Bedtime Diaries: Equestrian Horror Storiesby ChivalryChaptersCupcakes *WARNING! GORE*Forever FaithfulI Would Smile if I Could (Part 1)This Costume Bites... (Comical)Confessions of Luna (Short Monologue)Cupcakes *WARNING! GORE*This Costume Bites... (Comical) Some say the world will end in Zombies, and while this story is by no means terrifying, the author himself is a bit of an enigma... Picture this: You have posted your first story and are rather pleased with your work. At first, you do not receive many followers or even favorites on your story, but one person is instantly there. He comments on your user page, stating that he liked your story and wants more. Not wanting to disappoint your first fan, you write the next chapter and create a blog post about it, but you post both of these during the middle of the night and are quite tired. Satisfied, you begin to tuck yourself into bed when suddenly your computer lets out a low *ding.* You reluctantly leave the fresh warmth of your covers to investigate when, after you open your computer, he is just waiting for you. He follows you forever, never relenting in his driving purpose to be first, no matter what it is about. For your light-hearted enjoyment, here is theRedBrony's Twilight's New NIghtmare Night Costume. o.0.o This Costume Bites... by theRedBrony After last year's Nightmare Night fiasco, no not with Luna, Twilight's unrecognizable Starswirl costume… the studious unicorn worked tirelessly for months ahead of time to achieve the perfect costume. All those experiments and sleepless nights of study were finally about to pay off. Spike was anxiously pacing around the library's main room. "Are you ready yet, Twi?" He called up the stairs. "Coming!" Twilight responded, a moment later, she gleefully trotted down the stairs, wearing… nothing but her birthday suit. She merely smiled at Spike while he stuck a claw under the hood of his dragon costume to scratch his head in confusion. Celestia knows why a dragon would wear a dragon costume… No, literally, she does. Go ask her. "Uh… you're going as… yourself?" He asked. "No Spike, this isn't my costume!" She giggled. "Uh, where is it then?" "Right here!" Twilight scrunched up her face in concentration as a bright purple light shot from her horn. A flash of purple flame engulfed her body, when the light faded, Spike got a good look at her. "Whoa!" Spike exclaimed. "So… What do you think?" Twilight said with a disturbingly huge smug grin, made even more disturbing by her 'costume.' Spinning around slowly, she showed off the work she was so proud of. And what a piece of work she was… or it was… she looked very much undead. Her purple coat was grayed out, various blood splotches on it, her mane and tail were grayed out as well, and frizzled about as bad as when she woke up from sleeping in on a Sunday. A large chunk of flesh was missing from her face, exposing most of her left side teeth. Gashes in her sides, and even a small hole in her belly where a bit of intestines hung out. Her right foreleg was missing all flesh and muscle from right above the hoof to about halfway up, showing nothing but bare bones with bite marks on them. Her left hind hoof was unnaturally bent sideways and she was walking on it like that. Her horn even had a chip in it. Spike eyeballed her a bit before saying, "I think you're going to scare the living hay out of the whole town!" "I am? Cool!" "No Twilight, I mean it! You're gonna start a riot or something…" He looked away and muttered, "…again." "Don't be silly Spike, ponies love being scared on Nightmare Night!" Sighing in defeat, because he knew he wouldn't get through to her, Spike then asked, "So is this what you've been working on in the basement for the past couple months?" "Yea! Sorry I wouldn't let you in to see what I was doing… I uh… I really wanted it to be a surprise! Yea that's why! I totally wasn't experimenting on changelings or anything!" Twilight laughed nervously. Spike just sighed again. Twilight briskly trotted over to where Applejack was, at the apple bobbing tub. She was wearing her usual scarecrow costume, and helping the foals with the various games there were to play. Twilight avoided being seen until she was almost right next to the farmer, after which, she slowed her walk to an accurately recreated zombie shamble as she approached her friend. She didn't get too close before Applejack turned around and noticed her. Twilight let out a deep zombie moan to match her blank face. "Whoa nelly! A zombeh!" Applejack cried. Twilight barely got a chance to say 'fooled you!' before she got two shod orange hooves right in her face. "OOOWWWWW! MY NOSE!" Twilight cried, now on the ground, holding her nose with a hoof. Spike had caught up with his unicorn friend and was now snickering at what happened. "Uh… Twilight?" The scarecrow pony turned around slowly and looked at her zombified friend on the ground. "Yea…" she responded, her voice quite nasally, "it's me, Applejack." "Ahm mighty sorry Twi! Ya just scared the livin' hay outta me!" The scarecrow helped the zombie get back on her hooves. "It's OK, I should've seen that coming…" She admitted with her head tilted up, holding a hoof to her nose. "Well, Twi, if it's any consolation, that's a right fine, er… costume ya got there!" "You like it?" "Of course I do! I thought ya was the real deal!" "Well, if you want, I could make you look like this too, all I have to do is…" Meanwhile, a certain multicolored pegasus was pushing a small storm cloud across the sky. Seeing Applejack, Rainbow Dash decided to sneak up on her and buck a thunderbolt from her cloud to scare the scarecrow. But, when Rainbow got closer, she saw… "APPLEJACK! LOOK OUT! I'LL SAVE YOU!" Dash bucked the cloud and it sent a well-aimed lightning bolt crashing down right at zombie Twilight. "Rainbow! What are ya doing?!" Applejack scolded her. "Saving your flank from that zombie! It was about to bite you!" Dash protested. "That ain't no zombie! That's Twilight!" She pointed to the twitching purple zombie on the ground. Twilight moaned and shook her head to straighten her eyes that were rolling around in her skull. Spike helped her up, and she wobbly stood and tried to brush her mane down, it was standing straight up. She grumbled at Dash. "Uh, heh heh… Sorry Twi…" Dash apologized bashfully. "Anyway," Twilight started, "I was about to give Applejack here my costume…" Rainbow just cocked an eyebrow at that. "Go ahead Twi, I'm ready." Applejack smiled. Twilight walked up to her, as if about to nuzzle her, but instead bit her shoulder. A gentle nibble that didn't hurt of course. A few seconds later, and a purple flame engulfed the orange mare, then dissipated to reveal a zombie scarecrow. "It worked!" AJ exclaimed. "OOH! Do me next!" Dash's wings popped up in excitement. "I wanna be a zombie Shadow Bolt!" "Go ahead, AJ!" Twilight said. "Really? I can do it too?" Twilight nodded. "That's the best part of the spell! That, and it wears off by itself in four hours!" She proclaimed proudly. "Oh great," Spike piped up, "Now the whole town's gonna be zombies…" Later… A chariot pulled by dark gray, bat-winged pegasi descended from the sky. As it landed, the dark, hooded figure riding in the chariot smiled. "This shall be a most wonderful night!" Her entrance was noticed by the whole town of Ponyville, as everypony stared in her direction. A few small costumed foals ran up to the Princess of the Night. The leader of the group of foals was a tiny little colt in a (zombie) pirate costume. Princess Luna's cheery expression fell to a despairing frown. She looked over the foals then briefly observed the other townsponies. "Not again…" she muttered in a shaky voice. "Hi Princess! Are you going to scare us again?!" Pipsqueak asked excitedly. Luna's eyes widened. "Thy master hast even enchanted thou to speak…" she muttered. The foals sat there looking confused. "GUARD! Give us thy spear!" Luna commanded. One of the two night guards unstrapped himself from the harness and quickly hoofed over a spear to the Princess of the Night. The spear floated up high in her magical blue aura. "Fear not my children… I shall end your pain!" A tear rolled down her cheek as she stepped off the chariot and ran after the little foals who were fleeing in terror. Forever FaithfulConfessions of Luna (Short Monologue) It has been nearly 1000 years since the banishment of Nightmare moon. Equestria has been in peace for some time now. But as the longest day of the thousandth year approaches, Luna prepares for her escape, hoping to be freed from her curse, while a darker side of her only wishes for destruction. To bring you the inner thoughts of our now beloved Princess of the Night during her darkest hour is th3l0stch1ld's Confessions of Luna. o.0.o Confessions of Luna by th3l0stch1ld We still remember the time. A time started by…us. Tis still our fault, and we regret it every day and every night. Twas many moons ago, before we brought forth our dark envy. It has been nine hundred, ninety-nine years, and we are still here on my blessed gift. We fear the day we are released. We remember it clearly, for it was the last thing we had done before being sent here by my dear sister. After many years of feeling what we thought was neglect. We were…depressed. Sister would set the sun as we raised my moon, and we would look over the night sky as sister went off to bed. The world went quiet. Nopony was awake to see the beauty of our night. Twas the first time we realized this, therefore it did little to bother us. But the pain would build up. Night, after night, after night, we sensed fewer and fewer woken souls. Sorrow set in. They praised our sister for her gift, yet ignore our moon, as if it is no more than an unimportant speck in the sky. Each night, we tried harder and harder to make the nights ever so beautiful for the ponies to admire. Shooting stars to wish upon, twinkling stars brightening the sky, and our moon, shining as beautiful as ever, all ignored. Next was anxiety. Why was it that they ignored our nights? Were they simply too tired? Too overworked and preoccupied to view our starry skies? Or…did they simply hate us? Did they not care for what we wanted to share with them? Or did they simply love our sister’s sun more than our moon? They ignored us. Treated us as if we were not there. We were sister’s shadow, following her every whim and getting little respect. They praised her, treated her as a god…and many forgot our name. Twas no wonder the anger set in. We remember the last night of our time in Equestria, the longest night in Equestria. Sister had just set the sun, and we raised the moon for one last night. But something was terribly wrong. The emotions built up in us, causing a darker side of us to begin bubbling up, to start taking over our body and mind. Our coat darkened, blacker than the darkest of nights. Twas frightening for us, not knowing why this was happening, all that was left of our purer side was a small part of our mind, where we reside for now. Dear sister, there are only a few more days until our body is freed from our prison. We hope you remember. Please stop us. ………. Fools! They think they have stopped me! This is only the beginning. Over nine hundred years up here is such a bore, but I should have known Celestia was up to something, I was just so confident that I had won. Those memories, whenever they make their way back I feel like destroying Equestria! But I will get my chance. Soon I will get my chance. If only I hadn’t been so foolish… It was all those years ago when I emerged. Nightmare Moon, the ultimate alicorn. After Celestia set the sun, I took control, putting the moon into the sky, creating the darkest night they had ever seen. The moon stayed over Equestria for hours, hours longer than any night had ever lasted. I felt in control! I felt as if no one could stop me! After so long, everyone began to panic. Celestia went looking for me. It must have taken her hours. Eventually, she found me circling the castle in the night sky. She confronted me, appauled by my new beautiful appearance, asking me to set the moon. Of course I denied her. So she tried acting superior, demanding that I set it, allowing room for the morning sun. I told her my plan of eternal night, making everypony look up at my moon instead of her “blessed” sun. she began pleading, and I couldn’t hold from laughing at the sight of Equestria’s ruler pleading with her younger and now superior sister. With her eyes filled with tears and her voice quivering, she told me if I refused, she would have to take charge. I could see it, she wouldn’t nor couldn’t attack her dear sister. So I struck her down, sending her plummeting through the castle ceiling. I felt truly powerful! I had just defeated Celestia with a single blast and refused her power! I took perch atop Canterlot castle, staring at my night sky. I couldn’t believe I had just won that easy. But little did I know that victory was still so far away. While soaking in my victory, Celestia reappeared before me, sporting her crown this time. Her coat was scorched to a charcoal black where the direct impact was from my last attack. She didn’t catch me off guard, I expected it. It wasn’t as if she would simply sit back and let her younger sister take control. No, she had too much glory to step down from her royal throne or title as ruler. She gave me a final warning, and I only laughed in her face. In my form, with my power, and with her simple heart stopping her from harming her “dear sister”, she posed no more a threat. I shot another blast at her, and she evaded, repeatedly. I was growing irritated. I began firing more rapidly, yet she somehow still avoided every shot. I was angry now, so I lunged. She kicked me away, and her crown began to glow. It was then that I realized what she was doing. The Elements of Harmony. I thought that, being the embodiment of half the pair, she couldn’t use them against me. But she found a way. I was engulfed in a bright rainbow, turning me into no more than a mass of light. I was shot to the moon, just after Celestia took away my powers of control over it. Now, I show my beautiful face looking over Equestria every night. But soon that will end. There is nothing else to do up here than count the days, and it has been exactly three hundred sixty four thousand, nine hundred ninety-nine days and nights. Or to put it simpler, nine hundred ninety-nine years and three hundred sixty days. Soon I will be freed from this prison, and I will be able to take back my power and bring back eternal night! Soon, so soon… And this time, I’ll take out Celestia first. I Would Smile if I Could (Part 1)Forever Faithful Do you believe in ghost stories, dear readers? Well, if you do, then you may want to be cautious as you read. If you do not, well, be prepared to become a believer in the supernatural. Now, I proudly present you all with Konseiga's Forever Faithful. o.0.o Forever Faithful by Konseiga In all her years as the reigning princess of Equestria, Princess Celestia had never attended an event that was this sad. The residents of Ponyville had disregarded the beautiful summer day heat, donning robes and other articles of clothing that were pure black. Black tapestries had been affixed to all the buildings, including the library where the funeral was being held. As Princess Celestia had expected, Twilight’s five friends took it the hardest. The space directly in the front had been reserved for the five mares. Rainbow Dash’s eyes were red and swollen, her face tear streaked and her mouth set in a grim line. Applejack just stared at the ground, the quiet plip of her tears falling on the ground the only thing breaking the silence. Fluttershy had buried her face in her hooves and was weeping quietly, with Angel at her side. For once, the rabbit’s arrogant and angry expression was missing, replaced instead by one of infinite sadness. Rarity was just shaking her head, muttering to herself. “It couldn’t have happened. It shouldn’t have…” Pinkie Pie just seemed deflated. A single black balloon was tied into her tail, and it floated casually in the wind. The pink pony wasn’t crying or muttering to herself. She just stared straight ahead as the procession began. Six stallions, garbed in black and eyes downcast, bore a dark wooden casket upon their backs. The corners of the casket were stamped with a purple six-pointed star. Spike himself was leading the procession, his head held high and his tears flowing freely. Seeing Princess Celestia, he detached himself from the procession and stood next to her side. Gazing back ahead, Princess Celestia watched as the six stallions carefully lowered the casket to the ground. One of the six stepped forward, scratching at the ground nervously. “T-twilight Sparkle was a role model to ponies everywhere…” he stuttered. Rainbow Dash instantly cut him off. “Go, before I break your legs in five different places,” she growled, pointing a hoof in the distance. The six stallions galloped off, fleeing as fast as their hooves could carry them. The rainbow pegasus cursed under her breath, turning to face the gathered crowd. “To say that we’re the only one that lost a friend,” she began, gesturing to the four grieving mares in the front, “would be selfish. Yesterday, all of Ponyville - no, all of Equestria - lost one of the best friends a pony could ask for, in a storm that somehow wormed out of Cloudsdale’s control.” Rainbow sniffed. “Twilight was intelligent beyond belief, always pursuing some sciency-thing with her free time. I used to tease her constantly about being an egghead…” she paused, choking down a sob. “But she was always looking to help some pony, always willing to lend any pony that asked a hoof.” Applejack gathered her hat from the ground and plodded up to stand next to Rainbow Dash. As she set her hat upon the casket, she said quietly, “Twilight’s th’ only one that could’ve given me a run for my money in honesty. She may not’ve been the strongest pony around, but she’d always be straight with ya.” Fluttershy joined the two, turning to address the crowd. “When T-Twilight first came to Ponyville, she scared me beyond b-belief,” her voice squeaked and she had to take several breaths to steady herself. “But we quickly became friends, and I’ve never met a k-kinder pony in my life. Everything she did, she worked on for the benefit of others. She would always make sure that e-everyone was enjoying themselves, and if they w-weren’t, she wouldn’t hesitate to help them in any way she could.” Rarity joined her friends. “She would always listen to you, no matter how trivial or meaningless what you were saying seemed. Her ear was always a patient one, and she would always offer advice on how to help…she was the sweetest creature I’ve ever met.” Pinkie Pie just slowly walked towards the casket. In silence, she walked past the audience, walked past her friends, and just stood at the side of the casket. “Twiliiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiight! Come baaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaack!” she wailed, throwing her front hooves onto the casket. “Oh, dear…” Rarity murmured, drawing the pink pony into a hug. Pinkie Pie cried into the unicorn’s shoulder. “Why? Why did she have to go?” she bawled. Rarity patted her friend on the back, but stayed silent. Princess Celestia separated herself from the crowd, slowly making her way towards the front. Spike was on her back, his face buried in her mane. Slowly, she eyed the five crying ponies and the casket, and then turned to face the audience. “No matter what your personal opinion of Twilight was,” she addressed the crowd slowly, “remember that