Equestria's New Nightmare

Chapters

1- And now I lay me down to sleep
2- Pray the lord my soul to keep
3- And if I die before I wake
4- Pray the lord my soul to take
5- Hush little baby, don't say a word
6- And nevermind that noise you heard

1- And now I lay me down to sleep

And now I lay me down to sleep
Pray Luna my soul to keep
And if I should die before I wake
Pray Luna my soul to take.
-Ancient Equestrian Prayer

Thursday night into Friday

Dreams have flavors. This is not something that has become common knowledge over time due to the rarity of somnolent magic as a special talent. Luna could tell a calm dream from a nightmare from an erotic adventure just by the way the dream tastes as she approaches. Erotic dreams taste like habaneros and old stained clothes, and she avoids these out of habit and respect for a pony's privacy. One only needs to walk into a dream which features oneself in a compromising position with the dreamer once to know to avoid them in the future. Nightmares taste, surprisingly, like chocolate mousse. This makes them both easy and desirable for Luna to find for elimination.

Tonight is light duty as far as dream guarding goes. Two nightmares have been vanquished, one of which was ended in a spray of phantom candy from a hydra turned into a piñata, and only two more currently exist in the dreamscape. The first one she chooses to visit looks like a false alarm. A foal is playing with bath toys while his mother watches. Nothing seems to be out of the ordinary here. The water is normal, the foal is normal, the tub is normal, and even the bath toys are entirely mundane. The little colt is the dreamer, so even his mother appears perfectly normal. The only thing that seems even remotely odd is a green and red snake balloon that is wrapped around the faucet and tied in place, but even that makes sense as a precaution to cushion the impact if the child were to hit his head on the fixture.

Luna chalks this one up to having just missed the scary dream. Dreams of foals are notoriously fluid and subject to random shifts in tone, so it's no surprise to her that a dreamer this young managed to escape unscathed. A brief glow from her horn animates the pink octopus the foal is playing with briefly before Luna turns to exit and go to that last chocolatey intrusion in her nightly rounds. Thus she misses the squeal of plastic on metal as the inflatable snake unties itself and slips into the bath...

The next nightmare she visits is more true to form than the last, and one that has her immediately cringe as the scene comes into proper focus. An intensive care unit at Ponyville hospital with two off-white unicorns shouting at each other while a filly is all-but covered in bloody bandages on the bed next to them with her horn snapped in half and leaking green sparks. Rarity and her mother, Althaea, arguing while Sweetie Belle is apparently critically injured. Luna's eyes light up as she scans the scene intently to identify the constructs and dreamer. Ah, a mother's worries.

"Gosh darn it, Rarity, you can't even keep your little sister safe for one week while your father and I take a trip to meet with the Oranges in Manehatten to renegotiate the bulk supply discount on oranges for the natural flavors in my sore throat remedy! I get back and poor Sweetie is in a coma with a shattered horn and all you can tell me is that you don't know what she was doing?!"

"She doesn't give me an itinerary of what crusades she has planned with the others, mother. I honestly expected you to put your hoof down about the outlandish things she does with her friends sometimes before this happened. This is your fault and you know it!"

Luna scowls as the family argument becomes even more heated, and blows become more and more likely. Her own history with her sister that ended in her thousand years of banishment combined with the potential for injuries sustained in the nightmare state to translate to the physical body forces her hoof. "Enough of this foolishness!" She steps through the border and fully inserts herself in the dream while glaring at both of the grown mares. Her attention turns to Althaea in full. "The only one you are hurting is yourself in this scenario, my little pony. Your concern for the safety of your younger daughter is admirable, but your blame is misplaced." She closes her eyes for a moment and sighs before allowing herself to smile. Her tone loses the harsh edge of rebuke in order to become softer and caring as she continues."Furthermore, little Sweetie is safe at home in her bed right now. Home, not in a hospital with a broken horn."

"Princess Luna? I...I'm sorry, but are you really here?" Althaea is understandably shaken by the sudden appearance of royalty in the ICU complete with the royal shout to announce her entrance. A look around quickly reveals that Rarity has vanished into thin air, and the walls of the hallway look slightly tilted. "Wait...you just appeared there, walking through the wall, and now my Rarity's up and vanished faster than my husband's dinner. I-I'm dreaming, right?"

"Indeed you are. A nightmare about your little Sweetie being injured severely in an accident with her friends. You and I both know that this means you need to talk to her about what she's doing that so frightens you." Luna takes another quick look around before tapping her hoof against the floor three times. The hospital fades and is quickly replaced by a meadow.

A picnic fades in with an uninjured Sweetie chasing a butterfly while her father, Popped Cork, lounges next to a platter of sandwiches. "There's my Marshmallow!" His expression changes from happy to see his wife to excited as he notices the Princess next to her. "Did you finally get that commendation for your sore throat remedy? You've been working on perfecting it for so long!"

Althaea looks aside at Luna and simply nods. "Thank you for your help, your majesty. I think I can take it from here."

"Tis only what I should be doing. Be sure to give your daughters my regards if you see them before I do in the waking world." With that said, she steps back through the barrier between the individual dreamer and the dreamscape. She's done well in helping out so far tonight, it is time to take a break from guarding dreams to do some late-night paperwork. She will give herself an hour before checking back in to see if more nightmares have cropped up.

Sunday morning, 11 AM

"Coroner Grim Facts recording audio log of findings on tan and brown pegasus foal: male. Subject appears to be in perfect health other than being dead. No signs of trauma, bruising, long-term abuse, or any known visible defects that could have caused this. I'd be ruling it as SIDS - asphyxiation if it weren't for the fact that he has his mark. It's impossible for the mother or sister to have done this intentionally, and an uncontrolled magic surge from the sister would have left traces. Hay, any magic would have left traces. If the colt choked on his blanket there'd at least be fibers in his throat. It's like his lungs just shut down and refused to breathe. Death was accidental, mother is fit to keep the sister. I need a drink. Sometimes its harder telling them they did nothing wrong. Forwarding this conclusion and all documentation to the princesses as is protocol for any suspicious and unexplainable deaths of children."

Author's Note

The quote at the top of this chapter is so old it should need no explanation other than why it is relevant to this story. It is recited by the heroine of the original Nightmare on Elm Street movie just before the climax.

2- Pray the lord my soul to keep

The black of night draws 'cross the skies.
The darkness grows as daylight dies.
She'll save your soul from dream's demise
Thus doth your lunar princess RISE!
- Verse of unknown origin.

Sunday evening, 6PM

Luna sighs as she listens to the recorded report from the coroner in Trotston, a port city known for exporting two things; lingerie in the form of red lace socks, and beans. 'Beantown' was its more kind nickname, the other being 'that Celestia-forsaken maze of roads.' Tears roll down her muzzle as she reads the paperwork that accompanies the recording. The pictures of the colt match with her recollections of the 'false alarm' from three nights ago, complete with the cutie mark of a barnacle being chiseled off of a ship's hull. "Mother, forgive me for being so careless with this one. Watch over him in your dreams."

"Luna, I can forgive this as easily as our little ponies breathe, but his soul has not rejoined the herd. It is missing."

To say that the response is a shock to Luna would be an understatement akin to saying that Discord is a little unpredictable. Responses from the spirit of their mother in the form of words rather than vague images were warnings to be taken to heart immediately. Ponies die in their sleep all the time from things like old age or injuries too severe for magic to heal...but their souls never just vanish! Even in the old days when nightmares were drastically more frequent, no pony that died was truly lost. She looks up and gathers the papers and photos to take to Celestia.

The Royal Dining Room, fifteen minutes later.

"Luna, while I know it has taken some time for you to truly settle back into your old duties of guarding dreamers from the dark side of sleep I think this is a bit of an extreme leap of logic." Celestia's voice is tinged with sadness as she looks through the documentation on the colt's autopsy. Thank goodness for advances in magic that had made it possible to do them without cutting the corpse open. "Souls don't just vanish, so maybe he's still with his mother? It has been a few years since the last time a soul refused to move on on its own, but you and I both know that it happens more often with foals than adults."

"Mother specifically said he was missing, 'Tia. If he were simply staying by his mother's side in a misguided effort to lessen her grief; mother would be able to at least see him. No, this can only be the work of the nightmare forces somehow figuring out a way to sequester a soul in the dreamscape after killing it. This is the first time in a long time that they have killed intentionally. Foalnapping Rarity should have been a sign that they were growing desperate for a release of some kind that I am simply unwilling to give them."

Celestia simply sighs and shakes her head before returning her attention to her dinner. "Luna, unless you can find definitive proof of some outside force actually taking the souls of dreamers that die, which means allowing dreamers to die to begin with, I simply cannot do anything to help you. Mother has lost track of souls before without anything malicious happening."

"Sister, I know you recall what happened the last time you decided that I was just being a silly filly about a problem involving the dreamscape. I ended up possessed by the fears of a thousand foals and began seeing you as competition, culminating in a paranoid bid for complete power in Equestria as the corrupt ascended form known only as Nightmare Moon. Do try not to dismiss my concerns over the death of a foal so frivolously."

