Rising of Destruction

by Ivo

Ch.1 - The Beginning - Pt.1 - A Nightmare´s Day

Chapter 1 – The Beginning

Part 1 – A Nightmare´s Day

“NOOOOOOOOOO!”

The door to the adjacent room opened and a very concerned little dragon entered her chamber.
“Twilight? Is everything all right?” the purple dragon asked worried and turned the lights on. What his eyes saw, made him even more worried!
The purple unicorn sat up straight in her bed, as pale as death, breathing hardly. Her whole body trembled with fear, she sweated bullets, streams of tears ran down her cheeks and she had an absent look. Spike had never seen his friend like…well…like this!
“Wow…Twilight, what happened to you?” He got no answer. She even seemed not to notice him.
“Hey Twilight!” he said louder now, but he still got no answer. That does it! he thought and got closer to her. He jumped on her bed, grabbed her shoulders and shook her up. “HEY! WAKE UP!”
Now, there was a reaction. She raised her head and seemed to return to reality.
Her purple eyes focused on the dragon in front of her.

“Spike?” she asked confused and he sighed in relief. “What…what are you doing here?”
“What I’m doing here? You screamed as you´re going to die and when I entered your chamber, you looked like you met death in person and didn´t even notice me! And you ask me what I´m doing here?”
“Oh…” the purple unicorn said absent-minded, tried to dry her tears and looked at the clock. It was half past two…A.M., of course… “I´m sorry.” she apologized. “I…It was just a nightmare...nothing else.” She tried a smile and failed. The dark shadow-alicorns and the way they had tortured her had been a harrowing experience! Everything had felt so…real!
“Looks like the worst nightmare Nightmare Moon could send to you.” Now she smiled and nodded.
“Yes, indeed. It was horrible.” The dragon jumped down from the bed and Twilight lay down in her bed again. “Good night, Spike.”
The small baby dragon frowned. “Are you sure you won´t talk about your dream? Or at least change your bed clothes? They´re completely wet through with your perspiration.”

Now, the purple unicorn grinned. “That is my typical number one assistant.” she said and got slowly out of her bed. “But now, that you mentioned it…”
“Allow me to do that for you.” he interrupted her. “You can take a short hop into the shower, if you want. I´ll change your bed clothes.”
“Thank you, Spike.” She opened the wardrobe with her magic and levitated one of the towels to her. After that, she walked into the bathroom and closed the door, hopped into the shower and flooded her body with warm water that dispelled the dark thoughts of her nightmare. She sighed in relief.

But there was still no way back to sleep when she lay down in her cozy, now-dry bed. The fear, being haunted again by the dark alicorn-shadows, let her lie awake…

______________________________________________________________________

At an unknown place, an unknown pony was waiting. The silence around it was absolute and the silvery moonlight made its fur sparkling like the star-spattered sky. A fresh midnight-breeze streamed through the opened window next to it and stroke through its mane.
It savored the feeling and took a deep breath of the cool midnight air.

Ten other minutes passed by.

Why does it take you so long?... it thought impatiently. How long could it take you to...Oh, there you are...
Like a thin trail of smoke they entered the room. The pony opened the book lying on a desk in front of it. The smoke poured out over the book and it absorbed them. Then, the unknown pony closed the book and smirked relieved. It could feel their powers streaming through the book under its hooves...but something was wrong!
They were supposed to be very much stronger than before! But they were only a little bit stronger…and injured?
What in the name of the darkest hell happened to you, my dark ones?... the anonymous pony worried and felt them trembling in their rage inside the book.
Which power was able to defend itself against them? And, in addition, which power was able to injure them?
The pony put the book back into its saddlebag and left its seat.

Now the unknown was inquisitive.
Theoretically, there were no powers in the world that were strong enough to stand against them. No powers excepting…it shook its head. That was ridiculous! Or, maybe, it was simply rough luck that their victim of all ponies was one of the few that was able to resist them and, in the worst case, to destroy them and ruin its plans!

I have to check this…most urgently! were the ponies last thoughts, before it entered its chamber unrecognized…

______________________________________________________________________

Princess Celestia´s School for gifted Unicorns was a very huge palatial pile.
Its internal structure was relative simple.
At the first two floors, there were primarily class rooms for theoretical and practical lessons of every description.
On the third and the fourth floor, the library, the canteen, a few lounges and some other public spaces like a small winter garden, an assembly hall and the secretary´s office were located.
At the upper stories were the student´s chambers.
The fifth to the seventh floor were for the mares, the others to the tenth for the stallions.