this unicorn was an honest, loyal, kind, generous, and happy pony. She was a sturdy mentor, a faithful student, and a true friend.” She rested a white hoof on the casket before wrapping it in her magic, slowly floating it down into a six foot hole. “Rest in peace, my faithful student.” ~*~*~*~ “Sister, you can’t keep grieving like this,” Luna prodded the large white alicorn. “Why not?” Celestia demanded furiously, a picture of Twilight as a filly clutched in her hooves. “Why am I not entitled to grieve for my best student?” “You have a kingdom to run, ‘Tia,” Luna said quietly. “I can’t do it by myself.” “I did it by myself for a thousand years,” Celestia snapped back. Luna winced, but her tone was still soft. “I know, but I’m out of practice. I need your help.” The darker alicorn settled next to her sister. “I miss her too, you know.” “You don’t act like it.” “You haven’t been paying attention, then,” Luna muttered softly. Celestia opened her mouth to tell her sister off, but was interrupted. A wisp of black fire materialized in the air for a brief moment, and a scroll dropped in front of the two sisters. Celestia was too stunned to move. “No one knows how to send me letters like that. No one except her.” Luna quickly snatched the scroll up with her magic, removing the seal and unfurling it. The parchment was stained with red spots, and looked unclean, as if it had been rubbed in dirt. Luna’s eyes flicked over the first few lines and blanched. “What is it?” Celestia asked. “You don’t want to know.” “Read it.” “No.” “Luna. Do. It. NOW.” Flinching, Luna brought the parchment up to her eyes and cleared her throat. “Dear Princess Celestia, In all my years under your tuition, we never touched on the subject of death, or life after death. Why is that? Were you intentionally keeping me in the dark, or was there no credible research on the topic? It’s a strange place, death. It’s very dark, and it’s very cold. But I’ve found that if you merely think things, they will pop into existence! It’s amazing, really. It’s like magic permeates the air around me. I really feel stronger than I ever have before here! Still, it’s kind of lonely. I seem to be the only pony here, though I can occasionally hear whispers. Every time I try and turn around, though, I never see anything. But I thought this letter into existence! Oh, sorry, I’m probably just rambling now. I miss you, Princess. I miss my friends back in Ponyville, and I miss Spike most of all. Give them my regards, will you? I’ll keep studying the magic of death. Maybe I’ll find a way to come back. Your Faithful Student, Twilight Sparkle” Luna finished reading and let the scroll drop to the floor. Celestia looked ashen, with her eyes dilated and bloodshot. “There’s no way…” Celestia muttered. “What do we do?” Luna asked. “Send a detachment of guards to Ponyville,” Celestia instructed, “and lead them yourself. See if you can find any pony forging letters.” The words sounded dull and lifeless as they left the white alicorn’s mouth. “And how do we find them?” Celestia merely shrugged. ~*~*~*~ The next tuft of black fire came later that day, dropping a scroll at Celestia’s hooves. She immediately dismissed the couple she was giving an audience to (they were going through a rough divorce and had gotten into a fight over who got to keep their foal) and unfurled the scroll quickly. Dear Princess Celestia, I found the most amazing thing today: light! It feels like I’ve been here forever, now, so I’ve kind of lost track of the days. I hope these letters are reaching you with some sense of expediency, because I’d hate to be tardy! I think we both remember what happened last time. Anyhow, onto my most recent discovery; I’ve found that if I focus intently on one spot, I can bring a smidgen of light to it. In my discovery, it seems that death is just a very large, drab world. I still feel myself growing stronger, though, and I’m enjoying the sensation. It’s like I’m expanding to cover everything at once! As I write this (yes, I’m actually writing, just to stay in habit), my light continues to grow and grow, getting brighter and brighter! It’s much easier to lift heavy things, and with a piano as a point of reference, I can teleport myself many miles away! Oh, but I’d hate to start rambling again. I can only imagine that this is how you feel all the time. You’re the most powerful spell pony in existence, right? It feels like I’m the princess of this new world! Faithful Forever, Twilight Sparkle Celestia refused all other audiences for the rest of the day, and had trouble falling asleep that night. ~*~*~*~ Dear Princess Celestia, I’m fairly sure that now I’m the strongest I’ve ever been, even in life. Hard tasks seem so trivial now, that they’re barely worth my time to do them at all! I still hear whispers, but they’re now whispers of encouragement. They’re nice, you know? Always promising me something, or always pushing me farther and harder. They remind me a little bit of you. Anyway, I visited Rainbow Dash last night. She was asleep, as far as I could tell. We had a nice conversation until she started crying. I hardly understand the need for crying anymore. Sure, I’m dead, but ponies always die eventually, right? She said that she wished she could really see me again, so I’m dedicating my efforts to find a way. It’s getting colder, too. I can’t feel my hooves anymore, but I’ll keep writing anyway. It doesn’t bother me much, except that my hooves tingle when I stand. I wish I wasn’t alone. Your Faithful Friend, Twilight Sparkle Celestia gulped again. Three scrolls had appeared next to her bed while she had been asleep, and she was now attempting to fly through them. Letting the first one fall, she unwrapped the second one and began reading. Dear Princess Celestia, I think I’ve done it! I found a way to not be alone anymore! My hypothesis is that if I can manage to catch somepony at their death and lead them here, maybe we can be together forever! Wouldn’t that be wonderful? I visited Rainbow Dash again. She sure is a mess, if her dream appearance is anything to base it off. She’s let her mane become unkempt, and she’s always crying. Always. Anyway, she doesn’t say much anymore. She just kind of holds onto me, crying, and begging me not to leave. I’m struggling to understand exactly how this whole grief thing works. I’ve told her over and over that death is truly a better place, but that just makes her cry harder. Finally, I’ve managed to teleport fifteen miles! It’s a real benchmark for me! I don’t even think you can do that! I think I’ll go visit Rainbow Dash again. I might have found somepony to bring with me. Eternally Yours, Twilight Sparkle Celestia’s eyes widened as she hastily discarded the second scroll and took up the third. Dear Princess Celestia, Rainbow Dash says she’s ready to come join me. I knew she would be loyal to me, I knew it. I am the spark that brought the six of us together, after all. Oh, my, I guess that sounds a bit conceited, but that’s alright. There’s no one around to apprehend me, after all. If all goes well, Princess, Rainbow Dash will be joining me in death very shortly. I’ll keep this letter brief, as I have much planning to do, but I’ll contact you again as soon as I find out if it works. Your Eager Student, Twilight Sparkle Celestia stared at the scroll long after she had finished reading, numb with shock. “Celestia!” Luna came galloping into Celestia’s room. “’Tia, we found something!” “A forger?” Celestia asked quickly, hope clear in her voice. “No,” Luna replied. “It’s Rainbow Dash. She’s dead.” “Dead?!” Celestia shrieked. “How did she die?!” “We’re…not sure,” Luna replied, her eyes downcast. “The only clue was some writing on the wall. It was odd, though.” “Odd? Odd how?” “Rainbow Dash wrote it herself,” Luna replied, “with a bloody hoof.” “What did it say?” “’She’s with me now’.” ~*~*~*~ Dear Princess Celestia, It worked! Thank the stars, it worked! Rainbow Dash is here with me, and she’s already brightened this place up! Now there’s color, instead of just black and white. Maybe soon, we’ll have grass, and some trees! Rainbow herself is having a blast. She can fly so fast here, she’s loving it. We caught up on a lot of things, and have actually had some stimulating conversation. We’ve already agreed that we should get the others in here, somehow. It’s fascinating, really. The only thing I can really feel anymore is just a yawning emptiness. I want more of everything. I already have all this power, and I have a friend. But is one friend good enough? Your Lonely Student, Twilight Sparkle “’Tia, what if these letters are really coming from Twilight?” Luna asked tentatively. “If that’s true, we’re about to lose four more ponies,” Celestia whispered in response. “But it can’t be possible. I’ve known many powerful spell ponies, and none of them have ever broken death’s veil. It’s not possible.” “Yeah, but were any of them the Element of Magic?” Luna replied as another puff of black fire ignited between them. Dear Princess Celestia, Rainbow Dash and I have decided that Pinkie Pie would be a good addition to death. She really livens up everything that she comes in contact with, so it’s only the logical decision to bring her next. Laughter is kind of in short supply in death, oddly enough. On a side note, I realized that I murdered Rainbow Dash. Well, some part of me realized it. Want to know something funny? I don’t care! I don’t care that I took a pony’s life; in fact, it felt good. It felt like I was in control of both worlds. I don’t think there’s anything you can do to stop me. Your Omnipotent Student, Twilight Sparkle “Go,” Celestia said. Luna vanished, desperately trying to make it to Sugarcube Corner in time. “Oh, Twilight,” Celestia buried her face in her hooves. “What are you?” ~*~*~*~ Dear Princess Celestia, I saw Princess Luna in Sugarcube corner. Did you send her to see Pinkie Pie off? It was a nice gesture. Luna was positively screaming with excitement as Pinkie’s body collapsed in a heap. Things are already brighter now. Despite the fact she can’t actually use magic, Pinkie Pie has managed to procure balloons, streamers, confetti, and other party accoutrements. I firmly believe I should have studied her in life a little more. Now? I don’t give a damn about studying. I need more friends. More friends. Maybe I should get Fluttershy in here. I don’t know what season it is, so Applejack might be busy. And Rarity will need a little bit of time to arrange some care for her sister. Your Apathetic Student, Twilight Sparkle “I failed,” Luna said miserably as she walked in the door. “I know,” Celestia said sadly. “I don’t think there’s anything we can do, now.” Another scroll popped into existence. Dear Princess Celestia, Pinkie and Rainbow both love the idea of Fluttershy entering death with us. I visited her earlier today, and nearly scared the poor thing to death. Calmly, I explained what our plan was to her. She fainted, unfortunately, but I think she heard me. Do you know how the old saying goes? If two’s company, three’s a crowd? It is certainly more lively than it used to be, but still, there’s an aching need for more. Rainbow Dash has it too. Eternally Yours, Twilight Sparkle “Her letters keep getting shorter and shorter,” Luna observed. ~*~*~*~ The day passed with no further letters from Twilight. Celestia conducted her business normally, albeit with a somewhat strenuous attitude. The guards were calling her apprehensive, and were on alert almost all the time for any potential threats against their beloved Princess. It was evening when the next letter arrived. Celestia was gazing out of her window when the scroll landed on her tail. Dear Princess Celestia, Fluttershy’s with us now. She’s kind of in shock, but she’ll get over it. Pinkie and Rainbow are both doing her best to comfort her, as it seems my appearance has frightened her a little. I really don’t see how. I mean, even though my eyes are pitch black now, I can still see. That’s what matters, right? I visited Rarity. The poor thing has gone insane, shutting herself in her boutique. I firmly believe that it would be a mercy to take her out of this world. Cheerilee is looking to adopt anyway. I think Sweetie Belle would be an amazing adoption candidate, don’t you? She’ll be joining us soon. There was no end salutation or signature. “’Tia,” Luna muttered, walking in her older sister’s room. “Let me guess,” the white alicorn muttered darkly. “Fluttershy’s dead, too.” “Mhmm,” Luna nodded sadly. “We’re losing the Elements, one by one.” “It’s really her, then.” ~*~*~*~ Dear Princess Celestia, We’re almost a complete set again. All we need is Applejack. Is there blood on my hooves? It feels like there should be, I’ve killed four of my closest friends now. But it was for a good cause, right? Some part of me is screaming, insisting I shouldn't feel empty, that I should stop now. I visited Applejack. I told her that we’re all here, in death, and that we wish she was here. She looked like she was a wreck, losing all of us in a short time. At this point, it would be a mercy to take her with us. Wouldn’t it? Our world has grown ferociously. There are trees and grass and even a slight breeze. There isn’t a sun, though we can all see just fine. I hope Applejack will love it as much as the rest of us. Your Faithful Student, Twilight Sparkle ~*~*~*~ Princess Celestia, We’re all here now. It’s amazing. The girls all say hi. It’s a nice feeling, to have all my friends here. And now we can never die! We’ve decided that we need more ponies, though. Congratulations, Princess. You’re first on the list. This Costume Bites... (Comical)I Would Smile if I Could (Part 1) Have you ever heard the legend of the Slenderman? While this particular nightmare was created in a meme created by Victor Surge in 2009, this character is no laughing manner. It is depicted as resembling a thin, unnaturally tall man with a blank and usually featureless face, and wearing a black suit. If you are ever walking home through the woods at night and feel that there is someone watching you, it would be best not to turn around. Turn down the lights, get your favorite blanket, and be prepared to see the world through the eyes of the Slenderman itself. It is time for you to read Haku1013's I Would Smile if I Could. o.0.o I Would Smile if I Could by Haku1013 I trot through the woods. My woods. My forest. My home. My home is a large one, as it stretches far across the land. Many beings travel the roads that reside within my home, whether they be minotaurs, diamond dogs, griffons, ponies, or just simple animals who already live within my territory. They all travel the roads that reside in my home and, occasionally, they come across me. Or I come across them. If I am the one who comes across the travelers, then one of two things happen; I either let them be, if I find them useless to me, or I feed on them, especially if they are young. It is the young that I require most for it is the young whose fear matters most to me. I trot through the woods, alone. Alone, as always. I don’t mind, as it has always been as such. I have existed for many years, so many that I have lost count, and in those years I have learned many things, but I have yet to feel more than two things: loneliness and hunger. I have always been alone, so long that I barely even acknowledge the loneliness any more, but the hunger is a different matter. It can come at anytime and can only be put to rest for short periods of time. Even now the hunger moves through my equine shape. It is unavoidable. Insatiable. I do not know why I have the form that I do, but I do not complain. I change my appearance with time, so that either my prey fears me most or so I can best look like them. I have always held the shape of a pony though, never anything else. My appendages come and go as well, appearing only when they need to. I myself don’t actually know where they come from or where they go, only that they appear when they need to. Bird calls fill the air as I make my way through the forest. I stop my walking to look at the sky and see that it is finally darkening. I will be able to feed soon, to quench my hunger. I hear critters scurrying under the bushes and birds flying over my head. These animals fear me, I can feel it. Should I have to, I shall feed on one of them, but their fear is not what I yearn for. They will only be, as my prey say, a ‘snack.’ I see a rabbit run around my legs and I manage to capture it with an appendage. The animals suddenly quiet down, as if to take a mournful, fearful pause for a silent lament as I feed on of their friend. I quickly finish off the rodent and discard the empty husk unceremoniously. As soon as I begin my trot again the animals also renew their natural business, their sounds of nature. Hushed murmurs cause me to pause mid-step. Fear; I can feel it, smell it, taste it. I silently move through my forest, intent on finding them; my prey. I move around a tree and see them. There are only two in number, but both are still young. One is hunched over a smaller one, whispering words. I can just make them out. “It’s hurts,” the small one cries. A colt. Earth Pony. The other tries to calm him with silent humming. “It’ll be alright,” it said. A mare. Unicorn. “Just be quiet, and we’ll leave soon,” she continued. Both are covered head-to-toe in filthy, torn rags. I have never known why ponies such as these attempt to look like the ones who I have based my newest form on. Ponies do not normally wear clothes as it is, so why do those of low wealth do? I do not care really. The younger one’s leg is bent at an awkward angle. A sprained ankle perhaps? If so, then this shall be an easy meal. I move away from the tree and into their view. The smaller foal sees me instantly but becomes paralyzed with fright. He tries to speak, but with the amount of fear that he radiates I know he will not say a word until it is too late. I move forward and step on a twig. The mare turns around and we stare at each other intently. Her eyes go wide as she takes in my figure and I can see as the realization of the situation dawns on her face. She says nothing but instead moves into a protective position over the colt. I can feel her fear. It is more than the young one has. I have always wondered why this is. Why is it that the one’s who are strongest fear me most? Is it because they know that even with all of their strength they could never defeat me? Or is it that they know they cannot be the ones to protect those that I hunt? The mare will not answer my questions. Her horn glows with magic as I move closer. She fires a bolt of magic at me, but it does nothing. I am fear and the magic of those who feel fear cannot harm me. She fires several more shot, none of which do anything to me except to cause mild annoyance. “Go,” she tells the colt, “go without me.” The colt looks at her uncertainly. His fear dwindles. I cock my head, unsure of what they plan. Another magic blast moves toward my head. I do not even flinch at the light. When the magic clears in less than a second, I see that the colt is gone, his rags now left on the forest floor. I see a shadow move on the ground. The colt flies over me quickly. I would have chuckled if I could, even just smiled in approval. I realize now that his wings had been hidden underneath his clothing and that the magic was nothing more than a distraction. I have lost a meal due to a mistake, but I am not sad. I feel nothing but hunger and loneliness, but now the hunger calls me back to the mare. She smiles at me smugly as if she believes that she has won. “Do not smile,” I say. Her ears perk up, surprised that I can actually speak. “Do not