You can't run

by Princess lulaymoon

Rating: teen
Tags: Main 6, Gore, My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, Dark, Mystery, Spike, Horror, Zecora
Length: 5161

When Pinkie pie goes out of town, each of the mane five get a creepy letter. Nothing stands there exept the words "you can't run".

The one day Pinkie goes out of town, the mane five get a creepy letter. It only stands "you can't run." They try to brush it off, but every day they get a new letter with the same words "you can't run". Together, they try to find out who sends them. But do they really want to know?

Thanks to Misfithorse for editing.

Published 2016-02-13 03:00:01 UTC
Last updated 2016-08-24 09:55:13 UTC

Chapter 1

Author's Note

Hope you will like the start of my first horror story!:pinkiecrazy:

Chapter 1

"Goodbye, girls! See you in a month!"

Pinkie chimed once the train arrived.

The Friendship Express rolled beside her and a small group of assorted ponies. Mares, stallions, and foals stood beside one another. They all carried an assortment of bags that varied in size. A loud screech rang out as it soon came to a complete halt.
"Goodbye, Pinkie."
Twilight replied, wrapping her hooves around her friend for a moment.

"Remember to say hi to your family from me, Pinks."

Applejack added, warmly remembering the hearts warming she had spent with the Pie family.

"Have fun, Pinkie!"

Exclaimed Rainbow bumping her pink friend's hoof playfully.

"I'll take good care of Gummy while you're gone, have fun at the reunion!"

Fluttershy said with a bright smile.

"Bye, darling. I'll miss you."

Rarity whispered when hugging Pinkie.
Pinkie was going to the Pie family reunion at Granny Pie's citrine farm in vanhoover.

After the one week of partying, her entire family would stay and clean up, then help Granny with farming. The effort doubled as Granny Pie got older, but nopony was bothered by that. Besides, everyone loved spending time with her.

When the whole reunion would be over, The pink mare planned on staying on the rock farm for a few weeks.

"Seeya!"

Pinkie shouted as she stepped into the train.

Slowly, the doors closed and the train started moving.

The main five thought that the next month would be, well, boring.

They could never be so wrong.

ｔｈｅ ｎｅｘｔ ｄａｙ

Twilight Sparkle lifted up her muzzle to release a small yawn. After a few moments or so, she creeped out of bed.

After a quick shower and brushing her teeth, the mare began her habitual trip toward the lavish dining room.
"Good morning, Spike. Do we have any mail?" Twilight inquired. Purple hooves trotted solemnly on the castle floor.

"Mornin' Twilight. The only mail we have is this letter. It says 'to Princess Twilight', but it doesn't say who it's from."

Spike furrowed his brow whilst looking at it.
He quickly gave Twilight the letter before going back in the kitchen to whip up some pancakes.
"What could this be?"

She asked herself as she opened the letter.

ʸᵒᵘ ᶜᵃᶰ'ᵗ ʳᵘᶰ

"What in Equestria? Is this some kind of joke?"

Her thoughts couldn't help but be spoken out loud. "Who would write this?" She wondered, her amethyst eyes scanned the odd parchment. Sounds of knocking bounced throughout castle walls. It took a few second for their echoes to reach Twilight's perked ears.
"I'm coming!" She hollered before fluttering over toward the front door.

Inching closer allowed a peculiar sensation to trickle up and down her spine. But, why?

Twilight pushed open the massive door, instantly welcomed by the sight of her friends. However, they seemed a tad distraught.

Just a little bit really, it wouldn't even be noticeable to a majority of townsponies. Multi colored faces crinkled at random places and matched somewhat tense shoulders. If actually noticed, one could probably just say it was a slight discomfort from light. But, she saw it. Twilight knew her friends better than the back of her own hoof.
"Twi', we need your help."

Funny enough, it was her most stubborn friend who blurted out the statement. Applejack's emerald orbs locked onto her own.

"We all got a weird letter sayin' 'you can't run'. Do you know anythin'?"
Not once did her gaze falter from Twilight. This worked to her advantage, allowing the pony to search deeply into them.

