The Elements of Stone

by Slender Dash

The Suspicion

Twilight woke up slowly, having overslept way past her usual schedule. She groaned as she lifted herself out of bed, moving as painfully as a tin man who needs oil. She felt her joints crack as she moved, and she gave sighs of relief as she stretched her tense muscles. She moved towards her dresser to look at her messy, oily hair in the mirror before smoothing it out with a brush. Spike was already up, as he had been for hours. Twilight moved her heavy legs only fair enough to get herself a drink of water, then sat at a library table and slammed her head against the surface face-first. And there it stayed.

"Twilight, are you ok? You seem a little...shaken," Spike asked. He set down a book he was reading and walked over to the chair beside Twilight, and hopped up. He leaned his elbows against the table as he waited for an answer. He opened his mouth to ask again when Twilight's head flopped onto its side, one half-closed eye resting on Spike, and then its gaze sinking down to the patterns on the table.

"I'm fine, Spike," Twilight said, her mouth thick and dry. She reached feebly for her cup of water before giving up, her hoof left resting on the table beside her head. Spike stretched his arm and slid the water to Twilight, who didn't respond except for twitching her ear. Spike put on a confused expression as she pushed the water away. Spike then proceeded to slide it back, only for it to return. And so a war was declared, both of them pushing and shoving until the cup tipped and splashed all over Twilight. She sat up like a rocket, gasping as the cold water trickled down her back and through her mane. She growled at Spike, the stood up and paced with a much more lively step.

"I don't know, Spike!" Twilight exclaimed, and stopped pacing for a moment to give the ground a hard stare. She picked up pacing again, trotting about the room in a feverish way.

"What do you mean?" Spike questioned, and Twilight's head snapped in his direction. "Oh, brother, Twilight's going in crazy mode," Spike thought to himself. He sighed as Twilight started mumbling to herself until Spike walked up and placed his hands firmly on her shoulders.

She made a sharp intake of breath, then slowly released the air back out, easily calming herself down and expelling the excess adrenaline. She shook her head and moved to the table again, Spike promptly following on her tail. He jumped up into his seat just as Twilight sat in hers, and he waited for her to start.

"It's probably nothing, but..." Twilight paused and gathered her thoughts before continuing. "I just had this horrible dream. I mean, nightmare. I was being followed by...by something, and no matter how far or fast I ran, it was always was behind me. I couldn't shake it. Just when I thought I was safe, it- the rocks came crashing down, and.." Twilight let out a shaky breath, her wide eyes trained on the table, but with a distant, foggy look. Then she shook her head wildly and her eyes snapped shut, only for her to reopen them and smile.

"Like I said, it's probably nothing," Twilight said, sounding more confident than she was. She stood up and made towards the door before being held back by Spike.

"Twilight, if this is really bothering you, you should talk about it more," Spike said, the concern obvious in his voice.

"I'm fine, really," Twilight said with a shaky laugh. Her eyes went everywhere except for Spike's eyes, and she forced a sorry-looking smile to show how "fine" she was. She had started slowly backing towards the door now.

"Are you sure you're okay?" Spike asked again, and Twilight gave him a curt "Yes." in return. He gave Twilight a hard stare before shaking his head and shrugging. "Okay then, Twilight," Spike submitted, and Twilight proceeded to walk out the door.

The warm spring air shone on her shoulders and lifted her spirits. She soon left the memory of her haunting nightmare deep in the recesses of her mind and continued along the path. She stopped for a moment at Rarity's home, only to be disappointed with a missing mare and an empty house. She purchased lunch at the Clover Club, and then made her way over to Sweet Apple Acres.

Twilight admired the miles of apple trees before walking up and knocking lightly on the Apple Family's door. She heard Granny Smith call out, "What? Who's there?" in a slightly raspy voice, which was quickly followed by a yelp of surprise and the crashing of something wooden and clay. Then there was some mumbling before the door clicked and swung inward.

"Hello, Granny Smith," Twilight said with a sweet smile. Granny Smith squinted and stared at Twilight for a moment before smiling back.

"Oh, Twilight, it's good t' see ya!" Granny Smith said in her old, crackling voice. She started to beckon Twilight into her home before Twilight stopped her with a shake of her head.

"I can't stay Granny Smith; I still have some work at the library. I just wanted to now if Applejack was around...?" Granny Smith looked up as she thought for a moment before replying.

