Cosmic Dust awoke to the sound of shouting, and a large crowd of ponies throwing trash at her. She began to panic, and tried to escape the angry mob. Her attempt was in vain, for she was tied to a wooden post. More panic was coursing through her. Her pupils dilated and she began to hyperventilate. She took a deep breath to keep from passing out, and tried to focus on her situation. She was tied to a wooden post in the center of what looked to be a “dark age” village. It looked like the entire village was in an angry mob, yelling and screaming. Cosmic focused on the words being said. “Burn the witch!” she heard amongst the crowd. “Cleanse her soul!” she heard another say. “Send her to Hell!” shouted a third. She began to panic again. Knowing Equestrian history and its violence, she understood the whole situation: she was at a witch burning, and she was the witch.
Cosmic smelled smoke, and heard the crackle of burning sticks. She looked down to her left, and saw a mare with a dark hood on. She held a torch in her mouth, and a smile on her face. In front of the torcher, a flame grew quickly. Cosmic start to panic. “No! Stop! Please!” she shouted. The only response was a piece of trash thrown at her from the crowd.
Heat started to rise. She began to panic, and struggled to get free of the restraints. The fire trialed up her tail, and started to engulf her whole body. Cosmic screamed in agony as her flesh was seared. The crowd cheered as the unicorn cried and screamed as she writhed in the bonds. Her body was completely covered in fire, her hair was completely burned off, and her skin was black and oozing.
Cosmic’s hearing began to fade, and her sight was now gone. The heat had damaged her eyes, and was now destroying her insides. Her voice faded, and she coughed up blood as her vocal chords cooked. The pain began to fade, and she could no longer breathe. She knew it was the end, and she accepted the painful fate.
The unicorn shot up from her sleep. Sweat soaked her dark blue body and bed sheets. Quick, rapid breaths echoed throughout the house. She put her hooves up to her face, and started to cry. She removed her hooves and turned to one of her most valuable items: a group picture of her with her friends. She picked up the wooden frame with magic, and brought it to her eyes. Herself in the center, May Zippy to her right, Sugar Symphony to her left, and Manus Risus group hugging the three with a large smile. The crimson pegasus Zippy had been dead for around a year now, and the effects took the group by storm. Manus became a shut in, quit his job, and nopony had seen much of him lately. Sugar Symphony went missing, right after her husband, and the couple were presumed to be dead. Cosmic, however, felt that she had the biggest loss. The astronomer had fallen into a deep depression, and had to take medication to keep her desire to live.
Cosmic put the picture back on her nightstand, and got out of bed. She trotted to her bathroom, opened her medicine cabinet, and removed a pill bottle. The lid opened with a click. “I need to get more tomorrow,” she said solemnly, as she popped the last two into her mouth. A washcloth was removed from her towel rack, and soaked with cool water. Cosmic wiped her brow with it, and felt the relief of cold water. Her body felt hot all over from the intense dream. Pain was something that she didn’t cope with very well, and being burned alive was the worst feeling she had ever "experienced".
The unicorn trotted back to her bed, and opened the window with magic. She hoped that the cool breeze that Luna’s night brought would keep her from having that dream, or rather, nightmare, from happening again. She lay down, on top of her covers, and stared at the ceiling. She wished her sister was beside her, like she should be. Her family was supposed to visit today, and spend the night. Those plans were cancelled, and her mood dropped more that day. She shed another tear before drifting off into another, hopefully peaceful, sleep.
Cosmic opened her eyes, expecting to see light shining through her curtains, but saw nothing but darkness. The sound of a shovel was barely heard, and the noise of dirt hitting wood sounded right above her. There wasn’t much room to move. She cast a light from her horn, and realized that another nightmare was occurring: she was being buried alive. “It’s just a dream,” she muttered to herself in a panic. It didn’t feel like one, though. Cosmic started to remember reports of ponies "coming back to life". Although rare, ponies can return to a state of consciousness after being in a death-like state. ‘What if this wasn’t real’ she thought.
The shoveling stopped, and she heard the weeping of her family. She banged on the roof of the coffin. “I’m not dead! Get me out of here!” she cried. She could still hear the sobs of ponies above her. She continued shouting, but began to feel light-headed. She was running out of oxygen, and fast. In a panic, she began scratching at the coffin with her hooves. She cried, fearing that this was really the end.
Her scratching was getting her nowhere. The hard walls of her hoofs were ground to dust, and the sensitive inner hoof began to bleed. She cried not only because of pain and fear, but because there was no chance of escape. Her breaths became shallower, and she felt dizzy. The cramped space started to spin, and only made her worse. She closed her eyes to keep from viewing the spinning. Her head dropped back with a thud, and she once again accepted fate.
Cosmic awoke with a huge gasp for air. She quickly got up and headed for her bathroom again, flipping on all of her lights. The faucet was turned on, and a splash of water met her face. She breathed heavily for the next few minutes. She looked into her mirror. She was a mess. Mane disheveled, eyes bloodshot, and gasping for air. Every time she blinked, it reminded her of that horrible coffin. Tears flowed down her cheeks, but she dared not close her eyes unless she absolutely needed to.