A weird feeling was evident in those familiar pupils. The only time she could possibly recall such a look on her friend was at that one sleepover. It was like she'd seen a ghost.

"I got one too, but I'm sure it's nothing. Probably some big joke. I mean, it's just a letter." Twilight tried to reassure the now not so strong farmpony, and herself. It was just a paper, what could be so scary about that?

They've seen exactly what ought to be feared, dumb hoaxes aren't one of them. Why did she feel this way then?

"C'mon, guys, it's probably just Pinkie pranking us. She does that all the time! I would know."

Rainbow agreed in an attempt to sound brave. Her mannerisms instantly gave away inner thoughts.

Fluttershy eyed her friend, mostly watching her twitching muzzle. It seemed rather insecure much to Shy's surprise.

"Um, Dash, I know that Pinkie loves pranking, but her jokes are always... practical.More than this at least.

She would never have a prank like this.When she pranks somepony, she always jumps out of the bushes yelling 'surprise!'"

Fluttershy furrowed her brow, looking at Rainbow Dash.

"She's right.", Rarity began, "Pinkie only surprises, she never scares anypony." The mares remained silent for about several moments.

It could have been more for all they knew. All that was known was that someone finally said it, 'scare'. Nopony looked at their white friend.

Twilight coughed nervously before making a suggestion, "Perhaps Pinkie's trying a new type of prank. We shouldn't let her get under our skin. If we ignore it, we won't get fooled." Suddenly, the once thick air cleared away.

Such a suffocating feeling was unnerving to say the least.

Reasonable ponies shouldn't let stupid papers get the best of them. Plus, it probably was their silly little friend.

Without her around there was no pinkie sense, maybe that was getting them this way.

"You're probably right, Twilight.", Applejack smiled, "Say, anypony wanna have a picnic at the farm?"

"Sure!"

Everypony agreed, a cheerful demeanor quickly plopped back onto them.

ｔｈｅ ｎｅｘｔ ｄａｙ

Horrible blares cried out into void nothingness. These wretched screeches could only be compared to that of a nuisance.

Not a singular second passed with an end to this.

Rainbow Dash slammed a foreleg down on the alarm clock, it took a couple more hits to silence it.

"Aw yeah! Mornin', Tank!"Rainbow shook off any grogginess, leaping into the air.

It wasn't a good idea to start flying before doing a bit of stretching, but the cyan pegasus didn't care.

"Want some breakfast, buddy? I got your favourite lettuce!" The tortoise took just about as much time as possible to nod.

A funny little grin steadily trickled onto his lips.

No matter how long it took, she waited for the response. At this point in their relationship, they took lengthy measure to understand one another.

"I'll put it in your bowl." Rainbow replied with a gentle nod. "Oh wait- I gotta check the mailbox! Those tiny boots I ordered you should be here by now!" She dashed over toward the said mailbox in excitement.

Tank in lightning printed boots would be so awesome! A pet of the Rainbow Dash needed to have style.

She opened the mailbox, exited to see she had mail. But instead of a package with boots it was a letter in her mailbox.

"Wonder what this could be."

Rainbow mused to herself while opening the letter.

ʸᵒᵘ ᶜᵃᶰ'ᵗ ʳᵘᶰ

"Ugh, not this again."

Rainbow Dash scoffed as she rolled her eyes. This silly little note wasn't even funny, what's the point if it doesn't make anyone laugh?

"Hey, wait a minute..." She raised her brow, "This isn't- this isn't Pinkie's hoof-writing..."

I gotta clear her name.

There was no way that her friend could've pulled something like this. She was relieved to know that she could trust Pinkie. More than anything though, Rainbow was unsettled. In an instant, she caught sight of something in the corner of her eye. It was far too large to be Tank. However, when she looked, nopony was there.

Odd.

Hah, well I gotta tell the others. Yup yup!

Her stomach growled. "Right after breakfast, of course." Rainbow said aloud with a slight blush.

