Eventually, awareness returned to Rainbow Dash. The sky slowly lightened, and she pulled her limbs beneath her and with more than a little bit of effort got back on her hooves. A small sound of pain slipped from her muzzle as she did so, and eventually she was able to survey the wreckage. Trudging around the remains of the village, the only sounds she heard were the birds in the trees as they woke up for the morning.

There seemed to be no one here, not even the beast. Corpses were scattered about, some whole and some in pieces. Breath fogging in the brightening air, she turned about as she realized it was over. Just as this thought went through her mind, daylight broke on the horizon.

Rainbow Dash stood alone, the sun rising and revealing all the blood, guts, and gore that covered her body. Somehow she'd prevailed, and everything was quiet. She'd won, after everything that had happened she'd finally managed to come out on top. Taking in a deep breath, she closed her eyes to savor the moment of peace. Dash exhaled sharply then, a sudden jerk of her body the only sign that all was not as it seemed.

Blood and glass poured from her eyes and muzzle, the quiet sigh of death rattling from her lungs. "You were never going to escape me, little one," a voice whispered into her ear. "I simply saved you for last."

With that, the being pulled in the long tendrils of arms, reeling in its prize before slipping back into the large, ornate mirror that stood in the center of the village next to the long dead bonfire. The surface rippled briefly, then settled back into perfect stillness as the mirror reflected the oncoming dawn.

[the end]

Author's Note

As I mentioned, I initially started this story for the Halloween in April Horror Contest with the Barcast last year when the entry post appeared on my feed. Normally I'm not very good at deadlines, but I hoped that perhaps I could crank out my very first horror story in the hopes that it would come across well.

Now, well over a year later that story is finally complete. I'd actually had the ending written since last April, I just struggled with how I was going to get the tale to get there and have it make sense.

I hope you enjoyed reading this, as it was initially a big step out of my comfort zone to write.