What Lurks in the Darkness
What Lurks in the Darkness
“The darkness. Every day it encompasses the globe. It calms the mind, relaxes the body letting everypony sleep peacefully in their beds. That mysterious time of the day where everything is shrouded in black. But is it really as peaceful and harmless as it seems? Do we really know what lurks in the darkness? Do you know what hides in that impenetrable blackness?”
“Pinkie.”
“What horrors lie in wait for anypony unlucky enough to cross their blood thirsty path?
“Pinkie!”
“With their bone crushing teeth! Rending and tearing and…”
“PINKIE!!!”
“Yes Twilight?” Pinkie asked with a bright smile.
“That’s enough. Can’t you see that you’re scaring Fluttershy?” Twilight pointed to a pink and yellow shivering mass behind Rarity. Rarity, Pinkie, Fluttershy, Rainbow, Big Mac, and AJ were all over at the library for a little get together. With Spike in Canterlot on royal duties it was picked as the best location since they didn’t have to worry about waking anypony.
Rainbow groaned. “Oh come on Twilight, these are scary stories. They’re supposed to be scary. Besides, she just started. Let her at least finish.”
“Correct me if I’m wrong, but aren’t we here to have fun?” asked Twilight. Pinkie gave an enthusiastic nod. “So shouldn’t we do things that everypony enjoys?”
“I agree darling. I hate to see Fluttershy like this,” Rarity added. “Especially after I just finished beautifying her mane.”
“W-well, I wasn’t scared,” AJ said with a blank expression. Big Mac looked at AJ, then down. His tail was sticking straight out while the hair on it standing on end. He chuckled slightly. “And just what’s so funny?”
“Yer lyin’.”
AJ looked flustered. “I-I most certainly am not.” Big Mac pointed down to his tail. Seeing that his tail was giving him away he quickly matted the hair back down, and adjusted himself so he was sitting on it.
“It’s a shame Applejack couldn’t join us tonight,” Rarity said while fixing Fluttershy’s mane again.
Big Mac shook his head. “Just th’ flu. She’ll be alright in a couple of days. She was sleepin’ when we left.”
“Yea, she refused to let us stay and help. Stubborn till the last,” AJ added with a smile.
Big Mac nodded before looking at the clock on the wall. He stood up. “Well, it’s ‘bout time we get goin’. Got ta start early tomorrow.”
“Aww. Can’t you guys stay a little longer?” Pinkie asked.
“Afraid not Pinkie,” AJ said as he stood up. “With Applejack out of commission for awhile I’ll need to help pick up some of the slack, and Big Mac will attest for me when I say I have a long way to go before master applebucking.” Big Mac nodded.
“Well, it was good seeing you two again,” Fluttershy said with a light smile.
Big Mac started blushing lightly. He put on a small smile of his own. “Like wise.”
********************
AJ let out a big yawn as they neared the farm. “It is definitely time for bed.”
“Eeyup. We’re goin’ ta need all th’ sleep we can get if we want ta clear th’ southern field tomorrow,” Big Mac said with a confidant grin.
AJ looked at Big Mac with a dead pan stare. “You expect the two of us to clear the entire south field by tomorrow? Maybe if we had Applejack with us, but I doubt I’ll much help till I actually learn how to applebuck.”
Big Mac chuckled. “Ah’m sure yer gonna do fine. As long as yer willin’ ta pay attention ta what Ah say this time.”
AJ groaned. “You’re not going to let me forget that, are you?”
“Nnope.”
Looking ahead, AJ could see the farm house in the distance. The path started to become surrounded by more and more apple trees as they got closer. He looked down and let out a sigh of relief. “Bed, here I come.”
AJ suddenly stopped as a chill ran down his spine. Big Mac looked over and saw him looking into the darkness of the trees with a look of unease on his face. He slowly started inching closer and closer to the big red stallion. “Somethin’ wrong?”
AJ remained silent for a moment. “You ever…you ever get the feeling that you’re being watched?”
Big Mac looked into the trees. Unsurprisingly he saw nothing. “Yer probably still a little skittish from th’ story.” A compassionate smile formed on his face. “Ah’m sure you’ll feel better after a good night’s sleep.”
AJ continued to stare into the darkness. “Yea…yea you’re probably right. It’s probably all in my head. Come on.” The two of them continued down the path. As they did AJ took one last unconvinced glance into the darkness.
********************
AJ walked up the stairs; a bowl of hot soup hovering to the side of him. Walking over to Applejack’s door, he lifted his hoof to knock. He stopped when he heard the sound of vomiting coming from the other side of the door. Cringing, he waited for it to finish before opening the door. When he walked in Applejack was still leaning over the bucket with a pathetic look on her face. Her mane was done up in a bun to keep it from getting in the way thanks to a visit from Rarity the previous day. Winona was sleeping at the foot of the bed. “Umm, how are you feeling?”
She looked up and glared at AJ. “How do urp…how do ya think?”
“Okay, probably not the best question to ask right now,” AJ said sheepishly. “Anyway, are you hungry? I got some nice hot soup here for you.” He lowered the soup in front of him so he could see what was in it. “It’s got carrots, and potato’s, and celery, and…” AJ was cut off by the sound of Applejack blowing chunks into the bucket once again. “Okay, I can see you’re not in the mood for any soup right now. I’ll just uh, let you sleep for now. Just call Apple Bloom if you need anything, bye.” Exiting the room as quickly as he could, he shook sight of vomit out of his head before taking the soup back downstairs.
When he got back into the kitchen he put the soup into the fridge for later. “So she didn’t take it?”
Turning around he saw Big Mac in the doorway. “Nope. I don’t think she’ll be eating anything for a bit yet.”
“Didn’t think so,” Big Mac said with certainty in his voice. “So, are yal ready ta get started?”
“About as ready as I’ll ever be I guess.”
********************
“Well, we made some good progress t’day,” Big Mac said as he walked through the door. “Didn’t get th’ entire field, but got most of it.”
“And like I said I wasn’t much help at all,” groaned AJ as he trudged in.
“Ya weren’t all that bad,” Big Mac said trying to make him feel better about his efforts.
“Not only did it take me an hour to get the technique down, it also took me multiple bucks to clear a tree,” AJ deadpanned. “Hell, I can’t even count how many times I had to use magic to rip the remaining apples down. I probably got one tree to every five you got.”
“Well, it coulda been worse. Ah told ya, it’s goin’ ta take a bit fer ya ta master th’ art of applebuckin’. Also yer leg ain’t as strong as mine or Applejacks. It’ll take time ta build up th’ muscle.”
“Yea, you’re probably right,” AJ said as he cracked his neck. “Why don’t we get something to eat? I’d like to try to wake up early and clear the rest of the southern field tomorrow morning.”
Walking into the kitchen they saw a miserable looking Applejack sitting in a chair with a blanket draped over her. The bowl of soup was sitting in front of her. They looked over to the counter where Apple Bloom was pouring a glass of apple juice. “Howdy.”
Putting down the pitcher of apple juice Apple Bloom turned her head and smiled. “Hi guys. Ah’m just getting dinner ready fer Applejack.” Balancing the glass on a tray she brought it over to the table for Applejack. Applejack grumbled something under her breath before sipping the juice.
