Ah- it's this dream again.
The world is twisted. Not in a frightening or terribly obvious way, but in a way that seems just... wrong. The moss on the forest floor is black and slick, spilling over bare rocks the same red as long-dried blood. The trees are stunted and leafless, branches and trunks bent unnaturally at all angles. There is no undergrowth and no sign of animals as Twilight Sparkle moves slowly through the gloom.
She has had this dream many times now. Always, it begins in this twisted and dead forest. She is always walking, slowly and without fear, toward the distant sound of running water. She has never reached the source of the sound, but the reason she is delayed is never the same twice.
The moss ahead bulges, heaving for a moment, then splits and sags. The creature beneath it looks as though it's made from polished red twigs, dressed in a tattered black cape that flutters and swirls in defiance of the fact that there is no wind. Its face is hidden beneath the too-dark shadows of its wide-brimmed black hat. Though part of her knows the thing should be frightening, she steps toward it without fear and speaks.
“Report.”
The thing grovels before her on four legs, its voice hollow and cold. “We cannot find them,” it tells her. “Forgive us.”
Twilight nods and turns, away from the sound of water. “The sun will be up soon,” she says, though she has no idea how she knows. “Call back the searchers and see that a proper camp is dug. We'll rest here for the day.”
The thing scurries back under the moss and Twilight sits, draping herself over a large boulder not yet swallowed by moss. Despite the chilly air, the stone is comfortingly warm. She closes her eyes, thinking longingly of the magma-heated bedchambers of her underground palace, and awakens.
Sleep had not been restful lately. Twilight sat up with a yawn, rubbing at her eye with one foreleg, and sighed.
Outside, the sun was just coming up. The day would be a beautiful one, and Twilight already just wanted to go back to bed. These silly dreams had been haunting her for weeks now, and nothing she tried could get rid of them. It was starting to affect her ability to study, and she was thinking of writing to the princess about them if they didn't stop soon.
She yawned again, climbing out of bed and moving quietly across the loft and to the stairs. Spike was still snoring away, and she was careful not to wake him up as she lit a lamp and found her dream diary, setting it on the table.
Quickly, before she lost the memory completely, she sketched the creature she had seen, and wrote down everything she'd seen, heard, felt, or smelled in the dream. Cheerilee had suggested keeping track of the dreams to look for patterns or similarities, and she'd said even the smallest thing could be a clue, so Twilight was very diligent in keeping records.
The sun was fully up by the time Twilight finished, setting her quill down. The book was half filled with notes and drawings already- Twilight flipped back through previous entries, stopping when she found a creature like the one in the latest dream. It had dressed in tattered black and a wide hat, too, but had been dull gold in color and reported that 'they' were attempting to ford the river.
She interrupted her reading with a huge yawn; Spike, padding down the stairs, echoed it. “Morning, Twilight,”
“Good morning, Spike,” she said, smiling, and closed the book. Dragon or no, Spike was still a baby, and the things in her dreams were scary in the waking world. “Are you hungry?”
“Yeah,” Spike said, absently beginning to straighten up the few things she'd taken out. “Pinkie said yesterday that the Cakes were gonna make cinnamon buns today- we should definitely go buy some.”
Twilight smiled, nodding, and fought the urge to yawn again. “Let me go brush my mane real quick, then we'll go, okay?”
“Sure thing,” Spike said as Twilight climbed back up the stairs in search of her hairbrush.
The world hazed over in a shimmering prism of colored light. Moloch stumbled, but regained his footing after only a moment. The Dead Wood quivered like a mirage, fading in and out of a hallucination- green fields, blue sky, neat huts and lively creatures in too many colors to name.
“My Lord?”
“I'm fine,” Moloch said, waving his hand dismissively at the moss-runner crouched beside him on the stone. “Report.”
“They still cannot be found,” the thing reported, tugging at the brim of its hat. “Forgive us, Lord.”
Moloch sighed, shaking his head to clear lingering visions. “Go- continue the search. Don't come back until you have news for me.”
The moss-runner bowed deeply, scraping its claws along the ground, and disappeared under the moss once more. Moloch waited to the slow count of ten before sitting abruptly on the ground with a soft groan.
“Are you not well, Dread Lord?” Ezik asked, lightly touching Moloch's face. “You feel cold. Perhaps you should return to the palace.”
“I'm fine,” Moloch insisted again, waving away Ezik's concerns. “I can handle a little cold until we find them. Once they're dead, I'll go home.”
Ezik sighed, obviously not pleased, but let the matter drop. For now.
“I need to rest,” Moloch said. “Go coordinate the search for a while- that should occupy you enough you won't nag me.”
“I do not nag, Dread Lord,” Ezik said with injured dignity, but he turned and moved off beneath the trees.
Moloch watched him leave, then peeled back the thick moss and wormed his way under it, where the dirt and roots kept the warmth of the stones. Ezik would find him if he was needed, and restless though the dreams made his sleep, his body at least could recover itself.
Twilight yawned her way through the walk to Sugar Cube Corner, feeling as though she hadn't slept at all. She definitely needed to write to Princess Celestia about those dreams of hers.
