Horsemageddon

Chapters

Chapter 1: Mishaps Happen
Chapter 2: Crusader Catastrophe
Chapter 3: Dark. Idle. Evil.
Chapter 4: Tainted Actions
Chapter 5: Going Downhill From Here
Chapter 6: A Golden Deal
Chapter 7: Dreams As Broken As Stone
Chapter 8: The Princess And The Demon

Chapter 1: Mishaps Happen

Just about everypony will say that they've never heard one thing about the Everfree Forest. Most of them will say that they didn't know what lies in the trees, or that they don't know how creepy it gets during the night. Some might say they didn't know that there was a forest at all! But to a group of friends, they know. They know what was in store for them. They've seen just about everything! Cockatrices. Ursa Minor. Sea Serpents...for some reason. From Parasprites to Timberwolves, they know what's beneath those treetops. Well, as far as they would find out, those monsters, those creatures, those menacing, foul, powerful beings were only the tip of the iceberg.

It started in a crisp, cool fall afternoon. Everypony was out and about, doing the things they enjoyed most. Selling goods. Keeping their shops spic and span. Tending to the animals living near the edge of the Forest. A yellow, light rose-maned pegasus and her pink, fluffy, extremely hyper earth-pony friend stood near the side of the little, vine-covered cottage. "I hope she'll be okay. I was gonna teach her how to fire my Chocolate-Pie-Slingshot I made," said the party pony, looking behind her back. The yellow mare glared at her with an annoyed expression as she was petting a brown and white dog. "She's just tired. That's all," she said, "but I don't think teaching an old dog a new trick is gonna be an easy task for you, Pinkie." "Aw, Fluttershy! Don't be such a party pooper! I'm sure she'll get used to it," Pinkie exclaimed, bouncing up and down as if the ground was a big, green trampoline, "I mean, what could go wrong?" Fluttershy could've come up with a dozen reasons that moment, but she decided not to. It would've been time-consuming, and she didn't want that. She had a big schedule already, and she was halfway done with the day. "I'm sorry, Pinkie, but I-I don't think that's a good idea. Applejack told me specifically to make sure Winona was 'as good as healthy' by the time she got back. She needs the rest, Pinkie. Just leave her alone for now. Please?" Pinkie frowned. Her jumping had halted, making her sway a little, as if she was trying to keep her balance. "Oh, alright!" Pinkie snapped. This made Fluttershy jump back, but she knew her pink friend hadn't meant to yell. She nodded, "Thank you. I'm glad you're understan-" Thud. The two ponies jumped. They immediately raced towards the front of the cottage, where another pegasus, cyan and a multi-colored mane, had crashed onto the porch. "Ugh. Oh, heheh, woops! Oh, Pinkie Pie! Pinkie!" Pinkie tilted her head to the side, "What's up, Dash? I mean, what's down, Dash?"

The blue pony rolled her eyes and smiled, "Pinkie! You're not going to believe this, but...I saw something in the Everfree Forest that I think you might like. It's pretty shiny." "Ooh! I love shiny things! Oh, oh, gimme gimme gimme-" the party pony bounced with glee, until Dash put her hoof on her babbling mouth. "If you would calm down, maybe I'll let you have it," the rainbow-maned pegasus said as she removed her hoof from her pink friend. "Alright, now, follow me." Pinkie started to bounce again. Dash took notice of Fluttershy carefully placing Winona onto a swinging bench. "Whoa. Where'd you get that?" "Oh, um, a nice pony made it for me. You like it?" Fluttershy whispered, trying her best not to disturb the now-sleeping collie. "It's neat," Rainbow said, "So, you wanna come with?" "Um, no thanks. I'm kind of busy at the moment. You two can go ahead." The yellow pegasus nodded her to go and walked back to the side of the cottage, calling out to some of the birds. Rainbow sighed, shrugged, and flew back to where she had came from. Pinkie followed, jumping on each patch of dirt until the trail disappeared, then kept on bouncing.

It was only the beginning of fall, so there were no leaves on the ground. This made it to where the cyan pegasus and pink pony could trot through quietly. The trees looked taller when viewed from the bottom. Really tall. Tall enough to make Pinkie Pie's head swirl. Rainbow didn't mind. She had other intentions than to look at the treetops from below. "Hey! There it is!" she shouted. Pinkie snapped out of her daze. "What? What is it? Tell me!" Pinkie shouted back. Rainbow ran towards a little opening in the forest, Pinkie close pursuit, and stopped right in front of a stone. It was shiny, alright. Sparkling in the rays of the sun. Both the girls gazed at the sculpture, Rainbow with awe, and Pinkie with confusion. "What is it?" she questioned Dash. The pegasus shook her head, her eyes trained on the stone, "I don't know." The stone itself seemed like it was there for ages, minus the sparkle. Yet, it was an odd shape. It was a triangle. A triangle with a long top hat. There was an indentation in the center, taking the form of an oval. Pinkie had looked straight into the indent, but she shivered and turned. "I don't know, Dash, but I think it's...uh..." Pinkie trailed off. Rainbow walked up to the statue. She bumped into a stick shooting straight out of the granite, only to be found out that it was part of the sculpture. "Come on," Rainbow insisted, "Remember what you said? 'Giggle at at the ghosties!' Now, I want you to touch it. Just for you to get over your 'fears'. Haha." Pinkie, usually the silliest pony out of her friends, wasn't sure if she should. After all, it did seem as if it was piercing her soul with its look, its one-eyed gaze. Its cyclops stare. But, then again, it was just made of stone. No magic whatsoever. She took a deep breath, trotted over to the statue, and laid her hoof on it. She felt a sigh of relief. "Heheh. Yeah, I didn't know what I was thinking. It's just a statue. No harm done. I feel better now." That didn't last long.

Only a split-second later Pinkie found herself alone, in the dark, with the sculpture she touched. She couldn't see any sign of Dash. In fact, she couldn't see anything. The only visible light was from the glistening stone. Except, it wasn't glistening anymore. It was glowing. Glowing a golden yellow. Pinkie jumped back. She had known all along it was a dark magic. The stone was cursed! "Aha! I knew it!" Pinkie yelled, although she wished she hadn't. The stone vibrated, giving off a terrible laugh that echoed through the void. The indent of the structure glowed a cyan blue, a black slit ran down from one point of the circle to the other, revealing the completed marking. An eye. An eye that shone a spotlight on the pink, petrified pony. The stone rose from the ground and floated above her head, opening in half, and revealing rows and rows of sharp teeth. A black, oily tongue slithered out of the mouth, and lunged straight for Pinkie. "AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!" "PINKIE!" Rainbow snapped. The fluffy-maned mare only peeked out of her hooves, still shivering with fear. Fear beyond her comprehension. She was back in the Forest. Back with her pegasus friend. Back...with that statue.

