Monster
Phase Two
Sight Unseen
"Yvithagn - the avatar of that which is unspoken and unspeakable - looked down upon me. I returned it's gaze, and I felt the walls of reality begin to crumble around me. I stared into the pool of molten gold that lay beneath its mask and saw many great and terrible things, things that nopony was ever meant to see. I saw a yawning Abyss, darker than even the deepest pits of tartarus. I saw the dreams born of dead gods, and cosmic energies that defied mortal comprehension. I saw the doors where our world ends and the Other begins, and the dark void that lies between what is said and what is understood. I saw all of these, and they haunt the dark corners of my mind to this day."
- Horidius Ponifex Lovecolt, Beast with a Human Heart
Princess Cadence's ears were plastered to the sides of her head. Her gaze darted back and forth nervously. Her hoofsteps were slow and cautious, making nary a sound. All around her were the bones of a long abandoned town. The houses and shops all seemed like those in a place like Ponyville... or at least what they would look like after the Apocalypse. The buildings looked like they'd been abandoned for decades at least. Most of the windows were broken, especially the larger ones, while any glass that remained was so grimy and caked in dirt that it was difficult to identify as such. Everything else was also deteriorated and neglected, and all was silent and empty.
It was spooky, but normally would have been nothing more than that. There was something about this place though, something... wrong.
The sky overhead was mostly clear, with only a few scattered slivers of cloud marring it, yet rather than bright blue, the skies were a light gray as though it was overcast. High above, the sun and moon met and crossed in an incomplete and unmoving eclipse, the dim and pale light of the sun still shining from behind the black disk of the moon. A unending breeze swept through the town. It wasn't quite cold, and it felt like little more than a caress. But with the gray skies and dilapidated scenery, it felt unbearably ominous.
Cadence continued her slow pace through the town in a somewhat hunched position, ready to bolt at the first indication of trouble. Near complete silence reigned, the only sounds being that of her own frightened breaths and the light scuffing of her hooves in the parched dirt. Despite the emptiness that pervaded the abandoned village, she felt as though a thousand eyes were watching her from the shadows; silent, callous, and hungry. The alicorn didn't dare call out to see if anypony remained here, there was too great a risk that she would draw much unwanted attention to herself if she did. Flying seemed like an equally unwise choice, and she certainly couldn't stay put. This left her only one option, walking.
A light scuffle sounded from off to the pink alicorn's left, making her stop dead in her tracks. She turned her head ever so slowly towards the sound with wide eyes and splayed ears, knowing full well that she would regret looking. Time seemed to slow to a crawl, giving the princess a nervous sense of anticipation tempered by fear. Agonizingly long seconds passed as her gaze continued to slowly, slowly pan towards the source of the noise.
The princess' eyes widened with shock as she beheld the creature standing before her. That thing was...it was-!
Cadence opened her eyes with a start. She snapped her head up sharply in a mild panic, but quickly settled down. It was too dark for her to see anything, but nonetheless her surroundings were infinitely more familiar than they had been mere seconds before. She was lying on a soft, plush bed with the covers pulled up nearly to her chin. Underneath that she felt forelegs wrapped around her in a warm embrace, and the deep, even breathing of her sleeping husband, Shining Armor.
Princess Cadence lay back down and shuddered, suddenly aware of the cold sweat that had evidently covered her while she slept. Her short, quick breathing began to slow and grow even again. A dream. It had only been a dream. A very foreboding one, for sure, but still merely a dream nonetheless... or was it? Could it have been a premonition? Dreams telling of the future were not unheard of, particularly among beings with an above average affinity for magic, like alicorns. Cadence was thus no stranger to them. However, they had always been of a happy nature, and while some foretold events that mattered to her personally, Cadence could always sense that they were not really that important when it came to the world at large, even if she could not discern their meaning.
This dream, however, was much different.
Cadence knew better than to take it at face value. Dreams were always heavily laden with symbolism, whether they were random nighttime productions of the mind or true predictions of the future. It was very unlikely that she would suddenly find herself in some long abandoned town during a solar eclipse. But what could else could it mean? She thought to the presence in her mind. Maybe it would know the answer...
As she reached out towards the voice, she made the wry observation that it would almost certainly know the answer. It really wasn't a matter of whether or not it knew, but whether or not it was willing to divulge the information it had on the subject.