Celestia blinks and shakes her head as if she had just been slapped across her muzzle with a rolled up newspaper like a misbehaving animal. She takes a few seconds to replay the last minute of the conversation in her head before groaning as she realizes just how that sounded. "Alright, I suppose I deserved that for dismissing your concerns, but I do not think that there's anything we can do about one missing soul. How would you even go about trying to find it when the dreamscape is as infinite as the sky?"

"Simple solutions tend to be the best to complicated problems. The first step would be to re-form a specific portion of the Night Guard that I have neglected until now."

"Meaning you will want to put out an advertisement in all newspapers on a national scale for ponies with talents related to sleep or dreaming so that you can see if they are suitable for recruitment into the newly reinstated Dream Guard?" Celestia says this while already starting to conjure up a few dozen copies of such an ad.

"If you make any 'dream job' puns in this ad, 'Tia, I will give the cooks a recipe to a certain tasteless sauce involving poison joke, liquid rainbow, and ghost pepper flakes and tell them it is an old favorite of ours. You will not know when this happens until your throne bursts into flames from the first 'solar flare' of the day."

Celestia's expression doesn't change as every scroll vanishes in a flame so hot that not even ashes remain. Fresh copies are made in only a couple seconds, with a bit of rewording. "How many suitable recruits are you going to hire?"

"Eventually I hope to have at least a dozen for better coverage all day on rotating shifts. I expect to get less than a third of that number in the first group of responders. The worst part will be training them since that will take time to get enough for a suitable class."

Celestia nods and makes a few quick notations before sending all of them off to local and global outlets. "I hope you can cope for a few days without any responses. Should we make an effort to send educational information to schools regarding nightmare recognition and how to manipulate your own dreams when necessary?"

"Celestia, do you mean to tell me that we have free schools for foals and a basic education system in place that doesn't include basic dream theory in the standard curriculum? This despite the fact that nightmares are dangerous!"

"Luna, have you even tried summoning the most recent textbook regarding the dangers of bad dreams?"

"No, why?"

"There's a reason it hasn't been taught in almost a thousand years, dear sister. You are the one that wrote the book on the subject."

Luna's eyes shoot open wide at this and she quickly performs the relatively simple summoning spell. A thick tome covered in dust lands in front of her. "No...This is a bad joke. NOPONY HAS DONE RESEARCH ON THIS SUBJECT IN A MILLENNIUM?"

There, on the floor, was a book with which Luna was intimately familiar. The title was written in a familiar, though ancient, style.

Nytemairs:
Beeing a Studie of Dreems Horrible
and the Konsikuuenses Thereof by
Her Royal Highness, Princess Luna Noctus

"Let me guess...you don't have a spell handy that can transcribe this into modern spelling and grammar, do you?"

"Nope. Not one that doesn't require reading the book yourself, out loud. There is one that can make any number of copies at once though."

"How could you let this happen?"

"Luna, the most knowledgeable pony in this field of study was you. I couldn't exactly ask you questions or anything for a long time, and neither could anypony else. It shouldn't be a shock that it has fallen behind."

"I suppose that is a valid point. Very well, I know one thing I'll be doing while awaiting responses other than monitoring dreams: correcting spelling errors older than Canterlot."

"Luna, to be fair, they weren't errors at the time."

"Not helping, 'Tia!"

||||

"Now, Sweetie Belle, according to your chart here...your sister is bringing you in for a checkup because your voice keeps cracking and you're having trouble singing?"

"Uh-huh."

"Is there anything else you want to tell me about? Bad dreams? Weird dreams? Unexplained fever? Tickling in your throat? Coughing? Mucous buildup?"

"Doesn't everypony get bad dreams?"

"Well, yes, but combined with the other symptoms they could be a sign of a larger problem like influenza. Since you say you have no other signs that something is wrong, I'm going to have to call in our voice specialist for a consultation."

"I have to see another doctor?"

"No, he's here in the building. I just have to page him and he'll be here in a few minutes. I have to warn you that he might seem a bit odd at first, but he's the best speech specialist in Minos."

"Minos? Is he a minotaur?"

"Good guess, now relax and wait. He'll be here soon."

Sweetie nods and makes herself comfortable as Doctor Fragment steps out. The examination bench isn't uncomfortable, but she fusses about since the padding isn't like the furniture at home. Somewhere around ten minutes passes and she grows sick of trying to count all the black dots on the ceiling tiles when the door opens and a tall being steps through.

"Sweetie Belle, I presume? I'm Sliver Tongue, voice and speech specialist. Bone Fragment tells me you're having trouble singing and your voice is breaking, but nothing else is wrong, right?"

Sweetie simply nods as she looks at the new doctor. Red fur with patches of bare skin, no horns, very short muzzle. His voice is deep and raspy, but strong enough that it's easy to tell that he isn't sick himself. He's thin, almost a twig compared to the pictures she'd seen of minotaurs before. He's wearing a white coat though, so he must be the right being.

"I'm going to need you to open your mouth and give me a good long sustained note, dear. I have to hear your voice if I'm going to make a diagnosis." He gives her a smile, one that is overtly kind and caring enough to get Sweetie smiling in response before she clears her throat.

She inhales and opens her mouth, then lets out a bright and clear tone for all of two seconds before her tongue begins to swell up and extend from her mouth. "Laaaaaa-AAAAAAHHHHH! Whups happeming po my pongue?" One foot, then three feet, suddenly she's tasting the floor as she begins to hyperventilate.

"Oh dear, I was afraid it was going to be something like this." Doctor Tongue grins as he reaches over to grab the massively overgrown muscle with one hand while the other reaches for a drawer. "I'm afraid the only option is to operate immediately, and I happen to have just the tool." He smiles again, this time it's not reassuring as his face begins to melt and the superficial similarities to a minotaur are quickly lost. The muzzle vanishes completely except for a hooked protrusion of a nose over his mouth. The red fur hisses as it burns away and becomes exposed muscle and veins while the bared patches of skin crinkle and form burned scar tissue. His other hand comes out of the drawer with a glove on it made of leather, like Rarity sometimes uses at the request of special clients, but this one has four long knives attached to the fingers to form artifical talons.

Sweetie finds herself trapped in place simply by the weight of her tongue. Her legs are straining against the cushion, but her body can't budge as the not-minotaur thing removes its ungloved hand from her tongue and begins to stroke her back in false reassurance as those wicked blades are brought in front of her eyes. "NO! NO! MOMMY! MOMMY!"

Out of nowhere, three ghostly fillies show up in the room behind the 'doctor' playing jump rope and chanting an eerie song.

One, Two, Freddy's coming for you.
Three, Four, better lock your door.
Five, Six, grab your crucifix.
Seven, Eight, better stay up late.
Nine, Ten, never sleep again.

Sweetie feels the hand on her back move further towards her rear before touching inside of her with his fingers like the special girls-only unicorn doctors do with their magic, but this feels wrong and hurts. She begins crying and squirming to try and get away from those fingers so much that she doesn't even notice the first cut on her tongue until she starts tasting blood. She stops moving and looks down, and sees the massive tongue hanging uselessly out of her mouth cut into five sections lengthwise, leaving it hanging in bloody tatters on the floor as blood begins to pool on the tiles. Four blades, four cuts at once, then the pain hits her and she begins to scream even louder...

Author's Note

Sorry this took so long. Having lots of issues in general but I wanted to get an update out for Nightmare Night.

The verse at the top is a modification of the 'Black Lantern Corp Oath' that preserves only the rhyme and meter, turning it from a chilling threat into something more like an actual motto.

3- And if I die before I wake

Sleep.
Those little slices of Death.
How I loathe them.
-Nevermore, poet.

Monday morning, 2 AM.

Rarity wakes up to an odd combination of sensations. One is a pitiful whimpering combined with wet sniffles and...something dripping? Another is a smell she is all too familiar with from learning the hard way to manipulate sharp objects a safe distance from herself. Why is something bleeding?

BLOOD! Her fabrics could get stained! She jerks awake and rolls out of bed immediately while charging a quick telekinesis spell to pull off her blindfold and turn on the lights. This order of events brings about a hoarse squeak from right next to where she lands, as well as a wet squish when her forehooves contact her rug. She blinks away the blindness that comes from a rapid change of lighting, and finds bile rising in her throat as she looks at the source of that squeak.

Sweetie Belle is sitting there with her mouth hanging open and blood running out of it. Her eyes are red and puffy from crying and the fur on her face is matted with both blood and tears. Her tongue is lacerated, the tip of it nearly severed and hanging by a thin ribbon of flesh. The blood, so much blood! Her mouth closes slightly before jerking open again as she lifts a foreleg to point at it; her cheeks are both sliced open to the joint, with both the upper and lower sections of flesh hanging limp. Before she can even try to speak, her eyes roll up and she flops bonelessly to the soiled floor.

