Born to Light

Twilight Sparkle awoke upon a mattress of soft grass. Somehow, her bedroom had been replaced by a forest. It was not the Everfree Forest, however, for the trees were too massive and the surrounding area too dark. Twilight could barely even see herself through the darkness.

There was a faint light up ahead. Assuming the light to mean other life, Twilight hastily sped towards the source. Maybe then could she figure out where she had ended up.

The forest was quite a frightening place; Twilight half-expected some sort of monster to jump out from behind the trees, or a horde of zombies to rise from the ground. Or maybe even something similar to a scene from Departure. Twilight laughed at the idea, thinking she had developed an unhealthy obsession with the manuscript. But alas, she made assumptions too quickly, as Twilight tripped over something on the ground.

Using her horn as a temporary light source, Twilight was horrified to learn of the thing she had tripped over. It was Rainbow Dash. More specifically, it was the body of Rainbow Dash. She lay limp on the ground before Twilight. There was no pulse, no breathing. She was dead.

Holding back sorrow and anger, Twilight examined the body and hoped for an explanation. She found it. There was an enormous gash spanning Rainbow Dash's back. It appeared to have been cleaved open by an axe of some sort. One of her wings was missing, hacked clean off. Part of her right ear appeared to have been gnawed off. Just then, Twilight took notice of the blood decorating the ground and a nearby tree. Though it clearly was not the time for black bile, Twilight jokingly expected to find Fluttershy's decapitated head tied to the tree. Luckily, no such thing was present, only Dashie's missing wing hanging from a tree branch.

Concluding her analysis of the crime scene, Twilight deduced that Rainbow Dash had most likely been murdered by a serial killer or something similar who may still be abiding in the forest. She then realized that she was in grave danger.

Trot turned to gallop and gallop turned to a full-on sprint as Twilight bolted towards the light. Forget going home; if anypony was really there, she'd need to warn whoever she may find of the dangerous killer on the loose, before it was too late.

***

There was nothing. The light emanated from a single lamp post, of which Twilight didn't even want to learn of the power source. Suddenly, a voice called out to her.

Stay in the light. You are safe in the light.

Before Twilight could ask who was speaking, the light flickered and diminished. She heard it again.

You are safe in the light. The darkness cannot harm you there.

Twilight noticed a shadowy figure in the distance. It appeared to be another pony.

The mare turned to face Twilight. Her face was covered in shadows. It was hard to make her out in the darkness of the forest that surrounded them, but the axe she lifted was plain to see. It glistened with the blood of her victim.

She grinned madly. The darkness was alive, distorting her features.

It was a scene from a nightmare, but Twilight was awake.

The mare spoke: "Hi, I'm Pinkie Pie!" Her voice was as distorted as her face; the pitch shifted continually. "I threw this party just for you!"

"P-P-Pinkie?? What's going on?" Twilight muttered, terrified to death. "W-what happened to you?"

"Are you excited? 'Cause I'm so excited I've never been so excited!"

"Pinkie Pie, snap out of it!!"

The shadow-coated Pinkie Pie ran over to Twilight and swung the axe.

You must stay in the light. Your life depends on it.

Then, the axe was upon her.