Chapter 1-Housebreaking
Twilight Sparkle gazed at the sturdy wooden door in front of her nose and took a deep breath. For two months, the old manor had stood on the Border of Ponyville, dark and foreboding. It was unsettling in a way, yet fit in the same way a Pegasus will blend in with a group of earth ponies until you looked twice. Nopony could remember how it had arrived there, but all who dared to speak of it agreed that the ominous piece of architecture had not occupied that space until two months previously. With its curtained windows and shadowed porch, the old house looked like something out of an old pony's tale, the sort told around campfires late at night and keep fillies awake long after their elders had fallen asleep. Those who were courageous enough to approach would report that it looked abandoned, but could not bring themselves to open the dark green door.
And so life continued on in Ponyville, and the house slowly passed out of gossip, assimilating itself into everyday life, although nopony would go within ten meters of it after dark. Instead of towering like some of the other buildings in the town, which practically glowed with cheer and life, the building which Twilight now found herself facing somehow felt…tragic. As though it did not belong in Equsetria, but longed to return to where it had journeyed from, and yet was unable to. Twilight Sparkle took a step towards the doorbell, then turned her head back for the support of her friends, who had remained at the gate.
What had she gotten herself into? If only she hadn't been up so late at night reading, Twilight might not be here at all, and instead of quaking here on the doorstep of an ancient looking house, might have been enjoying the day like the majority of the residents of Ponyville.
Twilight Sparkle breathed in again, and let herself be transported back to that night, exactly thirteen days back. What had she been doing? Oh yes, that was right, reading a book called Valor in her bed in the library, cuddling the pillows and turning the pages, when there had been a slight movement at the edge of her field of vision. When the manor had appeared, the height of the library had given Twilight and Spike a lot of visitors who had wanted to view the new edifice without getting close. At the time, the lavender pony could hardly have blamed them, although her studies had been delayed by the whispers and speculation. The truth of the matter was that the old manor was simply creepy. It had even brought along a type of gloom that Princess Celestia's sun could not pierce through. Added with the overgrown gardens, the crumbling statues in that garden, and the way the mansion skulked at the edge if the Everfree Forest and it was something right of the horror section.
That night, Twilight had seen an unusual, perhaps unique phenomenon. As she had taken her eyes off the book to turn the page, she had allowed her gaze to wander to the window, and onto the second storey of the old manor, where she had seen something which had kept the unicorn awake until Princess Luna had lowered the moon. A pair of glowing lights had appeared for a moment in the center top window of the mansion, and the faded green curtains had moved, just for a moment. Twilight had not quite believed what she had seen at first, but an hour later, the lights had shown themselves again, causing Twilight Sparkle to shut her book hurriedly and dive beneath the covers of her bed, wanting to forget about it and yet was unwilling to go to sleep. Spike had discovered her later that morning, sleeping fitfully as the sun shone down upon Ponyville.
Since that night, Twilight Sparkle had become more intrigued by the house which had shown itself two months ago, and was now prepared to enter it, knowing that if she did not return within an hour, that Applejack, Pinkie Pie, Rainbow Dash, Rarity, and Fluttershy would send for help or enter after her. At least, that was the plan. But it had also been her plan for them to wait at the doorstep for her, and the other five pones were crowded in a patch of golden sunlight just in front of the mansion's wrought-iron gate, which was overgrown with ivy. Applejack, ever the supportive one, waved to Twilight as they watched her advance to the door.
"Here goes nothing…" Twilight muttered as she raised one hoof to knock on the door, and readied the other three to bolt if something unexpected should happen. Before her hoof made contact with the wood, the door swung open silently, revealing a dark hallway lined with doors ending with a stairway to what the unicorn assumed was the second floor. What little sunlight that streamed through the doorway illuminated a dark red carpet, and several paintings on the walls, which were covered in off-white wallpaper. Twilight took a step into the house, her uneasiness growing, but still unsure of why. To distract herself from her fears, and also to stop herself from thinking of the darkened stairs at the end of the corridor, Twilight took a look at the nearest picture. It displayed, in great detail, a roughly cut black stone pillar with what appeared to be a castle balanced on the very top. The castle, although only a small part of the image, was painted with such stunning detail that it could have been a photo. As Twilight looked closer, the made out that the pillar wasn't roughly made at all, but rather had what appeared to be an obsidian serpentine dragon coiled around it, from base to top, where it met the underside of the castle. Twilight had never seen anything like it, and it gave her an odd, ominous feeling, like she was gazing at something she should not have seen. She shook her head and gradually advanced down the hallway, past paintings of a fountain, a citadel of black and red, and some things so foreign looking that even the well-read pony had no idea of what they could be.