○○○

"Are you sure it isn't her hoof-writing?"Fluttershy asked.

"I'm totally sure. I've seen Pinkie's writing a thousand times before, and this is way different." Her eyes narrowed to a rather serious expression.

"Then who the hay is sending us these letters?" Twilight asked, mostly to herself.

"Perhaps some sort of new enemy?" The fashionista suggested.

"Ah really hope this is just a joke." Applejack pursed her lips, deep in thought.

Her knotted brow let the others know she was hesitant to carry on. Finally, she continued. "Every time ah go in th' shed to get some baskets, Ah swear ah can see a pony-shaped ...thing.Not sure what. Ah hope it is just my imagination."

"Whatever it is, we can't let it get to us!"Rainbow retorted.

"I know, darling, but just as Applejack said, I can also see a pony-shaped shadow when I'm looking for fabric. This is clearly not a joke."

Rarity responded, deep traces of fear edged along her speech.

"I couldn't sleep tonight, because I heard hoofsteps downstairs in the cottage!", the yellow mare blurted out, "none of my animal friends were out and about either!" Fluttershy allowed her fright to shine through more than the others.

Interestingly, she wasn't the most scared of this situation as was usually the case.

"When I found the letter in my mailbox, I saw a pony-thingy too." Rainbow, who previously was biting at her lip, jumped up into the air.

Anxiety led her to believe that even standing hoof on a floor would be bad news.

Everypony was trying to be brave, that much was painfully obvious by now, but seeing Dash in such a state was bizarre.

The group turned toward their oddly silent friend. Surely, she would know what to do?

Twilight cast a glance at her friends, feeling their eyes bore into her. Clearing her throat, she spoke calmly.

"I woke up in the middle of the night and found this note in my room." Twilight levitated a small paper and put it on the map.

ᵗʰᵉ ᵈᵃʳᵏⁿᵉˢˢ ʷᵃⁿᵗˢ ʸºᵘ

"What did I tell you?!" Dash exclaimed, slamming her hooves down onto the map, "This isn't a stupid joke! We have to do something!"

Her usual frustration had possibly exceeded it's limit.

Applejack bit her tongue in order to prevent any rash words. Her friend's anger was kind of contagious. Regardless, Rainbow Dash was right. This wasn't some prankster, it was obviously a stranger stalking AJ and her dearest friends. It could be seen that their intentions weren't friendly anyway. Even her family could be at risk.

"Ah know, sugarcube, but what?" Applejack said, trying to be calm. She flipped her hat over her eyes to hide her fear and worry.

"I could try to track the pony who sends these letters using the map. "The princess suggested, lightly tapping said map.

Twilight lit up her horn, and shot a tiny beam on the note. It went into the map, scattering it's essence across the surface. Suddenly, it shined at Ponyville.

"Well, that wasn't much help." Applejack's voice was just about an irritated growl by now, this surprised most of the mare's.

"Um, girls? I have an idea." Fluttershy said. "I-it's okay if you don't want to hear it."

"Sure we want to hear it. What is it, darling?" Rarity inquired, placing her hoof on Fluttershy's shoulder.

"If we have a slumberparty in the castle, the thing would have to come since it came to all of us last night. If we can catch it when it comes, that is." She explained, her focus direction to each of them in order to determine if they understood.

"That's a great idea, Shy! I'll get my stuff and be right back!" Rainbow shouted before she flew out the window. There was finally something to keep her mind off all this.

"I should get my things too." Rarity added, proceeding to trot out. She might be missing the chance to prepare a new Spring fashion line,

but at least she'd be in the comfort of her friends.

"Me too." The orange mare followed after Rarity. Fluttershy turned over toward them and jogged along side. Even if she didn't want to leave her animal friends, it was better than being alone.

"Great! I'll get everything ready!"

Twilight exclaimed before the last of her friends left her friends left her adobe.

Chapter 2

Something has gone wrong. We don't seem to have an archived copy of that chapter.

