Chapters Terror Begins at Twilight
'An eery silence fell as she she ran, the sounds of her hoof beats echoed through the empty house. She could feel it, it felt as close as the darkness that surrounded her. The smell of blood reeked all around her, she knew, it was from more than the seeping wound on her side, the acrid smell of stale blood that permeated the air, that was it's scent, that's how she knew, it was close. In the smell, she could almost tell that the splash of essence, the vital fluid that drenched it, that covered it from hoof to ear, she could smell each individual pony who used to live by that blood. A childhood friend, a stranger she met just that morning, a protective stepfather and, her lover. She could smell it, their blood was almost screaming at her, that it was close.
'Oh God no! I have to get out of here! I have to-' Suddenly, the floor creaked, the wood betraying an entity close by, only, to her horror, the sound came from in front of her. Annabelle froze, her blood chilled as she came to a dead stop. Her heart raced in her ears and in the near perfect darkness, her sight was useless, shadowy figures moved all around her but the air was still and the house devoid of sound, all sound but one: Her heartbeat.
'No, please no... I don't want to die. It, it can't see me, if I stay still maybe it wont...' Her thought derailed as she listened around her, something was off. It was still quiet, but her heartbeat, something about it...
Thump.
Thump.
Thum-thump.
Fear flooded her mind and body as the horror gripped her entire being, the deadly revelation dawned on her: there were two heartbeats! Slowly, Annabelle turned her head, the other pulse, it was beating right into her ear. 'I- It's r-right beside me...' Her body trembled, shaking uncontrollably. She tired, with every last drop of strength she had, to keep her body still, praying that, it hadn't found her yet. Looking slowly from the corner of her eye, all she could see was the same pitch blackness. Summoning up the little courage she had, Annabelle turned her head, little by little, fighting the paralysis of horror that held her hooves to the floor. Every muscle below her neck felt disconnected from her, like she was attached to a lifeless doll submerged in cement. She wanted to run, every fiber of her being told her to run, to scream as loud as she could, tears rolled effortlessly down her face as she begged her body to move even as the scent of blood grew as think as blood it's self, her body would not respond.
'I have to get out! I-if I stay here, I'll end up like them, like everypony else...'
“H- Help me...” A weak, choked voice echoed through the house. She couldn't tell, where it came from, it almost felt as though the house it's self were begging, pleading for help as the voice seeped out of every wall. “Help... me.”
'No, that voice... I-it can't be. No! He- he's dead, it's not him! It's a trap! I- I have to, I have to-”
“Annabelle... help... me.” The voice whispered, it's words gargled as though it talked through fluid filled lungs. Her heart skipped a beat, she couldn't deny it, the voice that was begging for her help, was Leo. Suddenly, the floor beside her moaned under a moving mass, right where the heartbeat was only moments ago. The sound of light hoof steps trotted away, growing fainter and fainter until they were swallowed by the darkness. She felt the grip of mortal fear relax and the scent of blood fade back into the hint of death the filled the air in the entire dammed house.
“Annabelle... h-help me. ” The voice spoke, the sound coming from every direction, all around her. Still, it was unmistakable. She knew that voice, the voice of the stallion she loved, the voice of the fiance she left for dead, running away as the life drained out of him on the floor of bathroom, his lungs filling with his own blood, sputtering, gasping his last pleas for help as he died.
“Leo...” Her body froze as the words slipped out as a whisper past her lips. A creak from the floor above chilled her to her bones. Suddenly, without warning the scent of blood came back stronger than ever, filling her nostrils with such intensity she felt she might drown in it. Her heart raced and her mouth went dry. A deathly cold wisp of air caressed her ear.. it was a breath. 'No... no..'
A sharp claw, warmed by the blood of her friends slid smoothly over her wound, it was so sharp, it barely hurt as the bloo1d began dripping freely to the flood. A soft, gentle voice spoke, right into her ear: “ Annab- Twilight!”
“Ahhh!” Twilight's wings flourished as she shot up, dropping the book she was engrossed in as her fur stood on end. A burst or raucous laughter quickly followed as Rainbow Dash fell to the floor in an uncontrollable giggle fit as Twilight spun around to face her.
“Hahaha, oh wow! That scream! Y-you should have see the look on your face!”
“Rainbow Dash! It's not funny! You could have given me a heart attack!” Twilight reprimanded while trying to calm her racing heart and regain her composure and tucking her wings.
“Oh relax Twi,” Rainbow dash said as she stifled her giggles. “I've been sitting here for like an hour and it's getting late, I had to do something to tear you out of that book.”
“You mean you've just been waiting? Watching me read?” Twilight questioned dubiously.