At this point, Twilight's ears had picked up some faint sound coming from the dreaded stairs. Not only were the stairs dark, they also lined with paintings. Twilight's skin crawled at the thought of having to see any more of those mind-shaking works of, if she could bring herself to say it, art. She knew she must hurry, before her hour was up. Deciding to investigate the rooms on the first floor after the second floor, the unicorn pony shut her eyes advanced up the heavily carpeted steps as quickly as she could. Only when her hooves could no longer feel the next step in front of her did she dare open an eye. And screamed.
In front of Twilight's face was a painting. The frame was worn and scarred, but the image itself was as clear as if it had been painted a couple of hours before. The picture consisted of a black background with a pair of glowing red eyes shining maliciously through it. It had been done so realistically that the eyes seemed to be staring back at Twilight. There was a set of jagged white teeth painted in under those horrible eyes, giving the impression that there was a hideous creature grinning at her from the within the gloom, waiting for the unicorn to turn her back so that it could strike...Twilight clapped a hoof over her mouth and snapped her eyes off the terrifying painting. The stairs had deposited her in the middle of another long hallway, going ways, left and right. Up here, she could hear something faintly, but it was the same sound as the one she had heard downstairs. The right path was lined with even more paintings and stretched off into the gloom. It was exceedingly dark on the second floor, and Twilight stood there, frozen in terror and uncertainty, making sure not to look ahead of herself. The unicorn looked to the left. She noticed that the carpet there was slightly uneven, as though somepony (Or something, she thought to herself) had been using the carpet for walking, though no better lit than the right path. From the top of the step, Twilight could still see the front door, standing open invitingly. The sunlight spilling into the doorway beckoned to her, called her back to what she knew, back to her friends. Twilight looked longingly at the door, but knew in her heart that if she turned back now, she would not be able to summon the courage to return. The paintings would make sure of that, and for weeks afterwards give her nightmares. The lavender unicorn set her teeth and, making sure to avoid eye contact with the hideous picture in front of her, turned to the left.
The sounds got marginally louder, but were still no more audible than Fluttershy on a windy day. They came at short intervals, and eventually Twilight picked out a pattern in the sounds, three short sounds followed by a slightly longer one…but she was thrown out of her counting by something on the floor which her front hooves hand bumped into.
A long thin strip of black cloth lay on the carpet before Twilight Sparkle's hooves. In the dark, the fabric was only visible because it seemed to absorb all light that struck it, making it look like a thin slit in the floor. With a moment's hesitation, Twilight picked it up in her mouth and draped it over her back. It might be an interesting artifact to study, and if it wasn't, well, she'd still have a souvenir to remember this foalish expedition by. Twilight listened again, holding her breath.
There it was again, the short, irregular sounds which she now realized was a short tune being endlessly repeated on what sounded like a set of chimes. Listening to it gave Twilight a feeling of sadness and loss, as though she had been robbed of something intensely important to her identity, and was powerless to get it back. The unicorn slowly settled on her haunches, and sat there, overcome by the emotions roiling in her heart. She couldn't go on. She couldn't retreat. All she could do was sit there, mourning for that which she had lost.
Twilight Sparkle had been sitting motionless on the carpet in the dark for what felt like hours, drinking in the melancholy tune, when suddenly she realized that she was no longer sitting down, but lying on the thick red carpet and breathing in the musty smell.
