Author's Note

Warning: This is an OC-centered story. If you don't like OC-centered stories, then don't read this. I'm not apologizing for it. That's the way it is.

This is a story based around an rp campaign that my friends and I were a part of and finished. I wrote a short, three-part story based on it because it went really well and I wanted to explore my character, Wordplay, and my friends' characters, Chatterjoy and Jazzy Mellows. Don't read if you don't want to, this is really for my entertainment and my friends' ease of access later. It won't hurt my feelings if you don't appreciate it/don't get it. However, if you don't like it, please don't comment. If you don't like it, just leave it alone and never come back to it. That is all I'm asking. Thank you.

Part 1- Black Fog

Part 1- Black Fog

“I can feel myself getting a sunburn,” Wordplay grumbled

Jazzy Mellows lifted one lens of her sunglasses and glanced sideways at Wordplay, who was frowning and looking down at her legs. The pink unicorn rolled her eyes.

“Pass the sunscreen,” the purple unicorn with the blue and sea-foam green mane said, holding her hoof out towards her pink friend.

“I just gave it to you,” Jazzy replied.

“Oh, yeah, you did. Sorry.”

“What are you, blind?”

“No! Well…sometimes. I just don’t want a sunburn.”

“We’ve only been out here for a few minutes!” Jazzy pointed out. “You’re not going to burn that fast.”

“I think I might. I don’t like the beach,” Wordplay squirted some white lotion onto her hoof and smeared it across her legs, rubbing it into her coat. She honestly hated the feeling of sunscreen, but she hated the feeling of a sunburn even more, so using the greasy lotion wasn’t that bad.

“Come on,” Jazzy Mellows shot back. “We both decided that Chatterjoy needed to see the beach, since she’s never seen it before. And we all need a vacation.”

“Look, when I said that Chatterjoy needed to see the beach, I didn’t mean we should personally take her. I just said that at some point in her life she should see the ocean,” Wordplay griped, continuing to rub the sunscreen onto her back, as much as possible. When she couldn’t reach anymore, she used her magic to sloppily slap some more onto her purple coat. Since she couldn’t see, she wasn’t doing a great job, but it was better than nothing.

She and Jazzy Mellows, a new friend that Wordplay had met a few months ago, were lounging in beach chairs on the sandy shores of Horseshoe Bay. A few weeks ago, they, and Wordplay’s other new friend, Chatterjoy, had decided to take a vacation to the beach. At first Wordplay had been fine with it. She’d been to the beach quite a bit as a filly, and though she remembered hating it, the idea of going back somehow seemed strangely appealing to her when Jazzy and Chatterjoy had mentioned it. Now that she was here though, that was a totally different story.

“But you said it was a great idea when I first mentioned the thought of going to the beach. You said you hadn’t been here in ages and we should definitely go,” Jazzy pointed out. Wordplay looked away innocently.

“I don’t remember any of that,” she replied, not making eye contact.

“Yes you do.”

“No, I don’t.”

“Didn’t you say you have a friend who lives here, anyways?” Jazzy asked. “A pegasus or something?”

“Sea Petal grew up here, but I don’t think she’s here right now,” Wordplay replied with a shrug. “I think she’s at a surfing tournament further up the coast.”

Wordplay did have a friend named Sea Petal who was a surfing pony. Not too long ago, even, she and her friend Sugar Rose had stayed in Horseshoe Bay for the sole purpose of cheering their friend on while she was attempting to get to the Equestria Surfing Championship. Sea Petal hadn’t actually made it to the Championship, and the stress had put a lot of strain on their relationship, but the ponies had been able to work through it together and Sea Petal had learned a valuable lesson about making goals she couldn’t reach.

And despite the fact that Wordplay really didn’t like the beach, she did have to admit that being with friends made it bearable. At least, somewhat.

“Where is Chatterjoy anyway?” Wordplay finally asked after a brief pause. “I get nervous when she’s out of sight.”

“I think she’s still down in the water,” Jazzy answered. “She said something about trying to pet a dolphin.”

