Shadow

The Crystal Empire sparkled in the black night. The crowd of ponies cheered as curtains fell. A certain grey mare packed up her brown, pony-sized instrument as her lover came to congratulate her.

“Hey Tavi, that was amazing!” She said. Octavia noticed something in the white unicorn. Normally, when she complemented her music, it was just to make her feel good. However, she saw something. Something good, something great, something… genuine.

“Thank you Vinyl. And before you ask, yes, you can remix it.” She said.

“Yay!” Mrs. Scratch was overwhelmed. Her marefriend usually denied this request. She kissed Octavia on the cheek as she ran off. “You coming?”

Octavia put her case on its wheels and said, “Go ahead. I’ll take a little walk around the city. Maybe I’ll spend the night.”

“Suit yourself. See you back in Pony Ville. Love ya!”

“Love you too, Vinyl.” Octavia loaded her instrument onto the trailer and once it was in place, she walked away. It’s been a few years since this place popped up, but she still can’t believe that the crystals feel so comfortable. She decided to take as long as she could before checking into a hotel.

“Beautiful, isn’t it?” A dark voice said. Octavia felt the hairs on the back of her neck stick up. She turned her head around, trying to find the source of the voice.

“Who’s there?!” The answer was given almost immediately. But it wasn’t a pony, it was a dark cloud.

“You look tired. Why don’t you go to sleep?” The voice asked.

“Who are you?” The dark cloud started to surround her.

“I’m the one who’s gonna help you have a nice sleep.” The grey mare tried to keep her eyes open, but it was getting harder as her eyelids grew heavier. “Just rest. Everypony needs it.” She eventually felt it impossible to stay awake. The dark cloud surrounded the sleeping mare. “Perfect.” Vinyl would be waiting for a long time as Octavia’s life was sucked from her body.

And millions of miles away, Princess Celestia awoke in a fright.