Twilight Velvet sat beside her young daughter, Twilight Sparkle, on her bed as she finished her glass of warm milk. It was to help her sleep, as the child professionals said in the parenting magazines. Twilight finished the last drop and gave the empty glass to her mother. She wiped the white mustache off her face.
“There we go. Now close your eyes and get some sleep,” Velvet said.
“Before you go, can you check?”
“Check for what, dear?”
“... Eobard?” Twilight’s voice trembled with fear.
“Sweetie, your father and I told you there’s nothing to be afraid of. Eobard will not hurt you”
“Can you check anyway?”
Twilight pulled the blankets over herself for protection. Velvet bent over to search for the one called “Eobard” under the bed. He was nowhere to be seen, just discarded toys scattered everywhere. Then, because her daughter will ask of it, she checked the closet. She searched both sides. Nothing but clothes.
“Do you see? Eobard is not here,” Velvet said. Her voice was full of assurance, but there was level of uncertainty that made Twilight grip her blankets. Velvet saw Smarty Pants, her daughter’s favorite doll, sitting on the shelf above her bed. She levitated it with her magic and placed it next to Twilight, who pulled it into her arms. “Smarty Pants will be here with you. Now get some rest little one.” Velvet kissed her daughter on her cheek.
“Smarty Pants wants a kiss, too.”
Twilight held her stuffed doll and Velvet kissed it on its cheek also. She rubbed her daughter’s little head, smiled her motherly smiled, and trotted out of the room.
“I almost forgot.” Velvet trotted back to the side of Twilight’s bed to plug the night light on the wall. Only a small portion of her bedroom was lit, save for the light from the hall.
“But Eobard is going to knock it down!”
“Twilight, you need it to help you sleep. You know how much you’re afraid of the dark.”
She didn’t have an answer. She lay herself down beneath her sheets, clutching Smarty Pants closely.
“Goodnight, my little filly,” Velvet said.
Twilight wanted another kiss on the cheek, so she reached her head out and Velvet marked it with her lips. Velvet quietly stepped out of her bedroom, closing the door tightly while looking at the filly one last time. Because the door was opened before, there was light from the hall. Now it was closed, only the light in her room was the small night light. The rest was darkness. Her room was dead silent. Twilight made sure that Smarty Pants was close to her. She had a habit of tightening her grip on the doll out of fear that someone will come out of nowhere and take him away.
She looked at the bottom of her bedroom door. There was a slit of light, meaning her parents were probably still awake, or readying themselves for sleep. A moment later it was turned off. Twilight quickly lay on her bed, pulling the blankets to her entire self, never letting go of Smarty Pants. Unfortunately, the blankets were not enough to reduce the chill that was coursing through her veins. She couldn’t close her eyes. It only got darker than before if she did that.
Twilight held Smarty Pants close to her.
If only the doll could really talk, Twilight thought. What would Smarty Pants think of this? Would he be afraid as well? She realized suddenly that the side of the room she was facing was incredibly dark. Turning around she was facing the side with the night light. Twilight gasped inwardly that was also facing the closet. Her mother had left it opened while searching her room for Eobard. Even with the night light on the wall the inside of the closet was too dark to see. The idea of getting out of her bed to close it came to her mind. She slowly pulled back her blanket, crawled over to put one of her legs on the floor. It took her twenty seconds to feel the wood under her back hoof. Twilight walked toward the open closet on the tip of her hooves. She grabbed the knob and slid it closed, then rushed back into her bed.
She checked the time on her clock. It was 9:40 pm. Ten minutes after her mother had tucked her in. Now it was 9:41. Twilight rest her head on the pillow with Smarty Pants still caught in her arms. It took sometime for her eyelids to shut. Before she knew it she was asleep.
Her eyes shot open. Twilight trembled under the blanket. Why is it so dark? she thought. She realized why it was dark; the night light was off. Twilight leaned her head over to the edge of the bed and saw the night light on the floor. She released her arm to reach for it.
Wait. How did it get there?
“Oh no,” she whispered.
She kicked the blanket off and jumped out of the bed. Twilight quickly trotted to the door. She was going to take shelter in her parents’ room, but it was too far away. Plus, the hall was so black she couldn’t see a thing. Worse, she could make a loud noise if she bumped into something, alerting everyone in the house. Her legs were restless. Twilight couldn’t stay out in the hall alone this long.
What if Eobard was behind her?
The filly whimpered, then covered her mouth. However, there was one room she could single out from the darkness. Her brother’s room was on the opposite side of the hall, just ahead.
