Night fell in Ponyville. The stores had all closed and the lights had been doused. Spike walked slowly down the dirt road, enjoying the cool breeze under the moonlight. Eventually, the library came into view. But something was amiss. He approached the building with growing concern. At first, it didn’t look like anything was wrong, but as he got closer he noticed that the windows had been shattered and papers scattered. His eyes widened in surprise as he burst into a sprint for the house.

“Twilight! Hey, Twilight! Are you ok?” Spike yelled upon entering the library.

Books covered the floor and the desk had fallen over spilling ink on most of the papers. In the center of the room sat Twilight Sparkle, mane frazzled and eyes bloodshot. She appeared to be talking to the fallen desk.

“I understand that you animated broomsticks to help you clean your master’s chamber,” She exclaimed with a hoarse voice. “but making books read themselves will not get you anywhere!”

Spike looked around nervously. “Uh, what?”

Turning to a half empty bookshelf, she said, “And no, if you overload a crystal already saturated with arcane energy, it will sublimate erratically, resulting in a destructive explosion! Not implode upon itself! Where would the excess magic even go? The moon!?”

“Twi? Who are you talking to?”

She then addressed the ceiling fan. “I’ve had it with all of you stuck up, pompous dead geezers! I just wanted to learn, and all you have done is debate whether or not controlling animated utensils is slavery!”

Running up to Twilight, Spike tried to shake some sense into her. “Twilight! Hey, Twi! Who are you talking to?”

“Oh, Spike! Thank goodness you’re here! I can’t stand listening to these guys anymore!”

“Twilight! Calm down!” Spike exclaimed, vigorously shaking his friend.

“Wait…” Twilight froze, holding her breath. “Do you hear that?”

Spike waited a moment, wondering if this was a trick question. “Uh… hear what?”

“Oh thank Celestia, they’ve stopped! The spell wore off!”

“The spell? You mean you tried the new spell alone?!”

“… Yes? But I’m fine now, see!” she responded exhaustedly, attempting to stand. The most she could manage was getting her forelegs straight before shakily falling back to the floor.

“You are not fine! What if something worse happened to you? I worry for you, Twilight. You have to be more careful from now on.”

Twilight stared at the ground with an unhappy frown. “Alright, Spike. I’m sorry.”

The young dragon kneeled down in front of his friend and smiled. “It’s alright, Twi. I’m just glad you’re ok. The library, on the other hand…”

Twilight looked up in disbelief at the destruction the spell had caused. She smiled at her friend and said, “I’ll take care of it Spike.”

“Oh no, Twilight. You’re in no condition to work. I’ve got this; you need your rest. Now lets get you to bed.”

Without another word, the two struggled up the stairs to Twilight’s bed. Spike quietly descended to start cleaning the library. The exhausted unicorn was asleep before she felt the sheets.

*****

“Well, Rarity, you were right. I really needed this.”

Twilight and her friend sat neck-deep in a bath of perfumed mud, soaking the soreness out of their muscles.

“Oh, don’t mention it, darling,” said the ivory unicorn. “Poor Fluttershy was too preoccupied with her animals to make it, and you’ve been so tense recently. What happened to you, anyway? Are you feeling alright, dear?”

“Well, last week I created a spell that would allow me to talk to ponies of the past.”

“You mean, to the dead?”

“Well, yes. It took a little more energy than I expected, and the resulting explosion sure made a mess of the place. Luckily nopony was hurt.”

“Why Twilight, what ever would posses you to do such a thing?”

“I wanted to learn about magic from great sorcerers, but most of them are dead, so I created a connection from our world to theirs.”

“Did any of them escape?” Rarity asked worriedly. “Is your library haunted now?”

“No. I made the spell so only thoughts could get through. You don’t have to worry about any ghosts.”

“Oh thank goodness for that!” She said, visibly relieved. “Well, did you learn anything?”

Twilight’s smile fell a little. “Not much. Turns out there are a lot of dead ponies, and they have many different opinions. I couldn’t get a word in edgewise. But I did learn how to make dancing broomsticks and crystal bombs.”