Rarity releases a shockingly restrained scream of fear before gently lifting her sister onto her back and bolting for the door. She maintains a gentle grip to avoid causing further trauma to her injured sister while galloping for the hospital as if Tirek himself had reappeared behind her. So much blood, and her poor sister's mouth! A quick glance at the limp form on her back has her stumbling as the thought crosses her mind that Sweetie Belle may never be able to talk again, if she even gets to the hospital in time! The only thing stopping her from screaming in panic the entire way there was knowing that it wouldn't help.

Seven AM

Rarity finds herself pacing in the waiting area of the Emergency Room and sits back down while stealing a glance at the nearest clock. Five hours with little news about Sweetie other than that her tongue was healing slowly despite the spells being used on her to accelerate the process. Five hours with nothing to do but worry about what had happened back home. Her ears flick to the left as somepony walks up to her, a Unicorn if the faint hum and buzz she hears is a telekinesis spell. A mug is held in front of her before she can turn her head to look; the aura keeping it aloft is peach and maintains its integrity without any of the characteristic wobble of a distracted caster.

"I suggest you have a drink, miss. You're going to want your head perfectly clear for the foreseeable future. It's a special herbal blend from Roam, imported by Celestia herself." The clipped tone from the stallion makes it obvious that this is not a request as he walks to sit a few feet in front of her.

Rarity sees a laurel green coat with a fuscia mane and tail, marked with a magnifying glass and wearing the white and gold cloak of an official Inquisitor of the Royal Guard. Her expression hardens into a pained grimace as she weaves her own magic around the mug to accept the 'offered' beverage. A single sip is taken out of politeness at first, and then the cooled infusion is gulped down quickly as it proves to be as refreshing as the guard described. She takes a minute to collect her thoughts and regain her composure before setting the empty vessel on the floor. "Thank you for that. I hadn't realized just how much this morning had taken its toll on me until now. I assume you have some questions for me, so let's start by answering the obvious one. I have no idea how Sweetie Belle got hurt at two in the morning. I was too busy galloping to the hospital to stop in her room and look for clues."

"Miss Rarity, I'm hurt that you would think that I would even entertain the notion of the Element of Generosity intentionally hurting her little sister only to rush her to the hospital afterwards. The truth is that I have already searched the boutique to find out what happened." His face remains calm, but his voice is slightly shaky. "What I found was a fair amount of blood on your guest bed and a pair of trails. One leading from her room to your own and the other leading from yours out the door. There is no sign whatsoever of any sharp or otherwise bladed object in her room, bloody or otherwise, and no sign that anything else was in the room with her when this happened. I did, however, notice a sound dampening enchantment weaved into the walls and door. Can you explain that for me?"

Rarity scrunches her face up as if biting into a lemon before answering as calmly as she can. "My sister loves to sing. Unfortunately, I don't always have the luxury of having time to listen, and the wrong notes can be quite a distraction when trying to create something new and fresh. I asked Twilight months ago to put a dampening spell on her room so that she could sing to her heart's content without the sound disturbing me while I work. This also helps when her friends are over to visit or play as the girls can be quite loud. The enchantment works both ways because I have the occasional long night of work on a project and would rather not disturb her when she is sleeping if inspiration strikes me at an odd hour. I also have several alarm spells laced into the room in case of injury that are disabled when the occupants are asleep because fillies aren't supposed to get injured while they are sleeping!" She blinks as she hears herself practically shouting that last bit and blushes while looking around. "I'm sorry, I just don't understand what's going on."

"Frankly I'm surprised that you aren't balking at the fact that I openly admitted to already searching your home and place of business without so much as asking your permission, but that only goes further to prove that nothing that happened to Sweetie Belle last night was your fault. I also assure you that any, ah, recreational devices that I found in my search were handled with care and will not be mentioned in my official report to Princess Luna."

Rarity has the grace to blush only faintly at this mention of her private things, and nods graciously at the admission that they wouldn't be mentioned. "I had anticipated that there would be a search considering a filly was injured, especially since she has issues with being bullied at school on occasion. She has been getting better with her telekinesis, but there is no way she would take the coward's way out, so that particular notion never crossed my mind. I must ask one thing though. Why are you reporting to Princess Luna about this matter? I would imagine that a magical mishap like this must have been would go to either Celestia or Twilight."

"You mentioned that the alarms regarding injury only deactivate if the entire room has nopony awake inside, correct?" At a brief nod from Rarity, the stallion continues. "I detected no trace of magical residue from recent spells inside the room. She didn't do this to herself with magic, and no spell from an outside source breached the walls of the room to act upon her. According to the doctors, the damage to her tongue was far too extensive to have been done by her own teeth, or by any normal pet, and her other injuries were impossible to inflict without a blade. All the evidence gathered, therefore, points to only one conclusion: your sister was attacked in her dreams, during a nightmare, by a being powerful enough to cause those injuries to transmit to reality. I am going to recommend that we look into Tartarus to see if any other inmates escaped alongside Tirek that are known to operate in this manner. We pretty much have it narrowed down to two possibilities at this point, but without confirming if a Greater Feyr has escaped we can't be completely sure."

"Was this random? Some kind of dream animal attacking my sister just because she happened to be having a bad dream to begin with?" Rarity struggles to hold her own fear back at the idea of a predator stalking dreams, making sleep itself possibly unsafe.

"I wish I knew, miss Rarity. As of four days ago, there have been seven cases of ponies dying in their sleep, but five of those were elderly enough to raise no alarm and one was a stallion with a heart problem and a fondness for fried food. The last one was a foal up in Trotston, and Princess Luna is reinstating an old segment of her guards as a result of it. If this attack on your sister was caused by the same being, we may be able to capture it soon. Princess Luna will need to speak with her as soon as she is capable of speech again."

A door opened up on the far side of the room, followed by a nurse clearing his throat. "Miss Rarity? Your sister is stable and healing. We finally got the spells to take root and her tongue should finish...rebuilding itself in the next few hours."

Rarity nods and stands up quickly to step closer to the door, but stops before managing to move more than a couple steps. "I can see her now, right? There was so much blood that I didn't dare look at her face before. I mean, I know she's probably asleep right now, but she's my baby sister." The nurse nods and smiles while stepping to the side to hold the door open for Rarity, but the Element of Generosity turns back to the Inquisitor before proceeding. "I just realized that you never mentioned your name. I want to thank you for at least telling me what you know about what's going on."

The stallion waves a foreleg towards the door with a smile. "Go to your sister. Family bonds should all be as strong as yours. As for my name, call me Glass."

||||

Silver Spoon is enjoying herself while watching her father work. She had learned how to make spoons from him, and it was still the only thing he let her do since they didn't involve sharp edges or points. His hammer rises and falls in a steady rhythm. She doesn't know why he insists on shaping the blade of the knife like this instead of just using magic to clean up the edges after taking it out of the mold.

The unfinished blade is removed from the anvil and plunged into a bucket of water that bubbles and hisses as if injured by the intrusion of hot metal into its comparatively cold body. Copper Knife pulls it out once the bubbling has ceased and runs the outer edge of his hoof along the actual blade portion of the knife. Upon feeling no noticeable imperfections in the shape he buries the piece in hot coals again to heat up one final time and burn out any remaining impurities.

"Why do you do that, daddy?" Now that the hammering has ceased for the moment and bright sparks of metal are not being forced off by the blows; it is safe for her to approach the miniature forge. She hopes she'll get a straight answer out of him this time instead of his usual cryptic response.

Copper Knife looks down at his daughter and smiles while raising a hoof to caress the side of her muzzle. "Pumpkin, I've told you before that we reheat the metal until it glows as bright a red as the oldest Apple sister and quench it one last time to strengthen the crystalline structure. This means that the resulting utensil or tool is less prone to bending or otherwise deforming under pressure. It's called heat treating."

"Daaaaaddyyyyy! You know that's not what I meant! Why do you beat the knives like that but not the forks and spoons? They all get molded, but you never seem to get knives right without all the hammering." She pouts and gives him The Look that all daughters know will break down every parental barrier unless they just did something particularly naughty. It's never worked on him before but maybe this time he'll break. Then her face scrunches up in confusion at something he said. "Wait...Applejack isn't red."

Her father got That Look on his face, the expression that adults get when they realize they just said something that children aren't supposed to hear. He is saved from immediate further inquiry by a knock on the side door of the workshop. "Can you see who that is, Silver? I have three more unfinished knives to work on and it's almost time for you to go to school anyway."

She nods and trots over to open the door while her father pulls the next knife blank out of the cooler portion of coals where it had been heating during the last part of forming the previous one. Once the pink face of her best friend is revealed on the other side of the door, she quickly steps through and closes it as the ringing sound of metal striking metal resumes behind her. "Good morning, Diamond Tiara. Why are you here so early? We usually meet up at the old pine tree on our way to school."

"Well, I wanted to talk to you about some things before school and we wouldn't have enough time if I waited until we met up at the pine." Diamond Tiara looks particularly dejected, her face losing the sincere smile that had formed at the sight of her friend. "My dad heard about us teasing those blan...Apple Bloom and her friends again. He said that, if I don't stop, he's going to send me to a rock farm for a year to teach me some humility, and reminded me that our family wouldn't be anywhere near as important as we are without all the stuff we buy from them to sell elsewhere. I-I don't want to live on a rock farm, and I don't want to be away from you for a year either."