smile,” I repeat. “For I shall find him. I never lose my prey and I shall not anytime soon.” Her smile disappears momentarily, but returns quickly. “Just try to find him, monster,” she spits at me. The liquid lands with a splat on me, onto my black form. I move forward onto the now snarling mare. She screams silently as I feed. I feel hunger no more as I leave the empty husk behind, but I know that I will again all too soon. I look to the skies and see the pegasus colt quite a distance away now and he stares at me with fear in his eyes. I stare back at him and he quickly turns to fly away. I feel the fear he leaves behind and I begin to follow it. I never lose my prey and I never shall. I move through my forest. It has been some time since I found my prey. It was as I told the mare, I never lose my prey and I shall never lose my prey. The pegasus colt was easy to track down and easy to take down, and he has filled what hunger I had. But I have since moved on. Once again I am surrounded by the calmness of nature. The birds do not call tonight and, after some time, I begin to wonder why. I soon find my answer. I stand at the edge of a clearing that is filled with activity. A ring of small tents fill the area and a roaring fire is at the center of the camp. I count several ponies in the area, all of which are much too old to quench my hunger. There is nothing here for me, so I turn and prepare to take my leave. Cries fill the air, however, and I whip around. A mare comes out of one of the tents and I see that she carries a small bundle in a saddle bag. She sits by the fire and a stallion moves next to her. He smiles affectionately as the mare takes the bundle out, and it is clear that whatever it is, it is the source of the noise. The two ponies began to coo and make faces at the loud thing and cries soon turn to laughter. The stallion pulls out a bowl of liquid and starts to spoon feed the bundle, and I am finally able to see the bundle. Instantly, I am once again stricken by the hunger, for I have not devoured an infant for quite some time. I move forward to attack and take the bundle from the ponies, but stop myself before I can step into the clearing. If I attack now, the ponies will most likely retaliate and take the young prey away from the conflict. I decide to wait until all is silent in the camp to make my move. It does not take long for the ponies to tire out, including the infant. Soon all is quiet. The ponies are in their tents, the fire is out, and I move from where I have kept myself hidden. I silently trot toward the tent that the infant was taken into. I hear some mumbling coming from my left. One of the ponies, a unicorn, has exited their tent, smacking their lips a few times. He turns his head toward me and stares silently before moving on toward my forest. He floats a roll of toilet paper along with a shovel closely behind him with his unicorn magic. Ignoring the idiot, I once again make my way to the tent. I open the tent quickly and quietly. The two ponies I watched are sleeping and the infant is between the two. I move to take the baby, but feel something smash into the back of my head. I whip around to face the unicorn from before holding the shovel with his magic. “Move one muscle and it’s lights out!” he says loudly. The two ponies bolt upward and are quite shocked to see me. The mare grabs the infant and moves toward the back of the tent while the stallion moves to protect them. He flares up a pair of wings that I did not see before, trying to intimidate me. I hear more shouting and see light filling the area as ponies surround me, many holding fire-lit torches, varied weapons, or dangerous farming equipment. “Holy Celestia! What is this thing?!” one of the ponies shout, the light now showing my faceless features. I try to get a good look at the ponies, but I do not have the time to count each one nor tell what kind of pony they are. “I think the better question is why is it standing at my tent,” the stallion says. The mare has now managed to get out of the tent and stands at the back of the group. “The infant,” I say quietly. This startles the ponies but they recover. “I’ve heard of this guy,” another mare quivers. “I heard some ponies talk about him...at the town we were in before we entered the forest.” She pauses to get a good look at me. “A tall, thin, and white pony in a black pressed suit. No face...” she mutters. The pegasus stallion stands tall and moves toward me. “I don’t care what it is, what does it want?” he asks the mare. “The infant,” I say again. “I want the infant.” The pegasus glares at me. “Why do you want my daughter?!” he shouts at me. The mare responds before I can. “The stories that the townsfolk told me... they say he takes the young... eats them or something. I thought he was just that; a story, told for no other reason than to scare children or attract tourists.” “Well, he’s not taking my little pony,” the stallion declares, and the other pony bring up their weapons, holding them by magic or in their mouths. Instinctively I bring up my darkness, something I heard prey say looks like ‘tentacles,’ whatever they were. I move my appendages around my being just as the ponies charge in. I strike most of them down in only a few swings. Their blood dirties my form, but the attack continues. Through the slaughter, I catch sight of the only two mares I have seen, the mother and the one who spoke, leaving. I take a few steps and am in front of them. It is clear that they’re shocked by how fast I can move while on the hunt. “Oh no you don’t!” the pegasus yells as he flies over me, trying to slice at me with a knife of some sort. I knock him out of the air and away with an appendage, the mother shouting out a name that I did not hear. The other mare moves to protect the mother and infant, who is now crying at all of the noise I have made. “No, please!” the mare shouts, “We’ll leave your forest! We’ll leave you alone!” She’s begging now. I stare at her for a moment. I would have taken her offer, normally, but the hunger drives me forward. The mare is silenced and her blood quickly covers me, too. The mother is crying along with her infant now. Fire rages around us now, most likely birthed from the fallen torch of one of the ponies. Of those who had attempted to harm me, a few still stand, though just barely. I ignore the fire and move my appendage to take the infant, but the mother holds tightly. She is now crying, but I see bravery in her eyes. She moves forward, causing me to lose my grip, and propels herself into the air after bucking me in the head. She smiles defiantly, but I recover and shoot my appendages into the air faster than she can fly. I claw at one of her wings. She lets out a cry of pain, but still holds onto my crying prey. She falls to the ground and I move quickly. Before I can take the infant I feel another force pushing me. The pegasus stallion has return, albeit wounded, and is ramming into my side. I barely move under his force, shocking him. The mare opens her eyes, which must have closed when I struck her, and she screams out the stallion’s name again as he falls to the ground, dead. She tries to move to him, but I stop her. “All I want is the infant,” I say, “I have never lost my prey and never shall. There is no use in you dying to protect something that will eventually become mine.” She glares at me once again, a face that I am now beginning to get use to, and mutters, “Obviously you have never been a mother.” I stare at her glaring face, unsure of what to say to that. After a moment of the two of us simply staring at each other, I decide to simply end it here, instead of continuing in conversation. My appendage moves quickly and more blood splatters onto my form. I move the now lifeless body over so that I may see the bundle. The infant is wrapped tightly in the dead mare’s hooves, but it takes only a second to pry it from them. I unwrap the infant with an appendage and take it. The fire is still raging through the camp as I take the infant with me. I do not look back to the ponies that must be watching me as I leave. I have gotten the prey that I waited for, fought for, killed for. They say that food you’ve worked for tastes all the more sweeter... I have taken the infant far away from the camp, away from ponies I know would have chased me, hunted me, if I was too close to them. The infant has since stopped its crying. I have calmed with the return of nature’s natural silence. It is very calming, almost soothing. The sun has now begun to rise as I make my way under a tree. I sit under it and bring the infant close to my face; I want a good look at my new meal. I might be rushing into my meal, but the hunger begins to push me over the edge. I try to calm myself. I want to savor this, want to make this infant fear me as much as possible. I want to remember this, because when is the next time I will be able to feed on a baby? I do not know, so I want to remember this child. It was a filly, with an orange color pelt, and a small, curly, purple mane. She was a pegasus, something I should have realized when I faced her parents. Her tiny wings buzz slightly, as if taking their first breaths out of the blanket that wrapped her. The infant, I note, is now sleeping. I shake it gently to awaken it. Prey is always much better if it is awake. The fear is always better, fresher, stronger if they are awake. The infant’s eyes flutter open. Her eyes are purple like her mane. The small filly gives out a similarly small yawn. Then she takes notice of me. I have had infants before and they are a rare treat. An infant, although not truly aware of the goods and evils of the world, is still able to tell what is safe based on at least a single of the five sense. And the infants I have taken in the past always knew I was definitely not safe. They instantly knew that they should fear me and fear me they did. The infants always broke into tears or screams when they first saw me, especially if they were conscious to see me destroy their only protection in this world; their home, their family. This filly, however, merely pokes my head with her hoof and laughs. She... laughed. She giggled. She chuckled. She chortled. She snorted.She guffawed. She snickered. She rolled in aisles. She laughed. At me. At the living embodiment of fear. This little filly laughed at me. I do not know what to do to her for this. No one has ever not feared me before. It is fear that I need and so I will make her fear me. I set the giggling filly onto the ground and, with as much energy I can summon, unleash my appendages around her. They swing and slice through the air, some even cutting through nearby trees as if they were, as the ponies call it, butter. The infant simply sat there and watch in wonder and amazement. When I brought my appendages back, the area completely destroyed by them, I couldn't help but stare at the filly even more. I crouched down to her level, something that was a bit harder than I thought because of my unusual height, and get as close to her face as possible without actually touching it. And with one mighty breath, I release a loud, primeval roar upon her. One would think this impossible because I do not have a mouth. Well, I can speak, can’t I? My roar bellowed past the filly, blowing her purple mane behind her while her wings buzzed through my fearful energy. I did this for less than a minute before stepping back. The filly took a moment to recuperate before staring at me with wide eyes and I felt a slight wave of fear coming off of her. I think that now, maybe, I will be able to feed on her and quench my hunger. The filly eye’s water a bit before closing tightly...only for them to snap open and before rapidly closing again as the filly sneezes. Afterwards, she proudly claps her hooves together, laughing even more than I would have liked. This infant is a strange one. She does not fear me and, thus, I cannot feed upon her. I turn away from the babe and begin to trot away. If I cannot feed on her then there is no point in trying to. I am several tail lengths away when small cries begin to echo around me. I turn slowly to see the source, the infant is trying to crawl toward me, trying to follow me. As if she could not be even stranger... I turn away from the child and trot away further. Once again, I hear her cries and pleas, but I ignore them. I feel nothing for the it; nothing but hunger. And with nothing more, I leave the filly alone. Or at least would have... There is an animalistic growl behind me. I turn to see that it is a young manticore and take notice that it moves closer to the infant, who turns away from me to watch the predator try to catch its own prey. The infant’s cries intensify and I feel a strong wave of fear. This child fears a simple animal but not me. I feel what I once felt for the babe’s mother. It gnaws at me, but I ignore it and take another step further. I hear the manticore bring up its claw to end the filly’s life and I feel her fear surround me. The manticore brings down its claws, intent on killing its prey. Instead of scratching into a young pony, the claw stops several inches away from the infant, who has now stopped her crying to watch. The manticore's claw is wrapped in one of my appendages. The beast tears away at the dark tendril and backs away quickly. I move between the beast and the filly, my appendages acting as a means of offense. The manticore roars at me defiantly while I simply stand before it, tall and unmoving. My appendages move closer to the manticore. It claws at each one, but with each one destroyed another two fill its place. Soon I am able to grab hold of the beast and pick it up above the ground. I bring it close to me. It bares its teeth and tries to bite, but it has no power to defeat me. I say nothing, do nothing, and this scares the beast. I can now feel its fear. I take this chance and feed. It is not the first time I have fed on a manticore and it may not be my last. The beast quenches me. My hunger is, for the most part, now dissipated. I use a tendril to throw the husk into the bushes and prepare to take my leave once more. Before I am able to take a step, however, I feel something grab my form. I look down and see the infant, clutching onto me with dear life, as if it thinks I will protect it. I use an appendage and bring the infant up to my face. I stare at the filly, whose eyes are shut tight while tears seep out. Her hooves reach out slightly, trying again to hold onto me. This filly is a strange one indeed. It fears a simple animal, but not the one who killed its family without hesitation... I set the filly on the ground and watch as it holds tightly onto my legs. I sit down with her, unsure of what to do. I turn my head away from the sobbing filly to look at the spot where I tossed the dead manticore and then in the direction of the camp I attacked. Then back to the filly who was still clenched around my sitting form. We stayed like this for some time, until the sun rises close its highest point in the sky. Until then the filly has cried and I have stayed. I begin to feel something that I have never felt before. I do not what to call it. It is not hunger or loneliness. Loneliness... If anything, this new feeling is the opposite of that. Hunger has the been the only one of the two things I’ve felt that has ever left my being. Loneliness has always stayed with me. Whether I was feeding or hunting or resting, loneliness was always there. It has always been with me, so long that I could almost forget it was there. But this filly has given me a new feeling, one that is different from loneliness. It is... nice? My thought’s are broken when the young filly loses her grip. I look down at her and see that she has now fallen asleep, her tears having left a pair of wet trails on her face. Without a second thought I pick up the filly with an appendage and place her on my back. I leave the clearing then, with the sleeping filly still alive. Even if I will still feel the hunger, maybe I will no longer feel the loneliness now... o.0.o Like what you have read so far? Well, feel free to check out the entire story here. Confessions of Luna (Short Monologue)Cupcakes *WARNING! GORE* Welcome back, dear readers! I guess this means we haven't quite scared you off yet. To be honest, I'm rather surprised that you have returned, but the spirit is persistent. Well, this next story is sure to delight your tastebuds in ways you would not have thought possible! Now, I must warn you, this particular story is infamously graphic and disturbing, so squeamish readers should leave now before we go any further. None of us will think any less of you if you leave now, but once you start, you MUST finish this story lest your number comes up. MUHAHAHAHA! At any rate, I present to you Sergeant Sprinkles' Cupcakes o.0.o Cupcakes By Sergeant Sprinkles: World's Greatest Party Clown Edited by Edinpony WARNING: This fanfiction is incredibly gory, and may ruin your appreciation of a certain My Little Pony character as well as the titular baked goods. READ AT YOUR OWN RISK! The air was warm, the sun was shining, and everypony in Ponyville was having a glorious day. The town square was bustling and crowded and busy ponies filled the streets. All the pony folk seemed to have somewhere specific to be. All except Rainbow Dash; her place was in the sky. She tore freely through the air, speeding one way and the next, buzzing the tree tops and racing the wind. The blue pegasus swooped over a schoolyard, much to the delight of the children, then climbed several hundred feet and dove, streaking downward as fast as she could. Seconds before hitting the ground, her wings flew open and she pulled up back into the clear blue. Rainbow felt alive. Suddenly, Dash remembered that she had somewhere to be; she was supposed to meet with Pinkie Pie in five minutes. Dash had gotten so caught up in her exercises that she’d nearly forgotten that Pinkie had asked to meet her at Sugercube Corner at three. Pinkie hadn’t said why or what they’d be doing, but Dash knew that with Pinkie, it could be anything. Dash wasn’t sure if she really wanted to go, though. She was so engaged with her stunts that she thought about blowing Pinkie off to continue flying. But, Dash’s conscience got the better of her. She knew that it would hurt Pinkie’s feelings; after all, Pinkie had said it was going to be something special just for the two of them. Dash considered it and thought “why not?” What did she have to lose? Heck, it might be more pranking. Pinkie might have found a bunch more fun stuff to pull on folks, and they’d had so much fun the last time. Dash kicked into overdrive to make up for lost time, and sped to her appointment. When Dash walked into the store, she was immediately greeted by her host, who was bouncing in excitement. “Yay, you’re here! I’ve been waiting aaall day,” said the jumping pony. “Sorry if I’m a little late, Pinkie. I was doing my afternoon exercises and lost track of time,” Dash apologized. Pinkie giggled and responded in a gleefully reassuring tone, “Oh that’s ok, you’re here now. What‘s a few more minutes? I’ve been sooo excited thinking about all fun stuff we’re gonna do, I haven’t stopped bouncing since I woke up. I mean, I almost forgot to breathe I’ve been so happy.” Dash gave a slightly uncomfortable laugh. She had always appreciated Pinkie Pie’s friendly, outgoing way of life, but Pinkie’s overabundant enthusiasm almost creeped her out. Dash maintained a polite expression, however. If Pinkie was this worked up, whatever she had planned must be good. “So, you ready to get started, Rainbow Dash? I’ve got everything all ready,” the pink pony said. Dash