The Remnant of a Nightmare
.:The Remnant of a Nightmare:.
:.Chapter 1.:
Deep in the Everfree Forest lays a castle, worn and crumbling from years of abandonment, and in this castle an evil stirs as midnight passes. Out of the castle rises a transparent smoke, dark blue in color. The smoke being floats around the castle in a confused state until it finds a library, entering through a large crack in the wall. The smoke moves towards the bookshelves as books begin to levitate slightly. The smoke pulls the nearest few books into its form, almost instantly gaining the knowledge they possess, and it repeats this process until it spots a large painting hung on a nearby wall. In the painting there were two slim ponies, one was a white alicorn with a pink flowing mane standing beside a dark blue alicorn with a similar textured smoky mane as the smoke being.
Looking at the dark blue alicorn brings fragments of memories to light, the knowledge of the two alicorns became apparent, they were Princesses Luna and Celestia. Twisted memories of Princess Luna becoming enthralled by powerful magic, but since Luna was still young, the magic corrupted her and turned her evil. Becoming a twisted form of her original self proclaiming itself to be Nightmare Moon, and with that the memory ended. The smoke being floated backwards in shock from the sudden barrage of memories.
The smoke being lowered itself to the floor, four limbs slowly sprouted from the smoke. After a few moments the smoke had taken the form of a pony, looking more like a mannequin than a living creature. It glared up to the painting, looking to small portrait seeing armored guards standing by the two alicorns. An idea forms in the creature's head. To ensure it is nothing like the alicorns seen in the painting, it takes the form of a white coated unicorn stallion with a short dark blue mane and tail with bright blue eyes and no cutiemark. Feeling as though wings would be pointless since it wants to use only magic. The stallion uses his levitation to bring the remaining books towards him, continuing to gain the knowledge each book holds almost instantly.
After an hour passes, the stallion managed to absorb all the knowledge the library had to offer. The stallion now has a general understanding of speech and advanced magic. The stallion looked over his surroundings, deciding he didn't want to live in a crumbling castle, he returned to his smoke form and left the library through the same crack he entered, and headed towards the nearby town of Ponyville. The books had said Ponyville was a capital city of sorts, so that would be the perfect place to find answers and more knowledge, a feeling of emptiness filling him hunger… Of course I would get hungry so soon after taking a physical form, off to find something to quench my hunger the stallion mused mischievously.
The stallion trots through the Everfree Forest without any problems since most of the creatures that lurk in the shadows either were nowhere near him or fast asleep. Reaching Ponyville in a matter of minutes of tedious walking. The stallion walks towards the town as the morning sun rises over the hill pushing the moon down and a blue sky blocking the starry sky. The stallion lets out a quiet groan glaring to the town center, ponies coming out of their homes and walking about with no clear goal in their movements.
The stallion’s eyes went narrow seeing a orange mare with a blonde mane wearing a western hat carrying a cart full of apples, he quickly walks over to the mare feeling his stomach growling desiring food of any kind. But the stallion stops realising he doesn't have any bits so he won’t be able to buy any apples. He smiles devilishly feeling tempted to steal some of the food, but chooses not to, seeing as how four ponies crowded around the mare buying the apples from her, and trying to steal from her would likely lead to him getting caught and punished in some way.
He walked up to the mare after everypony left and forced his expression to smile like everypony around him.
“Well hey there sir, looking to buy some apples?” The mare asked in a accent the stallion didn't recall from the library's books.
“I would love to, only I unfortunately have a lack of bits, in fact I have none. I wouldn't suppose you may know of a way I could do favours in return for either bits or food.” The stallion said calmly trying to make good relations with the mare.
“Wait you ain't got no bits? Where have y’all been? If y'all from anywhere else but Ponyville how did ya get here without bits?” The mare questions raising an eyebrow.
“Spent it all on the trip here. Wasn't the smartest choice to spend it all, I now realize.” The stallion lied with a flat expression, convincing the mare it was true.
“Oh, I'm sorry about that sir.” The mare said wincing slightly lowering her hat “the name's Applejack, I'll ask around and see if anypony can set you up with a job. What's your name sugarcube?” Applejack asked smiling. The stallion quickly thought about what name he should have, the memory of Nightmare Moon made the stallion feel strange, it's like the magic that created Nightmare Moon was the same magic I’m made out of. The remnant of a darkness that created a nightmare. Wait that's it! The stallion thought smirking.
“My name is Remnant.It's a pleasure to meet you Applejack, thank you for helping.” He said almost proud for creating his own name.
“Remnant? That's a name I haven't heard anything like before, where you from?” Applejack said genuinely confused as to where Remnant could have came from to have a name like that.
“I'm from-” Remnant paused glaring to a castle on the side of a mountain in the distance “I'm from there. Having a brain-fart moment here, forgot the name of my city” Remnant forced himself to continuing to smile, he points his left hoof to the city.