The chambers for themselves weren´t really big.
There was a small living room with a desk, a wardrobe, two or three smaller cupboards and a bed. One door led to a small storeroom. In Twilights case, this room was converted to Spike´s small personal assistants’ room. In a few cases, like also in Twilight´s, a second door led to a small bathroom. The other students had to use the communal bathrooms and showers on their floors.
But that was no big problem for most of them.

Outside the pile were the big gym and the sports fields. A great delightful garden enclosed the whole building. And if you walked through the garden you would arrive at the Canterlot City Center with its countless stores and impressive buildings.

But now, before everypony of you looses itself in the great shopping area there, let´s go back to the school´s library.
There, a few ponies were busily engaged in some work, having a profound and amicable discussion…

“Are you KIDDING ME?” a snow-white unicorn-stallion shouted out, levitating a few books, he found in a great cardboard box, in front of him.
“What is it now?” a bugged brown mare asked back, sighing.
“You told me of an ambitious exhibition of books, called ‘Fables and Dreams’! And that are your sophisticated books?" The sarcasm in his voice was unmistakable.
"‘The Beauty and the Manticore’? ‘Ariel, the Maremaid’? ‘My little Bunny’? That are all children’s books!”
“Well, seems that you found the books fitting to your level.” another unicorn-stallion smirked sassy while he was occupied at one of the countless bookcases around them. Shortly after his comment his magical horn glowed and he caught the book, the white stallion threw at him.
“You´re way too predictable...” he commented and his grin got even wider. But then, another book hit him and with a groan he felled to ground. The brown mare only shook her head.
“Ouch! Hey, that hurts, you…”
“Colts!” another unicorn-mare sighed in the background. “Can´t you just do your work for five minutes without having a real go at each other?”
“But that are children´s books, Silverleaf!”

Shaking her head, the mare called ‘Silverleaf’ trotted over to them, a basket with lots of gentian blue and flame red flowers in her mouth. She was a silvery-coated mare with a neat light green and white mane. Apposite to her name she wore a silver barrette formed like a leaf.
“Well, of course they are! It is also an exhibition for families! There have to be some children´s books, silly filly!” she hit back.
“I know, but….” he explained sighing, ignoring her last word “...after I agreed helping with the preparations for this exhibition I thought, I would find some books that are more worth to read! Books of bygone eras! Books of unknown legends and sagas! And, maybe, some books with interesting historical facts.”
“Well, if you came over here you would find a plentiful choice of this kind of books.” the other light gray stallion said. “But, I guess, you´re way to busy with your page-turners over there.” he bantered.
“LUCIEN!”
“Yes, Bleach?...” Lucien asked innocent as a lamb. Bleach growled.
“Calm down! Just ignore him!” Silverleaf tried to placate him.

Bleach hated the light gray-coated and dark gray-maned stallion with his annoying nature.
He was always maligning other students, sassy, provocative and also always thinking, he´s the best of all! Granted, he was one of the best elementalists at school. His cutie-mark, a sun consisting of lightning, encircling a water drop that encloses a small flame, proved it. But it was no reason for behaving like that.
First, he thought he just would be jealous, because he was also chasing after Twilight. But, in marked contrast to Bleach, he was just a player. For Lucien, the purple unicorn was but one of many.
Thinking about her…

“By the way, had anypony seen Twilight during the day?” he asked while placing a book on one of the countless book-rests.
“Not I.” Silverleaf answered honestly, decorating the desks and bookcases with her flowers.
“Me neither.” Lucien replied.
“Neither have I.” the brown mare answered. She kept out of the youth’s affair all the time.
Mrs. Bookheart, the librarian, was a calm soul like Silverleaf, but she wasn´t as assertive as her. So she was thankful to have her around.
“Don´t you think it´s strange?” Bleach questioned.
“Why?” the silver-colored mare asked.
“Because she wasn´t here yet!”
“I think you forgot that she´s not exempted from lessons like us, remember? If I hadn´t accept to help with the exhibition, I also wouldn´t be here now. But I did, because one of us has to keep a wary eye on both of you!” she explained with a side glance to Lucien. ”And it´s a great chance for me to deck the Library with some flowers!” she added and smiled.
That was Silverleaf live!
If she was able to deck a room with her floral arrangements, she wouldn´t miss the chance to do it. She was tailor-made for a tradeshow florist! It´s not for nothing, that her cutie-mark was a delightful flower arrangement.
“Well, I only came here to escape the odd lessons…” Lucien said.
“But, in a way, he´s right.” Mrs. Bookheart interposed. “Normally, she´s coming here after breakfast every day.”
“What if something happened to her? Maybe she is ill. Or injured, or…” Bleach worried and was interrupted by Lucien´s loud laugh. “Hey, what´s so funny about that?” Bleach asked angrily.
“You should hear yourself!” he laughed. “Worried sick about a mare, because she´s just once not coming to a place, she normally goes to. You are soooooo pathetic!”

