EPISODE 5: MYSTERY OF THE WESTERN WOODS

“Twilight?”

The unicorn’s head jerked from out of the thick volume hovering before her eyes. The string of words that flowed through her mind ceased as Twilight’s comprehension was put on hold. Behind the visual barrier of the book stood a couple of familiar faces, those of Colgate and Lyra, which immediately stole away the reader’s attention. The pair of dark blue and brilliant amber eyes that awaited her created a contrast that left Twilight staring speechless for a moment.

“Oh, hey guys!” Twilight welcomed as she closed her book and rose from her seated position near the door to the performance hall. “Are you two coming to Vinyl’s concert, too?”

“What else is there to do?” Lyra asked with a growl.

Colgate elbowed her mint-colored friend in the flank and laughed, “Oh come on, Lyra, like you don’t want to be here.”

“It's not as though I could escape the noise even if I were in my own bedroom,” Lyra mumbled. “Knowing Vinyl, this concert won’t be very mild.”

“What do you mean, Lyra?” Twilight inquired, noting her friend's vexed stare cast down on the floor. “Haven’t I seen you at some of her smaller performances in Ponyville-?”

Lyra, removing her cold, amber eyes from the ground, revealed the entirety of her exasperated emotion in an alarming gaze. “I’d rather suffer through two straight days of our professor’s lectures than go to one of those explosive ordeals.”

“Oh. Well... you know you don't have to go, right?” Twilight posed.

But Lyra shook her head with a hefty hint of stubbornness. “What kind of a friend would I be if I simply deserted Vinyl Scratch in her time of need? You know that she needs us to go in order for her to feel accepted and whatnot.”

Twilight watched as a large crowd of ponies began pouring in from all around. From the glass corridor, the park outside, and the stairwell nearby a sudden rush of students began pouring into the foyer. Most wore rather excited expressions, while others passing through meandered as though afraid to admit their intrigue. Others still passed by the open doors to the performance hall with curious glances, some never actually entering the venue.

“When did the doors open?” Twilight asked as she cocked her head in puzzlement. She shook her head and continued, “Listen, Lyra, it would be nice to go and support Vinyl, but in all honesty it’s not like she’ll see-”

“Oh I’ll manage, Twilight, don't you worry!” Lyra said, suddenly chipper. “Now that I think about it, our break begins tomorrow! Whatever I must endure tonight won't be nearly as bad as the upcoming break will be wonderful!”

Twilight rolled her eyes and giggled. Her friend’s characteristic up-and-down demeanor never ceased to surprise her.

“That’s easy for you to say, Lyra,” Colgate suddenly remarked. “You aren't stranded here for the whole break. Think about all of us who have to stay and do whatever Luna has in store for us! We’ll probably have a bunch of reading and writing...”

“Reading and writing?” Twilight gasped, turning her lighthearted smile into a giant grin. “You really think so!?”

Lyra and Colgate looked to one another. Both shook their heads slowly.

“Oh, Colgate, isn't that just heartbreaking,” Lyra said as she gave Colgate a faked pout. “It's not my fault you all decided to go and break some of the academy's rules before classes even started. Besides, won’t you two really end up enjoying your time ‘stranded’ here for a week?”

Colgate's eyes rolled pensively upward. “Now that you mention it, I might be able to get some time to go check out the island with some other ponies. That might not be so bad.”

“And I'll have plenty of time to do some more reading and writing, mandatory or not!” Twilight added cheerily. “Wow Lyra, you really know how to turn things around!”

“It's all in the mood swings,” Lyra bragged as she flicked her powder blue mane.

Twilight and Colgate quickly exchanged glances. Their confused countenances reassured the other of their friend’s rather puzzling statement.

“Anyway,” Colgate finally said after a cough, “should we head in? Looks like everypony else is. Don't wanna be last.”

“Oh, yes, let's head in!” Lyra said as she turned and trotted on in. “Now that I’ve talked myself into going. Hopefully it’ll be quite the treat!”

Twilight placed her book inside one of her saddlebags and followed her friends into the stream of ponies squeezing in through the hall entrance. Her heart started racing as the excitement within her rose. Twilight had been to some of Vinyl’s performances before, but only when the mare was a hired DJ or when her initial shows were smaller in scale. To see a concert given by Vinyl, a popular artist Twilight knew herself, seemed like the perfect way to start the winter break.