The alicorn gave the voice a soft mental prod, then waited. A few seconds passed. No answer. She tried again, a little harder this time, and waited. Still no answer. Cadence frowned and briefly considered trying a third time, but quickly decided against it. She knew by experience that the voice was always perfectly aware of her attempts to get its attention. It clearly didn't intend to talk to her, and continuing to attempt to convince it otherwise would undoubtedly prove futile.
Cadence frowned somewhat. That was unfortunate. The voice was undoubtedly the most knowledgeable being she could go to for information, albeit tight-lipped at some of the most inconvenient times. If it wouldn't answer, who else could she ask? The alicorn thought for a moment.
Well, it was obviously still night, so her Aunt Luna would be up and about, and as the alicorn of the night, she knew a lot about dreams and premonitions. Maybe she would have the answer. Maybe...
The pink alicorn yawned widely, and her eyes began to droop. The adrenaline from earlier had begun to run out, her body was beginning to remember how late, (or early), it was, and she was beginning to drift off to sleep once more. Part of Cadence argued that this was much too important an issue to put off, but she ignored it. It wouldn't do to try and puzzle this out in the dead of the night and end up exhausted the next day. Her questions would have to wait until morning.
With the matter decided, Cadence snuggled deeper into her embrace with Shining Armor, closed her eyes, and went to sleep.
"Cady."
The alicorn shifted in her sleep and muttered something incomprehensible, but then went still again.
"Ca~ady."
Frowning a bit now, Cadence clenched her eyes shut tighter and gave a slight groan. She shifted again, then squeezed the fuzzy object she was holding closer to her.
"Oof! Cady, honey, c'mon, we need to get up."
The bundle of soft fur extricated itself from Cadence's grip. Unwilling to completely leave the embrace of her slumber, she groaned again and flipped over to face the other side of her bed. A second later, the sound of sliding cloth reached the alicorn's ears, then a blindingly bright light shined into her eyes. Though they were still shut, she saw white through her eyelids.
"Rise and shine, hon."
Cadence picked up her pillow and put it over her head with a slurred murmur of "five more minutes." Just as she began to slip back into the world of dreams, a loud voice shouted inside her mind.
"Yo, pinky! You heard him, get your sorry ass up!"
Ugh... Fine...
With a sigh of resignation, the pink pony lifted the pillow away from her head and sat up with a yawn. She rubbed her eyes a bit, then carefully fluttered them open. A familiar smiling face and blue mane greeted her, framed by sunlight flooding through the now open curtains behind him.
"Morning, Cady," Shining Armor greeted cheerfully, before giving his wife a light peck on the lips.
"Mornin', Shiny," Cadence returned, giving him the closest thing to a smile she could manage so soon after waking up. The alicorn yawned again. "Shiny, it's saturday. Why are we getting up so early?" Her husband gave a small chuckle, his smile never faltering.
"Early? Hon, it's almost eight. If we don't get up now, we'll miss breakfast."
Cadence glanced over at the clock hanging from the wall of her bedroom. Indeed it was almost eight, seven fifty-six to be exact. She flopped back down on the bed with a sigh. Shining Armor looked at her with a somewhat amused expression, but left her alone and trotted over to the door to their bathroom. Cadence simply lay there for a while, beginning the long and arduous process of fully waking up, as was her typical morning routine.
This particular goddess of love was many things, but a morning pony was not one of them.
"Aw, is li'l Cady havin' trouble waking up? I can help with that, you know..."
It took a moment for the voice's threat to click. The second it did, Cadence bolted up and out of bed with a look of mild panic. She swayed a bit as a wave of dizziness hit her from moving so quickly, but it passed.
I'm up! I'm up!
A deep chuckle reverberated in her mind. Cadence's panic faded, replaced by mild annoyance.
"Uh huh, thought so," the presence said, its voice tinged with amusement. "Now that you're up, I suggest you shower, get froo-froo'd up or whatever the hell you call it, and head down to breakfast. Day ain't gettin' any younger, and Luna's not a fan of havin' somebody wake her up once she hits the sack."
Sure thing, mom, the alicorn responded with an annoyed roll of her eyes. She started heading towards her bathroom, but halted mid motion after a few steps. Her eyes narrowed suspiciously.
Wait a minute, you know what I'm going to ask her?
"I'm kinda in your head, Cady. Have been for a while now, in case you forgot."
Then why can't you just answer my question yourself?