“Y’all are from Canterlot? Makes sense why you have such a strange name then.” Applejack rolled her eyes, as she finished talking Remnants stomach growled loud enough to startle her.
“What in tarnation was that?” Applejack said widening her eyes.
“It's… My stomach…” Remnants ears flattered clenching his jaw shut.
“Y’all are really hungry aren’t ya. Just pay for this next time, alright?” She says passing him an apple. Remnant smiles “of course.” He says nodding his head walking off to find a job, not sure where to look he walks towards where he believes the center of the town to be, he eats the apple along the way.
Remnant recalled from the books ponies who would be paid for exterminating infestations of insects or rodents. He passes a small house with a sign saying Exterminators Wanted and a smile crosses his muzzle, luck has been kind so it seems.
He walks up to the door and knocks three times, a pony wearing a gas mask with dark green fur opens the door in alarm “who are you?” The pony says with an elder's voice.
“I’m Remnant, I seen you were looking for Ex-terminators, I was looking to apply for the possible job.” Remnant said flattening his ears.
“You want to work as an exterminator? Do you have any past experience?” The pony said tilting their head to the right.
“I don’t exactly have any past experience with anything really.” Remnant muttered quietly.
“Well I’m sure we’ll figure something out, come inside.” The pony said, moving over so Remnant could enter the building.
Once inside the elder pony removed his mask “the names Forebear, I was in the middle of clearing the kitchen of cockroaches, you manage to get rid of the little buggers and you get the job.” The elder said weirdly not wanting a resume and could possibly have been hiring a psychopath.
After only a few minutes on the job Remnant realized he was a natural exterminator. Using his magic, he was able to find every living roach within the house and kill them off right where they hid. And after a couple of hours he had finished the day and had amassed a modest sum of bits and a job. My first payment for a job more trivial than breathing, but what should my goal be… What should I use these bits for aside from food. I have nothing I desire right now, so, what is my purpose? Why should I continue doing this job, why am I alive? Remnant mused to himself trying to figure out what his goal should be, to acquire a lover? To become one of the most liked ponies in Ponyville? He had no idea and had no real desire to become better.
Remnant put the sack of bits next to him as he stared off at the moon, choosing to just try letting his mind go blank and enjoy the sunset, taking great joy in seeing the light fade away and the beauty of the night shine once more.
A pony in a cloak crept up behind remnant, snagging the bag of bits, spreading a set of wings hidden by the cloak and flying off into the sky, Remnant whipped his head around to see the pegasus flying off with his bits. He charged his horn sending a beam of bright blue light into the night, hitting the pegasus in their left wing falling from the sky and into the Everfree Forest. Remnant without thinking, sprints after the downed pegasus thief not about to give up on his reward so easily.
He charged at the pegasus, who kicked the cloak off revealing a mare with a bright yellow coat and a white mane taking a defensive stance with a crooked wing. Remnant came to a halt breathing heavily “just give me back the bits you stole, before I break your other wing.” Remnant says trying to speak in a calm voice, not actually wanting to hurt the pegasus any more than he already did.
“Not in your life.” She bares her teeth running off in the direction of the abandoned castle making Remnant smile darkly “silly, silly little pony.” He mutters to himself galloping to the castle tackling the pegasus pushing her against the outside of the stone slab walls.
“Get away from me!” She shouts using her hind legs to kick Remnant in the gut knocking the wind out of him temporarily, the pegasus tries running away but trips on a tree root sticking out of the dirt. Remnant levitated a sharp edged rock, his thoughts going evil and demented as he approached the mare and bashed the rock against her chest until he heard bones begin to break, the mare let out pained gasps for help. But Remnant simply smiles darkly pressing his two hooves against her chest, putting pressure on it hearing the ribcage begin to break.
“Agh!” She screams as Remnant raises his hooves up quickly bashing her chest in, puncturing a lung making her begin to gasp for air, the light fading from her eyes and the blood beginning to stain Remnants hooves.
Remnant leans his head close to the mare's ear whispering in a sickening tone “This is what happens to thieves like you.” He then raises the rock with his magic, crushing her skull with the rock easily. Remnant then breaks in a psychotic laughter looking to the moon with a feeling of happiness filling him as he stands to his hind legs, pressing his hooves against his cheeks smiling enjoy the feeling of blood against his fur.
He levitates the rock off the mare’s head, revealing a gory mess that was once a pony’s face, he then levitates the corpse into the air flinging it into the forest hearing a savage roar, then the sound of bones being crunched and meat being consumed. Remnant turns taking a smoke form seeping through the cracks in the wall quickly taking a physical form one again glaring to the ruined castle ceiling and walls. Maybe a ruined castle isn’t such a bad place to live, I’ll be able to claim more victims here than if I lived in the town Remnant smiled thinking to himself as dark ideas came to his mind. He would be a killer, destroying those who would threaten the innocent giving him a reason to exist, a reason to live.
