Rainbow Dash had always known the one simple truth of the village growing up. Don't look in the mirrors. Ever since she was a filly the elders had been telling her that, without an explanation. Not like there had needed to be one, for the most part all the ponies accepted this phrase as the whole truth. There was relative harmony in the village over the years with this universal acceptance, any time something close to a mirror was discovered it was hurriedly covered with a cloth and put away from prying eyes.
The young ones were usually scolded for trying to look, but it only ever happened once or twice before the stinging slaps with the magically held reeds got the message through their heads. Never look, never learn, always safest away from the reflections. Every now and then a pony would vanish in the night, but this was also never questioned. No explanation would ever be given, and every pony would just move on as though the vanished one had never existed to begin with.
Years of harmony, until Rainbow Dash was given the package to deliver to the next village over. It was part of her rite of passage, every pony took part in this ritual when it came time for them to ascend to adulthood. The package must be delivered safely through the woods, never opened and never harmed. Should be easy enough, surely. Her only instructions were simply to keep the package sealed until she reached the village a few days away, and once delivered to return home.
Nopony had ever failed this rite, always delivered the package and returned home safe and sound. It was an oddly simple ritual really, and Rainbow Dash had always been grateful that it wasn't something crazy like fastening rods in your shoulders while dancing around a fire for three days and nights. She bowed her head when the package was floated over to her, and then her mother had helped to fasten it so that it hung from her spine in a special saddlebag to keep it safe. The other saddlebag on the opposite side had been filled with food and drink to last the journey, and kept the package from slipping off of her.
Due to the nature of the saddlebags that had been buckled onto her body, her wings were all but pinned to her back and rendered flight useless. This was both to keep the package as safe as possible during the journey, and part of the tradition that dated back hundreds of years. Dash had mentally prepared for this as best she could, but there was still a bit of anxiety over being denied the freedom of the skies. This was the way though, and always had been.
Everyone had gathered at the edge of the village to wish Rainbow Dash safe passage, with the hopes that the cerulean pony would have an uneventful trip and return an adult mare to be celebrated. The chanting of her brothers and sisters, the members of the village filled her ears and bolstered her heart as she began to make her way into the woods on the simple dirt path. Familiarity helped to comfort her, as Rainbow Dash realized that she was completely alone for the first time in her entire life.
Initially, she was thrilled as she walked. No more fillies and colts hanging off her legs impeding her chores, no more constant buzz of voices and complete lack of privacy since everyone always knew everything. Mess up once, and within the hour the entire village would know what you had done. Just the natural silence of the world, peppered with birdsong, leaves rustling in the wind, and the babble of an occasional brook. It was very peaceful out here, so Rainbow Dash briefly wondered why after this rite nopony ever left the village save for the hunting parties. The world seemed very quaint.
The first day and night passed without event, and so did the second. On the third day, Rainbow Dash could have sworn there was whispering coming from her saddlebags. She tried to ignore it, but it put her on edge. It was a constant, barely audible sound, ever-present beneath the rustling of the trees and the calls of the birds. Always there, though she couldn't tell what the voices were saying.
Continuing to walk, Rainbow Dash noted the sun was setting. That meant the village she'd been sent to deliver the package to wasn't very far away now, and she should reach it tonight if she didn't stop to rest too much. Easier said than done, but since she was unnerved she found herself moving forwards even when she didn't want to. Anything to be rid of this quest so she could be on her way back home, safe and sound in the safety of the familiar sights and sounds of home.
Tensing up when her hoof unexpectedly snapped a twig on the path while she walked, Rainbow Dash realized two things at once. One, it was suddenly a lot darker than it was a minute ago. Two, the whispering was decidedly louder now. Spurred into quicker movement, the cerulean mare not quite rushed down the trail since she knew that her salvation lay at the end of the line. The path ended at the entrance to the village, connecting her home and this place for many years now. All she had to do was get to the gates and hurry inside, and she would be free of this troublesome burden once and for all.
Moving faster and faster, Rainbow Dash began to gallop in a desperation born of fear. Her breath shattered the quiet, hooves pounding the dirt passageway while her heart matched the rhythm in her chest. Had to get there now, before things got any crazier, had to drop this off-- Her thoughts were cut off as a shriek tore from her throat. Rainbow Dash hadn't seen the switchback turn on the trail in her haste, and promptly tripped and fell off the edge.
Falling head over hooves, spinning as wildly as any toy down the embankment until she crashed into the treeline below. Thankfully it hadn't been very far so she was only bumped and bruised, but when she rolled to her side and stood up Rainbow Dash realized with growing trepidation that the package was no longer hanging from her side. Turning to look behind her, she gasped at the contents that spilled from the cloth that had sealed it in.