Big Mac smiled. “Ya done good Apple Bloom.” With a bright smile Apple Bloom eagerly turned her head to look at her flank. She deflated when she saw that it was still blank and went to put the pitcher away.
“Why don’t we wait to make our dinner then? It would be a bad idea to make her feel worse than she already does,” said AJ.
“Agreed.”
********************
AJ ended up waking up before his normal wake up call for once. After a nice big yawn he stretched his limbs. While rubbing his eyes he reached for his glasses with his magic. He felt nothing. “Huh?” Looking over and squinting, he saw that his glasses weren’t on the night stand. Leaning his head over the bed to look on the floor he saw that they weren’t there either. “Where the hell are they?”
He heard a knock on the door before a red blur poked in. “Time ta…oh, yer already up. Whatcha lookin’ fer”
“I can’t find my glasses. I could have sworn I put them on the night stand like I always do.”
“Maybe ya put them somewhere else,” Big Mac said as he walked into the room.
“But I always put them there. Where else would they be?” AJ asked as he poked his head under the bed.
“How about th’ writin’ table?”
“Don’t be silly. I didn’t even go over there last night.” AJ pulled his head out of the bed and walked over to the table. “Why would they be over…” As he looked at the table, sure enough there were his glasses. “But…but how?”
Big Mac shrugged. “Maybe you were just tired an’ forgot ya set’em over there?”
“Either that or I’m sleep magicing. Is that even possible? Maybe I should go talk to Twilight later on if I have the time.” He slipped his glasses on and sighed. “Let’s just forget about it. It’s probably nothing.”
“Eeyup.”
“Well, let’s get breakfast out of the way. That south field isn’t going to finish itself.”
********************
“So, are you feeling any better?” asked AJ as Applejack walked into the living room; Winona following right behind her.
“A little,” Applejack said as she sat down in a chair. “Ah don’t feel nauseous anymore, but…”
“You don’t exactly feel like you’re ready to get back to work yet?”
“Eeyup.” Applejack looked down at Winona who had jumped up on the chair with her and rubbed her head. “Winona here’s been helpin’ me through this by keepin’ me company th’ entire time.”
After taking a drink of his water AJ chuckled a bit. “I guess that makes her the bravest one in this house then.” Winona gave a happy bark in response.
“Heh, don’t let Big McIntosh hear ya…” Applejack stopped to cough for a moment. “Don’t let him hear ya say that.”
“Hey, I didn’t see him go in there as much as he could to keep you company.”
“Ah also didn’t want ta get sick,” Big Mac said as he walked into the room. He had a grin on his face knowing that AJ was just joking around. “We would’a been in trouble if Ah got sick too. Work would’a fallen far benind.”
“Heh, yea I know.” AJ looked over at the clock. “Looks like break time’s over with. Talk to ya later Applejack.” He quickly downed what was left in his glass and started for the door.
Big Mac followed after smiling and nodding at Applejack. “Good ta see yer startin’ ta feel better.”
********************
It was a beautiful new day. Applejack had woken up today feeling much better. She wasn’t feeling one hundred percent just yet, but that didn’t stop her from wanting to get back to work. Luckily Big Mac was able to convince her to stick to the lighter work around the farm. That includes the cooking which she was more than happy to take. In fact to celebrate her getting over the flu she wanted to make something special for dinner so she sent AJ and Apple Bloom out to go get some groceries. “Alright Apple Bloom, you got the list?”
“Yup. It’s right here,” Apple Bloom said with a smile as she pulled it out of her bags.
“Awesome. And I know how to make this whole thing go a lot faster.” AJ grabbed the list up in his magic and tore it in half; giving one half to Apple Bloom along with a bunch bits from his bit purse. “You take that half and I’ll take this half. We should be finished in no time.
“Alright!” Apple Bloom took off to go buy the first thing on her half of the list.
She barley heard AJ call out, “If you need more bits just come and find me!” as she ran. AJ sighed. “Why do I have a feeling that she’ll find some way to get into trouble?” he asked nopony in particular. He decided to just get this over with as quickly as possible to try to prevent any trouble.
As he had hoped, splitting the list in half sped up the shopping process quite a bit. He was now on the last item of his list. “That will be two bits please.”
Paying the vender for the strawberries, AJ placed them in his bag and turned to go find Apple Bloom. “Now, where could she have gotten off to?” He walked through the market for a little bit finding no trace of the little yellow earth pony. Then he heard the sound of somepony scolding the very pony he was looking for. AJ sighed. “Dammit, what happened now?”
Turning the corner AJ saw Rarity glaring down at the little yellow filly. “Apple Bloom I know what you were trying to do, but throwing the tomatoes in Ms. Honeysuckle’s face will not earn you a bartering cutie mark.”
“But she was tryin’ ta rip me off!” Apple Bloom said trying to counter Rarity’s argument.
“Her tomatoes have always been three for 1 bit. She most certainly was not trying to rip you off.”
“Why am I not surprised by this?” AJ asked as he came up next to Rarity. “So what are the damages?”
“Just a few tomatoes. At least no serious damage was done.”
“Well that’s a relief,” AJ said wiping his brow. “I should probably go apologize to her; we do still need tomatoes for dinner tonight. Applejack said she’d be cooking something special tonight.”
Rarity’s eyes started to practically glow with excitement. “Oh, is Applejack feeling better today?”
“Mmhm. She’d probably be more than happy to…” AJ suddenly stopped and winced; rubbing his head as he did so.
“Are you alright dear?”
“Yea, just a little headache. So, should I tell Applejack to expect a guest tonight?”
Rarity shook her head. “Unfortunately no. I have to get the house ready for tomorrow. Mother and Father are bringing Sweetie Belle for the week.”
It was Apple Bloom’s turn to erupt in excitement. “Sweetie Belle’s comin’ ta visit! Alright!”
AJ rolled his eyes. “Come on Apple Bloom, we have some apologizing to get out of the way before we do anything else.”
“But…”
“You either deal with me or I tell Big Mac what you did, and I don’t think he’ll be as forgiving as I will.” Seeing that she was defeated Apple Bloom lowered her head and nodded. “Good girl. Well, I’ll talk to you later Rarity.”
********************
A few days had passed since AJ and Apple Bloom went to the market. Ever since then AJ had been suffering from occasional headaches. He had no idea why. He even went to the doctor’s office to no avail. He just decided to shrug them off. It’s not like they were affecting his performance at work or anything.
AJ was rolling around in his bed, eyes clenched shut, whining as if he was in pain. His nightmare was interrupted by a knock on his door. His eyes shot open with a gasp. “Everythin’ alright in here?” Big Mac asked as he poked his head in.
“Just a nightmare. Nothing to worry about,” AJ grumbled out as he rubbed his eyes. He reached out for his glasses. “What?” Looking over he saw that, once again, they weren’t there. “Oh not again.” Getting out of bed he walked over to the writing table. “Okay, now I know I didn’t put them here, and I know I didn’t move you.” On the table, next to his glasses, sat his slightly unsheathed knife. Slipping on his glasses, he picked up the knife, re-sheathing it, and placed it back on top of the dresser. “Do you know if somepony came in here last night?”