psyched herself up. “You betcha, Pinkie. So what do ya got planed? We gonna prank somebody? I got a couple of good ones I’ve been thinking about. Or maybe you’ve got some stunts you think I should try? Or perhaps…” “MAKING CUPCAKES!” Pinkie happily announced. “Baking?” Dash was disappointed. “Pinkie, you know I’m not good at baking. Remember last time?” “Oh that’s not a problem at all. I only need your help making them. I’ll be doing most of the work,” Pinkie explained. Dash thought for about it for a second. “Well, alright, I guess that’s ok. What exactly do you need me to do?” “That’s the spirit. Here you go.” Pinkie handed Dash a cupcake. Dash was puzzled “I thought I was helping you bake.” “You will be. I made this one just for you before you got here. “So, is this like taste testing or something?” “Sorta,” Pinkie said. Dash shrugged and popped the pastry in her mouth. She chewed a bit and swallowed. Not bad. “Ok, now what?” Dash asked. “Now,” Pinkie informed her, “You take a nap.” Puzzled, Dash opened her mouth but felt instantly lightheaded. A wave of dizziness washed over her, the world spun, and seconds later she collapsed to the floor. o.0.o When Dash regained consciousness, she found herself in a dark room. She tried to shake her head but found that a taut leather strap held it firmly in place. She struggled to move, but braces around her chest and limbs glued her to a rack formed from a series of sturdy planks, which spread her legs wide apart. Dash’s wings were the only part of her not tied down, and they fluttered frantically while she struggled to escape. As she writhed, Pinkie jumped suddenly into her line of sight. “Goodie, you’re awake. Now we can get started,” Pinkie stated gleefully. She bounded into the darkness, and quickly reappeared pushing a small cart covered with a cloth. “Pinkie, what’s going on? I can’t move!” Dash said urgently. “Well duh, that’s because you’re tied down,” chided Pinkie. “That’s why you can’t move. I didn’t think you’d need to be told that.” “But why? What’s happening? I thought you said I was going to help make cupcakes.” “You are helping. You see, I ran out of the special ingredient and I need you to get more.” “Special ingredient?” Dash was now breathing heavily and starting to panic. “What special ingredient?” Pinkie giggled and responded “You, silly!” Dash’s eyes widened, and her face contorted in fear. Then she started to laugh and said, in a voice bordering on hysteria, “Woo, you really got me there, Pinkie pie. I mean, tricking me in to thinking I’m gonna get made into a cupcake? I gotta tell you, this the best prank yet. You win, you’re the best.” Pinkie only giggled even more. “Aw, thanks Dash. But I haven’t done any pranks today, so I can’t accept your praise.” Dash was struggling again. “Pinkie, come on, this isn’t funny.” “Then why were you laughing?” Before Dash could answer, Pinkie grabbed the cloth and whipped it off the cart. On the cart was a tray containing various sharp medical tools and knives, carefully organized and wickedly sharp, as well as a large medical bag. Dash was now in full panic mode. She was starting to hyperventilate. Her mind raced as she tried to reason with the pink pony. “You can’t do this Pinkie! I’m your friend!” “I know you are and that’s why I’m so happy that I’ve got you here. We get to share your last moments together, just you and me.” Pinkie was skipping again. “But, the other ponies will wonder where I am. When the clouds pile up, they’ll come looking for me and then you’ll get found out,” Dash cried in desperation. “Oh, Dash,” said Pinkie. “Don‘t worry, there are plenty of pegasus ponies to take care of a few clouds. And besides, no one will find out. I mean, how long do you think I’ve been doing this?” And with that ominous statement, the lights suddenly came to life and revealed the rest the room. “Oh no.” Dash reeled in horror at the image presented to her. The room was decorated with a typical but twisted Pinkie Pie flair. Colorful streamers of dried entrails fluttered around on the ceiling, brightly painted skulls of all sizes were attached to the walls, and organs done up in pastels filled with helium were tied to the backs of chairs. The tables and chairs were made of bones and the preserved flesh of past ponies. Dash cringed upon seeing the center piece of the table nearest to her. The heads of four foals, their eyes closed as if they were sleeping, were wearing party hats made from their own skin. With a thrill of terror, Dash recognized one of them as Apple Bloom’s classmate Twist. Dash’s eyes darted back and forth and then fell upon a patchwork banner hanging from the rafters. Made from several tanned pony hides, the words “Life is a party” were scrawled on it in blood red. Dash’s attention was brought back by a party horn unfurling and tickling her nose. She gaped at Pinkie Pie, who was standing right in front of her. The party pony was wearing a dress quilted from dried skin, emblazoned with cutie marks. On her back fluttered six pegasus wings, all of different colors. As the earth pony skipped in excitement, her necklace of severed unicorn horns clacked together loudly. “Like it?” Pinkie asked. “I made it myself.” Desperately, Dash pleaded with the smiling pony before her. “Pinkie please, I’m sorry if I did anything to you. I didn’t mean it. Please let me go. I promise I won’t tell anybody.” “Oh Dash, you didn’t do anything. It’s just that your number came up and, well, I don’t make rules. We can’t turn back now.” Dash was tearing up. How could this be happening? “Aww, don’t be sad Dash,” said Pinkie. “Look, this’ll cheer you up. I brought you a friend.” Seemingly out of nowhere, Pinkie produced a brightly painted blue and yellow skull. It was about pony sized, but it had a very defining feature: a beak. Dash gaped in shock. “Is…is that….is…that?” “Hey, Dash lets hang together. These ponies are lame-os. Dweebs dweebs dweebs,” Pinkie mimicked. “I caught her right before she left town. Remember when I left the party for about twenty minutes? That wasn’t enough time to play with her of course; I had to wait till after the party to do that. But boy am I glad I did. It was worth it for the flavor alone. Griffons taste like two animals at once, it’s amazing. I know she didn’t have a number like everyone else in Ponyville, but when was I gonna get another chance to try griffon? I probably should have asked where she came from so I could have gotten more, but I forgot. I’ll tell you what though, she was quite the fighter. She lasted a long time, which was a lot of fun for me. I got the chance to play with somebody other than a pony and try new things. It’s too bad she had such a meanie mouth. She said so much bad stuff I just had to take her tongue out. You know, bad language makes for bad feelings, Rainbow Dash.” Dash didn’t have anything to say. She just sobbed and writhed in her tight bonds. “Well” said Pinkie with an air of finality, “that’s enough reminiscing. It’s time to begin.” Putting down Gilda’s skull, the pink pony gripped a scalpel in the cleft of her hoof and walked over to Dash’s right flank. Without any flair, Pinkie placed the blade an inch above Dash’s cutie mark and began a circular cut around it. Dash shouted in pain and tried desperately to pull away, but the braces held her still. Finishing the incision, Pinkie grabbed a curved skinning knife from the tray. Screwing up her face in concentration, she worked it under Dash’s skin and sliced the hide away from the muscle. Dash ground her teeth as she tearfully watched her flesh peel off. Pinkie then moved to the other side and repeated the process on Dash’s left flank. Once she had finished, Pinkie held up both cutie marks in front of her friend and started waving them like pompoms. Dash just whimpered. Her thighs burned like nothing she had felt before. Placing the ragged patches of skin down, Pinkie selected a large butcher knife and walked behind the blue pegasus. “Hope you don’t mind, I think I’m gonna wing it now,” Pinkie laughed. She grabbed Dash’s left wing in her mouth and played with it for a few seconds, yanking it back so the sharp pain reignited the fire in Dash’s flanks. Then, stretching the wing out, Pinkie brought the blade down hard at the base. Instantly, Dash screamed and thrashed her appendage. The movement threw off Pinkie’s aim. She tried to hit the mark again but missed, and carved a huge slice into Dash’s back. “Dash, you gotta stay still or I’ll keep missing,” scolded Pinkie as her friend howled. Pinkie took another whack and hit her target. She swung again and again. Blood sprayed into the air, but Pinkie realized she wasn’t getting anywhere. The blade just wasn’t going through the bone. “Hmm, I guess I forgot to sharpen it. I’ll try something else,” stated Pinkie matter-of-factly as she tossed the knife over her shoulder, embedding the blade in the table. Through the haze of pain and tears, Dash heard the sound of a metal box opening and closing. “Got it! Say Dash, why do they call it a hack saw? It doesn’t hack; hacking is what I was doing with the knife. This is a saw. I don’t get it.” Pinkie placed the tool over the mangled flesh of the last attempt. Standing on her hind legs, she worked the saw back and forth with her front hooves. It sliced effortlessly through the bone and skin. The feeling of the jagged teeth grinding into her made Dash want to vomit. She watched numbly as her wing flew over her head and landed with a fluff on the table. Pinkie moved to the next wing and started sawing. Dash didn’t struggle this time; she’d given up trying to fight and focused on choking back screams of agony. Abruptly, the sawing paused. Pinkie was only half way done, the wing hanging off by a sliver. “Hey Dash,” Pinkie piped up. “Think fast!” Suddenly, Pinkie yanked the wing as hard as she could. The bone snapped but the blue pony’s skin held, then tore away. The pull ripped away a long strip of flesh all the way down Dash’s back to her rump. Her body seized at the unexpected trauma. As her pelvis tensed up, Dash felt a warm release between her legs, and her loud, unending melody of pain filled the room. Unable to catch her breath, she blacked out. Dash awoke with a gasp. The stench of her urine filled her mucus caked nostrils. As her vision swam into focus, she saw a very pouty Pinkie Pie removing a large adrenaline needle from her chest. Stomping her hooves, the frustrated Pinkie lashed out at her helpless victim. “Didn’t anybody teach you any manners? It’s very rude to fall asleep when somebody invites you over to spend time with them. How would you like it if I came over to your house and went to sleep? ‘Oh I’m sorry Dash, you’re so boring I think I’ll take a nap.’ You think I like always doing this by myself? I told you how excited I got when I found you were next. I was excited to have a friend be here with me while I worked. But NOOOOO! You’ve got to be inconsiderate. You know, I thought you were tough. I thought you could handle anything. I’ve had foals stand up better than you! Do I have to baby you? Huh? Is that how you want me to remember you, as a baby?” As Pinkie stopped to catch her breath, Dash blinked and sobbed softly. Her back was in agony, her sides were on fire, and there was an intense pain in one of her legs. As she blinked again, she saw Pinkie pop something red into her mouth and began to chew. Noticing Dash’s stare, Pinkie quickly gulped the morsel down. “What?” Pinkie asked. “Oh, this?” She held up another piece. “Well, while YOU were asleep, I got a little impatient and helped myself to a small sample. I got it from your leg; you’re not bad. Wanna try some?” Without waiting for a response, Pinkie shoved the strip of meat into the revolted pegasus pony’s mouth. Dash gagged, and immediately spit it out. Pinkie frowned, and picked up the chunk of flesh. “If you didn’t want it, you could have said no.” She contemplated the discarded snotty morsel, then gulped it up. “It’s not like you haven’t had my cupcakes before.” Swallowing, Pinkie turned her attention to a small can on the tray. She removed the lid, revealing that it was filled with red-hot coals. Lying on top of the coals were several large nails. As the adrenalin filled her veins, Dash began to panic again. Picking up the can, Pinkie walked over to Dash’s left. Holding some tongs with her mouth, Pinkie carefully picked up a nail and positioned it at the seam between her victim’s front left leg and hoof. She then grabbed a hammer and took careful aim. “No Pinkie!” Dash screamed. “NO! NO!” The hammer came down and the nail punctured Dash’s skin. The white hot burning was too much. Dash screamed as she pulled and thrashed at the braces, causing her raw skin to rub and tear. Pinkie tried to line up another nail, but couldn’t find her aim, and let out a frustrated grunt. When Pinkie brought the hammer back to take a wild swing, Dash burst out crying and begging. “PLEASE STOP! PLEASE, PLEASE STOP!” Pinkie rolled her eyes. Putting down the hammer and tongs, she walked back in front of her friend and stared pensively at the broken pegasus. Gilda didn’t even cry this much when she had a live parasprite stuffed down her throat. Pinkie thought for a minute about what to do next, then had a sudden spark of inspiration. Rotating a wheel on the rack, Pinkie laid Dash on her back, then moved to Dash’s hind legs, bringing the can with her. Picking up her tools, Pinkie drove a searing hot spike of metal directly into the bottom of Dash’s hoof. As Dash yelled in pain, Pinkie moved around and drove a second nail into the other hoof. Next, Pinkie went back to her cart and located an enormous battery and controller, which she dragged over to where she was working. She tied copper wires between the terminals and the nails driven into Dash’s hooves, then gave Dash a wink and flipped the switch. Electricity rocketed through Dash’s body. The blue pony reacted immediately; her body seized, and her muscles snapped taut. Dash’s hips thrust skyward, her eyes rolled back, and she let out a deep, throat shredding cry. Pinkie giggled and danced in place, then reached down and turned up the juice. Dash convulsed uncontrollably, and her bladder emptied once more. After about five minutes, Pinkie shut off the power. Wisps of steam rose from the singed fur around Dash’s hooves, and the area reeked of cooked flesh and burnt enamel. Pinkie rotated Dash upright again and tried snap the drooling, delirious pony back to attention. “Dash? Dash! Rainbow Dash, wake up!” Dash moaned and managed to give a modicum of weak acknowledgment. Pinkie studied her handiwork, then reached into the medicine bag and produced a large syringe. “Alright, time for the last round.” Dash focused blearily on the needle, which Pinkie took as a question as to what it was. “This is a little something to take the pain away,” Pinkie informed Dash as she walked around to her victim’s ruined back. Dash flinched as Pinkie jabbed the needle into the lower part of the blue pony’s spine. Moving in front of her friend again, Pinkie leaned down and elaborated. “In a few minutes, you won’t be able to feel anything below your ribcage. Then you’ll be able to stay awake to watch the harvest.” Dash started to cry again. “Pinkie?” she choked out. “Yeah?” “I want to go home,” Dash sobbed. “Yeah, I can see wanting to do that,” replied the party pony. “Sometimes, I just wanna give up, just say ‘I’m done with this mess’ and go to bed. But you know what? You can’t shrug off your responsibilities. You got to pull yourself up and meet the challenges head on. That’s the only way you’re gonna get ahead in life.” Dash hung her head and cried. Minutes passed as the drug took effect. Eventually, Dash was completely numb from her chest to her flanks. At this point, Pinkie approached with a scalpel. Glancing at Dash and smiling, Pinkie made a long horizontal cut across the pegasus pony’s pelvis, just above her crotch. Moving up Dash’s body, Pinkie made a similar incision under her ribs. Finally, Pinkie made a long vertical cut down Dash’s stomach, connecting the first two. “Looks like I got my ‘I’ on you, Dash,” Pinkie giggled. With a moist, gooey sound, the flaps of skin opened. The sight of her own organs and the lack of feeling caused Dash’s breathing to intensify. Pinkie carefully sliced open Dash’s abdominal sac and grabbed her large intestines. As she separated the organ from the rest of the digestive tract and pulled it out of the new cavity, Pinkie grew jovial. Laughing as she gutted her friend, Pinkie began to make jokes. Dash, growing weaker from this new source of blood loss, tried desperately to shut out the macabre comedy act. “Look at me, I’m Rarity!” Pinkie laughed, slinging the intestinal tube around her neck and spraying blood in all directions. “Isn’t my new scarf soooo pretty?” Reaching back inside, she sliced the smaller intestine off from the bowls. Squeezing out the excess excrement, Pinkie filed the slimy organ through her teeth and dragged it back and forth. “Dentists say you gotta floss every day, Dash.” Dash was barely aware of what was going on anymore. The shock was causing her to fade. Disappointed, Pinkie dived back into the blue pony’s guts, ramping up her routine. “Aw, don’t go yet Dash.” Pinkie started pulling out the rest of Dash’s organs, pausing with each removal. “I know I can be a real pancreas, but you know I’m just kidney with you. You really got to learn to liver it up. Boy, these jokes are getting bladder. Guess ya gotta develop a stomach for them.” Pinkie placed the discarded body parts into a bucket, keeping the last one for bit longer. “Ooo, bagpipes.” she said, placing the end of Dash’s esophagus in her mouth and the stomach in her armpit. She squeezed, and a spurt of acid hit her tongue. “Eww! Oh hey look, there’s your cupcake, Dash!” Dash didn’t hear her tormentor. She had slipped from conciseness minutes ago. Pinkie, not yet satisfied, hit Dash with another adrenaline shot. Dash woke up for the last time, her heart pounding. Warm blood flowed out from the wound in her chest in great spurts. It wouldn’t be long now. Pinkie brought Dash around onto her back again and straddled the blue pony’s chest, scalpel at the ready. “Ya know, Rainbow Dash, I’m disappointed. I thought you would have lasted longer. I really wanted to spend more time with you before we got here. But I guess it’s my fault; I should have taken it a little slower. Oh well. It was really was nice knowing you, Dash!” The blade sunk into the blue throat and worked its way up to Dash’s chin. Coming back down, Pinkie’s scalpel then circled Dash’s neck. The last thing Rainbow Dash felt was her skin being cut away from her skull, and the metal of the blade scraping her teeth. Then she was gone. Pinkie Pie stared into the mirror. She had done a really good job, even keeping the eyelids. She winked, and Dash winked back. Pinkie smiled. But still, she was sad that her friend was now gone. Dash had only lasted fifty minutes, not nearly as long as Pinkie had wanted. She looked back at the cadaver hanging in the center of the room, the last of her friend’s fluids draining into a pan. Yup, no more Rainbow Dash. As she looked, Pinkie cocked her head. She began to take notice of the fact that there really wasn’t much damage to the corpse. “It fact,” the pink pony mused, “I think….” An idea exploded in her head. She was good at sewing and she had all the pieces, all she had to do was put them back together. Yeah, she just had to get some stuffing and bingo, she’d have Rainbow Dash forever. In fact, thought Pinkie, that’s what she’d do for all her best friends when their numbers came up. She was so excited, she skipped right over to the body with her skinner to get started. The cupcakes could wait; Pinkie Pie had a friend to make.
