Nightmares

My name. To be honest, I hate it. I hate my name. Everything about it. It's so wrong, in most Gaian culture, the country of Equestria; names represent a talent, or quirk, or your general place in society. Roseluck, she sells roses, and has a cutie mark for such. Lyra plays the lyre, and has a cutie mark for such. Hollow Dreams- Oh, yeah. That's me.

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The colt glowered hatefully down at the numbers on the paper in front of him, only five minutes before the day would be over and it'd be time to go home. He blew the bangs of his dull green-grey mane out of his eyes as best he could, breaking off from his silent rant. Tapping his black hoof against the desk, he bit is lip in frustration, not even noticing as blood dripped down his chin. His clay eyes glinted with dark annoyance as he noticed the self-harm he was inflicting. He let go of the pressure in his jaw, slipping out of his seat to grab a tissue to dab up the blood that had dripped from his face to his desk.

"Eeeeew," he heard a filly drawl in disdain, "that colt has blood on him, he's so gross!"

The teacher of the class lifted her head from the test she'd been correcting, pushing her thick-framed glasses up her straw-yellow muzzle. "Hollow Dreams," she said, voice low and threatening in that strange way teachers' voices could be, "Why have you left your seat during the quiz?"

Hollow Dreams bit his lip again, renewing the flow of blood down his chin, "I-" He looked down at his bloody muzzle, "I'm just getting a tissue..." he said lamely, walking quickly over to the box on the front table and taking several. "I'm sorry, Mrs. Word."

That teacher, Dreams thought to himself, that Written Word will end up in some crappy nursing home somday, *alone*!

Glaring hatefully at his paper again, Hollow Dreams sat at his desk. He smiled slightly to himself as he dabbed a tissue on his desk to get it clean - he was turning twelve tomorrow, and that was something that made schoolwork like this worthwhile. Celebrations and time with friends were what the colt lived for, as long as the crowd wasn't too too big. With a sigh, Dreams jotted down the numbers for the multiplication problem and came up with an answer. His last question, thank the Princesses. He hopped out of his seat again, holding his paper weakly in the purple-black aura of his magic. He trotted up to his teacher's desk.

"Sit down, creep!" A colt suddenly screeched at Hollow. The black-coated Unicorn seemed to shrink, letting his sickly green-grey mane fall down over his wild eyes as he bit his lip again, not caring as blood dribbled down onto the carpet, mixing with tears on the way down.

Mrs. Written Word's eyes widened as she heard the words, looked down at Hollow's blood and tears, and she clenched her teeth and closed her eyes, trying to take deep breaths through the pointed hooves and sadistic laughter of the fillies and colts.

"Yeah," another filly called, "You don't have any friends! And you're a blank flank!"

Hollow growled, low and threatening. The laughter stopped. He took a deep, shaky breath, giving his quiz to Mrs. Written Word. He then walked quickly to get his saddlebags and headed for the door.

"You're a-"

The colt was cut off by Hollow's thin voice, "Shut up."

"No."

"Shut up." His voice seemed strained and shaky as he tried to contain himself.

"You can't make me!"

Tears and more blood dripped onto the floor as Hollow quivered with rage. "Shut up. Or... or do you want me to... to m-make you?"

The colt stuck his tongue out and blew a raspberry, "You're too much of a wea-"

"I've had enough!" Written Word shouted, voice cold and severe. She pointed an accusing hoof at the class, "All of you - detention!" She went up to Hollow Dreams, and in a softer voice added, "Not you, of course sweetie. No homework for you tonight, just get lots of rest."

Hollow nodded, his freckled face still obscured by his bangs. "Thank you," the colt whispered, giving his teacher a breif hug. Pulling away, he gave a nod of farewell, adjusted his saddlebags and walked out into the hallway. He trotted down the corridor, trying to avoid the other teachers and students as he hurried down the hall. Hollow blinked back his tears as he burst out the door, bringing his pace to an all-out run and tearing down the gravelly dirt road in the direction of his Ponyville home.

