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It was a dark and stormy night. Actually, no. The sky was recently cleared by the local pegasi and the sun was just beginning to set. A group of four ponies, along with one baby dragon, was gathered in the Castle of Friendship. They were all getting ready to head off to Sugarcube Corner for Pinkie's Nightmare Night party. Among them were Rarity, who was dressed in what looked like a pony-sized black cat costume; Applejack, who was following her costume trend of The Wizard of Oz by wearing a Tin Pony costume; Rainbow Dash, who was wearing the pith hat and green shirt that her friend A.K. Yearling had lent her; Twilight, who's Clover the Clever costume consisted of a hood and cape made out of burlap; and, lastly, Spike, who was currently peppering Twilight with questions.
"Spike, I'm sorry, but you can't go with us tonight. Your chores come first and it's not my fault that you neglected to do them," Twilight explained.
Spike sighed. He would've done his chores, but he had been in the middle of reading his new Power Ponies comic. In the midst of all that reading, he had lost track of time.
"Don't ya worry none, sugarcube. We'll be back in a few hours," Applejack assured him.
Even with the reassurance from Applejack, Spike was still down in the dumps. He had made himself a purple dog costume and now he wouldn't even be able to wear it.
Noticing Spike's sorrow, Rarity came up with an idea. "Spikey-Wikey?" Rarity called out to Spike using the nickname she called him by. "How would you like to wear your fabulous costume to my fashion show this weekend?" Spike's mood immediately shifted from sad to glad.
"Thank you, Rarity!" Spike said as he hugged her.
"Ugh, can we stop with all these warm fuzzies and get going? We're going to be late!" Rainbow Dash complained.
"Since when have you cared about tardiness?" Twilight asked.
"Since she found out that my family is bringin' cider," Applejack answered for the flustered Rainbow Dash.
They all chuckled and, after saying goodbye to Spike, they left, closing the door behind them.
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As soon as they left, Spike headed toward the kitchen to get the broom. When he got there, though, he noticed a piece of paper on the table next to a....a....chocolate gem cake?! Before he went and gorged himself with the dessert, he decided to use his manners and read the note first.
Spike picked it up and read it aloud:"Dear Spike, hi! It's me, Pinkie! Since I heard you couldn't come to the party, I decided to bake you a cake. How did I get it here? I took a shortcut! Anyway, enjoy your cake Spike!"
However, just as he was about to take his first bite, he heard a loud rumbling sound. He glanced down at his belly. It wasn't him that was making the noise. "Uh, h-hello? Is someone there?" Spike asked, getting no response. Cautiously he peeked his head out the kitchen door. Nothing. "Huh, it must just be my imagination," he assured himself before turning around. The cake was gone.
"B-but.....I...." Spike stuttered as he stood there mortified. There was no one else here but him, so the cake should have been there. He began breathing in struggled gasps.
"Spiiike.....," a whisper called out.
That was his breaking point. Spike screamed in terror as he made a mad-dash out of the kitchen and toward his room. He ignored the echoes and creaks of the dark and empty hallways. His body had to decide between fight or flight and, since he didn't know what it was he would have to fight, he chose flight. He just had to get to his room. He would be safe and cozy under his blankets.
Spike saw his room up ahead which gave him a brief moment of security. It didn't last long, though. The door immediately slammed in front of his face and locked itself. He tried barging through the door, jerking the knob, and even blowing fire on it. "Oh right, Twilight put a protection spell on all the doors," Spike reminded himself.
"Are you alright, Spike?" a voice to his left asked.
He jumped at the sudden voice and turned to see that it was Starlight.
"St-Starlight, w-where'd you come from? I thought you were at Pinkie's party," Spike asked, still a little shaken up.
"Didn't Twilight tell you? I decided to stay here because I didn't get any sleep last night. However, I didn't know I'd be dealing with a screaming dragon while I'm trying to catch some z's," she huffed.
"Oh...uh, sorry about that. I think I was hallucinating in the kitchen. My cake disappeared before I even got to eat it, I heard a loud rumbling sound, and.....," Spike shivered, "a whisper."
"Would you like to stay with me in my room tonight?" Starlight offered.
Spike nodded enthusiastically, but not before noticing the white glowing eyes in a dark room across the hall. They were just staring relentlessly. Just staring, staring, staring, staring........
