Twilight hummed to herself as she flipped to the next page of her book. She had taken the chance to have the library to herself as a chance to play catch up. While making new friends and fighting gods of chaos was fun, it was also exhausting, and there were still so many books to read that she had never heard of. Some even had vampires in them, like the one she was only just beginning, named after herself. Despite Rarity’s insistence that it would rot her brain, it was the most popular romance out, so she had to give it a shot.
As she began to learn about the main character, Deep Frown, a soft knock came against the library door. At first, Twilight wasn't even certain that she had heard the sound, until it came again, barely any louder. For a moment, Twilight considered not answering, but the thought of robbing any pony of the knowledge they might be searching for disgusted her, and she gently opened the door with her magic.
Soft hooves echoed against the hard, wooden floor as the visitor entered. Twilight's curiosity grew the longer she listened to the pony below. So quiet, so tame, and not even looking for a librarian. Her eye started to twitch as she tapped the floor with a forehoof. Once the sound had disappeared, but the door had not re-opened, Twilight yielded to her inquisitive side, and floated down.
A quick glance showed to her small piles of books, kept orderly in different corners and nooks of the library. She made sure to keep herself invisible as she floated deeper into the library, her eyes not even phased by the darkness. Neither was it a problem for the intruder, who spotted the wraith before the spirit had a chance to spot her.
"Hi, Twilight."
She whipped her ethereal form sideways, the voice having been familiar, but not very. When she saw her pink friend though, she found she could only hang in the air. The long, straight hair sent chills down her spine, but she waved the feeling away. It was Pinkie, not an intruder. "Uh, hi, Pinkie. Strange seeing you here like this."
Pinkie shrugged, a small smile crossing over her lips. "I need books, so where else I was supposed to go? My backyard?"
A small giggle escaped Twilight as the worries from earlier left her. Pinkie was probably just trying out a new hairstyle, and she was overthinking it. She floated beside the other mare, gently bumping her. "So, what types of books were you looking for?"
Pinkie glanced away for a moment, before nodding to herself. "Well, I had heard some new books came to the library when you and Sunset came, so I thought I would make sure I was still the master of the supernatural. Besides, I've got a train ride later today, and need something to help me sleep."
Twilight nodded as her horn glowed, lighting up the darker part of the library. The morning sun hadn't come out yet, and the better lighting brought with it new discoveries, including tear stains on Pinkie's cheeks. A gasp ripped itself from Twilight as she put a hoof on Pinkie's cheek. "What's wrong?"
Pinkie smiled again, shrugging. "I got a bit annoyed last night while trying to make my family the right dish. I just couldn't quite get it right though."
Twilight nuzzled her friend as a few, small books came in front of the two. She stared into Pinkie’s eyes for another moment before sighing. "Would you like me to come? I can close the library, and Sunset isn't expected back for another week. Besides," nudging Pinkie playfully in the ribs, "for the pony who wants to help me the most with fitting in, we've spent such little time together."
Pinkie glanced back at Twilight, before taking in a deep breath, and letting it out. "You know what, that sounds amazing. I get so stressed about seeing my family every year, and it might help having a friend like you there."
Twilight nodded, before a large grin broke over her face. "Let me go get some books then. I don't want to be bored either!"
Pinkie watched as her friend took off, and a tear came down her face. She hadn't let others come before because it hurt too much, and no pony could ever do anything. But if anypony was to be able to set her mind to rest during all of this, she was certain it was Twilight. At the thought, her hair rose slightly, and she was able to actually smile as the wraith came back.
"Are you ready?"
Pinkie blinked at the mare with a large suitcase beside her, before laughing. "You betcha!"
Twilight beamed back. "That's more like it!"
The two left for the train station, with Pinkie tiredly pulling along Twilight's suitcase, while her own saddlebags sagged beside her.