There, lying in the moonlight, was a mirror. It reflected the moon and the darkness of the tree limbs around her, spidery cracks distorting the surface and causing the image within to look eerie. "A mirror?" Dash said out loud, the question deafening in her ears when she'd not spoken louder than a whisper. "Why did they give me a mirror?" There was nopony around to answer the questions, and Rainbow Dash realized she was going to have to wrap it back up and explain what had happened. And then bear the shame home of having been the first pony to fail the rite of passage since its inception.
Approaching the mirror carefully, Rainbow dash used her wings then her forelegs to gather the scraps of cloth so she could cover it and render it safe once more. Moving carefully, she tried to avert her eyes from the mirror so she would not be tempted to look within the forbidden depths. "Don't look at the mirror," she whispered to remind herself, sucking in a deep breath.
"Why?" A voice answered in the gloom. "Are you afraid of what is inside?"
Rainbow Dash was frozen, rooted to the spot with her eyes locked onto the mirror. If she didn't know any better, that voice came from those quicksilver depths. Laughter, soft and eerie filled the air. "I think you are," the voice continued, crooning to her now. "Always a good little filly, listening to her elders and never taking a peek." Almost against her will, Rainbow Dash crept closer.
"It is forbidden," she found herself replying, and cringed when the voice cackled with malicious glee.
"And you never asked why?" The voice replied, openly amused now.
"No," Dash replied, with a bit of conviction this time. "It was never my place to question the wisdom of the elders." This time the cackling hurt her ears, and her hooves all but touched the frame of the cracked mirror now. Why had she drawn closer to it? She didn't want to look inside, every fiber of her being demanded she cover it now and render the voice within harmless.
"Truly, that is what kept you safe until now," the voice said. "You honored the sacred pact to keep me at bay, until your foolishness led you astray and set me loose."
Rainbow Dash trembled as she listened. She had fallen silent because she didn't know what to say in response.
"I commend you, child, but now you must pay the price of your failure." The mirror seemed to rattle slightly.
"What does that mean?" Dash demanded, fear sluicing down her spine and chilling her blood to ice.
"You have freed me."
With that the mirror abruptly exploded into pieces, shards raining down like sparkling diamonds around the cerulean mare and catching within her rainbow mane and tail. There was a sound of something rushing past Rainbow Dash, and while she cried out her world abruptly went black. The last thing she remembered hearing was the cackling laughter, and the sensation of many teeth brushing past her body.
Screams awakened Rainbow Dash. She had no idea how long she'd been out, so when she staggered to her feet she was surprised to find herself in the heart of the village she had been sent to. How in the world did she get here? The last thing she remembered she was still in the forest. Giving her head a shake to try and clear it, Rainbow Dash tried to assess the situation. There was chaos everywhere, ponies running every which way as though being chased by something.
In the darkness broken only by moonlight, something moved. Something big. Rainbow Dash tried squinting to get a better look at the thing, only to throw a hoof over her mouth to muffle the scream that nearly tore from her. Horrified, she watched as a helpless mare was lifted into the air, shrieking for all she was worth. Dark lines appeared on the mare's body, and just when Rainbow Dash realized what those lines were, the earth pony was abruptly torn asunder. The two halves of her body were dropped to the earth, a peculiar shattering as though she were made of glass among the gore that painted the grass ocher in the moonlight.
Backing away quickly, Rainbow Dash spun around and tried to think of how she could get away from the carnage that was tearing the village apart. There wasn't any hope for the others here, nothing she could do now. Choking out a sob, Dash wondered if this was going to also destroy the only home she'd ever known as well. There was nothing else she could do but run away now, the screams chasing her into the night as the being from the mirror laid waste to all three hundred ponies who had called this village home.
Hoof beats rang out against earth and stone when she occasionally hit a rock, running for all she was worth away from the village. If she could just make it home she would be safe, the creature could entertain its fill of bloodshed with the ponies she'd doomed by falling in the first place. Guilty conscience would come into play later, right now it was just about survival. Rainbow Dash just wanted to make it home, own up to the fact that she had failed the rite and never be seen as an adult mare in the village; forever a filly in their eyes.
Galloping as fast as her legs could carry her, it was only when she'd gotten a fair way down the path in the total darkness of the forest that she remembered she had wings. Snapping them outwards, her simple linen dress fluttered in the breeze created before Dash flapped them hard enough to become airborne. Then speed was her ally while she zoomed through the forest, eyes kept forwards so she wouldn't see anything behind her.
Eventually the sounds of screams and butchery faded into the night, leading Rainbow Dash to believe that she was finally safe from all of this madness. Guilt ate away at her as she flew through the forest, zooming along the path back to home and safety. None of this would have happened if she hadn't fallen and caused the package to open, but there was also a large curiosity within her. Why did her village have a rite of passage that involved giving a mirror to the other village anyways? More importantly, why were they all kept in the dark about it?