Cupcakes *WARNING! GORE*This Costume Bites... (Comical) Some say the world will end in Zombies, and while this story is by no means terrifying, the author himself is a bit of an enigma... Picture this: You have posted your first story and are rather pleased with your work. At first, you do not receive many followers or even favorites on your story, but one person is instantly there. He comments on your user page, stating that he liked your story and wants more. Not wanting to disappoint your first fan, you write the next chapter and create a blog post about it, but you post both of these during the middle of the night and are quite tired. Satisfied, you begin to tuck yourself into bed when suddenly your computer lets out a low *ding.* You reluctantly leave the fresh warmth of your covers to investigate when, after you open your computer, he is just waiting for you. He follows you forever, never relenting in his driving purpose to be first, no matter what it is about. For your light-hearted enjoyment, here is theRedBrony's Twilight's New NIghtmare Night Costume. o.0.o This Costume Bites... by theRedBrony After last year's Nightmare Night fiasco, no not with Luna, Twilight's unrecognizable Starswirl costume… the studious unicorn worked tirelessly for months ahead of time to achieve the perfect costume. All those experiments and sleepless nights of study were finally about to pay off. Spike was anxiously pacing around the library's main room. "Are you ready yet, Twi?" He called up the stairs. "Coming!" Twilight responded, a moment later, she gleefully trotted down the stairs, wearing… nothing but her birthday suit. She merely smiled at Spike while he stuck a claw under the hood of his dragon costume to scratch his head in confusion. Celestia knows why a dragon would wear a dragon costume… No, literally, she does. Go ask her. "Uh… you're going as… yourself?" He asked. "No Spike, this isn't my costume!" She giggled. "Uh, where is it then?" "Right here!" Twilight scrunched up her face in concentration as a bright purple light shot from her horn. A flash of purple flame engulfed her body, when the light faded, Spike got a good look at her. "Whoa!" Spike exclaimed. "So… What do you think?" Twilight said with a disturbingly huge smug grin, made even more disturbing by her 'costume.' Spinning around slowly, she showed off the work she was so proud of. And what a piece of work she was… or it was… she looked very much undead. Her purple coat was grayed out, various blood splotches on it, her mane and tail were grayed out as well, and frizzled about as bad as when she woke up from sleeping in on a Sunday. A large chunk of flesh was missing from her face, exposing most of her left side teeth. Gashes in her sides, and even a small hole in her belly where a bit of intestines hung out. Her right foreleg was missing all flesh and muscle from right above the hoof to about halfway up, showing nothing but bare bones with bite marks on them. Her left hind hoof was unnaturally bent sideways and she was walking on it like that. Her horn even had a chip in it. Spike eyeballed her a bit before saying, "I think you're going to scare the living hay out of the whole town!" "I am? Cool!" "No Twilight, I mean it! You're gonna start a riot or something…" He looked away and muttered, "…again." "Don't be silly Spike, ponies love being scared on Nightmare Night!" Sighing in defeat, because he knew he wouldn't get through to her, Spike then asked, "So is this what you've been working on in the basement for the past couple months?" "Yea! Sorry I wouldn't let you in to see what I was doing… I uh… I really wanted it to be a surprise! Yea that's why! I totally wasn't experimenting on changelings or anything!" Twilight laughed nervously. Spike just sighed again. Twilight briskly trotted over to where Applejack was, at the apple bobbing tub. She was wearing her usual scarecrow costume, and helping the foals with the various games there were to play. Twilight avoided being seen until she was almost right next to the farmer, after which, she slowed her walk to an accurately recreated zombie shamble as she approached her friend. She didn't get too close before Applejack turned around and noticed her. Twilight let out a deep zombie moan to match her blank face. "Whoa nelly! A zombeh!" Applejack cried. Twilight barely got a chance to say 'fooled you!' before she got two shod orange hooves right in her face. "OOOWWWWW! MY NOSE!" Twilight cried, now on the ground, holding her nose with a hoof. Spike had caught up with his unicorn friend and was now snickering at what happened. "Uh… Twilight?" The scarecrow pony turned around slowly and looked at her zombified friend on the ground. "Yea…" she responded, her voice quite nasally, "it's me, Applejack." "Ahm mighty sorry Twi! Ya just scared the livin' hay outta me!" The scarecrow helped the zombie get back on her hooves. "It's OK, I should've seen that coming…" She admitted with her head tilted up, holding a hoof to her nose. "Well, Twi, if it's any consolation, that's a right fine, er… costume ya got there!" "You like it?" "Of course I do! I thought ya was the real deal!" "Well, if you want, I could make you look like this too, all I have to do is…" Meanwhile, a certain multicolored pegasus was pushing a small storm cloud across the sky. Seeing Applejack, Rainbow Dash decided to sneak up on her and buck a thunderbolt from her cloud to scare the scarecrow. But, when Rainbow got closer, she saw… "APPLEJACK! LOOK OUT! I'LL SAVE YOU!" Dash bucked the cloud and it sent a well-aimed lightning bolt crashing down right at zombie Twilight. "Rainbow! What are ya doing?!" Applejack scolded her. "Saving your flank from that zombie! It was about to bite you!" Dash protested. "That ain't no zombie! That's Twilight!" She pointed to the twitching purple zombie on the ground. Twilight moaned and shook her head to straighten her eyes that were rolling around in her skull. Spike helped her up, and she wobbly stood and tried to brush her mane down, it was standing straight up. She grumbled at Dash. "Uh, heh heh… Sorry Twi…" Dash apologized bashfully. "Anyway," Twilight started, "I was about to give Applejack here my costume…" Rainbow just cocked an eyebrow at that. "Go ahead Twi, I'm ready." Applejack smiled. Twilight walked up to her, as if about to nuzzle her, but instead bit her shoulder. A gentle nibble that didn't hurt of course. A few seconds later, and a purple flame engulfed the orange mare, then dissipated to reveal a zombie scarecrow. "It worked!" AJ exclaimed. "OOH! Do me next!" Dash's wings popped up in excitement. "I wanna be a zombie Shadow Bolt!" "Go ahead, AJ!" Twilight said. "Really? I can do it too?" Twilight nodded. "That's the best part of the spell! That, and it wears off by itself in four hours!" She proclaimed proudly. "Oh great," Spike piped up, "Now the whole town's gonna be zombies…" Later… A chariot pulled by dark gray, bat-winged pegasi descended from the sky. As it landed, the dark, hooded figure riding in the chariot smiled. "This shall be a most wonderful night!" Her entrance was noticed by the whole town of Ponyville, as everypony stared in her direction. A few small costumed foals ran up to the Princess of the Night. The leader of the group of foals was a tiny little colt in a (zombie) pirate costume. Princess Luna's cheery expression fell to a despairing frown. She looked over the foals then briefly observed the other townsponies. "Not again…" she muttered in a shaky voice. "Hi Princess! Are you going to scare us again?!" Pipsqueak asked excitedly. Luna's eyes widened. "Thy master hast even enchanted thou to speak…" she muttered. The foals sat there looking confused. "GUARD! Give us thy spear!" Luna commanded. One of the two night guards unstrapped himself from the harness and quickly hoofed over a spear to the Princess of the Night. The spear floated up high in her magical blue aura. "Fear not my children… I shall end your pain!" A tear rolled down her cheek as she stepped off the chariot and ran after the little foals who were fleeing in terror.
Forever FaithfulConfessions of Luna (Short Monologue) It has been nearly 1000 years since the banishment of Nightmare moon. Equestria has been in peace for some time now. But as the longest day of the thousandth year approaches, Luna prepares for her escape, hoping to be freed from her curse, while a darker side of her only wishes for destruction. To bring you the inner thoughts of our now beloved Princess of the Night during her darkest hour is th3l0stch1ld's Confessions of Luna. o.0.o Confessions of Luna by th3l0stch1ld We still remember the time. A time started by…us. Tis still our fault, and we regret it every day and every night. Twas many moons ago, before we brought forth our dark envy. It has been nine hundred, ninety-nine years, and we are still here on my blessed gift. We fear the day we are released. We remember it clearly, for it was the last thing we had done before being sent here by my dear sister. After many years of feeling what we thought was neglect. We were…depressed. Sister would set the sun as we raised my moon, and we would look over the night sky as sister went off to bed. The world went quiet. Nopony was awake to see the beauty of our night. Twas the first time we realized this, therefore it did little to bother us. But the pain would build up. Night, after night, after night, we sensed fewer and fewer woken souls. Sorrow set in. They praised our sister for her gift, yet ignore our moon, as if it is no more than an unimportant speck in the sky. Each night, we tried harder and harder to make the nights ever so beautiful for the ponies to admire. Shooting stars to wish upon, twinkling stars brightening the sky, and our moon, shining as beautiful as ever, all ignored. Next was anxiety. Why was it that they ignored our nights? Were they simply too tired? Too overworked and preoccupied to view our starry skies? Or…did they simply hate us? Did they not care for what we wanted to share with them? Or did they simply love our sister’s sun more than our moon? They ignored us. Treated us as if we were not there. We were sister’s shadow, following her every whim and getting little respect. They praised her, treated her as a god…and many forgot our name. Twas no wonder the anger set in. We remember the last night of our time in Equestria, the longest night in Equestria. Sister had just set the sun, and we raised the moon for one last night. But something was terribly wrong. The emotions built up in us, causing a darker side of us to begin bubbling up, to start taking over our body and mind. Our coat darkened, blacker than the darkest of nights. Twas frightening for us, not knowing why this was happening, all that was left of our purer side was a small part of our mind, where we reside for now. Dear sister, there are only a few more days until our body is freed from our prison. We hope you remember. Please stop us. ………. Fools! They think they have stopped me! This is only the beginning. Over nine hundred years up here is such a bore, but I should have known Celestia was up to something, I was just so confident that I had won. Those memories, whenever they make their way back I feel like destroying Equestria! But I will get my chance. Soon I will get my chance. If only I hadn’t been so foolish… It was all those years ago when I emerged. Nightmare Moon, the ultimate alicorn. After Celestia set the sun, I took control, putting the moon into the sky, creating the darkest night they had ever seen. The moon stayed over Equestria for hours, hours longer than any night had ever lasted. I felt in control! I felt as if no one could stop me! After so long, everyone began to panic. Celestia went looking for me. It must have taken her hours. Eventually, she found me circling the castle in the night sky. She confronted me, appauled by my new beautiful appearance, asking me to set the moon. Of course I denied her. So she tried acting superior, demanding that I set it, allowing room for the morning sun. I told her my plan of eternal night, making everypony look up at my moon instead of her “blessed” sun. she began pleading, and I couldn’t hold from laughing at the sight of Equestria’s ruler pleading with her younger and now superior sister. With her eyes filled with tears and her voice quivering, she told me if I refused, she would have to take charge. I could see it, she wouldn’t nor couldn’t attack her dear sister. So I struck her down, sending her plummeting through the castle ceiling. I felt truly powerful! I had just defeated Celestia with a single blast and refused her power! I took perch atop Canterlot castle, staring at my night sky. I couldn’t believe I had just won that easy. But little did I know that victory was still so far away. While soaking in my victory, Celestia reappeared before me, sporting her crown this time. Her coat was scorched to a charcoal black where the direct impact was from my last attack. She didn’t catch me off guard, I expected it. It wasn’t as if she would simply sit back and let her younger sister take control. No, she had too much glory to step down from her royal throne or title as ruler. She gave me a final warning, and I only laughed in her face. In my form, with my power, and with her simple heart stopping her from harming her “dear sister”, she posed no more a threat. I shot another blast at her, and she evaded, repeatedly. I was growing irritated. I began firing more rapidly, yet she somehow still avoided every shot. I was angry now, so I lunged. She kicked me away, and her crown began to glow. It was then that I realized what she was doing. The Elements of Harmony. I thought that, being the embodiment of half the pair, she couldn’t use them against me. But she found a way. I was engulfed in a bright rainbow, turning me into no more than a mass of light. I was shot to the moon, just after Celestia took away my powers of control over it. Now, I show my beautiful face looking over Equestria every night. But soon that will end. There is nothing else to do up here than count the days, and it has been exactly three hundred sixty four thousand, nine hundred ninety-nine days and nights. Or to put it simpler, nine hundred ninety-nine years and three hundred sixty days. Soon I will be freed from this prison, and I will be able to take back my power and bring back eternal night! Soon, so soon… And this time, I’ll take out Celestia first.
I Would Smile if I Could (Part 1)Forever Faithful Do you believe in ghost stories, dear readers? Well, if you do, then you may want to be cautious as you read. If you do not, well, be prepared to become a believer in the supernatural. Now, I proudly present you all with Konseiga's Forever Faithful. o.0.o Forever Faithful by Konseiga In all her years as the reigning princess of Equestria, Princess Celestia had never attended an event that was this sad. The residents of Ponyville had disregarded the beautiful summer day heat, donning robes and other articles of clothing that were pure black. Black tapestries had been affixed to all the buildings, including the library where the funeral was being held. As Princess Celestia had expected, Twilight’s five friends took it the hardest. The space directly in the front had been reserved for the five mares. Rainbow Dash’s eyes were red and swollen, her face tear streaked and her mouth set in a grim line. Applejack just stared at the ground, the quiet plip of her tears falling on the ground the only thing breaking the silence. Fluttershy had buried her face in her hooves and was weeping quietly, with Angel at her side. For once, the rabbit’s arrogant and angry expression was missing, replaced instead by one of infinite sadness. Rarity was just shaking her head, muttering to herself. “It couldn’t have happened. It shouldn’t have…” Pinkie Pie just seemed deflated. A single black balloon was tied into her tail, and it floated casually in the wind. The pink pony wasn’t crying or muttering to herself. She just stared straight ahead as the procession began. Six stallions, garbed in black and eyes downcast, bore a dark wooden casket upon their backs. The corners of the casket were stamped with a purple six-pointed star. Spike himself was leading the procession, his head held high and his tears flowing freely. Seeing Princess Celestia, he detached himself from the procession and stood next to her side. Gazing back ahead, Princess Celestia watched as the six stallions carefully lowered the casket to the ground. One of the six stepped forward, scratching at the ground nervously. “T-twilight Sparkle was a role model to ponies everywhere…” he stuttered. Rainbow Dash instantly cut him off. “Go, before I break your legs in five different places,” she growled, pointing a hoof in the distance. The six stallions galloped off, fleeing as fast as their hooves could carry them. The rainbow pegasus cursed under her breath, turning to face the gathered crowd. “To say that we’re the only one that lost a friend,” she began, gesturing to the four grieving mares in the front, “would be selfish. Yesterday, all of Ponyville - no, all of Equestria - lost one of the best friends a pony could ask for, in a storm that somehow wormed out of Cloudsdale’s control.” Rainbow sniffed. “Twilight was intelligent beyond belief, always pursuing some sciency-thing with her free time. I used to tease her constantly about being an egghead…” she paused, choking down a sob. “But she was always looking to help some pony, always willing to lend any pony that asked a hoof.” Applejack gathered her hat from the ground and plodded up to stand next to Rainbow Dash. As she set her hat upon the casket, she said quietly, “Twilight’s th’ only one that could’ve given me a run for my money in honesty. She may not’ve been the strongest pony around, but she’d always be straight with ya.” Fluttershy joined the two, turning to address the crowd. “When T-Twilight first came to Ponyville, she scared me beyond b-belief,” her voice squeaked and she had to take several breaths to steady herself. “But we quickly became friends, and I’ve never met a k-kinder pony in my life. Everything she did, she worked on for the benefit of others. She would always make sure that e-everyone was enjoying themselves, and if they w-weren’t, she wouldn’t hesitate to help them in any way she could.” Rarity joined her friends. “She would always listen to you, no matter how trivial or meaningless what you were saying seemed. Her ear was always a patient one, and she would always offer advice on how to help…she was the sweetest creature I’ve ever met.” Pinkie Pie just slowly walked towards the casket. In silence, she walked past the audience, walked past her friends, and just stood at the side of the casket. “Twiliiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiight! Come baaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaack!” she wailed, throwing her front hooves onto the casket. “Oh, dear…” Rarity murmured, drawing the pink pony into a hug. Pinkie Pie cried into the unicorn’s shoulder. “Why? Why did she have to go?” she bawled. Rarity patted her friend on the back, but stayed silent. Princess Celestia separated herself from the crowd, slowly making her way towards the front. Spike was on her back, his face buried in her mane. Slowly, she eyed the five crying ponies and the casket, and then turned to face the audience. “No matter what your personal opinion of Twilight was,” she addressed the crowd slowly, “remember that this unicorn was an honest, loyal, kind, generous, and happy pony. She was a sturdy mentor, a faithful