Silver Spoon walks over and gently nuzzles Diamond Tiara to cheer her up a little. "That's okay, really. You won't get sent away because I was getting sick of teasing them ever since they beat us in the flag bearing competition. What we said stopped working, and it started getting less fun when it stopped working. Why don't you come inside? Mom's making waffles, and there's usually some extra batter left over."

"I can't. Daddy said I need to apologize to the yellow runt before school today or else he was going to cancel any celebration of my birthday this year even if I just stopped bullying her around. I guess he got an earful from one of her older relatives because he was really mad. I think he even meant it. I have to go. See you at school." The pink filly turns and runs in the direction of Sweet Apple Acres, leaving a slack-jawed Silver Spoon staring at her fleeing flank.

"Wow, and I thought mom was mean just taking away my dessert last night when she heard about all we did. Being told you might not get a birthday? That's cruel." Silver Spoon turns and takes a step towards her house before freezing in place. That's not her house. The building in front of her is much bigger. It's still two stories tall, but it's bigger than before, and the wrong shape...and colors! A look to the left, then a look right confirms that her neighbor's houses look normal, so she walks up to the partly-open front door and shoulders the oversized wood open. "Mom? Daddy? The house looks all weird..." Her eyes widen in shock as the door creaks closed behind her, and a sudden trickling sound on the floor is heard as her bladder betrays her at the sight in front of her.

Her father is sitting in his normal chair at the dining room table, but he isn't moving. He isn't moving because the front half of his body is blackened and smoking and his head is missing. Well, it isn't exactly missing, really, since it seems to be on a plate in the center of the table with an apple shoved into his mouth.

Her mother is in her normal seat as well, but she won't be moving any time soon either, at least not with the two chopping knives stuck mouthgrip-deep in her eye sockets and the cleaver intersecting her neck. The stench of burnt meat, blood, and her own piss is so thick in the air that she gags and backs up a step, only to bump into something that just barely shifts at the impact. She tilts her head up to look back, praying that it's Celestia, Luna, Twilight, or some other adult that will take her away from this.

Instead, she beholds the visage of some bipedal beast that looks down on her with a face that seems almost devoid of skin and fur with pure glee in its eyes as it drinks in her terrified expression. It holds up an appendage with flexible protrusions tipped with long talons as it reaches down to pick her up. "Hello there, you little shit. I lost one meal this morning when she woke up in the middle of my cuts, but you're a bad girl who sleeps in and then pisses on my shoe."

Silver Spoon can't even find the breath to scream as she begins hyperventilating and squirming to get out of this beast's grip, but the tears come to her eyes quite readily as those claws are run along her nethers and then up her torso in four fiery trails of pain. She feels suddenly empty as her guts begin to slide out of the openings in her belly and pool on the floor with heavy, wet splats.

"Tell me something, kid. Did you and your friend ever play 'skin the cat?'"

Silver Spoon feels another cut across her throat before she can respond, and the world begins to feel cold as a faint tugging feeling starts somewhere deep inside of her. The last thing she sees is a talon heading for her eyes while thinking that it looks like one of daddy's knives, only backwards.

. . . . .

Gilded Lilly sighs as she heads for her daughter's bedroom. Silver Spoon's alarm has been going off for five minutes now, and she was getting a headache just hearing the bell down in the kitchen. "Silver Spoon! Can't you hear that thing? Wake up!"

No response comes from within the room, not even the faint but cute snort of her daughter being startled awake from a deep sleep. Gilded raises a hoof to knock on the door, resulting in a wet and meaty dripping sound from the other side. Her eyebrow rises in concern and confusion at this and the handle is quickly between her teeth and turning to pull the door open. Why does it feel so heavy today? Did she bring home all of her textbooks or something over the weekend?

With the door finally open, she steps to the side and opens her mouth to begin calling her daughter's name again, only for time to seemingly freeze altogether at the sight of what was making the door so heavy.

Silver Spoon is hanging from the door with the back of her head impaled on the saddlebag hook. Her eyes are missing from their sockets, her throat is transected with a cut deep enough go leave her spine exposed, and her entire abdomen is sliced open with her intestines pooled on the rug and hanging from her body like some kind of meaty streamer. The walls of her room are covered in blood and there is an impressive pool of it in the middle of the room.

It isn't until her neighbor, Berry Punch, drags her away that she even realizes she's been screaming.

Author's Note

No, this is not a cop out. I had never planned for Sweetie Belle to die at this point, if ever. No spoilers here, I'm not going to tell you ahead of time who will die.

If a character is going to die, they are going to be killed graphically unless Nothing is Scarier.

The quote at the top of this chapter, in case the pony version of the name doesn't tip you off, is an actual quote from Edgar Allen Poe. The same quote was used to open the third Nightmare on Elm Street movie, considered to be one of the best of the classic portion of the franchise.

4- Pray the lord my soul to take

Sleep my jolly little foal
Sleep until you waken
When you wake you'll see the world
If I'm not mistaken...

Kiss a lover
Dance a measure,
Find your name
And buried treasure...

Face your life
Its pain,
Its pleasure,
Leave no path untaken.
- Neigh Gaimane, writer

"Dreams and their owners exist in more than one dimension at a time. There is a layer of reality where the dreaming mind and the immortal soul coincide, and where injuries can occur without logical explanation to the physical body. We call this state of sleep 'The Land of Feyr' because of its denizens. The common pony has named it 'The Land of the Night Mare' because it is where We are most commonly spotted in Our attempts to safeguard the dreams and lives of mortal ponies who stray into this dangerous state of sleep."

The sound of a dozen quills scratching against fine paper is heard faintly as Luna reads the text from her ancient tome aloud to facilitate the transcription spell. She waits for the sound to end before cutting off the magic maintaining the effect and placing a molted primary feather in the book to mark her place. "Never in the last thousand years had I even thought Celestia would allow this field to languish. Even without Feyrs that state of sleep can be dangerous." A quick glance out the window, followed by a look at her clock, confirms that it is almost ten in the morning, time and past for her to get some actual rest.

A knock on her door dashes all hope of rest from her thoughts. Her staff was under strict orders not to bother her after eight AM unless there was an emergency. With a sigh, Luna cast a quick refreshing charm that would keep her alert for at least another hour. "Thou mayest..." She snorts in irritation at herself and the ancient book that caused her slip. "You may enter."

A panicked-looking guard opens the door and enters quickly, giving only the briefest bow before she speaks. "Princess, there's been a pair of incidents in Ponyville this morning most likely related to that colt in Trotston. One filly, named Sweetie Belle, has been in the hospital since two thirty at the latest."

Two in one night? This is bad. "You mentioned two attacks, Sergeant Shield. Please continue." Luna cannot keep the displeasure out of her voice at this news. That attack must have happened during one of her patrol breaks.

"T-the other attack was against one Silver Spoon. She was found by her mother around seven AM. Inquisitor Glass wrote that she was spread around her bedroom like frosting on a cake."

"Inform my sister that I will be out of town today and she may reach me by contacting Twilight. It seems I must pay Ponyville a visit."

Monday, noon.

Luna is not happy. The list of reasons for this is quite long. Starting with the least important reason of simply being awake at this time of day with no notice, it is currently topped by the most immediate displeasure being her grip on Twilight's mane as the youngest Princess evacuates her most recent meals onto the lawn of one Gilded Lilly of Ponyville. "I did warn thee, Twilight, that I was told 'twas a most gruesome scene." Luna herself is so rattled by the room inside that she lapsed back into the old manner of speaking. She has been doing well lately with modern Equish, but this disgusting scene combined with her updating and transcription project on that ancient tome make such a slip all too easy. "If I were to send an image of this carnage to Celestia, how dost thou think she would react?"

Twilight misinterprets the question to refer to the state of the lawn and the multiple pools of vomit from herself and some of the guards at first. This causes her to take a couple steps back from her own contribution to the mess so she can take a few deep breaths of clean air. "I think her first reaction would be to wonder why so many ponies ate peas last night or with lunch, depending on the individual's rate of metabolism." A glance at Luna's raised eyebrow is enough to tell Twilight that the question was in regard to the other mess. Now that the initial reaction of horror and revulsion has passed, Twilight finds it odd how easy it is to think of a pony as a mess; as something to be cleaned up. She closes her eyes and tightens her jaw as another wave of nausea sweeps through her body. "I honestly can't predict that, Luna. My best guess, based on what I have seen in the past, would be her mouth hanging open while she tries to look away like when Discord stole the elements after being released. I'm surprised you're taking this in stride."

"Certain aspects of ancient life are more fresh to mine eyes than my sister's, and thou hast never seen their ilk. Thou shouldst be grateful for such simple mercies as living in times of peace, Twilight." There is an infinite amount of sadness in Luna's tone that speaks of eons witnessing the horrors of a more savage world than has existed in centuries. She frowns as a soft giggle comes from the bookish alicorn, and steps to the side so that she is no longer offering physical support in addition to the emotional support of somepony to speak with. "What have I said that could possibly bring thee mirth at such a time?"