Big Mac put a hoof to his chin. “Nnope.”
“Hmm, maybe I should go see Twilight.” AJ sighed. “Guess I know what I’m doing after work then.”
“Are you sure ya want ta bother her over something like this?”
“She won’t mind, I hope. I will be asking her to do some research, and you know how much she loves to research things.” AJ stretched his limbs. “We should go eat; there is work to be done.”
“Eeyup.”
********************
AJ knocked on the door of the library. “Come on in!” called out the voice inside. Opening the door he saw Twilight doing what she does best, studying. “Oh hello AJ, what can I do for you?”
“Hey Twilight.” AJ walked in and closed the door. “I was wondering, is it possible to do magic in your sleep?”
“Magic in your sleep? Why do you ask?”
“Well, something odd has been happening lately. I’ve been waking up and my glasses have been on the writing table, and just this morning I found my knife there too.”
“And how is that odd?” Twilight asked.
“I didn’t put them there. Unless I’m using it my knife stays on my dresser, and I always put my glasses on the night stand when I go to bed every night.”
“Did you ever think that maybe you were doing something over there before you went to bed?” Twilight deadpanned.
AJ shook his head. “I know for a fact that I didn’t touch that table last night.
Twilight sighed. “Well, I’m not entirely sure if it’s possible to perform magic while sleeping, I could look it up for you if you’d like.”
“That would be great. Thanks Twilight,” AJ said with a smile.
“Until then you may want to find someway to record what’s going on.”
“You think that will help?”
“The more information we have about this the better,” Twilight said as she floated a few books down. “Do you know anypony that has a video camera or something like that?”
AJ sat down and put a hoof to his chin as he thought. “I don’t think…wait. Ditzy has a camera. I could ask her if I could borrow it.”
“Good idea. I’ll get back to you when I know something.”
“Alright, I’ll talk to ya later Twilight.” AJ left the library with a new destination in mind.
********************
“Sooo you need the camera for what now?” asked Ditzy.
“To make sure I’m not going insane,” AJ jokingly said. Ditzy gave him an unamused look. “I’m going to record myself while I sleep. Things have been getting moved around in my room while I sleep and I want to know why.”
“Are you sure you haven’t just forgotten you’ve put them there?” Ditzy asked skeptically
“I’m sure. It’s happened a few times now, and I’d like to know why.”
“Hmm, I suppose you could use it for awhile. It’s been awhile since I’ve needed to use it anyway. Just be careful with it, okay.” Ditzy motioned for AJ to come in as she walked upstairs. A couple minutes later Ditzy returned with a camera case in her mouth. “Just had to make sure the memory was cleared for you,” she said as AJ levitated the case from her mouth.
“Thanks Ditzy, I’ll talk to you later.” AJ left
********************
“Ah don’t know. Ah just think yer bein’ crazy,” said Applejack as she watched AJ set up the camera. He was setting it up in the corner of the room so he could get as much as the room as possible. It was facing away from window, and you could see the writing table to the dresser on the opposite side of the bed.
“So do I, but you never know, I could be on to something.” AJ put the finishing touches on the camera. “There. With this I should be able to catch anything that happens tonight.”
“Whatever helps ya sleep sugarcube.” Applejack let out a big yawn. “Ah’m goin’ ta bed. You should do th’ same.”
“Planning on it. Goodnight Applejack.”
“Night.”
********************
“I’ll get it,” said AJ as he went to answer the door. When he opening the door he saw Twilight standing there with a smile on her face. “Oh, hey Twilight. Can I help you with anything?”
Twilight shook her head. “Oh no, I just came here to tell you my findings.”
“Awesome, come on in,” said AJ as he stepped to the side.
“I’d love to, but I have other thing I need to do.” Twilight lifted the flap on one of her bags and pulled out a bundle of at least 200 pages. “From what I found, it is possible to cast magic while asleep. Though it is pretty rare. Here’s some light reading with everything I found.”
AJ took the bundle of paper in his magic. ‘Light reading huh?’ he thought. “Thanks Twilight. I’ll start on this later toni…” The bundle fell to the ground as another headache struck; this one worse than the rest.
“Are you still getting those headaches?” Twilight asked. “Maybe you should go see the doctor again.”
“N-no, no I’m sure it’s nothing. I’ll just…take some more aspirin or something.” Using his hoof he slides the bundle into the house. “I’ll talk to ya later.” He threw the door shut unintentionally hard, nearly hitting Twilight in the face. He slunk down and started rubbing his head with both his hooves.
“Who was at th’ door?” Applejack asked as she walked into the room. She stopped when she saw AJ hunched over rubbing his head; a bundle of papers next to him. “What’s wrong?”
“Headache.” Getting up to his hooves, he tried to lift the bundle with his magic. Due to the headache he was unable to concentrate enough. “I think I’m going to go to bed early tonight.” He bit down on the string holding the bundle of papers together. Without acknowledging her further, he just walked by Applejack and up the stairs.
********************
“Are you sure he’s gettin’ up?” Applejack asked Big Mac as he sat down at the table.
“Pretty sure,” he said as he scratched the back of his head. “He said he was up when Ah went ta wake‘im.”
“Well, if he’s not down here in a minute Ah’ll go get’im mahself. We have work ta…” Applejack stopped when she heard heavy steps coming down the stairs. “Here he comes.”
Applejack got up and poked her head out of the kitchen to see the ragged looking indigo stallion descending the stairs. “It feels like I haven’t slept a wink in days.”
“You don’t look too good sugarcube. Ya still got that headache?”
AJ shook his head, causing him to stumble and lose his balance as he reached the final step; falling to the floor in a heap. “Well, I do now.”
He looked up to Applejack who was looking at him with wide eyes. “What happened?!”
“I-uh, I fell?”
“Not that! That!” she said as she pointed to his flank.
Turning his head AJ saw what Applejack was talking about. On his flank, where his cutie mark would be if he had one, was a circle with an x through it carved into his flesh. It was still lightly bleeding. His eyes went wide. “W-what happened?”
“Big McIntosh, get th’ first aid kit!” yelled Applejack.
AJ began to roll into a sitting position, stopping and yelping when he rolled onto his unexposed flank. Trying again, this time making sure to avoid his flank, he got to a sitting position. Looking down, the same thing was carved into his flank on the other side of his body too. “Applejack, what’s going on?” he asked as he started to panic.
“Ah don’t know.” Big Mac came out of the kitchen with the first aid kit in his mouth. “Let’s just worry about gettin’ those cleaned an’ dressed before we do anythin’ else.”
********************
After bandaging AJ’s wounds Applejack decided to give him the day off to help him calm down a bit. Instead of going out to have fun or anything like that, he decided to just lie there on the couch and mull over his thoughts. Apple Bloom was given the task of keeping him company, but she eventually went off to do her own thing when AJ made it clear he wasn’t in the mood to play.
“Why don’t ya watch some TV or somethin’?” AJ looked up to see Applejack standing in front of the couch. “If nothin’ else it’ll take yer mind off of this.”
AJ sighed. “As much as I’d love to do that, I have to know who did this. How would you like it if somepony carved something into your flank?”
