Silent Ponyville: Redemption

by Apple Bloom

Rating: everyone
Tags: Tragedy, Twilight Sparkle, My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, Dark, Zecora, Alternate Universe, Sad, Adventure, Crossover
Length: 7713

(This story takes place out of the Silent Ponyville written by Jake Heritagu)

Twilight is suffering from horrid nightmares. Three nightmares that keep repeating, each time growing in intensity. When she goes to Zecora for help, the zrebra offers her a solution. However, it may not be one that Twilight will like.

Published 2011-10-20 02:42:12 UTC
Last updated 2012-01-05 13:57:09 UTC

Chapter 1: Descent

Chapter 1: Descent

Laughter taunted her as she struggled to break free. The smell of mold and mildew filled the air. Dim light illuminated the fillies around her, their faces twisted in horrible smiles as one large dark black unicorn stood over her, a large chunk of concrete held over his head. He brought it down several times onto her chest, splintering her fragile ribs. With each blow the laughter of the surrounding fillies grew in intensity. The pain being too much, she sobbed and coughed as he continued to bring down the rock over and over again.

“TURN IN ALL YOUR WORK ON TIME!” the words were screaming in her ears. Each word brought her only pain. Her arms hurt. She couldn’t move it was all too much. Too much! The dark figure struck her again. “I PROMIS I’LL TURN IN MY WORK ON TIME, JUST PLEASE DON’T HURT ME!”

Crying, she small purple unicorn clutched her doll. She was hiding in her closet, rocking back and fourth she sobbed. The sound of fighting could be heard from the room over. The filly heard something whisper behind her, turning around she came face to face with a pale white pony. She was hanging upside down, her arms dangling to the floor. Her mane was jet black, her eyes missing. Before she could run away the pale pony grasped her head between her hooves and wailed. Her mouth stretching wider than physically possible. Twilight watched herself from the monsters perspective. She watched the life drain from her eyes, her frail body go limp.

“KEYAAAAAAA!” the sound of screaming filled the small library. Twilight looked around, her eyes wild. Still panting she told her self

“Calm down Twilight. Its just. . .just a dream.” Shaking her head violently, the small purple unicorn climbed of her bed and walked into her bathroom.

Illuminating the space with her horn, she looked in the mirror. Dark bags hung below her blood shot eyes. Tears still streamed down her face. Her hair was in a mess. Her skin had gone from the dark purple that it usually was to a light purple. Her back started to burn; slinking down the wall she hung her head. She tried to remember what had caused her so much trauma. Racking her brain her memory started coming back to her.

Clutching her chest, Twilight could still feel the marks that the chunk of concrete had left. Her back throbbing, she got up and splashed water over her face. Feeling slightly better, she opened her medicine cabinet and got out a small pouch of herbal medicines that Zecora had prepared for her the night before. Gripping the small bag in her mouth she made her way into the kitchen.

Twisting the knob on the stove, she placed the small pouch in a cup of water. Taking a shaky breath, Twilight tried to calm her nerves. The image o the dark pony filled her mind again. Planting her hooves over her mouth, she ran for the bathroom. When she was done empting her stomach, Twilight walked back to the kitchen.

“Good thing Spike’s not here to see me like this.” she mumbled to her self as she grasped the steaming cup. The color was a dark reddish brown, a sickly sweet smell filled her nose. Gagging, she set the mug down on the counter, Twilight thought back to the other day when she had gotten the strange mixture.

“Welcome back young Twilight,” said the zebra “I must admit your quite a sight.” And it was true, Twilight had been having horrid nightmares for a few weeks now. She just nodded and sat down. Laying on a small red carpet covered with swirling black patterns from a far away land, Zecora asked her

“Now Twilight, what ales you at night to cause such a fright?” Twilight looked at her hooves, slowly she said

“I’ve been having horrible nightmares, awful awful nightmares.” Zecora closed her eyes, deep in thought.
After a few moments the zebra stood and walked over to where she kept her medicinal herbs. Grasping small vials and jars Zecora took small amounts and ground them together. When she had finished, she poured the powder in a small pouch. Tying it off with a dark black string, she gave it a good tug. Walking over to where Twilight sat hunched over, Zecora handed her the small pouch

“Here you are young Twilight, this will help you sleep at night.” Twilight gingerly picked it up with her mouth and set in her bag.

