of this world, but the truths of another! Like that gnome! His vessel held secrets. Not of his own. But of Rarity’s. Her secrets give sight to a true world. And her magic and flesh I would have savored on my tongue! The potential makes me shiver...Pity the gnome departed himself in order to save his keeper! I wanted to gleam her truth. And the human I did away with when his false secrets clouded the true.” Its voice became a growl. “Whichever of you I keep alive, I’ll gleam and dig until I find it. That path to your ‘Players.’ And I will never let them go...”
The monster’s eye illuminated from the darkness. A swirling orb of green shining through us like sunlight and leaves. Stostine and the elf did not look away. Instead, they used it as a target to strike.
Stostine threw bolts of flame at the green orb while the other elf fired an arrow and readied her next. Amidst the barrage, Glemerr bellowed a powerful roar and rushed with fists held high and Rava behind her with a hammer ready. Reflected by Stostine’s flame, I saw the bloody results of our ally. Lying beside the creature was the gnome’s carcass. His arms were missing, and a trail of blood led back to the building that creature found him in.
Even when Glemerr got close, it never relied on instinct. It stared back at the orc and let the aura of his eye stream out in a beam of sinister aura that struck Glemerr and tried passing through her. All of Glemerr’s body spotted by the light rotted off of her frame. Her hair, skin and muscles began to fall away. Parts turned to dust. Others slipped from bone. But Glemerr screamed and hurled herself at the monster. It dodged with speed and raked claws along her ribs.
It took an arrow to the shoulder but did not care. A few sparks of fire hit but had weakened from the distance. Rava protected Glemerr by striking her hammer against the monster's claw and that was the first time it flinched in pain. It growled for a moment, its eye closing and therefor was hidden by Stostine and the elf. We heard Glemerr fighting and occasionally could spot her shoulder at the edge of Stostine's fire light. There was a shriek from it, then a roar from Rava. Then a mad cackle before the eye reappeared and swept its sinister light across both Rava and Glemerr multiple times.
Their bodies decayed fast. We only saw them whenever the light reflected through them. Glemerr’s arms had shrunk half their size and her thighs gave out under her own weight. She was heaving. Rava tried hiding behind her shield, but the light passed through it and her armor without fault. We could see Rava’s bright hair turning dull as it fell out in clumps Her armor became too big for her new size.
“Vareén,” Stostine shouted. She launched more fire.
The elf growled but obeyed. She tossed her bow aside and ran in with her sword. The monster did not instantly notice her approach. It was rubbing its eye from using its green light so much. But when Vareén was up close to it, it instead heard her at the last moment and battered away her sword. Then it thrust the other claw through her stomach like a blade.
The elf, surprisingly, did little more but flinch at this pain. She grabbed the embedded claw with one arm and held firm. This surprised the beast long enough for her to plunge the blade between its ribs. Stostine and I watched it back away into the darkness where once more we could not see it. But we heard it cry in anguish.
Stostine stopped casting Firebolt. Too many friends were nearby. She instead took out crossbow, cast a Light spell on a bolt, and then aimed. “Rava! Use this!”
The bolt flew not towards the creature, but a piece of Rava’s armor. Rava was unharmed but shoved into the dirt from force. When she sat back up, she stared at the bolt from the illuminated space. We saw the monster fending off Vareén clearly now.
“What do ya mean use it?!” Rava demanded.
Rava took bolt from the ground. The shadows swayed and revealed Glemerr’s semi-hulking body as she dragged it up onto her knees. Then she pounded the ground, let out another roar, and went in for a tackle on the creature’s side. Its left claw was trapped in the elf’s body and was now wrist-deep from her struggling. It had no way of stopping Glemerr. Sadly, she was too weak now and her tackle meant nothing while the elf was the only real threat. She kept stabbing with her sword, using it like a giant knife. Plunge after plunge, the creature became angrier until it finally came up with a plan.
It ignored the elf for a moment and twisted in a circle. She clung at its arm in an attempt to stay skewered while Glemerr tumbled back. After its spin, it dragged a free claw across Glemerr’s face. The orc tried to bring up her arms, but it was too late. Glemerr's flesh peeled off easily with the monster's claws and Glemerr was brought down.