Pinkie blinked as she saw the blank land around her. It was so… white. A small giggle rippled through the emptiness as she realized that it must be a dream. The ripples turned solid, then darkened. She watched in bewilderment as the black lines came together to create a scene in front of her. She tried floating towards it, but a wall she couldn’t see stopped her, and a blob of black escaped where her hoof met the barrier. She watched it float onto the scene and pop, showing a small filly with a bushy mane and tail that now landed on the black surface. She herself, was black, just like the rest.
The little filly looked back, and waved to something. As if on cue, another filly, this one with a long mane that covered half of her face, came into view. She was entirely black as well, and even smaller than the poofy pony. She also carried much less energy to herself, shrinking back as the energetic one nuzzled her.
And then, they were off. The first filly bounced along the path, and Pinkie giggled as she mirrored the motions, the land expanding before the two ponies as they moved. Despite the slower movements of the calmer one, she never went out of sight. Never stopped watching what Pinkie assumed was her sister.
They had to come to an end soon, and that end came with the woods. The small filly clambered on top of a rock, and seemingly started to declare something as she awaited her sister’s arrival. Pinkie cleared her throat, and began to assume what she said. “My brave general, this was the spot. The spot where I earned my great reputation, fighting off the rabid carrot people. While they had flooded out of the forest, I would not allow them to breach my homeland, and threaten my family. That is not the way of the Pie!”
Both Pinkie and the filly stood tall, their heads thrown back, and looking to the sky. Much to Pinkie’s amusement, the calmer one used this to as a chance to try to match her sister’s energy, and nuzzled the energetic ones chest. The filly laughed for a moment, before falling over the other side of the boulder.
The small pony wouldn’t sit still though, even after the wall, and instead walked to the large tree that signaled the end of the dreamscape. She excitedly jumped up and down, as if triumphant about something, and Pinkie held a hoof to her mouth. Could it perhaps be buried treasure, or a new sweet she had on the other side?
It was only then that a long, black leg ending in a fine, sharp point, extended from the tree, and Pinkie’s heart almost stopped.
“No.”
The filly glanced back at the leg, and stuck her tongue out, before jumping back. The leg impaled the ground and shook the dreamscape with its force. The small pony threw back its head, laughing once more, before gesturing for her sister to go forwards.
“P-please, no. I don’t want to see this.”
But the shyer one still went, albeit much slower than her sister had. Pinkie’s words had no effect as the leg slowly rose again, and the mare shrank back from it. Despite moving long before the spider’s leg came down, she still barely escaped the deadly point. She looked back at her sister and tried a small smile of triumph, to which the energetic filly just bounced in the air, and back into the range of the leg.
“I don’t care if you think you’re fine, stop!”
The filly wouldn’t though. Pinkie already knew this. She watched the same roll to the side she had watched so many times before. Began to cry as the filly stayed on her back, talking to her sister about the new game, all while two new legs extended from the tree. She knew she should look away, knew she didn’t want to watch as the scared filly noticed the danger she was in, and the leg came down upon her sister.
But she couldn’t, not while the filly saw death come inches from her, only to be thrown away. A glow came over the saved filly as time slowed, the points coming ever closer to the other one. The one that had just pushed her to the side, and could not run away. The filly’s eyes were wide, shocked, trying to comprehend the fact that she had come a second away from dying.
Then, the world turned red. Every bit of white was stained by the color, and Pinkie sat down, her hair fully deflated, just like the filly’s as she hit the ground. The long legs picked up her sister, showing off how one leg was through the chest, and the other through her throat, before throwing the corpse to the ground. Just in reach of its legs, but also close enough to taunt the filly to come get it.
Pinkie could now shut her eyes. She didn’t have to see herself yell at the beast. Shout at it that it was all a game. Scream that this wasn’t funny. All while she dodged the legs, and dragged the corpse back with her.
======+++++======
Pinkie leapt off of the couch as a cold hoof touched her side. She crashed to the ground, before weakly standing up and turning around to look at the pony who had disturbed her. There she saw Twilight, tears coming down her face as she stared at Pinkie.
