Mask of Moths

It was angry, furious, and under the rage was a new feeling; fear. It had never been scared before, making It even more frightened. It knew what fear was, that tight feeling in the chest, the difficulty breathing, dreading that the flame of life would be blown out, as if it had never been. It had seen fear in Its victims' eyes. The desperate flash of light before it vanished completely, never to be seen again. It had seen it, and even been amused by it, but now the tables were turned. Somepony knew  of Its existence. That somepony was offended by it. That somepony wanted to take that existence away, had for sometime apparently. If that pony were actually capable. . .

No. It wouldn't let that happen. It would leave, tonight. It hadn't researched a new place to settle, as it hadn't anticipated this turn of events; but It couldn't risk staying any longer.

The thing opened Its red, glowing eyes; Its decision made. It pushed Itself from the forest floor, stretching four skinny legs. It opened Its large, insect like wings, the veiny appendages shimmering in the moonlight. It took off, wings emitting a low hum. As it flew away, it hoped for luck.

***

“Applebloom, why in Celestias name are you so late? We were startin' to get worried about you!” Applejack chastised her little sister, who had just arrived home nearly an hour after she was supposed to. They were standing just outside the house in Sweet Apple Acres, Applejack standing in the doorway with Applebloom facing her from outside.

“Well, Miss Cheerilee made me stay late,” Applebloom mumbled. She stared at the ground, not wanting to meet her big sisters eye.

Applejack narrowed her eyes. “Why?”

Applebloom dug helplessly at the ground. “Well I. . . I. . .  I got into a fight with Sweetie Belle.”

“Ain't she one of your best friends? What were you fightin' about?”

What's the problem with asking just one question at a time? Applebloom thought, but didn't dare say. “Don't you and your friends ever disagree on somethin'?” Applebloom finally brought herself to look directly at her sister.

The corner of Applejacks mouth twitched into a brief smile. Of course she argued with her friends occasionally (perhaps a bit more than occasionally,) but this was about Applebloom, not her.

“Well, what did you do that was so bad that your teacher made you stay back an hour?”

Appleblooms gaze fell back down. “I uh. . . I called Sweetie Belle a erm. . . Bad thing.

Applejack sighed and rolled her eyes. “What did you say? Just spit it out, it'll be over faster.”

“I called her. . . I called her a. . . a. . .”

Applejack began seriously contemplating screaming “A what?” at the top of her lungs, but decided against it. Such an action would most likely cause Applebloom to start blabbering incomprehensibly about nothing. It would be best to just wait until she brought herself to speak.

Applebloom closed her eyes and took a deep breath. She looked back up at her sister, opening her mouth. Looking into her sisters eyes, she saw an emotion somewhere between anger, disappointment, and annoyance. Unable to hold her gaze for long, Applebloom squeezed her eyes shut once more. “I called her a Strix.” Applebloom said this very rapidly, making it sound more like “Icallederstrix!”

“Oh Applebloom. . ."

“Scootaloo said it first!” Applebloom protested.

“That don't make it right!”

“Well, what does it even mean? Why's it so bad?” Applebloom babbled, desperate for any excuse.

Applejack leaned forward, and tried to make her her expression look as understanding as possible. “It's a really really, really bad word for girl unicorns, and you gotta promise me that you're never gonna use it again alright? You promise?”

“Yeah,” Applebloom muttered.

“Whassat?”

“Yes, I promise I'll never say Str- That word, again.”

“Good. And tomorrow, what are you gonna do?”

“Say sorry to Sweetie Belle.”

“Alright.” Applejack smiled. “Now come on in, before I talk both your ears off.”

***

It couldn't believe Its luck. Just two nights of flying, and already it had encountered another town, just on the other side of the forest.

It landed soundlessly at the towns edge. All was quiet, the air was cool and still. All of the windows were dark. Far above, the stars shone down on It the only light to be had that night, as it was the new moon.

It walked slowly around the perimeter of the town, taking in all the information it could. There were no streetlights. That would make it much harder for It to be discovered. It was having difficulty telling industrial buildings from residences, but that would just be a minor inconvenience. It reached a sign. It read it with as much ease as a normal pony would have during the day.

WELCOME TO PONYVILLE

WE HOPE YOU ENJOY YOUR STAY

Oh, I will, It thought nefariously.

It continued on Its way around Ponyville until it came to a particularly large building. It stopped and stared at it, fascinated by its size. It doubted it was a store, as the shape was an impractical build for a shop. It wondered how any family, no matter how large would need that much space to live. The thing Itself didn't need a home, but it understood that some creatures preferred a roof and four walls to hide from the elements and keep their things. It believed that trees were sufficient shelter, and that such attachment to objects was petty behavior, but It didn't understand that much about ponies, and didn't need to. When had it ever effected It? But this, this mansion was overdoing it.

As it marveled at the colossal shelter, it took notice of an open window. It started towards it, hopes raised, but stopped. It had been flying for two nights, and walking during the day. It had already been going longer than that without eating. It couldn't indulge Its hunger though, It needed to do some research on this “Ponyville,” and avoid any unnecessary risks. The last thing It needed was another mishap like the last town. The open window seemed to be taunting It. There would be none of the usual problems with this window. No unlocking, no opening it soundlessly, it was already open. There would be much less risk of waking anyone inside.

