Chapter 5: Revelations

Darkness veiled the land as I ran towards the village I'd seen a couple days ago. I'd waited until I saw the last light go out and even longer after that before starting my plan. First things first, I was going to check the village for some kind of map. If I couldn't find that, I'd head to the castle I'd seen before and no doubt be able to get a read on where I am from there.

My arms and legs flexed as I ran at full speed, claws digging into the ground and propelling me forward at blazing speeds. In just a matter of moments, I was at the edge of the village and peering inside from behind a small house. My lupine eyes piercing the dark night with ease, I scanned the area taking in all I could. I quickly noticed that I couldn't read a single word on any of the signs.

Everything was written in a language I'd never seen in my life, not even close. Luckily for me, it seemed every store had a very obvious symbol depicting what they presumably sold.

Except one, with the depiction of quills and... sofas? That couldn't of been right.

Ignoring that one outlier, I slowly made my way through the empty town while sniffing at the air and checking every sign on the way. Suddenly, I stopped at a familiar smell... the same perfume I smelled in the forest. Following the trail, I quickly came upon what looked like a house built into a tree. I say this because up nestled into the leaves of the tree was an open window, a soft orange light shining through it like a beacon in the dark night.

Tilting my head in curiosity, I made my way around the tree and noticed the large sign in the ground out front. The words may have been nonsense to me, but the large image of a book was all I needed to know.

'Library... and purple horse. What are the chances' I groaned to myself as I looked for a way in, circling the house. 'Who lives in a library...'

Reaching the other side of the tree again, I looked up to where I saw the open window just to find it closed. Cursing my luck, I circled one more time before resigning to trying one of the windows. Coming up to the window right of the door, I placed both my paws on the glass and tried to push up. To my surprise, the window lifted easily and quietly.

Smiling a bit, I slowly crawled into the interior of the tree.


Perspective: Twilight {5 minutes ago}

The creature towered over me, looking at me with cold judgmental eyes. Their very gaze locks me in place and makes my instincts scream out in terror. Every part of me wanted to run, but my body wouldn't obey me. Not even my magic would answer my call. I was defenseless in the face of this... thing.

"I don't like this Twilight..." Zecora's words echoed back in my mind. "This creature... it reeks of death..."

It's eyes flicked back and forth between us, until it spoke in a scratchy, echoing voice.

"Twilight?" It said slowly.

I felt a shudder through my body at it's voice, and I couldn't help but start to tremble. Here I was, a recently crowned princess, reduced to a whimpering mess. Finally, with what little courage I had left... I could only manage to speak barely above a whisper.

"P-please... d-don't hurt me..." I pleaded, getting it to squint it's eyes a bit and shake it's head... until-

My eyes flew open as I sat up in my bed, a cold sweat covering my whole body while my heart frantically beat in my chest. Gasping for breath a few times, I slowly started to calm down as I realized it was just a nightmare. Letting myself flop back down onto the bed, I just lay there for a while staring at the ceiling.

I let out slow, drawn out sigh as I lay motionless, wings spread out as I let my vision drift around unfocused. It's been a whole day since I saw it, and every time I closed my eyes... there it was. Staring into me with those dead blue orbs, scanning me all over. The feeling of being judged completely and found... lacking.

I had already sent a letter to the Princesses so they were aware something was going on... I should have mentioned my nightmare problem to Luna though.

'I'm sure they're busy enough already...'

Rubbing my face with my hooves, I let out a groan and rolled onto my side towards my night table. Glancing at the clock rewarded me with another reason to sigh in annoyance at the late hour.

'It's only two o'clock!' I yelled in my head as I grabbed both sides of my pillow and closed it around my head, the annoyance of constantly waking up every few minutes starting to grate on my patience.

I stayed like this for a few moments, before releasing the pillow and slowly getting out of bed. My horn shone a brilliant lavender and soon after the room was bathed in the soft orange glow of a lantern. Giving a small stretch and a flutter of my wings, I walked over to my my desk and plopped myself in the chair.

Lighting up my horn again, I pulled out a small folder I had tucked neatly inside the top drawer and began pulling out it's contents. Spreading every page evenly around the desk, I pulled out my quill before starting to work on a new sheet.