“Yeah? Why is that weird? I kind of like watching you really get into a book, I can see it's like when I fly, it's your zone.”
“And scaring me to death was supposed to help?” Twilight cocked her brow before turning from her desk to join Rainbow Dash.
“Well, like I said, I know how you get when you're into a book, and it'll start getting dark soon. As fun as night flying is, it's not exactly what we planned for our date. I mean, Spike's got a picnic basket all ready and stuff, so...” Rainbow trailed off, her tail gliding back and forth over the wooden floor as her gaze drifted down in uncertainty. I didn't make her that mad did I? She's usually a good sport about pranks but she probably doesn't think it's so funny when it tears her away from a good book...
Twilight watched as her marefriend's confidence began to crumble away. Her eyes softened as she gave a lighthearted sigh. Smiling, she shook her head before rubbing her cheek against Dash's.
“You're right, beside, around this time of year the nights are getting pretty cold. I wouldn't be surprised if it started snowing soon.” She watched as Rainbow's eyes lit up with energy and warmth, pleasantly surprised by a light blush that glowed on her cheeks.
“Yeah, it's going to be cold this year! That's why you and I should enjoy this time of year, pretty soon it'll be too cold to go out without jackets and scarves and I'll be busy with weather duties.”
“Yeah, but maybe then I'll be able to finish books in peace.” Twilight smirked.
“Yeah whatever, I know you have way more fun with me than some dusty old papers!” Rainbow retorted, bumping Twilight we her shoulder.
“Maybe, but at least those dusty old papers don't try to scare me into a heart attack... or at least, most of them don't.” Twilight looked back wearily at the novel that now lay splayed on her desk, the page she was on bent and folded from the impact.
“What is it Twi?” Dash asked, following her gaze to the book.
“It's a novel I got in the mail today, I figured since Nightmare Night is the day after tomorrow, I should get some new horror stories in the Library...”
“Awesome, guessing by your reaction it must be a pretty scary story, we should read it together on Nightmare Night, after we pass out the candy, I'm always up for a good scare.” Rainbow puffed her chest out, her face lit up with her cocksure smile.
“Actually, that does sound good, it's a date.” Twilight smiled back. Rainbow couldn't help it, her body relaxed and her smiled softened in kind with Twilight's. Rainbow didn't know why, but that smile of her could always disarm her.
“I can't wait.” I've been looking to find something else to read until the next Daring Do comes out and scary stories sound awesome, on top of that, Twilight looked totally scared even before I surprised her, I bet she doesn't want to read it alone.
“Um, Rainbow? Is something wrong? You look like you're spacing out,” Twilight said, jarring Rainbow from her thoughts.
“Uh what? No, I'm fine.” Dash shook her head, dispelling her thoughts. “We should get going, White Tail woods looks awesome right now, most of the leaves are still there and nopony should be out there, we'll have the place all to ourselves.” She turned from Twilight to the door and started walking.
“Sounds romantic.” Twilight giggled as she caught up, the two of them together, side by side left the room. Twilight horn lighting up, flicking the light switch, drowning the room in darkness as they closed the door behind them.
Terror Begins at Twilight
Hoof steps crunched through the blanketing of dead leaves as Twilight and Rainbow Dash walked side by side down a beaten dirt path through the peaceful autumn wood. Warm, late day light shone through the bare trees and the coll breeze whispered through the delicate leaves that still clung to their trees. The expansive wood-scape was painted brilliant shades of red, gold, brown and light green. Twilight marveled at the beauty of the forest, taking in deep breaths of the pure air, which was just beginning to develop the crisp chill the would be with them all through the cold months of winter. A content smile spread across her face as she unconsciously edged towards her marefriend, pressing her side against Rainbow Dash's. She could feel Rainbow's relaxed pulse and her warmth, it made Twilight's body almost collapse from comfort. She wasn't embarrassed in the least as she imagined laying down in the soft leaves, curled up with her marefriend, right then and their. They would lay together, and Twilight would name the type of tree each falling leaf came from and Rainbow would watch the fluffy clouds lazily drift by.
“Um, Twi, you're kind of pushing me off the path.”
“What!?” Twilight's eyes shot open, she didn't even realize she had closed them. Looking beside her Rainbow was standing lopsided, two of her hooves sunk into the leaves. A grove had been worn into the side of the path, likely a canal formed by the recent heavy rainfall. A blush lit up Twilight's face as she nearly leaped to her side, giving Rainbow room to extricate herself from the knee deep leaves. “I'm sorry! I was just lost in thought and I kind of closed my eyes and...”
“Hey, don't sweat it, it's just some leaves. Besides, I saw you were walking with your eyes closed, you just looked happy and I didn't want to shake you out of whatever daydream you were having... well, that is until you ran me off the road,” Rainbow chuckled.