His number is up! he thought and wanted to sock him. But Silverleaf blocked his way.
“No!” she said decisive and added whispering: “You are better than him. Don´t stoop yourself to his level!”
Hardly, he held his horses, looking daggers at the impertinent stallion. He took a deep breath to calm himself down. Finally, he nodded and the silvery mare smiled. “Good. Feel better now?”
“A little…”
“Well, then let´s return to work!” she sang, took her basket and disappeared between the innumerable bookcases…

______________________________________________________________________

It was 1.04 p.m.

At the moment, Twilights class had chemistry at the first floor.
The summer heat outside and the sun, which shone through the big opened windows, made it not easy to concentrate at the lesson. Everypony was sweating.
But though, all eyes were focused on the teacher, Prof. Albert. His lessons were always interesting and fascinating. Today, they learned how to make their own elixir of invisibility.

Only two eyes were closed and their owner was drifting into dreamland for the nth time.

For Twilight it was a very hard day! After her nightmare, there had been no way back to sleep last night. She had bags under her eyes and still had a slight pale face. Three times the teachers had to wake her up since school began this morning. Three times! At least! And per lesson! And this was the first day after summer vacation! This year definitely didn´t start well for the purple mare!
Spike had tried to convince her to excuse herself from lessons, after he saw his exhausted friend this morning. But Twilight, as she was, was way too overambitious and stubborn as a mule! She didn´t want to miss the first school day because of a daffy nightmare! Even if it was a really awful one!
And so, she had ignored Spike´s advice and now was there, her head resting on her forehooves on the desk and her eyes closed…

“…and now, to finish your elixir of invisibility, you take a small drop of the liquefied dragon scales, add it to your distillate aaaaand…” With these words, the beige-coated professor levitated two flacons, filled with a red liquid and a blue one, in front of him and added carefully one single small blue drop to the red one. A short ‘pop’ and the red liquid had a faint orange now. “Done! Now, you have your own elixir of invisibility!”
After that, the students also finished their elixirs. From everywhere, the short ‘pop’ could be heard. Meanwhile, Prof. Albert instructed the students to the mode of action of the elixir and the processes during the chemical reaction.
“…and don´t forget!” he ended “The effect of invisibility lasts only for five minutes! And, as against the last one, this year I don´t want to hear any incidents about stallions found in the mares´ shower…or the other way around…” some students dissolved into giggles. Then Prof. Albert walked to the half-sleeping unicorn and tramped noisy with his hooves on her desk.
“Did you understand that, Miss Sparkle?”

She woke with a start, glancing around through sleepy eyes.
“Wha…What?…Did I...did I miss something?” Some of the other students giggled again.
“Won´t you finish your elixir?” the professor asked sternly.
Twilight hardly found back to reality, her eyes fluttering. She shook her head and hectically levitated her two flacons.
“Oh! Y-yes yes…I...I´m sorry…what was that? A swallow of liquefied dragon scales…”
“NO! Not a swallow, a small…”

BOOM!

Too late.
The elixir exploded in front of the two ponies into a dark cloud of soot.
Taken aback, Twilight looked at the cracked flacons in front of her. Her face and Prof. Albert were black because of the soot.
Silence filled the room.
The purple mare shook her head and the soot disappeared. She giggled sheepish in embarrassment. “Um…I...guess that was, um...a teeny tiny bit too much?...”
“MISS SPARKLE!”
“I´m sorry…” she said crestfallen.
The professor sighed angrily. “What should I do with you? You always had been my best student! And this year, I perpetually have to wake you up from sleep? What´s up with you, Miss Sparkle?”
“I´m sorry! I…I couldn´t sleep last night. I had a nightmare and...couldn´t get it out of my head…I didn´t sleep all night...” she explained dejected.
“And why hadn´t you excuse yourself from lessons?”
“Because I…didn´t want to miss the first school day?...” she asked with a constrained smile.
Prof. Albert snorted and trotted back to his desk. “Well, that sounds at least like the Twilight Sparkle I know…”
He took of a red ballpen and the class register and made a note on a page. Then he looked at Twilight again.
“You can go now! For today, you are official absent with valid excuse. I´ll turn a blind eye to this. But just this once, you understand me? Now, go and rest!”
She wanted to disagree with him, but his expression advised her, to hold her horses. With her head hanging, she left the class room and walked through the empty floor.