student, and a true friend.” She rested a white hoof on the casket before wrapping it in her magic, slowly floating it down into a six foot hole. “Rest in peace, my faithful student.” ~*~*~*~ “Sister, you can’t keep grieving like this,” Luna prodded the large white alicorn. “Why not?” Celestia demanded furiously, a picture of Twilight as a filly clutched in her hooves. “Why am I not entitled to grieve for my best student?” “You have a kingdom to run, ‘Tia,” Luna said quietly. “I can’t do it by myself.” “I did it by myself for a thousand years,” Celestia snapped back. Luna winced, but her tone was still soft. “I know, but I’m out of practice. I need your help.” The darker alicorn settled next to her sister. “I miss her too, you know.” “You don’t act like it.” “You haven’t been paying attention, then,” Luna muttered softly. Celestia opened her mouth to tell her sister off, but was interrupted. A wisp of black fire materialized in the air for a brief moment, and a scroll dropped in front of the two sisters. Celestia was too stunned to move. “No one knows how to send me letters like that. No one except her.” Luna quickly snatched the scroll up with her magic, removing the seal and unfurling it. The parchment was stained with red spots, and looked unclean, as if it had been rubbed in dirt. Luna’s eyes flicked over the first few lines and blanched. “What is it?” Celestia asked. “You don’t want to know.” “Read it.” “No.” “Luna. Do. It. NOW.” Flinching, Luna brought the parchment up to her eyes and cleared her throat. “Dear Princess Celestia, In all my years under your tuition, we never touched on the subject of death, or life after death. Why is that? Were you intentionally keeping me in the dark, or was there no credible research on the topic? It’s a strange place, death. It’s very dark, and it’s very cold. But I’ve found that if you merely think things, they will pop into existence! It’s amazing, really. It’s like magic permeates the air around me. I really feel stronger than I ever have before here! Still, it’s kind of lonely. I seem to be the only pony here, though I can occasionally hear whispers. Every time I try and turn around, though, I never see anything. But I thought this letter into existence! Oh, sorry, I’m probably just rambling now. I miss you, Princess. I miss my friends back in Ponyville, and I miss Spike most of all. Give them my regards, will you? I’ll keep studying the magic of death. Maybe I’ll find a way to come back. Your Faithful Student, Twilight Sparkle” Luna finished reading and let the scroll drop to the floor. Celestia looked ashen, with her eyes dilated and bloodshot. “There’s no way…” Celestia muttered. “What do we do?” Luna asked. “Send a detachment of guards to Ponyville,” Celestia instructed, “and lead them yourself. See if you can find any pony forging letters.” The words sounded dull and lifeless as they left the white alicorn’s mouth. “And how do we find them?” Celestia merely shrugged. ~*~*~*~ The next tuft of black fire came later that day, dropping a scroll at Celestia’s hooves. She immediately dismissed the couple she was giving an audience to (they were going through a rough divorce and had gotten into a fight over who got to keep their foal) and unfurled the scroll quickly. Dear Princess Celestia, I found the most amazing thing today: light! It feels like I’ve been here forever, now, so I’ve kind of lost track of the days. I hope these letters are reaching you with some sense of expediency, because I’d hate to be tardy! I think we both remember what happened last time. Anyhow, onto my most recent discovery; I’ve found that if I focus intently on one spot, I can bring a smidgen of light to it. In my discovery, it seems that death is just a very large, drab world. I still feel myself growing stronger, though, and I’m enjoying the sensation. It’s like I’m expanding to cover everything at once! As I write this (yes, I’m actually writing, just to stay in habit), my light continues to grow and grow, getting brighter and brighter! It’s much easier to lift heavy things, and with a piano as a point of reference, I can teleport myself many miles away! Oh, but I’d hate to start rambling again. I can only imagine that this is how you feel all the time. You’re the most powerful spell pony in existence, right? It feels like I’m the princess of this new world! Faithful Forever, Twilight Sparkle Celestia refused all other audiences for the rest of the day, and had trouble falling asleep that night. ~*~*~*~ Dear Princess Celestia, I’m fairly sure that now I’m the strongest I’ve ever been, even in life. Hard tasks seem so trivial now, that they’re barely worth my time to do them at all! I still hear whispers, but they’re now whispers of encouragement. They’re nice, you know? Always promising me something, or always pushing me farther and harder. They remind me a little bit of you. Anyway, I visited Rainbow Dash last night. She was asleep, as far as I could tell. We had a nice conversation until she started crying. I hardly understand the need for crying anymore. Sure, I’m dead, but ponies always die eventually, right? She said that she wished she could really see me again, so I’m dedicating my efforts to find a way. It’s getting colder, too. I can’t feel my hooves anymore, but I’ll keep writing anyway. It doesn’t bother me much, except that my hooves tingle when I stand. I wish I wasn’t alone. Your Faithful Friend, Twilight Sparkle Celestia gulped again. Three scrolls had appeared next to her bed while she had been asleep, and she was now attempting to fly through them. Letting the first one fall, she unwrapped the second one and began reading. Dear Princess Celestia, I think I’ve done it! I found a way to not be alone anymore! My hypothesis is that if I can manage to catch somepony at their death and lead them here, maybe we can be together forever! Wouldn’t that be wonderful? I visited Rainbow Dash again. She sure is a mess, if her dream appearance is anything to base it off. She’s let her mane become unkempt, and she’s always crying. Always. Anyway, she doesn’t say much anymore. She just kind of holds onto me, crying, and begging me not to leave. I’m struggling to understand exactly how this whole grief thing works. I’ve told her over and over that death is truly a better place, but that just makes her cry harder. Finally, I’ve managed to teleport fifteen miles! It’s a real benchmark for me! I don’t even think you can do that! I think I’ll go visit Rainbow Dash again. I might have found somepony to bring with me. Eternally Yours, Twilight Sparkle Celestia’s eyes widened as she hastily discarded the second scroll and took up the third. Dear Princess Celestia, Rainbow Dash says she’s ready to come join me. I knew she would be loyal to me, I knew it. I am the spark that brought the six of us together, after all. Oh, my, I guess that sounds a bit conceited, but that’s alright. There’s no one around to apprehend me, after all. If all goes well, Princess, Rainbow Dash will be joining me in death very shortly. I’ll keep this letter brief, as I have much planning to do, but I’ll contact you again as soon as I find out if it works. Your Eager Student, Twilight Sparkle Celestia stared at the scroll long after she had finished reading, numb with shock. “Celestia!” Luna came galloping into Celestia’s room. “’Tia, we found something!” “A forger?” Celestia asked quickly, hope clear in her voice. “No,” Luna replied. “It’s Rainbow Dash. She’s dead.” “Dead?!” Celestia shrieked. “How did she die?!” “We’re…not sure,” Luna replied, her eyes downcast. “The only clue was some writing on the wall. It was odd, though.” “Odd? Odd how?” “Rainbow Dash wrote it herself,” Luna replied, “with a bloody hoof.” “What did it say?” “’She’s with me now’.” ~*~*~*~ Dear Princess Celestia, It worked! Thank the stars, it worked! Rainbow Dash is here with me, and she’s already brightened this place up! Now there’s color, instead of just black and white. Maybe soon, we’ll have grass, and some trees! Rainbow herself is having a blast. She can fly so fast here, she’s loving it. We caught up on a lot of things, and have actually had some stimulating conversation. We’ve already agreed that we should get the others in here, somehow. It’s fascinating, really. The only thing I can really feel anymore is just a yawning emptiness. I want more of everything. I already have all this power, and I have a friend. But is one friend good enough? Your Lonely Student, Twilight Sparkle “’Tia, what if these letters are really coming from Twilight?” Luna asked tentatively. “If that’s true, we’re about to lose four more ponies,” Celestia whispered in response. “But it can’t be possible. I’ve known many powerful spell ponies, and none of them have ever broken death’s veil. It’s not possible.” “Yeah, but were any of them the Element of Magic?” Luna replied as another puff of black fire ignited between them. Dear Princess Celestia, Rainbow Dash and I have decided that Pinkie Pie would be a good addition to death. She really livens up everything that she comes in contact with, so it’s only the logical decision to bring her next. Laughter is kind of in short supply in death, oddly enough. On a side note, I realized that I murdered Rainbow Dash. Well, some part of me realized it. Want to know something funny? I don’t care! I don’t care that I took a pony’s life; in fact, it felt good. It felt like I was in control of both worlds. I don’t think there’s anything you can do to stop me. Your Omnipotent Student, Twilight Sparkle “Go,” Celestia said. Luna vanished, desperately trying to make it to Sugarcube Corner in time. “Oh, Twilight,” Celestia buried her face in her hooves. “What are you?” ~*~*~*~ Dear Princess Celestia, I saw Princess Luna in Sugarcube corner. Did you send her to see Pinkie Pie off? It was a nice gesture. Luna was positively screaming with excitement as Pinkie’s body collapsed in a heap. Things are already brighter now. Despite the fact she can’t actually use magic, Pinkie Pie has managed to procure balloons, streamers, confetti, and other party accoutrements. I firmly believe I should have studied her in life a little more. Now? I don’t give a damn about studying. I need more friends. More friends. Maybe I should get Fluttershy in here. I don’t know what season it is, so Applejack might be busy. And Rarity will need a little bit of time to arrange some care for her sister. Your Apathetic Student, Twilight Sparkle “I failed,” Luna said miserably as she walked in the door. “I know,” Celestia said sadly. “I don’t think there’s anything we can do, now.” Another scroll popped into existence. Dear Princess Celestia, Pinkie and Rainbow both love the idea of Fluttershy entering death with us. I visited her earlier today, and nearly scared the poor thing to death. Calmly, I explained what our plan was to her. She fainted, unfortunately, but I think she heard me. Do you know how the old saying goes? If two’s company, three’s a crowd? It is certainly more lively than it used to be, but still, there’s an aching need for more. Rainbow Dash has it too. Eternally Yours, Twilight Sparkle “Her letters keep getting shorter and shorter,” Luna observed. ~*~*~*~ The day passed with no further letters from Twilight. Celestia conducted her business normally, albeit with a somewhat strenuous attitude. The guards were calling her apprehensive, and were on alert almost all the time for any potential threats against their beloved Princess. It was evening when the next letter arrived. Celestia was gazing out of her window when the scroll landed on her tail. Dear Princess Celestia, Fluttershy’s with us now. She’s kind of in shock, but she’ll get over it. Pinkie and Rainbow are both doing her best to comfort her, as it seems my appearance has frightened her a little. I really don’t see how. I mean, even though my eyes are pitch black now, I can still see. That’s what matters, right? I visited Rarity. The poor thing has gone insane, shutting herself in her boutique. I firmly believe that it would be a mercy to take her out of this world. Cheerilee is looking to adopt anyway. I think Sweetie Belle would be an amazing adoption candidate, don’t you? She’ll be joining us soon. There was no end salutation or signature. “’Tia,” Luna muttered, walking in her older sister’s room. “Let me guess,” the white alicorn muttered darkly. “Fluttershy’s dead, too.” “Mhmm,” Luna nodded sadly. “We’re losing the Elements, one by one.” “It’s really her, then.” ~*~*~*~ Dear Princess Celestia, We’re almost a complete set again. All we need is Applejack. Is there blood on my hooves? It feels like there should be, I’ve killed four of my closest friends now. But it was for a good cause, right? Some part of me is screaming, insisting I shouldn't feel empty, that I should stop now. I visited Applejack. I told her that we’re all here, in death, and that we wish she was here. She looked like she was a wreck, losing all of us in a short time. At this point, it would be a mercy to take her with us. Wouldn’t it? Our world has grown ferociously. There are trees and grass and even a slight breeze. There isn’t a sun, though we can all see just fine. I hope Applejack will love it as much as the rest of us. Your Faithful Student, Twilight Sparkle ~*~*~*~ Princess Celestia, We’re all here now. It’s amazing. The girls all say hi. It’s a nice feeling, to have all my friends here. And now we can never die! We’ve decided that we need more ponies, though. Congratulations, Princess. You’re first on the list.
This Costume Bites... (Comical)I Would Smile if I Could (Part 1) Have you ever heard the legend of the Slenderman? While this particular nightmare was created in a meme created by Victor Surge in 2009, this character is no laughing manner. It is depicted as resembling a thin, unnaturally tall man with a blank and usually featureless face, and wearing a black suit. If you are ever walking home through the woods at night and feel that there is someone watching you, it would be best not to turn around. Turn down the lights, get your favorite blanket, and be prepared to see the world through the eyes of the Slenderman itself. It is time for you to read Haku1013's I Would Smile if I Could. o.0.o I Would Smile if I Could by Haku1013 I trot through the woods. My woods. My forest. My home. My home is a large one, as it stretches far across the land. Many beings travel the roads that reside within my home, whether they be minotaurs, diamond dogs, griffons, ponies, or just simple animals who already live within my territory. They all travel the roads that reside in my home and, occasionally, they come across me. Or I come across them. If I am the one who comes across the travelers, then one of two things happen; I either let them be, if I find them useless to me, or I feed on them, especially if they are young. It is the young that I require most for it is the young whose fear matters most to me. I trot through the woods, alone. Alone, as always. I don’t mind, as it has always been as such. I have existed for many years, so many that I have lost count, and in those years I have learned many things, but I have yet to feel more than two things: loneliness and hunger. I have always been alone, so long that I barely even acknowledge the loneliness any more, but the hunger is a different matter. It can come at anytime and can only be put to rest for short periods of time. Even now the hunger moves through my equine shape. It is unavoidable. Insatiable. I do not know why I have the form that I do, but I do not complain. I change my appearance with time, so that either my prey fears me most or so I can best look like them. I have always held the shape of a pony though, never anything else. My appendages come and go as well, appearing only when they need to. I myself don’t actually know where they come from or where they go, only that they appear when they need to. Bird calls fill the air as I make my way through the forest. I stop my walking to look at the sky and see that it is finally darkening. I will be able to feed soon, to quench my hunger. I hear critters scurrying under the bushes and birds flying over my head. These animals fear me, I can feel it. Should I have to, I shall feed on one of them, but their fear is not what I yearn for. They will only be, as my prey say, a ‘snack.’ I see a rabbit run around my legs and I manage to capture it with an appendage. The animals suddenly quiet down, as if to take a mournful, fearful pause for a silent lament as I feed on of their friend. I quickly finish off the rodent and discard the empty husk unceremoniously. As soon as I begin my trot again the animals also renew their natural business, their sounds of nature. Hushed murmurs cause me to pause mid-step. Fear; I can feel it, smell it, taste it. I silently move through my forest, intent on finding them; my prey. I move around a tree and see them. There are only two in number, but both are still young. One is hunched over a smaller one, whispering words. I can just make them out. “It’s hurts,” the small one cries. A colt. Earth Pony. The other tries to calm him with silent humming. “It’ll be alright,” it said. A mare. Unicorn. “Just be quiet, and we’ll leave soon,” she continued. Both are covered head-to-toe in filthy, torn rags. I have never known why ponies such as these attempt to look like the ones who I have based my newest form on. Ponies do not normally wear clothes as it is, so why do those of low wealth do? I do not care really. The younger one’s leg is bent at an awkward angle. A sprained ankle perhaps? If so, then this shall be an easy meal. I move away from the tree and into their view. The smaller foal sees me instantly but becomes paralyzed with fright. He tries to speak, but with the amount of fear that he radiates I know he will not say a word until it is too late. I move forward and step on a twig. The mare turns around and we stare at each other intently. Her eyes go wide as she takes in my figure and I can see as the realization of the situation dawns on her face. She says nothing but instead moves into a protective position over the colt. I can feel her fear. It is more than the young one has. I have always wondered why this is. Why is it that the one’s who are strongest fear me most? Is it because they know that even with all of their strength they could never defeat me? Or is it that they know they cannot be the ones to protect those that I hunt? The mare will not answer my questions. Her horn glows with magic as I move closer. She fires a bolt of magic at me, but it does nothing. I am fear and the magic of those who feel fear cannot harm me. She fires several more shot, none of which do anything to me except to cause mild annoyance. “Go,” she tells the colt, “go without me.” The colt looks at her uncertainly. His fear dwindles. I cock my head, unsure of what they plan. Another magic blast moves toward my head. I do not even flinch at the light. When the magic clears in less than a second, I see that the colt is gone, his rags now left on the forest floor. I see a shadow move on the ground. The colt flies over me quickly. I would have chuckled if I could, even just smiled in approval. I realize now that his wings had been hidden underneath his clothing and that the magic was nothing more than a distraction. I have lost a meal due to a mistake, but I am not sad. I feel nothing but hunger and loneliness, but now the hunger calls me back to the mare. She smiles at me smugly as if she believes that she has won. “Do not smile,” I say. Her ears perk up, surprised that I can actually speak. “Do not smile,” I repeat. “For I shall find him. I never lose my prey and I shall not anytime soon.” Her smile