“Ah see yer point.” Applejack sat down besides AJ. “Where’s Apple Bloom? Ah thought she was supposed ta be keepin’ ya company?”
“She went upstairs to play. I was too busy thinking to play with her.”
It was Applejack’s turn to sigh. That’s when her eyes lit up. “Wait a minute. Didn’t you set up that camera in yer bedroom for just somethin’ like this?”
AJ’s eyes lit up. “The Camera, of course! How could I forget about it?” Leaping off the couch he ran upstairs. Applejack followed behind at a slower pace. When she reached AJ’s room he was sitting at the writing table messing with the camera.
“OK, I’ll just hit play and…there.” The camera began to play the video recorded from the previous night. It started with AJ walking away from the camera after turning it on. He looked miserable, still suffering from the headache. The bundle of paper that Twilight had brought over was sitting on the writing desk unopened. Only being about 5 in the after noon it was still bright enough that he didn’t need the light on. He used his hoof to knock the glasses off his head. He bent down and picked them up in his mouth, placing them on the night stand before crawling into bed and throwing the covers over his head.
Not wanting to watch absolutely nothing, AJ hit the fast forward button. For about two hours AJ’s form rolled around in the bed before he finally fell asleep. His body stayed like that for about four hours, not moving aside from his breathing. That changed at around 11:00. The screen suddenly became a little fuzzy with static. His body sat up and stared straight ahead. His eyes, which were wide open, seemed to glow an eerie white. He got out of bed and moved to the writing table before sitting down. He just sat there for hours staring out the window. At around five in the morning his horn suddenly flared to life. It wasn’t clear what he was doing at first until the knife began floating across the room. It unsheathed as it floated over. AJ stood up and moved away from the table a bit. He positioned the knife at his flank and held it there for a moment before plunging it about an inch into his flesh, carving the symbol that they found earlier in the day. Once he was done with one side he moved the knife to the other and did the same. Once the deed was done, he sheathed the knife and placed it back on the dresser before crawling back into bed. About a minute later the static went away. He continued to lie there until he was woken up at six.
Applejack was shocked. She looked at AJ who looked like he was about to fly into a panic attack. “Sugarcube, ya did this ta yerself?”
“N-no, that can’t be right. I would never...” He started pacing around. “S-somepony must have altered the video or something. I didn’t do this.” He ran over to the dresser and grabbed the knife in his magic. He unsheathed it and tossed it to the floor almost immediately; staring at it with fear in his eyes. The blade had blood all over it. It was smeared all over it from being placed in the sheath.
Applejack looked between the knife and AJ before walking over to the shaking unicorn. “Now just calm down. Ah’m sure there’s a reasonable explanation fer what happened this mornin’. Ah’m sure Twilight’ll be able ta find out what’s goin’ on.” She kicked the knife under the bed so it couldn’t be seen, hoping it would calm AJ down. “Come on. Let’s go see Twilight.” She walked over to the table to grab the camera before leading AJ out of the room.
********************
Twilight watched was appalled by video; having to turn away when the knife was plunged in. She turned it off as he finished the first side. With a shocked expression she looked back to AJ who was having a panic attack on the other side of the library. Spike was trying and failing to calm him down. “So he doesn’t remember anything?”
Applejack shook her head. “Nothin’ at all. Anythin’ ya could do fer’im Twi?”
Twilight put a hoof to her chin. “Well…I did come across a spell a little while ago that would allow me to delve into his memories, see what happened from his point of view. Spike, could you bring me Clover the Clever’s ‘Magic of the Mind’ please?”
“Right away,” Spike said with a salute.
“What would that accomplish?” asked Applejack.
“Information. The more information we have on something like this the better. It may tell us why he did this.”
Spike came running over with a big blue book with a red label. “Here’s the book Twilight.”
“Thank you Spike.” She opened the book as she walked over to AJ. “Would it be okay if we tried this?”
AJ didn’t answer. He was to busy freaking out to realize she was even talking to him. “Well, Ah didn’t hear a no,” said Applejack as she led him over to the couch. Spike brought over a pillow for him to rest his head on. “Now just relax an’ let Twi do her thing.”
Twilight sighed as she closed the book. “Okay, while under the influence of the spell you’ll be put into a deep sleep.”
“Why will it put’im ta sleep?” asked Applejack.
“It’s a safety precaution. It will prevent him from moving too much or doing anything else that could interrupt the spell. It’s more for the safety of the caster than the pony who’s having the spell cast on them.” Twilight’s horn began to glow. She moved her head down and touched her horn to AJ’s forehead. His eyes shut and his body fell limp as the spell took hold.
Twilight’s world went dark for a moment before the memories began to be visible. The memory she was seeing was when she gave her research to AJ the previous day. She watched as he took the bundle of papers in his magic; complaining to himself about the sheer amount of reading she expected him to do. That’s when he experienced the headache. Due to the nature of the spell, not only was Twilight seeing what AJ saw and hearing what he thought, she also felt everything that happened to him. When the headache hit Twilight grunt in pain; almost losing her concentration. “You alright Twilight?”
“Yea, I’m fine. Let me just skip ahead a little bit.” Twilight skipped ahead to just before AJ woke up in the middle of the night. He opened his eyes and quickly sat up. As he looked straight ahead Twilight realized just how clear his vision was. Through his eyes the world seemed to be illuminated by a white light coming from nowhere. She also noticed that his vision seemed to be nothing short of perfect, even without his glasses. He got up and walked over to the table where he sat down and just stared out the window. An eerie chill crept up Twilight’s spine as he stared out the window. She felt as if somepony, or something was watching her. As he continued to stare out the window Twilight started to be consumed by more and more fear. She became fearful that her life was in danger, and she didn’t even know why.
Suddenly AJ’s body tensed up as his horn burst to life. A pulse of magic shot out in all directions, slamming into Twilight, Applejack, and Spike. All three of them were sent flying into the wall with tremendous force; knocking most of the books from the shelves.
Applejack was the first to start moving. She winced at the new bruise that was quickly forming on her side, and the ribs that were either cracked or out right broken. She slowly got to a standing position. Spike followed soon after. He was trying to hold back tears as he held onto his right arm above the elbow. He must have broken his arm when he slammed into the wall. Applejack looked over to Twilight who wasn’t getting up. She was lying on the floor in a shivering ball. “Twilight? You okay?”
Applejack walked over and put a hoof on Twilight’s shoulder. “NOOOOO!!! GET AWAY!!!” Twilight curled into an even tighter ball.
“Twilight, Twilight it’s okay! It’s me, Applejack!”
Twilight poked an eye out and looked at the orange earth pony. She slowly uncurled from her ball and looked around the room. “W-w-where’s Spike?”
“Don’t worry sugarcube, he’s here.” Applejack looked Twilight over. She had a gash behind her left ear that was bleeding, but other than that she didn’t see anything wrong. “We’re all a little banged up, but we’ll be alright.”
Twilight looked over to the couch. AJ was just now waking up. He rubbed his head as he looked around the room. “What happened here? Who did this?”
Spike sniffled as he wiped a tear out of his eye. “Y-you did.”
Looking over AJ saw his three injured friends. “Oh Celestia, what happened?” Getting off the couch he rushed over to help in any way he could. As he approached Twilight instinctively backed away. “Twilight it’s alright. I’m just trying to help.”