“RELEASE ME!” Creature shouted at elf, who only stabbed her sword between ribs once more. She left blade within its flesh this time. Then, with her hands free, she took its arm and impaled herself further until its hand emerged beside her spine.
How is she fighting?! Horror stained my face while the monster’s hand coiled and roll from her wound. It tried finding flesh to rip itself free. Other el...Vareén held back screams of pain and reclaimed her blade to try stabbing once more.
The monster was furious. Abandoning its left arm, it drove the other claw into Vareén’s wrist and twisted. Every tendon was torn apart. Vareén's grip on her sword gave away and it clattered to the ground. She was defenseless and the monster took this time to hold open its eyelid once more from directly in front of Vareén.
But her flesh did not rot like the others. Instead, her skin oozed off in slick balls of gray mass. Vareén screamed, her tongue and teeth rotting too, until Rava brought the shining bolt in front of its pupil. The monster shrieked, covering its eye as Vareén spit out bits of rot and dust from her mouth. Teeth came out too. Its arm whipped and Vareén, with thinner flesh, slid off like meat from a stew.
It shanked Rava in shoulders with its claws and lifted her above its head before launching her a distance away. Her armor clattered and the bolt fell from her hands between them. The monster picked Vareén up by the scalp.
“YoU ARe fIrSt! I WilL coNSuMe MInd aNd fleSh aLiKe!” Its eyes glowed once more. This time with its pupil filling the entire orb. Vareén twisted and pulled but when she stared back at the eye, her body went jolted constantly and froth spilled from her mouth.
Twilight Sparkle’s POV
Meanwhile
We were driving outside of Canterlot City towards the Pie Family Farm to find the retired fire tower. Applejack and Pinkie Pie were originally going to come with us, but both of them left to cheer up Story. This meant that Sunset and I were alone. Well, almost alone. Spike was with us, but we still needed a way of driving out of town to get to that tower. And, after some consideration, I suggested we could ask my brother, Shining Armor, for help.
Sunset...Well, it wouldn’t be accurate to say that she agreed. She seemed pretty distant after her talk with Applejack. I didn’t want to pressure her into telling me anything if she didn’t want to. Still, I was not going to leave her alone like this. I thought the best way to help was to try and find answers like she had asked all of us in the first place. Even still, the best Sunset responded with was a mumble or a nod while occasionally absently glancing at her phone. I assumed it was for Rarity and the others for an update on their progress. At this point, it all seemed like autopilot for Sunset as her face was permanently stuck in a sad frown.
It didn’t take much convincing to get Shining Armor to help us out. He already knew how bad magic could become if left unchecked after what happened with the Friendship Games. He didn’t need us to elaborate on the specifics of the magic. He was fine with helping us out and lending a hand wherever he could. It also came as a surprise that Shining knew about the fire tower personally. Apparently, it had been used as a space for college students to hold parties. It used to be a tradition. Up until a few years ago, that is, when the Pie Family was upset at how loud it had become. Likely because of Pinkie and her sisters being too young to stay up late from the music and lights from the edge of the forest.
When we got close, Shining spotted something that neither of us had. He pulled over for a second, approached what looked like a small boulder, and then dragged it away and revealed it was some sort of false decoration. It had some dirt and was overgrown with plant life, but behind it was a dirt path. He got back to the car and told us it was something that had always been there even before he went to college.
Before we could drive, however, Sunset’s phone went off. It was finally Rarity. When Sunset saw that, she took a second to try cheering herself up and asked if they had learned anything. I heard Rarity’s voice, but not her words, and Sunset’s expression dropped all over again. Then, she unenthusiastically excused herself from the car and walked a small distance away to talk in private. I decided to let her have her space and stayed in the car to wait. I wanted to stay by Sunset's side, but I wasn't sure if her walking away was because of Shining or me. I stayed in the car.
“Well. I guess there’s no need to rush anything.” Shining opened the door and fell back into the driver’s seat. “But your friend looks pretty upset. And she didn't say a word the whole way out here. Is everything okay?”