It's not fair! Hollow thought desperately to himself as he swerved down a side street, Why does everypony hate me? I haven't done anything to them!

As he neared his home, Hollow Dreams slowed to a brisk trot, feeling ever so small as he headed down the tree-lined street to a simple wooden house with a red-shingled roof and red accents on the shutters and door. A few metal wind chimes hung from the ceiling of the somewhat closed porch, tinkling and ringing softly in the slight breeze. He couldn't hold the tears back any longer, letting out an anguished wail as he yanked the door open and slammed it behind him, running in the direction of the stairs when he bumped into his yellow-coated mother, Daisy Petal.

The mare blew a piece of her white, green-streaked mane out of her blue eyes, "Hollow? You're home early, you usually like to take your time-"

"Shut up!" Hollow screeched, not even realizing who he was talking to, dumping his saddlebags on the floor and shoving her aside as he stumbled up the stairs into his room, slamming the door hard behind him.

Daisy Petal felt numb with how her son had suddenly behaved, and suspicion crept through her. She levitated Hollow's saddlebags up, gasping as a bloodstained page of math drifted down to the floor.

Sweet Celestia! Petal thought, eyes widening as she dumped out his bag. Blood. There was at least a drop on all of his papers, and a tattered, bloodstained book caught her attention as it dropped to the floor. The cover read 'Hollow's Diary' in bold block letters, and as she opened it, Daisy petal had to resist the urge to scream. Almost every page was crinkled clearly by what must've been tears, and the vast majority had blood on them. I... have I done something wrong?

Entry 1, September 3: Today's the first day of school. I don't know anypony here since I just moved from Trottingham, but the fillies seem to like my accent. I really like the book club and their stories about the old times.

Entry 2, September 4: Today didn't go so well. Lots of ponies have called me wierd, but I guess Ponyville folks do things differently than in Trottingham. I'm not a snob...

As Daisy petal kept reading, the entries grew more and more disorganized, down to single words such as, 'hate, die, hurt, them,' and others of that nature scrawled across the destroyed paper.

"This is wrong..." Daisy breathed as she slapped the book shut with her magic, putting everything back into Hollow's bags as she crept tentatively up the stairs.

The door to Hollow's room was slightly ajar, and suddenly a loud scream and the sound of shattering glass exploded from it. Daisy gasped, yanking the door open and shrinking as she saw a colt with a dull blue coat, paler bluish mane, reddish-brown eyes and a white squiggle-looking thing for a cutie mark standing over Hollow, who had his hooves over his eyes and was quivering like a kite string in a hurricane. The window near the side of Hollow's bed was completely shattered inward, as though this colt had shot a blast of magic to get at Hollow.

"L-leave me alone Ice Ridges!" Hollow whimpered, trying to squirm away from the Unicorn colt, "I didn't do anything to you!"

"What in the name of Celestia do you think you're doing?" Daisy screamed, "That's my son!"

Ice Ridges turned to Daisy and Hollow grinned devilishly as he thrust his hind legs up, slamming his hooves into the colt's gut. Ridges flew back with a whimpering grunt, crashing into the wall with a sickening thud. Hollow jumped to his hooves, keeping in a defensive position as Ridges recovered from the blow.

"Hollow!" Ridges growled, clutching his stomach as he staggered to his hooves. "You're stronger than you look," he observed with a wince, "But too strong. I'm going to find your secret!"

Hollow screeched like an animal as a wobbling bolt of Ridges' magic grazed his shoulder, filling his muscles with a searing, unnatural pain. He gritted his teeth and charged a blast of his own, horn bubbling and fizzing weakly with black magic as strange purple energy began to appear and flutter quickly from the edges of his eyes. He let go, sending a slender bolt of crackling black energy at Ridges, who countered with a basic force field. The energy rippled as it touched the field, but instead of dissappating, it crept into it, turning the blue shield black and dissipating back for Hollow to absorb. As the energy fizzled into the black-coated colt's horn, he licked his lips in satisfaction, as though the magic was actual sustenance.

