Mirror's Image

Chapter 5

Twilight twisted and turned in her bed, wrapping herself up in the sheets as she dreamt. She saw terrible things, strange and foreign ideas which didn't make any sense to her. A strange longing pressed down on her, urging her to give in to it.

With a yelp Twilight woke up and tried to scramble out of the sheets, only to fall out of bed and onto the cold ground.

"Ouch." Twilight muttered as she freed herself from her silken prison. "Spike, turn on the lights will you?"

No answer.

"Spike? Are you awake?" She didn't hear him breathing or snoring, so he had to be awake.

"Never mind, I'll do it myself." Twilight used her magic and grabbed the candle she kept next to her bed at all times.

Her magic wrapped around a vast lack of wax and wick, much to Twilight's surprise.

So instead, she lit up her horn. She took in the faint details that she could make out in the dim light. "This isn't my room." She eventually concluded.

The light on her horn grew as she funneled more magic into it. Now she could see the bed she just dropped out, a drawer, a strange monster in the shadows, a few crystals and a-

Twilight froze, her heart skipping a beat. There was something in the room with her!

Ever so slowly she turned back to where she had seen the monster before.

It was still there.

Twilight dimmed her horn, hoping that it would not see her.

She had no idea if it actually worked as the monster didn't budge.

But Twilight could still see it. The unknown creature's eyes glowed in the dark. An eerie glow, like two fireflies hovering in the darkness.

"H-hello?" Twilight called out, taking a chance to put her friend's lessons to good use. Perhaps it wasn't aggressive, she figured. Maybe it just needed a little kindness, as Fluttershy would put it. She smiled.

The creature flashed its fangs at her. But Twilight would not be deterred. Having just woken up weighed heavily on her ability to make good decisions.

Twilight took a step forward.

So did the monster.

Twilight hesitated momentarily but took another step. And another.

The creature came closer. And closer.

And since it hadn't made a move to tear out her throat just yet, Twilight figured that it was safe to approach even closer.

Twilight came to a stop right in front of the creature.

It stopped too.

"Hi." Twilight tried again.

The creature didn't respond.

Twilight narrowed her eyes. There was something very obvious she was missing here but in her sleep addled condition she failed to put her hoof on it.

She focused her magic once more. The tip of her horn began to glow and bathed the room in a soft purple light.

Twilight looked at the creature again.

It was strange. She couldn't make out the details but it didn't look like anything she had ever seen before. It looked strange, wrong even.

"This is it." Twilight said to herself. She held out a hoof to the creature. It responded by mimicking her action.

Twilight reached out and touched the creature's hoof, only to be met with a solid, cold surface.

She moved her hoof around. The solid surface was everywhere in front of her.