I sunk a little into my seat and absently scratched behind Spike’s ear. I should’ve expected him to ask. “It’s a little hard to explain. All of us are divided on how to fix all of this. And it came to a head when a new friend of ours wanted to...”
I narrowed my eyes. Wanted to call the police. I knew that wouldn’t be the right way to word that. Things were more complicated. And saying that to Shining wouldn't go over well. Or, no, not like... I scrunched up my face and ignored the bad taste that thought left in my mouth. I was still in agreement that reporting the magic like this would be a poor decision. We were the leading experts on this. If decisions were taken out of our hands, I truly believed that things would get worse. But the fact that I knew what Shining's response would be about not calling the police made me doubt myself.
“...Wanted to what?” Shining asked, now worried for me.
“...He wanted to make the magic problem public,” I ultimately said. It wasn’t absolutely accurate, but it would have been a result of Story’s actions. “He thought that by informing more people about magic, it would be safer.”
Shining looked forward for a moment while he thought about it. “And, what do you think?”
After a few seconds, I let out a breath. “I think he doesn’t understand what he’s trying to do. Canterlot High and Crystal Prep have both agreed that the magic we’ve seen should stay between all of us.”
Shining frowned. “But, Twily. Is that really something that you can keep quiet about forever? Since Principal Cinch stepped down temporarily, students have been getting along with each other more. And that’s terrific, but Cadence and I have heard everyone talking about the Friendship Games. Some of them keep in touch with Canterlot High’s students. They try avoiding the topic, but what happened still comes up.”
I stopped scratching Spike’s ear and sunk even lower into my seat. And a ping of guilt and nervousness started to hit me. “Have they been talking about me?”
“I didn’t say that,” Shining eased. "Actually, a few of them have asked about you. They want to reach out to you. To see how you're doing."
“...” I felt my heart start to pick up and my breathing started getting heavier. I saw Spike look back up at me, confused. I cupped the side of his face with my hand and tried to give him a smile, but something felt off. And Spike seemed to notice it too when he stared at my hand and then at my face.
“Twiligthr?” Spike called at me.
‘What?’ I asked. Or tried. But that just made Spike’s ears stand on end.
“Hye.” Shining lightly grabbed my shoulder. I turned and felt my head lull a little. “Twiligt? Aere yio odsay?”
‘What did you say?’ I felt my mouth move, but the sounds that came out of it weren’t the same. And my breathing felt…distant.
Then, it happened.
That ‘ping’ I felt slammed against my mind in full force. I thought I had flinched, but then I heard Shining and Spike screaming in terror. It felt dull and fading. Then, last thing I saw was the look of utter horror and fear from Sunset as she returned to the car. She dropped her phone and sprinted towards me. I lost consciousness. Or at least, I believed I did. I couldn't feel my body. Everything went dark and quiet all at once. The world around me shut away and in its place was the one thing that brought another layer of fear to me.
It was another version of me. She had dark purple skin, raven wings, and piercing bright magic shaped around its demented eyes and spiraling out of its head like a horn. The very same me that nearly destroyed my friends and a school’s worth of innocent people. Another Sparkle, shrouded in midnight and grinning at me with my own face while I floated in an endless shroud of stars and midnight.
“YoU ARe fIrSt! I WilL coNSuMe MInd aNd fleSh aLiKe!”
Midnight Sparkle’s voice screamed with my voice and something else’s. It was laughing maniacally, trembling like a glitching puppet. I tried to move away, swim, fly, push, pull, anything that would create distance, but my body froze. Not from fear but from some sort of force.
“YoU rEAllY thoUghT I’d stAy GONE, DiDN’t you?!”
‘No. No, you’re not real!’ I wanted to scream that, but instead, my voice echoed across the void. ‘Sunset Shimmer helped me defeat you at the Friendship Games!’
That only made Midnight Sparkle cackle more. “hoW aMUsiNg! YoUR sECretS GrAnt mE a foRM! I wiLl eNJOy feAsTIng On yOur Mind! it sEems YOur tHiRst oF MAgiC rIVals MINE!”