As the three from Ponyville made their way into the heart of the performance hall Twilight began noticing the finished set-up. A blanket of galactic ornament covered the bare bones of the layout. The stretch of lights attached to the ceiling were hidden by a hanging barrier filled with golden stars and crescent shapes. The stage itself hid behind a curtain that curved around the semicircular platform, its designs like constellations spotted across the midnight sky.

What struck Twilight the most was how packed the chamber was despite its massive size. Earlier that day she had only seen crew members waltzing about the spacious area; this time the mare beheld an entire swarm of ponies pushed all the way up to the edge of the stage. Even getting in proved to be a challenge. Twilight and the other two only made it to halfway to the stage before the audience grew too packed to push through.

The sea of students spread conversation that filled the chamber with a hum of its own. Excitement made the drone buzz like bees. Twilight felt the electric sensation passing through her, though she herself was not contributing in her silence. The mare never considered herself a very lively individual, but she considered herself a conductor of liveliness nonetheless.

“I didn't know this many ponies even went to the academy,” Twilight said.

Lyra looked around in disbelief, until suddenly she spotted an especially noisy bunch pressed up against the stage.

“I think you're onto something, Twilight,” Lyra scoffed. “I don't think they're students here.”

Near the front stood a group of ponies with glow sticks hung around the necks and attached to bracelets tied around their hoofs. Their odd-colored manes were cut into strange styles, from long mohawks to extremely short buzzes. Some had earrings up and down their ears, and their cutie marks seemed to Twilight very eccentric, to say the least.

“Maybe ponies outside of the academy were invited?” Twilight suggested. “They did let in a number of visitors for the last performance, after all. At least that’s what I heard.”

“I think we should avoid those strangers as much as possible,” Lyra suggested as she backed out of the middle of the crowd.

“Why?” Twilight asked. “It's not like they’re going to do anything unruly-”

Suddenly the lights went out. A collective gasp sounded through the hall, accompanied by a few screams. When the murmurs settled a low hum began vibrating throughout the chamber. Twilight could feel her eardrums pulsing a thousand times per minute until the volume of the low pitch began to rise. The curtains slowly opened just enough to reveal the source of the deep, drawn out drone: the organ.

Sitting at the expansive keyboard to the back of the stage was who Twilight knew to be Melodia. A mare of great musical talent, she took on a new look as her pale purple coat turned dark violet and her white hair silver in the dimness of the hall. Her back was to the audience, but with the mare’s hoofs dug into the keys of the grand instrument Twilight could sense the intensity that emanated from the concentrated musician.

The deep, prolonged notes came to a cease, and a following solo brought a wow over the audience like a wave. The intricate melody flew up and down the keyboard, following the precise movements of Melodia's hoofs. The quick presses and releases made past concertos Twilight had seen seem like mere colt's play. The feel of the amazing musical run flowed forth like a fast-paced villain’s theme.

The musical notes finally landed on a chord during which the curtains flew open the rest of the way. A pair of towering speakers suddenly came into view, and the second their great black rectangular shapes completely emerged a rippling roar blasted through the air. Lights flashed onto the ceiling above and out into the crowd, coloring the audience bright blue and silver. The sound of the organ’s chord and electronic noise carried on for some time in perfect unison before coming to a complete stop.

There was no silence, however, as a number of those inside the hall were already hooting and hollering.

“DJ PON-3!”

“YEAH!”

“ROCK IT, V!”

The strange bunch at the front of the crowd started jumping and yelling as a spectrum of colored lasers shot out in every direction. The focused lights then fell to form a circle around Vinyl to the front right section of stage. Twilight watched her white friend smile as the DJ adjusted the goggles on her face. She lifted her hoofs up, paused, and then slammed both down onto one of her devices as the speakers boomed once more.

Undulating notes created a speedy aria like that of the organ. Tones flew up and down the scale as the speakers cranked out a futuristic resonance that Twilight felt was somehow glowing. She continued to watch her friend on stage as Vinyl grinned and toyed with dials. A crazy drumbeat blared a racket of sound that made Twilight cover her ears.