Now, she needed her friends…and fortunately she knew where they were. So she climbed the stairs to the third floor and headed for the library…

______________________________________________________________________

When she reached the round foyer of the library, there was only silence. But her friends were here, she knew it. After all, before summer vacations had started, Bleach and Silverleaf had promised Mrs. Bookheart to help her with her new exhibition when they were back. And her friends never broke a promise!
Also Lucien, the colt she and the others once had called a friend, had joined them. Of course only to avoid lessons, she guessed.
Looking around, she searched for her friends, but because of the countless bookcases around her, she couldn´t see anypony. But she saw the mass of blue and red flowers everywhere. They were on the desks, on the book-shelves, on the windowsills…everywhere were the colorful and good-smelling garlands, lightening up the library´s odd blue-white look.
That was definitely Silverleaf´s work!

“Hello!” she called. “Is anypony there?”
“Oh, I know this lovely voice!” a deep and soft voice answered from the depths of the bookcases.
“Me too!” a second male voice shouted.
“Me three!” a female voice sang.
“And I´m the fourth!” an elder female voice answered.

A minute later, the first of the voices appeared: a snow-white unicorn-stallion at her age with a long straight raven mane, reaching down nearly all the way to the floor. A small black scrunchie tied the mane up, which felt down his left side and covered one of his eyes. She couldn´t help, but she loved this mane...and its bearer...
“Hey Twi!” Bleach, her best friend since her first day at school, greeted. “Shouldn´t you have lessons right…Oh my gosh!” he shouted when he saw her. “What in the name of Celestia happened to you? Don´t get me wrong, but…you look horrifying!”
She smiled wise. “Thanks for the compliment, Bleach!” she said and agreed with him. She really looked horrifying! The bags under her eyes, the bloodshoted eyes, the snarled mane and the rests of the soot on her light pale face! His reaction had definitely a good reason.
But he didn´t seem to catch the irony of her answer and stammered: “I…I didn´t mean so…I mean…you…”
“How sensitive you are!” another stallion said and Lucien appeared between the bookcases. He looked Twilight over and frowned. “But, kinda, he is right. You´re looking very…harassed. What happened?”
“Oh, it was just a nightmare, nothing to worry about.”

“A nightmare?” Bleach furrowed. “Seemed to be the worst nightmare…”
“...Nightmare Moon could´ve send me. Heard that before.” she smiled. “And yes, it was horrifying!”
“Poor you!” Lucien meant gently. “What was your dream about?”
“Oh, nothing that makes much sense. Just some shadows chasing after me and pouncing on me. The eerie thing was: everything felt so real! I felt like I would die when those scary alicorn-shadows got me.” She shuddered at the thought of the creepy shadows.
Bleach smiled soft. “Alicorn-shadows? That sounds creepy! How did your brain hit that?”
She smiled back shrugging. “I don´t know. In a book I read a dream is the reflection of our subconscious mind and our memories. Whilst dreaming, our brain comes to terms with the events we underwent the day. But I can´t remember anything that explains these shadows…”
“Maybe it was just a bad dream without a meaning.” the light gray stallion calmed her and Twilight nodded.
“Yeah, you are right there, but still…I´m fearing that they would come again next time I close my eyes.” she admitted low-voiced.
“Nah, come on, Twi! You´re way too tough and intelligent to be uninhibited by some stupid phantoms, aren´t you?” Bleach opined.
“Yeah, but still…”
“Well, maybe you just need somepony at your site while you´re sleeping.” Lucien offered with a charming smile. “Somepony that shoos the nightmares away…” he searched for her purple eyes and kept smiling his charming smile.
The white stallion next to him only sighed and rolled his eyes.
And YOU call ME pathetic… he thought.