Wordplay rolled her eyes. It suited the white bodied, brown maned pegasus. Wordplay had met her only a few months before, but the purple unicorn really enjoyed the pegasus’ antics. But other than that, Chatterjoy had a really sweet heart and just wanted to see her friends smile. It was a trait that Wordplay had only seen in a few ponies, but one she really treasured. Chatterjoy had introduced her to Jazzy Mellows, a musician who surprisingly lived in Canterlot, where Wordplay had also been born and raised. Jazzy was a percussionist for the Canterlot Orchestra, something that Wordplay could connect to as she had once been a percussionist when she’d attended Princess Celestia’s School for Gifted Unicorns. Jazzy was a unicorn like Wordplay, had a generous nature, and also loved music as much as, and even more than Wordplay did. She had a taste for some strange musicians which Wordplay could forgive, but the pink unicorn with the purple mane and tail and the treble-clef cutie mark acted as a unique foil to Chatterjoy. Jazzy was calm and even-keeled, similar to Wordplay herself, while Chatterjoy could be…..rambunctious to say the least. It made for some interesting (yet always fun) times together.

And honestly, Chatterjoy was smarter than Wordplay thought most ponies understood. The purple unicorn knew that both she and Jazzy had a deeper look into what Chatterjoy’s real heart was like than most did. And Wordplay could see a sweet, loveable pony who had a good talent for writing and a good potential for art. Wordplay and Jazzy were attempting to help her get a position as a tutor in Ponyville, where they lived, instead of Chatterjoy’s old job of working with weather on Sweet Apple Acres. Both unicorns knew she could do better. She had so much potential, and Wordplay knew the pegasus had a talent for working with foals that needed to be used.

However, at the moment, the white pegasus was running through the waves on the beach, making high-pitch clicking noises. Wordplay sighed.

“There she is,” she said to Jazzy. “Looks like she’s trying to call a dolphin now.”

“Should we tell her they don’t come up this close to land?” Jazzy wondered. Wordplay laughed and thought about it.

“Nah, she’s not doing any harm,” the purple unicorn finally decided. Jazzy laughed.

“That’s mean!” the pink unicorn countered, though she was still laughing. Wordplay laughed, too.

“Let her play. She’ll figure it out.”

Wordplay fixed her sunglasses in place and leaned back in her chair. She could feel the sun beating down on her, and even with an extra layer of sunscreen, she still hoped she didn’t get burned. But the sun made her drowsy, and eventually the unicorn’s eyelids began to droop. She didn’t fight the feeling, and soon was asleep under the warm beach sun.

~**~

She woke up to somepony jabbing her in the leg with their hoof. Wordplay groaned and opened an eye to find Chatterjoy standing next to her. The pegasus was wet and half-covered in seaweed. Wordplay decided not to ask what she’d been doing.

“I need the beach ball,” the pegasus told her, seriously. Wordplay yawned and rubbed her eyes with a hoof.

“The beach ball?” Wordplay asked. “For what?”

“Because it’s a beach, that’s why!” the pegasus replied as if it was obvious. “How can I have fun on the beach without a beach ball?”

“How’d your attempts to find a dolphin go?” the purple unicorn asked. She glanced over to see that Jazzy was asleep.

“That’s what I need the ball for,” Chatterjoy said. “They told me that they want to play some volleyball, and I don’t want to miss out on it!”

Wordplay blinked.

“You…what? How did you….? You know what? Never mind. It should be in my saddle bag over there.”

She pointed with a hoof to a bag lying on a nearby beach towel. It had some beachy-items like a few more bottles of sunscreen, two canteens of water, a few apples, and if Wordplay remembered correctly, a beach ball.

Chatterjoy immediately went to sort through it and find it, and Wordplay laid her head back against the chair. But then Chatterjoy was poking her again.

“I don’t see it,” she said, holding the bag out. Wordplay looked inside and noted that the ball wasn’t there. The unicorn groaned.

“I must have left it in the room, Chatterjoy,” she said, apologetically. “I’m sorry.”

“What’s wrong?” Jazzy asked, lifting her head. Chatterjoy looked disappointed.