On each page were detailed drawings of that... creature I had encountered at the Everfree. I drew it all down as best as I could remember... the axe, the armor... the eyes. The eyes were the trickiest part of the drawing, every time I felt like I was getting them right I erased it and started over. No matter what I tried, I couldn't replicate the feeling those eyes gave you as they peered into you.

"Twilight?" A voice suddenly cut into the silence.

"AH!" I let out a quick yell and flared my magic, sending the sheets into a frenzy around the room before glaring at the source of the noise.

Standing in the doorway was a tired looking Spike dressed in pajamas and holding a lit candle. Rubbing an eye with his free hand he let out a yawn.

"*Yawn*... still awake? It's 2am Twilight..." He said sleepily.

Lighting up my horn, and quickly collecting all the pages that were strewn about, I piled it all neatly on the desk before letting out a sigh. "...I know. I can't sleep again."

"Still thinking about that thing?" He asked, walking up next to me.

Nodding, I rest my head on the desk as Spike put down his candle and picked up one of the pages, looking it over. As I watched him look over the drawings, I felt a small shiver coarse through my body. Glancing over to the open window in my room, I lit up my horn and shut it to stop any more cool night air from getting in.

Spike gave another yawn, and set the page back down on the table. "Well, I'm going back to bed. Try not to stay up all night again..." He droned on in a monotone voice as he lazily sauntered out of the room.

Pushing myself out from the desk, I got to my hooves and made my way to the bathroom. Once inside, I quickly filled the sink with cold water and splashed my face, cringing at the icy sensation. I let out a small pant and shook my head, flinging the water off my face before looking into the mirror.

'I'm a wreck...'

My reflection stared back at me, in all it's sad glory. My mane was unkempt, my coat messy. Bags were easily visible under my eyes and they were starting to turn bloodshot.

THUMP

A small thud downstairs broke me from my self pity, as I looked out of the bathroom door down the hall.

"...Spike?" I asked softly as I slowly made my way to the door.

Peeking out around it and looking down the stairs, I noticed nothing out of the ordinary. As quietly as I could, I made my way to the end of the hall, passing by the staircase and my bedroom door as I reached the end of the hall. Approaching the door at the end of the hall, I slowly turned the handle before peeking inside.

My heart almost stopped when I saw Spike, sleeping soundly in his bed.

I quickly snapped my attention to the stairs, my heart beating in my throat as I slowly made my way towards it. Staying low below the railing to hide myself, I peered downstairs into the dark main lobby of the library. My eyes flicked all over, looking for any signs of movement, but finding none.

Swallowing hard, I steeled my nerves as best I could and descended the stairs. Every step I took seemed to intensify the silence that hung around me, like a deafening white noise. I quickly lit up my horn, bathing the room in a soft purple glow and immediately noticed what had made the sound. A book, sitting in the very middle of the room with nothing around it, like it just fell from nowhere.

As I looked at the book, my mind put the pieces together and I could feel my adrenalin surge. Something else was definitely in here. I stood, frozen in place as my ears swiveled behind me at a faint sound.

Then, like a cool liquid rolling down my shoulder, I feel something breath right behind me as the hair from my coat stood on their ends.

I gasped in quickly, and just as a scream was about to leave my lips, my mouth is clamped shut by a hairy claw, while an arm wraps around my midsection... pinning down my wings.

I felt my panic spike, and I flailed for my life. In that moment, I felt my whole life flash before my eyes as tears quickly ran down my cheeks while I struggled to free myself. I'm not sure how long I fought, before I looked up and saw those very same eyes I'd dreamed about looking down at me.

Frozen, I helplessly watched as it held me in place, fully at it's mercy. Then, it's claw suddenly let go of my muzzle before slowly raising it up to it's face in a "Shhh" gesture. I swallowed nervously and quickly nodded, following it's sharp claws as they lowered from it's face.

Then, it's arm released me. As soon as I was freed I collapsed in place and pushed myself back into a bookcase. I stared back at the beast as it's eyes bored into me, before it slowly reached down to it's hip towards it's axe. I let out small whimpers as my shaking started to intensify.