“Twilight, are you okay?” Spike asked, trotting along beside her. Normally she would carry him, but she felt too tired to bear the extra weight.
“Just tired,” she assured him, mustering up a smile as they reached the bakery. “I'm sure some cinnamon buns will perk me right up.”
“If you say so...” Spike said with obvious doubt, hurrying ahead to hold the door open for her. She stopped to nuzzle him in thanks before stepping inside.
“Good morning, Twilight,” Mrs. Cake greeted her, hurrying past with Pumpkin on her back and three boxes stacked on her head. “The others are up in Pinkie's room- you go on up, and I'll bring you some tea.”
“Thank you, Mrs. Cake,” Twilight said, trying her best to put some pep in her walk as she crossed the dining area.
The stairs proved almost insurmountable, and she had to stop no less than three times to rest before she made it to the second floor.
She must look at least as tired as she felt, because she'd barely stepped into Pinkie's room before Rarity was beside her, telling her she looked simply awful.
“I'm fine, really,” Twilight insisted. “I just didn't sleep well last night.”
“Sweetie, you haven't been sleeping well for weeks,” Rarity pointed out, helping her to a plump cushion and gently making her lie down on it. “I swear, you look worse and worse every time I see you.”
“I'm not that bad,” Twilight said, laughing faintly. “Am I?”
“Hate to break it to ya, sugar cube, but you are. Maybe you oughta nap a bit.”
“I don't think that'll help much,” Twilight admitted. “Mrs. Cake said she'd send up some tea- maybe that will do me some good.”
“Mrs. Cake does make amazing tea,” Pinkie Pie agreed, dragging a blanket over Twilight and tucking her in like a baby before pushing a pillow under her chin. “But when you're tired, you should sleep! That's what Granny Pie always used to say, and she was right! I always sleep when I'm tired, and then I'm not tired anymore!”
Twilight smiled in spite of herself, unable to argue with that logic. “Spike, could you go tell Mrs. Cake we won't need that tea for a bit?” she suggested. “Then you can play with Pumpkin and Pound.”
“Sounds good to me,” Spike said, nodding. “You will let me know if you need me, though, right?”
Twilight nodded, smiling until the sound of Spike's footsteps faded down the stairwell. Then she sighed, laying her head down completely. “Sleeping really won't help,” she said. “I've been having... weird dreams.”
“Are they... scary dreams?” Pinkie asked, glancing around as if mentioning a scary dream might make it come true.
“No, not really,” Twilight said. “I mean... they should be scary, but they aren't. It's almost like I'm somepony else in them. Someone very different, and he scares me.”
“You dream you're a stallion?”
“No, he's not a stallion. I don't think he's even a pony,” Twilight said. She wiggled slightly out of the blanket, lifting her dream journal from her saddle bag. “I've got it all written down in here, and I drew references of some of the things,” she explained, setting the book down and opening it.
“Ain't that just like you,” Applejack said, settling next to Twilight. “Takin' notes on your dreams and all.”
Twilight didn't bother feeling embarrassed, just smiled as Rarity sat to her other side and Pinkie Pie flopped on top of Applejack so she could see, too.
The open page was mostly sketches of a single creature, a being she saw often. It was gaunt, with a flattish face unlike anything she'd ever seen in the waking world and ash-gray skin. It stood on two legs, with long arms ending in thin digits.
“This is Ezik. I get the sense he follows whoever I am in the dream and serves him very faithfully, and he's really not as scary as he looks...”
The sun simmered on the horizon, a thin sliver of blood-red light. Though it burned his eyes and made them water, Ezik stopped for a moment to watch the dying day.
As a child, Ezik had been safely kept in the deepest caverns of the great palace, far from the surface and the sun. He had been the offspring of lowly courtiers, heir to a bought title and no resources to speak of, and he had not thought himself too important to speak to the slaves. They had told him of the surface world and the glories it held, where Ezik's kind couldn't safely go. Of sunsets, birds, great oceans and storms and so many things, and he had longed to see them.
The sun slipped out of sight, lost until dawn. It took a long moment for its afterimage, seared into Ezik's eyes, to fade. He sighed, wishing it had stayed longer, just another heartbeat or two.
“You'll blind yourself if you keep doing that.”
Ezik turned, smiling, but did not bow. When they were alone, he stood on no ceremony with his Lord- Moloch had made it clear Ezik was his friend first and his retainer only after. “Did you sleep well, Dread Lord?”
“It's too cold up here for anyone to sleep well,” Moloch said, snorting derisively. “I trust you would have woken me if there had been news?”
Ezik nodded, sighing. Moloch's face was too handsome to wear such a scowl. “All I can say is they've gained no lead over us.”
“And we've gained no lead on them,” Moloch replied, his tail lashing angrily against the moss. “Wake the moss-runners and tell them to break camp. We'll eat as we go.”
Ezik nodded, slipping across the rocks and down toward the temporary dens and the mounds of fresh-turned earth protecting them. He knew his Lord and the others were unhappy being away from the caverns, but he personally dreaded the day their quarry was caught. He would miss the open air and all its magnificent dangers.
