Night of Nightmares
Twilight looked out from the balcony at the night sky. This was her second Nightmare Night in Ponyville, and it was incredibly boring. Twilight thought, Ugh. Why did I get stuck doing my research paper tonight of all nights? Rarity is probably out tonight. She found her thoughts turning towards Rarity again. Twilight sighed, she had been thinking of Rarity like this for a few weeks. Why do I keep thinking about her? I mean... we’re friends but this doesn’t seem normal. Rarity would know what is going on, but what if she asks who I’m thinking about? I can’t ask her. I know! I’ll write Princess Celestia, hopefully she can explain what is going on.
Sighing, she turned and walked back inside. Her desk was covered in books and sheets of parchment. She picked up a quill, dipped it in ink, and wrote a short letter to the Princess.
Dear Princess Celestia,
I do not have anything to report yet, but I have a few questions about something I have found about friendship. I’m not sure how to explain this but I have been thinking a lot about my friend Rarity lately, more so than any of my other friends. I assume this is normal, but these thoughts keep happening when I am trying to work. For example, I have been working on my research paper, but my attempts at writing it are constantly interrupted by these thoughts. I am at a loss to explain this and was hoping you could.
Your Faithful Student,
Twilight Sparkle
Twilight sent the letter by teleportation seeing as Spike was out at the Nightmare Night Festival. Glaring at the books, Twilight tried to get some work done while she waited for a response. Twilight sat there, staring blankly at a book on medieval pony philosophy, unable to get any of the words to make sense. Fortunately, it didn’t take long for Celestia to reply. The scroll appeared above her and floated down to her desk. Thankful for the reprieve from the monotony, Twilight opened the letter immediately.
Twilight Sparkle my faithful student,
I understand your problem. However, this is not something I can help you with. I suggest you spend some more time with Rarity. You’ll understand soon enough.
Princess Celestia
Twilight threw up her hooves in frustration. Really? This is the least helpful letter ever! Twilight slammed the letter down on her desk, knocking several books onto the floor. Calm down, maybe she knows more than she’s telling me. I just have to trust her. Twilight forced herself back to her studies, dreading the monotony of philosophy. The paper wasn’t due, but she had decided to finish it in a week. So far, she had accomplished nothing.
“I give up,” Twilight moaned, slamming her face into the large tome. “I’ve been working on this for three days already, and I have nothing done!” She lay there, head in a book, hoping the paper would write itself.
A sudden knock at the door tore Twilight from her desk. She trotted downstairs and grabbed the bowl of candy. Expecting a chorus of “Nightmare Night,” she opened the door, and was surprised to find an exhausted Rarity.
“Rarity, where’s your costume?” Twilight asked, concerned over the ragged appearance of her normally tidy friend.
“Twilight, Sweetie Belle is missing,” Rarity panted.
“What?” Twilight was taken aback.
“Sweetie Belle is missing. She was out with Scootaloo and got lost in the Everfree Forest,” Rarity moaned.
“Why was she in there?”
“I don’t know! Scootaloo only told me that she went there on some sort of dare. I just hope she’s okay,” Rarity said, pawing the ground. “I-I need your help, I can’t go in there by myself.”
Twilight nuzzled Rarity reassuringly. “Of course I’ll help. We’ll find her, don’t worry. Come inside and tell me exactly what Scootaloo said.”
“Thank you Twilight, I-I don’t know what I’d do without you.” Twilight opened the door farther to let Rarity in. She walked inside and collapsed on a bench. “I-I just... how could I let this happen? She’s my little sister! I should watch after her better, for Celestia’s sake!” Rarity wailed.
Twilight reached out a hoof nervously to comfort the crying unicorn. “Come on Rarity, I’m sure she’s fine and she’ll be glad to see you when we find her.”
“It’s no use,” Rarity sobbed, “Scootaloo didn’t even remember where she went into the forest.”