She started moving closer and then I saw it. Her face—my face— began to shift. There was a collection of bones popping and skin stretching like elastic as my face on her body transformed before my eyes.
The entire head inflated to the shape of a lightbulb. The deep purple skin split apart in places to reveal reptilian flesh bubbling from underneath. Its nose sucked into the head with a slurp until it no longer existed. Teeth sharpened like needles and the lips flaked away. But worse of all the changes were the eyes. They congealed together into a single putty-like orb that took most of the ‘bulb’ part of her new face. My new face. That mass was a singular eye that took up the entire face with the two pupils swirling together until the eye was just one massive dot with a deep purple glow that lit me up like a spotlight.
I felt my skin literally and figuratively crawling across my body from every space the light struck me. I felt my body hyperventilating despite this distant feeling I had washing over me. It felt like I was only an observer in a suit that could do nothing as this demon's laughter engulfed me in a nightmare.
⍙ho⎍⍾ W⌰el☌er’s POV
P☍a⍾dal⌰⍾
I tugged at my arm, furious Acrine was frozen like the world while Vareén was trapped in the monster’s gaze. Even if I had magic that reached her, it came from my vine. Unless I was free, I could only observe. Rava tried standing. But with her muscles now dust or missing, she struggled. Her armor was too heavy for her. Glemerr's body bled at the monster’s feet, unmoving. And now Stostine could not throw flames without hitting Vareén.
The whole time, it spoke through Vareén. It spoke of a new form and thirst for magic. None of which we understood nor wanted to. The only good tiding was Vareén’s flesh no longer rotted at its gaze. However, she trembled and frothed at the mouth like a diseased animal. She had no control of her body.
“Release her!” Stostine demanded, her eyes a piercing red glow. “Release her now or I will make you regret it!”
“yOUr THrEatS meAn notHiNg! THis oNe IS a Gate ANd notHing mOrE! I wIll esCaPE tHiS FalsIty anD mAKe tHiS TWilIGht MINE!”
Roaring in anger, Stostine flung the fire from her hands to the ground and, having no other choice, drew a small knife from a side pouch. It was not even a dagger. More a thin needle to cut one's food. She started running.
“I SAID RELEASE HER!”
When she was halfway there, the monster prepared his other claw to tear her in half. Before she was anywhere close enough, Rava used all her strength to grab Stostine’s leg and pull her to the ground.
“If me an’ Glem can’t stop it, neither can you! You’ll just die beside ‘er!”
“And you’d let Vareén suffer?!”
“Think girl! It can’t look away from ‘er! Jus’ shoot it from the side!”
“It’ll just turn!”
As they shouted, the monster cackled madly. Its eye flickered from sea green to purple while Vareén’s body started to relax. I kept pulling my vine, trying to drag it and the earth with me. To be useful for them.
If I can be free, I can fight! I want to fight! Please, Acrine!
Another yank and I looked at my scythe. Then my vine again. The world returns to truth when Players come. Acrine will be fine. I only need a moment!
I leveled my scythe where my vine met the earth. I must help! I want to help!
I pulled my scythe over my head, readied myself, and—
“GGGGRRRRIIIAAAAAAHHHHHHH!”
The visions Twilight was tormented with vaporized around her. The swirling green and purple void lost their color and the mangled Midnight Sparkle, once yards away from her, was merely a foot from grasping at Twilight’s face.
Her mind created a thousand possibilities on what the evil clone wanted with her. She felt her own face tingling more and more as it closed the gap. A part of her mind imagined the nose in her peripheral shrinking out of sight to match what was Midnight’s. It introduced to her a new hell on whether or not this was all real.
But now, Midnight Nothic split apart into nothing and finally, the poor teenager was at peace. The illusion became a vacant space and Twilight’s mind gave way to quiet unconsciousness. Her seizing stopped growing while her brother, dog, and friend stood ready to help however they could.
I dropped my scythe and held my ears. The scream echoed in my head until I cursed my mind for listening to it. I fell on my knees and when it finally ended, the scream still rang across the sky.