“Now tell me more, about these nightmares you mentioned before.” Zecora said with a smile. Closing her eyes, Twilight took a deep breath.
“The are always the same three dreams, repeating one after the other.” Zecora nodded “But the thing is, I-I cant remember what happens in the dreams. . .I just remember pain.” Twilight lowered her head, Zecora stood and walked over to her friend. Patting her back, she told her

“When you drink this tea, it will stop your nightly calamity.” Twilight looked up at the zebra. “This will take you to your mind within, so you can see where your troubles begin.”

That seemed like a lifetime ago, she looked down at the mug“Well if this will make them stop. . .“ Twilight said. Raising the mug up to her mouth she took a small sip, she considered the taste. It was bitter, slightly sour, and viscous. “Funny.” Twilight said looking at the cup “It almost tastes like-” she threw her hooves up to her neck, causing the mug to sail over her head. Shattering, its contents coated the wall around it.

Gagging, she felt her pupils contract and dilate rapidly. Her ears twitched as her world around her broke away. High pitched laughter filled the air, darkness swept up around her legs. Her eyes rolled up into the back of her head. Reaching out to nopony in particular, she fell over. She was dimly aware of the sensation of falling. Just as she was about to pass out she the ground with a muffled thud.

Silent Ponyville: Redemption

Chapter 2: Confrontation

Chapter 2

The ground was cold, the air was still. Not a sound could be heard from outside. Groaning, Twilight sat herself up, her head was throbbing.

“Wha-what happened?” she asked herself as she looked around at the empty library. A thick layer of dust coated everything; the paint was dull and peeling, the smell of rotting wood filled the air. The windows were broken, her tattered curtains fluttered in the wind. Thin wisps of mist crawled through the gaps in her windows.

Her home was oddly still, it usually wasn’t busy, it was never busy. But you could usually hear activity from outside. As she started to stand, a wave of nausea hit her. Falling to one knee she wrapped her chest with both her arms. After a few moments, the nausea passed. Grimacing, she made her way to her bedroom. The old wood creaked beneath her hooves, the handrail was missing and some of the steps were broken.

She didn’t know why she went to her room; it just seemed like the right thing to do. Sitting on the edge of her bed, she looked around. She sat in silence for a few minutes before deciding to head back downstairs.

“Wait.” She told herself as she stopped at the top of the stair case. “ “Actually let’s go check the balcony first.” she told herself, thinking that before she went outside she would get a good view of what was going on first. Her balcony widows were boarded up, with a little effort she managed to pry enough off so she could open one of them.

“Ohmygod.” she breathed raising a hoof to her mouth. Usually when she stepped out onto her balcony she could see the entire town, instead she was met with a solid wall of grey. She moved to the railing, climbing up she stood on her hind legs. Nothing, no houses, no streets, just the fog. “Heloooo!” Twilight called out to the fog, no response. As she jumped down from the railing, a small voice whispered

“Once upon a time, there was a little filly” Twilight spun around but no one was there. She scanned the fog, searching for the source of the sound. She saw a something black out of the corner of her eye,

“she was really lonely and scared, so she made a new friend.” Twilight spun around again, this time staring back into her room. Nothing looked out of place, she called out

“Hey, w-who and where are you?” no response. She walked back into her room. Something shiny caught her eye, walking over to her bed she saw something peculiar. Sitting on her bed was a small dark purple box, it was a curios little thing. With a big dial in the middle, a glass plate at the top, with small black letters and numbers behind the glass.

Picking up the small box, she flipped it around. On the side was a switch with the word ON above it and the word OFF below it. Flipping the switch upward, the box sprang to life. Letting off a soft melody.

“Wow.” she whispered as she gazed in wonder at the small object. Slowly the tune started to fade out to an even softer static sound. “Huh?” she said as she shook the box. Each second it grew in intensity, getting louder and louder until it was too loud for the small room. She flipped the switch off, silence suddenly filled the room.

“That’s better.” she said as she nestled the box between her mane and ear. "Wait. . ." she stopped as she head a soft clicking sound behind her. Her heart started beating fast as she slowly turned around. The face of a pale hairless pony filled her view, instinctively she jerked her head backwards. Just dodging the pale ponies hooves.

“heeEEEYAAAAAAAaaaaaaaa!” it screeched, its mouth stretching wide. Twilight turned and ran past it and down the stairs, all the while screaming “OHMYGODOHMYGODOHMYGOD.” Running straight for the door she slammed into it, knocking it open. She ran out into the street, breathing hard as she looked left then right. She didn’t care which direction she went, just as long as it was away from the library and that. . .thing.

Sprinting down the streets of ponyville, she stopped suddenly.
“Wha. . .what the. . .” she gasped, catching her breath as she stared at the deep canyon tore into the road in front of her.