"Hollow?" Daisy Petal interrupted, "Please stop!"

The purple at the edges of Hollow's eyes seemed to fade along with the bloodlust that had burned in them as he turned to his mother, "No," he said softly, lowering his head, "You're right. I shouldn't've lashed out like that."

"Hollow-" Daisy froze, as did Ridges. "What's that near your eye?"

The colt arched an eyebrow, turning a quick circle before finding himself. "What?" He trotted out the door and into the bathroom, only to run back out and crash into his mother. "I have no idea, but it's purple and therefore ominous," he said with a nervous shudder, biting his lip. He grimaced as blood once again dripped between his teeth, hoping his mother wouldn't notice. "Um... maybe we should go to Princess Twilight's library," Hollow suggested with a cock of his head, "I mean, if anypony knows what it is, it'd be her."

Daisy Petal nodded and turned to Ridges, "Now," she said, "If anypony asks me how this happened, I'll tell them you were playing catch outside and your ball went through the window, no big deal. Just never try to hurt my son again!"

Ridges nodded gratefully, "Yes Ma'am!"

Hollow rolled his eyes, "I get it, I get it! Can we just get to Twilight as soon as possible? What if it's like, deadly?" He bit his lip, "Yeah, some kind of deadly virus that can only be stopped in its initial stages!"

"I doubt it's any kind of virus," Daisy said flatly, "but it doesn't look natural and it reminds me of something... Anyway, it doesn't matter, the only thing that does is that we get rid of it."

"Exactly." Hollow replied, trotting forward and downstairs. He held the door for Ice Ridges and his mother when he got there, pulling it shut behind him once he slipped through. His skinny frame shivered as he thought of what the purple could be, and what it could do to him, and even more interesting, what it reminded his mother of.

Down the tree-lined road, the trio moved, not walking, but not trotting either. The turned the sharp corner in the direction of the Ponyville squared, heading to the immense oak tree that housed Princess Twilight's immense and possibly quite literal "castle of knowledge."

The library's door was always unlocked, and Hollow pushed it open, cringing when the little bell just above it rang in his ears. He shrunk back as he saw the purple Alicorn turn away from the books that she was stacking and sliding into the shelves. Twilight slipped the book she was holding into the place where it belonged.

"Hello there," Twilight said, turning around as Hollow cowered behind his mother, fearing the kind librarian despite not knowing why. "Can I help you?"

Daisy Petal bowed respectfully, "Princess, could we discuss something in private, please?"

"What's the matter?" Twilight asked, worry glittering in her violet eyes, "Is something wrong?"

"Y-yes," Daisy said and nodded her head, whispering something to Twilight that Hollow didn't hear.

"SOMBRA?" Twilight cried, leaping nearly four feet in the air with her shock.

Hollow jumped as he heard the name, the name that made chills run down his spine, but a name made him feel strangely safe at the same time. "S-sombra?" He asked, staying behind his mother, "Who- Who's that?"

Shaking her head in disbelief, Twilight spoke, "A Unicorn who was corrupted by an unbridled ambition and lust for power," she shuddered and continued, "he enslaved the ponies of the Crystal Empire to be his playthings while radiating hatred and fear across all of the land. He was banished as shadow to the icy wastes long ago and with him, the Empire dissappeared, and fairly recently, it was my friends and I who went to protect the returned Crystal Empire, and it was Spike, my assistant, who with the help of Princess Cadence and Shining Armor, recovered the crystal heart and banished him once again - hopefully for good."

"Sombra..." Hollow whispered, rolling the name around in his mouth, "It seems to fit who he was."

"Yes," Twilight replied, "But I fear that he may have left traps all across Equestria, and according to my research, any unfortunate pony who stumbles into one of these traps could be corrupted and transformed into one just like him!"