“Stop that. There’s nothing to be upset about, we’ll find Sweetie Belle and bring her back safe and sound,” Twilight said, stomping her hoof.
“I-I guess, where do we start though?”
“Well, there is that old path into the forest. Remember the one we took on our way to the old castle? I bet that’s where they were.” Twilight sauntered out of the library with Rarity following her.
The two unicorns took off at a slow gallop towards the forest. Twilight nearly trampled several ponies on the way; she was distracted by her thoughts. She tried thinking about how to find Sweetie Belle, but her thoughts kept returning to what Princess Celestia had written her. The forest seemed to loom over them as they drew nearer. They came to a stop just outside the trees.
“It looks... darker than last time,” Twilight muttered.
Rarity was shaking nervously, “It’s always like this on Nightmare Night. Nopony goes in there, well, nopony in their right mind. Something about this night... it just brings out all the evil things in that forest.” Rarity’s legs buckled under her, only to have Twilight catch her.
Blushing Twilight said, “It’s okay Rarity. We can do this, together.” Twilight made sure Rarity could stand before taking a few steps into the forest and looking back at Rarity. “See? It’s fine, now lets go find Sweetie Belle.”
Rarity walked forward to join Twilight. “Where do we start?” she asked.
Looking around, Twilight could see no clues to the filly’s location. “Hopefully she stayed close to the path. I think we should stay close to the path and hope.”
Rarity nodded her agreement and they strode deeper into the forest. As they traveled deeper into the forest, it seemed to close in around them. The trees were leaning farther over the path than before, almost grabbing at the pair of ponies. Twilight’s thoughts wandered as they walked through the forest in silence. No matter how hard she tried to stay vigilant and look for any sign of the white filly, her thoughts always turned back to her friend walking next to her. Even now she carries herself with such, Twilight paused, searching for the right word, grace. Why am I thinking about her like this? It doesn’t make sense! I mean, we are looking for her sister, in the middle of a forest, on the most dangerous night of the year. Why am I having these thoughts?! Maybe-
“Twilight,” Rarity said, interrupting Twilight’s thoughts. “I think we should split up and look off the path. We haven’t seen any sign of her.”
“Rarity, it’s Nightmare Night. If we split up, who knows what we’ll run into,” Twilight said, putting on a brave face even though her voice was wavering with fear.
“I-I guess you’re right. Which way should we look though? She could be anywhere,” Rarity said, depressed.
“Rarity, cheer up. We’ll find her, I just know it.” Twilight looked around; she had lost track of where they were while engrossed in her thoughts. Spying a bush that looked like it had been munched on recently, Twilight declared, “I think she went this way,” she declared as she followed the path left by whoever-- or whatever went that way.
“What happened to not splitting up?” Rarity muttered as Twilight left her behind. “Wait for me!” Sighing, she followed after Twilight. As they trudged through the undergrowth, Rarity pushed the bushes aside. Noticing spiderwebs behind the bushes, Rarity muttered, “I hate spiders.” Walking closer to Twilight she said, “Twilight, darling, I think we should turn back. I-I don’t think she came this way.”
“Don’t be silly Rarity; I’m sure it was Sweetie Belle. Who else could it be?” Twilight replied.
“It’s not who I’m worried about, who knows what’s in there,” Rarity warned. Still, she didn’t dare to go off on her own. Picking up the pace, Rarity caught up and walked next to Twilight. They followed a trail of broken bushes through the forest in silence. Twilight was trying to figure out what Princess Celestia had meant, while Rarity was trying not to break down in tears. Twilight had stopped, but Rarity walked on, almost not noticing that she had stopped. “Twilight, darling, what is it?”
“Rarity,” Twilight paused, “Have... have you ever caught yourself thinking about somepony, more than you probably should?”
“Twilight, what do you mean?” Rarity gave her a puzzled look.
“Oh, it’s nothing, really. I’ve just been unable to stop myself from thinking about this one pony... and well, I’m not sure why,” Twilight said, looking at the ground.