Chapter 3:Tartarus

Chapter 3
Snow had started to fall, the roads and roofs being coated in the cold, soft, powder. Twilight stood there, gazing at the giant rift in the earth. She watched as the snow drifted down around her. It would have been peaceful, serine even.
“Ok ok keep it together Twilight, you just woke up, everypony is missing, and now there is a great big canyon blocking my only path to Zecora’s house!” she stood there for a moment, her mane frizzled and sticking out in all directions. Placing it back the way it was, she decided to head over to Sugarcube corner to check to see if she could find anypony.

The fog was too thick to see very far, the buildings loomed ominously above her. Her skin felt cold, the odd box thing was still nestled above her ear. She stopped just a few blocks from Sugarcube corner. Bringing the odd device down to her face, she turned it back on. Not a sound was heard from it, not even the odd hissing noise that played before the thing in the library attacked her. . . “Wait a minute.” she said out loud. “If this thing made the noise. Then after I turned it off, the thing attacked me, and now that I’m far enough away from the library it’s not making the noise. . . Then this thing must make the static to warn you when danger is near!” she beamed at her reflection in the small glass rectangle, “Oh Twilight, you’re so smart.” grinning, she placed the small box back above her ear and continued on her way.

However, she only past a few houses when static started to fill her ears. It was faint, but the quiet crackling made her heart freeze. The static continued to drone on at a steady pace, neither rising nor falling. Taking a step forward, the static grew in intensity. Taking a step backwards, it grew fainter. The only way to Sugarcube Corner was directly in the path of whatever was causing the box to make the noise.

She walked forward slowly, listening as the static continued to rise in pitch. She paused as she saw a round shadow lying in the middle of the street. Cutting the silent air, the static droned on. She knew it was a bad idea but she called out
“H-hello?” the shadow did not move. She took another step forward, her hoof crunching the soft snow. “Are you alright?” still nothing. Then, slowly the shadow got up. As Twilight watched, her mind picked out several details that made her mind scream to run. First, the thing stood on its hind legs. It did not seem to have any front legs either. The second thing was the fact that it had no head, just a long narrow torso that ended in a dark blue stump. Its skin was pale, almost like it was frozen. Light blue veins spread out and crisscrossed over its body, forming a dark blue spider web. The third and last thing was the quiet whining sound that it made with each step. Almost as if it was in great agony, but had no energy left to cry out.

Twilight took a step back, her mind reeling as the thing started to whine louder. There was only about five or so yards between them, she had no doubt that it could clear it easily. If she didn’t act now the thing would be on her in no time. Backing up she yelled, “S-stay back, I'm warning you.” If the beast heard her, it made no intention of doing so. Instead, it let out a loud warble and leapt at her.

Jumping out of the way, her attacker hit the ground and flipped over on its back. Its legs kicked the air, trying to find purchase. Twilight turned and ran, not caring which way to go. She passed another one of the things, it too leaped at her. But she was already too far way for it to be a threat.

The ground turned from the paved roads of ponyville to hard cold earth, slowly it sloped upwards. Eventually she came to a stop, looking around she realized that she was at the school. She must have come here subconsciously, but why she chose this place was unknown to her. She never went to school here; the only place that she went to school was. . .

“Look at what they did to her!” the mare screamed at the older colt.

“I understand that your upset, but he said that he-”

“I don’t give a DAMN if they knew or not, she almost died for Celestias sake!”

Twilight shuddered, why had she thought of that just now. She knew who the mare was, it was her mother. However, she could not figure out who the colt was, and why those two were fighting was a mystery. The building looked deserted; a thick layer of snow coated the ground. The wood was old and rotting, the windows boarded, the old bell swayed slightly even though there was no wind.

But oddly, the door looked like it did yesterday. She gave the door a sharp tug, but it was unmoving. A small piece of notebook paper fell from above her head.

“The clock ticks,
The Bell chimes,
Buried memories will be unlocked
Monsters long forgotten will begin to stalk
You must be quick to hide,
Or they will find you quick outside.”

She didn’t like the last sentence at all. She looked up at the bell, then at the door. Then she thought, the town hall had a clock on it. Suddenly the image of that thing came to mind again, what if more of them were outside?
She shook her head; she had to go check out the tower.

She knocked at the front door to town hall. No response, she didn’t really expect any. But she at least had to check before kicking down the door. Thinking back, she tried to remember how Apple Jack had taught her to kick apples loose from the trees.