"Pinkie, what's wrong with you? You only touched it for a few seconds. What made you scream like that?" Rainbow waited for an answer. Pinkie gave none. "What's w-w-wrong w-with m-me? W-W-WHAT'S WRONG WITH YOU!?" Pinkie deliberately screamed at her blue friend, tears dripping down her face with no signs of stopping. "That was a sick trick, Dash! SICK!" "Whoa, whoa, whoa," Rainbow tried to assure her, "I didn't do anything. It was probably-" "No! It wasn't! I saw what that thing did! It tried to eat me! It was dark, cold, and I-I c-c-couldn't see. I-it just shot up f-from the g-g-ground and...and..." Pinkie couldn't finish it. She slumped back onto a nearby tree, her sobs echoing in the hollow space inside it. Rainbow tried to comfort her, but Pinkie Pie darted off before she could even have a chance to hug her. "Great. Just great," Dash muttered. She leaned on the statue, only for it to slip out of the ground, causing both it and Dash to fall to the ground. "Ow!" Rainbow got up. She looked down at the now-loose statue. It was now showing arms and legs, three of which was dug deep in dirt, the other arm Dash had confused with for stick earlier. "Well, accidents do happen. I guess I'll go apologize once Pink calms down. So, in the meantime..." Dash lifted the sculpture onto her back. It was unusually light. Almost hollow. It didn't matter. It was going to be a nice piece for her home.

Chapter 2: Crusader Catastrophe

It neared evening as Dash flew back home with the new centerpiece. She couldn't help but wonder why it was so lightweight. She thought it was just its hollow structure, but that couldn't help why it wasn't as heavy as it should be. She decided to stop worrying and went inside. Since everything was made of cloud, the stone would've fallen straight down, given it wasn't protected by Twilight's Cloud-Walking Spell, or it wasn't made to float on cloud. Yet, mindlessly, Rainbow put the statue in the corner of her bedroom. It didn't sink. It didn't fall through. Dash thought it was a little weird, but she couldn't let it rot in the Forest, the shimmer and sparkle completely destroyed by nature. It wasn't until Dash started to go to bed when there was a sudden thud downstairs.

"What the-?" the cyan mare responded. She raced out of the room and down. She stopped. Three little fillies, two of which had fallen down, laughing uncontrollably, had been responsible for the unexpected ruckus. "Hey!" Rainbow shouted, "Can y'all be a little more quieter? I'm sure somepony'll be grateful if she could sleep in peace." "Oh, sorry Dash," a dark orange filly pegasus giggled. The other filly, a yellow earth-pony with a red mane, had calmed down as well, picking herself up from the cloudy ground. Clearly Twilight's spells allowed her to stand there. The same went to an alabaster unicorn, her mane curly, pink, and purple. "Anyways," Rainbow continued, "you two need to go home. I'm sure it's almost past your bedtimes." "Aw. Do we have to?" said the unicorn. "Can't we just stay here a little longer?" the yellow mare pleaded. Dash wasn't easily fooled by their puppy-eyed looks on their faces. "Sorry, you guys, but I'm not gonna be responsible for Rarity and Applejack's freak-outs and search parties." She half-expected to see Pinkie Pie jumping out of nowhere, going on and on about how a search party wouldn't be one without cake and confetti. "Now go on. I'm sure they'll appreciate it." And with that, the two fillies said their goodbyes to the orange, purple-maned pegasus and walked out the door. Well, at least the white filly did. The yellow mare went through it. "I really need to get that fixed," said the rainbow-maned mare. She then turned to the orange filly, "Alright, Scoots. Head up to bed, now. I'm not gonna let you be all grouchy and tired. Remember what happened last time?" Scootaloo shied from her glare. "Yeah," she mumbled, then she walked up to her room, leaving Rainbow alone in the middle of the living room. She, too, started to trot to bed. She was happy to finally get some rest, for she hadn't taken a nap in a while. As she neared her room, she stretched and yawned, barely missing the yellow glow from under the door.

The next morning, Dash found herself hugging her pillow tightly, her blanket barely covering her. Puzzled, she yawned,sat up, and rubbed her head. It hurt. "Eh, w-what happened last night?" She rubbed her eyes, and learned that tears were on her hoof. Had she cried herself to sleep? She shook her head. She knew she had gotten to fall asleep without a problem. Then, a thought struck her mind. Did she cry in her sleep? It was more plausible, but there was one problem: she didn't remember what her dream was about. Rainbow wiped her eyes, shook the weird thoughts out of her mind, and jumped out of bed. She stretched, and made her way out the door. Before closing it, she glanced at the statue. It sparkled, and it sparkled less brightly at first, then brighter. Brighter than it had first been when she found it. Rainbow just sighed and closed the door. She trotted down the staircase and started to make her way outside when she heard a soft whimper. Rainbow stopped, looking for whatever's making that noise. Whoever, as she found out.

The speedster walked over by her couch and saw the orange filly, curled up and definitely crying. "Hey," Rainbow whispered, "what's wrong?" Scootaloo looked up at Dash, tears streaming down her face, trying to calm herself. "I...I..." she sobbed, trying to get some words out. "I-I don't...I don't wan-n-na..." "You don't wanna what?" Rainbow asked, "Come on, you can tell me. I'm right here." She laid her hoof on the shivering filly's back, rubbing her spine in a gentle fashion as she spatted out the other words with tears. "I...I don't wanna sleep a-again. I...I...I saw them..." Scootaloo struggled to fight back the seemingly endless stream pouring out of her eyes, "A-Apple Bloom, Sw-weetie B-Belle. They...they were...han-hanging." The orange filly started to cry again. Rainbow just had to ask, "Hanging? What do you mean hanging?" Scoots sniffled, "They were...they...they had these r-r-ropes around their n-necks. They stared at me...I-I saw their lifeless eyes. I-I..I saw...I saw my body hangin' there, t-too. Those...th-those ropes were attached t-to this...this thing...this monster. It laughed and laughed. It was b-bright and g-golden. It only...it only had one eye. It laughed as it...as it flashed our lives in front of my face. I-I...I..." Scootaloo finally let herself go to her emotions, her sobs turned to wails. Rainbow Dash had stopped rubbing her back at this point. She was horrified.

And she didn't know why.

"Scoots," Dash had snapped out of her daze, "it'll be okay. It's just a nightmare. That's all." She felt tears streaming down her own face as she tried to comfort the little ball of wails and cries. This lasted for almost two hours before the little filly finally cried herself to sleep. Yet, there were still sounds of crying, and it wasn't from the now-sleeping Scootaloo." Rainbow was still trying to wrap around why what the orange pegasus had said made her so emotional as she struggled to keep tears from falling onto the couch cushions, failing to do so. It was only a bad dream, a nightmare. It wasn't real. It wasn't. It shouldn't. It couldn't...could it?

Finally, after almost a half an hour, Rainbow Dash stopped her sobbing. She proceeded to go talk to somepony that can be able to help. Somepony that can be by her side. And who better to talk to than one with a big family by her side? So, Dash sped up to Sweet Apple Acres, leaving Scoots, and the statue, behind. The big barn, surrounded by a forest of apple trees, was bustling about as usual. Some ponies were bucking at the trees to get the Apple's to call off the branches, causing them to land in woven baskets, while others were either pulling carts, making pies and sauces, or simply watching other ponies go about their chores. But one pony wasn't around when Rainbow arrived. "Hey, uh..." Dash hesitated to ask a big, red stallion. He turned from his work of pulling a huge cart of Apple's, filled to the brim with them. He listened as she spoke, "Have you seen Applejack around? I need to talk to her. It's, uh, kind of important." The stallion responded, "Last time ah heard, she was goin' to see Rarity down by her house. Figured she need ,somepony to talk to, too, lil' missy." Rainbow was a little confused at this. What did Applejack need to tell Rarity? If anything happened in her or her family, or her barn, everyone would know about it. Sweet Apple Acres was the soul provider of everything made of apple, after all. "Well, um, thanks," Rainbow said as she flew off. The red stallion went back to his work, figuring that Applejack, his little sister, was going to be fine.