Chapter 3

The darkness picked up Spike, black tendruils coming out of Pinkie's mangled body. As more of the black fluid came into spike, Pinkie's body got back to it's normal form. As it stopped, Pinkie's mangled body fell down, unmoving, in a bloody pool.

"Hahahaha!"

The darkness said through Spike's mouth. It stood up, opening its eyes to reveal red eyes with splitted pupils.

"This body can be useful, though it could need some adjustments."

It said as black feathered wings sprung out of Spike's back.

"Ugh! Much..better."

The darkness said with pain in its voice.

Twilight, stunned by the shock, just stood there, staring. Applejack pulled her tail and dragged her with the rest of the mane five. Twilight came to herself, and started running while tears fell down her cheeks.

"What's wrong, Twilight? Need any help?"

The darkness mocked in a demonic version of Spike's voice as it flew after the mane five.

As it flew, Applejack noticed it got bigger. "It's using an age spell!" Applejack yelled in surprise. The farm pony recognized the spell from seeing Trixie use it on the young schoolcolts Snips and Snails.

Spike's body was now of a young adult dragon. It was flying after them, but crashed into the wall as the ponies fled out of the castle.

"It won't stay in there for long. We have to get to Canterlot. Perhaps Celestia and Luna can help us."

Twilight said, while trying to stay calm.

I shouldn't let my feelings get in the way. If this thing gets us, Equestria will be in danger.

"how are we going to get there now? The next train leaves in an hour, and not all of us are able to fly." Rarity asked.

"We're gonna use my hot-air balloon. It's right there." Twilight answered, trotting to the backside of her castle. She stopped to untie the ropes before she jumped into the balloon.

"Rainbow, you're the fastest. Could you pull it?" Twilight asked Rainbow Dash as her other friends hopped in.

"Of course." Rainbow answered, doing a military salute before taking the rope.

As they flew through the night sky, a sound of crushed crystals could be heard from the castle. The darkness had destroyed half of it to get out. A angry roar was heard as the Darkness flew up to the ponies' balloon. "Faster, Rainbow, faster!" Applejack yelled.

But no matter how fast Rainbow flew, The darkness was always close behind them.

"Oh, my goodness! Oh, my goodness!" Fluttershy whispered as she crawled up in a corner shaking, hoping not to be seen. "We're almost there! Keep it up!" Twilight yelled to Rainbow as they got closer to the Canterlot mountains.

But the Darkness had other plans. It landed on top of the balloon, popping it with it's claws. Regardless, Rainbow tried to keep it airborne, but she could only slow down the fall. The mane five screamed as they landed in the Everfree forest.

The darkness watched them fall. It knew it could have just taken the gondola. It would be an easy victory. But it knew it couldn't take the ponies before the only one able to stop it was dealt with. Those ponies would find her soon.

***

"Ugh." Rarity groaned after the balloon had crashed. It had been a rough fall. "Is everypony okay?" Twilight asked. "Yep." Everypony answered, though Fluttershy hesitated. "We should get to Canterlot ASAP! If we stay here we will most certainly die." Rainbow Dash said, realizing too late what she had just said.

Applejack tried to count to ten before she responded. She didn't want to get a tantrum. "Nopony's gonna die. We will get to Canterlot one way or another." Applejack said, slightly irritated, before she went to comfort Fluttershy, who was about to get a panick attack.

The ponies suddenly heard rustling from behind the bushes. In fear of it being the Darkness, they tried to hide in the gondola. Shaking out of fear, they could hear hoofsteps. Out of curiosity, they peaked from the gondola.

It was Zecora wearing her hood. "Ponies, come with me! You all have to flee!" Zecora said, gesturing them to follow her.

"Zecora, you have no idea how delighted we are to see you." Twilight said relieved.

"I'm sorry Twilight, but we can't talk now. The Darkness is in the forest on a prowl." Zecora stated strictly. She was in no mood to talk.