“Ok, now just stand like this.” The orange pony stood with her tail facing the tree,
“Now lean forward an’ kick out with yer legs real hard. Like this.” Apple Jack kicked out, five ripe red apples fell in a circle around her before rolling down the hill. Twilight spent the entire day practicing. When the sun had set, she was apple bucking right alongside Apple Jack.

“Ok, lean forward.” She faced her tail towards the door. Slowly she bent her legs so her hind hooves were high in the air.
“And kick!” she kicked as hard as she could, her hooves hitting the thick wood with a solid thump. The force of the impact sent her toppling forward. When she got back up and dusted herself off, she frowned. Two big hoof marks were centered on the door.

A shrill wail cut through the air. Standing there, she watched as the fog around her slowly turned from the brilliant white mist, to almost pitch black smoke. The dull paint of the town hall was slowly falling away, as if it were aging before her eyes. The wood slowly began to rot beneath her hooves. The stench of burning wood and copper began to fill the air. The door’s hinges rusted until they were only thin flakes of orange rust, just barely holding onto the door.
Slowly the siren’s wail picked up again, the ground in front of the town hall slowly merged together, chunks crumbling away and falling into the deep black pit below. Dull orange embers rose up from where the ground had fallen away, slowly they drifted down around the town hall. Slowly as the wailing faded away, it gave to a new, stronger sound. The steady clanking and pounding of heavy machinery reverberated from the black pit

Twilight could imagine what the huge machines must look like, tall pistons and hammers slamming into each other. The rusted old metal, chains loosely draped around the machines. Each pound made the earth shudder. The sound of dragging chains caught Twilight attention.

Squinting her eyes, Twilight could just make out a dim orange light making its way towards her. The rhythmic rattling of the chains growing louder as a small dark figure dragged its self into view.

Twilight gasped, a dark black plate of metal covered its head, shinning dully in the half-light. Long strands of flesh draped down from the creatures head, a dull amber light pulsed from behind the ropes of burnt flesh. Black cast iron loops and hooks were seared to the strands, connecting them to the things body. The ears were only melted black stubs. Its skin was dark and shriveled, dull ember coals poked out from where it had torn, making it look as if it were some demon from hell. Its hooves were covered in searing white iron shackles. Short chains rattled beneath it, leaving dark black marks where they dragged over the earth, and it was not alone. Slowly another came into view, then another and another, until she was looking out over an ocean of black burned bodies

Just before the front steps, they stopped. Slowly the drumming of the machinery died away. Twilight stood there staring at the mass of creatures. The one leading the pack lifted its head, an amber sac hung down from the inside of its skull, expanding and contracting quietly. Twilight’s heart was beating so hard and fast that she was sure that it could be heard by the creature.

Suddenly it let out a high pitched wail and took a step forward. The wood under the things hooves began to crackle and burn around them. The others started to wail and surged forward, the metal chains on their ankles burning any of the others that got to close. Twilight let out a scream and began to furiously kick the door. The thing was on the second step, the rusted door hinges began to crack. Seeing this, Twilight began to kick even harder and faster. The thing was on the third and final step, only two or three feet separated the two. The heat was immense, the smell of burnt hair and flesh filled her nostrils causing her to gag. As it wailed and surged forward, Twilight let out an almighty roar and kicked the door down.

Not wasting any time, Twilight jumped backwards into the town hall and ran up the stairs. She had been in here before so she knew the way to the door that led to the clock tower.
“C’mon Twilight, keep moving keeYAAA!” white hot pain shot up Twilight back right leg. A loud wail cried out from behind her. Not looking back, she yanked it forward and kept climbing up the stairs.

She panted with effort as she reached the top of the stair case. Her back leg was completely numb, she couldn’t even put weight down on it or else she would collapse. The air burned her lungs every time she took in a breath, her vision started to blur as she rushed forward towards the small brown door. Yanking the door open, hot air blasted out, casuing her to stagger backwards slightly.

The wailing started up again, Twilight groggily turned around as three of the burnt creatures began to limp towards her. With the heat from the bell tower bearing down on her, and the creatures closing in she made a decision. Slowly and painfully, Twilight turned back around and limped up the stairs. The metal plates burned her through her hooves but she didn't care. Grunting she slammed the door closed just before the heat made her fall to her knees and blacked out.

Chapter 4: Reconnection

The young patchwork filly sat with her back against the wall, the head of her master resting in her lap; her dark black mane covered the purple unicorn like a blanket. She cooed softly as she stroked her master’s head gently. A large mirror filled the wall in front of her, dust and grime crawling up its sides.
She watched herself in the faded mirror, her long black hair covering one side of her face. Her one button eye, with a hole drilled in the middle of it so she could see the world. With her mouth sewn shut, she could only open it when she was near her master.