Silence. At first Cadence thought it was just a pause, but when a minute passed without an answer, it was clear that the voice had no intention to. She scowled, but resisted the urge to badger the presence into talking. She'd tried that before, and it never worked. Frankly, she wasn't sure why she asked in the first place. The voice never answered questions pertaining to its identity or nature, and it only ever revealed the barest hints about them in normal conversation.
For the longest time, its refusal to say who or what it was worried the princess. She couldn't help but wonder if she was possessed by some demon. But there had been innumerable opportunities for the presence to take control of her, and it had helped her multiple times. If it really was a demon, it wasn't very good at its job.
Cadence frowned and huffed a bit to blow a stray lock of her mane out of her face. She continued cantering over to the bathroom as the sound of the shower started up within.
You know, one of these days I will get a straight answer out of you.
To the pink mare's surprise, the voice spoke back to her.
"You can count on that, Cady. You can definitely count on that."
The dark undertone present in that answer made a cold chill run down her spine.
One shower and morning meal later, Princess Cadence found herself within her night-ruling aunt's bedchamber.
The room was not really all that large for a ruling princess' bedroom, but the cavernous, domed ceiling overhead gave the impression that it was much more massive than it appeared. There were no windows or light crystals. All illumination was provided by a roaring fireplace and a number of unnaturally bright (likely enchanted) candles instead. Decoration was provided entirely by the dark tones and smooth design of the furniture and carvings on the edge of the walls, as the room lacked paintings of any kind.
Cadence stood near a corner of the room, just behind Princess Luna, who was sitting in front of a short dresser with a mirror mounted atop it. She was bare of the usual regalia; her thick metal necklace was replaced by a blue bathrobe, her silver hoof slippers replaced by ones of a fuzzier variety.
"So," the dark blue alicorn began, looking at Cadence's reflection in the mirror with kind but somewhat tired eyes, "How do you fare, mine niece? You have encountered no... 'trouble' with your dear husband, I hope?" Her niece's cheeks lit up with a blush when she caught Luna's meaning, in turn causing the elder alicorn to smirk.
"Huh? O-oh no no no, it's nothing like that," Cadence replied hurriedly, studiously ignoring the snickering in her mind. "Shining and I are doing just fine, auntie. I need some help with a more obscure issue."
Luna spun around on her stool to face the younger pony with a look of concern etched onto her features.
"Obscure? Whatever do you mean?"
"A dream. I had a very... unusual dream. It might be a premonition, but I don't know for sure, so I figured I'd ask you."
Luna gave an understanding nod. "Tell me."
Cadence took a deep breath and gathered her thoughts, then said all that she remembered from her dream. When she finished her account, Luna leaned back somewhat with a thoughtful expression. Cadence could almost see the gears turning in her head.
"Is that all?" the night princess asked after a moment. "Did you not see what sort of creature lurked in the village?"
"I... I think I did." Cadence's brow bunched as she tried to recall what she saw. "Yeah, I'm sure I did, but I can't seem to remember..." She visibly strained in her attempts to remember, but to no avail. The dream hadn't ended before she got to see the creature, whatever it was, but for some reason she just could not remember what it looked like, or even if it had seemed friendly or malevolent. It was almost like something was blocking the memory.
"Then I am almost certain it was a premonition. They are rarely so forward as to reveal their object so easily," Luna said. Cadence waited... and waited... and waited, but Luna did not continue. Frustration started to grow when she did not continue.
I'm getting real sick of this real fast.
"And...?" she encouraged, impatiently waving a foreleg in a 'go on' gesture.
"And there is no way for me to know the object of this foresight, nor what event it points toward," Luna obliged with a somewhat apologetic expression. On seeing her niece's slightly frustrated look, she added, "Dear Cadence, do you recall my knowing of your previous dream-related conundrums before you even approached me for help?"
The pink alicorn hesitated, then nodded. She had not thought about it before, but in the past her aunt did always seem to know what she wanted to ask before she asked it, at least when it came to any issue pertaining a dream. She had the feeling she was about to find out why.
"My domain is that of the night, and by extension that of dreams," Luna continued. "Whenever the Aether releases a dream that tells of the future, I am made aware of it. Though I do not know exactly what those dreams contain, I can perceive their general purpose; hints of what they mean, if you will. However, the Aether is not the origin of all dreams. Some can rise from other sources, ones beyond my power. When a pony dreams a dream from outside the Aether, I cannot glean any information from them."