Wrapped around the body of the monster was the human man; Platick. He clung to its body like an ape with one hand on its shoulder and the other jammed in the creature’s leaking eye where a dagger was twisting around.
The creature dropped Vareén. Her twitching ceased at once before she coughed out froth and her rotten flesh. The shining bolt on the ground revealed to us the creature writhing and twisting, desperate as it grabbed Platick and threw him.
Platick landed with a splat. He was covered in his still wet blood with his chest's clothing ripped apart. A puddle of blood was already gathering under him.
“YOU! THE HUMAN! I TORE YOUR STOMACH APART! YOU SHOULD BE DEAD!”
Platick stood back up, clutching his stomach. He coughed blood and other shimmering liquid.
Healing liquid, I realized.
Even without sight, the monster stared exactly where Platick stood. “I was close! CLOSE! A MOMENT MORE and I would have that girl's mind! YOU’VE ROBBED ME OF REALITY!”
Platick didn’t answer. He spat out more blood and healing liquid. When he was done spitting, he looked at Stostine and Rava. “Who has the potion?! Wherever it is, get i—” his words were choked by more blood.
Vareén did not answer. Glemerr did not move. Stostine looked to Rava who tried dragging herself to Glemerr's body. The healing liquid hung from her belt.
“NO! NO ONE RISES!” I roared, looking now to Rava. She flinched. “I WILL SLAUGHTER YOU ALL THEN TAKE TWILIGHT AGAIN!”
“NO!” I stood again and took the scythe in my hands. With a twist, I swung at my vine with no delay. The part underground was solid. That above ground not. It was mine to sacrifice.
Using that, I severed Acrine and the world went mute. Colors, sights, sounds, feeling, all of it felt like I was not living. Not as before. I felt my heart slow and fight against my will to act. I only ran out of feral desire.
I shrieked, raising my scythe high. I had to shove Stostine away with my elbow. The whole way, the monster turned to face me and bared its claws. Its teeth formed words I gave no thought to hear. From the side, Platick’s hand left his stomach and drew a dagger. I saw it. His stomach was open. It leaked from a wound that monster caused and Platick’s hand was all that saved it from nature’s rot. It too had healing liquid spilling free.
The liquid. He did not drink it. He consumed it, I realized. The want of life. The wild rage. I knew that desire. We would both use it.
Platick threw the dagger and it stuck into the monster’s shoulder, making it flinch. It tried ignoring the pain and focused instead on me. It knew I was coming, but his attempt to strike me failed. The dagger made its arm weak and sluggish.
I ducked under the arm and slammed my foot into the earth. I reached for a connection no longer there, though I dismissed this empty feeling. Using raw instinct, I twisted my body and let my scythe whistle across the night air. It found no resistance. The monster found no head atop its neck.
With no force linking me and the earth, the scythe’s weight tossed me aside. I fell to the ground. I did not care where I landed. My task was done. The monster’s head landed next. And then its knees. And finally, between me and Glemerr and Ricven’s bodies, its chest crashed without defiance.
It was finished. Stostine, Rava, Vareén, and Platick were all alive. Glemerr was not and Ricven’s body was worse than her’s.
I held up my arm, looking at the short tendril of vine that hung out. It was crumbling to dust. I was empty. Acrine gave me purpose. There was less than an arm’s length, and the crumbling plant shrunk every instant. In an act of defiance, I dipped my arm and vine into the creature’s blood. It was nutrients now. The vine’s crumbling slowed, but it was too late. The creature took my life a fourth time.
I heard Rava struggling in her armor. I turned over and watched her struggle to reach Glemerr and her healing liquid. She stared back with tears in her eyes. I smiled softly and closed my own. The anger that moved me had left. The creature was dead. If this world brought it back, it would bring me as well. And if I did not awake, I would know the others would be safe until our Players returned.
Sunset Shimmer’s POV
Meanwhile
Spike and I panicked over what we were supposed to do. Spike wanted to shake Twilight out of it. He was shouting and howling for her to wake up. I was trying to run over to Twilight’s door. I wanted to get her outside of the car and lie her down on the ground. She was banging her arms and legs on everything and Spike was trying to hold Twilight’s head straight.