She didn’t know why, but she just couldn’t push this irrational fear out of her head. The fear seemed to be directed at AJ. “I-I-I’ll be fine, just please s-stay back.”
“But…” Every step he took towards Twilight made her back away more and more. Sighing he turned to Applejack. “What about you, are you okay?”
“A few broken ribs, nothing Ah haven’t had ta deal with before.” She slowly moved over to Twilight making sure move her ribs as little as possible. “We should get ta th’ hospital an’ get this taken care of.”
“F-fluttershy should be able to take care of Spike,” said Twilight. She knew a hospital that specializes in ponies wouldn’t know what to for a dragon with a broken arm.
“I’ll take Spike then,” AJ said as he carefully lifted Spike onto his back. “You two get to the hospital. Let’s go Spike.”
********************
“Are you sure you should be working with three broken ribs?” AJ asked Applejack as she lined up to buck a tree.
Applejack chuckled. “Th’ doctor said it was fine as long as Ah didn’t push mahself too hard. It ain’t like this is mah first time workin’ with broken ribs’re anythin’ like that.” She bucked the tree, successfully knocking all the apples down. “See, it’s easy.”
“Well at least you’re able to laugh about this,” AJ said in a melancholy tone.
Applejack sighed. “Listen, ya got ta stop beatin’ yerself up over this. It was an accident.”
“Yea, an accident that not only trashed the library, but also injured others.” AJ stood up. “I’m going to go see how Twilight and Spike are doing.” He walked past Applejack.
“In th’ middle of yer shift?”
He stopped dead in his tracks and looked back at Applejack who had a smirk on her face. The fact that he was still working had completely slipped his mind. “Oh, right. Guess I’ll go after work then.”
********************
AJ knocked on the door to the library. A few moments later it was opened by Fluttershy. “Oh, hello AJ.”
“Fluttershy? What are you doing here?” asked AJ.
“Well, after I dropped off Spike yesterday I decided I’d help around the library for awhile. It was awfully messy around here.”
AJ rubbed the back of his head. “Yea, my bad.” Looking past Fluttershy he saw Spike walking out of the kitchen. “Hey Spike. Sorry about the arm and everything.”
Spike looked over to the door and smiled. He waved his good hand and shook his head. “Don’t worry about it. It was an accident after all. Besides Twilight’s letting me have some time off until my arm gets better. Do you know how much TV I could watch now? Or how many comic books I’ll be able to read?”
“Who’s at the door?” asked Twilight as she came down the stairs. Some of her mane was shaved off around where she got the stitches, and she had a bandage around her head. When she saw who it was she locked up. The fear from the previous day slowly began creeping its way into her head once again. This time she was able to force it back down though. “Oh, hello AJ.”
“Hey Twilight. Can I come in?” Twilight nodded and AJ walked in past Fluttershy who closed the door behind him. She flew into the kitchen to finish cleaning. “How’s your head?”
“A little sore, but I’ll be able to manage,” she said as she rubbed her head. “Is there anything you needed?”
“Well, I was wondering if you found anything out yesterday. With everything that happened we weren’t able to talk about it.”
Twilight clearly looked uncomfortable. She let out a big sigh. “Why don’t we sit down.” The two of them walked over to the couch and sat down. “Where do I begin?”
“Let’s start with the memory spell thing. Did you learn anything?” AJ asked. He was hoping Twilight would know something about what’s going on.
Twilight shook her head. “To tell you the truth, I’m not entirely sure. The only thing I can really remember from the memory was that when you were looking out the window…it felt like something was looking back at you. I remember feeling like something was watching my every move, like something was after me.”
“Like something was…after you?” AJ asked with a hint of worry in his voice.
Twilight nodded. “Yea. I don’t think I’ve ever been more afraid in my life. AJ, I think it’s after you. Whatever it is will stop at nothing to get you. It already showed that it could make you do whatever it wants by making you cut that symbol into your flank.”
AJ started rubbing the bandages that covered his flanks. “Anything else?”
“It’s just a theory but, I think I know why you’ve been getting all those headaches.” AJ rubbed his head. “I think it’s his way making sure you can’t retaliate.”
“What makes you say that?”
“Because there’s nopony that could properly defend themselves when in that much pain. If you’re constantly suffering like that it’ll leave you vulnerable. I also think it’s trying to prevent anypony from helping you. I believe that’s what that pulse of magic was yesterday. It was keeping me from finding out too much.”
AJ sat there for a minute taking it all in. “Is there anything we can do?”
“I’m not entirely sure. I think the first thing we should do is send the camera’s memory card and a report of what’s been happening to…” AJ suddenly yelled out in pain, interrupting Twilight. He started grabbing at his head as he writhed on the couch; eventually falling to the floor. “No! AJ, you have to fight it’s control! Don’t let it…”
********************
Fluttershy was busy washing the dishes when she heard the commotion in the other room. She dried her hooves on a towel and floated through the doorway. “What’s going on out…” Fluttershy’s eyes went wide as she gasped at the site she was witnessing. AJ’s posture was low and dangerous. His horn was glowing. Right in front of him Twilight was hovering in the air, an icy blue aura surrounding her throat. She was grasping at her neck with her hooves. AJ was strangling Twilight with his magic.
“You shouldn’t have gotten involved!” growled AJ.
Fluttershy was frozen with fear. She tried to make her body move, but it wouldn’t. Twilight’s eyes were slowly starting to roll back into her head. Fluttershy snapped out of it when she heard Twilight force out a strained scream as her body began to fall limp. She rushed over to AJ and ‘tackled’ him. When AJ felt the bump, he turned his head to look at her. Fluttershy stared deeply into his eyes. Something wasn’t right. She suddenly saw a tear roll down his cheek. For a moment his eyes returned to normal as he mouthed ‘help me.’ He suddenly collapsed to the floor, clutching his head in pain. His horn stopped glowing and Twilight fell to the floor with a loud thud. She immediately took a loud inhale of air before coughing violently. AJ struggled to his hooves and bolted for the door; charging through it.
“What’s going on down here?!” Spike asked as he rushed downstairs, only to see Fluttershy sitting over Twilight who was still on the floor. “Twilight!” He ran over to Twilight’s side.
Twilight weakly lifted her head to look at Fluttershy. Her voice was quiet and raspy. “F-fluttershy, we…” She stopped and coughed a bit. “We have to help him. He’s in danger.”
“B-but Twilight, what about you? You’re in no condition to…”
“I’ll be fine. For now go get get the girls and find him.” With Fluttershy’s help she slowly pushed herself up to a sitting position. “I just need some time to recover. I’ll join up with you when I can.”
“But…”
“Fluttershy, there’s no time to argue! Just go!” Fluttershy eeped and flew out the door.
********************
“He did what now?!” yelled Applejack.
“Please don’t be mad at him Applejack. He wasn’t himself,” Fluttershy said trying to calm the orange mare down.
“How can ya defend’im when he tried ta kill Twilight?!”
“Because it wasn’t him!”
“What do you mean ‘it wasn’t him’?” Applejack asked in confusion.
“His eyes were different,” Fluttershy said with complete sincerity.