So in other words, you can't help me, Cadence thought, her ears drooping with mild exasperation. Great, just great. Nopony knows more about dreams than Aunt Luna, so now the only being capable of helping me is my would-be conscience, possibly the most unhelpful one in existence.
Despite knowing perfectly well that the voice wouldn't answer her thought, the young princess hoped for a moment that it would. But just as she expected, it remained silent, as it likely would for quite some time, if past experiences told her anything. Whenever the voice went quiet, it would stay that way for hours or, on a few rare occasions, days at a time.
Cadence gave a somewhat exasperated sigh. "Oh... well... thanks anyway, I guess. Sorry for keeping you up, Aunt Luna." The alicorn stood and turned to leave. Luna frowned slightly at her niece's retreating form.
"Cadence, wait." The pink mare paused and looked back at her bedrobed aunt, who in turn gave her a concerned look. Clearly the issue was bothering the younger alicorn more than she originally thought. "I will... consult with my sister. I cannot promise that it will help, but she just might know something that I do not."
"Thank you," Cadence replied with a slight smile, then she continued to the door as her aunt went back to getting ready for bed.
Then, just as she sent a small surge of magic to her horn to open the doors, Cadence paused. She blinked once, twice, three times, then looked around, confused. She blinked again and shook her head lightly.
That was strange. For a second it had almost seemed like...
Cadence shook her head again and continued through the door. Her eyes were probably just playing tricks on her. The dim lighting in Luna's chamber could do that easily. Yeah, that must be it, just a trick of the light... or so she hoped...
Ding ding ding.
Rarity's ear perked at the chime of bells, the signal that somepony had just entered her boutique, most likely a customer. The light creaking of the door soon followed, accompanied by the soft sound of hoofsteps approaching.
"Just a moment, darling. I'll be right with you," the white mare called without looking up from her work. Her mane and coat had been returned to their normal, impeccably manicured selves, and while her store was far from spotless, it was now filled with the ordered chaos that had practically become Rarity's signature. All that marred the boutique's owner herself were the almost intangible lines underneath her eyes, though she was bright and chipper despite them. Losing a little sleep was to be expected when one closes their shop for nearly a week and allows orders to pile up, after all.
"Aaaaand... there," Rarity finished the stitch she had been working on. After a quick inspection to ensure nothing was amiss with the dress, she set her materials down and turned to greet her customer with a polite smile. Standing before her was another white unicorn mare, one with a light pink mane rather than a purple one. She held an air of authority and regality about her - probably a member of some noble family seeking a dress or somesuch for a formal event. Rarity knew the type, they were the most common kind of customer.
"Welcome to the Carousel Boutique," the mare greeted with a dramatic flair, raising a foreleg to enhance the effect. "I am Rarity, proprietor of this establishment. How may I assist you on this fine morning?"
"I could ask you the same."
Rarity's smile froze, and she blinked a couple times in confusion. That voice...
"Princess?"
The other unicorn's horn glowed gold, and an aura of similar color settled around herself and the blinds above the large windows at the front of the boutique. The telekinetic aura on the blinds pulled them down over the glass, and the store immediately darkened somewhat from the sudden lack of natural light. Meanwhile, the aura around the pink-maned unicorn grew brighter, until only her silhouette could be seen. This in turn grew and reshaped itself. Her horn grew longer, a golden tiara appeared on her head, feathery wings appeared on her back, and her mane began flowing about in the air as though blown by an omnipresent wind. The light eventually faded to reveal that the anonymous mare was none other than Princess Celestia.
Rarity's jaw worked for a few moments without uttering a word, while her pupils shrunk. Then a synapse connected somewhere and the mare snapped out of her stupor to give a deep, hasty bow. The radiant alicorn gazed down on her with a small, benevolent smile.
"Rise, my little pony," the princess commanded softly. The fashionista quickly obliged.
"Princess, I... I-I wasn't expecting to see you of all ponies in my humble little shop. Not that it's a problem, of course!" The flustered unicorn cringed and glanced at the piles of cloth, string, and half-finished clothing around them, then shook herself slightly and managed not to have a panic attack over the mess. It was a little late for that kind of reaction now, and it would have been quite unbecoming of a proper lady to react that way in the presence of royalty. Besides, if Celestia cared about it, she would have said something, right? The unicorn returned her attention to the radiant alicorn.
"Ah, but where are my manners? Could I interest you in some tea, Princess?" Celestia's answer was a smooth nod.