"Thou art speaking the tongue of The Bard again, o Great and Merciful Luna." Twilight's smile falters as she notices Luna's scowl deepen at her playful jab.

"Fie on thee, Twilight, for making light of my lapse in dialect when there is a disemboweled filly upstairs HANGING FROM A HOOK ON HER DOOR! Two foals have probably died because of some unknown entity, and thou art standing there and laughing as if my speech is some method of grand buffonery! Where is that Inquisitor with the coffee? I become grumpy when denied proper rest, and thou needest something to focus thy mind unto proper channels of thought for the task before us." Luna's tirade ends with the elder mare taking deep breaths to both try and calm herself down as well as clear the floating spots from her vision. Shouting in anger is never a great idea; even less so when one is capable of rupturing eardrums with naught but a minor amplification enchantment.

"Luna, please don't make a scene. I wasn't trying to make fun of you. This is the first time since Nightmare Night that I've heard you relapse and I thought that it would be polite to point it out. I suppose I could have picked a better way, but I'm trying to counteract the harshness of what I saw up there." Twilight shivers again at the thought of what had been done to that poor filly, but this time there is no nausea at least.

Further rumination over the matter of what they were here to investigate is cut short for the time being by the familiar voice of Luna's Inquisitor, followed by two other stallions. "Alright, Mac, set the barrel down over there by the door. Sunshine, would you mind waiting here for a moment?"

Sunshine, Ponyville's coroner, simply nods in response while looking around the area. "Ah, yes, I recognize this house. I was called out here a few months back to examine the tragic conditions of another death. Accidental fire in a workshop and the poor stallion had fallen asleep from overworking himself for a project." He looks over to the house and frowns as his thoughts race and minor facts begin to flow together. Another death in the same family so soon is a bad thing to begin with, but even moreso when there were only two other members of the family.

Big Mac simply walks over and sets the hot barrel near the front door of the house before walking up to the two princesses. He gives a low bow to Luna and a nod to Twilight while clearing his throat. "Princesses, tell the mother she has the hospitality of the Apples if she wants it." Never being one to waste words, he walks away with a heavy heart.

"Inquisitor Shattered Glass, I assume there is a valid reason that your venture for the refreshments took so long?" Luna's irritation was almost a palpable aura around her, both at the situation as a whole and at having to wait.

"Princess Luna, have you ever tried to get enough coffee for twelve guards and two Princesses to last an indefinite amount of time before? In a small town like this, that takes some time to brew. It takes longer when the coffe has to be mixed with Princess Celestia's Royal Hangover Cure while brewing to ensure a clear head in addition to the heightened focus without the side effects of dehydration to contend with later that caffeine by itself can bring, or the crash." He levitates a number of edible or biodegradable cups(1) from a saddlebag and places them on top of the barrel while filling one and levitating it over to Luna. "And, Princess, please just call me Glass. Shattered Glass makes me sound clumsy."

Luna allows herself a smirk while taking the cup and a long draught of the liquid inside. She sighs in relief at both the heat and the flavor of the beverage before chugging the rest like a fratboy on a dare. "Ah, now that is what I needed. Inquisitor Glass, how many cups are in this barrel?"

"About fifty, and it is enchanted to stay at that exact temperature until all the liquid inside is gone. I figured fifty servings would be adequate for all needs including possible expulsion due to the nature of our business here."

"Very good then, and you are forgiven for the delay considering that local resources must have been hurrying to produce this. Twilight, partake of a small amount to rinse your mouth and throat at least."

The sound of a throat clearing comes from the yellow-coated stallion as he walks over to the door of the house. "Princesses, I must insist we proceed before the situation decays any further inside. The longer the body waits to be examined, the less likely I am to be able to make an accurate assessment. Even the kind of stasis spells the guard uses degrade quickly, and it has been hours since the Inquisitor cast his." His tone is appropriately dour at the thought of the task ahead of him and he idly brushes aside the cup being offered by the Inquisitor. "Sir, while I do appreciate the intent, I assure you I have seen some rather fierce maulings from manticores in the past. This will be a routine matter for me, even if is not the exact same situation."

Twilight does as Luna had told her to, and then finds herself gulping down a full cup just as eagerly as Luna had after the taste has been properly rinsed out of her mouth. "Wow, that is good. You said it has Celestia's Royal Hangover Cure in it?"

Inquisitor Glass nods while entering the house first. He looks back and speaks over his shoulder while leading the way to the filly's room. "It's an old remedy that Celestia imports from Roam. Good for hangovers and simply refreshing the mind after a sleepless night. It was discovered about nine hundred years ago after a time of erratic cycles." He pauses on the other side of the open door, turning around fully to face the royal pair and the coroner. "Ah, not solar cycles. It also has the effect of regulating heat cycles when taken over an extended period of time alongside a couple other specific ingredients. Princesses, you have already seen this, so I suggest we allow the coroner to make his initial examination. Meanwhile you can devise a spell to do whatever it is you need to do."

Sunshine nods and steps around the door, his only reaction to the display before him is a slight widening of his pupils and a deep breath. "I will need one of you to enact the official recording spell. I am suddenly feeling less emotionally stable than I had thought possible." At a nod and brief purple flash from Twilight, the coroner clears his throat. "This is Sunshine, coroner for Ponyville delivering my initial observation in person to Princesses Twilight and Luna as well as being recorded. The descedent appears to be one Silver Spoon, daughter of Gilded Lilly and Copper Knife. The corpse is reasonably fresh and has been preserved by a stasis spell enacted by Inquisitor Glass. A cursory examination reveals that the epidermis and subdermal layers of abdominal muscles have been slashed with a sharp instrument and not a set of natural claws. Subject's intestines have been removed from the body cavity and spread on the floor, though they do remain connected to the body via the rectal passage. Subject is a filly, age...approximately nine. Uterus appears to be intact, though vaginal passage has been lacerated, and is at the current expected state of maturity for the subject's body. I only remark on this because the organ is visible. Other immediately notable injuries are the transected jugular complex and the subject's eyeballs having been cut out."

Luna and Twilight watch and listen while conversing quietly together. Luna is shaping a unique spell frame while Twilight offers opinions on strengthening portions of the assembly to make the result more stable. Shattered Glass walks carefully around the room, staying away from the body. It is a typical child's room, filled with knicknacks and toys. A couple pictures of family grace the bedside table and have remained mercifully free of blood. One poster for a music group covers the wall above the bed, and is in turn spattered with enough blood to conceal the members. The name remains mostly clear, though lacking in spelling. His eyes roam to another wall covered with spots and streaks of blood, tracing the arc and maximum height of the marks before shaking his head and moving on to categorize the remainder of the carnage.

"The cut to the throat appears consistent with the cuts in the abdominal flesh; suggesting that the same weapon, or same kind of weapon, was used. The abdominal cuts appear to run mostly parallel with terminus points that are nearly identical; suggesting that they were made simultaneously rather than sequentially. Since the intestines and other loose viscera have not simply been allowed to slide out, their location can give no further evidence. Plain sight examination reveals there to be flowing blood at all injury locations; suggesting that the subject was still alive when all injuries were sustained that are visible without removing her from the door." His own horn glows at last, a murky brown that mirrors his eyes, as he casts a spell to perform a detailed scan of the remaining internal organs. He falls silent as his spell runs, his face twisting in rage.

The other spell framework solidifies, Luna adds specific runes and Twilight the power to sustain the effect. A brief shimmer settles over Silver Spoon's corpse before it peels away as an illusion of her body retracing its last movements in slow motion. The spell provides only for large motions, which leaves such details as limbs moving blurred to the point of being invisible. The illusory corpse floats to the center of the room before rotating around in midair onto its back. The head snaps back and the body twists in alignment with the arterial spray along one wall. Another series of jerks and rotations of the illusory corpse lines it up with the spray on the wall opposite the poster while another brief contortion and the disappearance of the cut itself reveals the mess on the poster to be cast-off from the initial throat injury. This entire time, the body has been floating in the air above the massive bloodstain on the carpet.

Luna's expression is no longer stoic, and Twilight looks nauseous once more. They exchange a glance before looking back to the body as shadows of the intestines fly back up in the air before reentering the body in an arc that nearly reaches the ceiling. Twilight shivers and gags audibly before the spectral image winks out as she cuts the power off entirely. "I think we've seen enough to determine that this was either a powerful unicorn or some other magical force. Since there is no sign of a unicorn having cast a spell in the vicinity that could do anything close to this magnitude of viciousness, simple reasoning provides that the only possible explanation is some other force."

"I agree, Twilight, though for different reasons. I have witnessed an attack like this in the past. This is the work of a greater dream demon. The problem is that I only know of one that has ever been to this world before." Luna's voice trembles as much as her wings, twitching in both agitation and fear as she begins to pace around the collection of blood and viscera on the floor. Rather than stepping over the portion connecting back to the body, she turns and heads the other way when completing the circuit.

"I don't see why that's a problem, Luna. If there's only ever been one then..."