Meanwhile, an alabaster unicorn had come back to her boutique, carrying a little basket of gems Spike managed to collect while eating a bunch of other diamonds and rubies. She blew her curly, purple mane to one side of her face as she stepped onto the porch. That's when she realized an orange earth pony was leaning against the door. A hat tilted to cover her face, but the unicorn knew her too well. "Applejack?" the unicorn questioned, "Uh, what's wrong? Are you here because of that incident yesterday? I didn't mean to-" "Ah'm not here to hold grudges," Applejack snapped. She lifted her head up, revealing two glaring eyes and seemingly flowing tear marks down her face. "Oh, Apple! What happened to you? You look just awful!" the white mare said. Applejack only looked down at the ground, "Ah need to talk to ya, Rarity. It's somethin' important." "Well uh, yes. Of course. What is it?" Applejack slumped back down of the door onto all fours. She shook her head, "Lemme ask ya somethin'." Her eyes began to tear up again as her voice seemed to crack. It was something Rarity had never seen in her yellow-maned cowgirl friend before. Applejack walked over, wrapping a hoof on her alabaster friend's back, "D-do ya feel 'fraid that somethin' bad's gonna happen to ya lil' sis? Like when she saw somethin' horrible, traumatic even, and sh couldn't stop cryin', day and night?" she asked as she tried to fight back her tears. She failed. Instead, she collapsed onto Rarity and sobbed, tears streaming down her back and onto the floor. Rarity, compelled to cry with her, hugged her. "D-don't w-worry, deary. It's going to be alright," the white mare assured. Applejack kept crying, her sobs becoming louder and more painful with each hiccup. Rarity walked her tortured friend to the door, managed to steadily open it with her magic, and walked them both inside. Before it shut, however, a blue blur flew into the house, causing it to shut with a loud bang.

"Oh, sorry," Rainbow Dash said as she slowed and landed beside her friends, "Applejack. I need to talk to you-" She paused. Applejack was trying to stop crying, her breathing cracked and her eyes becoming red from too much sobbing. "Aw man, A.J.! What happened?" "Just leave her be, darling," Rarity intervened, "She's going through a tough time right now. I think it ought to be better if she...if she laid down. You know, have some rest. Who knows what condition she'll be in if she doesn't, the poor thing." "N-no," Applejack managed to gasp out. Both the mares turned to her. "It's not me that's in trouble. It's...it's..." she trailed off, but sighed and started up again, "It's Apple Bloom. She saw somethin' horrible while she was sleepin'." Rarity looked confused. Rainbow had to ask, "Well, what was it?" Applejack looked up at her blue pegasus friend, "It was somthin' terrible. She said it was glowin' and..." she didn't want to say it, but Rainbow kept asking, "And what?" The burdened mare continued, "And golden."

It all went quiet as Rainbow let a single tear fall.

Rainbow was beyond horrified, now.

Chapter 3: Dark. Idle. Evil.

It was nighttime, and Princess Twilight Sparkle, a purple alicorn with the dark blue mane and an intelligent disposition, had slumped onto her bed. She was tired. Very tired. She had spent all day running errands with Princess Cadence and Shining Armor, Twilight's brother and Cadence's husband. Now that she was home, the alicorn can finally get some rest. "Twilight?" a voice downstairs had asked, "Are you home? Because if you are, I need your help-" "Do it later, Spike! I'm too tired to do anything right now!" Twilight screamed. "Oh, okay," Spike, Twilight's beloved baby dragon assistant, responded. Twilight sighed as she pulled the covers over her shoulder. She didn't bother to take the dress and shoes off. She was way too tired, and as soon as her head hit the pillow she fell asleep almost instantly.

Downstairs, Spike put away the giant mess of glitter and Popsicle sticks and started towards the staircase. He had been working diligently on that project. But every time he stuck a piece, two more fell off. Maybe he needed more glue. Spike went upstairs and opened the door to Twilight's room. The Princess of Friendship was fast asleep, a deep sleep. Spike wondered what made her like his. Sure there were times where she grew tired of what happened, but she never did this. He decided to test a little question: how deep in slumber was Twilight? He pushed her off the bed, which resulted in a loud thud. He waited for something to happen. A yelp. A scream. A moan. But there was nothing but the gentle breathing and a few light snores as she turned. She must be really tired, Spike thought. He managed to push and drag her back to bed, making sure the blanket snuggled her tightly and her pillow was cool and comfortable. Then, Spike went back downstairs, subconsciously leaving the door cracked. He sat on a chair and watched the clock. It was 10:59 p.m. He watched the second-hand turn past the other two hands before finally passing the 12. Now the time was 10:59 p.m., a minute 'til 11:00. Spike thought this was funny, like the clock was broken. He jumped out of the chair and glanced out the window. There was a new clock tower-part of it, resting on top of the main structure in Ponyville. The clock read 10:59 p.m. He glanced back at the clock he'd been watching. It still said 10:59. He pinched himself, making sure he was awake. It hurt. He was awake. And it's still a minute 'til.

"Twilight!" Spike shouted, "I know you can hear me!" He waited for a response. None came. Spike started to get more and more worried. Then nervous. Then terrified. As if time had stopped altogether and he was stuck in this loop, which seemed to be the only explanation of what was happening at this moment. Was it even a moment? "No. No no no no no no," the purple dragon muttered. It felt as if an hour past by. He glanced at the clock. 10:59 p.m. "Oh come on!" Spike shouted, ready to snap. He banged his head against the wall with a loud thud. He looked back. 11:00 p.m. The minute hand had moved. The clock still gleamed a purplish hue, signifying night, which in Spike's mind, should've glowed sky blue for day, but it was finally passed that crooked "hour". The assistant sighed with relief. "THANK YOU!" shouted Spike, followed by Twilight's angered shout that made his little dragon heart skip a beat or two, "Spike!" "Oops." His hand was behind his neck nervously. He still couldn't wrap his head around what had happened. Was it all in his head? Was it just a hallucination? Did it happen at all? He shook it off after a couple of pleasured minutes went by, and decided to go to bed. "At least the whole day wouldn't be messed up like that," Spike whispered to himself as he walked up the stairs to his bedroom.

That morning, the baby dragon sat outside in the chilly breeze. It was day out, and the clock tower had recently struck 9:00. Spike had put on a green scarf that he took from Fluttershy. She didn't mind. So, as Spike started to walk from Twilight's castle, he wondered what he should do. Twilight could be asleep for a little longer. She had been cranky before going to bed, and she would probably be even more cranky when she would wake up. He really didn't want to start off the day with her screaming for him to shut up. He decided to go see Applejack. He wasn't sure why, but it sounded good. He can be far away with a horde of edibles from Twilight the Grouch. Spike shrugged his shoulders and proceeded to journey to Sweet Apple Acres. When he finally arrived, he went up to a neat, little tree-house, where three inspired foals could be coming up with a grand scheme to try and help other "blank flanks" get their cutie marks. They had already earned theirs. It seemed odd to Spike that Apple Bloom's, Scootaloo's, and Sweetie Bell's cutie marks were almost identical, besides the mini symbol on their shields: an apple with a heart for A.B., a wing with a lightning bolt for Scoots, and a star with a music note for Sweetie. Besides that, they were practically clones.