“I was going to play ball with the dolphins,” she said. “But somepony forgot the beach ball.”

“It’s okay, we can just walk back to the inn and grab it real fast,” Jazzy offered. “It’s not too far away.”

“But I was so comfortable,” Wordplay groused. Jazzy rolled off her chair and grabbed up the saddlebag from Chatterjoy, slinging it across her back.

“Come on, it won’t take that long,” the musical unicorn said. Wordplay sighed and rolled up as well, still feeling drowsy. She really just wanted to finish her nap.

“Fine,” the purple unicorn replied. “Let’s make it fast.”

The trio made their way up the beach and back towards the inn in the distance where they were staying. Fortunately Jazzy was right – one of the reasons they’d booked this particular inn was because it had a good view of the ocean. Wordplay did have to admit that even if she didn’t like the beach, she did love beach sunsets. They were always gorgeous.

It didn’t take them very long to get to it, and soon the three ponies were walking up the strip of sidewalk that lead up to the doors of the place where they were staying. As they neared the doors that, as was typical with this certain inn, were wide open to let in the refreshing sea breeze, Chatterjoy noticed something.

“Look, a filly!” the white pegasus said, happily. Both Wordplay and Jazzy glanced in the direction of Chatterjoy’s comment, neither taking too much interest in what their friend had seen. After all, this was a popular vacation spot. It wasn’t unusual to see fillies and colts running around playing.

But when they saw the little foal with the yellow body and the pink mane, both unicorns did a double-take. Something was very wrong with her.

Chatterjoy swooped down in front of the foal, a smile plastered across her face.

“Hi, there!” she chirped. “What’s your name? Are you staying here? Do you like to play with beach balls?”

“Hey, are you alright?” Wordplay called, trotting to catch up with Chatterjoy, and addressing the filly. Jazzy followed and used her hoof to silence Chatterjoy in attempts to not overwhelm the foal. The little yellow earth pony was dirty, her coat stained with mud and dirt, unusual for a beach visitor. Also, she was visibly exhausted, her eyes bloodshot and shadowed by deep bags. She was breathing hard, too, and her coat was damp with sweat. Her cheeks were tear-stained.

“I-I….” she started, then burst into tears. Wordplay looked concerned and Chatterjoy reached out to the little foal, her typical manic-cheery disposition gone.

“Hey, it’s okay,” the white pegasus said, wrapping a hoof around the little pony’s neck. “You’re okay. What’s wrong?”

But the filly seemed terrified, scared to speak. She just buried her face into Chatterjoy’s shoulder and cried. Wordplay and Jazzy shared a glance.

“You’re safe here,” Wordplay said, putting a hoof on the filly’s back. She wasn’t the best with foals, but she could try to show her a little sympathy. “Please, tell us what’s wrong.”

“M-my village,” the foal whimpered, her lime green eyes wide with fear as she pulled away slightly from Chatterjoy. “It’s….it’s….”

“What about your village?” Jazzy asked, also trying to comfort the foal. “What happened?”

“Where are you from?” Chatterjoy asked gently. Wordplay glanced around to see if there was anypony with this filly, but strangely enough she seemed completely alone.

The filly sniffed.

“Hoofington,” she whimpered.

“That’s just south of here,” Wordplay commented. “What happened?”

But instead of answering, she started to sob again. The three older ponies looked at each other, and Jazzy sighed.

“We’re not getting anywhere like this,” she said. “She’s too scared.”

They all nodded, and remained silent for a while as the filly continued to sob. The cries were only broken by the sound of bells from a nearby ice cream cart. At the sound, Chatterjoy’s ears perked up and her head snapped towards the direction of the cart.

“Ice cream!” the white pegasus cheered. Wordplay looked oddly at her friend.

“Right now, Chatterjoy?” she asked. Jazzy shook her head.

“No, no, that might be a good idea,” she replied. “Come on, let’s get her ice cream and get her calmed down a bit.”

“Yeah!” Chatterjoy said, standing up and taking the hoof of the little filly. The yellow earth pony blinked and looked up at them, her eyes bleary with tears.