“His eyes?”
“Yes. They looked empty.” Applejack looked completely confused. “A pony’s eyes can tell a lot about them. It’s almost like they have their own language.”
Applejack shook her head. “Ah have no idea what yer talkin’ about, but I guess Ah’ll believe ya fer now. Who’s all lookin’ right now?”
“Rainbow Dash, Pinkie, and Rarity are already looking around town. I told them to come find me If they learn anything. Come on, we should hurry and help them look.”
Fluttershy turned to go back to town when she saw Rainbow Dash flying right at them. “Fluttershy, Cloud Chaser said she saw AJ running in the direction of the Everfree Forest.”
“The Everfree Forest? Why would he go in there?” asked Fluttershy.
“I don’t know, but we need to go in after him. It’s going to start getting dark soon, and then it’ll be almost impossible to see in there. Pinkie and Rarity are already on their way to the entrance of the forest. I’ll go get Twilight and meet you girls there.” Rainbow dashed back into town as quickly as she could as Applejack and Fluttershy ran to the forest entrance.
********************
AJ’s senses slowly came back to him. He didn’t know where he was. The last thing he remembered was talking to Twilight before getting another headache. His entire body screamed with pain. His ears kept being assaulted by a constant beeping that was starting to give him a headache. He tried to move his body which only caused more pain. “I think he’s waking up!” came a voice from somewhere.
He slowly tried to open his eyes, but was forced to close them when they were assaulted by the bright light. “Somepony turn th’ lights down, it’s too bright fer’im!” shouted a different voice.
After a minute he tried opening his eyes again. It was a fruitless effort as the world was nothing but one big blur. After a little bit his eyes began to focus and the world became a little bit clearer. His view was filled with an orange blob. “A-a-appwjah?”
“Ah’m here sugarcube, don’t you worry.”
“W-where am I?” he weakly asked.
“Yer in th’ hospital. You were in pretty bad shape.”
AJ let that sink in for a minute. He looked around the room and saw a two other colored blobs, one purple the other blue. He turned back to Applejack. “What happened?”
“I’ll tell him,” said the blue blob, identifying it as Rainbow Dash from the voice as it moved closer.
********************
After meeting at the entrance of the forest the girls had split into three teams of two. Twilight and Fluttershy, Applejack and Rarity, and Rainbow Dash and Pinkie Pie. Each team had one pony who would send up some kind of flare if they found AJ. Twilight and Rarity would use magic while Pinkie used a fireworks bandolier she pulled out of the bushes. Once the flare was sent up they would all meet up back at the entrance of the forest with AJ.
“Do you see anything yet Pinkie?” Rainbow asked as she flew overhead searching around.
“Nope! He must be a really good hide and seek player.”
“What! Pinkie, this is serious! We don’t have time for games!”
“I know that silly, but if we haven’t found him yet he must be good. Now I know what games to plan for my next party,” Pinkie said with a big grin.
Dash groaned and facehoofed. “Listen Pinkie, It’s starting to get dark. We’re running out of time. If we don’t hurry up and find him, we may never…” Dash was interrupted by a blood curdling scream coming from about a half mile away from them. “Oh shit! Come on Pinkie!” She flew down and wrapped her hooves around Pinkie, and bolted for the location of the scream.
It only took about a half a minute for Dash and Pinkie to maneuver through the trees and reach the clearing the scream came from. Rainbow’s fears were realized when they got there. In the middle of the clearing sat AJ. His body violently convulsed for a few seconds before falling completely still. He was a mess. He had multiple gaping wounds all over his body. He had very severe burns around all four of his ankles and throat. The bandages on his flanks were ripped to shreds and the symbols cut into him were bleeding once again. His now broken glasses were sitting a little ways away from him.
Dropping Pinkie, Dash rushed over to AJ’s body to check for a pulse. “He’s still alive! Pinkie, fire off the flare and hang on tight!” Pinkie pulled the cord on the bandolier, sending all the fireworks on it into the sky where they went off. She jumped onto Rainbow’s back as Rainbow picked AJ’s motionless body up off the ground.
********************
“I left Pinkie at the entrance to let everypony know what happened. I was barley able to get you here on time.” Rainbow’s voice cracked. “Any longer and…” Twilight came up and put a hoof on her shoulder.
“You've been out fer four days. We were so worried about ya.”
They heard a knock on the door before Nurse Redheart walked in. “Oh, you’re awake.” She smiled and walked up to the bed. “How are you feeling? Are you in a lot of pain?” AJ slowly nodded his head. “That’s to be expected. Just rest for now.” She turned to the other three ponies. “You two should be getting home. It’s getting kind of late and visiting hours are about to end.”
Applejack sighed. “Alright. Come on Rainbow, let’s go.” She looked to AJ. “Glad ta have ya back.”
“We’ll come visit you tomorrow, alright?” With a smile Rainbow floated out of the room.
Redheart turned to Twilight. “Will you be staying again?”
Twilight nodded. “He really shouldn’t be alone right now.”
“Alright, have a nice night then.” Redheart walked to the door. “I’ll be back in the morning to see how he’s doing.”
Twilight waited till Redheart closed the door before she moved closer to the bed. Using her magic she lifted a case from the table. “I got you a new pair of glasses, why don’t you try them on.” She opened the case and lifted the glasses onto AJ’s head. He blinked a few times to adjust to the new glasses. “How are they?”
“Fine.”
Twilight let out a heavy sigh. “AJ, I need you to answer me something.” He slowly turned his head and looked at Twilight with weary eyes. “Was it just some animal that attacked you? Or was this that things doing?”
AJ blinked his eyes as he thought. “I…I don’t remember.”
Twilight sighed. “Damn, I was hoping you would know. I don’t like this.”
AJ grunted in pain as the throbbing in his head began to intensify. Twilight was too busy muttering to herself to hear him. He looked back at Twilight when he noticed something. The shadow in the corner behind her didn’t seem right. As he continued to look, he could see something forming in the shadows. He wasn’t sure what it was, but he was pretty sure he could make out a face of some kind. “T-twilight?”
“Huh? What’s wrong?” She saw AJ looking past her with fear in his eyes. She turned her head and looked into the corner. She saw nothing. “What is it? Did you see something?” She eyed the corner, or more importantly the shadow, with suspicion. “Well, I don’t see anything, but I think it would be a good idea to keep the light on tonight.”
********************
AJ was released from the hospital three days later. Twilight had suggested that somepony accompany AJ everywhere he goes. The only privacy he ever got was when he went to the bathroom, though privacy was the last thing on his mind right now. He was quickly becoming paranoid of the shadows. He refused to enter any room unless it was properly lit, claming ‘he will get me’ when questioned about it. At the moment he was lying on the couch in the library being questioned by Twilight. “Hey, Are you listening?”
“Huh?” AJ rubbed his head and looked at Twilight. “What did you say?”
“I asked if you’ve seen anything else since yesterday.” She got ready to start writing more notes down.
“I…I don’t know. I think I saw something last night outside my window.”
“Are you sure it wasn’t just an owl or something?”
“Owls aren’t that big.”
“How about headaches, are you still getting them?” she asked as she wrote her notes down.