A few minutes later, the two ponies sat at the table in Rarity's dining room with cups of freshly made tea, the still nearly full kettle sitting on the tray between them. For a moment, the two sat in silence. One of Celestia's eyebrows rose slightly as she took a sip.
"I am surprised you didn't ask," she stated simply once she put the cup down again. Rarity blinked once, then understood her meaning.
"Oh, yes, well, I thought it improper to pry," she replied a little sheepishly, adjusting her mane. "I'm sure you had very good reasons for being disguised, and if you wanted to tell me, you would tell me. For all I knew, you just wanted a break from all the stress of royal politics." Celestia smiled briefly, but then her expression became grave.
"Much as I wish that was the case, I donned a disguise for more serious reasons." The princess set her teacup down. "To be specific, I am here to inquire about the events surrounding the abduction and return of your sister, Sweetie Belle."
"That business again?" Rarity's expression became unpleasant for a moment, until she remembered who she was talking to. She quickly returned to a more neutral expression and tone. "I thought that was all taken care of, at least as far as it pertained to my sister."
"As did I," Celestia returned honestly. "But then something else - or somepony, I should say - came up." A pause. "Are you familiar with a pony named Octavia?" The other mare's ears perked at the name.
"Octavia Sturnn? Oh yes, I've been to some of her solo concerts. She's quite the talented cellist,I must say. It's quite a shame she went missing. I hope the poor dear is alright." Rarity gave the princess a questioning look. "... Is she alright?"
"She is," Celestia said with a nod. "Octavia showed up at the main Guardspony office in Fillydelphia two days ago; shaken and nearly hysterical, but otherwise unharmed."
Rarity nodded, but she was quite confused. She could put two and two together, of course - obviously Sweetie Belle and Octavia had been ponynapped by the same ruffians, else the princess wouldn't have mentioned it. But what could possibly be so special about the situation that Celestia herself moved in to inquire further, rather than one of the Royal Guards? She even disguised herself so she could move in without being noticed, at that!
The princess saw the questions in Rarity's eyes, and spoke before she could ask them.
"Corporal Mace's report said that you mentioned seeing someone the night Sweetie Belle was returned to you. Is that correct?" The unicorn answered with an affirmative. "What did that pony look like?"
"The Human," Rarity immediately answered with a roll of her eyes. "Quite the cliche disguise, if you ask me. Oh, it surprised me at first, there is no doubt about that, but I quickly realized just how utterly ridiculous it was. Really, if this... vigilante wanted to be thought of as some supernatural criminal hunter, she was better off going with Mare-Do-Well than some old, dusty legend that everypony knows doesn't exist."
Rarity's tone and expression were confident. However, that quickly changed when she saw Celestia's expression.
"Erm... Princess...?"
The alicorn's expression was more grave than she'd ever seen before. Celestia carefully leaned down until her head was level with the unicorn mare's.
"Rarity, there is much that I must tell you," she said in a low, deadly serious voice. "But first you must tell me everything you remember about the pony you saw, and promise not to tell a single soul anything about what we are about to discuss. Do you understand?" A pause, then the unicorn fashionista nodded warily, with no small amount of trepidation dancing in her eyes. "Do you promise to speak of this to nopony?" Another nod. Satisfied, Celestia rose once more and took a deep breath to gather herself. When she spoke again, her tone remained serious, as did her countenance, but it held much less of a steel edge to it than before.
"Good. Now, what do you remember about this 'vigilante'?"
"Lyra, I'm heading over to the spa, now," Bon-Bon called from several rooms away. "I'll be back in a couple of hours, alright?"
"Mm-hm."
Lyra Heartstrings gave her absent minded reply without looking up from the book hovering in front of her face. She sat on her couch in what one would think was a rather uncomfortable position for a pony. Rather than simply sitting on her haunches the way most ponies would, she sat back on her rear with her hind legs dangling off the front of the cushion. The mint-colored unicorn read from page to page with a look that was halfway between complete neutrality and moderate boredom. This changed, however, the moment she heard the semi-distant slam of the front door closing behind Bon-Bon.
The mare's eyes widened, then narrowed as her ears perked up and swiveled back and forth like radar dishes. Her ears strained for a moment in the sudden silence, then relaxed slightly. The coast was clear... but she couldn't get up just yet. Lyra decided to wait for a few more minutes, just in case her housemate forgot something and needed to come back.
A minute passed. Then two. Then three. Then four... Eh, good enough.