She glared at the purple mare’s ankle where one of the burdened had burned her badly, as if it was at fault for being injured. She couldn’t do much for the injury as she had no training in the medical arts. The small lamp beside her burned brightly, it’s brilliant light illuminating the small room. She looked over at it, she remembered that she had found in the library, she was going to give it to her master. But she arrived, and attacked her master and drove her away.
The young filly sighed and quietly, she whispered into her master’s ear.
“-and she started to choke.

For they had gagged her with the hatred of a thousand voices

She cared not, for she knew that they would burn.

And burn they did.

Burned in the place that they sought safety,

By the hooves of the small one who they hated so.

To fill with her with their hatred.

Is a crime that can’t go unpunished.”

Twilight coughed loudly, the white filly smiled and stood slowly, careful not to disturb her. She dimmed the lamp till it was just a small flame, and, like the phantom she was she melted back into the darkness and watched silently. Echoing her master, always with her master, never leaving her master.

Twilight slowly opened her eyes to a rusted metal ceiling; a dim orange light illuminated her surroundings. To her right was a large metal door; to her left was an empty shelf. Her right leg throbbed, each pulse causing her ankle to twitch slightly. The stench of burning kerosene filled her nose; the ground slightly shook beneath her as she lay there.
She turned her head towards the dim light, squinting; she reached over and knocked the thing over. The light slowly faded until she could see what it was clearly. It was a small rusted lamp; the glass was foggy and dark. Two small metal rods ran up and down on either side of it, at the top was a handle wrapped in leather. So that anypony who needed to use it could carry it without causing too much discomfort.

Kerosene slowly leaked out from the base of the lamp, Twilight watched silently as the amber pool of liquid slowly grew in size. The fire in the lamp started to flicker; slowly it dimmed until it went out completely. She stayed that way for several minutes, silently listening to the steady thumping of the ground.

Twilight lay there, staring into the darkness until she finally decided that she had to move. Slowly she reached out towards the lamp groping silently for the leather-padded handle. When she had found it, she slowly dragged the metal object back towards herself. She turned it back right side up, still lying on her back she twisted the knob. The flame slowly sputtered to life, recasting a dim orange glow on her surroundings.

As Twilight sat up, the dull throbbing pain in her leg slowly grew into a steady wail. She turned the lamp towards her ankle and stared silently at it. All the hair on her ankle had been burned off, the skin dark red and peeling, her hoof was blackened and split down the middle. If she were going to walk, it would be very difficult.
Her mind was foggy, she couldn’t recall the past twenty four hours, only blurred memories and the sensation of fear. She rubbed her eyes slowly, and tried to stand up on her three good legs. It wasn’t easy, she had to use the wall for support but she eventually managed to do it.

“At least it’s not one of my fore legs.” She murmured to herself. She bent down to pick up the lamp but something clacked to the floor in front of her. It was a small rectangular box. With a glass panel at the top, and a long metal rod jutting from the top of it. Black letters and numbers hid behind the glass, a large knob sat in the middle. On its side was a switch pointing downwards. Curious, she flipped it to the upward position.
Static suddenly burst from the small device, its loud continuous drone filled the room. She sat there, the noise buzzing and flitting around her head. She was about to turn it off when the static cut off suddenly, an eerie silence crept into the room.
Twilight’s attention was drawn to movement in front of her; she reeled backwards, stamping her bad leg on the ground. She gasped at the sudden burst of pain and fell to her side. When the pain had subsided enough, looked back in front of her. What she saw was a small purple unicorn; her mane was a mess, sticking out in all directions it looked as if she had been in a fight. Or running from it. She had dark bags under her wild, bloodshot eyes. She was coated in soot and grime, the end of her tail was singed and frazzled.

Twilight blinked and the pony in front of her blinked back, she raised her hoof and watched as the mare raised hers. Twilight’s and the purple mare’s eyes went wide as she realized that the strange pony in front of her was herself.
She reached out with her hoof to touch her reflection. When she made contact with the mirror a sudden burst of blinding light erupted from all around her. When she opened her eyes she was lying in front of herself again, but this was different. This Twilight was clean, no burns or soot or scratches. Maybe not as happy as she usually was but she was un-injured all the same.