“Come on,” the white pegasus said. “Would you like some ice cream? I know I would! Nothing helps stop crying and scary stuff like ice cream does!”

The little filly gave Chatterjoy a watery smile, then nodded. Wordplay frowned, though, as they started walking towards the ice cream cart. She wondered what had happened that had scared this filly so much.

~**~

They had all bought ice cream and then brought the filly back to their room in the inn. After almost demolishing her double-chocolate scoop on a sprinkle cone, the filly seemed much calmer, and was even laughing lightly with Chatterjoy as the pegasus entertained her. The filly had managed to tell them that her name was Sweet Song, but they hadn’t pressed her for any more information about Hoofington. But now that she seemed significantly calmer and more coherent, Wordplay and Jazzy decided it was time to try and get the story from the filly.

“Sweet Song,” Wordplay asked, sitting carefully down on the edge of the bed next to where the little yellow earth pony was sitting, finishing her ice cream. “You said you were from Hoofington, right?”

Sweet Song nodded.

“Yeah,” she said, looking down at her ice cream, though not eating any more. Wordplay hoped that she wouldn’t burst into tears again.

“You said something happened there,” the purple unicorn continued. “Can you tell us what? What happened in Hoofington?”

Sweet Song didn’t say anything for a long time, and Jazzy stepped in, placing a hoof on the little filly’s shoulder.

“You can tell us,” she said. “We can help you.”

Sweet Song nodded and sniffed.

“I don’t really know,” she said slowly, and Wordplay could hear her voice shaking with fear.

“Well, tell us what you do know,” Wordplay urged her. The filly nodded.

“It happened a day or so ago, I guess,” she said. “Everything was fine, just a normal morning. Then suddenly, this black fog came up.”

“Black fog?” Jazzy asked. The filly nodded.

“Yeah,” she said. “And it made everyone really sleepy. Then…they…..”

“They what?” Wordplay urged. Sweet Song blinked up at them, her green eyes wide and sparkling with terror.

“They fell asleep,” she answered softly. The words made Wordplay shiver, despite the warm breeze coming in through the room’s open window.

“Just….fell asleep?” Jazzy repeated. Sweet Song nodded.

“Yeah.”

Wordplay and Jazzy Mellows shared a glance, then Wordplay stood and walked a short distance from where the filly still sat eating her ice cream. Jazzy followed her over and Wordplay waved a hoof at Chatterjoy to join them.

“But I’m not done!” the pegasus griped, her mouth half-full of mint chocolate chip ice cream, her favorite.

“Just come over here,” Jazzy told her. Chatterjoy made a “hmph” sound and dragged herself off the bed, using one hoof to still hold her ice cream which was smeared over her nose. She joined her friends in one corner of the room, hopefully out of Sweet Song’s ear shot.

“What do you think we should do?” Wordplay asked. “Find the police or something?”

“Do you think they’d believe her?” Jazzy Mellows pointed out. “I don’t know if I believe her.”

“I do,” Chatterjoy put in. “I think she’s telling the truth.”

“Something obviously scared her,” Wordplay said.

“That’s what I’m saying!” Chatterjoy replied. “She’s too scared to be lying. It took two scoops of ice cream to calm down. Now that’s scared.”

“Chatterjoy has a point,” Jazzy agreed. “She was pretty freaked out.”

“But what are we supposed to do about it?” Wordplay asked. “What are we, the royal guard? This is a job for Princess Luna, not us.”

Chatterjoy’s eyes widened.

“Princess Luna?” the pegasus said, almost reaching fangirl-squeal levels. Sweet Song glanced up at the sound, but quickly went back to her ice cream. Wordplay and Jazzy were well acquainted with the fact that Chatterjoy was absolutely in fangirl-love with the Princess of the Night. “Do you think she’ll come? Do you think I can get her autograph? Do you….do you think she’ll autograph my plushie of her?”

“Do you even have it with you?” Wordplay asked, eyebrow raised. Jazzy gave the purple unicorn an “are you serious” look, and Chatterjoy looked seriously at her writer friend.

“I always have my Princess Luna plushie with me,” she said, her voice so flat and serious that Wordplay decided not to ask.