disappears momentarily, but returns quickly. “Just try to find him, monster,” she spits at me. The liquid lands with a splat on me, onto my black form. I move forward onto the now snarling mare. She screams silently as I feed. I feel hunger no more as I leave the empty husk behind, but I know that I will again all too soon. I look to the skies and see the pegasus colt quite a distance away now and he stares at me with fear in his eyes. I stare back at him and he quickly turns to fly away. I feel the fear he leaves behind and I begin to follow it. I never lose my prey and I never shall. I move through my forest. It has been some time since I found my prey. It was as I told the mare, I never lose my prey and I shall never lose my prey. The pegasus colt was easy to track down and easy to take down, and he has filled what hunger I had. But I have since moved on. Once again I am surrounded by the calmness of nature. The birds do not call tonight and, after some time, I begin to wonder why. I soon find my answer. I stand at the edge of a clearing that is filled with activity. A ring of small tents fill the area and a roaring fire is at the center of the camp. I count several ponies in the area, all of which are much too old to quench my hunger. There is nothing here for me, so I turn and prepare to take my leave. Cries fill the air, however, and I whip around. A mare comes out of one of the tents and I see that she carries a small bundle in a saddle bag. She sits by the fire and a stallion moves next to her. He smiles affectionately as the mare takes the bundle out, and it is clear that whatever it is, it is the source of the noise. The two ponies began to coo and make faces at the loud thing and cries soon turn to laughter. The stallion pulls out a bowl of liquid and starts to spoon feed the bundle, and I am finally able to see the bundle. Instantly, I am once again stricken by the hunger, for I have not devoured an infant for quite some time. I move forward to attack and take the bundle from the ponies, but stop myself before I can step into the clearing. If I attack now, the ponies will most likely retaliate and take the young prey away from the conflict. I decide to wait until all is silent in the camp to make my move. It does not take long for the ponies to tire out, including the infant. Soon all is quiet. The ponies are in their tents, the fire is out, and I move from where I have kept myself hidden. I silently trot toward the tent that the infant was taken into. I hear some mumbling coming from my left. One of the ponies, a unicorn, has exited their tent, smacking their lips a few times. He turns his head toward me and stares silently before moving on toward my forest. He floats a roll of toilet paper along with a shovel closely behind him with his unicorn magic. Ignoring the idiot, I once again make my way to the tent. I open the tent quickly and quietly. The two ponies I watched are sleeping and the infant is between the two. I move to take the baby, but feel something smash into the back of my head. I whip around to face the unicorn from before holding the shovel with his magic. “Move one muscle and it’s lights out!” he says loudly. The two ponies bolt upward and are quite shocked to see me. The mare grabs the infant and moves toward the back of the tent while the stallion moves to protect them. He flares up a pair of wings that I did not see before, trying to intimidate me. I hear more shouting and see light filling the area as ponies surround me, many holding fire-lit torches, varied weapons, or dangerous farming equipment. “Holy Celestia! What is this thing?!” one of the ponies shout, the light now showing my faceless features. I try to get a good look at the ponies, but I do not have the time to count each one nor tell what kind of pony they are. “I think the better question is why is it standing at my tent,” the stallion says. The mare has now managed to get out of the tent and stands at the back of the group. “The infant,” I say quietly. This startles the ponies but they recover. “I’ve heard of this guy,” another mare quivers. “I heard some ponies talk about him...at the town we were in before we entered the forest.” She pauses to get a good look at me. “A tall, thin, and white pony in a black pressed suit. No face...” she mutters. The pegasus stallion stands tall and moves toward me. “I don’t care what it is, what does it want?” he asks the mare. “The infant,” I say again. “I want the infant.” The pegasus glares at me. “Why do you want my daughter?!” he shouts at me. The mare responds before I can. “The stories that the townsfolk told me... they say he takes the young... eats them or something. I thought he was just that; a story, told for no other reason than to scare children or attract tourists.” “Well, he’s not taking my little pony,” the stallion declares, and the other pony bring up their weapons, holding them by magic or in their mouths. Instinctively I bring up my darkness, something I heard prey say looks like ‘tentacles,’ whatever they were. I move my appendages around my being just as the ponies charge in. I strike most of them down in only a few swings. Their blood dirties my form, but the attack continues. Through the slaughter, I catch sight of the only two mares I have seen, the mother and the one who spoke, leaving. I take a few steps and am in front of them. It is clear that they’re shocked by how fast I can move while on the hunt. “Oh no you don’t!” the pegasus yells as he flies over me, trying to slice at me with a knife of some sort. I knock him out of the air and away with an appendage, the mother shouting out a name that I did not hear. The other mare moves to protect the mother and infant, who is now crying at all of the noise I have made. “No, please!” the mare shouts, “We’ll leave your forest! We’ll leave you alone!” She’s begging now. I stare at her for a moment. I would have taken her offer, normally, but the hunger drives me forward. The mare is silenced and her blood quickly covers me, too. The mother is crying along with her infant now. Fire rages around us now, most likely birthed from the fallen torch of one of the ponies. Of those who had attempted to harm me, a few still stand, though just barely. I ignore the fire and move my appendage to take the infant, but the mother holds tightly. She is now crying, but I see bravery in her eyes. She moves forward, causing me to lose my grip, and propels herself into the air after bucking me in the head. She smiles defiantly, but I recover and shoot my appendages into the air faster than she can fly. I claw at one of her wings. She lets out a cry of pain, but still holds onto my crying prey. She falls to the ground and I move quickly. Before I can take the infant I feel another force pushing me. The pegasus stallion has return, albeit wounded, and is ramming into my side. I barely move under his force, shocking him. The mare opens her eyes, which must have closed when I struck her, and she screams out the stallion’s name again as he falls to the ground, dead. She tries to move to him, but I stop her. “All I want is the infant,” I say, “I have never lost my prey and never shall. There is no use in you dying to protect something that will eventually become mine.” She glares at me once again, a face that I am now beginning to get use to, and mutters, “Obviously you have never been a mother.” I stare at her glaring face, unsure of what to say to that. After a moment of the two of us simply staring at each other, I decide to simply end it here, instead of continuing in conversation. My appendage moves quickly and more blood splatters onto my form. I move the now lifeless body over so that I may see the bundle. The infant is wrapped tightly in the dead mare’s hooves, but it takes only a second to pry it from them. I unwrap the infant with an appendage and take it. The fire is still raging through the camp as I take the infant with me. I do not look back to the ponies that must be watching me as I leave. I have gotten the prey that I waited for, fought for, killed for. They say that food you’ve worked for tastes all the more sweeter... I have taken the infant far away from the camp, away from ponies I know would have chased me, hunted me, if I was too close to them. The infant has since stopped its crying. I have calmed with the return of nature’s natural silence. It is very calming, almost soothing. The sun has now begun to rise as I make my way under a tree. I sit under it and bring the infant close to my face; I want a good look at my new meal. I might be rushing into my meal, but the hunger begins to push me over the edge. I try to calm myself. I want to savor this, want to make this infant fear me as much as possible. I want to remember this, because when is the next time I will be able to feed on a baby? I do not know, so I want to remember this child. It was a filly, with an orange color pelt, and a small, curly, purple mane. She was a pegasus, something I should have realized when I faced her parents. Her tiny wings buzz slightly, as if taking their first breaths out of the blanket that wrapped her. The infant, I note, is now sleeping. I shake it gently to awaken it. Prey is always much better if it is awake. The fear is always better, fresher, stronger if they are awake. The infant’s eyes flutter open. Her eyes are purple like her mane. The small filly gives out a similarly small yawn. Then she takes notice of me. I have had infants before and they are a rare treat. An infant, although not truly aware of the goods and evils of the world, is still able to tell what is safe based on at least a single of the five sense. And the infants I have taken in the past always knew I was definitely not safe. They instantly knew that they should fear me and fear me they did. The infants always broke into tears or screams when they first saw me, especially if they were conscious to see me destroy their only protection in this world; their home, their family. This filly, however, merely pokes my head with her hoof and laughs. She... laughed. She giggled. She chuckled. She chortled. She snorted.She guffawed. She snickered. She rolled in aisles. She laughed. At me. At the living embodiment of fear. This little filly laughed at me. I do not know what to do to her for this. No one has ever not feared me before. It is fear that I need and so I will make her fear me. I set the giggling filly onto the ground and, with as much energy I can summon, unleash my appendages around her. They swing and slice through the air, some even cutting through nearby trees as if they were, as the ponies call it, butter. The infant simply sat there and watch in wonder and amazement. When I brought my appendages back, the area completely destroyed by them, I couldn't help but stare at the filly even more. I crouched down to her level, something that was a bit harder than I thought because of my unusual height, and get as close to her face as possible without actually touching it. And with one mighty breath, I release a loud, primeval roar upon her. One would think this impossible because I do not have a mouth. Well, I can speak, can’t I? My roar bellowed past the filly, blowing her purple mane behind her while her wings buzzed through my fearful energy. I did this for less than a minute before stepping back. The filly took a moment to recuperate before staring at me with wide eyes and I felt a slight wave of fear coming off of her. I think that now, maybe, I will be able to feed on her and quench my hunger. The filly eye’s water a bit before closing tightly...only for them to snap open and before rapidly closing again as the filly sneezes. Afterwards, she proudly claps her hooves together, laughing even more than I would have liked. This infant is a strange one. She does not fear me and, thus, I cannot feed upon her. I turn away from the babe and begin to trot away. If I cannot feed on her then there is no point in trying to. I am several tail lengths away when small cries begin to echo around me. I turn slowly to see the source, the infant is trying to crawl toward me, trying to follow me. As if she could not be even stranger... I turn away from the child and trot away further. Once again, I hear her cries and pleas, but I ignore them. I feel nothing for the it; nothing but hunger. And with nothing more, I leave the filly alone. Or at least would have... There is an animalistic growl behind me. I turn to see that it is a young manticore and take notice that it moves closer to the infant, who turns away from me to watch the predator try to catch its own prey. The infant’s cries intensify and I feel a strong wave of fear. This child fears a simple animal but not me. I feel what I once felt for the babe’s mother. It gnaws at me, but I ignore it and take another step further. I hear the manticore bring up its claw to end the filly’s life and I feel her fear surround me. The manticore brings down its claws, intent on killing its prey. Instead of scratching into a young pony, the claw stops several inches away from the infant, who has now stopped her crying to watch. The manticore's claw is wrapped in one of my appendages. The beast tears away at the dark tendril and backs away quickly. I move between the beast and the filly, my appendages acting as a means of offense. The manticore roars at me defiantly while I simply stand before it, tall and unmoving. My appendages move closer to the manticore. It claws at each one, but with each one destroyed another two fill its place. Soon I am able to grab hold of the beast and pick it up above the ground. I bring it close to me. It bares its teeth and tries to bite, but it has no power to defeat me. I say nothing, do nothing, and this scares the beast. I can now feel its fear. I take this chance and feed. It is not the first time I have fed on a manticore and it may not be my last. The beast quenches me. My hunger is, for the most part, now dissipated. I use a tendril to throw the husk into the bushes and prepare to take my leave once more. Before I am able to take a step, however, I feel something grab my form. I look down and see the infant, clutching onto me with dear life, as if it thinks I will protect it. I use an appendage and bring the infant up to my face. I stare at the filly, whose eyes are shut tight while tears seep out. Her hooves reach out slightly, trying again to hold onto me. This filly is a strange one indeed. It fears a simple animal, but not the one who killed its family without hesitation... I set the filly on the ground and watch as it holds tightly onto my legs. I sit down with her, unsure of what to do. I turn my head away from the sobbing filly to look at the spot where I tossed the dead manticore and then in the direction of the camp I attacked. Then back to the filly who was still clenched around my sitting form. We stayed like this for some time, until the sun rises close its highest point in the sky. Until then the filly has cried and I have stayed. I begin to feel something that I have never felt before. I do not what to call it. It is not hunger or loneliness. Loneliness... If anything, this new feeling is the opposite of that. Hunger has the been the only one of the two things I’ve felt that has ever left my being. Loneliness has always stayed with me. Whether I was feeding or hunting or resting, loneliness was always there. It has always been with me, so long that I could almost forget it was there. But this filly has given me a new feeling, one that is different from loneliness. It is... nice? My thought’s are broken when the young filly loses her grip. I look down at her and see that she has now fallen asleep, her tears having left a pair of wet trails on her face. Without a second thought I pick up the filly with an appendage and place her on my back. I leave the clearing then, with the sleeping filly still alive. Even if I will still feel the hunger, maybe I will no longer feel the loneliness now... o.0.o Like what you have read so far? Well, feel free to check out the entire story here.
Confessions of Luna (Short Monologue)Cupcakes *WARNING! GORE* Welcome back, dear readers! I guess this means we haven't quite scared you off yet. To be honest, I'm rather surprised that you have returned, but the spirit is persistent. Well, this next story is sure to delight your tastebuds in ways you would not have thought possible! Now, I must warn you, this particular story is infamously graphic and disturbing, so squeamish readers should leave now before we go any further. None of us will think any less of you if you leave now, but once you start, you MUST finish this story lest your number comes up. MUHAHAHAHA! At any rate, I present to you Sergeant Sprinkles' Cupcakes o.0.o Cupcakes By Sergeant Sprinkles: World's Greatest Party Clown Edited by Edinpony WARNING: This fanfiction is incredibly gory, and may ruin your appreciation of a certain My Little Pony character as well as the titular baked goods. READ AT YOUR OWN RISK! The air was warm, the sun was shining, and everypony in Ponyville was having a glorious day. The town square was bustling and crowded and busy ponies filled the streets. All the pony folk seemed to have somewhere specific to be. All except Rainbow Dash; her place was in the sky. She tore freely through the air, speeding one way and the next, buzzing the tree tops and racing the wind. The blue pegasus swooped over a schoolyard, much to the delight of the children, then climbed several hundred feet and dove, streaking downward as fast as she could. Seconds before hitting the ground, her wings flew open and she pulled up back into the clear blue. Rainbow felt alive. Suddenly, Dash remembered that she had somewhere to be; she was supposed to meet with Pinkie Pie in five minutes. Dash had gotten so caught up in her exercises that she’d nearly forgotten that Pinkie had asked to meet her at Sugercube Corner at three. Pinkie hadn’t said why or what they’d be doing, but Dash knew that with Pinkie, it could be anything. Dash wasn’t sure if she really wanted to go, though. She was so engaged with her stunts that she thought about blowing Pinkie off to continue flying. But, Dash’s conscience got the better of her. She knew that it would hurt Pinkie’s feelings; after all, Pinkie had said it was going to be something special just for the two of them. Dash considered it and thought “why not?” What did she have to lose? Heck, it might be more pranking. Pinkie might have found a bunch more fun stuff to pull on folks, and they’d had so much fun the last time. Dash kicked into overdrive to make up for lost time, and sped to her appointment. When Dash walked into the store, she was immediately greeted by her host, who was bouncing in excitement. “Yay, you’re here! I’ve been waiting aaall day,” said the jumping pony. “Sorry if I’m a little late, Pinkie. I was doing my afternoon exercises and lost track of time,” Dash apologized. Pinkie giggled and responded in a gleefully reassuring tone, “Oh that’s ok, you’re here now. What‘s a few more minutes? I’ve been sooo excited thinking about all fun stuff we’re gonna do, I haven’t stopped bouncing since I woke up. I mean, I almost forgot to breathe I’ve been so happy.” Dash gave a slightly uncomfortable laugh. She had always appreciated Pinkie Pie’s friendly, outgoing way of life, but Pinkie’s overabundant enthusiasm almost creeped her out. Dash maintained a polite expression, however. If Pinkie was this worked up, whatever she had planned must be good. “So, you ready to get started, Rainbow Dash? I’ve got everything all ready,” the pink pony said. Dash psyched herself up. “You betcha, Pinkie. So what do ya got planed? We gonna prank somebody? I got a