“Y-you were screaming.”
The pink pony blinked a few times, before rubbing at her eyes, coming away with wet patches of fur. “Really?”
Twilight nodded, pressing her hoof back into the other mare’s side. “Are… are you okay, Pinkie?”
Before she could respond, Pinkie was cut off by the conductor’s voice coming through the PA system. “We’ll be arriving at Gravel Station in about five minutes, so please make sure you’re ready for arrival.”
Twilight turned her head back down to a Pinkie who was rapidly nodding in response to her question, all while frantically packing her saddlebags. “We don’t want to be late getting off of the train, do we?”
Twilight bit into her cheek, before shrugging to herself. Pinkie wasn’t the most secretive mare in Equestria, and that was putting it loosely, so if she didn’t want to share it probably wasn’t that important. What was important was her instinct to explore, causing her to float through the top of the train.
At first, she was very confused, as only rocks filled her vision for as far as she could see, which wasn’t far. She was then blinded as the train escaped the tunnel, and the midday sun flared high in the sky. Twilight’s eyes twitched for a moment, before she blinked rapidly, each one getting the world to come back into focus, bit by bit. Looking around, Twilight was honestly surprised.
It was a surprisingly desolate place. She could see the station they were approaching, but the only thing beyond that was a barren plain, with a single house. Twilight bit into her lip for a moment, before she noticed the large piles of rocks that dotted the plain, and the equipment to move those rocks that lay about in the field. It wasn’t just an empty space as she had thought, but Pinkie’s home.
Twilight brought her hooves up, rubbing at her eyes for a moment before looking back, and all she still saw were rocks. Slipping back into the cabin, she stared at Pinkie for another few moments before the question got to be too much to hold back. “How is that your home?”
Pinkie jumped up from the floor because of Twilight’s shout. She then giggled while closing up her suitcase. “Well yeah, silly. What, did you think I was an alien or something?”
Twilight blinked a few times as she followed the slow trotting mare. “Umm, yes?”
Pinkie’s body shook slightly, her flat mane having a few hairs lift up for a moment, before falling back down. “Well, as amazing that would be, it’s unfortunately not the case. Instead, I got to be a part of the most amazing rock farm in Equestria!”
A small laugh escaped Twilight as she floated beside her, before the creaking of a door caught her attention. At the porch of the small house was a brown stallion with black hair, looking out into the fields. Behind him was a faded white mare, with gray hair and glasses, looking over his shoulder. The stern face on the stallion worried Twilight for a moment, before she remembered that they had to be Pinkie’s parents.
Her father, Igneous, looked to his daughter and let out a brief sigh. “I always hear you coming, don’t I?”
Pinkie stuck her tongue out. “Well, we do plan this out, and the train whistle is really loud.”
Her mother, Cloudy Quartz, stepped out and laid down, beckoning her filly over. The two nuzzled against each other, before Twilight froze from Cloudy looking directly at her. “I can’t see your friend. Is it one of those special ones?”
Pinkie nodded furiously. “Her name is Twilight, and she is super smart. Like, beats the pants off of Miss Power even, smart. She wanted to come when I was asking for spooky books about ghosts and such.”
Igneous nodded at the comment, before opening the door more. “Well, as always, she is welcome here if you want her Pinkie. However, you still have things to do, like helping your mother with lunch. I doubt after your long train ride you don’t want some, and Limestone isn’t here to help bake.”
Pinkie’s tongue ran along her lips, before she bounced to her hooves. “You would be absolutely right, as always dad. I’ll get the soup going!”
Twilight waited for Igneous to turn and follow Cloudy Quartz before beginning to float towards the door. Just as she was about to reach it though, he turned back. “Spirit, are you there?”
Twilight bit into her cheek, before realizing that there was no reason to hide. Her form made its appearance before him, and she nodded. “My name is Twilight sir, and it’s a pleasure to know Pinkie, and to meet you.”