The dragon walked up the ladder and opened the trapdoor. All three fillies were there, sound asleep. "Guys? Guys?" Spike whispered, trying his best not to startle them, but to at least get their attention away from Dream Land for a while. But, to his worry, they didn't even lift an eye to him. Soft, almost silent snores were made here and there, causing Spike to moan. He needed some misadventure to pass the time, since he was probably up all night, even though the "all night" part was part of a minute. Not even that shifted them. That's when he saw it. Tears had been previously made from them, as if they bawled themselves to sleep. Now Spike was worried. Really worried. Spike climbed down the tree and ran to the farmhouse, where the bright red stallion, Big Macintosh, was staring out into the apple orchard from the porch. "Ah! Big Mack!" Spike gasped as he stopped at the staircase of the porch. "Macintosh...eh...where's...whew..." the poor purple lizard almost collapsed there, but managed to stay up. Before Spike collected himself, Big Mac answered him, "Applejack didn't come home last night. She spent it with Rarity." "Oh...great..." Spike gasped. He cleared his throat and hurriedly walked towards the Carousel Boutique, thanking the stallion for the info. Big Macintosh just sighed and went back to his gazing.

Spike managed to reach the round building and walked inside. The bell rung, catching Spike's attention for a bit. He needed to ask Applejack what had happened to the fillies. He needed to see Rarity more, for at first sight he fell in love with her. Sparkles had flown from her vision and it felt like sparks flew inside his little lizard heart. But somewhere deep in his mind, a thought was telling him that he wouldn't be able to actually get Rarity to do the same, but every time it entered he ignored it. He ran up the stairs and opened Rarity's bedroom door wide open. "Hey Rarity, I-" Spike paused. His eyes grew wide, then started to water. Rarity was in bed, her front hooves stained with red, her mane tattered and mangled, and her room a complete wreck. Spike shakily walked towards her sleeping body, only to realize her body wasn't sleeping. It was dead. Rarity's eyes were gone, replaced with empty, bloody sockets. Her mouth was sewn shut with red thread, her neck...slit. Spike turned around, ready to bolt out the door and scream for help. He didn't care if he woke Twilight up.She would understand. But...how can she possibly know? How can anypony know about the poor alabaster mare's premature death when the door of her bedroom's gone?

Spike tried to rush up against the wall, hoping there would be a weak spot for him to break. There wasn't. As Spike pounded himself against the wall it made him fall back and hit his head against the foot of the bed. The wall. It felt...bouncy. "No no no NO NOO!" Spike screamed, tears starting to pour out of his eyes. That's when he heard it. Not at first, but he heard it. A faint, yet maniacal laugh. It kept ringing in Spike's ears. He turned around, and saw something he wished he never had seen. Rarity-or her corpse-floated up into the air. Not only was her throat slit, but her stomach was cut with a long, vertical slash. The wound opened, revealing thick, red tentacles that seeped out and wrapped themselves around Spike's body. To his horror he noticed that they weren't tentacles, but intestines. The laugh was louder now, as if it came from the gash in the white mare's belly. Then, a glowing, yellow eye opened inside. It seemed that it was the one responsible for the crazed cackles. That's when the cold, dead Rarity suddenly sprung to life, growing huge sets of fangs and sharp teeth. She-or it-howled and lunged towards Spike, causing him to scream in terror and bolt out the door. Rarity and Applejack woke up with a start as they saw Spike rush out the room. "What was that about?" Applejack shouted. Rarity just shook her head, "Just leave him be. I'm too tired to go chase after him."

And with that, the white unicorn laid down and drifted off to sleep once again.

Chapter 4: Tainted Actions

It was near noon when Spike finally realized that it was all a bad daydream, for he found himself beside a bench just outside the center of town. He caught sight of Rarity and Applejack, as well as Twilight, Rainbow Dash, and Derpy Hooves, a gray pegasus mare known for being the most silliest, clumsiest, and less intelligent mail-mare in Ponyville. In all of Equestria, that is. She had just delivered a package to Rarity. It must've been something important, seeing that Twilight was warning the alabaster unicorn not to be rough with it. Rarity nodded, then trotted back to the boutique, the box levitating by her magic. Spike got up and walked towards his four-legged friends...and Twilight. Although she was a good student of Princess Celestia and a great friend, the last few days made it seem to him that the purple alicorn princess was getting more and more agitated of him. So, he decided not to intrude, and stood there silently until further notice. Whenever that was.

"Don't worry, you guys," Twilight continued the conversation, "when Rarity comes back with them, make sure they get at least a cup a day. It'll take a while, but luckily, the nightmares will be a little less...graphic." The other two mares nodded in agreement, then turned around to follow the white unicorn fashionista. "What was that about?" Spike asked, half-expecting for her to yell at him. "Oh, hey Spike. Yeah, um, Apple Bloom, Sweetie Bell, and Scoots has had these weird nightmares about some 'murderous golden triangle monster' and I ordered a large batch of a special serum that can relieve that kind of behavior." Twilight added, "It can only be made in Canterlot, because that's where a lot of the necessary ingredients are located."

"Oh. Well, how long will it take?" Spike questioned.

"Perhaps a few days," Twilight responded politely.

"And how was your nap?" the assistant asked annoyingly.

"Uh, fine. I guess. I don't remember what was dreaming about, but I kept waking up a few times during the middle of the night. But I do know one thing: I needed it. I...I'm sorry, Spike, for being a little aggressive towards you." Twilight frowned, looking away from her dragon friend. Spike noticed her guilt and understood that Twilight never meant to be harsh. "Don't worry, Twi. I'm fine," Spike reassured her. The blue-maned star student looked back at him, a slight smile began to appear, "Thanks, Spike." And with that, the two hugged for a moment, only to be stopped by Pinkie's random yell. "TWILIGHT!" The Friendship Princess jumped back, her mane nearly stood on end. She put a hoof over her chest, trying to calm down her speeding heart as a familiar pink party-pony trotted towards her. She looked furious.

"I thought we discussed this, Twilight! How could you?" Pinkie screamed. The purple alicorn didn't understand what she meant by this. Discuss what? "Pinkie," Twilight responded calmly, for her heart started to slow, "I'm afraid I don't know what you're talking-" "Yeah! Sure you don't!" Pinkie yelled sarcastically, "I thought we were gonna go get the others so that we can go out and have our celebration, but no! You just wanna sleep in! 'Oh, I'm too tired...I'll see you in the morning when it's too late.' You think I like being turned down like that? Well, newsflash for you, Twiliy, you broke my promise-my PINKIE Promise-and you broke my feelings! How could you just desert me like that?! Huh?!" Twilight waited for a response to pop up in her head. She remembered what she had told her party-friend what she planned to do: get the other girls, hop on the train, and ride to Las Pegasus. It was the celebration of when they first met each other, even though it was on the wrong date. "I-I'm so sorry. I didn't mean to-" "Save it, 'Princess of Friendship'! I'm not done with you, yet!" Pinkie cut her off. That's when she gave a little twitch with her neck, as if something had shocked her right then and there, but only for a split second. "Pinkie, I said I'm sorry-" "Sorry's not gonna get back our day, Twilight! Because of you I have to work 'til sundown! If we went earlier, I would've had that whole day off! Instead, I was stuck with this awful, icky thought of you ruining my chance to throw a party this week! You broke my promise, so I'll break YOU!" Twilight was stunned. "Pinkie, listen, I-wait what?" She was confused on the last remark that her pink pony friend had just said, only to feel a burst of pain on the side of her head.