“Well, I can’t say I know what you’re talking about, but it sounds like you’re in love,” Rarity leaned in and nuzzled her, comforting the nervous unicorn. “Who’s the lucky stallion?” she teased.
“I-It’s not a stallion, it’s,”Twilight took a deep breath. Twilight mumbled something incoherently.
“What was that darling?” Rarity insisted.
“Look, it isn’t important right now, what we need to do is find Sweetie Belle,” Twilight huffed and pushed past Rarity. She tried to follow the path that the bushes made, but was stopped when Rarity grabbed her leg.
“Twilight, who is it,” Rarity insisted, holding her in place.
“I-I don’t want to talk about it,” Twilight muttered.
“If you don’t tell me how can I help,” Rarity said, hugging Twilight. “Look, why don’t you tell me while we walk?” After she released Twilight, they started walking again.
“Fine, since you insist, it’s you Rarity.” Twilight threw her hooves up in defeat. “I can’t stop thinking about you.” Rarity’s face widened to a look of shock, but she didn’t say anything. The duo walked on, letting an uncomfortable silence develop around them. I shouldn’t have said anything, Twilight moped. What if she’s right? What if I do love her? She’s spent all this time looking for the perfect prince, and here I am... just a little egghead.
After what seemed like hours of walking, they came to a large clearing. At first nothing seemed off to the two unicorns, but it didn’t take long for their eyes to be drawn to what lay in the center of the clearing. They couldn’t make out much; it was covered in shadows. However, they could see blood pooling around whatever hurt animal lay there. Rarity started galloping towards the bleeding mass, her mind jumping to the worst possible conclusion. “No, just no. It can’t be her! It just can’t!”
“Rarity wait! We don’t know what it is,” Twilight called, but Rarity ignored her.
Approaching the body, Rarity slowed to a trot. She could barely make out who it was, but it was a pony. She stared in horror at the sight before her. Sweetie Belle’s normally white coat was dyed a dark red and was matted with sticks and leaves. Her purple and pink mane was disheveled and covered in dried blood. Her eyes were what stopped Rarity dead in her tracks. The filly’s green eyes stared straight at her. Those horrified, dead eyes bored into Rarity holding her motionless. “No... no... it-it just can’t be. Nooo!” Rarity screamed, as she fell to the ground, sobbing uncontrollably.
Twilight lay down next to her and tried to comfort the crying unicorn, but Rarity recoiled every time Twilight tried to touch her. Still, Twilight managed to get a hoof on Rarity’s shoulder. “I-I’m so sorry,” she sobbed. “I-if only we’d gotten here sooner.” Twilight could barely keep herself together. No, I-I’ve got to be strong, for Rarity, Twilight thought.
Picking herself up, Twilight made her way to the body. Twilight closed her eyes, barely holding back tears but she had to do this. Opening her eyes, she closed Sweetie Belle’s eyes and slowly started cleaning the filly’s coat and mane of sticks as best she could. Some gave her difficulty, but she managed to get them all out cleanly.
“Rarity,” she called. “We should get her back to Ponyville, at least she can rest in peace there.” When Rarity didn’t respond, Twilight walked over and picked her up. “Rarity,” she scolded. “You have to be strong. We have to get her back to Ponyville, or Celestia knows what will happen to her here.”
“I-I guess you’re right,” Rarity said through sobs. As Twilight set her down she walked over to her sister’s body and nuzzled the cold filly. “I-I’m so sorry,” she whispered, “I... I shouldn’t have lost you.” After sliding the body onto her back, she turned back to Twilight with tears streaming down her face. “Let’s go... I don’t want to be in this damned forest ever again.”
Rarity turned back to where they entered the clearing, but the path was blocked by a giant spider web. Looking up she could see a giant spider stringing its web between the trees. It slowly lowered itself to the ground. They stared in horror at the spider as it descended. It was at least twice the height of a normal pony with pitch black pincers that could easily snap a pony in half. Taking a step back, Rarity hid behind Twilight.