"Spike!" Starlight shouted, breaking him out of his daze. The phantasm immediately disappeared. Spike looked up at her in confusion. "I'm concerned for you. First you come screaming through the halls after experiencing some hallucinations, then you just zone out while we were talking. I think we should take you to a therapist tomorrow."
"Y-yeah, that's probably a good idea," he stammered.
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The walk to Starlight's room was short, but that didn't make it any less terrifying for Spike. Along the way he would hear the occasional creak, feel cold air on his neck, and, every so often, see something out of the corner of his eye. It was unnerving, to say the least. However, they eventually reached the 'safety' of Starlight's room and went inside. However, seeing as there was only one bed, Starlight proposed a solution.
"Alright, you can sleep on my bed. I'll go get a blanket and pillow for myself so I can sleep on the floor," Starlight said.
"Wait! The monster is out there! And you're going to leave me here alone?" Spike asked worriedly.
"Relax, Spike. You said those were only hallucinations, right? I'll be fine and so will you," she reassured Spike. Spike wasn't so sure, though, of whether or not it was just his mind playing tricks on him. He was too tired from all of the trauma to think about it, so he went to sleep. That was until he heard a loud shriek that resounded from down the hallway. To be more specific, Starlight's shriek.
Spike, ignoring all his previous anxiety, rushed to help his friend. He darted out the door and ran towards the source of the screaming. He instantly regretted it. There, about 10 yards in front of him, was a creature of unspeakable horror. Its eyes were hollow sockets that glowed white. Its body was somewhat pony-like and its form was completely skeletal, yet those bones seemed to be made of shadows. Its mouth was a gaping chasm with 2 rows of viciously sharp fangs that were well past yellowing. Next to the monster was an unconscious Starlight. Whatever this thing was, it seemed to be powerful enough to stand up against the unicorn that overpowered Twilight.
Out of courage, or perhaps stupidity, Spike challenged the creature, "L-let her go o-or else I'll m-make you regret it."
The creature produced a hollow, menacing laugh and slowly started shambling toward Spike. As it inched close, its motion staggered, until it lurched at the baby dragon. Fearing for his life, Spike dodged out of the way of the creature and sprinted down the halls. He needed to get away from here. He had to find Twilight. Find the exit. Find help. Find...
*THUD*
The creature tackled him and opened it's large maw. That's it, he was done for. Its cold breath pierced his neck as it brought down it's jaws. He awaited his death but, suddenly........
"SPIKE!," a voiced yelled. It wasn't Starlight. It was Twilight. And the creature was gone. In fact, he wasn't in the same place anymore. He was on his bed in his room, while Twilight was shaking him awake with tears in her eyes. Noticing that Spike was awake, a big smile formed on her face as she gave him a hug. "Oh, thank Celestia you're ok! I was worried you had left me!"
"Huh? Left you?" Spike asked confused.
"I came back early from Pinkie's Party because I was worried about you. After Starlight explained what happened and told me you were in her room, I went to check up on you. When I found you, though, you weren't breathing," Twilight explained, holding back tears. Spike's heart sunk. He hadn't been breathing?!
Spike suddenly remembered something. "Where's Starlight?!" he asked worriedly.
"Oh, well, before I came to check up on you, I told her she could use my bed to get some shuteye," she explained. "Also, you really shouldn't have brought that cake up here and ate the whole thing in Starlight's room. Now I'm going to have to clean up the mess," Twilight jokingly sighed.
"Um...Twilight?"
"Yeah, Spike?"
"I didn't eat that cake or bring it here,"
"Are you sure? Starlight said she hadn't come back to this room since she went to get a blanket and a pillow," Twilight explained. Twilight saw Spike's glare, indicating he wasn't lying. "Wait, if neither you nor Starlight ate the cake, then who did?"
...
...
...
THE END?
Author's Note
Special Thanks to Night Striker for proofreading.
Background for cover image comes from moonwhisperderpy (Source:https://moonwhisperderpy.deviantart.com/art/Twilight-s-castle-background-458798935)
Spike vector comes from Powerpuncher (Source: https://powerpuncher.deviantart.com/art/Spike-Wait-a-minute-527086034)