"Oow!" Pinkie!" Twilight yelled in pain, rubbing her head. Pinkie thought it wasn't enough. She hit Twilight again, harder. This time Twilight fell down onto her back. The little pebbles on the dirt road didn't help remove pain, it only made it worse. Pinkie proceeded to walk towards the now-shaking body of her ex-friend, standing up on her hind legs, then putting on hind leg up and slamming her hoof down into Twilight's chest. The pain was unbearable. She must've cracked a couple of ribs. "Pinkie, stop! I'm sorry, just please, stop doing this!" Twilight pleaded, her eyes began to form tears. Pinkie Pie ignored her. Something deep within her told her the exact same thing-stop hurting your friend. She didn't listen. She felt compelled to hurt her. Compelled to give her what she deserved. Compelled to make her suffer.

Twilight tried to get up, putting both forelegs behind her back and lifting herself off the ground. Before she managed to sit up, Pinkie kicked her back down, causing the alicorn's head to hit the ground hard. Then the former party-pony grabbed Twilight by the neck with both her forelegs and dragged her up against a nearby cottage's wall. "SPIKE!" Twilight yelled in agony, "GET HELP! SOMEPONY! ANYPONY!" Spike wasn't around, for he had walked away when Pinkie first started yelling at her, before the attack. And nopony was around at the time. They were on the other side of town. Fluttershy was trying to tame a group of lost parasprites that had moved into the village. Everypony needed to see the escapade. The perfect time for Pinkie to give Twilight the beating she deserved and not get interrupted. Pinkie whacked Twilight's face with her hoof, causing her nose to bleed. She then uppercut her stomach a couple times before throwing her onto the pavement like a useless ragdoll. Twilight wept, tears flowing freely from her eyes and dripping onto the dirt road, mixed with a couple drops of her blood.

"I'm still not done with you! Get up!" Pinkie ordered. The alicorn kept crying, covering her face with her hooves. The pain was excruciating. "I said GET UP!" Pinkie barked. Twilight, out of fear, started to get up from the ground. This time she was successful at standing up on all fours. She didn't stand for long, for Pinkie had kicked her back down, hard. Finally, she stomped on her chest multiple times before calming herself down. She saw what she had done to her friend-a complete mess she was-and started to realize what she had done. Her expression shifted from menacing to fear-stricken in a matter of seconds. "Oh no," Pinkie exclaimed, "What have I done?" And with that, Pinkie fled, tears streaming from her eyes and flew behind her. Twilight, a bloody, mangled mess, tried desperately to get back up. She availed. She limped over to the side of her castle, which was conveniently nearby where she was attacked. She tried to gather her thoughts over what had happened, as to why Pinkie couldn't control herself. A thought pricked her. She feared it. The thought that Pinkie couldn't control herself-even if she tried.

Chapter 5: Going Downhill From Here

With all the commotion settled down, Applejack, Rarity, Fluttershy, and Rainbow Dash gathered near Twilight's castle, where the princess had cleaned herself up. After sprucing herself up to look more presentable, she still had aches and pains from the event with Pinkie. So, she decided to sleep in. She had thought that sleep could take the pain-mental pain, that is-away. It could also clear her mind from some of the physical harm she had dealt with only an hour ago. Pinkie, on the other hoof, had tried to calm herself down-which she did. However, when she tried to think of some way to apologize, she had forgotten what there was to apologize for, why she was doing so in the first place. Just to clear her thoughts, the party pony trotted over to Twilight's castle. Surely she would help in some way. Help her figure out why she felt like something had happened, but wasn't sure what.

She caught up with the other four, "Hi, girls! What did I miss?" The other ponies quickly turned around. "Oh, Pinkie! There you are! We've been expecting you," Rarity answered, whipping her mane out of her face. Dash leaned on Pinkie, wrapping a hoof around her back, "You should've seen it! Fluttershy was trying to tame a couple parasprites, but they kept on trying to eat all the apples from some poor pony's cart. That's when she yelled at one of 'em, and they started to swarm around..." Rainbow Dash continued on about how the yellow, timid pegasus had taken down the swarm with no one to help. Pinkie, like Dash, thought that that was pretty neat. And funny. "Haha! So that's what I missed!" Pinkie exclaimed cheerfully, "Oh, I'm so glad that's over, Fluttershy! If you hadn't done that, we would've been goners! You're a hero!" Fluttershy blushed, "Pinkie..." "Aw snap!" Applejack interrupted, "I totally forgot 'bout Winona! She gonna be okay, Sugarcube?" the apple farmer turned to the pink-maned pegasus. "Oh, um, yes. She's doing fine." Applejack sighed, "Thank ya. I thought I'd done somethin' wrong. Heheh..."

Later that night, Rainbow Dash returned home, as did the rest of the group. She found Scootaloo on the couch, all curled up and comfty-cozy in a thick blanket. The cyan pony kissed her on the head, rubbed her back for a short moment, then flew upstairs. Once inside the room, she stretched and yawned. "I'm so tired right now, I can't even think straight," she said to herself. The sculpture was still there. It was still sparkling, even in the dark. Rainbow Dash still thought this as odd, but she shrugged it off and proceeded to fly into bed. It was only a matter of minutes until the brash pegasus finally fell into a deep slumber. A couple hours went by. Suddenly, there was a scream coming from downstairs. Rainbow woke up, confused at first, then shocked with realization. "Scoots!" Rainbow rushed downstairs, leaving the blanket floating in the air, and caught up with the orange filly. Or at least that's what she had hoped to see. But all that was there was an empty couch. In fact, it was the only thing in the room, now. Just a couch and Rainbow Dash.

"Scoots?" the rainbow-maned pegasus shouted, "Scoots! Where are you?" She looked frantically around her. Things were definitely out of place. There were no doors. No windows. None of Scootaloo's crayon pictures were hung and no lamps were found. She listened inventively for any sign of the purple-maned filly. Nothing. For five, solid minutes-nothing. Then, a faint cackle echoed in the room. It sounded...it sounded as if somepony was going absolutely mad. As if that somepony had done something wickedly wrong, and was condemned to an asylum for all eternity. That's what it sounded like to her. That's when she saw it: a glow. A glowing object heading towards her. It shone brightly, causing Rainbow Dash to cover her eyes. The glow subsided. Dash uncovered her eyes, making sure it was safe to look. What stood in the place of that glow was the cause of what had been laughing so madly. It still was for a couple of moments. "How's it goin'?" the strange creature asked.