"Follow me!" Zecora said, suddenly running, not bothering to rhyme for once. The mane five struggled to keep up to Zecora's speed. They had never known that she was so fast. Suddenly, she stopped.

"To you ponies this forest is like a maze, but a member of the Zebra clan knows every single place." She said, touching a tree, which glowed for a little while before revealing an underground staircase under the bark.

The ponies followed Zecora down until they came into what looked like a meeting room, illuminated by firefly lamps. Normally, Fluttershy would feel bad for the fireflies, but she was too frightened to even speak. In the middle of the gigantic room was a hardwood table, on top a pile of meeting reports. Across the room was a bookshelf with history books and books about zebra magic.

"What is this place?" Twilight asked, looking around the room.

"This is the court of the zebra clan. No pony can find it, only a zebra can." Zecora replied, walking towards the bookshelf, taking out a red book. "This book will give the information you need. But hurry, before the Darkness succeeds." Zecora said as she handed the book over to Twilight, who read the title. "King Necro's reign." Twilight read aloud. "I have never heard of him. But if Zecora says it's important, I think we should read it."

"If it's what we need to get rid of the Darkness, I'll read it aloud so you can hear it." Twilight replied.

King Necro's reign volume ııı: the downfall.

In his rage that the zebra clan refused to bow to him, he decided they didn't deserve the adoration and kindness the common ponies gave them. So he got a plan. He absorbed all the magic in the evergreen forest, and gathered it all in a gem, including the spell that was put on the animals that made them obey and depend on ponies, and the spell that made the clouds stand still. The animals could now live without anypony caring for them, and the clouds started moving on their own.

But all the magic in the evergreen forest, now called the everfree forest, wasn't enough. Using his necromantic abilities, he gathered the haunted souls from tartarus, forcing them to use their magic to serve him. The gem was so powerful, he sealed it into a necklace, now known as the alicorn amulet. Whit the amulet and his alicorn magic, his powers became godlike. He was sure the ponies would respect him again.

He tried to burn down the forest the zebra clan lived in, but the zebras were smart. They had used their unique zebra magic to magically protect the forest and themselves from the violent magic of the alicorn king.

While Necro was confused why his godlike powers had failed, the zebras used chains of cold iron, the mages' bane to surpress his magic, then they tried to get his amulet off, but it wouldn't budge. The zebras pleaded Necro to take it off, but he refused.

"I would rather die than take the amulet off!"

With a heavy heart, the chief of the zebra clan, Night Rider beheaded the now corrupt king, causing the amulet to fall off his neck. To destroy the amulet, the zebras tried to break the gem. But as a crack came to the gem, the spirits of tartarus, that had merged when caught in it, was set free, going on a rampage to kill everything it saw, calling itself the Darkness. Desperate to save Equestria, Night Rider used a spell so powerful it killed him. He had sealed the moster back into the gem, which was forged back to the necklace.

But instead of being thanked for saving them, the ponies shunned the zebra clan, believing they were to blame. The zebra clan decided to hide in the forest to come back when the rage of the ponies cooled down. They hid the amulet in the new chieftess, Emerald shine's home. But the next day, the amulet was stolen, never to be seen again.

The forest had started to act weirdly after that. Monsters would appear without explaination. Some ponies say that it's the spirit of king Necro haunting the forest, creating the monsters to kill zebras and ponies alike. Others believe that the zebra clan made the monsters to take revenge on the ponies who had wronged them.

The rest of the book was torn in pieces.

"So when Trixie had the alicorn amulet, she , like, controlled the Darkness?" Rainbow thought out loud.

crash!

Timberwolves ran down the underground staircase, cornering the mane five and zecora.

"Come at me, you oversized toothpicks!" Applejack challenged. "I'm afraid they only listen to us." A familiar voice said. A dragonic figure walked in behind the timberwolves. "We finally found you." The Darkness said.

Author's Note

Writing Zecora is hard!