“Heheh... sorry about that. I- Rainbow? What's wrong?” Twilight's embarrassment turned to worry as she watched a look of fear grow in her marefriend's eyes. Her gaze was fixed, but not on Twilight, but stuck on the dense trees behind her, a subtle chill filled the air. Following, Rainbow's stare, twilight began to turn, the path before her came and went from her sight as she brought her head about to see the forest behind her.
“Twilight!” Rainbow barked in a hushed voice.
“Wha-” Before she could turn bring Rainbow into a sight a torrent of leaves washed over her, pelting her face and tangling in her mane. The loud rustling of the leaves beside her ears gave way to a stifled snort of laughter. Twilight glared at Rainbow as she spat leaf fragments from her mouth.
“Oh you think you're funny huh?” Twilight grinned as her horn lit up a bright violet, wrapping all the leaves around her in a magical aura.
“H-hey! That's not fair! Twili-” Too late, a tsunami of leaves slammed into Rainbow, mostly hitting her in a flurry of shattered pieces, torn asunder from the force they were flung with. As the deluge subsided, Rainbow's fur was littered with leaves and small twigs. She sat there with a less than amused look as she worked the leaf bits around in her mouth with her tongue before spitting them out with a look of disgust. With a blurred flourish, she cleared her wings, the powerful gust stripping the ground around her of it's leaves, leaving the dirt and small patches of grass that found their home on the hard earth path.
“Geez Twi, I was just messing with you, you don't need to try and drown me!” She said with a lighthearted tone as she shook the debris from her mane.
“You know that book put me on edge! You should have known it would have scared me.”
“Well don't worry, no more tricks from me, promise!” Rainbow smiled as she lashed her tail, cleaning it of leaves before rubbing her side against Twilight's until they were cheek to cheek. Twilight gave an exasperated sigh and rolled her eyes.
“What am I going to do with you Dashie?” She shook her head.
“I can think of some things.” Rainbow smirked, pressing herself against Twilight.
“I think you need another leaf bath.”
“Yeah, I'm good thanks...” Rainbow casually wrapped her tail around Twilight, pulling her tail between them with hers. A soft pink colored her cheeks as she glanced away, into the forest. “Well anyway, it's going to be getting late soon... we- we should probably head home.”
“Yeah, you're right. Today's been great, besides you scaring me twice.” Warmth and joy filled her chest as she tugged on Rainbow's soft tail with her own, holding it tight. “Let's go home.”
“Lead the way princess.” Rainbow grandiosely bowed before pointing her hoof down the path.
“Come on.” Twilight said with mock impatience. Taking the lead, she and Rainbow continued down the path, tail in tail, together. Twilight kept her eyes on the path, her fears dispelled by Rainbow's touch, she once again lost herself in the scenery. Rainbow smiled as she watched her marefriend look to the vibrant canopy above and the rustic path before them, but her smile faded as she turned her head back to the disheveled patch of path they stopped at, it was almost bare of leaves now. Rainbow couldn't help herself as she glanced into the forest behind them. No, I was just imagining things...
“Wait...” Twilight came to a dead stop in the path, a perplexed and worried look was painted across her face.
“What's up Twi? Something wrong?” A reluctant chill ran down Rainbow's spine as she look around her, trying to seem as calm as possible. 'There's no way- I was just seeing things right?'
“Well, it's just that... I think we've been here before... These trees look familiar.”
“What do you mean? How can you tell?”
“There's that tree over there,” Twilight pointed into the forest at a tree that was growing between two large rocks. “Remember it, we passed that about half an hour ago...”
“Twilight...” Rainbow Dash looked at the tree, Twilight was right, it was the same tree. A sudden sense of foreboding gripped Rainbow as her hearing became more acute. “Twilight what are you trying to say?”
“Well, I think we're lost...”
Terror Begins at Twilight
“W-what do you mean lost?” Rainbow's head swung back, staring down the trail behind them before bringing her attention back to Twilight. “We didn't even make any turns, it's a straight path all the way back to Ponyville.”
“I know, it's really strange. I don't remember us taking any turns, but this walk has taken us longer than it should have and we ended up right back here...” Twilight placed a hoof on her chin as she focused, trying to recall if they had accidentally wandered down another path that took them in a circle.
“So we got turned around, no big deal, we'll just fly out of here,” Dash said nervously, trying to suppress her eagerness to leave White Tail Woods behind.
“That's probably a good idea, if we got turned around in the daylight, I don't think we would fare much better in the dark... still, I'm surprised I didn't notice it, I'm usually more attentive than that...”