Rainbow was confused. What is that thing? Why is it here? What did it do to Scootaloo? "Aw, don't you fret now, Rainbow Dash! I'm just here to congratulate you!" The strange object spun around once or twice. It was still glowing, but only a little. It seemed to be made of something yellow and shiny-gold. A golden triangle with black appendages-arms and legs-protruding out. It was ordained with a black bow-tie and top hat. But the most prominent feature was its one, big eye-a slit for a pupil and a stare that seemed to peer into Dash's soul. "Who...what..." Rainbow stuttered, trying to figure out what to ask it first, "who...who are you? What do you want? Where's my sister? And how do you know my name?!" "Whoa, whoa! Slow your roll, Dash!" the triangle assured her, "Look, I know I haven't been to "gentlepony"-like so I'm gonna make it up to you!" It bowed to her, then got back up-even though it was floating.

"Name's Bill Cipher!"

Chapter 6: A Golden Deal

"Bill Cipher?" Rainbow Dash questioned to herself. Bill chuckled and shook her front hoof, "I just wanna say thanks to your help, Dashie! I don't know what I'd do without you!" Dash was concerned about Scootaloo, still. She was also concerned about her hoof. Bill floated up, releasing Rainbow, "It's been a long time since I left home. Oh, it's so good to be back! Hahaha!" "Back?" the cyan pegasus asked, "What do you mean back?" The triangle looked down at her. She couldn't tell if he was smiling or not, for he didn't have a mouth. "Oh you, Dashie! You say 'Hit First, Questions Later', but you're pretty much the other way around. Yet, I like you, kid. You and your friends. You and Squirt!" Rainbow Dash had gotten tempered at this point. "Oh, yeah, which reminds me...WHERE IS SCOOTALOO?!" Rainbow asked the floating creature, screaming the last half of the question in pure anger. "Whoa!" Bill Cipher exclaimed, "Come on, you gotta ease up a little! Have a heart. Anyway's, Squirt's gonna be fine, you'll see. As of now..." Bill showed his back to her. "I'm gonna make an opposition for you!"

"What do you mean?"

"Ha! Oh, I've got details. Listen, there's been talk of bad dreams, ghouls, and rivalries goin' on around these parts. As for me? I just want one simple thing from you!"

"Well, what is it? What do you want from me that you had to kidnap Scoots for?"

"Kidnap?" Bill exclaimed, "That's ridiculous! How can you say such a thing? All I'm here for is to tell you that, probably like a couple friends of yours, to destroy the statue. That's all."

Rainbow Dash thought back about Pinkie Pie. About how she felt when she stood up against the structure. She nodded in agreement, "I guess I could help with that-" The blue pegasus was hushed by the golden triangle, "Hold that thought for now." Bill floated over her head and sat on the edge of a bed. A bed that wasn't there before. What was even stranger was that the living room was now a blank white slate. No furniture. No walls. No floor. No ceiling or pictures. But yet, Rainbow could feel something hard against her hooves. She was trying to get a grasp of what was happening before she realized that there was a sort of rip, a hole, where the yellow, geometric cyclops was sitting in. He spoke again, breaking the awkward silence, "Heh. You're probably wondering what's goin' on here. Well, let me explain the logistics to you, Dashie. As you can see, I'm able to control your dreams once I'm in your head. In fact, I'm able to see into your head, letting me know all your little moments in time." Rainbow stammered, trying not to freak out right i front of him, "Y-y-you mean my...my...y-you mean my m-m-memories?" "Absolute, lady!" Bill announced, floating above her head, "You're spot on!"

With a snap of his fingers, the room in the rip suddenly flashed to life. Rainbow saw that the hole was now becoming much more rectangular, floating right towards her. She ducked as it passed by her, but as she looked back to where it had been, she decided to stay low. More rectangular screens of her own memories floated by. It wasn't long before they surrounded both her and Bill, which in turn hovered towards one of those memories. "As you can see, I've been watching you little fillies for a long time. And, with all honesty, you're life is, for the most part, pretty screwed up," Bill laid back on the empty space as if there was a chair floating under him, being ever so convenient for him. He moved back as the cyan mare got a closer look to see what was in that particular doorway. It was her, alright. Her wing under the enormous pressure of a giant boulder. Her face in her hooves. It sounded like she was crying, but softly. She realized that this was when she first met Tank. But yet, the little turtle never showed up. She was still stuck. Still crying. Still desperate for anypony to come rescue her.

"Hey, wait a minute!" Dash spoke out as she ran towards one of the other memories. One had her moaning on a dark thundercloud, back to where she was envious of the Mare-Do-Well. She trotted towards another, which showed her clutching Tank in her hooves, adorned in a purple robe, tears pouring out from her eyes and onto the bed and floor. That one had once been occupied by Bill himself. She ran towards another. And another. And another. All the memories surrounding her was all in her past, all sad and depressing. But there was one, unlike all the others, that Rainbow had never been in before. She walked up towards the screen. It was horrible. It was her, but in some kind of new form. She didn't look like a pony at all. She was trembling on the floor, crying. According to the clothing that lacked the cover-up of the arms and legs, she had bruises all over. There was another being like her, but she had her arms behind her back, being dragged out by yet another being. The older girl yelled at her, calling her names that even Rainbow the Pegasus thought that was just downright wrong. The other Rainbow Dash cried louder as the male being dragged the cruel woman out of the room. Bill raced up right beside the pegasus, who in turn was also at the brink of collapsing to the floor, bawling her eyes out until her voice broke.

"Why?" Rainbow whispered, "Why show me this? Why?" She wanted answers. She wanted to know what was going on in that memory. Was it even a memory at all? No. "Aw, come now, Dashie. You don't have to worry about her. Sure shes you, but you're not her. Get it?" Bill explained. "Now, about that deal-" "I'm raising my side of the deal!" Rainbow snapped, giving him a sharp stare. Bill could see the tear marks down her face. It felt good to him to see those again. Dash continued, "Fix her life as well! And maybe I'll destroy the statue myself. Just me. No one else. Alright?" Bill, although expressionless with the exception of his eye, smiled. "It's a DEAL!" Bill stretched out his hand, completely ablaze with blue flames. Rainbow Dash braced herself, and took his hand in her hoof, catching it on blue fire. There was no pain. No heat at all. Just the tingling feeling that spread all throughout her core. Bill Cipher let go of her hoof and snapped his fingers again, floating high above the nothingness as the "memories" disappeared. "And remember, Reality is an Illusion! The Universe is a Hologram! Buy Gold! Bye!" And with that, Bill turned into a blinding light. A light created out of the foolishness Rainbow Dash had put upon herself. And upon her own world.

Chapter 7: Dreams As Broken As Stone

Rainbow woke up, alarmed. Her mind spun a million miles an hour as she tried to collect both her thoughts and breath. She looked around the room. Everything was back to normal. The walls, the ceiling, the floor, the pictures, the windows, the rugs, and even the couch that Scootaloo was sound asleep on. It was day out. At least 1:00 in the afternoon. Rainbow's head throbbed. She must've fell asleep right there on the spot and dropped like a rock. Rock..."Oh snap!" Rainbow whispered. The deal was on. Thinking that it was a race against time, the blue pegasus quietly trotted out of the house. When she got outside, she stopped and put her hoof on her face. She had left the statue in her room. With a sigh, she trotted back into the house to retrieve it.