Chapter 4

It became too much for poor Fluttershy. She fainted on the spot. "Fluttershy!" The rest of the mane five shouted before rushing to her limp body. Twilight kneeled down and checked Fluttershy's pulse. "Thank goodness, she's okay," Twilight said relieved.

"Aww, poor little thing is scared of us. She should be. She's lucky to be unconcious. Then she won't have to witness what happens now. Take them outside!" the Darkness commanded the timberwolves.

The timberwolves led them to the top of the staircase, exept for Zecora. The Darkness carried her personally in their hands. Even though she was struggling against the Darkness' grip, she couldn't get free no matter how hard she tried. With Fluttershy on her back, Twilight tried to think of a plan.

maybe, if I distract them, I can destroy the timberwolves. But the wolves regenerate, and the Darkness would find out immeadiately.

The elements are useless, and I can't send a letter to Celestia. Maybe if I blast them... No, the timberwolves would attack without warning before I would be able to even conjure a spell... What am I going to do?

"psst, Twilight. How are we going to get away?" Rarity whispered.

"I don't know. Anything I can think of is impossible to pull off," Twilight whispered back.

"I see. Not to worry, darling. I have a plan," Rarity said. Twilight decided to let Rarity try. Rarity started to approach the Darkness as close as she could, and started talking. "Excuse me, oh great Darkness, but where are we going exactly?" She asked.

"You'll see," the Darkness answered bluntly.

"Ok, but, why do you keep us alive? I mean, you are so powerful, you could easily kill us," Rarity asked, less confident this time.

"Stop asking questions, and I may answer later."

Rarity slowed her pace to talk to Twilight. "Well that didn't work," Rarity said. "I'm sorry Twilight. I didn't accomplish anything."

"It's alright. We'll figure something out," Twilight reassured her.

"Wait, why are we at this hill?" Twilight wondered. They stood on.
A tall hill without any trees, with a wiev of the forest around them.

"Um, gals, whatever you do, don't turn around," Applejack said. But they did.

Ponyville was in flames.

"no," Twilight whispered. Everything from sweet apple acres to the castle was burning. Parts of Everfree forest caught fire as well.

"Why? Why did you do this?" Rainbow dash demanded.

"since you fled like cowards, I proceeded to destroy your homes. It seemed like a perfect punishment for running away. Even if somepony survives, they will be hunted down by my servants," the Darkness said.

The moment they said 'servants' the mane four saw timberwolves, manticores and hydras in the streets. Rarity gasped in horror as she saw a pack of timberwolves munching on what used to be a filly. When Twilight looked closer, she noticed it was Sweetie Belle. Applejack gave Rarity a comforting hug. Rarity's mascara was running.

Twilight felt sick. This wasn't right. Surely the princesses would do something.

She put fluttershy on the ground. She was still unconcious. "Now I understand what the Darkness meant by her being lucky to have passed out," she said to herself.

Rainbow Dash didn't move. She was just watching the horrible scene. Twilight creeped closer. As she approached, she heard Rainbow mutter: "Come on, you can do it. Don't give up, squirt. Go faster." Twilight looked at what Rainbow was seeing. Scootaloo was running away from a manticore.

Rainbow continued to cheer her on, but the manticore was faster. Rainbow shrieked as the manticore grabbed Scootaloo, tearing her apart limb for limb. A heartbreaking scream was heard from the poor filly, blood gushing out from where her hooves used to be. With a sickening crunch, her screaming stopped. The manticore had eaten her head.

The Darkness laughed.

"See what happens when you run away from fate? Those letters I sent had a secret message. Let me show you," the Darkness said. He took out a note with the familiar words. As always it stood You can't run.

But as they looked closely, the words changed. Now it stood:

Stay put and die quickly. Run away, and let everypony die.

"We thought someone as smart as you, princess, would try a decoding spell. If you did, the message would appear. When you had your slumber party, we hoped you had figured it out and decided to stay put. But you only thought of being heroic, and it cost the life of so many innocent. Oh, the irony! You tried to protect these ponies, but instead, you doomed them!"