With eyes still narrowed and scanning back and forth suspiciously, Lyra slooowwwly closed the book and set it down next to her on the couch. Not a second after her telekinetic aura faded from it, she dashed from her awkward sitting position and galloped to the other end of the house, up the stairs, and into her room. She quickly shut and locked the door behind her, standing with her back against it on her hind legs with wide eyes and carefully listening ears. Satisfied that no one was lurking outside the door, the green mare dropped to all fours and used her magic to yank the cord hanging from the ceiling. The light crystals in the ceiling activated with a soft snap, revealing a cozy, medium sized bedroom. Lyra trotted over to her neatly organized desk and sat down. She magicked one of its built-in drawers open, revealing various files and folders; tax forms, licences, financial records, and other mind-numbingly boring but unfortunately necessary items... but that wasn't what she was looking for.
The unicorn removed a large stack of papers from the drawer, revealing a large, visibly aged book with gilded patterns running along its edges. At the top of the book was its title, written in jagged, ominous looking letters.
Beast with a Human Heart
She removed the massive novel with a small grunt of effort and set it on her desk with an audible whump that sent a small cloud of dust into the air. Fanning in front of her to clear the air a bit, Lyra looked back into the drawer at the item hidden beneath the ancient book - a yellow file folder that looked similar to the others present, but with the word "classified" stamped on it in bold red letters. The mare lifted that out as well and opened it, removing the paperclipped documents within and setting them down beside the book. The first page was a rather official looking report. It had the Celestial Seal printed on the top left of the paper, and its Lunar counterpart on the right. In between them were the opening lines of the Royal Guard's report:
Name: Second Sergeant Lighthammer Garm, Lunar Guard, 1st Battalion, 2nd Squad
Case Report: The Fillydelphian "Splatter House"
Report Filed: Saturday, 1st of the Seed, Year 3 AR
Notes: Do not recommend review shortly before or after eating.
"Thank you, Mace," Lyra said to herself with a self-satisfied smirk. She was a longtime friend of that particular guard, the two had been close ever since preschool. That remained unchanged even now, though they could not talk face to face nearly as often as when they were foals, what with him always volunteering for extended patrol rotations - he evidently liked the extra pay. Nonetheless, she and Hammer still occasionally did favors for each other. In Lyra's case, it typically took the form of getting records that were autographed by famous musicians. In Corporal Mace's case, well... suffice to say, it wasn't uncommon for the pegasus stallion to voice his worry over her 'obsession,' but he would still do what he could - keep an ear out for anything that could hint at supernatural activity, get her reports that technically she shouldn't have access to (as long as it wasn't too important), that kind of thing.
The mare's grin widened. Oh, Mace had certainly been a skeptic for a while, just like so many other ponies, (Bon-Bon included, much to her chagrin), but that changed pretty fast after he saw that Fillydelphia report, the one Lyra had in front of her now. Normally, he drew the line at classified "guards' eyes only" documents, but he had been quite willing to get this one for her, much to her surprise and excitement. The only thing that kept Lyra's glee in check and prevented her from giving him a great big "I told you so!" was how incredibly uneasy and disturbed he was by the contents of that case file...
Lyra's grin immediately turned upside-down, but she quickly shook it off. There would be time to think about that later. Chances are Mace would come to her on his own anyway, and with a laundry list of Human-related questions that he wanted answered. When that happened, she would explain everything to him. But again, that was later. This was now.
The unicorn took a breath to gather herself, then unclipped the pages of the report from each other. She reached towards the book with a foreleg, intending to open it so that she could compare and contrast the various notes of the file with those of HP Lovecolt. However, she froze the moment she made contact with the cover.
A cold shudder ran through Lyra's body, beginning at the hoof in contact with the ancient tome on her desk and progressing all the way to the tip of her tail. She looked around her room nervously, but otherwise remained unmoving. Confusion soon joined her newly jittery demeanor. Her room had not changed in the slightest. The walls were the same color, as were the posters and other pictures hanging from them. The light crystals were shining just as bright as before. Her bed was the same, her desk was the same, so was her closet, and her mirror... it was all the same.
She shivered again, but went back into motion. She opened the book, readied a sheet of blank paper and a pen, and set to work. But she was not nearly as focused as before. Other thoughts nagged her from the back of her mind.
Nothing had changed about her room, she could tell. But for a second it felt like... like...
For a third time, Lyra Heartstrings shivered. It felt like somepony, or rather something else was in the room with her, watching her with burning eye.