I opened the door and immediately Shining shouted for us to freeze. I had never heard anyone shout that loudly or forcefully before. Not without being angry, at least. I obeyed him and took a step back as he picked up Spike and took him out of the car.
I tried making a case or telling him we had to get her out of there, but he ignored me and worked fast. He ran around the car, set Spike down beside me, and worked to move the seatbelt away from Twilight’s neck. Then, he lowered the passenger’s seat back as far as it would go and turned her on her side to help with the foam. She now faced myself and Spike as we stood there, mortified. Her eyes looked as if they were rolled into the back of her head. She couldn’t hear or see us.
When Shining tossed away anything loose that Twilight might bump into, he removed her glasses and then opened the backseat door and pulled out a towel. He worked fast to wad it up and then tuck it behind her head as a makeshift pillow. He had full control of the situation. Maybe it was training from Crystal Prep, but Shining made every action with purpose and when he ran out of things to do, he stayed by her side. He wouldn't pull his eyes away from her for even a second and was ready to act however he needed to next.
“Wh-What do we do now?” I asked, sounding entirely out of breath. “Is she gonna be okay?!”
“She’s strong. She’s going to be fine.” His voice was trembling, but his face remained stern. “Sunset, I want you to be honest with me here. Is this anything like back at the Friendship Games?”
I took in a breath and felt a chill. “What?”
“Is it?” He glanced at me for a second before turning right back to Twilight. “I wasn’t there. I only heard about it from Cadence and Twilight. I didn’t see what anything looked like. I know she was turned into some magical thing, but it sounded like Twilight didn’t want to talk about it, so I didn’t push it. But you need to tell me! Did anything like this happen before?!”
I shook my head. “No. Nothing like this. Nothing like this has ever happened before. Magic’s gotten to our emotions, or attacked us, but I’ve never seen anything like this! It's never made anyone sick or-or go into shock like this! Is she gonna be okay?!"
“I'm going to keep an eye on her," he told me. "Listen. Open the trunk. There's a first aid kit in there and some emergency blankets. I want you to set up the blanket. When she starts to calm down, we're going to move her onto the ground, but not a moment before that! Understand?"
"Y-Yes! Yes, got it! Blankets and first aid! On it!" I ran over to the driver's seat and found the trunk pedal. Once I pulled it, I rushed over and saw Spike trying his best to push the trunk open from underneath. I did it for him and he leapt in, immediately digging out the kit and carrying it over to Shining. I found what looked like a bundled-up blanket and pulled it out to bring over.
"Thanks Spike," Shining told him, taking it and opening it only to set it down beside him. "Water! Spike, do you know where—" "Backseat! Already on it!"
Spike ran under the car to the driver's side and from there leapt into the backseat to start rummaging while I rolled out the blanket. It was pretty big, so I folded it over to try and cushion it a bit more.
After what felt like eternity in my head, Shining started to stand up. "Sunset? She's starting to calm down. Be ready."
"Right!"
Twilight's spasms slowed to just minor twitching and her breathing began to calm down. I stayed a couple feet back, wanting to give her space to breathe, but it wasn't until I saw Twilight coughing out the foam and spotted her purple irises start to open again. Oh thank Celestia, she's okay!
“Twilight? Twilight, can you hear me?” Shining spoke, his stern attitude breaking into worry.
“i. y-yeah...? shining?”
“Oh, thank goodness! You suddenly started convulsing and we were so worried. Here, let’s get you out and onto the ground, okay? We need you to lie down flat. Sunset? Slow going, alright? And be ready to support her.”
I nodded and together we worked to carry Twilight out of the car. She was weak and slow to respond, but she wasn't trembling anymore. When she was good and on the floor, Shining doubled back for the towel and gently put it behind Twilight's head again as a pillow. During all of this, Spike dropped off a bottle of water and then carefully dragged the first aid kit close to Twilight before finally retrieved her glasses.