Igneous’s frown deepened for a moment, before he nodded again. “Tell me, do things like you normally need sleep?”
Twilight blinked a few times, turning her head at the odd question. “No, not unless I’ve used a lot of magic recently. Why?”
The stallion looked away, back towards the kitchen. “Bad memories hold this place over my daughter, and… and if you can, please don’t wander off to haunt somewhere else. We could use you tonight. Understand?”
Twilight didn’t, and her form wavered as she came closer. “Why sir?”
Igneous was silent for a moment, before a tear came down his face. “It… it would be easier if you merely saw it. Easier for you to destroy it, and free my family of the cursed spirits that hold such misery on my land. Pinkie won’t be willing to, but I need you to promise to me that you will do all you can to stay detached, and kill what lurks in the air tonight.”
She stared at him for a few moments, before gently lowering her head, nodding in response, even though she had no idea what was going on. At this point, even with her curiosity, she didn’t know if she wanted to.
Twilight stared at the full moon, her essence itching. Something about tonight was wrong. The fields of stone around her were still, but when she looked closer, they sent chills down even her spine. They were in mourning over a tragedy that was still not over. A tragedy they wished could forever end. A tragedy that Igneous had refused to tell her, lest she know too much and be incapable of ending it.
The wraith shut her eyes, taking in a deep breath as she tried to calm down. The Pie family was sleeping, and she had no reason to fear what may come. Even if something did come to attack them, they would have to get past her, and she was primed for a fight. She focused outwards only though, and missed the gray ghost behind her, hesitating before it floated downwards.
Thus, Twilight was left alone once more, and the minutes dragged on, giving the misery that gripped this night time to slip into her essence and muddle her thoughts. She did not see the pain building within the house, nor did she stop what Igneous had wanted her to. The wraith was only notified of a problem when a scream ripped through the air. A scream from the friend that had trusted her, but not enough to tell her what she needed to.
Twilight flew through the house in a flash. When she stopped within Pinkie’s room, her very presence dropped the temperature by almost twenty degrees. Frost was soon covering the sparse furniture, and Twilight searched for her friend. She saw Pinkie on the bed, crying, holding her hooves out to a gray spirit, who merely stared back, floating in the air and saying nothing.
Twilight lowered herself, her eyes narrowed as the dread and misery of the room shifted her essence. Holes tore themselves open in her cloak, and begged for her to attack the pain. Rid the house of the thing that had haunted this night for ten years. A black icicle formed in the air, glowing with green, necrotic magic as she scowled. “Leave this place, poltergeist.”
The gray mare looked at her with one eye, the other covered by her mane. There was a spectral tear there, but she only put her head down in response to the command. It would have been so easy. So easy to give the ghast a matching hole through her skull as the one through her esophagus. It was only the continued crying that stopped her. The cries that ignored her having even come in.
“Please Marble, just… just tell me you hate me! Tell me it was my fault! Don’t… don’t just stay there. For once, please just speak. I… I didn’t mean to.”
Twilight hesitated with the spike, before pushing it beneath Marble’s neck. The mare didn’t even raise her head, but instead tried to pull the spike forward, to which Pinkie screamed, “No!”
Twilight rose the spear away from the spirit, her magic going out of control as the room got colder and colder. She had no idea what was going on. Pinkie acted like she herself was the enemy, but this ghast that only appeared now was obviously the cause of the pain. Wasn’t it? She put her hooves to her head, her brow furrowing as she tried to think.
“Please Marble. She… she can help you. Let her speak for you as I used to do. Please, just… just let me make this right! Let me find you peace!”
Pinkie’s howls shook Twilight’s core, and she felt like she was trying to pop her own head as she ground her teeth. Her eyes popped back open as she felt the other spirit slam into her, forcing her out of the room as Pinkie howled again. The two were soon out of the house, and black ice pillars raised from the ground to separate the two.Twilight set down on her pillar, staring down at the other ghost, the fear of the night channeling itself through her. Influencing the naive wraith, and trying to get her to do what it desired.