"Twilight, the only one I know of was Gentor. He was killed by my father five thousand seven hundred and fifty two years ago."

1) The cups are either edible or biodegradable as opposed to being made of a material that will take an eternity to dissolve after being disposed, like plastic.

Author's Note

As should be obvious, the starting quote here comes from none other than Neil Gaiman, with the first line modified for ponies.

I realize that I am flirting with danger by associating my pointless piece of derivative fluff on the internet with such respected artists as Gaiman and Poe, but I feel that there is a certain symbolic relevance.

Yes, I know real horses cannot vomit. It was firmly established in season 1 that ponies CAN.

5- Hush little baby, don't say a word

I do not aim with my eye;
They who aim with their eye have forgotten the faces of their parents.
I aim with my horn.

I do not cast with my horn;
They who cast with their horn have forgotten the faces of their parents.
I cast with my mind.

I do not kill with my spell;
They who kill with their spell have forgotten the faces of their parents.
I kill with my heart.
-Creed of the Holy Order of Demon Hunters, as translated from pre-Wendigo unicorn tablet. Attributed to Rod and Chain the Gelded. {Gilded? May be a mistranslation. Unknown if this was one or two ponies. The original tablet is chipped at the questionable rune, no clarification can be gained.}

"Rainbow Dash!"

That voice startles Rainbow Dash immediately, making her jump upright and look around in the sky for its source. Too late, she remembers she had been napping on a cloud instead of in one of AJ's trees. A scarred and taloned set of claws breaks through the puffy surface and grabs her around the throat. "G-gordon?!"

The old griffon sneers at her, a look of supreme disgust in his predatory gaze as he lifts her up with a strength that she didn't know he still had. "Ah, then you do remember me. Perhaps you finally remember your promise about your intentions towards my daughter?"

She struggles to break his grip, but those old claws are quite firm. "I haven't seen Gilda in years and she ran out on me the last time we saw each other." Her wings beat more out of reflex than need at this point. She swallows as his grip relaxes to allow her to breathe easier.

"Oh, I know all about that last meeting. You pranked her back for all the tricks she'd pulled on your friends, even if it wasn't all targetted at her intentionally. Do I need to remind you of the exact wording of your promise?" He drags her towards him, holding her muzzle less than an inch in front of his beak. "I, Rainbow Dash, will never do anything to intentionally hurt Gilda unless she truly deserves it."

"You just said yourself that she wasn't the intended target for everything. I can't be blamed for the fact that she just happened to stumble into every single one of them. The pranks were random and anypony could have gotten the dribble glasses!" She recalled the promise that had been extracted from her after she had been rigorously questioned about every aspect of her life, as a child.

"You broke my little hatchling's heart, Rainbow Dash. You never once wrote to us or her after the one letter you sent detailing exactly what had happened so that we knew not to hold you responsible for the playful prank war. You know how she felt about you, even if you couldn't return those feelings and had been clear to her about why." His grip tightens once more around her throat as he slams her down against the cloud and plants his other claw in the middle of her back between her wings. "My little girl killed herself last week after three years of waiting for you to write to her one last time. Three years and you never once thought that maybe she wanted to hear from you again and couldn't bring herself to take that first step!"

"W-what? Gilda killed herself?" She begins to struggle harder, whimpering in pain from how tight the grip had gotten around her spine. "You're lying! Gilda would never do that! Get your claws off of me!"

"She cut her wings off and walked off the edge of our estate. Her feathers were painted blue with rainbow tips, in the custom of our people who are inconsolable over their dead lover. You assured me that you only liked males years ago, so when did you change your mind?" One sharpened claw rests against the base joint of her left wing, applying the faintest amount of pressure. "When did you decide it would be fun to lead my daughter on by giving her a taste of your slutty cunt, or did you eat her out?"

Anger surges through Rainbow Dash at this accusation and she pushes against the cloud with all her might, then bucks it out of existence in the hope that it would catch him off guard. She flips around and manages to break the grip on her neck in order to deliver three swift kicks to his face and a fourth to his stomach. "I! Never! Touched! Her! Gilda is...was my friend. She was never anything more than that to me." She hovers just out of reach, confident in her speed to get away if Gordon lunges again, now that she knows where an attack can come from.

"Prove it. Prove that you like males and not females. Suck my cock." The aged, raven-headed griffon grins exactly the same way his daughter did as he hovers in front of Rainbow Dash.

Rainbow sputters and shakes her head in confusion before flying backwards another few feet immediately. "WHAT?! You have no right to-"

"Actually, Rainbow Dash, according to chapter nine, paragraph three, subsection twelve, of the most recent version of the treaty with the Aeries: you are considered to be a murderer by griffon law since you are alive after Gilda killed herself, and the only accepted form of evidence against the charge is...physical proof of sexual preference." Twilight's voice comes from two feet behind and a yard to the left of Rainbow Dash.

Rainbow turns and stares at Twilight and the small contingent of guards behind her, then looks back at Gordon with nothing but fear in her eyes. "B-but he's old enough to be my father, Twilight! This is wrong."

Gordon simply leers back while reaching down to scratch near his swollen sheath. "You either prove that you enjoy sex with males, or I rip your wings off here and now so they can accompany my daughter to her eternal rest. If you try to run, you'll die as a coward."

Rainbow looks back to Twilight with a pleading expression on her face, only to be met with a stony, disapproving look. "You brought this on yourself, Rainbow Dash, by abandoning an old friend that you knew to hold deeper feelings for you than you could comfortably return. As a Princess of Equestria, my duty is to preserve the peace between our nations. As your friend, I can only implore you to make the correct decision."

"Twi...I can't! I don't...I've never...I'm still a virgin for Celestia's sake..." Her voice trails off into a whisper that sounds more like Fluttershy as she freezes in place. Her panic only deepens as she feels those weathered claws wrap around her withers and a fleshy yet solid tube begin rubbing along a teat. "NO! No get OFF OF ME!" Her wings raise to give a powerful flap only for those claws to shift their grip to the sensitive bases of her wings.

"Your Majesty, that is sufficient evidence by my laws to constitute a guilty verdict by itself. To react with such blatant fear to the touch of the sex she has stated to prefer..." He tightens his grip around the blue wings, his talons beginning to pierce her flesh as his wrists start to rotate. "As such, it is time to clip her wings. Please be sure to heal the surface damage so that she doesn't die from blood loss. I want this worthless nag to suffer like my wife and I do."

"NO! No! I haven't done anything wrong! TWILIGHT!"

The world suddenly vibrates with a dull *thunk*, and Rainbow Dash feels her stomach drop as if she'd gone into an uncontrollable fall. She begins to scream wordlessly as the pain in her wings increases.

"Rainbow Dash! WAKE UP!" Applejack's voice is clear as another vibration shakes the sky. Rainbow Dash blinks to clear the tears of pain from her eyes, and is able to notice a bright red apple flying at her face just as the clear snap of breaking bones passes through her mind. Her body rolls to the side and falls off of the branch she was sleeping on, and she lets out another anguished scream as the broken ends of her wingbones rub against each other. Her right wing is caught in the juncture between two thick branches, and she just snapped it while avoiding the projectile produce. Her other wing begins pumping hard to try and avoid making this any worse, only for another cry of pain to be wrenched from her throat as the bones there seem to be broken as well.

She can't help but begin gasping for breath and kicking her legs to try and get herself back up onto the branch as she feels the bones in her trapped wing begin to strain under the weight of her unsupported body combined with the leverage from the branch keeping it at an unnatural angle. Blackness claims her as the pain becomes unbearable.

"Oh horseapples!"

Luna looks around the hospital room wearily as they wait for Rainbow Dash to regain consciousness. Sweetie Belle's bed is the other one in the room, and the filly is being comforted by her fellow Crusaders speaking in hushed tones while she can only respond with slight head movements. Her mouth is still bandaged shut at the moment. The only member of the elements that isn't present is Pinkie Pie; who is babysitting the Cake twins and could only send a tray of cookies and cupcakes along with her promise to get there as soon as the Cakes came home.

"Princess, Ah can't begin t-"

"Applejack, please do not apologize again. This was not your fault. One wing being stuck between two branches and breaking during an uncoordinated roll was a complete accident even if your actions did precipitate the event. It is the other wing being broken that concerns me, as you had mentioned there was no way it was stuck in the same manner. Was there anything unusual about her nap before you woke her up?" Luna's voice is calm, controlled, and only has the faintest hint of dread left in it from what Twilight and herself had witnessed earlier.

"Not that Ah could tell, Princess. She was twitchin' a little more'en usual, but that coulda been from her wing bein' stuck and her feelin' it while dreamin'. Ah wasn't payin' much attention t' how she was restin' since Ah just had t' wake her up." Despite the multiple reassurances from her friends and even Princess Luna, Applejack feels horrible knowing that at least one injury was the direct result of her choice of actions. She's sitting next to Rarity in the space between the two beds, looking down at the floor between her front hooves while the fashionista is paying a bit more attention to her injured sister than her friends.

"We will simply have to wait for her to wake up then. I will not subject her to a dream probe with foals in the room since there are innumerable possibilities for what they could witness as a result."