"W-What do you w-want..." I asked quietly getting it to give pause, before grasping at a pouch situated behind it's hip.

I watched with bated breath, as it undid the loose knot tied around the top of the pouch, before reaching it's whole arm inside and pulling out a long rolled up piece of parchment. My fear slowly started to wane as I watched it's actions, my curiosity starting to grow with each passing moment. It took a step towards me, causing me to flinch a bit making him stop.

It let out a low growl, before tossing the rolled up parchment between us. Looking between the parchment and the imposing figure, I lit up my horn and enveloped the item in my magic. Almost immediately it bared it's teeth, snarling at me and getting into a low stance... it's axe already in it's hand.

My magic quickly fizzled out, and I waved my hooves frantically towards it in panic. A few tense moments went by, before it re-holstered it's weapon and stood back up to full height. Glancing back down at the parchment, I hesitantly started crawling forward and reached out for it. As my hoof touched it, I almost recoiled like it was going to attack me, but it was just normal parchment.

I let out a small breath, trying to calm my nerves as I slowly pulled it towards me and flattened it out. As the parchment rolled open, my eyes opened wide. Corner to corner, was an entire world map of land masses I'd never seen in my whole life... illustrated in immaculate detail! But... what did it want me to do with it?

"Azeroth?" It spoke suddenly, causing me to flinch and lock eyes with it again.

"I-I don't understand..." I meekly responded, getting a snort of annoyance from the creature.

It took a couple long strides forward, making my body go tense as it leaned forward and tapped on the map. Then, standing back up, it motioned around us.

Thinking about the meaning of it's actions, I felt a lightbulb go off in my head as my magic lit up out of reflex.

Again, the creature immediately tensed as I quickly motioned for it to wait. After a few seconds it eased up a bit and nodded as I focused on what I was looking for. Then, a moment later a small CRACK sounded as another rolled up piece of parchment appeared floating infront of me. I quickly cut off my magic, letting it fall to the floor, before I scrambled to rolling it open.

The creature eyed me suspiciously, before looking down at the parchment I presented to it.

"Equis." I said back, tapping at the corner of the map. "Equestria." I spoke again, tapping the correct continent then the floor of the library.

A number of emotions flashed through it's features, most prominently was confusion and anger. Before I could study it any longer, the creature turned around and walked over to a nearby table with piles of books I've yet to sort. I watched as it leaned its hands on the table for a few seconds, it's breathing slow and angry. Starting to shake again, I saw my breath form a cloud as I breathed out while watching the large form lean on the table.

"RAAAAA!" A loud roar bellowed from it's mouth as it slammed down it's axe into the table, splitting it in two from a single hit.

The thunderous boom shook the library, as it's gaze snapped to me and began quickly crossing the room... axe in hand. I felt my eyes shrink to pinpricks as my wings shot out, trembling in fear. There it was again... the same thing I felt back in the forest. I couldn't run, I couldn't scream, I couldn't even call on my magic.

I could feel a warm puddle spread out under me as I tried to push myself as far into the corner as possible. I clenched my eyes shut, only letting small whimpers escape as I waited for the inevitable.

Some princess I turned out to be.

...

Silence, and the faint howl of wind graced my ears.

Slowly opening one of my eyes, I expected to see those dead orbs looking back at me. Instead, I was greeted with nothing. Hesitantly looking around the room, I noticed both maps had disappeared as a cold breeze caused me to shiver. Looking over, I saw an open window with a gentle breeze disrupting the curtains that hung over it.

"Twilight?!" I heard a voice shout from upstairs.

Pulling myself back into reality, I looked down at the puddle I found myself in and felt my face heat up in embarrassment. I quickly lit my horn up and teleported out of the lobby and into the upstairs hallway, catching Spike as he was leaving his bedroom door looking worried.

"Spike, I need you to send a letter. Now." I said urgently, shocking Spike into action as he ran back into his room.

The sound of rummaging could be heard from inside, until he appeared back at the doorway with a parchment and quill. Wasting no time, I quickly began.

"Dear Princess Celestia..."