“Oh well, don't beat yourself up about it, let's figure it out when we get home. Come on, we need to- Gah!” Rainbow winced, groaning in pain as she extended her wings, her teeth gritted hard against the ripping sensation that pulsed through her wing.
“Rainbow are you alright!?” Twilight rushed to her marefriend's side.
“I- I don't know, my wing really hurts...” She tried to slowly flex out her wing, stretching it gingerly until it was half extended and the pain again shot through her. An involuntary gasp escaped her lips and her legs went weak as she slowly retracted her wing. Rainbow was left huffing for breath as the searing dulled to an ache until her wing was folded back to her side.
“Are you going to be okay?! Did you pull a muscle or-”
“I don't know Twi, it was fine a minute ago...” Rainbow cut Twilight off in the middle of her panicked questioning. The pain finally faded as her wing was comfortably tucked back to her side. She forced a smile as she looked to Twilight. “It's alright, the pain's gone.”
“You looked like you were in a lot of pain, I've seen you with some serious injuries before but you never had a look that that.” Her fretfully eyes filled with worry and compassion as she trotted beside Rainbow.
“I told you Twi, I'm better, it doesn't hurt anymore. We should focus on figuring out which way is home, you know, since it'll be dark soon and all.”
“I know you Rainbow, you like to put on a brave face but you could be seriously hurt, I need to take a look. I have a spell that will help, can you extend your wing again?”
“I'm telling you I'm fine, but if it'll make you feel better, you can take a look.” Despite her words, Rainbow looked back nervously at her side and braced herself for pain as she slowly and cautiously extended her wing. Her mind eased as it unfurled, one-fourth extended and still no pain. Mentally, she was preparing to chalk it up to a coincidence. Good, it's seems like it's better, now we can fly out of here. I've got a bad fee-
“Gah!” Rainbow cried as the pain flooded her body, she could almost swear she felt bones snapping as she forced it to stay open. Twilight's horn lit up and surrounded her wing in a purple aura. Dash was trembling, she knew she had to keep it open but the pain was nearing unbearable. “Hurry... up!”
“I'm trying, just a few more seconds!” Twilight's eyes darted up and down Rainbow's wing, examining it as fast as she could until her aura faded. “Okay, I'm done!”
“Finally!” Rainbow snapped her wing back, hitting her side so fast that even with her feathers and fur, the impact made a smacking sound. Twilight winced, at the sound, sure that it would only cause her marefriend more pain, but to her surprise, a look of relief swept over Rainbow Dash. After catching her breath, regaining her composure, she turned back to Twilight. “So, what was wrong?”
“W-well...” Twilight could see Dash trembling, and her seemingly calm breaths seemed synthetic and forced. Worry furrowed Twilight's brow as she took a deep breath before relieving her findings. “Nothing.”
“What?!”
“Nothing that I could detect anyway! I mean, your bones, muscles and ligaments all seem perfectly fine. Your nerves look right but they might be conducting pain for some reason... I just can't tell why.”
“Well something is hurting it,” Rainbow said with a hint of outrage. Does she think I'm faking? No, she knows I wouldn't pull a prank on her like this. What are we going to do though? It'll be sunset in an hour...
“Calm down Rainbow, I never said you were lying, I just can't tell you what it is right now.”
“If we can't fly out of here what are we going to do? I mean, if we tried to backtrack would might just end up going in circles.”
“I don't want you walking around too much since we don't know what's wrong with your wing. I'll just teleport us back to the library, then you should see a doctor.”
“Oh yeah, I almost forgot you could do that! Sounds like a good plan!” Rainbow tried to smother her eagerness of leave the forest behind them as quickly as she could. Something felt strange to her, and it became more and more off by the minute, an unsettling pressure in the air, just vague enough for her to be unable to discern anything about it, other than that it wasn't right.
“Alright then,” Twilight said as she poured her strength into her magic. Even for her, transporting them far would take up quite a lot of energy. Taking a deep, calm breath, she focused her magic. “Here we go.”
A blinding flash of light surrounded the could, enveloping them in powerful magic. As the light surrounded them, an eased feeling of relief overcame Rainbow she felt the strange pressure fade away. As the light faded, Rainbow and Twilight's vision adjusted, the former eagerly awaiting the familiar sights of home as she opened her eye.
“W-what happened?” Rainbow looked around her, still surrounded by the familiar golden woods she wished to leave behind. Only, now more frightened than she was before, despite the sun more than an hour away from the horizon only moments ago, the sky was now painted in vibrant shades of pink, orange and dark blue and the sun was low and glowing with a dark, almost blood like red. Now, not only was she still stuck in that forest, her wings bound to her sides from fear of pain and sunset was upon her, but now to her horror, she found, she was more lost than before, as she looked all around her, Twilight, was nowhere in sight.