Twilight just smiled and didn´t know, what she should answer. Of course, she knew, as well as Bleach, that Lucien was just a player. But how could she decline his offer without being rude?
“Well, I think that´s enough, guys!” a female voice broke the short silence. Silverleaf appeared in the back of the two colts, an empty basket in her mouth. Both stallions gave way and she trotted over to greet her friend with an amicable hug.
“Hey Twi!” she greeted her smiling.
“Hello Silv!” the scholar greeted back.
Silverleaf gave her the once-over and frowned. “Don´t mind me, but…Bleach´s right. You are looking horrible!”
Twilight smiled. “And again: Thanks for the compliment!”
The silver mare giggled. “Well, I´ve already finished here. If you have a free minute…”
The purple mare nodded and explained the chemistry incident to her.
“So you have a free minute! Good! Then let´s go to the city and relax! Sorry guys, but this is definitely a best friends´ and, in addition, a mare´s job. See ya later!”

And before one of the colts could say anything against her, Silverleaf and Twilight had left the library…

______________________________________________________________________

“Thank you for saving me from Lucien.” Twilight said relieved while they walked along the cobble-stone road.
“Nonsense! There´s no need to thank me. You´re my best friend! That goes without saying.”
She just nodded and yawned in response.

Twilight was really tired. No surprise, she didn´t sleep since her nightmare after all. But maybe a walk through the city could refresh her a little bit, that at least was Silverleaf´s idea. Together they left the school grounds and walked through the busy roads of the Central City Center of Canterlot. Everywhere they could see different stores, touting with big colorful promotional signs for their wares.
But Silverleafs designation weren´t the stores. The silvery mare headed for a quieter place and left the busy center, leading Twilight to one of the outer districts.
“I can´t believe he once had been our friend!” the purple unicorn then continued their conversation.
“Me neither. He really had changed a lot…” Silverleaf agreed.

He really did.
Once, Lucien had been a very calm and nice soul. He had been an artist and always catered for the special effects of the school productions with his element-controlling. But one day, he had started to change, slow, but steady. He began to become praggish and startedto malign the others. He started to chase after mares, just to drop them after their first night together. It was then when they broke with him. And shortly after, he also started to offend them.
Except for Twilight.
She was his next chosen 'mare-victim'.

“What do you think had changed him that much?” Twilight then asked.
“I don´t know...too much time went by since all began, I can´t remember very well. Maybe we just had grown apart.”
“Maybe…I wish he would still be the nice gentle colt he once had been...”
“Yeah...Well, here we are!” Silverleaf sang smiling.

The two friends stood in front of a big white house. Some stairs led to the entrance. The whole building looked very…luxurious. Above the entrance there was a marble slab and, engraved in it, Twilight read: ‘Silver-Spa – let your soul fly high’. Twilight frowned. “A Spa? That´s very unlike you…”
“Well, can´t go out for a tennis or volleyball match at my...uhm...I mean your current condition, right?” She giggled, slightly nervous.
Twilight frowned even more at her friends´ slip of the tongue and her behavior, but said nothing.
She only answered with a short “Right.” and together they entered the Spa.

Inside, they found themselves in a wide foyer.
Everything was made of polished white marble. On the ceiling there was a big mosaic, showing a scene in a medieval bathhouse. On the left side there was a small brown-marbled counter. And behind the counter there was a silver-coated light blue-maned mare reading a magazin.
“Welcome to the Silver-Spa!” she greeted them friendly and put away her magazin when she noticed her guests. “What can I…Oh!” she broke herself when she saw Silverleaf, which just grinned mischievous at her. “Well, well! I never saw anything more bizarre than you in a Spa!”
“Hi sis!” she greeted the earth pony behind the counter. “Twilight, allow me to introduce you my sister Silversoul. Silversoul, this is my best friend Twilight.”
“Hi! Nice to meet you!” Twilight greeted her.
“Nice to meet you, too.” Silverleaf´s sister greeted back smiling. “Silverleaf told me a lot about you. She said you´re a bookworm and an incorrigible egghead, is that true?”
“Well, kinda…”
“Kinda?” Silverleaf interrupted her. “How many books did you read in your summer vacations?”
“Um…about thirty?” she said sheepishly smiling.
“See? I told the truth. She is our little bookworm!” Silverleaf said laughing and ruffled trough Twilights mane. Silversoul laughed. “Seems that you´re really very good friends. But should I expect anything other after...how many years do you know each other? Twelve?"
Both nodded.
"See? Anyway now, what can I do for you?”

