Forty Minute Fantasies

Slowly, the creature swirled through the air above the small town.

It had no true name, merely descriptions.  In this place, in this time, others had labeled it as ‘Nightmare’, after what it had done to its first victim.  First, but not last - a darkness gathered in the small town it now stalked, almost a worship of the poor fool that had been its last host, and the thing called Nightmare knew it would soon find fresh prey.

Finally, as the darkness descended, it made its choice.  The target was foolish, guileless; a perfect unsuspecting host.  Slowly, carefully, the Nightmare lowered itself into place and began to assimilate itself into its victim.

Moments later, a massive scream rang throughout the town.

Twilight raced up the stairs of the Sugarcube Corner, Applejack hot on her heels.  They’d both been down below, waiting for Pinkie to come out and join in the Nightmare Night celebrations.  Thus, they’d both been present to hear the horrible cry, more that of a strangled cat than of anything pony-like, and concern for their friend had shot the both of them upwards on non-extant wings.

As they arrived at the top of the stairs, a yell tore through the air, followed by the stallion doing the yelling.  Twilight caught Mr. Cake in her telekinesis before he could hit the wall, carefully depositing him on the floor.  “Sir, what’s going on?”

“I don’t know,” he said, panting.  “I heard Pinkie cry out, and then when I got here the door was locked.  I tried to get inside, and the door zapped me.”

Twilight’s eyes snapped over to the door.  “Magic, then.  Let me try.”  Carefully, Twilight sent a probing spell over the door.  The door, in response, flared bright crimson, and a beam of darkness flared out of it down the path of Twilight’s magic.  Twilight cut her spell at the last instant, coughing and choking even as the dark magic dispelled itself for lack of a conduit.  With that in mind, Twilight began to send her magic out in pulses, each one flaring, then dying in a spray of darkness.  Finally, after several minutes, one of the pulses dissipated without being swallowed, and Twilight nodded.  “AJ, break that door down!”

“On it, Twi!”  Applejack raced forward, swinging into place, and delivered a buck to the door that would have cleared any tree on Sweet Apple Acres.  The door fared less well; the wood around the latch splintered and tore, the door itself slamming open hard enough to shake the house when it finally came to a stop against the wall.  She then had to dance back as another blast of dark miasma poured out of the room.

Twilight took the lead as the miasma faded, darting past Applejack to stare at what lay inside.  Pinkie stood there, facing the mirror.  It had to be Pinkie - her mane was pink, her visible eye was blue, and a trio of balloons graced her side.  But the mane was straight, the eye cat-slitted, and the hide those balloons stood out from was deep black.  Twilight bit back a cry of fright, turning it into a single whisper.  “Nightmare.”

That cat-slitted eye immediately zoned in on Twilight.  “I am the Darkness which Devours!” it said, a low menace filling every word.  “I have plumbed the depths of the Outer Darkness, where there is weeping and wailing and gnashing of teeth!  I have gazed into the Chasm of the Abyss, and spat upon the fires therein!  I am that which sows sorrow and reaps despair!”  That cat-slitted blue eye suddenly twitched, startling Twilight.  “And this mare is killing me!”

“Mmh?  Who’re you talking to?”  The words were, shockingly, normal, and Pinkie’s form turned, facing the door head-on.  Twilight heard Applejack’s gasp of shock, knowing it doubtless mirrored her own slack-jawed expression, as they stared.  From the right, Pinkie Pie was the monstrous black form they’d first seen, but from the left, she was her normal self, bright-eyed and smiling.  “Oh, hey Twilight!  Is it time to go out yet?”

Several seconds passed in silence before some part of Twilight’s mind reconnected with her wayward tongue.  “Pinkie?  What… what’s going on?  What happened?”

“Well,” Pinkie said, her own tongue slipping out to lick at her lip, “I was getting my costume ready when I heard this weird voice in the back of my head, and I looked up and saw Black Snooty here in the mirror.  And I thought ‘hey, she’s here, this is a party dedicated to her, so why not show her a good time and maybe make her less of a meany-pants!’”  Pinkie beamed at the logic of her thought, while Twilight scrambled to parse it.  “So I said she could join me, but I think she took it the wrong way because she got all ‘grr-bah’ and tried to float into me and I felt like I was turning into a puppet, but I said ‘No, you’ve gotta share’, and she still keeps trying to take it all even though I told her that’s not nice.”

“I am not nice!” screamed the Nightmare, using Pinkie’s mouth.  “I am darkness incarnate, devourer of light and life!”

As Twilight watched, Pinkie used her pink forehoof to bop herself on the nose, the blackness actually scrambling away from the point of contact.  “That’s not very nice, Black Snooty!  I think someone needs a cheering up!”

“NO!”  The force of the scream of horror set both sides of Pinkie to coughing.  “Sparkle,” the Nightmare said when it could speak again, “release me from this cursed existence!  This mare’s relentless joy is devouring my very soul!  Release me now, lest I inflict upon you tortures as vile as this!  I cannot think of worse!”

Twilight stared, swallowed, then spoke.  “AJ?  Go round up the rest of the girls.”  As Applejack sped out of the hallway, Twilight spoke again.  “Mr. Cake?  Go to the library, please, and ask Spike to bring me the Elements of Harmony.  We’ll need them.”

Mr. Cake began to turn, then paused.  “Wh... what are you going to do?  Will Pinkie be all right?”

“Pinkie should be fine,” Twilight said.  “As for what I’m going to do… have you ever heard the phrase ‘mercy kill’ before?”

Mr. Cake gulped, turned, and fled.