“Twilight, I want you to try and keep talking with me, alright?” He spoke softly. I started to unscrew the water bottle, but Shining shook his head. “Not right away. But be ready." Then he looked back to her. "You just had a seizure. You were out for a little less than two minutes, but I want you to keep talking to us. Try and walk us through what you remember. Or just anything at all.”
“I...Yeah, okay. Sure.” She was short of breath and started wiping the foam away from her mouth. “We. We were talking in the car. Sunset walked away to talk with Rarity. You were worried about her.” She looked around, spotting me sitting on the ground a couple feet to her side. She didn’t have her glasses on, but I wasn’t a hard shape to miss.
“We talked about Crystal Prep," she continued. "And then, I felt this pain in my head. And then...Then, there was.” She started explaining what she saw. What she called Midnight Sparkle, the space-like void around her, and then it turned into that image Story showed us from the game. The Nothic.
“Wait, a Nothic?” Shining Armor perked up. “Is. Isn't that...Twilight, is that from the D&D game you and the others play?”
I gave him a curious glance. "You know about that?"
"Yeah, I do." Shining nodded to me. "Those books Twilight's been keeping with her are mine, actually. I was kind of excited when I heard all of you were interested in playing it. I thought only Dad and I would be fans of that game. But I don't get it. Why did you see a D&D monster?"
Twilight curled in on herself a little, looking guilty. And when Spike nudged her glasses into her lap, Twilight put them on and gave me a sorry look and struggled to come up with an answer.
She wants to keep the magic a secret, I thought. Because of me.
I frowned and stared at the ground for a second. "...I can explain." I admitted, watching Twilight's shadow as she turned to give me a look. "The magic got into the game. It's what's causing problems around town. I've been asking the girls to help me figure out what's going on, so we know what's connected to what in the game."
"And there's a nothic causing this?" Shining blinked.
"That...I don't understand." I shook my head. "The magic isn't supposed to be able to affect us. We were supposed to be safe. The magic shouldn't. I-I don't. Twilight, I'm so sorry. I'm sorry, I didn't think anything like this was going to—" Twilight leaned forward and tried her best to pull me in for a hug. She was trembling again, but not in the same way that she was from the seizure. This time, it came with sobs.
"This isn't your fault." She told me. "In fact, I don't think it was anybody's. Please don't blame yourself for this." She pulled away and looked me in the eyes with a smile to try and cheer me up. "When I saw it, the Nothic said it wanted to use me. It wanted to get out of Story’s world. But it wasn’t just the Nothic. It was hard to tell, but I think I heard our characters too. Stostine mostly. She was furious. And then I saw something attack Midnight Sparkle from behind. It looked like a ghost. And when they tore at its eye, everything went away. Our characters were fighting it off as best they could. But I think they're in trouble. Some of them sounded hurt. They demanded it let go of Vareén.”
"Vareén?" I blinked. "But why would something attack Vareén? How is anything attacking Vareén? We aren't playing the game. And we have our character's papers. Story couldn't try anything with them even if he wanted to!"
Twilight sat up and I saw Shining give me a signal to pass Twilight the water. I did and she took a long sip before speaking again. "I don't think he's causing this. And I know you and Story had a fight and you don't want to talk about it. And I won't force you, but...I'm sorry, but I need to find out what happened. We need to find him and the others. I'm terrified something bad might happen to them next. It might be going after another character right now. And I can't imagine this happening to our friends."
"Twilight, I don't know about his," Shining Armor warned her. “What if you have another episode like that? We should drop you off at home. Wherever your friends are, I can help get Sunset to them. Besides, magic or not, we have to tell Mom and Dad about what happened to you. We can't hide this.”
Again, Twilight looked over to me and I watched Shining follow her gaze to me as well. He was suspicious to see her hesitating like this. Especially because of me.
A part of me knew telling Twilight's parents was the right choice. But the rest of me was trying to come up with another option. I even tried determining if it was possible to tell them about Twilight's condition without the magic. The less people that knew about what was going on, the better. It was bad enough that Story, Gilda, Ms. Cheerilee, and now Shining knew. The list was getting too long.