“Okay….” The purple unicorn said slowly. “Anyways. Why don’t we ask her? Maybe the townsponies already sent for Princess Luna.”

Jazzy nodded and walked back over to where the little filly still sat on the end of the bed. She’d finished her ice cream and was now entertaining herself with the beach ball that the three ponies had originally come back to the inn to fetch.

“Sweetheart,” Jazzy said. “Did any of the villagers contact the Princesses when the black fog appeared? Or…anypony for that matter?”

Sweet Song shook her head sadly.

“It came too fast,” she replied, her voice catching again. “They were gone before anyone got a letter out. I…I was trying to get to Canterlot to tell the Princesses myself. But,” here her voice got very soft and tears started to form in the filly’s eyes again. “I don’t think I can make it.”

Jazzy patted the foal gently on the shoulder, then turned back to the other two ponies.

“There’s your answer,” the pink unicorn said. Chatterjoy looked crestfallen.

“No Princess Luna,” she said sadly. Wordplay patted her friend on the shoulder.

“Maybe we should send a letter or something,” Wordplay said. “To the Princesses, I mean. I still think this is out of our league.”

“And I still don’t think there’s anything to worry about,” Jazzy replied. “It might just be the overworked imagination of a foal.”

“A foal who left her home to come all the way to Horseshoe Bay to find help?” Wordplay pointed out. Jazzy shrugged.

“Maybe. Let’s just go visit there, see what’s going on. Besides, Wordplay, how do you intend to alert the Princesses? They probably get hundreds of letters a day. We wouldn’t be heard,” Jazzy said. Wordplay sighed. Suddenly spending a while at the beach didn’t seem like such a bad idea. She wasn’t an adventurer. She was a writer. She wrote adventures because it meant she didn’t actually have to be in one.

Still, it looked like it was going in that direction.

“Chatterjoy?” the purple unicorn asked wearily. “What do you think?”

“I think that if there’s something really going on in Hoofington, we can get Princess Luna to come and that would be amazing!” the white pegasus gushed. Wordplay sighed and both Jazzy and Chatterjoy looked at her, waiting for her decision. It was beginning to look like she didn’t have a choice. Because as much as she really just wanted to relax, there was no way she was leaving her friends.

“Fine,” Wordplay sighed. “Let’s go to Hoofington.”

Chatterjoy cheered and ran around the room gathering her stuff to pack back into her saddlebag. While she was doing that, Wordplay and Jazzy approached Sweet Song.

“We’re going to check out your village,” Jazzy told her. “if you want us to.”

“I’m coming with you!” the filly said, getting up off the bed and trying to look brave. But Wordplay shook her head firmly.

“No way,” the purple unicorn told the little filly. “You’re staying here. We’ll pay the innkeeper for a few more days, so you’ll have a place to stay. But we’re going to leave you where it’s safe, if there really is anything to be worried about in your village.”

“But you won’t know where to go!” the filly argued. Jazzy placed a hoof on the filly’s shoulder.

“You need to stay here and rest,” she said. “We’ll find your town – it’s on any map. And we’ll be back before you know it, don’t you worry.”

Sweet Song looked down at the ground, her eyes filling with tears. Wordplay sighed, feeling sorry for her.

“Everything will be fine, you’ll see,” she said. And Wordplay herself certainly hoped her own words were true.

~**~

It didn’t take too long for them to pack. Sweet Song followed them forlornly down into the lobby of the inn, where Wordplay informed the innkeeper of what was going on and paid him for a few more nights. After reiterating to the filly how important in was for her to stay in Horseshoe Bay, the three ponies picked up a few last-minute items for their journey – a few apples, a couple of biscuits, and a map – and decided to start on their way. Chatterjoy initially wanted to fly to Hoofington, but Wordplay and Jazzy had both decided they had better stay together in case something was truly wrong in the town. It would be safer in a larger number.

So they paid for a taxi to take them as far the edge of the Hayseed Swamp, an area several miles south of Horseshoe Bay, and together they started their journey down to where the map lead them. Before they had left, Sweet Song had warned them to stay alert. Whatever the filly had seen had obviously scared her. Though Wordplay still wondered if it was as bad as the filly let on.