Soon the organ was at it again as Vinyl threw in accompanying sounds. Twilight felt her gut pulsing as though somepony were massaging her stomach too hard as the beat hit time and time again. The explosions of the bass beat through her body and shook her more so than any music had before.

For a while the mare tried to adjust to the feel, but after the first ten minutes of the performance Twilight felt a headache coming on. Its intensity was worse than that of one she had gotten from having an anvil – among other things – accidentally dropped on her head from the sky. Unsure of whether or not the discomfort was normal, Twilight glanced around to see other ponies' reactions.

Those in front, familiar and unfamiliar faces alike, were bucking and screaming with sheer joy abounding. Their eyes were closed and hoofs raised high or otherwise swinging wildly about. Near the middle of the crowd was a mix of actions; some jumping as well as others cheered, while some were confused as to what they were to do. Near the back where Twilight stood a number were bobbing their heads, but more seemed to be covering their ears or gritting their teeth in pain.

“WHAT DID I TELL YOU, TWILIGHT!?” Lyra yelled angrily; though standing side-by-side, the felt miles apart with all the sound. “THOSE PONIES UP FRONT ARE UP TO NO GOOD! THEY’RE... THEY’RE BEATING EACH OTHER!”

“LYRA, RELAX!” Colgate exclaimed. “THEY’RE JUST GOING CRAZY!”

“WHAT!? ARE YOU SAYING THAT’S OKAY!?” Lyra shrieked.

“SURE IS!” Colgate shouted. “AND I’M GONNA JOIN ‘EM!”

The blue mare pranced her way through the crowd until she reached the front, where she too went crazy with all the bucking and bellowing to the bass. Twilight and Lyra stayed near the back with a number of other ponies looking just as lost or traumatized as themselves. The twisting sound of electronic dubstep soon shook up the entire room like an earthquake.

Lyra shook her head, hoofs covering her ears, as she turned to leave. “VINYL WILL UNDERSTAND, I’M SURE. THIS IS SIMPLY TOO MUCH TO BEAR! WHOEVER TALKED ME INTO DOING THIS ANYWAY!?”

“I THOUGHT YOU WERE GOING TO STAY AND SUPPORT VIN-?”

“NEVERMIND WHAT I SAID EARLIER!” Lyra cut in. “ARE YOU STAYING OR COMING WITH ME?”

Twilight looked back at Lyra, who neared the door which hid a far less noisy atmosphere behind it. She glanced at Vinyl, who stood on stage playing her music as happily as any mare could possibly be. The contrasting feelings of loyalty started tearing Twilight in two.

“I THINK I’LL STAY!” Twilight finally replied, to which Lyra shook her head.

“IF YOU DON’T GO DEAF BY MORNING, LISTEN FOR A KNOCK ON THE DOOR. I DON’T WANT TO LEAVE WITHOUT SAYING GOODBYE!” Lyra said, and then made her way out to the foyer.

Twilight, having made her choice, stood her ground and let out a deep breath. The violent vibrations that beat inside the mare’s ears continued on as the volume never stooped down even a notch. Even when Melodia returned to a solo on the organ Vinyl was toying with the sound in some manner, adding drums or an accompaniment of an electronic orchestra. Breaks between songs seemed nonexistent as Vinyl hopped or scratched her way from one tune to the next.

After a while Twilight began wondering if she made the right decision. She glanced back at the large doors leading out, but her heart wouldn’t let the stare last for long. Her ears, however, kept begging and begging, until Twilight could hardly make out her own thoughts.

Must... stay... in the name... of friendship!

---

There seemed to be a ringing noise following wherever Twilight went. Her ears throbbed as the shrieking note occupied the mare's hearing, its pitch intolerable and unfluctuating even a half hour after the music stopped. Aside from the single tone there was little else that the mare could hear in the foyer, save for the small groans of those accompanying the mare who suffered a similar sense of deafness.

Vinyl had told Twilight that the concert would blow her mind, but really all Twilight thought it had done was blow her eardrums. She couldn't hardly hear her own hoofsteps as she tromped her way back to her room, which took far too long as Twilight constantly paused to massage her aching head.