AJ shook his head. “they’ve only been small since I got back from the hospital.”
Twilight smiled. “Well, that’s good. At least you seem to be improving in that area.” The door could be heard opening down stairs. “Oh, Spike and Fluttershy must be back from the market.” The sound of little claws could be heard coming up the stairs.
When Spike came into view it could be seen that he was sucking on a stick of rock candy. “Hey Twilight, were home.”
“Welcome back Spike. Did Fluttershy buy that for you?”
“Mmhm. She got a big chocolate chip cookie for you too.” Spike looked over to the couch and saw AJ lying there, looking at nothing in particular. “What’s he doing here?”
“Well, with everything that’s happened to him I thought it would be a good idea to send something to the Princess. She may know what’s going on. I’m just trying to get as much information as I can.” She showed her notes to Spike.
Fluttershy’s hoofsteps could be heard as she came up the steps. “Hello Twilight. I got you a cookie from the mark…Oh, hello AJ. I didn’t know you were here.” AJ didn’t answer. His eyes were wide and he was taking quick breaths. “AJ?”
He suddenly screamed out and clutched his head. He rolled onto the floor. “AJ!” Twilight got up off her chair and rushed over. “Oh no, he’s having another headache!”
AJ suddenly settled down as the headache left as quickly as it came. The pain was replaced by lightheadedness. He kept his eyes shut as he lifted his head. He gasped when he opened his eyes. The room was covered in blood. He slowly started backing up until he bumped into something. He turned around and froze in horror. On the floor behind him sat Fluttershy’s motionless body. Her eyes had been torn from her skull. One of them sat next to her body. It also looked like her throat had been ripped out. Screaming in terror, he backed away from the body.
He backed up until he bumped against the chair Twilight was sitting on. “This isn’t happening, this isn’t happening, this isn’t happening.” He started looking around the room. “Twilight? Twilight where are you?” In his search he saw a purple leg sticking out from behind the couch. He walked over to the couch and looked behind it. “Twilight? Twilight is that yyyaaAAAHHHHH!!!” He had found Twilight. Her body had been flayed open with her organs scattered on the floor surrounding her. Her face was one of complete horror, and her horn had been broken off. Next to her was Spikes body. He had been staked to the floor through the neck with Twilight’s horn.”
AJ fell to the floor, screaming at the top of his lungs. He covered his eyes with his legs, hoping that everything would just go away. “I’m coming for you.” His eyes shot open. He lifted his head and looked around. In the middle of the room stood a figure completely shrouded in shadows. He couldn’t make out what it was, but he knew one thing. Whatever it was, it wasn’t friendly. It lifted an appendage and pointed towards AJ. “I’m coming for you.”
Tendrils of darkness formed from the figure and slowly headed straight for AJ. They crept closer and closer. AJ tried to back away, but one of the tendrils grabbed his leg, stopping him in his tracks. He screamed out as all the tendrils grabbed him and started dragging him to the center of the room. When he was close enough, the shadowy figure lifted its appendage high above his head. All AJ could do is watch as the appendage was thrust downward. “NOOOO!!!”
“AJ, snap out of it!” AJ felt something shaking his body. “You have to snap out of it!”
AJ opened his eyes and looked around. Twilight was standing above him, shaking his body. The worry was obvious on her face. Next to her sat Fluttershy. On Twilight’s other side stood Spike. “T-t-twilight? Y-y-your alive?”
Twilight looked confused. “Of course I’m alive. Why wouldn’t I be?”
“B-but I saw you. You were dead. You all died.”
“Uhh, no we didn’t,” said Spike. “You got a headache and started freaking out. You scream really loud by the way.”
“Spike!” Twilight shook her head. “But he is right. Nothing happened to us. We’re all fine, see.”
“I KNOW WHAT I SAW!!!” yelled AJ
Twilight backed off a couple steps. “Okay, okay, I believe you. Just calm down.” Twilight took a deep breath. “Why don’t you lay back on the couch and tell me everything you saw.”
********************
AJ was at his wit’s end. Since that day at the library he’s been plagued with gruesome visions everywhere he went. He watched Rainbow Dash plummet to her death. Pinkie Pie and the Cakes’ bodies were harvested to make all kinds of sweet treats. Rarity and Sweetie Belle were skinned alive and their flesh was used for dresses. Apple Bloom was brutally beaten to death. Applejack was crucified to an apple tree, and Big Mac was split in half by his plow. The shadowed entity from his vision in the library was present every time; becoming more and more visible and defined each time.
The visions got more and more vivid and realistic as the days went on. They were quickly working on his last thread of sanity. To keep himself from seeing anymore death he resorted to barricading himself in his room. He put the dresser up against the door and nailed the table up against the window to prevent any pegasi from entering through it.
He was able to keep himself hidden from the world for about three days before Big Mac eventually bucked the door and dresser to pieces. Rainbow and Pinkie literally dragged him out of the room kicking and screaming. They were getting tired of him being a hermit and they wanted him to socialize with others. They ended up dragging him to Sugarcube Corner for a little get together.
At this moment he was sitting at his own table with his head buried under his forelegs. He was hoping that if he couldn’t see anything, he wouldn’t be getting visions. This was made infinitely harder by Pinkie constantly poking him in the side. “Come on, why won’t you join in the fun?” She grabbed his tail in her mouth and started to pull him over to the others. “You are going to have fun, or my name isn’t Pinkie Pie.”
“But your name IS Pinkie Pie,” grumbled AJ. He was tired and exhausted from going days without sleep, and what little energy he had left he exhausted on the way to the store. He weakly attempted to drag himself out of Pinkie’s grasp with zero success.
After successfully dragging AJ over to the rest of the group, she sat him up in a chair and went over to sit down in her own chair. “There, now everypony can have fun!” Pinkie said with a big smile.
AJ almost immediately buried his head again. “Well, how are you doing AJ?” asked Twilight. The only response she got was an exhausted groan. “Oookay, I’ll take that as a ‘not so good.’” Twilight took a drink of her coffee. “I just sent my report to the Princess before coming here. I’m sure once she reads everything she’ll be able to help.” AJ groaned again. He eventually started tuning everything out. He just sat there trying to make the outside world go away.
He sat there for about an hour before he began getting that all too familiar throbbing in his head. It kept getting worse and worse as time went on. His suffering didn’t go unnoticed. “Darling, are you alright?” asked Rarity. AJ shook his head. The throbbing in his head kept getting worse until he started to feel nauseous. “Maybe you should go lie…” Rarity was interrupted when AJ dropped his head and emptied what little was in his stomach onto the floor. Rarity looked horrified and backed away from the table.
AJ kept his forehead against the table for a minute to make sure he got everything out. He heard somepony coming closer to him. “Oh no, is everything alright? Are you…” The voice cut out.
Wondering why the world had suddenly gotten quiet, he lifted his head. He jumped out of his seat at the site in front of him. In front of him stood six dead, decaying pony bodies, all looking right at him. “He’s coming for you,” whispered the body right in front of him. All the bodies suddenly started moving and slowly began conversing on him.
“He is always watching,” whispered another.
“You’re never alone.”
“Nothing can stop him.”
“He will get you.”
“He will kill you.”