"Why did you bring us here? To spite us? Are you going to laugh at our misery all night? Why didn't you just kill us? Then we wouldn't live with our guilt," Twilight said through gritted teeth.
The Darkness grinned.

"We'll tell you why. Right now, we can only possess other creatures. But our presence in their body shortens their lifespan. You remember Pinkie, right? While we possessed her, her body fell apart. We had to use alot of our magic to keep it together. It didn't help that she was dead. If she was alive while we possessed her, her body would have lasted longer.

"Now, this body is different. A dragon can live for thousands of years, so it lasts longer than a pony host. But this body will begin to fall apart soon. That is where you come in. With the elements of harmony inside you, that power can give us a body. But since Pinkie died, we will have to use the last member of the zebra clan. This hill is the ideal spot to do the ritual. The ritual requires live ponies, since your souls and the power of the elements will be absorbed. Now, we are done talking. Let us start."

The Darkness used a claw to draw a pentagram on the ground. It resembled a circle with smaller circles in it, with a star with six spikes in the middle. The timberwolves forced them into the cirlces, and the Darkness placed Zecora in the center. The pentagram started glowing, and everything went dark.

***

Twilight woke up in a dark place. There was nothing there. She walked for what seemed like an eternity, but it seemed she wasn't progressing at all. Suddenly, she heard giggling. "Hello? Is somepony here?" No answer but continued laughing. Twilight decided to walk towards the sound. As she came closer, the laughter got louder and more sinister. Soon, it turned psychopathic. But Twilight kept going closer. She noticed it wasn't one pony laughing. It was a cluster of voices. Some laughing, some screaming, some crying. Still, she kept going.

As she approached she felt very light-headed. She felt a urge to join the voices. She bent her head down and noticed something terrifying. She was slowly dissapearing. Her fur, her cutie mark, her mane and tail, all gone. She wanted it to stop, but the voices were so inviting. She couldn't stop walking if she wanted to. She had no control of her hooves.

She watched as her wings lost their feathers, leaving only skin. The skin started to rot, leaving only bones. The bones turned to dust and dissapeared in the void. A prickling sensation on her forehead made her look at her horn. It was cracking up, tiny fragments flying in the distance, until there was nothing left.

Then she realised what was going on. The Darkness had taken her soul. It was now stealing her identity. Her hooves became black, like they were stuck in tar. It felt that way too. She couldn't move.

I have to stay focused, I can't let this happen. she thought to herself. She kept focusing on her friends' faces as the dark grew to her waist.

Focus, Twilight, focus! As long as I remember Rainbow, Applejack, Rarity, Pinkie and Fluttershy, I'll be okay. Rainbow, Applejack, Rarity, Pinkie and Flutter... Flutter... Fluttersong, that must be it! Why did I struggle remembering that? Anyway, keep focusing on Rainbow, Applejack, Rar... Rar... Raretime, Pinkie and Fluttersong. Rainbow, Apple... Come on! I know it is something with apple and ends with 'ack'... Apple...Smack? Why do I keep forgetting this? I have to stay focused!

Rain...blow? Apple...black? Rare...tey? Pink...lady? Flutter...butter?

GAAAAH! I can't remember! I know I know these ponies, but who are they?

Twilight thought. The dark spread from her plot, over her back and was now at her neck.

The voices were all laughing, mocking her. Her memories slipped away in front of her, teasing her. Whenever she tried to grasp a memory, it dissapeared instantly.

Every accomplishment, every happy moment, everything abandoned her, leaving only her emotions. The dark was reaching her eyes, growing rapidly. Finally, it consumed her.

So this is how it feels to die. No, not die. I am still here. With everyone else. They all have such beautiful laughs. I wanna laugh with them. What are they laughing about?

She opened her eyes, accompanied by so many others. She saw a wasteland full of monsters hunting ponies. She couldn't help but laugh. Now she understood the joke.

Such pathetic ponies. Don't they know they can't run?

Author's Note

Hope you enjoyed the final chapter. Tell me your thoughts in the comments below.