Not too bad, Twilight thought. How nice it would be to just lie here forever, listen to this until I die...it's beautiful. She felt her eyes begin to close, but that was alright. She wouldn't have to see the open door in front of her, and lie here, forever and ever and ever…
Rainbow Dash couldn't do this. Twilight thought absent-mindedly. She wouldn't be able to stay still. The unicorn smiled to herself, not caring that her eyes were now completely shut. Not at all. She probably hasn't even got the patience to sit outside one old house for one measly hour… An hour. Now why did that sound familiar? The thought drifted into the prone unicorn's mind like a dark cloud. She wanted to brush it away, it was stopping her from enjoying the music. Twilight began to let her mind wander once again, thinking of Princess Celestia, and the report on friendship that she would get Spike to write for her later, after she was done with dinner with her friends. When was that anyway? Rarity had been worried about her schedule, and Fluttershy had insisted on bringing Angel with her…there were so many details. Twilight's brow wrinkled as she attempted to force the thoughts out of her mind. She was alone, with nopony to look after her, nopony to…wait. That wasn't true. I do have somepony to look after me. I'm not alone. And I have to make it to dinner or I'll be late. Twilight's eyes opened in shock as everything came rushing back. Her friends, waiting anxiously for her at the front gate, the dinner arrangements, Canterlot, Ponyville, and most importantly, the old manor that she has so nearly been trapped by. Twilight sat up suddenly, breathing heavily, the chiming music forgotten.
In front of the unicorn's face was an open door. She remembered seeing it, but while she had been under the music's spell, hadn't registered it as anything important. The doorway was about ten meters away, and had a faint light shining from it. Twilight tried to stand up, shutting the haunting melody with thoughts of her previous adventures. She had helped defeat Nightmare Moon, exploring a small house should be easy! What had happened to the courage and resolve that she had entered the house with? And yet, getting all four hooves on the ground took more effort than she could remember, and only through slight use of magic was Twilight able to get to her feet.
The music must be magical somehow! Twilight realized. It's been draining my energy while I lay there like a foal. If I stay here much longer, I won't be able to get up again…
The idea of remaining here suddenly did not seem as attractive as it had a few minutes before. Indeed, dying here, surrounded by the unnatural darkness and the supernatural paintings was a fate that almost made Twilight bolt for the front door.
And yet she could not let herself do that. She was so close to that door, and with the adrenaline pumping through her, Twilight figured that she had about five minutes before her burst of awakeness wore off. The unicorn straightened herself up and quickly but quietly crept towards the door, noting that the chiming music increased in volume the closer she got to the door. Once there, it was a simple matter for Twilight to peep into the room, as there was a lot of room next to the wall to hide in.
The results were unimpressive to say the least. The interior of the room was decorated in such a grim selection of wallpaper that Rarity would have had cardiac arrest. There was a large table in the center of the room, and Twilight observed three long couches set around three if its edges. A silver tea set was positioned in the very center of the table, and the far wall seemed to be covered in small dull black tiles.
Upon closer scrutiny, the room was lit by what appeared to be a stone fireplace, and it wasn't doing a good job at it. Though Twilight could now clearly hear the source of the music, eternally looping, there was something else of interest in the dimly lit room. As Twilight's eyes adjusted to the different light levels in this new area, she was able to make out a large pile of darkly colored sheets piled onto the seat of the couch facing the doorway. As Twilight debated with herself whether to leave or enter the room, a peculiar sound reached her ears, so faint that she might have imagined it, and the creepy music certainly did not help her concentration. She made her decision.
I'll go in there, take a quick look around, see what's making the music, grab it, and take it to Canterlot for study! It's probably been over an hour already, so I'd better hurry.
Quiet as a mouse, Twilight Sparkle edged herself into the room and took in as much as she could. Just next to the door which she had entered through was a small table, and upon it, a richly carved wooden box with an open lid. In the dark, it was impossible to tell what color it was, but it looked like it was painted dark blue. The lid had a mirrored underside, and it reflected a small figurine of a spire with a castle on top…just like the one in the painting on the first floor. As Twilight watched, the figurine continued to revolve slowly while a key turned in the side of the box. A music box. As she looked at the curio, Twilight felt her strength draining away, and her mind giving way to irrational despair and lethargy once again. She swiftly bent down and tried to yank the key from its slot, but it refused to budge. Her energy draining fast, Twilight tugged the strip of black cloth from her back and jammed it into the keyhole. There was a tearing sound, and the music quickly wound down and deteriorated, fading from one last echoing chime to nothing at all.