Twilight’s hoof hovered over the doorknob. Should she really do this? she asked herself. Shining was sleeping. Surely he didn’t want to be bothered with something as like this. She remembered the times when Twilight told her mother and father about how Eobard was keeping her awake at night, only to hear laughter from Shining.
“Eobard is not real,” he would say.
But she had to make a decision soon. Twilight could feel the darkness closing in on her. It was as though it could sense her fear, so it grew colder and blacker. Then, she realized her arms were empty. She gasped once she noticed that she left Smarty Pants in her room. Twilight wanted to go back and get him, but was petrified from how dark her room was. So she slowly twisted the knob to Shining’s room and let herself in.
“Shining,” she whispered. He was motionless on his bed, his head slightly moving on his pillow. Twilight called for again, this time whispering louder, but Shining did not respond. She approached him and tapped him on his white arm. Then she tapped him several times and shook him awake, while calling for his name.
“Twilight? What are you doing here? What time is it?”
“Shining, I’m scared!”
“Scared? Scared of what?”
“... Eobard,” she said, trembling.
Shining was bemused. He made an annoyed sigh. “Twilight, Eobard isn't real. Go back to bed.”
“But he knocked my night light off the wall!”
“Maybe it wasn’t in all the way.”
“But mommy put it there! I saw her do it!”
“I don’t have time for this,” Shining groaned.
“Please, Shining, please come to my room! Eobard won’t bother me if you’re around!”
Shining sucked in his teeth. He mumbled frustratingly while pulling his blanket off of him and climbing out of his bed. Before leaving his room he searched his dresser for his flashlight. He put the flashlight in his mouth. He and Twilight entered her room, then he turned on his flashlight and checked every spot under her bed. He pointed the light to Twilight, making her shield her eyes. She pointed to the closet. Shining sighed and searched the inside of her closet.
“He’s not here,” Shining said.
“Are you sure?”
“I’m positive he’s not here. Can I go to bed now?”
Twilight didn’t want him to leave, but she saw the frustrated look on his face. She nodded. Shining plug the night light into the wall and started out of the room. Twilight climbed back to her bed, but before pulling her blanket over her she found Smarty Pants on the floor. She reached over to pick him up, then wrapped the doll with her arms. She hoped Eobard would leave her alone. There was still something unsettling in the air. It wouldn’t give Twilight a chance to ease her mind. She hid under the sheets, Smarty Pants with her.
“I wish I can go to sleep,” she said.
The night light went out. Twilight once again sat up and saw that it was lying on the floor. She breathed heavily. Twilight wanted to reach for it, but the fear within herself stopped her from doing so. “I gotta get out of here!” she whispered.
Twilight jumped out of her bed and rushed to the door. She was out in the hall and started toward Shining’s room. She wasted no time climbing on his bed, pulling his sheet and blanket over herself. Shining had awaken from the commotion and found Twilight next to him.
“What now?” he asked irritably.
“Eobard came back! He’s gonna get me!”
“Twilight, for the last time, Eobard is not real!” Shining said loudly, but covered his mouth in fear of waking their parents. “There’s no such thing as Eobard,” he whispered again. “Now go!”
“But he’s here! He’s actually here! He knocked down my night light!”
Shining groaned, but Twilight was not going to leave so easily. If he sent her back to her room, then she will come back later but another thing “Eobard” did to frighten her. He couldn’t tell her to sleep with their mother and father, then he’ll never hear the end of it. Shining sighed defeatedly.
“Alright, fine. You can stay here.”
“And Smarty Pants too?”
He nodded. Twilight tucked herself in. “Smarty says thank you.”
“Don’t mention it,” he said sardonically.
“Do you think Eobard will get us?”
“Just go to sleep.”
A soft thump woke Twilight from uneasy dreams. She looked over to Shining, who was still slumbering. There was another soft thump coming from outside the room. Then there were doors clicking and creaking, like someone was opening doors.
Twilight shook Shining awake.
“Come on Twilight, I have to sleep,” he whined.
“Shining, someone’s out there!” she gasped. Another low thump sounded from the hall, followed by the door clicking. Then it was silent. Twilight gasped at a muffled groan. “It’s Eobard!”
“It’s probably just dad going to the bathroom.”
“But dad doesn’t make noises like that!”
Shining lay his head down in an attempt to return to sleep. Whatever that was outside produced another low, monstrous groan. The hall made thumps on the floor like hoofsteps. Twilight called for Shining, but he refused to respond. With nothing left to do, she climbed out of her bed, Smarty Pants in her arm, to investigate. She pulled the door open with caution until it was ajar.
