The Witch

by DavidReinold

Cantamen Primum - Bibliotheca Hieme (XII Pars - Diluculum)

The room remains silent for a long, painful moment. To break the silence, I help myself to some candies that lay in a bowl on Nightmare Moon's desk, and in the process glance back at the paper in my hand. Count of five. I take a deep breath, step back and resume my lecture momentarily.

"Those reasons don't compel you..." One, "...to take our advice? Are you quite sure?" Two, "Because the way I see it, that means..." Three, "you're either cocky, bluffing or brain-dead. Which one are you?"

Four.

"-DARE INSULT ME-"

Five.

I brandish Twilight's wand and a flash of lilac hue engulfs the room. It lingers for a moment, and I hear the faintest sound of rattling chains. When the light fades, Nightmare Moon is being held upright by not-quite-solid-looking bonds, that are apparently more than solid enough to completely immobilize her.

"Yes, Nightmare Moon, I dare. Your very existence is in need of insult. You brought a curse upon the land. Your homeland. You remember, don't you? I don't. I slept through it. But Twilight remembers quite vividly, and I'm sure she'd love to speak with you about it."

I hand the wand back to Twilight, who takes it calmly. When it leaves my hand I breathe a sigh of relief and barely keep myself from collapsing.

"Nightmare Moon, it brings me great pleasure to have this second encounter with you. Our previous meeting was cut rather short. Still you have not learned the merits which felled you then, and so too shall you now fall by those merits..."

From the case at her side, Twilight extracts a thin, delicate tiara of sorts, pure glistening gold and fitted with a star-shaped gem as the center piece.

"Farewell, Nightmare Moon. Bid that your departure might bring back that which was lost to us..."

She places the tiara upon her head and chants a short mantra. The gem begins to glow and hum. The room grows brighter. Nightmare Moon is screaming, writhing in agony, like a thousand mythical gods being tortured in unison. Layers seem to dissolve off her coat, streaming into the air. Slowly, the room joins in as well. Paint peels from the walls, the candles burn to stumps, the desk turns to dust. It all drifts slowly upwards, as though the unfiltered universe is assimilating it all into its collective existence. Paint turns to drywall, turns to beams and insulation, turns to nothingness and suddenly we were in space. Drifting, as it were. Standing upon absolutely nothing.

Barely aware of what is happening, I am unable to even muster a scream. If we are truly in space – and at this point I am willing to believe that we are – then we can't possibly still be alive. We must have died, or...

Twilight drifts over to me. She wraps her arms around my shoulders and whispers into my ear.

You did well today, Spike. I'm so proud of you.

I can feel her heartbeat. I feel her warmth pulsating throughout the cold of space.

The world is safe for the moment. Let's go home.

* * *

We touch down softly on the boulevard in front of my loft. The sun is just barely caressing the horizon.

“Get some sleep, Spike. You've earned it.”

I reach the front door and turn my key in the deadbolt slowly, careful not to wake the neighbors as I enter. The door closes softly behind me, and I make my way up the stairs, careful to bypass the creaky ones.

I reach out and try to place my coat on a hook by the door, but I miss by roughly two meters and it drops to the floor. Only now am I aware of how tired I am. I just want to collapse on my bed and catch some-

My bed is not unoccupied.

The occupant is a small child. A girl no older than eight or nine, with a head of hair tinted a wild shade of blue. She is asleep on top of the covers, still in her overalls, and wearing an oversized paper hat on her head. She yawns and turns over.

Unsure what to do, I do the only thing that seems reasonable to me. I cross the room to the closet, extract a sleeping bag, and roll it out on the floor for myself. There's nothing afoot now that can't wait until morning. I close my eyes and drift almost instantly to sleep.

“Good morning, Mister Spike!” cries a sharp, eager voice. I open my eyes and see the face of the girl with the overalls staring at me.

“Are you ready for a big day today? Huh? Are we going to see Miss Twilight?”

I sit up groggily, not quite content with the miniscule sleep I got.

“I'm sorry... who are you?”

“Oh, you know who I am, silly! Silly silly Spikey Spike! It's me! Don't you remember? I thought you said you remembered!”

My eyes start to drift closed behind the squealing and I attempt to pull my makeshift pillow over my head.

This is going to be a long day.

Conclusion of Cantamen Primum: Bibliotheca Hieme.

Comments

[NejinOniwa]

Dis is good stuff.

And to see Woona again makes me sort of happy :)

[Cynewulf]

1849323

Oh... oh my god

That's beautiful

[themanesix]

what is even happening.......whatever it is continue

[InkFathom]

I am confused...
And sad. When will the next chapter be out?

[WolfeofChaos]

A well thought out story. While most may or may not not be confused by the end of this chapter it will still leave the reader wanting more. Well done my friend.

[Fido]

Update please! My curiosity is peaked!