______________________________________________________________________

Several minutes later they found their selves in a great luxurious hot tub and sighed in relief while the warm water flushed away their sorrows. The bouquet of wild flowers was perfumed by some aromatic candles. Silverleaf loved this scent.

“This was a really good idea, Silv!” Twilight sighed and closed her eyes, resting her head in her forelegs.
The silvery unicorn smiled contented. “Thank you. My sister opened this spa a few months ago. Normally, I don´t come here, you know. I´m more interested in sportive activities…” she sighed satisfied. “But, maybe, I should take a break more often and come over here. That´s way healthier...”
Twilight just nodded and made her own thoughts to that. Silverleaf always was very vigorous and a mare one usually had to force to sit still for only ten minutes. She was very active and sportive, if she wasn´t occupied with her flowers...or her coltfriend...
Mentioning colts: “I wonder how Bleach´s getting on with Lucien now…” Twilight said after a while with an absent look. Silverleaf snickered.
“You love him…” she sang. It wasn´t guessed, it was a statement.
Granted, she loved Bleach since their eyes had met the first time. First, she had been confused. Everywhere had been that strange tingling in her stomach when she saw him, listened to him or thought at him, but she hadn´t known why she felt this way around him. Of course, Twilight had known about love, and Silverleaf knew about her love for him from the very beginning when they first had met, even before she knew it herself, but Twilight never understood, why she loved him. There had been nothing, no scientifical explanation nor anything else that could really explain it to her.
It took a very long time to simply accept it.
But though, she never got the strength to confirm it to him...

She took a deep breath. "Yes. Yes, I do love him...desperatly...” It was the first time she confirmed it to her.
Smiling wide, Silverleaf leaned back in the tub. Her golden eyes focused the white ceiling. "You have no idea how long I´ve been waiting for you to say that, do you? Twelve! Twelve years!"
"Yeah, it´s been quite some time..." the scholar chuckled.
Her friend only sighed. "I just can´t believe you two aren´t married yet!"
"MARRIED? Are you kidding me? Optimally with two foals or what now?"
Silverleaf chuckled. "After twelve years of being together it wouldn´t be such an illogical scenario. After all, there are ponies at your age who already have foals and are married. I´m still wondering why this isn´t already the case of your brother and Cadence..." She sighed again and sat up, facing her friend. "Anyway, I said: after twelve years of being together! You even aren´t with him, yet!"
"Yeah..." she sighed and leaned back "...I know...And that´s what I wish I could change..."
"Then go and get him! Nothing will change if nopony of you is able to take the first step! Though, first step somehow isn´t very fitting regarding the amount of small cheek-pecks you gave each other in our younger days. The more annoying it is for me to watch you pussyfooting around!"
"But...how? How should I get him?" She sighed again. "I even don´t know if he´s feeling the same for me..."
"Don´t you worry, Twi..." Silverleaf replied, calmer this time. "Believe me, I bet he has the same feelings for you. And I´m sure you´ll find a way to confess your feelings to him. Where there´s love there´s a way.”
"Thank you, Silv...thank you..."

Finally, they left the spa and headed back for the school. It was late now. Silversoul gave them the complete spa-program, so they were completely relaxed now. But also, they were tired. Twilight gave long yawns at their way home. That ‘Soul-Refresher’, how Silverleaf and her sister called the tea they drank in the end, made her want to sleep instantly. “So, what do you think?” the green-maned mare asked, also yawning. “Are there still creepy shadows in your head?” Twilight shook her head. Their trip to the ‘Silver-Spa’ had dispelled any thoughts of her nightmare. “No. I think I´ll sleep peaceful now.” she meant smiling. “Thanks a million to you.” “Nah, no need to thank me. As I said earlier, that all goes without saying.” she said and smiled softly. Soon they arrived at the sixth floor of the school where Twilights chamber was. Silverleafs´ chamber was on the seventh, so they had to part. A few students were still on their way, but not many. It was about 9 p.m. The most students already lay in their bed. “Well then, see you tomorrow after school?” Silverleaf asked and the purple unicorn nodded. “Then: Good night, sleep tight, don´t let the bedbugs bite!” And then, Silverleaf had left.

At her chamber, Spike was already asleep. She heard his slight snoring from his room. On her desk there were the notes with the lessons she missed the day. Spike must have been busy as a bee. She smiled. Sometimes she asked herself what she would do without her number one assistant and without her friends. Totally exhausted, she lay down in her bed and instantly felt asleep…