Twilight summoned her spear again and threw it without hesitation. The mare did nothing. She didn’t throw up her hooves, float away, or scream for mercy. She simply stayed there, crying. The question ‘why’ kept forcing itself into Twilight’s mind as the spear began its deadly arc. Ice beneath her cracked and groaned as random spikes grew from the freezing ground, and Twilight’s mind finally slammed into the misery of the night, freeing itself from the emotion that ruled this place, and replacing it with reason.
It was only now that Twilight realized how cold it was, and thought of the ice that had been forming on her friend. She had allowed herself to get so wrapped up in helping Pinkie and doing as Igneous said, that she had come a hair’s breadth from killing Pinkie. The only reason she hadn’t, was because of the mare who now would be killed by her own spear. Regret paralyzed Twilight, as she was powerless to stop her own projectile.
A crash resounded through the night, and Twilight looked down. She met Marble’s eyes, and they were still there. Still intact. Instead, the spear had slammed against one of the sudden spikes from her unstable magic, and now sat obliterated between the two. Twilight shed one tear, and floated down to Marble, her head hung low. “I… I’m so sorry. With how Pinkie was acting, I did as what everyone seemed to want. What all of this negative energy wanted. I’m… I’m sorry.”
Marble blinked a few times at her, before turning her head to the side. She said nothing, and for a few moments, Twilight waited, her shame growing. It did not last, as the shame grew into anger. The very least Marble could do was respond. Looking back at Marble, she found herself gazing at the hole in her neck… a hole in her essence. She pushed a hoof against her own neck, thinking about it for a few moments. She had no reason to know, but it was possible that it would stop the other mare from speaking. It would even explain what Pinkie had said earlier. Twilight could only imagine the pain her friend must have gone through, if every year this mare came to her, unable to respond to Pinkie’s questions that she seemed so desperate to have answered.
Twilight wrapped the mare into her hooves, snuggling her for a moment, trying to get it across that they were no longer enemies. Marble did not reciprocate, and Twilight nodded her own understanding. They had more important things to take care of first. She floated away for a moment, staring at Marble, desperately wanting to help her. Needing to, if not just for Pinkie. The deepest pits of her essence called to her, the same pits that had beckoned when she had seen Sunset so near to death, offering her power to fix this mare now.
Once more, the wraith touched those depths, not peeking into the secrets that lay beneath the top layer, but letting her instincts take over for just a moment, and let the energy flow through her. Twilight’s horn glowed gray for a moment, before black and green magic flowed into the hole within Marble’s neck. The other spirit’s eyes widened, and she tried running from the energy. A small squeak escaped her as the hole closed, and she hid behind a rock.
Twilight floated over, her essence feeling torn apart. Her worries had tired her enough to leave herself vulnerable, and fighting off misery had left her exhausted, even before she had done whatever it was she had to Marble. She still would see the night through though, and looked over the rock. There lay Marble, cowering, with only one eye showing. “Please, I only want to help you and Pinkie. I don’t want to hurt you, I Pinkie Promise.”
Marble looked back up just in time to see Twilight perform the necessary gestures, before floating back to her. She nodded for a moment, and the two went back into the house. Entering Pinkie’s room, the party pony lay still on the bed, her vacant eyes looking at nothing. Twilight floated to the floor first, and put a hoof against Pinkie’s head. “Your sister is safe, I promise, and she has something to tell you.”
Pinkie’s eyes widened as Marble came down. For a moment, the two just stared at each other, before both turned away. Pinkie was the first to speak. “Please, just tell me you hate me. Tell me that I killed you and that I deserve all of this.”
To this, Marble did not respond. Twilight waited a few seconds more, willing to be patient as the other spirit had only just gotten her voice back. As the minutes passed though, and Pinkie began shuddering, she felt her essence tensing with anger again. “Come on Marble, tell Pinkie what you think of… whatever happened.”
