Candle

She inhaled as if it were her first time doing so in years. Her eyes shot open, but were drenched in the same darkness that her eyelids would normally create. Sitting up, she glanced around in a futile attempt at getting familiar with her surroundings.

"What in the world?!" She exclaimed under her breath, rubbing her eyes with her hooves as they adjusted to the pitch black atmosphere.

This was unlike Twilight. Every morn, she would open her eyes to the sun shafts beaming through her window, illuminating her room with it's gentle glow. She would hear the birds chirping and the distant chattering of the ponies who lived in the pleasant village of Ponyville. She never awoke in the middle of the night unless she was disturbed in her slumber or she was sick. Even with those circumstances, this particular night didn't quite fit the criteria. Normally, the moon would grace her room with it's presence during such an occasion, but even it did not greet her on this night. Twilight let out a deep sigh as she laid her head gently on her plush pillow and attempted fall asleep once more.

As she drifted along, she was pulled back into a state of consciousness when she saw the dim flicker of orange-ish light through her eyelids. She opened her eyes to a curious sight. A single, red wax candle with it's brass candle holder burned on her dresser, it's dim light drenching the surrounding area with it's warm glow. Twilight sat up once more and glanced around. The candle was bright enough to enlighten the room, a dull orange-yellow covered the dresser and bed, but only lit the room up enough to make the small area around the candle and the room's outline visible.

Twilight tilted her head, both curious and creeped out by the fact that a candle appeared on her bedside dressed in a matter of minutes after she shut her eyes and attempted to go back to sleep. She shook her head and sat up. She stretched, shaking the groggy feeling she had had since she woke.

As she had done so, she froze. Due to her tired state, she didn't really think about it, but if that candle wasn't there before, than someone must have placed in the time she wasn't watching. She shuttered a bit at the thought of someone as quiet as a mouse managing to sneak up a set of creaky stairs, only to place a candle on her dresser and waltz away, or perhaps the perpetrator climbed in through the window? Both seemed illogical, because both would create a large enough set of sounds to wake her, whether it be the old wooden stairs, or the latch on the window jiggling as they opened the window.

Twilight laughed nervously. "No, that would be highly improbable! There's no way this candle could be here!" She concluded before having a sudden realization of how such an item managed to make it to her room. Who ever put the candle there either had to be using magic, or was attached to the ceiling, as unlikely as it sounded.

Twilight glanced up at the ceiling before receiving the shock of her life time. Two iridescent beady eyes stared at her from above her bed, just out of reach of the light to identify who, or what, they belonged to.

Her eyes widened, her heart racing as soon as she heard a faint whisper in her ear. "Stare into the abyss, dear filly, and I promise you it will stare back."

Twilight wanted to scream, but she was frozen in place by the amount of fear that this being had caused her.

"It'd be a mighty fine idea to grab that there candle, sugar cube!" A familiar voice called from the door. Twilight shifted her gaze to her doorway to find Applejack standing by a candle similar to her own, only it was blue and was in a lantern. "I mean it Twilight, ya might wanna grab that there candle and scurry yer little behind over to me, that thing is something ya don't wanna lock horns with!"

Twilight gave a quick nod. She attempted to levitate the candle, but it didn't seem to work. She shook her head and decided there wasn't time to be fiddling with it. She grabbed the candle holder with her teeth and ran to Applejack. Applejack nodded and attached her lantern to her saddle bag. "Let's get outta here." Twilight exclaimed.

Applejack nodded and grabbed her hoof, pulling her along as they charged down the stares. Twilight didn't mind, due to what she was leaving behind in her bedroom. They charged out of the black hole of a library into something not entirely different. Twilight wanted to stop and look around, but Applejack kept running, and due to her superior strength, any physical attempts at wiggling away would prove futile.

"Er, Apple Jack?" Twilight called out, her voice shaking from both the aftershock of gazing at the creature and the unmatched pace she had running with her friend.

"Not now, Twilight. We gotta get ya to a safe place." Applejack said, her determined gaze locked on the the barely illuminated path ahead.

Twilight swallowed hard. Shaking her head, she sped up a bit to keep up with Applejack. She glanced around as she ran. It was hard to see, that was for sure, but this wasn't a normal night time darkness. When her eyes locked on the void above, she shuttered. Not a single star was ablaze in the sky, the same went for the moon, which was nonexistent.

"Twilight! Focus for me, sugar cube! We're not exactly in the best situation here!" Applejack yelled.

Twilight nodded, pulling her hoof away. "Then let go of me, we're both slow if we're running with three hooves."

Applejack bit her lip, before nodding. "Alright, we're almost there, 'kay?"

"Almost where?" Twilight asked.

"The boutique. Rarity's got the place lit up like a hearth's warming tree!"

"Are the others there as well?" Twilight asked, a bit of panic  rose in her voice.