They got to the outskirts of Hoofington right before the sun started to set. The three ponies’ long shadows walked beside them as they entered the town, and Wordplay wished they’d started out earlier, because it didn’t take long to notice that something was definitely wrong.

Hoofington was about the size of Ponyville, maybe a little smaller. It was certainly set out the same, with rows of shops and houses radiating out from a central building, the Town Hall, which stood above everything else. In fact, it very much reminded Wordplay of the town she had called home for the last few years. Except for one thing: Hoofington was disturbingly, eerily empty. In a way that a town its size shouldn’t have been at not much past 6 o’clock in the evening.

“Where is everypony?” Jazzy wondered aloud, pausing as they reached the main street. The warm summer breeze blew through the deserted streets, whisking bits of litter to and fro. Wordplay stepped on and caught a newspaper that was blowing past and pushed it open to reveal the date.

“Two days old,” she announced, though she wasn’t sure if that meant anything.

“Hellooooo!” Chatterjoy called as she flew from building to building. “Anypony here? I’ve got a beach ball!”

“It’s like it’s been deserted,” Jazzy noted as she and Wordplay walked the streets, glancing from side to side at the closed shops, the quiet windows of the houses. It was strange, though. The shops showed no signs of life, but most of them still sported signs turned to say “Open”. Lights were still on in some homes. The ponies must be here somewhere.

And they were. It wasn’t too long before they came across the first villager, slumped on the ground, his front hooves curled underneath his head as if he had lay down to sleep in his own bed. But his face was twisted into a frown, and Wordplay could see his eyes twitching under their lids.

“What’s wrong with him?” Jazzy asked. Wordplay looked confused.

“It’s like he’s dreaming,” the purple unicorn noted. But as Jazzy looked closer, the musical pony realized there was definitely more.

“More like he’s having a nightmare,” she added. Wordplay reached out a hoof to the pony’s – an orange and yellow pegasus – shoulder, but Jazzy stopped her.

“Are you sure we should wake him up?” she asked. Wordplay shrugged.

“Why not? It seems like they’re just asleep.”

Jazzy released her friend’s hoof, and Wordplay shook the orange pegasus pony’s shoulder gently. But there was no response. Wordplay tried again, and even tried calling to the unconscious stallion. But he didn’t react, didn’t even stir. After a few minutes, Wordplay gave up, looked back at Jazzy.

“He won’t wake up,” she said. “What’s wrong?”

“I don’t know,” Jazzy answered, her voice echoing eerily through the empty town.

Wordplay’s ear suddenly flicked to the side. She thought for sure she’d heard something nearby.

“What?” Jazzy asked, as the purple unicorn moved towards a pile of crates near a fruit stand.

“I heard something,” Wordplay replied, her voice low. She bit her lip, momentarily wavering between whether or not to look and see just what had made that noise – if it had been anything at all.

Stealing herself, she reached a hoof out to the nearest crate and tipped it up so she could look underneath.

A scream erupted from inside, and all Wordplay could see was a blur of blue and pink.

“Don’t let it get me!” a mare’s voice cried, as hooves lashed out to kick at Wordplay. The unicorn fortunately dodged them.

“Whoa, whoa!” Wordplay said. Jazzy came forward and the two ponies attempted to comfort whoever they had found. Once the pony stopped kicking, they could see her better. She was an earth mare, with a blue body and a pink mane.

“It’s okay,” Jazzy told her gently. “We’re not here to hurt you.”

“I-I’m sorry,” the pony panted, obviously scared out of her wits. “I…I thought you were the Shadows.”

“The Shadows?” Jazzy whispered to herself, but didn’t ask the mare to explain. “Well, we’re not; we’re here to help you. You’re safe now, okay?”

The mare nodded slowly, clearly dazed. Wordplay took pity on the young pony.

“Hey,” she said. “What’s your name?”

“B-Bright Pencil,” the mare stuttered. Now that Wordplay looked she could see that the pony’s cutie mark was clearly a colored pencil drawing a rainbow. Probably an artist.