The sound of her door opening and closing actually made its way into the mare’s ears, but the faint sound was like a brief wisp of wind in volume and duration. The seeming lack of noise - aside from the unbearably high pitch - was almost eerie. It was possibly less preferable than the actual ear-splitting sounds of the concert that brought on the painful phenomenon in the first place.

As she walked into the confines of her bedroom Twilight began thinking of a way to eliminate the resonance. Pages of spells and studies flipped through the mare’s mind as quickly as a librarian scans through books on a library shelf. To Twilight’s dismay, her mind was not as vast a resource, and as a result nothing came to directly to mind. She didn’t have a clue of where to begin.

Twilight felt guilt weighing her down as she paced in front of her bed; she really had enjoyed the concert altogether. The lights were stunning, the tunes were very well composed, incorporating the organ and Vinyl’s instruments in incredible ways. Unfortunately for Twilight, the sound was - put nicely - overwhelming.

The approaching night did not help in the slightest as it offered no means of escape from the aftereffects. It drove Twilight crazy as the minutes passed. The ensuing weariness was like that from too much magic casting; the headache was worse than any Twilight had felt after too many hours of intensive reading and critical thinking.

Eventually the heaviness dragged Twilight’s head down upon her soft, fluffy pillow. The mare hoped the physical comfort would outweigh the mental discomfort, but even the comfy bedding could not take Twilight's mind off of the ringing in her head; in fact, lying down seemed to make all of it worse. Before long the mare was sitting up with thoughts spinning in her head incoherently.

“This is what I get for not doing thorough research on ‘dubstep’,” Twilight mumbled as she rose and walked over to her bedroom window.

With a tired push Twilight opened the glass panels and let the cool wintry air seep in. Its chill spilled onto her face like water moving in slow motion. The refreshing feel and mixed scents of pine and the sea momentarily brought a smile to Twilight’s face. She breathed in the night air and closed her eyes as she leaned her head back in an attempt to relax her mind.

Though calming, Twilight’s mind still felt as restless as storm not halfway passed. The strong winds of thoughts pushed the unicorn’s eyes to move left and right, up and down, as they beheld the vista of the island outside.

The scene had fallen beneath a blanket of darkness and of snow. Parts of the eastern coastline had frozen as thin sheets of ice reflected the dim moonlight hanging above. Wispy clouds came and went across the sky, but none could hide the dominant light of the night. To the north were the rolling Western Woods, their pine trees and other plants covered in beautiful, glimmering snow.

But something seemed to be moving against the whiteness.

Twilight rubbed her eyes and stared again. She glanced around the middle of the forest where she thought she had seen the shifting, but there was nothing out and about then. She stared long and hard for any sign of strange movement, but the trees were as still as the air - at least, as still as the air should have sounded.

The ringing in Twilight’s ears returned to her attention, forcing the mare to tap her head in hopes of breaking the resonance’s hold on her ears; however, the ringing sound ensued. Frustrated, Twilight let out an irritated growl.

“I give up,” she muttered, but suddenly a thought flew through her mind.

Wait a minute; no I don’t!

Twilight remembered there was somepony else who could help. Though she usually didn’t like others to solve her problems, the aural agony quickly became an issue she just wanted fixed. Her hopes began lifting her head back up until suddenly curiosity caught her eye once more.

Out in the middle of the forest was something big and black, the top of it reaching just below the evergreen treetops. The flora around it shifted as the strange thing barged its way about. Its progress through the woods was not all that clumsy; in fact it appeared more willful, though slow. Twilight felt if her hearing was halfway decent she would be able to hear the rustling of the trees.

The mare, slowly peeling her violet eyes from the sight, turned and headed for Lemon Heart's room across the suite. She knocked and waited with jitters shaking her body. She hoped her friend would get up rather than call out from behind the door, since she could hardly hear even the knocks on the wood she made. After a minute's pause her yellow friend's head popped out into the lounge and her azure eyes settled on the shaking mare.

“Yes, what- TWILIGHT!” Lemon Hearts gasped, suddenly flinging the door all the way open. “What happened to you!?”

Twilight, now shocked herself, looked down at her own hoofs as well as over the rest of her violet physique. “N-Nothing, I think?”

“But your face is so pale. Your ears are twitching, too!”