Her eye scanned from left to right across the hall. There was nothing to be seen but darkness. She pulled the door completely open and stepped out into the hall. Twilight took a step forward, but she paused. She rushed back into the room to open Shining’s dresser to search for the flashlight. After finding it, she placed it in her mouth and turned it on. Twilight pointed the light to every section of the hall, but Eobard could not be found. If he wasn’t in the hall, then he must be… downstairs. She shivered at the thought.
Twilight took slow steps down the stairs with the flashlight on, only stopping when she believed to have heard a noise. She pointed the flashlight behind and ahead of her. So far there was nothing. Drawing closer to the bottom end of the stairs her legs grew weak with dread.
She finally descended to the first level of the house. Twilight stood in place. Slowly, she walked forward with the flashlight illuminating her way. There was clattering in the air. Twilight pointed the flashlight everywhere in search for the source. Her legs trembled as there was another clatter. Sweat trickled from the top of her head. A groan came from a room nearby. She tracked where the horrible sound originated, and to her misfortune it was the basement door. She hated going down there. Twilight grabbed the knob and tightly pushed the door open. She had always wondered why it seem that the door would make so much noise when it’s the middle of the night. Even the steps made noise. This never happened during the day. Descending further into the basement she had cobwebs caught in her face and face, furiously brushing them off.
It was pitch black inside the basement, save for the flashlight. Her mouth quivered, and the flashlight fell out of her mouth, tumbling down until it reached the floor.
“Oh no!” she said. In a fit of fright she clumsily tripped and fell down. She made an impact on the concrete surface on her side. Twilight held one of her hind legs, moaning, then crying in pain.
A groan followed soon after.
Twilight saw her flashlight on the ground. She froze when it was picked by… something. The light was pointed at her this time. She didn’t know who it was that was aiming the light at her. Itself was greatly obscured by the blinding light. But all Twilight heard was groaning.
“Please don’t hurt me,” she cried. Twilight shielded her eyes from the light. She sensed the creature, Eobard, coming closer. She tearfully called for her mother, father, Shining. Twilight closed her eyes and waited for her demise.
She felt something stick to her leg, where she hurt herself. Twilight opened her eyes and saw a band aid on her leg. Long, black arms like skeletons wrapped in shadows helped her up. She was so sure that she was going to die. As moments passed, nothing happened. Eobard pointed the flashlight across the basement, and they saw Smarty Pants on the floor. Twilight’s perplexed gaze was exchanged between her doll and Eobard. Cautiously, she walked toward Smarty Pants and received him.
“... Thank you,” she said nervously, her voice still stricken.
Eobard spoke, but his voice was like the rushing wind. He gave the flashlight back to Twilight, who in turn pointed it to him. The light revealed everything. Eobard was very much like a giant grotesque rabbit. He was tall, black, with large, white, soulless eyes with no pupils. He was ugly, misshapen, unnaturally thin like a living skeleton, but there was a gentleness to his appearance. Long ears flopped over his black head. His entire body was covered in unkempt black fur, with dirty, scruffy white fur on some places like his skinny shoulders and broad talon paws, and torso. She pointed the light to the corner behind him, and saw a box labeled “KARITS.” It must have been “carrots,” only misspelled.
Twilight turned off the flashlight and started up the steps and out of the basement. Then she started upstairs and returned to her own room. There was no reason to stay with Shining for the night. Twilight reached for the night light, but instead of plugging it into the outlet she placed it on top of her dresser. She tucked herself under the blankets, Smarty Pants next to her, and let sleep take over her senses.
“Twilight… Twilight, darling, wake up.” Velvet’s soothing voice reached her ears. When Twilight opened her eyes she saw her mother’s bright face over her. She sat up, yawned and stretched out her arms.
“Did you have a good night?”
She nodded head while rubbing her eyes. They were both silent for a moment. Looking to her side, Velvet noticed that the nightlight on lying on the dresser. “What happened to the night light?”
“Oh, Eobard kept knocking it down. He told me it was bothering him,” Twilight answered.
“... Really? He did?” Velvet asked, astounded.
“Well, kind of. So I turned it off for him, but I think he’s going to stay in the basement from now on.”
Velvet was puzzled, but she smiled, playing along. “Maybe your father and I will stop by say hello.” She pulled the blankets away and Twilight climbed out of her bed, then the day began.
“Mommy, get we go to the grocery store later?”
“Sure we can. What for?”
“To buy carrots. Eobard likes carrots.”