“Bright Pencil, can you tell us what happened?” Jazzy asked, soothingly Nearby, Chatterjoy landed near them and moved in to listen and see what was happening.

The mare was shaking slightly.

“I-I don’t know,” she replied. “I was going about my normal business, going back home from work in the evening, when these black shadows just came from nowhere. They just swarmed over everything, and whoever they touched fell asleep. I panicked and hid under this crate. I – I thought you were the shadows, come to find me.”

“So all the townsponies fell asleep,” Jazzy said. “And now they’re dreaming or something.”

Bright Pencil blanched, and Wordplay looked concerned.

“Not dreaming,” Bright Pencil whispered. “Having nightmares. I could hear some of them….crying. I was so scared.”

Wordplay nodded an acknowledgement to Jazzy, and then turned back to the earth mare.

“You stayed awake?” Wordplay asked. “By hiding?”

“I…I don’t know,” the mare said. “I guess. After the shadows came, I felt really sleepy. But I fought it. I was too scared to fall asleep.”

The pony started shaking harder, but Chatterjoy moved in and gave the mare a hug to try and calm her.

“Get out of here,” Wordplay told her. “You should leave now, before you fall asleep, or before the shadows come back. Try and send a letter to one of the Princesses.”

“Do you think I’ll be able to reach them?” Bright Pencil asked as she shakily got to her feet. Jazzy nodded.

“Just tell them it’s important,” she advised. “Tell them what happened to you. They’ll listen.”

The mare nodded and ran off towards the edge of town. The three ponies looked at each other, then turned to carry on.

Suddenly, Wordplay stumbled. Jazzy caught her and helped her back up.

“Trip over something?” the pink unicorn asked, though she didn’t see anything that would have caused her friend to trip. Wordplay shook her head and rubbed her eyes.

“No,” she admitted. “I…I just suddenly feel so tired….”

Chatterjoy yawned from behind them, and blinked blearily.

“Me, too,” the white pegasus said. Jazzy had to admit that she, too, felt suddenly drowsy.

“Let’s keep moving,” the pink unicorn suggested, hoping to shake off the strange effects.

Wordplay and Chatterjoy nodded, and followed quickly after Jazzy, trying to ignore their sudden drowsiness.

“So, are we going to try wake up everypony in this town?” Chatterjoy asked as they continued down the main street in the direction of the town hall.

“That might take a while,” Wordplay pointed out. “Especially seeing how that stallion didn’t wake up when we tried.”

“We have to get these townsponies out of here, so we’ll just have to try harder,” Jazzy argued. “See, Wordplay? There’s definitely something going on here.”

“Yeah, you’re right,” Wordplay replied with a nod. “But honestly, I’d still rather we just sent a letter to the Princesses and let them handle it. What can we do?”

“Bright Pencil should be sending a letter,” Chatterjoy said. “She’ll bring Princess Luna here to sign my….I mean to help these ponies.”

“For now, maybe we should all pick a house or a store and try to wake up everypony inside,” Jazzy suggested.

“Uh, maybe that’s not such a good idea seeing how we’re all falling asleep,” Wordplay replied. “We should stick together in case one of us does fall asleep.”

“That’d probably be better,” Chatterjoy agreed with a nod. Jazzy sighed.

“Alright,” she said. “Come on, let’s go in there.”

Jazzy nodded to a nearby store whose door stood slightly ajar. A sign hanging over the awning had a picture of a book drawn onto it, so Wordplay assumed it was a bookstore. The three ponies made their way towards it, and Wordplay reached out to pull the door open more with her hoof.

What happened after was hard for her to understand, but the door flung itself open the rest of the way, and a flurry of what looked like black mist threw itself at the ponies. They cried out and hit the ground, trying to dodge whatever had attacked them. When they looked up, the black fog was making its way through the air, like some sort of strange mist snake, towards the town hall in the center of the village.

“Follow it!” Jazzy yelled. The three ponies tore off after the smoke, but it was clearly much faster than they were, even with Chatterjoy flying after it. It disappeared into one of the top windows.