"Not to mention the fact that it would violate the laws of consent to have one's dreams displayed to any group of ponies that are not also asleep without permission. That is, of course, unless the dream is considered for evidence in a trial such as in the case of a recurring dream provoked by a traumatic event caused by a single individual." Twilight chuckles nervously and looks away for a moment. "Though in a case like this where it is Luna doing the display, I'm sure there would be some legal wiggle room."

"I am sure that would be a bad idea. Exploiting loopholes available only to those in a unique position of authority is a quick path to tyranny. Celestia may have her vices in being somewhat manipulative to those under her, but even she does the best she can to operate in an entirely legal manner." Luna turns her attention from Rainbow to Sweetie Belle and walks over to Rarity's side. "I need to get an image out of your sister's mind, Rarity. We all need to know what attacked her; myself most urgently so that I can-"

From outside the room, there come the sounds of a commotion; at least three sets of hooves clattering against the hospital floor with one closer than the other two. "Halt and identify yourself! I said stop!" The lone guard stationed outside the room challenges the approaching group, and those inside hear the sound of at least one hoof connecting with armor as well as the clatter of something small and made of metal hitting the floor just before a filly starts bawling.

"NO! It's not fair! It's not fair!" The Cutie Mark Crusaders share a glance and a shrug as they hear the familiar voice on the other side of the door.

"Diamond Dazzle Tiara! What did you think was going to happen after kicking a guard in the face?" The masculine voice is out of breath as the other sets of hooves slow down, and he takes the time to clear his throat. "I think that's enough, Sir. She's half your size at most and I'll freely take responsibility for any charges or fines that should result."

Applejack stands and walks over to open the door, her eyes narrowing at the sight of a thoroughly dishevled Diamond Tiara being pinned against the wall by a silver-armored thestral. "You let that filly go before Ah buck yer head so hard y'll wake up after Hearthswarmin'. Her best friend was the one that had y'all pukin' this mornin'."

The guard takes one look at Applejack; noting the thick muscles and minimal fat to hide them under her coat as well as the slightly larger than average hooves. He immediately moves away from the wall while keeping Diamond Tiara pinned with one hoof. "With all due respect, the filly was charging at a room containing two princesses and an injured Element of Harmony. I believe a little caution was warranted on my part."

"But it's NOT FAIR! Silver Spoon's gone and that stupid, squeaking, stub-horned blank flank is still here! I want my friend back!" Diamond's voice cracks a bit, her tears still running down her cheeks as her breath comes in hitching sobs. These sobs only increase in volume as her father gives her a light swat across her rump.

"I thought I told you that I wasn't going to tolerate that kind of treatment of your classmates anymore, Diamond, especially not the friends of the Apple family? Three reports last week about your bullying, ten in the last five, over sixty in the last two years. This is not how you create long-term partnerships, young lady! The only reason you haven't been expelled is that there is no other school within a reasonable distance, and I didn't want to separate you from your only friend." Filthy Rich's voice is hard, and his expression equally so as he picks his daughter up and places her on his back in an intentionally awkward position. "Sorry for the disturbance, your majesties. We came to visit Gilded Lilly, but I'll be taking her home so that we can have a conversation with her mother about her continuing behavioral issues."

"Oh, um, Mr. Rich? You should be gentle on her about this particular outburst...if you don't mind me suggesting so that is. I mean, she did just lose her friend, after all. I know that if I lost one of my friends I'd be crying my eyes out at least." Fluttershy hovers in the doorway, looking concerned as Diamond Tiara continues to kick and scream in an ineffectual tantrum on her father's back. All she manages to do is put her mane into complete disarray while rumpling her father's jacket.

"I don't care! I don't care! That blank flank should be dead, not Spoon!" That's the point where Rarity loses her cool and slams the door with her magic before anything more can come from the hate-filled filly's mouth.

The sound of her teeth grinding can be heard by those in the group with sharper ears, and Rarity has an expression on her face that speaks volumes about what she is struggling not to say. She takes a few deep breaths and allows one unladylike snort before she looks over at Sweetie Belle with the most caring expression she can manage. "I'm sorry you had to hear that, Sweetie. I know that young brute of a filly isn't good company on the best of days, but I hope you can forgive her for this latest transgression in time. I know I'll be charging Filthy Rich a much higher premium for any services in the future. Generosity only goes so far, and my patience with his brat has run out."

"Applebloom, how many o' them bullyin' incidents were against you and yer friends? Ah think it's time we renegotiate our contracts with Mr. Rich."

"Um, girls, I think maybe you're taking this just a little hard. She's just a filly who's in a very sad place right now, and, even if she has done things that deserve punishment, she needs at least one kind ear. I'm sure she didn't really mean it. Even if she did, it's not like she could actually hurt Sweetie Belle...umm, physically."

Luna raises an eyebrow at all this and simply shakes her head while looking to the trio of fillies. "Sadly, while we wait for Rainbow Dash, we must also extract information from the young Sweetie Belle. I know that the stitches to heal the injuries to her mouth will prevent her from talking. With care and the magic in the stitches; she should be healed within the next twelve hours and able to sing again tomorrow. Unfortunately, in order to protect other ponies, I am going to require a look into Sweetie's last dreams."

"But, since she is a minor, you need an adult with guardianship to consent to the spell." Rarity lets go of the remaining anger with one long breath and a look at her younger sister. "What are the risks to her?"

"Only of reliving the memory of the dream as we extract it. If my hypothesis is correct about this being a dream demon, then there is no risk of further injury. If my hypothesis is wrong, and this was something other than a demon, there is no risk whatsoever. She is currently awake, which negates all potential avenues of attack for an entity that resides solely in the realm of dreams. Modern surgical sedatives, both spells and chemicals, work in a way that supresses the mind while inducing sleep. She should be able to get some proper rest tonight, though I imagine there will be some itching from her flesh knitting itself back together."

"I see. Give me a minute to talk to my sister." She graces Luna with a genuine smile before walking over to her sister's bed and clearing her throat. "Excuse me, girls, but Sweetie and I need to have a talk. Why don't you two go with Applejack and get us all something to eat and drink from the cafeteria?"

Luna picks up on the unspoken part of that suggestion and winks at Rarity while walking over to Twilight. "I've never had to record this kind of display before, Twilight. It used to be that such things were simple affairs and my word was enough for proof." One eye follows Applejack, Applebloom, and Scootaloo as the three walk out of the room.

"In this case, Luna, we're potentially registering a brand new being in Equestrian jurisdiction. Even if the basic type of creature is known, certain beings do have a wide variety. According to Starswirl's first Collected Compendium of Chaotic Creatures, demons and their spawn have the widest variation in possible physical manifestation of all known otherworldly beings. Dream demons in particular are virtually unknown at all, and documented only in that they exist. Aside from documentation for posterity, I also need to record what we can get out of Sweetie's mind so that I can compare it to what, if anything, attacked Rainbow using my Memory Imprint and Arcane Signature Matching Algorithm." Twilight's voice catches as she mentions the possible attack on Rainbow. "I know we need to be impartial, Luna, but an attack on my friend and an attack on another's family. If it is the same being, I want a piece of it."

"I know the feeling, Twilight Sparkle, but your expertise in magic and science as they work in reality would be an immense hindrance should it come to a battle in the realm of dreams where possibility trumps probability. Combat in the dreamscape is pure art and imagination rather than rote spells and data." Luna does sound genuinely sorry about this revelation, and leans down slightly to give Twilight a combined nuzzle and hug. Her voice drops to a whisper as she speaks again. "We know it was a demon that got to Silver Spoon. It is most likely the same being attacked Sweetie Belle, given the nature of the injuries both fillies sustained. Beings that exist solely in dreams can vary their physical forms with ease, and their method of attack can vary. I recall one victim of Gentor that had so many bones broken that his body was a misshapen lump of flesh while most of the rest had been ripped apart. It is not impossible that it could have attacked Rainbow Dash in a different way."

Twilight's own voice drops into a worried whisper. "Ripped apart? Like Silver Spoon?"

Luna shakes her head quickly. "Nay, Twilight. That poor filly was cut open, not ripped open or apart. From what I can recall, these beings escalate their attacks. What starts with cuts and slashes evolves to more elaborate torments before the kill. Gentor killed by dismembering through pure strength. Even at his worst, it was simply the number of joints he ripped off before the victim died that varied."

"Ladies, Sweetie Belle has agreed to the procedure. She only wants to know if she will have to feel the pain again." Rarity's voice is almost cheerful as she nuzzles against the top of her sister's head. Getting meaningful answers when you're restricted solely to yes or no questions can be a challenge, but family has an advantage in reading body language.

Luna looks over to the bed with the two unicorns, then back to Twilight before walking over. "There may be an uncomfortable tingle, or a sensation of phantom pain involved in seeing the memory of the dream, but it will not be as intense as when it happened." Her attention shifts back over to Twilight after answering the question. "Is there anything special that needs to be done for your array, Twilight?" Her horn is already surrounded in the inky aura that almost seems to absorb light rather than create it.