Twilight paused and waited for the involuntary movements of her ears. Every few seconds one would shiver, then the other, followed by brief pauses in between. She hadn’t noticed the convulsing of her ears; only the clamor within them.

Twilight blushed. “Oh, well, I guess that concert took more of a toll on me than I thought-”

“You went to that concert tonight? Are you trying to inflict pain upon yourself!?”

“What? No! I mean-” The image of the movement within the forest suddenly shot into Twilight's brain, breaking a link in the mare's chain of thoughts. “Listen, I have to tell you something more important first. I think I just saw something moving outside.”

Lemon Hearts narrowed her eyes and tilted her head upwards, a sign Twilight knew of her roommate when skepticism arose.

“Just what did you see moving?” the yellow mare asked.

Twilight walked over to her friend's window and opened the panels. “Look down at the forest. There was something in the middle of all the trees. It seemed really big, almost like a-”

Twilight couldn’t even finish as the image in her head began projecting onto the nighttime landscape of the forest. Lemon Hearts, keeping her expression of doubt, slowly made her way over to her friend's side and stared out the window as well. She tilted her head back forward and gazed out like an eagle staring down at the Western Woods. She scanned the treetops with great intensity as they ran across the span of the woods.

Twilight tried to repeat her friend’s examination, but her eyes were far less acute. Her drooping head didn't help in the attempt, either, as soon enough the mare’s hanging head left her tired eyes staring down at the windowsill.

“I don't see anything, Twilight,” Lemon Hearts concluded with a shake of her head. “And... by the looks of it, you seem nothing short of exhausted. Are you sure your senses aren't playing tricks on you?”

“I'm sure I saw something!” Twilight pleaded. “Just look one more time! It was big and black, and all the trees around it were moving. It even looked like it was swimming around-”

Lemon Hearts covered her friend's running mouth with a hoof. “Now, now, Twilight. I know you hate being wrong, but I really think you imagined this whole thing.” Twilight opened her mouth again, but Lemon Hearts continued first, “It all makes sense when you think about; from what I understand, Vinyl Scratch’s performances are more like light shows. Celestia knows if I had gone I might have had a seizure. With all that flashiness it’s no surprise that your eyes may be deceiving you.”

“You really can't see anything?” Twilight asked as she stared out the window, but her neck could hardly support her spinning head anymore.

“Nothing out of ordinary. Do you see anything now?”

Twilight bit her lip as her head began lowering again. “I can't see it anymore...”

“That's because your face seems to be attracted to the windowsill,” Lemon Hearts remarked as she lifted her friend's head from its slouch. “You should really get some rest. There's nothing out there in the forest, Twilight. If there is, Princess Luna will deal with it.”

“Ugh, you're right,” Twilight finally gave in. “But somepony has to tell her-!”

“I’ll tell her,” Lemon Hearts said as she started pushing her friend toward her bedroom. “Don’t worry about this at all. I’ll say something before I leave tomorrow. You just focus on getting some rest before you go crazy. Heaven knows what’ll happen then.”

“Right,” Twilight began slurring, “I'm just gonna go to sleep before I start seeing other things.”

“You do that,” Lemon Hearts said. “Don't sleep in, though! I would like to say goodbye before I head out tomorrow.”

“Huh? Oh, right,” Twilight replied. “Good night.”

She left her roommate's abode and clumped slowly back to her own. A chilling air greeted her as the windowpanes hung wide open. Twilight approached aperture and paused, giving the vast scenery one more stare. As her eyes started to close against her will she failed to see anything moving anymore. But the sight of the mysterious thing in the distance would not leave the vision in her mind.

“Maybe I am seeing things,” Twilight muttered to herself as she crawled into bed. The ringing in her ears returned to the forefront of her mind. “Oh! I never asked Lemon Hearts about this ringing.”

But the second she slapped her forehead with a hoof, her head felt heavy as a rock. Her eyes started spinning in an exhaustive dizziness, and in seconds she was lying down on her bed. The moment Twilight's head touched the pillow the mare’s body gave in to rest.

Her mind, however, was anything but restful.

What was that thing I saw..?

Next Chapter: Chapter 17 (Episode 5): Talking of a Winter Wonderland Estimated time remaining: 7 Hours, 51 Minutes