"Relax Twilight, the rest of our friends are there! Don't ya be worryin' 'bout such a thing!" Applejack reassured Twilight, cracking a forced smile as she did so.

Like clockwork, a glimmer of light appeared through what seemed like fog now. A big, bright blur of a building showed itself at the end of their vision, becoming clearer and clearer as they went. Twilight smiled at the sight, and though she couldn't see Applejack's face, she was sure that the farm pony had a smile on her face as well. Soon enough, the boutique stood a glowing beacon in the night, warding off the darkness and what hid deep within it.

Applejack ran to the door and beat on it "Rarity! It's Applejack!"

Twilight analyzed the boutique, it's windows had been boarded up and the once amazing paint job of the building was now faded and smeared with an unknown black substance. It almost looked like human hand prints. Twilight shivered before hearing yet another familiar voice.

"How do I know?" Rarity's frantic tone revealed her level of fear and how it was through the roof.

"Come on, Rarity! It's yer friend for Pete's sake!" Applejack cried.

A long silence cloaked the area before the door opened. Rarity stared at Applejack suspiciously before looking at Twilight. She smiled and nodded. "Alright, you can't possibly be one of them, they don't travel in packs."

She opened the door, letting Twilight and Apple Jack in. The boutique was lit with numerous amounts of candles, covering each corner with a source of light. Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash were asleep in each others arms on the love seat by the stairs, but other than that, no other ponies could be found.

"Hey Rarity? Where's Pinkie and Spike?" Twilight asked.

Rarity sighed. "Pinkie is upstairs muttering to herself and Spike has been comforting her for the past hour. Now little miss princess, where have you been?"

"Asleep? Why? What's going on? Why is it so dark out there? And what is that frightening creature I saw in my bedroom?" Twilight asked.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa, slow down darling! Let me explain." Rarity took a seat on the floor. "When I awoke, I found everything drenched in this dreadful darkness. I couldn't see a damn thing! So I climbed out of bed and opened my door to find a violet candle ablaze at my doorstep! I was about to call to Sweetie belle, then I saw it. These yellow, shiny pair of lights that glared at me by her door. As fast I could, I grabbed the candle and held it up to the door, but before I could it slipped into her room! I stood there, shocked, confused, and overall terrified! This weird thing just slipped into my dear sister's quarters to do harm to her! I overcame the fear and burst through the door to find her bed empty, and the creature gone." Rarity explained.

"Then I flew in and saved her sorry behind with my knowledge." A voice called from behind them.

Twilight turned to the source to find Rainbow Dash sitting up, Fluttershy still slumbering on her lap. "I came here when I heard Rarity's girly squeal. Me and Fluttershy woke up about 12 hours prior to all this goin' down. It was floating above my cloud, so I flew off and landed, but it followed close behind! It was insane how fast it was! It was so intense. That's when it decided to rush me, I tried to move, but I couldn't! So, I shut my eyes and waited for the blow. That's when an extremely tired Fluttershy came to my rescue, holding a green candle. As soon as the light hit 'em, it split. Since then, we've only seen it, drifting, watching, and most likely waiting for a stray pony ." Rainbow Dash said, shuttering.

"12 hours! What time is it?" Twilight asked.

Rarity pointed at a clock, it read 10:22 in the morning. Twilight wasn't surprised, merely because of the strange things that have been happening.

Twilight sat in silence. Lost in her thoughts before one crossed her mind. "Hey Rarity?"

"Yes, Twilight?"

"You didn't believe Applejack was who she said she was, did you." Twilight asked.

Rarity nodded. "They can imitate us, both our appearance and voice, but they every time they do so, they always make a flaw. They've attempted to get in three times now. One, disguised as me, attempted to coerce me into opening the door. Another was Sweetie belle, which nearly had me, but I asked where her friends where, she said what friends. And then the third time actually had a candle, and it was Applejack. This was before Applejack arrived. I opened the door, but then saw those wretched teeth." Rarity's breathing became irregular as she continued. "Those terrifying teeth..."

Twilight put a hoof on her shoulder and smiled sympathetically. "It's alright, Rarity." She reassured her.

Applejack called Twilight from upstairs. "Twilight? Could ya come up here for a moment?"

Twilight nodded. "I'll be back, might as well see what she needs and see how Spike and Pinkie are doing."

"Okay darling."

Twilight climbed up the stairs and up to the hallway that was dimly lit by candles that dotted the floor. "Yes Applejack?"

"They're gone, Twilight." She said under her breath.

"What? Pinkie and Spike?! Where ar-mmph!" Before Twilight could finish, Applejack cupped a hoof over her mouth.

"Now listen here, something doesn't seem right, I don't think Rarity is all there." Applejack whispered.

Twilight swatted her hoof away. "What makes you think that?" Twilight whispered.

"She said it was you who was the last one to appear."