Then she watched as her other self went up to her room, stood on the balcony railing and called out to anypony. She watched as she found the small box, how it started to hiss just before some pale pony thing attacked her. How she ran into the blue walkers. The note at the school, the tower. And finally, her encounter with the wailers. Twilight screamed, as she screamed another, louder, wail rose up from the depths of the other world. The rust slowly melded into the walls, the chains fell to the ground, and slowly rusted away to dust that was carried away by some invisible force.
Twilight felt the hairs on the back of her neck rise as a dark shadow loomed over her. She quickly turned around and let out a sigh of relief. It was a small doll hanging from a string. She felt something, an odd tugging on her heart. She stared at it for a minute before realization hit her, it was smarty-pants! But she was different; her normal expressionless face was stitched into a rather creepy smile.

Her thick strands of cloth that made up her mane had become a thick long black mane. Crude porcelain was melded into her arms, just below the elbow. The lower half of her body had been replaced with a thick black leather, dark rivulets of red trickled down from her waist where the upped half and been stitched through holes in the dull red material.
Twilight reached out and gently unwrapped the string from the dolls neck. It loosely draped across her hoof as she stared at the limp figure, the thin trickles of red ran down her arm and dripped off her elbow. Her eyes started to blur as she hugged the soft doll close to her chest. she didn’t care if the red liquid stained her fur, she just needed to do this. After a few moments of silence, she gripped the thin string in her mouth and chewed until she cut of a decent length to tie smarty-pants to her neck.

She gave the string a sharp tug to see if it would hold, which it did. Now with her friend close to her heart she was certain that she could brave any danger that was thrown at her. She grimaced as she put weight down on her left foot. It hurt, but not as much as she had expected it to. With smarty-pants tied around her neck, and the door in front of her, she gave a big sigh and pushed the small metal door open and gasped.

Chapter 5: Revulsion

Chapter 5: Revulsion

The floor was cold, the air was still, and she was sure that there was sompony else in the building with her. Her first thoughts were that she was in Canterlots main castle. But it didn’t look right.
The hallway’s of Canterlot were immense, with ceilings that rose high above her head; dark mosaic widows lined the walls. Depicting stories of how Equestria was made, how princess Cielestia fought and banished Night Mare Moon. And her friends and how they used the elements of harmony to return nightmare moon back into Princess Luna.

These were just as high, but that’s where the similarities ended and the differences began. Empty window frames lined the walls in place of where the giant mosaics should have been. Shattered dust covered glass fragments coated the areas around the basses of the broken windows. Wind flowed through the gaps unsettling the hair on Twilight head.
The walls were cracked and chipped, cobwebs hung from every nook and cranny in the gaps in the walls. At one end of the long hall the lights faded into pitch black darkness, and at the other end there was a tall statue of Celestia. With the sun high above her she seemed fearsome in the dim half light.

As she limped the down hall she kept looking over shoulder, she couldn’t shake the feeling that sompony was watching her. Smartypants (or vector Smartypants as she called her) was still dripping the red liquid; the rhythmic drip of the substance was the only other sound that could be heard besides her footsteps. Her entire chest was drenched in the stuff; she gave little gasps as the red liquid flowed down and over her burnt ankle. At first it stung so much that she had to check to see if she hadn’t cut herself on something. But soon the sharp sting faded to a soothing coolness.

A quiet clicking came from behind her. Twilight’s heart froze, she spun around. No one was there. Her radio wasn’t making the static sound, it helped, but not much. The clicking came from behind her again. Again she spun around, and again no one was there. Now Twilight was starting to get scared, her eyes were wide as she tried to ignite the kerosene lantern. After a few dull clicks a large flame flashed to life but slowly faded out.

The lights slowly dimmed as the clicking grew in intensity; Twilight was really starting to panic now. As the darkness continued to grow thicker and blacker, the air became stagnant and hot. Twilight’s mane stood on end as she felt something brush past her front leg; she looked around wildly but could not find any source of the thing.
With the light now diminished completely, Twilight fumbled for the switch on the lantern, flipping it madly she watched with a panic stricken face as the flame flickered and died each time she flipped the switch.

When she tried to light her lantern again, the bright white face of an upside-down pale pony leapt into view. Its head twitched violently as its mouth stretched wide, the gaping maw seemed blacker that the oppressive Darkness around her. Twilight screamed as she turned around and ran from the mare. Her back leg twitched as each step sent sharp white spike of pain arching upwards into her back.

As she put distance between her and that thing, the darkness seemed to let up gradually. Soon she could see the floor. A shrill wail erupted from behind her; Twilight looked back behind her and stopped dead in her tracks, which was a big mistake. Before Twilight could react, the Pale Mare sent long tendrils of darkness at Twilight. Twilight screamed as one of them dug into her burnt ankle, but it was soon cut off as another covered her mouth to stifle her screams.

