Night of the Living Bed
Twilight Sparkle left the main room of the Library and slowly walked up the stairs to her bedroom. Walking with her eyes nearly closed, she reached the top of the stairs and began walking towards her room. "Ugh, I need to stop these late-night study sessions," she said as she opened her door. Looking to her left, she saw Spike in his basket. She turned her head and looked to her right, and saw her clock as it turned midnight. "I really, really, need to stop late-night study sessions." Twilight walked over to her bed and slowly crawled up and under her covers. She closed her eyes, and then was shoved out of bed and onto the floor.
"Hey, what's the problem?" she yelled as she looked over the bed, expecting to see Spike standing there. Nopony was on, or even over, her bed.
"Hmm, what?" said Spike as he blinked his eyes and lifted his head. He looked over at Twilight and said in a tired voice, "Did you say something?"
"Somepony just pushed me out of bed!" answered Twilight as she lowered her eyebrows.
"Huh. Well that's rude," Spike said as he lowered his head again and closed his eyes.
Twilight climbed back up into bed again and crawled under the sheets. She lowered her head onto her pillow and closed her eyes again. The room was quiet for two minutes, until a low "grrrr" sounding noise started. Twilight opened her eyes and was quickly shoved off the bed and onto the floor again. "Ok, this is not funny!" she yelled before climbing back up into bed. As soon as she sat down on the bed again, she heard an even louder "grrrrr" sound. Twilight's eyes became wide upon hearing the sound. "Spike! Are you growling?"
"No." Spike said without opening his eyes.
"I thought I heard," Twilight started to say, until she was launched off of the bed. "Aaagh!" she screamed as she flailed her legs and soared through the air, before she abruptly crashed into the wall beside her bedroom’s door.
Upon hearing the loud crash, Spike jumped out of bed and quickly walked over to where Twilight landed. He carefully helped her stand up, and watched her as she rubbed the side of her head. "Are you ok, Twilight? What happened?"
"I think I'm ok," said Twilight, "but I'm not sure what happened. I was..." Twilight started to say before she stopped and listened to the odd sound again. "What is that sound?" she said as she looked around the room. She stopped moving her head when she noticed movement on her bed. She walked two steps closer and stopped when she saw a strange sight.
The sheets around her two pillows began moving in a strange way, as if they were eyelids blinking. The pillows then rotated to face Twilight and Spike. The top mattress then raised at an angle and the growling noise grew even louder.
Spike started to back away from the bed and towards the door. "Um, Twilight...perhaps we should..." he started to say.
The bed slowly turned to face Spike and Twilight. For a moment, nothing moved, but then the bed began walking towards them.
"...RUN!" yelled Spike as he turned around and ran through the door.
Twilight quickly followed Spike through the door and down the stairs again. She looked behind her towards her bedroom, and time seemed to slow down. Her bed crashed through the doorway, and splinters of wood flew through the air in all directions. Twilight’s eyes opened widely and her mouth opened, letting out a loud scream. She then turned around and faced forward to jump the last four steps. She landed beside Spike with a thump, and then they continued running. Thankful for having magic, Twilight opened the front door of the library as they ran towards it.
When Twilight and Spike stepped outside, they were greeted with another strange sight. The other ponies of Ponyville were also facing similar distress. The mayor cowered in front of the water fountain as her bed stepped towards her with a slow, menacing, stomp. Rarity and Sweetie Belle were slowly approaching the town square as well, backing away from their beds. Scootaloo was zooming towards the square on her scooter, trying to flee from a group of three beds that appeared to be in a stampede.
Twilight also noticed other oddities that were not quite as bothersome. A single nightstand was walking around in a circle around a signpost. Two loveseats were hugging each other as they stood by a fence. A coffee table was at the cafe...drinking tea? A group of school desks were pronking along in a line behind Pinkie Pie. Twilight released an exasperated sigh. “Ugh, this is going to be one of those nights.” A loud crash behind her signaled the arrival of her own bed, so she continued running towards the other ponies that began gathering in the town square.
Twilight saw motion in the air over her and looked up to see Rainbow Dash flying along with her as she ran. Rainbow Dash looked down at Twilight and said, “Hey, what gives? I was sleeping and got thrown out of my own bed...by my own bed!”
“Did yours start chasing you as well?” Twilight asked.
“Nah, mine just rolled over and started snoring.” replied Rainbow Dash. “I heard screams, though, so I came out to see what’s going on.” Dash looked around and then looked back at Twilight in confusion. “So, what is going on?”
“I have no idea,” Twilight said as a flying pillow hit her on the side of her head. Twilight and Dash watched the pillow as it landed on the ground, stood up, and ran back towards a group of pillows in the middle of a pillow fight.
Rainbow Dash grinned. “Oh, Rarity is going to have a fit! I think I just saw one of her pillows over there.”
A loud growl came from Twilight’s bed as it started running faster. “No time for that now, we need to do something about these beds!” Twilight yelled as she also increased her speed.