The sudden silence scared Twilight even more than the picture at the top of the steps.
The key fell to the floor soundlessly as the unicorn pony froze on the spot and the sound of silence assaulted her ears. She turned her head and took a perfunctory scan of the room. Everything looked the same. Dark, gloomy, and likely to hide all manner of scary things, but at least the sinister music box had been silenced. She could at last explore the room in relative peace. Twilight sighed and trotted to sit on the nearest couch to rest her nerves. It was overstuffed and the unicorn's rump sank into it like a stone in a pond, but Twilight was grateful for the opportunity to rest. She closed her eyes and opened them again.
The pile of sheets that she had observed earlier moved ever so slightly. Twilight tensed up and stared, trying to detach herself from the couch. A scream rose from inside her and forced its way up to her mouth, but was stopped by her front hooves before it could escape. Twilight forced herself to calm down. Whatever was under the sheets could not be as bad as facing Nightmare Moon, and she had lived through that. Twilight's horn began to glow, and with one quick jerk of her head, lifted the sheets up and threw them to the floor. Twilight gasped.
Lying on the couch opposite of her was a pure black pegasus, her mane matted and unkempt, bandages wrapped tightly around her right foreleg from hoof to knee. She seemed to be asleep. Twilight was shocked. She had been expecting…well, it certainly hadn't been this. This was almost…normal, considering everything else that she had encountered.
Twilight was unsure of what to do. None of her books had told her what to do about waking up a sleeping pony she didn't know; then again, none of her books had said much about breaking into potentially haunted houses either. She reached over, then withdrew her foreleg. How she have reacted if she had been woken up by a stranger in her own house? Twilight assumed this strange pegasus lived here, for nopony she had ever seen before had been just a solid black color like this one. Twilight got off the couch and padded over to the slumbering pony's side to get a look at her cutie mark, maybe she could use it to guess at her identity. Twilight gently pulled the pony's wing up and looked. There, outlined in white on her flank, was a belled jester's hat, similar to the kind Twilight had seen in old storybooks. So this pegasus was a joker of some sort? Only one way to find out and, Twilight reminded herself, if she didn't hurry, her absence would cause a panic in Ponyville for sure. She reached over and, as gently as she could, nudged the sleeping black pegasus pony.
The pegasus's eyes snapped open and looked wildly around the room, her breathing became fast and irregular. Upon seeing Twilight, the pegasus pony gasped and flared her wings out, doing a backwards loop, landing behind the couch with a heavy thud.
"Okay, not what I expected." Twilight muttered after her heart rate returned to normal. She circled around the couch to find the black pony cowering behind it, staring at the lavender unicorn as though she were Nightmare Moon reincarnated. Twilight tried a smile. The pegasus whimpered and took a step back. Twilight sighed and let the smile drop. It was clear that something was wrong here, but was it because of her, the house, the paintings, or something else? Time was running out, and she couldn't risk anyone else rushing in here when she was about to get some potentially useful information, even if it was from a pony she had never met before and was clearly scaring out of her wits.
Twilight's thoughts were interrupted by a quiet "Please, please don't hurt me." The unicorn looked down at the pegasus. Tears, clear and bright, were starting to fall from her eyes, which were a startling yellow color. Almost the same shade of yellow she had seen that night thirteen days ago…
Twilight tried smiling again. "I won't hurt you," she promised. The pegasus blinked a few times and stared. "I just want to get to know you, that's all." Twilight continued.
The pegasus blinked away her tears and folded her wings halfway. "You mean, you're not here to-to kill me?"
Twilight was shocked speechless. Kill her?
"Why would I want to do that?" she spluttered. "I don't even know you, let alone want to do anything to you."
The ebony pegasus stared at her hooves and said nothing. Twilight took a small step forward, then another. All the research in the world could not have prepared her for this. Twilight regretted not taking Applejack, Rainbow Dash or even Pinkie Pie with her. They would have known how to deal with this. They were the social ones, not her.