It tried to walk away, but couldn't resist in the end. It flew to the window and peeked in. Inside was a young filly in an incredibly spacious room sleeping in a bed large enough for two fully grown ponies. The thing smiled, still not able to belive its luck, and slid soundlessly into the mansion.

***

Twilight and her friends walked at a steady pace through the Everfree forest. To Twilights right Fluttershy and Applejack were walking. To her left, Pinkie Pie and Rarity. Rainbow Dash was flying just a few feet above them. It would have been pitch black, were it not for Twilight. Her horn shone brightly, lighting the way. Unfortunately, no matter how bright Twilights illumination spell was it still couldn't change the thickness of the forest. The trees wee so close together that they could barely see five feet in front of them.

Twilight knew they were looking for something, but she didn't know what. She figured she'd find out when it was found. It didn't occur to her to ask her friends.

The longer they walked, the more sure Twilight became that she was lost. She looked around at her friends. When she looked to her left, she saw that someone, or something had joined them. It looked like one of the mannequins from Raritys store. It was tall, slender, had no fur and was white as a sheet of paper. Most disturbing was its lack of a face. It couldn't have been one of the mannequins, it was walking for Celestias sake. Maybe Rarity had enchanted it and brought it with her? No, it hadn't been with them when they had entered, Twilight was sure of that. Twilight also doubted that Rarity could cast such a perfect animation spell.

Twilight looked around her once more. None of her friends seemed concerned about the mannequin, or to even notice it. Maybe only she could see it. Could she be going insane? She decided that in any case, it would be best to keep her mouth shut.

Not long after she had noticed the newcomer, she finally admitted to herself that she was hopelessly lost. There was no way she was going to find the way home without help. She turned to ask Fluttershy, but the yellow pegasus was gone, along with Applejack. Anxiety began to build in Twilights chest. She looked to her left, and saw that Rarity and Pinkie Pie had vanished as well. It was just her, Rainbow Dash and the mannequin; who was now completely covered in moths.

She kept on walking, unable to stop; staring at the mannequin until the moths took off, all except the ones on his face (or the blank front of his head.) They all flew towards Rainbow Dash, and had soon enveloped her. There was a surreal, echoed scream and the moths dispersed, Rainbow Dash now nowhere to be seen.

What happened? Twilight thought frantically. Did they just eat her? Bones and all?

The mannequin turned to face her, the moths that were left crawling restlessly over its blank head. Twilight just stared, mortified. She wanted to run but her hoofs seemed to be rooted to the ground.

The last of the moths flew from the mannequins face, only now it was a colossal housefly. It flapped it's great wings, producing an ear shatteringly loud buzz. It flew towards Twilight, and just before it reached her, it exploded into thousands of smaller flies. They flew all around her, and soon her entire body was covered in them. She began to feel a stinging sensation all over her body. They were biting her. A few landed on her eyes, and began to bite. She closed her eyes, and got the flies under her lids. She opened her mouth to scream, and they poured down her throat into her stomach and lungs, now biting her from the inside. The paralysis now broken, she ran aimlessly away in a useless attempt to escape the flies, and slammed headfirst into a tree. She fell to the forest floor, writhing in pain. She gasped, desperately trying to breath and just sucked in more flies. She coughed painfully, failing to force any of the flies leave her body. She tried again to scream, and even though nothing came out, she could still hear the scream inside her head. It seemed distant, fading away, as if coming from someone else. Her world was slipping, and soon she would finally die. The pain would stop.

***

Twilights eyes flickered open. She was in her bed, in her room. It was still dark outside. Her heart was beating so hard she could feel her ears throbbing. She lied still and stared at the ceiling, sweating slightly, until her heart calmed down. It had all been a dream.

Now that she looked back on it, it was a rather silly dream also. She had a hard time believing she hadn't even considered the possibility of it being a dream after seeing the living mannequin, or the giant housefly. She also realized that if she had been lost she could have just asked Fluttershy or Rainbow Dash to fly above the trees and point them home. The more she thought about it the more ridiculous it got. Although she still had to admit the part at the end with the flies was disgusting.

She rolled over and switched on the lamp which rested on the nightstand beside her. She glanced at the clock. It said it was twelve after five.

Twilight sighed, turned off the lamp and rolled back over. She already felt wide awake, and knew she wasn't likely to get back to sleep. Nevertheless, she closed her eyes and tried her best to clear her mind. After an hour of tossing and turning the sun began to rise. Twilight groaned, and wished she could just send a letter to Princess Celestia asking her to keep it below the skyline for another hour, please.

She gave up on trying to get more sleep, and turned the lamp back on. She sat up and levitated a book from the nightstand, opening it in front of her. It wasn't the most intelligent read, but it was interesting. Unfortunately, an over enthusiastic Rainbow Dash had spoiled the ending for her when she had found out Twilight had started reading it.

“Oh, you're reading 'The Mothpony Killings?'” She had asked, eyes bright with excitement at having finished a book that Twilight hadn't. “Did you get to the part where the hunter dies?”

“No, but thanks for ruining the book for me. Truth be told, I'm not really inclined to finish it anymore knowing that the Mothpony wins,” Twilight had replied.

“Oh no, don't do that, no, it's still a real good book!”

Twilight was lying of course. She'd finished every book she'd ever started (at least, all fiction oriented books) and fully intended to finish this one. She'd hoped that telling Rainbow Dash she wasn't going to finish the book would scare her from ever spoiling another story for her again.

Twilights eyes flickered to the clock. It was six thirty. She had one hour to read before the library was opened.