*-*-*-*
All across Ponyville, ponies were running from their beds. Slowly, little by little, they were herded into the town square. Twilight looked around and saw the gathered ponies slowly backing up, and soon there would be no further escape. Many ponies were trembling, and some of the younger fillies and colts began to cry in terror. Still, the growling beds advanced, making snapping motions with their mattress mouths. One bed off to the side, however, amused itself with a blanket that it used as a tongue for blowing loud raspberries at anything that passed by it.
Suddenly, a loud noise erupted from Quills and Sofas. Twilight looked over towards the store and saw the front door explode outwards. From within the store came a sight she would not soon forget. Three ponies, each riding a sofa, charged out into the street as they struck dramatic poses and shouted out battle cries.
“Charge!” yelled Apple Bloom and Applejack.
“Cash Only!” yelled Pinkie Pie.
The three sofa-back riders charged towards the beds that had the ponies of Ponyville trapped. Staying in formation, the three kicked out at the beds as they passed by. The beds, however, took little notice of the rescue attempt. The only responses that the three rescuers received from the beds were two growls and a raspberry from the odd bed at the edge of the group. Applejack led the rescue team away from the beds and raised a hoof in the air to signal a halt. She looked back at her fellow sofa riders and took a deep breath. “We’re not making any difference with the attacks at the side. We need to make a charge directly into the middle of the group and see if we can break open a hole so that the ponies can escape. Apple Bloom, this is going to be dangerous...please be careful.” Pinkie Pie and Apple Bloom both looked at Applejack, and they shared a three-way nod.
As one, they turned to face straight ahead at the gathered beds. Applejack’s sofa pawed at the ground in preparation of the attack. “Allright now, everypony! It’s time to put the beds to rest. CHARGE!” They began the charge towards the center of the beds, leaning forward on their sofas to brace for impact.
They came within 6 feet of the beds, and then suddenly Pinkie Pie’s sofa stumbled and crashed into the ground. Thrown from her noble sofa, Pinkie Pie screamed as she soared through the air, spinning end-over-end. Pinkie Pie braced for the impact, and landed on one of the beds. The bed immediately fell to the ground with a crash, landing with all four legs spread out on the ground. Pinkie Pie bounced up off of the bed and turned around to look at where she landed. The bed tried to get up three times and fell back down to the ground before finally being able to stand after a slow fourth try. The town square became very quiet as the gathered ponies and beds saw what just happened. “Quick everypony!” yelled a voice from within the crowd. “They can be subdued by an impact from above!”
The gathered ponies quickly answered the call to action. There was a loud crash off to the side, followed by a deep voice yelling “YEAAAH!” Spike leapt up onto Twilight’s back and used her as a springboard to launch himself up over the crowd so that he could land upon one of the beds.
Rainbow Dash flew down and picked up Scootaloo. “Hey, Scoots, I’ve got an idea.” Grinning, she whispered her plan into Scootaloo’s ear. The filly smiled and nodded quickly as Dash flew up into the air. They glided around above the town square, picking a target. With their target in sight, they suddenly began to dive towards one of the beds. Dash released Scootaloo and then flew upwards again. She turned around and watched as Scootaloo quickly subdued the bed again and again until it stopped getting up. She dove down and collected Scootaloo and they chose their next target.
Twilight looked around at the mayhem, raised her front hoof, and rubbed her forehead. “Yep; definitely one of those nights.” She turned her head and saw a familiar mattress and pillow set. A smile slowly formed on her face and she started walking towards her bed. “Throw me out of bed? That can be forgiven. Chase me out of the library? That happens. Ruin the library door that will leave it drafty in the reading room? I don’t think so!” She ran towards her bed, and when she was within a few feet she teleported herself above the bed and crashed down upon it.
*-*-*-*
The sun rose over Ponyville, and Twilight noticed that the furniture stopped moving when it was hit by the light. The pillows stopped their pillow fight, the nightstand finally stopped walking in circles, and the beds no longer tried to rise up against the town. She froze when she heard a sound behind her.
“Eep! Oh, my!” came a soft voice behind Twilight.
Twilight turned around and saw Fluttershy staring at the town square. Twilight looked at Fluttershy, and then turned around to look at the square. All throughout the town square there were ponies jumping with manic glee on ruined beds. Pinkie Pie pronked around jumping on one bed and then the next.
Spike walked over to Twilight. “You know,” he said, “I don’t think you can yell at me for jumping on the bed anymore.”
“Um, what happened,” Fluttershy asked, “that is, if you don’t mind…”
Twilight looked around, looked at Fluttershy, looked around again, and then looked at Fluttershy once more. “I have no idea.”
Author's Note
This is a work of fanfiction (unofficial stories that lovingly borrow characters/settings, written by a fan of the show) - please do not confuse this with the the show. This story takes place in a somewhat alternate universe.
I do not own the characters or setting of the FIM universe - they belong to Hasbro. Please support them by purchasing their products (collectibles, videos, toys, etc.) - they are available at many physical stores as well as online.