Marble glanced back to Pinkie, but then shook her head furiously, and put her head between her hooves, her essence shaking. Pinkie climbed over, and whispered, “Please. Just… just do what you need to be happy, even if it means finally tearing me apart as I know you want to.”
Marble looked back up, and a spectral tear fell as she shook her head, and her neck pulsed with black energy for a moment. “Pinkie… do you think I hate saving you? Saving the one of us who would ever live?”
Pinkie stopped, staring for a moment before shaking her head. “I-I don’t understand. We both would have lived if I hadn’t been such a stupid little filly.”
Marble shook her head. “Pinkie… I did nothing with my life but stay inside and hide from everypony else. Even Maud did more than me when we were kids.”
Twilight swallowed hard, her mouth becoming dry, unaware that her horn was glowing, using the repair she had given Marble to help the shy spirit say what she needed to. She was currently facing her own past though, and how it compared to her present. How it compared to having friends to be with and hang out with, instead of a dark hole and books. The thought terrified her, and she put a hoof to Pinkie’s muzzle. “Pinkie, don’t argue with Marble on this one, please.”
Pinkie looked between both of them, shaking her head. “But… but I killed my twin.”
“No you didn’t. You were trying to get me to live.”
“But that doesn’t stop that you died, and that I had to watch you for ten years try to figure out how you should look when you grew up! And yes, while you look super cute now, you should have gotten this way living beside me, not as some ghost!”
Marble shrank back at the yelling. Twilight herself was only now realizing that Marble should look like a filly, but most certainly did not. She pursed her lips, and put a hoof onto the other spirit’s shoulder. “Why did you keep changing yourself to grow with Pinkie?”
“Because otherwise… otherwise I would have no connection to her left. I couldn’t talk to you, I couldn’t say that I wasn’t mad… I couldn’t be your twin, something I barely was in life. The only way I could come up with to not entirely lose the only part of my identity I was proud of was to try to keep up with her, and stay the same age.”
She put her hooves to her face, her spectral tears coming down much harder. “I’m… I’m sorry Pinkie, I just didn’t want to lose you. Why do you think I threw myself in front of that spider? If you had died, my life would have stopped too. But you,” she pointed a hoof at Pinkie, and then at Twilight, “kept going. You made friends, moved away from the farm, and made the most of everything you could. From how I was, honestly, can you tell me I would have done the same?”
Pinkie stared for another moment, before trying to wrap her hooves around Marble. Twilight’s magic dispelled itself just as a second attempt was had, and the sisters held each other. “I guess not, but I still wish it had never happened.”
Marble tried speaking, but without the help, and after so long, could only muster an, “Mhm.”
For another moment, the two held each other in peace, before Marble lost tangibility. Pinkie flopped onto the bed, before looking up, and seeing her sister beginning to fade. Her eyes widened, and she slammed her hooves down. “No! I just got you back, so you can’t just go!”
Marble herself looked mortified as her hooves faded. Even though what kept her to this place, this night, was over, she did not want to go either. And Twilight wouldn’t let her.
Another bright gray glow erupted from Twilight’s horn, just barely not forcing her into the very pits she feared of her essence, and she solidified the hole in Marble’s esophagus, binding the mare’s soul to her own so that she could only be released from this world when Twilight decided so. She was now Twilight’s ‘minion’.
None of the three knew this, but they did know one thing. Marble was still there, and now entirely there, as a specter. Pinkie held her hooves up to her face, before tackling her sister again, and then being caught by Twilight before she slammed into the floor. A slight giggle escaped Marble, and Pinkie beamed at both of the spirits.
The two sisters hugged one more time, with Pinkie whispering, “I’m so happy you’re back, and I’m never letting you go again,” to which Marble responded with a sweet, “Mhm.” Pinkie then looked to Twilight over her sister’s shoulder, and mouthed, “Thank you,” before shutting her eyes, and enjoying the cold of her sister’s body.
Twilight soon left the room, wanting to give the two mares some time to themselves.