"If you're going to kill me, just get it over with. It's cruel to mess with minds if you're just going to end them anyway." The pegasus was now standing up with her eyes shut tight. She was trying to be brave, Twilight could tell, but the trembling of her back legs betrayed the emotion. The lavender unicorn stood helplessly, then turned away. There was no time to waste, and if this black pegasus wasn't going to talk, she would just explore the rest of the house while she calmed down and realized that nopony was going to hurt, let alone kill (Twilight shuddered at the thought) her. Twilight Sparkle was almost out the door when a breath of wind from her right side, and suddenly she was knocked to the carpeted floor by a heavy object. As her eyes focused, they were met with those of the pegasus, only now they glowed. Glowed with rage and…magic? Surely no ordinary pony's eye glowed that shade of yellow.
Twilight's horn emitted a soft lavender aura, throwing off her assailant, who struck the wall and knocked a painting off. The pegasus got to her feet shakily as Twilight readied herself for a second assault, but instead of lunging the unicorn, the stranger smiled.
Twilight was now feeling extremely confused, not helped by how she had just been tackled to the floor.
"What the hay do you want?" She asked angrily. "First you act like I'm a killer, then you jump on me, then smile? What is your problem?" Twilight let the glow fade from her horn as the pegasus pawed the floor sheepishly.
"I'm sorry." The pegasus whispered. "But I just needed to know if you were really there t-to kill me or not. Now I know."
Twilight was now even more confused than when she had been entrusted with tickets to the Grand Galloping Gala.
"I don't follow…" She said slowly. "Who are you anyway?"
"It's a long st-" The pegasus began, but fell to her knees, clutching her bandaged foreleg, gritting her teeth. Dark red blood was starting to leak through, staining the carpet a darker shade. Twilight looked on with concern as the black pony spread her wings and flew to a wooden cabinet at the end of the room, withdrawing a roll of fresh white bandages from within. Gasping with pain, the pegasus redid the dressings and tied a new strip of gauze around her foreleg. Only then did she return to the floor, still wincing with discomfort. Yet despite all the drama, a faint smile had remained on her face, as though the pain pleased her somehow.
"As I was saying," the pegasus continued as though nothing had happened "It's a long story."
"Are you ok?" a concerned Twilight asked. "That looked serious. Maybe you should see a doctor; I know a Nurse Redheart back in Ponyville-"
The ebony pegasus shot her scowl. "I'm fine." She said dismissively.
"No you're not," Argued Twilight.
"Yes I am. Now did you want to hear about something or not?"
Twilight opened her mouth again to object, but shut it after consideration. The lavender unicorn felt a sense of unease creep from her stomach. Had this pegasus really been cowering and crying just moments ago? Was this some sort of test, or was there more to it than was apparent? Well obviously there's more to it. Twilight berated herself. That's why I'm here. For research, and maybe for an interesting report to write to the Princess.
"Stay here." The pegasus muttered. "I'll be right back." Then she took to the air on her feathered wings and sped out the door into the hallway. Twilight quietly walked back to the squishy sofas and repositioned herself on the one facing the door, then waited. Five minutes passed until a faint clicking sound was heard coming towards the room, heralding the arrival of the pegasus. Whose name I don't even know, realized Twilight, getting up as the pony's shape emerged from the gloom.
As the nameless black pegasus reentered the lounge, Twilight's eyes were drawn to a dull silver object attached to the pegasus's injured leg. It looked like a metal knee-length bracer with a claw attached to the front, which had been making the clicking as it touched the floor. The claw gleamed in what little light there was in the room, and upon closer inspection, the whole device had what appeared to be symbols etched all over its surface, leaving the claw the only unmarked spot. A sleek, shining blade, also patterned with symbols, was visible on the back side, pointing upwards toward the wearer's body, and it didn't look like it was made for cutting fruit.
"Now," the pegasus said, approaching the couches, "We can talk."
Author's Notes
Mysterious pony's story next chapter. Please read and review…if you want to. It's ok if you don't..