It took a few minutes for her to calm down. Once she did, she realized that she was extremely parched. She trotted into the kitchen, and poured herself a glass of water. She gulped it down and placed the cup on the counter. She turned on a lamp with a small burst of magic, and she sat down on her couch.
Hours had passed. Every time she almost fell asleep, visions of the coffin and fire were brought back. Her eyes felt like they were going to bleed. All she did was stare at the lamp, and blink rarely. “I need to make a visit to my psychiatrist today. She needs to know this,” Cosmic mumbled to herself. She looked out of her living room window. Luna was lowering the moon, and dawn approached to end this terrible night.
Suddenly, she heard a knock at her door. She made a face at the door. She got up, and walked over to it. A quick look through the peep hole revealed a familiar pony. Cosmic gasped. She quickly unlocked the door, and it flew open. “Comic!” her sister shouted. Behind her sister stood her parents. They waved a friendly hello. The three ponies walked inside, invited by Cosmic. “I thought you guys had to cancel your trip,” Cosmic said in surprise.
“We felt bad for leavin’ ya hangin’, sis! So, we made a surprise visit!” her sister exclaimed.
“Thank you guys for coming. Take a seat. I’d love some company, especially after tonight,” Cosmic warmly gestured over to the couch. “Any pony want some tea?”
“Sure, darling. With some lemon, if you have it,” her mother requested. The three sat down, and Cosmic went to the kitchen. “So,” her mother continued, “what happened that’s got you all down?”
“ I had some of the worst nightmares,” she replied. She got out a large cutting knife and a fresh lemon. She cut the fruit into slices, but didn’t go any further. Instead, she looked at the sharp blade in wonder. ‘I wonder how easily this would go through flesh’ a twisted inner voice said. She shook her head, but couldn’t put the knife down. “Nightmares, huh? What kind?” her mother questioned.
“Two of my worst fears,” she replied. She started to move towards her family with the knife. ‘No, no, no, no’ she thought. She was fully conscious of what she was doing, but couldn’t stop herself. She stood behind the couch, where all three family members sat. ‘No! Please! Move!’ she thought, and tried to say. No words came out of her mouth. It was like she was a puppet, she had no control. Her sister looked back to see Cosmic wielding the knife. “Sis?” she questioned. ‘I’m so sorry’ she thought, as a tear ran down her cheek.
The knife pierced her sister’s eye, going through the eye socket and stabbing the brain. Blood spurted out of the wound, showering both Cosmic and her father, who was next to her sister. He gasped in shock, and froze. Cosmic quickly removed the knife from her sister, and sliced his neck with one clean swipe. He collapsed on the floor, gurgling in his own blood. Her mother shouted in shock and horror. It all happened so fast, and she couldn’t believe Cosmic would do this. Both pairs of eyes met. Cosmic’s night blue eyes pierced her mother’s. The knife was brought up, and brought down into the mother’s chest cavity. She collapsed on to the floor, holding the knife. “I love you,” she whispered before exhaling her final breath.
Cosmic felt like she was released from a spell, and quickly ran to the bodies of her family members. Tears flooded out of her eyes as she screamed in regret. She looked at her blood coated hooves, and could only stare at the horror. She removed the knife from her mother’s chest, and looked at the bodies. All three had shocked and horrified looks on their faces. This was the worst night of her life. She looked at the bloodied blade. She raised it into the air. “Please forgive me,” she wept before plunging the knife into her gut.
She collapsed in pain, still holding on to the handle. Blood streamed out of the wound. She looked at where her mother was. Except, there was no mother. ‘Oh Celestia. Was it all an illusion?’ she thought as more tears flowed from her eyes.
Cosmic Dust lay there on the floor, blood flowing from her wound. She became cold and tired. A light started to form in the corner of her vision, and began to take the form of a pony. “Hello,” a familiar voice said. She recognized the voice, but she couldn’t think straight due to loss of blood. “I’m sorry you had to be part of this, but science spares nopony.”
“Who are you?” she coughed up.
“Sshh. Don’t speak. Only listen to my voice.” The shape became clearer and clearer. A unicorn. Tan. Dark brown mane. Red eyes? The eye color threw her off. It looked like one of her closest friends. “Manus?” she asked.
“Just like Zippy. Confused at first. It was me who tormented you with those visions. This is reality. You are dying. How did I accomplish this? Well, unicorns can have special connections with each other. I made a dream connection. I controlled everything,” he explained.
“You… you gave me those nightmares?” she said, feeling betrayed. It was getting hard to breathe and stay focused.
“Those weren’t nightmares. The only nightmare is reality. This is your nightmare. Your fears, all experienced in one night. Pain and suffering, all felt. Now, I must leave, our connection is fading. I bid you farewell,” Manus said. He turned around and began to walk away. The tan unicorn faded into a white light, and then out of sight.
Cosmic felt her eyes getting heavier. Her body was cold, and she felt no more pain. She closed her eyes, not prepared for death. She heard the crash of her front door before fading into black. A voice called out. It was muffled, but sounded urgent, and wanting to help. She couldn’t speak or move, so there was no response back. ‘This is the end’ she thought, as she let the cold hoof of death greet her.