Beating Heart

Hazy. Ponyville classroom. Whats going on? You hear Ms. Cheerilee's corpse being torn into. The heavy stench of blood grips the air. You dare take a peak, pretending to be asleep.

The rest of class is sound asleep, a demon standing over Cheerilee with bony protrusions erupting from its chest and jaw, smoke erupting from itself like its made out of a pile of burnt brush, and a glowing red tumor throbbing within its chest, its appearance canine-like. Cheerilee doesn't seem to be in pain, the monstrosity must have her under a spell. I sweat cold and shiver. Adrenaline. Why am I not asleep? Grandma's good luck charm? I look down, and its glowing silver, instead of its usual pink.

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A book closes.

"Grandma, why do you only read me monster hunting stories before bed? Don't you know that makes it harder to sleep?" Sweetie asks from under the covers.

Her grandmother smiles. "Sweetie, I am sure I have told you before why it is."

"Because the world is a cruel place. Monsters curses and disasters from ancient times come back to haunt us regularly. Its better to prepare you, than to lose you."

"Oh, grandma." Sweetie sighs. "Now I am never going to fall asleep." She mumbled, as she pulled her blanket over her head.

Grandma chuckles some, and you hear a chain unfurling. "I think I have a little something that can protect you as you rest your little head."

Sweetie flops over the blanket cover, then sees a beautiful pendant with a strange symbol atop it faintly glowing. "This used to be mine when I was a young filly. Now its yours." She put the necklace over my head. I sat open mouthed momentarily.

"Grandma, whats it do?" She leans over and gives me a kiss on my forehead and I feel better, and just notice the symbol is glowing brighter when around my neck.

"It keeps your soul safe from harm, and lets you knock some sense into some of those meanie monsters."

"Even the ones made of smoke and shadow?" I said with some hope, eagerness, and awe.

"Heh heh, especially those ones." She tickles me and I giggle, briefly. "Goodnight Sweetie Belle."

"Goodnight grandma." I hug closing my eyes and nuzzle some, she boops me then we giggle. She gets up, and closes the door.

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Grimacing, I clutch the chain around my neck and offer a prayer to Luna to keep me safe. Suddenly my vision goes dark. I just see the monster. The vile repulsive thing, its so disgusting I don't even want it near me or my loved ones! My soul rejects it with every ounce. I rip off the pendant the monster startles. How it scuffles about would've reminded me of an excited dog about to go for a walk, but this thing is pure despicable. It just ticks me off. The room turns blood red in an instant, and I leap onto it. Without even thinking, as if its a reflex, I stomp it in the face with my forehoof and my pendant repeatedly. It struggles to get away, it whimpers, I slam it down onto a desk breaking it and pummel it from above with all my might. It tries biting at me, it breaks a mangled tooth. I wallop it. It gnarls and mashes its teeth at me. I cripple its jaw. It shivers and wimpers in pain. I keep the blows raining down like a furious judgment being channeled through me. Each time I hit it so hard my eyes nearly bulge in their sockets effecting my vision. It tries to escape, scarlet blood cascading from its mouth, earning it a fractured splintered jaw. I don't even feel some of its teeth lodged into my hoof.

The desks quake with each stomp of my hoof. Blood splatters. Its unconscious. Thump. Thump. Whack. Its upper jack cracks down the middle. It breaks off. Its eyebrow swells. Its so pitiful, disgusting, and wretched, its the most worthless thing alive. The blood pools and quakes more with each smash. Its skin tears clean from its face, showing the white of its skull momentarily before becoming covered in blood. I want it to be crushed and gone with. I pull open its chest showering myself in foul stench. I rip apart some of the ribs and smash others. My hoof nail shatters. I try decapitating it forcefully at the wedge in my nail. A force pulls me away.

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"Sweetie!!!! Can you hear me!!! STOOOOP!!!" Twilight cries out, her telekinesis barely holding back Sweetie Belle from the pile of mashed flesh and bone. Sweetie breaks free to deliver one final blow, shattering its skull, then all the blood instantly dried up, a deep deep black and the bone and flesh burn away to ash. Twilight cries, extremely shocked from losing a pony to a demon, and one seemingly to madness. She stops swinging, that ominous red glow stops. All that's left of the corpse is repugnant lingering miscolored ash.

"Sweetie... We need to get you help.." Twilight cries and quickly pulls her away from the room. Sweetie's new cutie mark is a cross piercing a heart, and her coat is pitch black, but fading back to normal. The heart changed on her mark tho. I thought I saw it beating? The students are starting to wake up, I can't let them see Cheerilee like this! She teleports them all out rapidly, one after the other based on the order of them waking up, and teleports herself and Sweetie Belle to Ponyville central hospital.

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Cheerilee's funeral is in procession.

Sweetie calmly looks down at her cast while magically playing with her pendant and wishes her Grandmother were here to help her make sense of things.

She got interviewed by psychologists, and doesn't seem to be entering a normal stage of loss like the rest of the students. Her friends were in awe and jealous of her cutie mark, but somehow she feels more distant. Sort of numb I suppose. They and Rarity did write get well soon and the like on the cast tho.

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"Sweetie Belle."

Sweetie looks around. Its another one of these dreams. The fog, its at night, dead giveaway.

"You will become my vessel." Rapid nauseating flashes of imagery flow through Sweetie's mind. Winona, cursed, deforming. Ponies forced asleep through the realm of dreams. Darkness coming to life. Nightmare Moon. No agony, only hatred. Only disgust.

"Everything is beneath us. Lets collect more sacrifices. Cheerilee was a necessary sacrifice as well as Winona. One takes up your time far too much. The other would smell trouble and alert all of Ponyville from a distance." Images continue flashing through her mind.

"You don't even have to worry about the pain or struggle. I will possess you every time." Sweetie struggles to wake up.

"The nightmare shall rise again."

Sweetie sits up gasping for air in her bed, shivering. Her blankets soaked in cold sweat and vomit containing flower petal mush. Not the worst smell to wake up to. But she doesn't understand exactly whats going on, and doesn't remember all of her dream. But that monster today proves she should give into Nightmare Moon. For the good of Equestria!