couple of good ones I’ve been thinking about. Or maybe you’ve got some stunts you think I should try? Or perhaps…” “MAKING CUPCAKES!” Pinkie happily announced. “Baking?” Dash was disappointed. “Pinkie, you know I’m not good at baking. Remember last time?” “Oh that’s not a problem at all. I only need your help making them. I’ll be doing most of the work,” Pinkie explained. Dash thought for about it for a second. “Well, alright, I guess that’s ok. What exactly do you need me to do?” “That’s the spirit. Here you go.” Pinkie handed Dash a cupcake. Dash was puzzled “I thought I was helping you bake.” “You will be. I made this one just for you before you got here. “So, is this like taste testing or something?” “Sorta,” Pinkie said. Dash shrugged and popped the pastry in her mouth. She chewed a bit and swallowed. Not bad. “Ok, now what?” Dash asked. “Now,” Pinkie informed her, “You take a nap.” Puzzled, Dash opened her mouth but felt instantly lightheaded. A wave of dizziness washed over her, the world spun, and seconds later she collapsed to the floor. o.0.o When Dash regained consciousness, she found herself in a dark room. She tried to shake her head but found that a taut leather strap held it firmly in place. She struggled to move, but braces around her chest and limbs glued her to a rack formed from a series of sturdy planks, which spread her legs wide apart. Dash’s wings were the only part of her not tied down, and they fluttered frantically while she struggled to escape. As she writhed, Pinkie jumped suddenly into her line of sight. “Goodie, you’re awake. Now we can get started,” Pinkie stated gleefully. She bounded into the darkness, and quickly reappeared pushing a small cart covered with a cloth. “Pinkie, what’s going on? I can’t move!” Dash said urgently. “Well duh, that’s because you’re tied down,” chided Pinkie. “That’s why you can’t move. I didn’t think you’d need to be told that.” “But why? What’s happening? I thought you said I was going to help make cupcakes.” “You are helping. You see, I ran out of the special ingredient and I need you to get more.” “Special ingredient?” Dash was now breathing heavily and starting to panic. “What special ingredient?” Pinkie giggled and responded “You, silly!” Dash’s eyes widened, and her face contorted in fear. Then she started to laugh and said, in a voice bordering on hysteria, “Woo, you really got me there, Pinkie pie. I mean, tricking me in to thinking I’m gonna get made into a cupcake? I gotta tell you, this the best prank yet. You win, you’re the best.” Pinkie only giggled even more. “Aw, thanks Dash. But I haven’t done any pranks today, so I can’t accept your praise.” Dash was struggling again. “Pinkie, come on, this isn’t funny.” “Then why were you laughing?” Before Dash could answer, Pinkie grabbed the cloth and whipped it off the cart. On the cart was a tray containing various sharp medical tools and knives, carefully organized and wickedly sharp, as well as a large medical bag. Dash was now in full panic mode. She was starting to hyperventilate. Her mind raced as she tried to reason with the pink pony. “You can’t do this Pinkie! I’m your friend!” “I know you are and that’s why I’m so happy that I’ve got you here. We get to share your last moments together, just you and me.” Pinkie was skipping again. “But, the other ponies will wonder where I am. When the clouds pile up, they’ll come looking for me and then you’ll get found out,” Dash cried in desperation. “Oh, Dash,” said Pinkie. “Don‘t worry, there are plenty of pegasus ponies to take care of a few clouds. And besides, no one will find out. I mean, how long do you think I’ve been doing this?” And with that ominous statement, the lights suddenly came to life and revealed the rest the room. “Oh no.” Dash reeled in horror at the image presented to her. The room was decorated with a typical but twisted Pinkie Pie flair. Colorful streamers of dried entrails fluttered around on the ceiling, brightly painted skulls of all sizes were attached to the walls, and organs done up in pastels filled with helium were tied to the backs of chairs. The tables and chairs were made of bones and the preserved flesh of past ponies. Dash cringed upon seeing the center piece of the table nearest to her. The heads of four foals, their eyes closed as if they were sleeping, were wearing party hats made from their own skin. With a thrill of terror, Dash recognized one of them as Apple Bloom’s classmate Twist. Dash’s eyes darted back and forth and then fell upon a patchwork banner hanging from the rafters. Made from several tanned pony hides, the words “Life is a party” were scrawled on it in blood red. Dash’s attention was brought back by a party horn unfurling and tickling her nose. She gaped at Pinkie Pie, who was standing right in front of her. The party pony was wearing a dress quilted from dried skin, emblazoned with cutie marks. On her back fluttered six pegasus wings, all of different colors. As the earth pony skipped in excitement, her necklace of severed unicorn horns clacked together loudly. “Like it?” Pinkie asked. “I made it myself.” Desperately, Dash pleaded with the smiling pony before her. “Pinkie please, I’m sorry if I did anything to you. I didn’t mean it. Please let me go. I promise I won’t tell anybody.” “Oh Dash, you didn’t do anything. It’s just that your number came up and, well, I don’t make rules. We can’t turn back now.” Dash was tearing up. How could this be happening? “Aww, don’t be sad Dash,” said Pinkie. “Look, this’ll cheer you up. I brought you a friend.” Seemingly out of nowhere, Pinkie produced a brightly painted blue and yellow skull. It was about pony sized, but it had a very defining feature: a beak. Dash gaped in shock. “Is…is that….is…that?” “Hey, Dash lets hang together. These ponies are lame-os. Dweebs dweebs dweebs,” Pinkie mimicked. “I caught her right before she left town. Remember when I left the party for about twenty minutes? That wasn’t enough time to play with her of course; I had to wait till after the party to do that. But boy am I glad I did. It was worth it for the flavor alone. Griffons taste like two animals at once, it’s amazing. I know she didn’t have a number like everyone else in Ponyville, but when was I gonna get another chance to try griffon? I probably should have asked where she came from so I could have gotten more, but I forgot. I’ll tell you what though, she was quite the fighter. She lasted a long time, which was a lot of fun for me. I got the chance to play with somebody other than a pony and try new things. It’s too bad she had such a meanie mouth. She said so much bad stuff I just had to take her tongue out. You know, bad language makes for bad feelings, Rainbow Dash.” Dash didn’t have anything to say. She just sobbed and writhed in her tight bonds. “Well” said Pinkie with an air of finality, “that’s enough reminiscing. It’s time to begin.” Putting down Gilda’s skull, the pink pony gripped a scalpel in the cleft of her hoof and walked over to Dash’s right flank. Without any flair, Pinkie placed the blade an inch above Dash’s cutie mark and began a circular cut around it. Dash shouted in pain and tried desperately to pull away, but the braces held her still. Finishing the incision, Pinkie grabbed a curved skinning knife from the tray. Screwing up her face in concentration, she worked it under Dash’s skin and sliced the hide away from the muscle. Dash ground her teeth as she tearfully watched her flesh peel off. Pinkie then moved to the other side and repeated the process on Dash’s left flank. Once she had finished, Pinkie held up both cutie marks in front of her friend and started waving them like pompoms. Dash just whimpered. Her thighs burned like nothing she had felt before. Placing the ragged patches of skin down, Pinkie selected a large butcher knife and walked behind the blue pegasus. “Hope you don’t mind, I think I’m gonna wing it now,” Pinkie laughed. She grabbed Dash’s left wing in her mouth and played with it for a few seconds, yanking it back so the sharp pain reignited the fire in Dash’s flanks. Then, stretching the wing out, Pinkie brought the blade down hard at the base. Instantly, Dash screamed and thrashed her appendage. The movement threw off Pinkie’s aim. She tried to hit the mark again but missed, and carved a huge slice into Dash’s back. “Dash, you gotta stay still or I’ll keep missing,” scolded Pinkie as her friend howled. Pinkie took another whack and hit her target. She swung again and again. Blood sprayed into the air, but Pinkie realized she wasn’t getting anywhere. The blade just wasn’t going through the bone. “Hmm, I guess I forgot to sharpen it. I’ll try something else,” stated Pinkie matter-of-factly as she tossed the knife over her shoulder, embedding the blade in the table. Through the haze of pain and tears, Dash heard the sound of a metal box opening and closing. “Got it! Say Dash, why do they call it a hack saw? It doesn’t hack; hacking is what I was doing with the knife. This is a saw. I don’t get it.” Pinkie placed the tool over the mangled flesh of the last attempt. Standing on her hind legs, she worked the saw back and forth with her front hooves. It sliced effortlessly through the bone and skin. The feeling of the jagged teeth grinding into her made Dash want to vomit. She watched numbly as her wing flew over her head and landed with a fluff on the table. Pinkie moved to the next wing and started sawing. Dash didn’t struggle this time; she’d given up trying to fight and focused on choking back screams of agony. Abruptly, the sawing paused. Pinkie was only half way done, the wing hanging off by a sliver. “Hey Dash,” Pinkie piped up. “Think fast!” Suddenly, Pinkie yanked the wing as hard as she could. The bone snapped but the blue pony’s skin held, then tore away. The pull ripped away a long strip of flesh all the way down Dash’s back to her rump. Her body seized at the unexpected trauma. As her pelvis tensed up, Dash felt a warm release between her legs, and her loud, unending melody of pain filled the room. Unable to catch her breath, she blacked out. Dash awoke with a gasp. The stench of her urine filled her mucus caked nostrils. As her vision swam into focus, she saw a very pouty Pinkie Pie removing a large adrenaline needle from her chest. Stomping her hooves, the frustrated Pinkie lashed out at her helpless victim. “Didn’t anybody teach you any manners? It’s very rude to fall asleep when somebody invites you over to spend time with them. How would you like it if I came over to your house and went to sleep? ‘Oh I’m sorry Dash, you’re so boring I think I’ll take a nap.’ You think I like always doing this by myself? I told you how excited I got when I found you were next. I was excited to have a friend be here with me while I worked. But NOOOOO! You’ve got to be inconsiderate. You know, I thought you were tough. I thought you could handle anything. I’ve had foals stand up better than you! Do I have to baby you? Huh? Is that how you want me to remember you, as a baby?” As Pinkie stopped to catch her breath, Dash blinked and sobbed softly. Her back was in agony, her sides were on fire, and there was an intense pain in one of her legs. As she blinked again, she saw Pinkie pop something red into her mouth and began to chew. Noticing Dash’s stare, Pinkie quickly gulped the morsel down. “What?” Pinkie asked. “Oh, this?” She held up another piece. “Well, while YOU were asleep, I got a little impatient and helped myself to a small sample. I got it from your leg; you’re not bad. Wanna try some?” Without waiting for a response, Pinkie shoved the strip of meat into the revolted pegasus pony’s mouth. Dash gagged, and immediately spit it out. Pinkie frowned, and picked up the chunk of flesh. “If you didn’t want it, you could have said no.” She contemplated the discarded snotty morsel, then gulped it up. “It’s not like you haven’t had my cupcakes before.” Swallowing, Pinkie turned her attention to a small can on the tray. She removed the lid, revealing that it was filled with red-hot coals. Lying on top of the coals were several large nails. As the adrenalin filled her veins, Dash began to panic again. Picking up the can, Pinkie walked over to Dash’s left. Holding some tongs with her mouth, Pinkie carefully picked up a nail and positioned it at the seam between her victim’s front left leg and hoof. She then grabbed a hammer and took careful aim. “No Pinkie!” Dash screamed. “NO! NO!” The hammer came down and the nail punctured Dash’s skin. The white hot burning was too much. Dash screamed as she pulled and thrashed at the braces, causing her raw skin to rub and tear. Pinkie tried to line up another nail, but couldn’t find her aim, and let out a frustrated grunt. When Pinkie brought the hammer back to take a wild swing, Dash burst out crying and begging. “PLEASE STOP! PLEASE, PLEASE STOP!” Pinkie rolled her eyes. Putting down the hammer and tongs, she walked back in front of her friend and stared pensively at the broken pegasus. Gilda didn’t even cry this much when she had a live parasprite stuffed down her throat. Pinkie thought for a minute about what to do next, then had a sudden spark of inspiration. Rotating a wheel on the rack, Pinkie laid Dash on her back, then moved to Dash’s hind legs, bringing the can with her. Picking up her tools, Pinkie drove a searing hot spike of metal directly into the bottom of Dash’s hoof. As Dash yelled in pain, Pinkie moved around and drove a second nail into the other hoof. Next, Pinkie went back to her cart and located an enormous battery and controller, which she dragged over to where she was working. She tied copper wires between the terminals and the nails driven into Dash’s hooves, then gave Dash a wink and flipped the switch. Electricity rocketed through Dash’s body. The blue pony reacted immediately; her body seized, and her muscles snapped taut. Dash’s hips thrust skyward, her eyes rolled back, and she let out a deep, throat shredding cry. Pinkie giggled and danced in place, then reached down and turned up the juice. Dash convulsed uncontrollably, and her bladder emptied once more. After about five minutes, Pinkie shut off the power. Wisps of steam rose from the singed fur around Dash’s hooves, and the area reeked of cooked flesh and burnt enamel. Pinkie rotated Dash upright again and tried snap the drooling, delirious pony back to attention. “Dash? Dash! Rainbow Dash, wake up!” Dash moaned and managed to give a modicum of weak acknowledgment. Pinkie studied her handiwork, then reached into the medicine bag and produced a large syringe. “Alright, time for the last round.” Dash focused blearily on the needle, which Pinkie took as a question as to what it was. “This is a little something to take the pain away,” Pinkie informed Dash as she walked around to her victim’s ruined back. Dash flinched as Pinkie jabbed the needle into the lower part of the blue pony’s spine. Moving in front of her friend again, Pinkie leaned down and elaborated. “In a few minutes, you won’t be able to feel anything below your ribcage. Then you’ll be able to stay awake to watch the harvest.” Dash started to cry again. “Pinkie?” she choked out. “Yeah?” “I want to go home,” Dash sobbed. “Yeah, I can see wanting to do that,” replied the party pony. “Sometimes, I just wanna give up, just say ‘I’m done with this mess’ and go to bed. But you know what? You can’t shrug off your responsibilities. You got to pull yourself up and meet the challenges head on. That’s the only way you’re gonna get ahead in life.” Dash hung her head and cried. Minutes passed as the drug took effect. Eventually, Dash was completely numb from her chest to her flanks. At this point, Pinkie approached with a scalpel. Glancing at Dash and smiling, Pinkie made a long horizontal cut across the pegasus pony’s pelvis, just above her crotch. Moving up Dash’s body, Pinkie made a similar incision under her ribs. Finally, Pinkie made a long vertical cut down Dash’s stomach, connecting the first two. “Looks like I got my ‘I’ on you, Dash,” Pinkie giggled. With a moist, gooey sound, the flaps of skin opened. The sight of her own organs and the lack of feeling caused Dash’s breathing to intensify. Pinkie carefully sliced open Dash’s abdominal sac and grabbed her large intestines. As she separated the organ from the rest of the digestive tract and pulled it out of the new cavity, Pinkie grew jovial. Laughing as she gutted her friend, Pinkie began to make jokes. Dash, growing weaker from this new source of blood loss, tried desperately to shut out the macabre comedy act. “Look at me, I’m Rarity!” Pinkie laughed, slinging the intestinal tube around her neck and spraying blood in all directions. “Isn’t my new scarf soooo pretty?” Reaching back inside, she sliced the smaller intestine off from the bowls. Squeezing out the excess excrement, Pinkie filed the slimy organ through her teeth and dragged it back and forth. “Dentists say you gotta floss every day, Dash.” Dash was barely aware of what was going on anymore. The shock was causing her to fade. Disappointed, Pinkie dived back into the blue pony’s guts, ramping up her routine. “Aw, don’t go yet Dash.” Pinkie started pulling out the rest of Dash’s organs, pausing with each removal. “I know I can be a real pancreas, but you know I’m just kidney with you. You really got to learn to liver it up. Boy, these jokes are getting bladder. Guess ya gotta develop a stomach for them.” Pinkie placed the discarded body parts into a bucket, keeping the last one for bit longer. “Ooo, bagpipes.” she said, placing the end of Dash’s esophagus in her mouth and the stomach in her armpit. She squeezed, and a spurt of acid hit her tongue. “Eww! Oh hey look, there’s your cupcake, Dash!” Dash didn’t hear her tormentor. She had slipped from conciseness minutes ago. Pinkie, not yet satisfied, hit Dash with another adrenaline shot. Dash woke up for the last time, her heart pounding. Warm blood flowed out from the wound in her chest in great spurts. It wouldn’t be long now. Pinkie brought Dash around onto her back again and straddled the blue pony’s chest, scalpel at the ready. “Ya know, Rainbow Dash, I’m disappointed. I thought you would have lasted longer. I really wanted to spend more time with you before we got here. But I guess it’s my fault; I should have taken it a little slower. Oh well. It was really was nice knowing you, Dash!” The blade sunk into the blue throat and worked its way up to Dash’s chin. Coming back down, Pinkie’s scalpel then circled Dash’s neck. The last thing Rainbow Dash felt was her skin being cut away from her skull, and the metal of the blade scraping her teeth. Then she was gone. Pinkie Pie stared into the mirror. She had done a really good job, even keeping the eyelids. She winked, and Dash winked back. Pinkie smiled. But still, she was sad that her friend was now gone. Dash had only lasted fifty minutes, not nearly as long as Pinkie had wanted. She looked back at the cadaver hanging in the center of the room, the last of her friend’s fluids draining into a pan. Yup, no more Rainbow Dash. As she looked, Pinkie cocked her head. She began to take notice of the fact that there really wasn’t much damage to the corpse. “It fact,” the pink pony mused, “I think….” An idea exploded in her head. She was good at sewing and she had all the pieces, all she had to do was put them back together. Yeah, she just had to get some stuffing and bingo, she’d have Rainbow Dash forever. In fact, thought Pinkie, that’s what she’d do for all her best friends when their numbers came up. She was so excited, she skipped right over to the body with her skinner to get started. The cupcakes could wait; Pinkie Pie had a friend to make.