"Sunset." Shining waited until I looked up. "I'm not about to lie to my parents. Especially now that my little sister had a seizure. If neither of you will tell them, I will.”
Twilight struggled between the two of us for a second, but ultimately, she nodded. “Sunset, I don’t want to lie to them either. Not them. Please understand.”
I took a breath and shook my head. “Of course I understand. And I don't blame you. There's no other way around this. We tell them about the magic and let you rest. And...I'll figure out what to do. You're right. We need to make sure this nothic problem doesn't happen to the others. That's our first priority right now.” I started reaching for my pocket only to freeze. "I dropped my phone on the way back. Spike? Could you help me out?"
"No problem! I'll sniff it out as fast as I can." Spike took off down the path the same way I came back from and started sniffing around.
"That reminds me." Twilight looked to me after Shining helped her to her feet and was ready to catch her if it came to it. "You got off the phone with Rarity. What did she say? Were they able to find the mayor?"
"Mayor?" Shining looked between us. "What happened to the mayor?"
"It's a long story," I told him. "Not to mention, they couldn't see her anyways. Rarity told me they were trying their best, but the secretary was stopping them. Then, Rarity found out who was connected to the twins and mother."
"Twins and Mirna," Twilight gasped. "She found them? What happened?"
I bit my lip. "That's even harder to answer." Spike sprinted back over with my phone in his mouth. I gave him a nod, wiped the dog slobber off, and opened it. No more calls or texts since I got off the phone. "Come on. I'll call them on the way back and then fill you in."
Shining helped Twilight back into the car and I packed the trunk. Once everything was ready, Shining Armor drove us back to their house. As he did, I opened my contacts and tried calling Rarity back. It went to voicemail, but not before a few rings. So, I tried Rainbow Dash next. It only took two rings before it too was sent to voicemail. Meanwhile, Fluttershy's went straight to voicemail without ringing once.
“You have to let it go for now,” I told Rarity over the phone. “I know they’re your friends, but we can’t help them. Fate is stuck like this. Nobody, not you or the police, will find them unless we save them in the game first. The whole point of tracking down what's connected was to figure what to do and where to go in the aftermath. Not to force things to change!”
“Darling, I don’t know if I can just walk away from them like this! They’re just as much my friends as you and the girls are. At the very least, I want to be there for their families and tell them they aren’t alone in this. I at least want to talk them through this!”
I shook my head, my heart wrenching as I spoke. “Doing that will only make it worse. You'll only be giving them false hope. If they ask for your help, what are you going to tell them? The truth? That they won't find them? The only thing we can help is with the game. It's better to leave it be and focus on the real problems.”
No! I panicked. She thinks I don't care. Please, just pick up and listen! I tried Rainbow again. She sent it to voicemail faster. Rarity must have told the others. No. No, I'm sorry, please answer! It's for Twilight! In a small panic, I was about to ask for Twilight's phone, but stopped myself. They think I'm trying to talk them out of it. If I call with Twilight's phone right after trying myself, they might start ignoring her calls too.
Instead, I tried Applejack's phone. Then Pinkie's. Both skipped straight to voicemail. It was like with calling Fluttershy. Something was blocking the call. Blocked... I opened Story's contact. I stared at the number for a few seconds. The chat history was cleared, and I never had a picture for him like I did each of the girls. At some point, I debated deleting the number from my phone entirely. I ended up not and, for this one moment, I was almost glad for that.
I unblocked him, pressed call and, like Pinkie and AJ, direct to voicemail. Not a single one of my friends wanted to answer my calls. I pushed them away and now none of them wanted to talk when we needed them most.
After a few more attempts, I finally gave up and opened the group chat that included Story. I spent the next five or so minutes trying to find the best way to write out an apology to the girls and then try explaining to them what happened to Twilight. I hit send and, the whole way to Twilight's house, there was no response and I felt absolutely terrible.
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Sweet Lathander, things have gone to the Hells in a hand basket within the game, haven't they? I have never attempted to fight the Nothic in this module, and I frankly have no desire to do so!
I can only hope that things aren't going too bad for the other girls here...
Amazing update, once again.^^