AJ started backing away from the zombie ponies. He kept backing away until he hit the wall. “No, no, no, no, no, no.” He tried to look around the room for a way out, but the zombies were already starting to surround him. Suddenly the world became engulfed in flames. He covered his eyes to shield them from the bright light.
“I’m coming for you.”
AJ’s body froze at the sound of that voice. He was compelled by some unknown force to open his eyes. In front of him the six zombie ponies were standing in a line. Behind them, standing in the flames, was the shadowy figure from his visions. The only difference was he was no longer shrouded by the shadows. It was a pony, but it was no ordinary pony. It’s legs were thin and long. It stood taller than even Celestia. He was wearing a black suit with a red tie. His coat was completely white. He had no tail or mane. But the most defining feature was his head. This…thing had no face. It’s cutie mark was the symbol that was carved into his flank.
AJ had never been more terrified in his entire life. He was so scared he didn’t even notice one of the zombies coming up to him. The feeling of a hoof touching his foreleg knocked him out of his stunned state. He looked over to see the zombie that was touching him. He shut his eyes, tore his leg away, and spun around. “GET AWAY FROM ME!!!” He lifted his hind legs and kicked the zombie as hard as he could. When his hooves connected, he heard somepony yelling. He opened his eyes to see that the world was normal once again. Behind him he heard somepony whimpering. He turned around to see Fluttershy sprawled out on the floor covering her face as she cried. Blood could be seen starting to pool under her head. “Fluttershy?”
He took a step forward, but was immediately knocked to the floor by Rainbow. She glared down at him. “What the hell was that for?!” Rarity and Pinkie were leaning over Fluttershy trying to help. When she saw that AJ wasn’t even attempting to stand up, Rainbow flew over to where Fluttershy was laying.
Twilight and Applejack walked over to AJ. “What happened?” asked AJ.
“Fluttershy was just tryin’ ta help ya an’ ya kicked’er,” said Applejack in a level tone.
“No.” AJ buried his head in his hooves and started shaking.
“Was it…was it another vision?” asked Twilight.
AJ was silent for a minute as his head dropped. “I saw him.”
“Who?” asked Twilight. AJ was silent. “Tell me, who did you see?!” He didn't say another word. He just continued to look at the floor.
********************
It was a quiet morning in the Apple family home. After everything that happened the previous day Applejack had walked AJ home where he immediately went up to his room and secluded himself in once again. While they were gone Big Mac had replaced the door with one of the other doors to a hall closet. When questioned why they were home so early, the only thing Applejack could think say was ‘things didn’t go to well.’ She told him later what had actually happened and had to stop him from marching upstairs and murdering AJ where he stood.
It was about seven in the morning when they heard a knock on the door. Applejack answered the door to see Twilight and at the door. “Hey Twi. How’s Fluttershy?”
Twilight sighed. “The damage is pretty bad. She’s going to need reconstructive surgery. How is he?”
“Still sleepin’ if Ah had ta guess.” Applejack rubbed the back of her head. “Ah haven’t really checked on’im yet t’day.”
Twilight looked appalled. “Applejack, he needs constant supervision! Especially after what happened yesterday!”
“Ah know, it’s just…” Applejack was cut off when a blood chilling scream filled the house. “That sounded like Apple Bloom!” She rushed through the house and up the stairs. Twilight followed behind.
When they reached the top of the stairs they saw Apple Bloom curled up at one side of the hall screaming her head off. Big Mac was slowly backing away from AJ’s room with a horrified look on his face. Worried of what was in the room, Applejack rushed over. She covered her mouth in horror at what she saw. “Oh Celestia no.” AJ was lying in a pool of blood next to his bed. Blood was sprayed across the floor in front of him. Blood was still slowly pouring out of the slit in his throat. His bloodied knife was lying on the floor next to him.
********************
After they had found AJ’s body, Twilight immediately ran home to inform Celestia what had happened. With all she had read, she sent Aquilinus and a few others of her royal guard to go collect evidence.
The Apples were all outside, watching as the paramedics loaded the body into the ambulance wagon. They also watched as Aquilinus came out the door carrying the camera. He walked up to them. “Did any of you watch this?”
They all looked at each other. “No. None of us went inta th’ room,” said Big Mac
Aquilinus handed the camera to Applejack. “I think you should. It looks like it was meant for you.”
Applejack grabbed the camera in her hooves. She looked to Big Mac who just nodded. Turning it around, she hit the play button.
********************
AJ was sitting in the chair at the writing table. The only light in the room was the lamp on the table, illuminating only a small part of the room. AJ himself looked like death. His coat was pale, and his mane was a mess. His eyes looked dead. He was playing with his unsheathed knife.
“This is my final message to you all.” He took a deep breath. “For the last month I have been hunted by some...creature. He’s been making my life a living hell in an attempt to break me. To make me an easier target. Well, it worked.” He was silent for a moment. “He’s gotten into my head. Bent me to his will. He’s made hurt other ponies, all to turn my friends against me.” He shook his head. “Nopony trusts me anymore, and I don’t blame them. It’s not like it would have mattered anyway. Nopony could have helped me. He hurt everypony who even tried.” AJ got up from the chair. “I can’t take it anymore. If I wait any longer he will get me. This must be done. If I don’t do this, he will. To all of my friends, to those I love…I’m sorry.”
AJ reached out and pressed down on the camera to turn it off. He missed the button though. Taking his knife with him he walked over to the bed and sat down next to it. He closed his eyes and lifted his head. Bringing the knife to his throat, he hesitated when the metal touched his skin. He took a deep breath and…
********************
Applejack turned the video off. She didn’t need, or want to see what was about to happen. She handed the camera back to Aquilinus. “I’m sorry for your loss.” Taking the camera to add to the rest of the stuff they collected.
“Applejack?”
The three of them turned around to see a deflated Pinkie Pie and Mrs. Cake standing there. “Pinkie? What’re ya doin’ here?”
“Is…is it true? Did he really…?” Pinkie asked on the brink of crying. Applejack couldn’t lie about something like this. She just nodded.
Pinkie broke down in tears. Mrs. Cake wrapped her in a hug. She looked up to the Apples. “If you’re uncomfortable staying in your house for awhile you’re more than welcome to stay with us as for long as you need.”
********************
The Apples were getting ready for bed. The cakes were kind enough to give them an open room in Sugarcube Corner for as long as they needed. Applejack and Apple Bloom took the bed while Big Mac just took a pillow and a blanket on the floor. They heard a knock on the door. Big Mac got up to answer it. Pinkie was at the door with a pillow and a blanket in her hooves. It looked like she had started to cry once again. “Ms. Pinkie? What’s wrong?”
“C-can I sleep in here with you guys?”
‘She must be takin’ this pretty hard,’ Applejack thought to herself. “Of coure ya can sugarcube.” Applejack got up and hugged Pinkie. Big Mac went back to his makeshift bed. “Now tell me, what’s wrong?”
Pinkie sniffled. “I-I’m scared Applejack. It feels like somepony’s watching me.” Big Mac’s eyes grew wide. He whipped his head to look at Pinkie; the horror clear on his face.
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My little pony © Hasbro
Friendship is magic © Lauren Faust
