Twilight is fairly sure there's a bird in her ceiling. This was a horribly dangerous assumption.
Twilight Sparkle believes that she understands the world around her. But what if one of the most common, everyday things, was actually completely beyond her comprehension?
A short, experimental piece based on working with a very limited word count. Written in first person, in a sort of journal-like style.
I can hear it cooing at night. Never in the morning or during the day like other birds do, only at night.
Big brother Shiny doesn't believe me; he says he can't hear it. That I'm imagining things.
Of course he wouldn't hear it. It's in my ceiling, not his, and he’s way across the house on the other side. I tried to bring him into my room so he could hear it, but it never coos when he's around. And it doesn't make the little tik tik tik noise either.
I lie awake and listen to it sometimes when I'm too tired to read and too alert to sleep. Other nights it keeps me awake. It's a very strange bird.
I got a book about birds from the library, but it didn't have a list of bird sounds.
I thought about telling the Princess, but I don't want to be a bother. She's so busy anyway and I'm already taking up so much of her time now that she's going to be teaching me. Besides, she'd probably just say it's a pigeon, like Mom, or that it doesn't exist, like Dad. But I don't think pigeons coo like that. Especially at night.
I don't know if it's the same bird, but I can’t help but think so. But why would a bird follow me all the way from my home to my new tower dorm? But it sounds the same, and I've never heard another bird that sounds like it.
Maybe it likes the crumbs from my midnight reading snacks. Or maybe it hatched in my ceiling and imprinted onto me?
I kind of like it now. Being alone in the tower is a little scary, but my bird reminds me of home. Its cooing is familiar, comforting. Same with the ticking of its beak and talons on stone.
I've tried to find it during the day, but never had any luck. I thought that, for being awake all night, it must be a nocturnal bird that sleeps during the day. Yet I can never spot it. I guess it must be out and about doing bird things during the day. Catching worms and ruining statues. Maybe it coos in its sleep?
It went quiet for a few weeks when I first brought Spike to live with me. I think it was scared into silence. Even I was a little bit scared after Princess Celestia brought him a whole roast chicken to eat. But I was glad when my bird came back.
I have a theory that it may be some kind of woodpecker. That would explain all the tiny holes in my ceiling and walls. Though how he gets through the stone is beyond me.
It makes sense that there would be a bird in a tree. Trees are for birds. But not all trees. Not my tree. This a is a pony tree now, for ponies and not birds. It should know better and respect that.
Not that I'm angry, it's my bird after all. It must have followed me all the way here from Canterlot. Being semi-migratory changes my hypothesis on what species it may be, but I’m glad it’s here all the same.
Spike still says he can't hear it. He's even gone so far as to accuse me of having an imaginary friend. What nonsense. As if a grown mare would have an imaginary friend, and one as simple as an invisible bird. Really now. If I was going to create an imaginary friend, it would be a far more well-developed character concept than that.
But I know he's curious. He wants to believe in the bird. I've heard him moving around at night, searching for it. But if I haven't been able to find it for years of effort, what chance does he have? Even if he is light and small enough to climb up into the rafters.
I think my bird is getting bolder, too. That, or just more used to living here. I can tell it's been moving around the house during the day when Spike and I are out.
I've come back to my room and found my sheets ruffled, my pillow moved. I think it was looking for nesting materials. Even my manebrush is picked clean.
Fluttershy seems like a nice enough sort. I might ask her to come over and try to talk to it. After all this time, I'd like to see my bird at least once. Maybe she could ask it to stop breaking all the small branches in the upper boughs of the tree.
I can't fathom how it gets in. The castle ventilates all the air through magic and the doors and windows all have latches. Unless the bird itself is magic —which would explain a number of things— but doesn’t match the descriptions of a roc or a phoenix or any of the other magical birds in my book.
But I'm determined to catch it now. Food's been going missing, and not in small quantities either. Whole loaves of bread. Trays of snacks.
I thought at first it was just Spike stockpiling for a growth spurt, or Pinkie being Pinkie, or Discord playing a prank, but evidently not.
I found a feather as well today. A rich navy blue.
I checked my books. No birds native to Equestria have feathers of this size in this color.
I checked with Pinkie. No pegasi native to Ponyville have this particular shade.
The comforting cooing now puts me on edge. The holes it pecks in the crystal seem to get bigger by the day.
I've learned a new spell, Mass Hold Animal. Once I pinpoint which room it's in, I should be able to lock it in place even if I can't see it. With any luck, I should be able to put this mystery to rest, once and for all.