The Pale Mare brought Twilight towards her, arms stretched wide as if to give a hug. Twilight struggled but it was to no avail, soon the Pale Mare’s head was resting on Twilight shoulder, almost lovingly. Twilight whimpered slightly at the coolness of the Mares skin.

The Mare made soft cooing noises as she brought a long metal spike up before Twilights face, it was dully painted green and purple with long spines running along its back. Twilight whimpered softly as the spike dragged across her face, not hard enough to cut her but just enough so she could feel what was about to come. Twilight closed her eyes and expected the sharp pain of the iron spike, but instead something else happened that she did not expect.

Twilight felt the sharp metal point trailing down her neck, chest and finally groin. Twilights eyes shot open when she realized what the Pale Mare was about to do, with a sudden burst of fury, Twilight snapped her head sharply to the left, breaking free of the Mares grip and head-butted the Pale Mare. As Twilight and the metal spike were roughly dropped to the ground, the Pale Mare clicked slowly as if she were a broken child’s toy trying to work. Each click matched with a twitch of her head, the Pale Mares face slowly changed from shock to rage.

Her pitch black eyes grew wide suddenly though, as Twilight rammed the damned spike into her chest. The Mare looked down and held her hooves in front of herself as she fell to one knee. Twilight gave a loud yell as she bucked the mare in the face, sending her flying backwards and out of the broken window.

Twilight panted heavily as she walked over to the broken window and looked out expecting to see that things body; however, her rage was short lived as her breath caught in her throat. The spike was sticking out of the ground, but a small trail of hoof prints led off into the castle grounds.

Twilight stared at the small fire that burned brightly in front of her. Her mind was blank; she couldn’t think of anything or say anything. She just stared at the blazing lamp. She looked around at the small do nut shop that she had made refuge in.
The air was still and quiet, the floor was cold and hard. The only sound that was heard was the slight crackle of the lamps fire.
The walls were dull and grey, the tables were lined up neatly against the walls with thick cobwebs in-between them. The trays that normally contained the small pastries were empty; the counter where she had sat so many times with Spike was bare and covered in a thick layer of dust.
“Hey Twi?”
“Yes spike, what is it?” Twilight looked up from her studies at the tiny dragon; his eyes were big and puffy and his arms hung down on both sides.
“Can we go to bed now? It’s like one AM or something” Spike let out a big yawn and rubbed his eyes.
“Not now spike, we have to finish this essay for Mrs.Trolly.”
“Fine but can I at least go to bed?”
“Fine, but I will need your help tomorrow really early in the morning ok?”

“Ugh, fine.” Spike grunted as he made his way out of the do-nut shop. Twilight just couldn’t understand how he didn’t see the joy in studying.

Twilight choked up at the thought of Spike, her number one assistant. She wondered how he was doing. Probably sleeping the day away as usual. Then her mind went to Pinky Pie, she remembered how the pink pony loved her sweets. Soon Twilight was thinking about all her friends.
A sharp rattle shook her from her thoughts. Twilight looked at the darkness behind the counter; the sharp rattle came again, Twilight grunted as she rose to her hooves, careful not to put any weight on her injured leg, and gripped the lantern in her mouth.

As she moved closer to the counter, she stopped. Her little red box was making the static sound again. It wasn’t loud but it was definitely there. Twilight looked over shoulder at the tables behind her, then she had an idea.

She carefully levitated one of the tables over to herself and studied it. It had a flat base with a long slender pole connecting it to the table. She effortlessly snapped the table top off and brought the sharp pole over to her hooves. Then she grabbed one of the metal stools, she bent and snapped one of the legs off to form a makeshift blade at the end of the metal pole.
She took the wooden stick and broke it off at the base of the foot. What she was left with was a sharp metal spear and a shield of sorts. But she quickly rolled her eyes and dropped the foot of the table and picked up the wooden stick.
With both the metal and wooden spears suspended above her head, and her lantern shining in front of her, she made her way through the counters door. Behind the counter was a tall rack with four levels to separate the pastries that would have normally been there, instead, small dark black mounds sat in neat rows on the four trays.