Twilight stepped forward. “What do you want?” she asked, giving her voice as much authority as possible.
“Foood,” the creature hissed. It darted towards Rarity, but was thrown off balance by a magical blast from Twilight, sending it flying out of the clearing.
“Rarity, go. I can handle this,” Twilight said, taking a defensive stance. I-I can’t have you involved in this. Not after everything that’s happened tonight.
“No,” Rarity said defiantly, “I’m not leaving you behind.”
“Rarity, you aren’t trained in-”
“I don’t care Twilight, I’m not losing anypony else to this... this... monster,” Rarity said, stomping her hoof with authority. “Now, while that thing is distracted, let’s get out of here.”
Shoving aside the web, they galloped down the same path that had led them there. Soon the could hear the spider crashing through the forest behind them. Picking up their pace, it didn’t take long for them to see the end of the trail. The crashing behind them grew louder. Chancing a glance over her shoulder, Twilight saw the spider closing in on them. Once they neared the end of the trail, the spider lunged at Rarity, clipping her flank with it’s jaws and ripping open a long gash along her flank. Rarity was thrown forward onto the path.
Twilight turned to face the spider, her eyes glowing with fury. “Go back to your web,” she hissed as she launched a fireball at it. The spider nearly dodged the blast, but the force of it blew it back into the forest. Using the moment of safety, Twilight looked over Rarity. Oh Celestia, how do I fix this, Twilight thought frantically.
“Rarity, can you hear me?” she asked the unconscious mare. Nonono, this can’t be happening. I have to get her somewhere safe. With a flash of her horn she teleported them to the first place she could think of: the old castle ruins.
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Rarity awoke to find herself lying on the stone floor. Where am I? I must have been knocked out by that wretch of a spider! What happened to Twilight then?! Rarity jumped up, looking around for the purple unicorn, and felt a tearing in her flank. She cried out in pain and collapsed back onto the floor. Before long for she heard a pony walking up the stairs.
“Rarity, are you okay?” A worried Twilight burst into the room.
Rarity smiled weakly. “Yes, I just stood up a little fast.”
“You need to rest. I did my best, but I’ve not done anything like this before,” Twilight explained as she lay down next to Rarity.
Rarity gave Twilight a puzzled look and asked, “What exactly did you do?”
“Well, I teleported us here and assessed your injury. I would’ve taken us to Ponyville, but I didn’t know if I had enough energy,” Twilight confessed. “I don’t know what kind of spider that was, but its bite left some nasty venom in the wound. It took a while but I had to draw all of it out. It wasn’t difficult to heal from there, I just had to clean up the blood and bandage it.” Twilight fidgeted with her hooves.
“T-thank you. Wh-what happened to Sweetie Belle?” Rarity trembled as she remembered she had been carrying her dead sister’s body.
“I made a little box out of some spare wood.” Twilight pointed a hoof across the room to a small, wooden box. “It isn’t the best coffin, but it’s better than nothing until we get back to Ponyville.”
“Thanks.” Rarity sighed and looked at the purple mare lying next to her, barely holding back more tears. Twilight was obviously tired; her eyes were drooping, the bags under her eyes were twice as big as normal, and she could barely move around. “Twilight, how long was I asleep?” Rarity asked, concerned.
“Oh, just a few hours,” Twilight replied sleepily. “It’s fine, I’m used to late nights.” Twilight laid her head down, using her hooves for pillows.
Rarity decided to let the exhausted unicorn rest. You’ve done so much. I really should’ve seen it earlier. Twilight Sparkle, you love me. Rarity giggled with amusement at the thought. All this time I spent looking for the perfect prince, and the pony who falls for me is a mare.
“Twilight, I can’t say I love you, but I will give it a chance,” Rarity said to herself.