It had been a weird day for both Pinkie Pie and Twilight. What was even weirder was that they don't remember anything at all. It was as if nothing had happened, despite the bruise on the princess's chest, which was covered up by a vest. Nopony suspected a thing. Not even their friends. Pinkie Pie bounced by the purple mare, "Hiya, Twilight! What's shakin'?" She wiggled her tail in front of Twilight's face when she said it. "Pinkie! Stop! You're tail's in my...mmph!" Twilight tried to warn Pinkie that her fluffy tail was too close, but instead she got a face full of it. Pinkie jumped back, bouncing nonstop. She tilted her head slightly and said, "Oops! Sorry, Twily! I got distracted a little by a cute little ladybug. Twilight sighed, spitting out fragments of her friend's hair, "Oh, it's alright. That wasn't the first time. And I'm pretty sure it won't be the last.

Pinkie squealed as Applejack popped in with a "Howdy!" and fell onto the pavement right beside the alicorn. The cowgirl mare just rolled her eyes. "Has anypony seen Rainbow? Ah've been expectin' her ta show up and show off her little tricks on flyin'," she asked. Both Pinkie and Twilight shook their heads. "No, I haven't seen Rainbow in a while, now. I hope she's okay," Twilight responded, followed by Pinkie, "Yeah, I dunno where she is, either. Now I'm hungry." Applejack and Twilight both stared at the pink party pony, who had just said "Bye." and bounced off towards Sugarcube Corner. "What are ya gonna do?" the orange mare said sarcastically.

The sun had begun to set, creating a fantastical array of warm colors in the sky. The duo gazed at the sight, realizing that it was getting dark, soon. "Ah'll see ya later, Twilight. I gotta get home. Ah'll be needin' to talk to Apple Bloom about that cotton-candy incident," Applejack announced, nodding her head in parting. Twilight said her farewell and walked off towards her castle. The orange mare trotted home as well, to a big, red farmhouse that was surrounded by a forest of apple trees. As soon as Applejack opened the door, a little yellow filly toppled over in the hallway in front of her. The filly was covered in white powder, presumably flour. She looked up at the cowgirl. "Heheh. Howdy, Applejack. Uh..," the red-maned mare said, getting back on her hooves, "Want some cake?" Applejack burrowed her eyebrows into a mean look and responded, "Apple Bloom...what did ya do this time?" "Well, uh, I was just tryin' to do somethin' nice for Scoots. So Ah thought Ah'd try to, uh, make her a surprise cake. Ah haven't seen her in a while." Apple Bloom crossed her front hoof nervously. "It's been two days!" Applejack snapped. She didn't know it, but something uncanny was taking place.

At the instant moment when Applejack snapped at her younger sister, Rainbow Dash slammed a tough, sturdy mallet against the Bill Cipher Statue, causing it to burst in fragmented pieces and scattering all over the place. She had taken it to the center of the clearing where she saw it for the first time. Tiny blue flames flickered near the pieces of granite, consuming them, and flickered out, making the stone vanish with it. She had done it. She held her side of the deal. She'd destroyed the statue. It's gone. She can finally be happy again, knowing that Scootaloo won't be having anymore nightmares, as well as the other Rainbow Dash from her encounter with Bill being well. As for Apple Bloom, things had gotten really out of hoof.

"Sorry," Apple Bloom said, shaking off the remaining flour, "Ah was just tryin'-" "Well it ain't workin', ya hear?" Applejack, usually one of the most laid-back of mares, managed to yell her temper into her own sister's bones, causing her to shiver. The orange mare continued, gradually getting more angry and more louder with each passing moment, "What ya don't understand is is that there's a time when ya just stop and be somepony normal! Somepony grown! And ya still haven't figured that out, yet? It's a wonder how y'all still got yer Cutie Marks! If anythin', y'all should've gotten a hit to the head, at best! Ya know what? Ah'm pretty sure you've managed to give a bad reputation to the Apple Family! To me. To Big Mac. To Granny. To all of us! Ya even broke Ma and Pa! And Ah'm definite that their hearts are broken, so congratulations! Ya managed to KILL OUR DEAD PARENTS!"

That was enough to penetrate Apple Bloom's little heart and shatter it to pieces. Kill our dead parents? The little yellow filly's eyes were glassy, tears flowing freely straight down her face and onto the floor, causing little globs of wet flour to appear. Her mouth shook as she tried to spit out the words. No avail. Her legs shook as she stepped back from her ex-sister. From that thing. She paused for a moment, staring at the monster that used to be her big sis, before turning around and bolted upstairs towards her room, crying sharply and loudly, as if everyone in Ponyville had died. Applejack stood there, motionless. Her heaving, hard and tired. Her mind was completely blank, oblivious to resentment, remorse, and regret. The cowgirl shut the door behind her with a loud BAM as she walked over towards the living room, sat down in a rocking chair, pulled her hat down, covering her face with it, and fell asleep. It wasn't long before the faint, yet audible sobs and wailing of her sister was shrouded by something more sinister.

Something laughed in the night.

Chapter 8: The Princess And The Demon

Twilight plopped onto her bed inside her royal bedroom, falling asleep almost instantly. Again. This time, downstairs, Spike had made a batch of nice, warm cookies, just for his snacking. Although he was most known for eating a large mine of diamonds and jewels, the purple dragon wasn't at all unfamiliar with sweets. He had intended for them to be for his caretaker, but then he realized that she wouldn't be in the mood for them. He grabbed a couple of the soft, chocolate chip-coated baked goodies and gobbled them down without a second to think. Upstairs, the Princess of Friendship was already asleep, her mouth open as a line of saliva started to appear onto her pillow. Her occasional snores, faint and cute. Blankets strewn over her shoulder, revealing no more than her head and her hooves. A couple of hours ticked away before a loud SLAM awoke the deep-sleeping Twilight. She was in the middle of a wondrous scene where nothing seemed out of place. When the noise was created, that wondrous world broke away in the mere second. She readied to scream at what she thought was Spike, but as she sat up and turned around, no words came out. No voice. No thought. No reaction. Just blankness. Blankness like the white space that surrounded her.

She awoke from a dream, only to be in another.

When the purple mare was able to calm herself down a little, she looked all around, gathering more and more questions. "What?" she finally said, getting up from her bed. The ground was still there, giving Twilight the feeling that there was only marble beneath her hooves. It was cold. She turned around to glance at the bed she came from, but it too was gone. Just white, empty space. It wasn't long before the emptiness began to fill with a wicked laughter. A laugh only Twilight could determine it as a crazed lunatic, ready to pounce as soon as the thing caught sight of somepony. Twilight shivered at the thought, only to be more frightened by another thought. I'm the only pony here. The alicorn princess tried her best to shake the scary thoughts from her head, but the laughter was gaining volume. Her heart pounded. Why? The purple mare stepped back into a cold, marble wall. Everything was cold. Soon enough, she instinctively shut her eyes, for a great, big wave of yellow light shone from the center of the room, enveloping her purple-furred body completely. Everything, even herself, was now a golden, monochromatic color.

As the light quickly appeared, it too quickly faded back to the blank, marble room. Twilight, now a shivering ball of violet fluff, peeked out. The only pony that was in the room now was her, but the only thing was a floating, yellow triangle. Black, shadowy arms and legs protruded from the base. Its lower half, a brick-like pattern, adorned with an equally shadowy bow tie. A top hat floated in unison with the entity. But the most predominant detail was its big, single eye that gave an empty glare. Twilight, being taught how to feel for magic, felt sick. This was no ordinary magic. It felt more twisted than even the darkest magic she had ever encountered. This magic was newer, stronger, and more unpredictable. The golden entity floated towards the princess, who in turn began to rise. The thing stuck out his hand, its body glowing as it said a syllable and fading back as quickly, "How's it goin', Twily? Name's Bill!"