Chatterjoy landed beside her friends, and they all stood there panting for a moment, trying to catch their breath and gather their wits.

“Is everypony okay?” Wordplay asked, still a little breathless. The other two nodded.

“Chatterjoy, did you see where it went?” Jazzy asked the white pegasus. Chatterjoy nodded and pointed with a hoof to the top of the town hall, which was about a three-story building.

“It disappeared up there,” she said. “It went through the window, or something.”

“Well, it is mist,” Wordplay added. “It probably went through the cracks or something. Whatever’s here, it must be in the town hall.”

The three ponies looked up to the top of the building, as if trying to see through the walls and find whatever was going on inside.

“Inside the town hall…” Jazzy said. “Right. So, we…..better wait for the Princess then?”

“Yeah,” Wordplay agreed, though her voice was a little uncertain. The three ponies stood on the ground, an awkward silence coming over them. Wordplay glanced back up at the town hall.

“Any minute now….” Jazzy assured them.

“Right,” Chatterjoy agreed. “Princess Luna’ll be here soon.”

“Of course,” Wordplay agreed.

They stood in silence for a little longer, awkwardly shifting from hoof to hoof.

A few more minutes passed.

“Oh, to hay with this,” Wordplay muttered and walked over to the door of the town hall. “I want to see what’s inside.”

“I thought you were the one saying that this was a job for the Princesses,” Jazzy argued. Wordplay nodded her agreement.

“True,” she said. “But now that we’re here….well, now I’m curious. And it won’t hurt just to see, I’m sure.”

Jazzy smiled. In truth, she wanted to check it out, too. But suddenly, she had a thought. She turned to Chatterjoy.

“Chatterjoy,” she said. “Fly up to the top story and look in one of the windows, tell us what you see.”
Chatterjoy made a mock-salute.

“Aye-aye, Captain!” she said happily then took to the air, flapping up to look in the windows of the level where the mist disappeared. She hovered up around the top, peering through the nearest glass into the world inside.

But all she saw was her reflection staring back at her. The other side of the window was completely black. And not just the black of a house that had all its lights turned off. But a blackness that seemed almost….alive. It made a shudder run down the pegasus’ spine.

She got a little closer, but couldn’t see anything. She rubbed her hoof against the glass to see if that would help, but the only thing she could still see was blackness.

“Chatterjoy?” Wordplay called from the ground. “What is it? What do you see?”

“Just blackness!” the pony called down to them. “Like something’s covering the window or something.”

Tentatively, the pegasus reached toward the glass once more with her hoof. Her heart was in her throat as she moved to touch the only thing that separated her from whatever was lurking inside the depths of the building. Finally, the edge of her hoof touched the glass, and she tapped it. Once, twice, three times.

She held her breath.

Nothing happened.

Chatterjoy let out a sigh and looked back down at her pony friends.

“I can’t see anything,” she said and started to fly down towards them.

“Well, I guess we should just leave it alone – “ Jazzy started, but was cut off. The window that Chatterjoy had been looking through exploded in a shower of glass, and a black tentacle of mist lashed out, wrapping itself around the white pegasus. She tried to scream, but was cut off as the mist enveloped her completely, then dragged her bodily through the shattered window. In seconds, the pony had disappeared.

“Chatterjoy!” Wordplay and Jazzy Mellows screamed in unison, but their friend was gone.

“Oh my gosh, oh my gosh!” Wordplay panted, her green eyes wide and terrified. “Chatterjoy! Where are you?!”

“It just took her!” Jazzy said, her own blue eyes filled with fear. “It just took her!”

“This is all my fault!” Wordplay said, despondently. “I should have never said anything about checking it out for ourselves!”

“No, it’s my fault,” Jazzy replied. “I shouldn’t have told her to look in the window.”

“Well….” Wordplay said, glancing at the door of the town hall. “I guess this isn’t a time to argue about that now. We have to go after her!”

Jazzy nodded and the two unicorns raced up the short set of steps and to the entrance of what was once the most important building in Hoofington.

Now it was a death-trap.

Behind them, the sun had set.