"T-transformed?" Hollow was trembling behind his mother, feeling sick and dizzy and wishing to disappear. Daisy Petal's mouth hung open in alarm, and before anypony could react, her eyes rolled up in her head and she dropped into a dead faint.

Twilight rushed to the aid of the mare, stopping short when she saw a piercing green glow in the corner of her eye. She looked up. The whites of Hollow's eyes glowed a piercing, neon green, his clay pupils tinted red and the purple energy flowing even more strongly from the edges of his eyes.

"You!" She roared, hardly realizing who he was, "What have you done?"

Hollow quivered, shivering in fear as the green faded, "I don't know," he whispered, tears rolling down his cheeks as he crouched submissively under Twilight. "Please!"

Twilight felt hot with embarassment as she noticed Spike and Ridges' shocked stares. "Come with me," she said, much more harshly than she meant to.

"Y-yes Princess," Hollow squeaked, shuddering as Twilight opened the door. He cringed as the sun seemed to sear his coat, too bright, too hot and too, too happy. He shook his head to dismiss the thought, that unnatural thought that wasn't his own. "No!" He scrambled ahead, nearly slamming into more than one pony in his blind fear and desire to get out of the light. He shivered under a table as Twilight approached and lifted him in her magic.

"You're not getting away from me this time!" Twilight produced an anti-magic brace, a long string of rope, and a blindfold out of nowhere, proceeding to put the brace on Hollow's horn, blindfold him, and immobilize him with the rope.

Green pulsed behind the polka-dotted fabric of the blindfold as Hollow snarled and struggled, snapping his suddenly fanged teeth in every direction he could reach before Twilight muzzled him. "Raaaagh!" he snarled, kicking and squirming in the Alicorn's grip.

Twilight turned to see Daisy Petal, Spike, and Ice Ridges rushing from the library, the former's eyes wide with shock and fear.

"Hollow!"

The colt recognized his mother's voice near him, but snapped angrily, baring his fangs with a screech, "TWILIGHT!"

Daisy flinched but stood her ground, "Hollow, please calm down! We can do this like civilized ponies!"

Hollow didn't reply but went limp in Twilight's magic, black energy bubbling and fizzing as he tried to overpower the brace. He continued like this for several painful moments as Twilight kept walking before he replied, "Fine," he growled, voice rasping with an unnatural double-tone as he let go of the magic. "Just put me down!"

Twilight let go of her levitation on Hollow and slid the brace off Hollow's horn. He landed lightly on all four hooves, the tip of his horn seeming to be tinted a dull maroon, though it could just be a trick of the light. The colt winced and untied the rope, tearing the blindfold and muzzle from his face. He took a deep breath and rubbed the outside of his throat, coughing up a gob of foamy blood. He gulped in a wheezing, desprate lungful of air before bursting into a bloody coughing fit and clutching his gut. As soon as he seemed to have recovered, he staggered to catch up with Twilight, who was waiting about a yard ahead.

"Are you alright?" The Alicorn asked, genuinely worried as she examined the thin colt. "I can help if-"

"I'm fine!" Hollow snapped angrily, eyes pulsing green as he stormed ahead, "I don't want your help!"

Twilight narrowed her eyes and shook her head, reestablishing the bonds that had held the colt and dragging him across the ground. Hollow squirmed and roared in rage as he thrashed in the Alicorn's grip, kicking wildly and trying to once again overpower the anti-magic brace. He glared up at Twilight, his gaze then wandering to a splotch of white in the corner of his eye.

Rarity!

He squirmed again, whining through the muzzle and gritting his teeth as his rump slid over a rock. He saw the white Unicorn's eyes widen with disapproval, and his heart rose as she trotted over to him.

"Twilight," Rarity asked, arching an eyebrow and watching as Hollow wiggled in his bindings, eyes wide and blood dripping down his chin, "What exactly do you think you're doing?"