"No. I just need to wait for you to pull up the residual memory. I've already scanned her so that we can eliminate Sweetie's own arcane signature from the scan, and I've built that into the spell itself for this casting."

"Creating spell arrays that complex entirely within your own mind without needing to draw them...I am jealous. Even I don't feel entirely comfortable casting a new spell from scratch without diagraming the intended effects. First there were pictographic abstractions, then verbal rituals...spellcasting has come a long way since I was a filly."

Luna completes her spell first, followed immediately by Twilight as the image coalesces over Sweetie Belle's bed. The filly trembles and squirms against the bed before Rarity wraps her up in a hug to provide comfort. Fluttershy only watches out of the corner of one eye while watching Rainbow Dash intently for any change in her condition.

The two alicorns both gasp as the image resolves and begins to move, Twilight cringing as she notices that this dream took place in the hospital. Luna gasps for a different reason, and quickly reaches a hoof out to begin rotating the image. "The detail here is...exquisite. While I have visited your dreams before, Sweetie Belle, I never imagined that you remembered them in such vivid detail. Oh dear..."

Rarity is the one that lets out a whimper and holds onto her sister tighter as the implications of this sink in. The dream playback continues with the stallion leaving and the dream image of Sweetie looking around the room as boredom begins to set in. The room image gains some extra clarity as the details are further refined by this period of observation.

Luna pauses the playback as the patchy minotaur walks into the room, studying its face and then looking to the trembling filly. Sweetie shakes her head no even as Luna opens her mouth to ask a question. Luna nods and resumes the progression of the memory. None of them notice the door to the room open as they watch dream-Sweetie's tongue engorge and push itself out of her mouth, then extend down to the floor, and the adults all gasp as the minotaur's face begins to melt. Luna freezes the spell again as the girls playing jumprope materialize in the room, and forces the image to focus on the scarred, burned, and alien face.

"It looks like one of the beings on the other side of the mirror to Canterlot High! I mean, it's obviously burned and slightly deformed, but I've seen something like this before!" Twilight practically dances in place as her spell continues to record this, her eyes darting all over the disfigured male's face and body before Luna resumes the effect of her spell and the projected dream begins to move again.

A pained scream is torn from Rarity's throat as she notices the way the vile thing is touching her sister, and she looks away as it buries a finger entirely while dream-Sweetie begins screaming for her mother. Sweetie merely whimpers and brings a hoof to her muzzle as that clawed glove comes in and begins hacking at her tongue and the flesh at the corners of her mouth. The image begins to fade and waver as dream-Sweetie's engorged tongue is severed and falls out of her mouth while the demonic intruder raises the clawed glove for one last strike. "What's the matter, little girl, cat got your tongue?" Before the lethal blow can connect, the figure begins to dissolve along with the dream image.

Luna's eyes are wide open with her mouth parted in an expression of shock and disgust. Twilight is staring at the space the image occupied, her eyes narrowing as she calls up the recording and rewinds to the playing children. The spell sets their song to loop while Twilight filters out the other sounds. "I think...I think we have a name for it."

"I don't care about the name, Twilight! That...that THING violated my little sister! Please tell me you plan to destroy it, Luna, and not coddle it like we did with Discord?" Rarity has nothing but venom in her voice; something that is perfectly understandable considering what she just witnessed.

"Whut...whut did we just see, Scootaloo?"

"One, two, Freddy's coming for you.
Three, four, better lock your door.
Five, six, grab your crucifix.
Seven, eight, better stay up late.
Nine, ten, never sleep again."

Author's Note

Those familiar with Stephen King and the Dark Tower series should find the top bit somewhat familiar as well.

6- And nevermind that noise you heard

Thus will a millenium and more of peace be shattered;

The return of the dark moon, the rebirth of unpredictability, and the death of magic.

These are but a prelude to the true nightmare from beyond cognition.

Born of fire and fear, not of our world, fueled by the souls it devours.

The power of love will not shield, nor the light of harmony cure.

The Burned One, the butcher of youth, stands supreme.

The rest is black. Not even the stars remain.

-Last prophesy from Candle Keeper of the Crystal City. A score before Sombra.

Rainbow, tree, but by six the harmony accomplished, Sun and Moon be reunited forever: Great disaster near, and nightmares most bitter: No heart will be so hardy as not to tremble.

-Excerpt from the writings of Not Just a Moose.

Prophesy? Balderdash! A pony can predict the future no better than a minotaur dances on a cloud.

Ignatious Mendicant Dubious

Explaining what had been shown to the other crusaders, inadvertently, had taken a considerable amount of time and red faces. Some were red from embarassment at part of the subject matter, while others were from barely-restrained rage. Some of the questions had been impossible to answer, and, as often happens with children, these were the ones repeated most often.

"But Ah don't unnerstan' how it got here. Princess Luna said that all gates to the uh...ummm..."

"The Abyssal Planes." Luna nods solemnly while inhaling the vapors from a large cup of her special herbal tea; a mix of chamomile and manedarin orange that she is always getting into arguments with a servant about. "All known gates and other avenues to the Abyss and its related planes were sealed after Tirek was initially imprisoned. Tartarus is the only exception, and no demon would willingly travel where Cerberus prowls. I have no clue how it got here myself."

"Could it have happened the same time Tirek escaped?" Twilight's eye twitches a little as she looks to Celestias old journal, and then to Celestia's other journal, used to communicate with Sunset Shimmer. "You said they need souls to feed on, so it could have been feeding discreetly before now, right?"

"Nay, Twilight, this had to be recent. While there are always a small number of natural deaths during sleep every day; it is only recently that they have been happening to foals and other young ponies."

A groan escapes from Rainbow Dash as she stirs, and tries to shift from the position that has both wings stretched out in casts. Her ears twitch and lay flat on her head as this proves to not only be impossible, but also sets off an alarm in the room and at the nurse's station due to her return to consciousness causing a small spike in blood pressure. A nurse enters the room within seconds to confirm the readings and quickly draw the enchanted privacy screen around Rainbow's bed before trotting out to find the doctor. This doesn't stop the fabric from bending outward as an object is thrown against it from the other side; revealed as the bedside lamp as it soundlessly hits the floor and only remains unbroken due to the various spells worked into the material of the curtain.

"How, exactly, does that disprove the hypothesis of the entity passively feeding for months, Luna? You said it yourself, a small number of ponies die every day while asleep. Elderly ponies, sick ponies, infants whose parents can't afford basic anti-crib-death enchantments... While I may not know the exact nature of dream demons; nothing there tells me that there was no way for this thing to keep its feedings low-key until it gained enough power to actively attack and injure its prey to transition from scavenger to full predator mode."

Luna's mouth opened and closed a few times as she mulled over Twilight's statement and question, but her gaze and ears both shift towards Fluttershy as the near-druidic pony opens her mouth. "If I might say so, Princess, I think Twilight may be right. It happens all the time with sick or injured predators in the wild. A maticore would focus on carrion or sick and injured game if it is weak itself, so couldn't a dream demon prey passively on the elderly by entering their dreams and provoking a heart attack? Nopony would notice anything out of the ordinary..."

Fluttershy trails off as the doctor enters the room and slips through the curtain, briefly breaking the soundproofing effect and causing Rainbow's raspy voice to be heard by everyone in the room before the fabric settles back into place. "About time, doc. how lon-"

"I concede the point that I had not considered a possibility of passive feeding by 'scavenging' for the souls of dreamers who were already dying. I have been focusing solely on nightmares for so long that I hadn't even considered the possibility that something could attack a dreamer and benefit without first turning it into a nightmare."

"Well, why not? Ah mean, how long does a nightmare have to last to be dangerous?"

"I'm not sure, Applejack. I loathe to admit it, but there are some significant gaps in mine own...my own knowledge. The treatise that I wrote on the subject was left to languish after my fall from grace, and reading through it now brings no further clarity other than to highlight where my education from my father was cut short. He could patrol six dreams at a time and was still training me when he died after killing the last major dream demon."

All ears, followed by gazes, swivel towards Rainbow's bed as the privacy curtain is drawn aside by the doctor, revealing the disgruntled pegasus. "She's stable, and healing well. There's no sign of any lingering effects preventing healing, and the pain is being managed acceptably. We're going to move Sweetie Belle to the foal's ward to finish her recovery, and please wait until that is finished before using any more experimental magic."

Two nurses walk in, followed by the doctor walking out to go see to his next patient. Apple Bloom and Scootaloo start to follow before looking around while Rarity immediately begins to follow her sister to the other ward with only a slight nod to her friends. Applejack gives a similar nod to Apple Bloom. "G'wan you two, no point in waitin' fer us right now. Follow Rarity and stay safe, okay?"

As the fillies follow their friend, Luna turns to Rainbow Dash and gives the most comforting smile she can manage. "I think that we need to bring you up to speed, and then we can examine your recent dream to find out if it matches a recent pattern. I'm going to start with an explanation of why I safeguard dreams and keep nightmares at bay..."

Author's Note

Yes, I know, it has been quite some time.

Time to get the hell out of the doldrums.