Rarity had sneaked out of her own Carousel Boutique to go see her alicorn friend. She had been enduring insomnia for the last two nights, making her ever-so groggy and unfocused. She thought that Twilight could help her get over it, mostly by the use of a magic spell to lull her to her needed slumber. Rarity paced around a bit, thinking about which pony should help: either Twilight or Zecora. She shook her head and decided Twilight was the better choice. Zecora was a nice zebra, but she found her a little...messy. She had just taken a nice, warm bath over two hours ago, and she was not going to ruin her velvet-to-the-touch alabaster coat. She had reached Twilight's Castle, a crystal tree that resembles her old home that her purple friend once lived in-The Golden Oaks Library, a giant oak tree adorned with windows, curtains, and even a telescope. Now she resides in this magnificent crystal sculpture fit for a princess like Twilight.

She sat in front of the front door of the castle, reminiscing on the old memories that she had been in with Twilight and her old home. There was the time where she, Twilight, and Applejack had a slumber party, along with a tree branch that broke through the window. There was the time where she, along the rest, found out that they had a serious disease caused by the Poison Joke flowers (which was another reason why she didn't go to Zecora's). There was also the time where she had first met Twilight along with all her other friends-at a party Pinkie Pie had thrown. All those memories seemed to her as if it was yesterday. And yet, it had been years. The white mare sighed. She missed those days. Many times she had wished that she could go back in time and actually helped Twilight with defeating Tyrek, saving the library. Rarity knew that she wasn't the only one who missed those golden days. All of her friends wanted the same thing. Even Twilight.

Twilight, out of all ponies Rarity knew, wanted her old life the most. She thought it was weird when the alicorn had first told her in private. The white mare remembered that it was when Pinkie, Fluttershy, and a new friend, Saffron Masala, had just left. Twilight had sat down at the edge of her bed, a depressed look spread across her face. Rarity had stood back to have a little girl talk with only Twilight. But when she found her purple friend looking like that, she had to comfort her, since Fluttershy wasn't around. She walked up to the bed, sat down beside her, and tried to cheer her up. "Is everything alright, darling?" she had asked. Twilight stared out the bedroom window and sighed, "Yeah. I-I'll be fine. Don't worry." Rarity kept on, "But deary, you look so sad. Was it us? Did we somehow-" "No, no. No, you guys didn't do anything wrong," Twilight reassured her, "But, I'm just...I'm okay." The alabaster mare wrapped a hoof around her friend's back, "It's alright, Twilight. Just tell me." What came next had caught her off guard at that moment.

As she gently rubbed her friend's back, Twilight's eyes flooded with tears. She started to hiccup. Then she cried. Softly at first, but then it grew louder. The alicorn finally collapsed onto Rarity's lap, turning into a ball of sobbing purple fur. Rarity tried the best she could to try and calm her down. "Shh. It's okay, darling. It's alright. You're okay, now. Shh," Rarity said soothingly, gently rubbing Twilight's back as she wailed. After five minutes of nothing but Rarity's gentle words and Twilight's tears and wails, she finally recollected herself. The purple mare rose from her friend's lap, trying her best to try and keep anymore tears from cascading down her face. "I'm...I...I'm s-sorry. I-I...I'm sorry," she hiccuped, wiping her eyes with her hooves, "I...I'm h...I'm home...I..." Rarity tried to soothe her, "Calm down, darling. It's okay." Twilight sputtered again, "I...I'm homesick. I-I miss m-m-my old home. I..I...I miss m-my old friends. M-my mom...d-dad...I..."

Rarity stroke her back again, "I understand. I understand completely. We all get homesick sometimes. It's just that, you know, sometimes we've just have to accept that life goes on. Change happens, darling. We just have to, in Rainbow's words, deal with it. Am I saying that you should forget the old days? No. What I'm saying is that we have to move on at some point. And like I said before, I understand. It's going to be alright, deary. It's okay." Twilight slowed down to only a couple of sniffles, calmed by her perfect choice of both words and understanding, "T-thank you, Rarity. I-I needed that. I...I just...I just want to be able to go back and live life like how I was able to when I was with them, you know? I just wish..." Twilight laid herself down, "...I just wish that, that I had my life back." She began to fall asleep as Rarity pulled her comforter over her. "I...wish..." Twilight fell asleep. The white mare smiled. She took a pillow from the head of the bed and placed it under her friend. Then she got up and turned off all of the lights, went back into Twilight's bedroom, and slept right next to her. That was last week.

"What do you want from me? What?" Twilight shouted, keeping her footing on the blank marble. "Whoa, just relax a bit, won't ya? I'm just tryin' to talk," Bill explained. He hovered near her, wrapping his arm around her neck, "Listen, Twily, I'm not what you think I am. I'm no monster that just so happened to drop by and ruin your night. I'm more of a business person, if you will. I've been here a long time." Twilight stepped back, shaking off his arm. "Listen, kid, I just wanna have a good relationship with ya. How's about you let me strike one up?" "Strike what up?" Twilight asked. Bill chuckled, floating higher, "Duh. A deal! How's about you let me strike a deal with ya?" The purple mare became confused at the idea. A deal? What could he possibly want? What could she possibly want? "In return for a little favor I can grant you your wish!" the yellow triangle announced. "What? What wish?" she asked him. Bill hovered down again, "Well, approximately 8 days, 16 hours, 45 minutes and 21 seconds ago you made a wish stating that you wanted to live life the way you wanted to. You want your old life back. Well I'm just the guy you can count on!" Bill's eye had faded to black and his pupil turned into a flash of green numbers as he said "count on". Fading back to normal, he spoke again. "So, do we-"

"NO!" Twilight shouted, using her own Canterlot Voice that she didn't even know she had. Bill Cipher himself was taken aback by surprise. "Whooaa there, pardner, you don't need to be that loud and clear." He floated towards her again, "Ok, so what do yo want? A new puppy? A new castle? How about a lifetime supply of ice cream? Or all three? Just name it and I can get it!" "How did you even know what I said?" Twilight questioned, a stern look spread across her face. "Eh. I'm a know-it-all!" Bill laughed. Twilight, now both scared and pestered, felt her heart pounding. She thought about what she really wanted, besides making him disappear. She knew that would never work. She thought for some time before she came up with her end of the deal. "Alright," she finally spoke, "I'll do your one request if you can give me what I want." Bill rubbed his hands together, "Alright! Now we're talkin'! And just what would this be?" The alicorn responded, "What I want is to have Equestia under harmony-where no other creature can harm any other!" She thought that that would drive him insane, causing him to forget it, leaving her, and other ponies, alone. "Heh. Okay. Done. Just find me a suitable puppet, and it's a DEAL!" Bill responded as he took her hoof in his blue-flaming hand and snapped his fingers, causing the room to flash to white, then just as quickly causing Twilight to wake up, completely shocked. Oh sweet Celestia...what just happened? she thought, never believing that she should go back to sleep. Again.