She shined her lamps beam back and forth, scanning the immediate area for anything dangerous, useful, or both. As she moved her light towards a small red compartment the rattling noise came again, she moved towards the door and dropped her wooden spear. Metal spear poised high above her head; she set her hoof on the handle and threw it open.
A large dark form shot out of the compartment, Twilight screamed, dropping her lantern as she threw her metal spear and impaled the creature. With a loud squeak the giant rat ran off into the kitchen with the spear hanging out of its side. Twilight stood there on her hind legs panting, then she started to laugh at the fact that it was a rat.

As she was calming down she bent over and gripped her lantern in her mouth, her lamp twisted around as something glinted in the small cupboard. Twilight walked over and picked up the small pair of keys, one key had the word “sloth” written on it and the other “work”.

Twilight thought for a moment before she slipped the key ring over her horn, she gasped and closed her eyes as her body shuddered slightly and her horn started to heat up. She shook her head violently trying to shake off the key ring, finally with a hard shake it flew off and hit the wall in front of her. Twilight squinted her eyes and waited for the feeling to pass, after the heat had left her horn she reached down and grabbed the key ring. She wondered how she forgot that her horn was unusually sensitive to metal.

She stared at her lamp for a few moments; she smiled when she noticed that there was a slender hook jutting up from the base. Now with the keys on her lamp and away from her horn, she looked over to the dark room where the rat had run off to.
Twilight couldn’t see very far into the room, the only thing she could make out was the outline of a mixing machine resting on a cluttered counter; Twilight turned her lamp back on and stepped through the doorway into the dark room.
Her radio suddenly rose in pitch as if sompony had turned the volume up to its max setting. A steady ringing seemed to rise and fall in pitch on a steady rhythm. Twilight took a shaky breath and kept moving forward.

The lamps beam cut through the darkness and revealed what you would normally expect to find lying around in a bakery. Thick cobwebs hung in between the parts of machinery from years of neglection. Twilight froze as a soft sob crept its way from around the counter before her.

Biting her lower lip, Twilight held the wooden spear up high above her head and slowly inched her way around the counter, what she saw made her mind flip. There crouching in the corner of the room was,

“Pinkie Pie?” Twilight said as she rapidly approached her pink friend. Pinkie Pie turned her head around and Twilight froze mid stride. Her entire left eye was swollen shut; her face was covered in dark red lacerations and bruises. Her mane was drooped down around her head in long dark strands.

All around Pinkie Pie was hastily scribbled messages written in what seemed to be red paint, the ones that Twilight could
make out read:

“Giggle at the ghasties is LIE
NONE OF IT MAKES SENSE WHY-
Bdfghigjlmoqrtuvwxyz
Anannannnnannannnaaaaaannaann
PARTY A IS LIFE
Theycrawinsidemymindtheonesthatihavntki

Pinkie Pie sobbed and turned back around and started to hit her head against the wall slowly, the heavy thuds seemed to be growing in intensity as they continued on. Twilight ran to her friend and held her hoof out but before she even touched her pink mane Pinky Pie screamed and leapt at Twilight, pinning her to the ground Twilight Yelled

“No Pinkie it’s me!” But she didn’t listen; with the lamp shining on Pinkie Pie she got a good look at her face. To her surprise only the left half of her face seemed to be damaged, the rest however was fine. Pinkie Pie screamed,

“WHOTHEHELLAREYOUANDWHYDOYOULOOKLIKETWILIGHTSHECOULDNTBEHEREBECAUSETHISHASTOBEFAKEICANTBIELEVETHATYOUWOULDEVENTHINKOFDOINGTHATANDOHMYGODTHISHUUUUUUUUURTS!” suddenly Pinky Pie rolled off Twilight clutching her head, screeching at the top of her lungs as she beat left side of her face repeatedly against the ground.

Twilight could only watch in horror as her friend repeatedly smashed her face against the ground, each time her slams grew weaker and weaker until she stopped. Pinky Pie coughed once as a blood started to trickle from her mouth, as Pinky Pie lay there panting and unconscious Twilight tentatively called out

“P-pinkie pie?” Pinkie Pie twitched her head slightly. Twilight leapt of and ran back into the main room to rip off one of the curtains. She quickly made a make-shift gauze stack and, with it in her mouth she ran back inside the kitchen room and screamed.

Pinkie Pie was gone, all of the writing was gone. Erased. And in place of where her friend should have been was the dark green and purple spike.

New Update

Ok so I was about half way done with the chapter then, ok get this, my computer was like "omg what is this? WHAT IS THIS! ponies? silent hill? EEEEEEUUUUGGG I CANT TAKE IT!" *delete* so now i gotta re-write the file. oh well at least i mostly remember what happened. sorry but it looks as if the new chapter will be delayed further.

~AB