"Applejack ain't home. She went up t' Canterlot t' get 'er friend Rarity or somethin'. Thought she'd be back by now. Oh well." Granny Smith shrugged as she said the last words, and Twilight thanked her and asked her to send Applejack to see her when she came back. Then Twilight walk down the road towards home, when a blur of rainbows slammed into her side. She was still groaning when Rainbow Dash lifted her up onto her feet quickly enough to make Twilight's head spin.

"Rainbow! Jeez, I probably have a confusion now or something..." Twilight complained, running her hoof against the bump on her head. She gave up her criticism when she noticed Rainbow Dash hopping up and down, her feet switching off diagonally from in the air to pushing off the ground. She had a look of pure excitement on her face, and Twilight knew better than to get her to try and listen.

"Twilight! You won't believe it! Celestia sent me a letter talking about a race in Canterlot, and she's asked me to attend! It's going to be so awesome!" Rainbow Dash spilled her goods news out of her mouth, pushing her hooves up into her cheeks to make a squishy looking face with bunched up lips. Twilight giggled at her friends good mood, and asked to hear more about it.

"Well, Celestia didn't tell me too much," Rainbow Dash said, "I only know that she wanted me to come to the palace when I get to Canterlot, and she'll give me a place to stay." Rainbow Dash's voice was shaken by her frivolous bouncing, and she told Twilight she had to dash, and she blasted off only to stop in mid-air by a call.

"When you're in Canterlot, can you ask Celestia if she knows of Applejack's and Rarity's whereabouts?" Twilight shouted. Rainbow Dash gave a nod of agreement before jetting off to her cloud home. Twilight decided to stop at SugarCube Corner for a treat before going home.

"Oh, Twilight, how've you been doing lately?" Mrs. Cake beamed as Twilight walked up to the counter.

"Just fine, thank you," Twilight replied sweetly, and her gaze travelled over the numerous rows of cupcakes before pointing to one with her hoof. Mrs. Cake nodded with a smile and pulled it out from the glass case, and handed it to Twilight. She rung her up quickly and Twilight placed her bits on the table before sitting down at a table not to far from the counter.

"Is Pinkie home?" Twilight asked before munching on her muffin. She sighed with pleasure as the sugary flavor of hot cocoa burst onto her mouth, followed by the light flavor of marshmallows and chocolate cupcake. Hot chocolate cupcakes were her favorite kind, and Twilight was always amazed at how some pony good make something taste so much like a warm cup of cocoa.

"Pinkie? Oh no, she left for Canterlot a while ago," Mrs. Cake said. "Someone ordered a batch of cupcakes, and they asked for Pinkie's special kind, too, so she went to deliver them personally," Mrs. Cake added. Twilight was a little surprised to hear about this, especially since three of her five friends were either in or going to Canterlot. Well, now it was four out of five friends. "She brought her friend Fluttershy along, too," Mrs. Cake said. "She said that Fluttershy had received a note saying that the Canterlot gardens were open with the tickets half-priced!"

Twilight quickly finished her cupcake and thanked Mrs. Cake without too much discussion. She began walking home shortly after with the beginnings of a frown sitting on her lips. All of her friends going to Canterlot at the exact same time? That couldn't be a coincidence. Had they all planned something? Or did Celestia just need them for different things? No, Applejack went to Canterlot to get Rarity. Unless she got detoured once there...

Spike was already asleep when Twilight arrived home, so she just flopped onto bed from her exhausting day.

Twilight was running again, racing frantically over the same scenery she saw in her dream before. Now she could recognize the whole scene to be Canterlot, and she was weaving through the gardens, and the streets, and the countryside. Something was still chasing her, and she still was never able to lose it. It felt different though, like her pursuer had a mind, a heart, and a plan. Once again Twilight found herself in the Palace, panting for breath. This time, though, a bright flash of golden magic blinded her just before she could no longer move. The stone crept up her body quickly, and she was trapped. Her dream began to fade when a single, powerful voice emanated throughout her mind. It spoke a single word- "Come."

Twilight once again sat up in bed, but she was less scared now. She was just confused. Come? It wants me to go somewhere? Go where? Who was the voice? It sounded vaguely familiar, like a voice distorted by the dream. Was someone in trouble? All of these thoughts ran around in Twilight's head as she settled in for another night of weary sleep.