Insomnambula

by Charles Xavier

Chapter Three

Chapter Three

…

A knock came from the door.

Twilight opened it to reveal Princess Celestia at the doorstep, accompanied by two of her royal guards. The Alicorn had arrived at the Castle of Friendship as promptly as she could, after receiving an urgent message from Spike. Although true that she had many imperative matters to attend to in her position, she made time out of her hectic schedule to attend to her young protégé.

“Thank you for coming, Princess Celestia.” said Twilight.

“Good afternoon, Princess Twilight.” Princess Celestia greeted her. “You have something to show me…?”

Twilight nodded affirmatively and gestured her to follow her.

Princess Celestia instructed her guards to remain outside before entering Twilight’s home.

…

Princess Celestia was guided into Twilight’s bedroom, being taken aback by what she saw. There in bed lay Octavia, her legs entirely bandaged and plastered up. Though far from being in any catatonic state, she still appeared restless, distressed and trembling in utter fear. Her eyes remained glued to the ceiling, and she barely acknowledged Princess Celestia. This was saying so even when Spike, DJ Pon-3 and the Mane 6 were tending to her… although…

“Where’s Pinkie Pie?” Spike wondered.

“She’s still developing her stupid photos.” Rainbow Dash grumbled. “I mean, seriously?! Why did she have to pick the wrong time?”

“It’s okay.” reassured Twilight. “Pinkie Pie promised to be here soon.”

Princess Celestia couldn’t guess off-hand what could have possibly petrified Octavia so badly. Her heart only dropped. “What’s the meaning of this?”

Nobody knew exactly the answer to that. Nobody even knew who the Crimson Spectre was, or why she was after Octavia…

“There’s more I have to show you.” Twilight replied.

…

Instructing her friends to keep safe guard of Octavia, Twilight and Princess Celestia went into the library on their own. Right away form the moment they stepped in, Princess Celestia noticed the broken glass window from where the Crimson Spectre fled. Twilight described to her the occurrences Octavia had been enduring for the past few days… as from Octavia’s own account. Frankly, Twilight could make nothing of the reason behind it all.

She had kept her word to Princess Celestia that whenever a human ever set foot in Equestria, she had to inform her, and only her, at once. This was especially regarding anyone, or anything, that could be perceived as a witch. Meeting face-to-face with the Crimson Spectre for the first time only reminded Twilight too well of her encounters with Hydia, Reeka and Draggle millennia ago…

“Tell me what you saw.” Princess Celestia said, inspecting the broken window and peering outside. “What did the assailant look like?”

“Well, besides looking human and standing upright…” Twilight gathered her thoughts, recollecting the best she could. “Her face was mostly concealed within a robe, a crimson colored one… at first I thought she was some elderly woman… but when I saw her face, she appeared dead… nothing but bones…”

Twilight could already see Princess Celestia’s eyes widening in sheer terror, as if she had just seen a ghostly apparition herself.

“Princess Celestia, is everything all right?” Twilight asked.

“Would you say she might have been… a witch?”

Twilight confirmed undoubtedly: “Yes… that’s why I asked you here. Whoever we’re dealing with, whoever it is… I know it’s not from this world, this universe, I could sense it… you don’t suppose by any chance maybe it’s Hydia, Reeka or Draggle, those witches we fought in the World Beyond? Or maybe it’s someone who might be related to them? And how did…”

“No… “ Princess Celestia interrupted her, already convinced of the identity of their new adversary. “In fact, we’re dealing with somebody far worse.”

“Who…?”

Princess Celesta dared not utter her name, but she bit her lip and whispered under her breath very meekly: “… Somnambula.”

Twilight swore the name sounded familiar from somewhere… somewhere from her own studies. “Somnambula… I’ve heard that name. There’s a legend, you know, in the south of Equestria, about a Pegasus who…”

Princess Celestia shook her head again. “This is a different Somnambula…”

“What kind of… Somnambula?” Twilight was eager to know.

“A Somnambula I hoped never to see again… one I hoped died thousands of years ago… she was a sorceress, a mistress of the black arts with immense power. As she grew older and withered though, she began to lose that power. Thus she fed on the youth of other living beings for the sake of regaining her own. She craved for immortality, hoping she could live beyond the stretches of time, beyond the lifespan of any other witch… she was also very desperate… so much so that one night she even kidnapped my sister, Molly. I’ll never forget that dreadful night…”

“What happened?”

Princess Celestia felt reluctant to answer…

“Please, Megan.” Twilight said humbly. “All I want to know is the truth…”

Princess Celestia sighed deeply… for it was quite a tale to tell…

Author's Note:

Disclaimer: ‘My Little Pony’ belongs to Hasbro respectfully. No profit is being made out of this work.

Author’s Note: Okay yeah, this was a pretty short chapter. But just so you know, the next one’s going to be longer, as we’ll be heading back into the G1 universe and finding out what happened to Molly.