“Oh. Well, what are you going to do now?”

“I’ll probably try again in the future, but I’ll have to do more research. Maybe I’ll ask Princess Celestia.”

“Don’t push yourself too hard Twilight. I’d hate to see you get hurt.”

“Thank you Rarity. I’ll be careful. By the way, wasn’t Sweetie Belle supposed to meet us here?”

“She should be on her way from school now. She just-“

A sudden ring came from the front door.

“Oh, that must be her. ~Aloe!~ Could you bring my sister here, please?”

The pink earth pony jumped to attention. “Yes, madam.”

She returned shortly leading a young white filly with a purple and pink mane.

“Hi Rarity. Hi Twilight!”

“Hello, dearie.” Rarity said lovingly. “How was school today?”

“It was ok, but I’m worried about my friends.”

“What happened?”

“Well, Dinky Doo came to class today after being gone a whole week, but she only stayed a little bit. I heard her talking to Ms. Cheerilee, and she said her mother was missing. And Snips and Snails were gone too. And Silver Spoon and Twist!”

“Ponies are disappearing?” Twilight questioned, leaning up anxiously.

Rarity shot a worried look to Twilight. “Are you sure no ghosts escaped?”

“G-ghosts?” Sweetie Belle squeaked, cowering fearfully.

“Yes, I’m sure Rarity. I could feel all of them while I was talking, and nothing happened.”

“Then why have so many ponies gone missing?”

“Well… Isn’t it almost flu season?”

“Oh! Of course! They aren’t gone, just sick. ”

Turning to her younger sister, Rarity said, “See? There’s nothing to worry about. Now you just run back to the boutique Sweetie. We won’t be long. We just have to clean ourselves up.”

“But Rarity-“

“I promise you’ll be fine. You can lock the door if you want to.”

“Ok... Please hurry.”

*****

The sun sank behind the horizon as a little filly hurried home. The streets were more vacant than they usually were at this time. As the sunlight faded, Sweetie Belle became more frightened, quickening her pace.

“It’s just the flu, Sweetie Belle,” she tried to reassure to herself. “There’s nothing to be afraid of. There’s no such thing as ghosts… there’s no such thing as-“

“Hey there-”

“AAAAAAAAIIIIIIIIIIIIEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!!!!!!!”

“-Sweetie Belle?”

Peeking out from the tree branches where she had landed, Sweetie spotted a familiar yellow filly with a very confused look on her freckled face.

“Apple Bloom! Don’t sneak up on me like that!” She yelled.

“Ah’m sorry. Ah didn’t mean to scare you. That was some jump though. Maybe it’s your special talent! Didja get yer Cutie Mark?”

“No.” She said irritably while climbing down from the small tree. “It’s ok, Apple Bloom. You just surprised me, that’s all. Where are you going?”

“Back to the farm: it’s gettin’ late. I’ll see you tomorrow Belle!” she said, turning to leave.

“Wait!”

“What is it?”

“Um… could you walk to the boutique with me?”

“But it’s right around that corner. Don’t tell me you’re lost?”

"No, it’s just that…”

“Then are you scared of the dark?”

“N-No! Fine! I’ll just go by myself!”

“ Ah’m sorry Sweetie Belle. Ah didn’t mean any harm.” She said quietly before galloping off.

Sweetie Belle reluctantly continued home alone.

~BANG!~ A door slammed shut. Sweetie Belle jerked her head toward the sound with a small shriek. But she saw nopony. A chill ran down her neck. The moon suddenly disappeared behind a dark cloud, leaving the frightened filly alone and completely shrouded in shadows. Her shaky legs wouldn’t allow her to take another step. She nervously looked around in all directions, but could barely see a hoof in front of her face.

If only Rarity or Big Macintosh were here. If only I wasn’t so small. Then I could stand up for myself. But… I can’t...

A shuffle, a glance. She saw red and gray, before black.