These questions seemed to quell the bubbling guilt as Rainbow Dash made her way back to the village of her birth. It had taken days on hoof, but since she was now aided by speed with her wings she seemed to be making up for the initial journey in record time. Sooner rather than later she saw the familiar sights of home and rushed towards them, ignoring the looks of surprise from the sentries.
Dash knew she was early by a few days, the sentries knew, and by the time she'd landed in the center of her home it seemed everypony else did as well. The elders had gathered near the central bonfire, an ever-burning cheery beacon under most circumstances. Of course, this was not an ordinary situation and it seemed that every pony seemed to pick up on this. The five elders fanned out, the bonfire at their backs and throwing their forms into shadow.
"You have returned early," one elder stated, her voice gravelly with an emotion not easily named.
"And you have returned with flight," another added, his voice as stern as the oaks that grew outside the fence that formed the boundary of the village.
"Most unusual," said the third, while the fourth was merely silent. The fifth elder seemed to be mulling something over, but with the shadows concealing their faces beneath their robes, it was extraordinarily hard to tell.
Rainbow Dash looked from one elder to the next, taking care to consider her words before she spoke them. She knew that when she opened her mouth things would be forever changed, and no matter what the outcome was going to be there was no going back now. Their way of life will be forever altered, because of what she had done.
"I had no other choice," she began, her words quavering as tears filled her eyes. "It was the only way I could escape."
Unseen to her, the elders exchanged glances with each other.
"While I was journeying to the village, I ended up falling at some point," Dash continued. "The package slipped free from my saddlebags, and somehow ended up open."
The commingled gasps of horror from the elders stopped Rainbow Dash as effectively as if they'd just thrown a rope about her snout to muzzle her.
"My child...." One of the male elders said, slowly. "What you have done cannot be undone." Fervent whispering picked up from the other ponies who had gathered to witness this moment.
"You have doomed us all," the elder mare with the gravelly voice chimed in. "Now the beast that lives within the mirrors will hunt us as surely as it hunts those in the village we bargained with long ago."
"What do you mean?" Rainbow Dash asked, fear all but choking her voice into a whisper. She was tense with it, quivering from tip to tail as the elders spoke.
"Long ago," began a male elder, in a voice that shook as much with age as it did with terror. "Our village made a pact, to keep a demon at bay we'd sealed away within the mirrors." He paused, swallowing around a knot in his throat before continuing. "The village next to ours agreed to a ritual, that we would send a mirror once every time a pony came of age, with the promise that they would not look upon the mirror before it could be refreshed with a new seal upon it."
The elder barrelled on, his words slow. "The others were powerful with their magics, keeping the demon safe with only an occasional sacrifice made. By looking into an unguarded mirror, you have allowed it to escape. Surely the beast will want revenge for us capturing it in our youths."
A loud roar from the entrance of the woods confirmed his words, as it seemed the beast had caught up to its prey with alarming speed. Trees crashed and the ground shook, while it stomped closer and closer to the gates. With surprising speed defenders approach the wall, while the gate itself rattled closed in an attempt to keep the beast out of the village. Torches burned brightly in the night, casting shadows looming like gods against the forest.
Murmured words from the elders as they formed a ring, chanting rapidly in the hopes their own feeble skills could conjure up a shield that would keep the ponies safe from the eldritch wrath. Rainbow Dash herself used her wings to try and fly around as a distraction, open bait to keep it occupied in such a way the villagers could begin to evacuate to safety. None of their actions appeared to have any effect, and with a roar the beast crashed through the gates, ignoring the arrows flying towards it as though they were simply gnats biting at its skin.
The beast itself began grabbing ponies on a whim, crushing and disemboweling and slicing at random. It feasted on the offal, letting remains drop to the earth like forgotten candy in a church. Snarling and roaring, the screams filled the air as surely as they had earlier in the other village. Rainbow Dash decided then that her only course of action was to fight the beast, while the bonfire in the center of the village continued to burn like a beacon in the night. The ornate mirror that seemed like a portal to another realm twinkled in the reflected flames, waiting to be enchanted as tradition had long dictated.
Panting as she wheeled and darted about, Rainbow Dash did the best she could to bite, kick, punch, and simply wound the beast in some way in an effort to protect her people. In trying to distract it from killing more ponies, the pegasus threw everything she had into her motions while praying to the gods above that she would be successful. At one moment she managed to fling sand into the creature's eyes as it had reached with gangly limbs towards a terrified family that were too afraid to run. A sound of triumph ripped from Rainbow Dash's throat, only to turn to dismay as the fruits of her labors turned on her.
While she'd spared them whatever the beast was initially going to do, it backhanded her hard enough she fell into the ground and slid a fair distance before it simply stalked the frozen fillies before viciously decapitating and feasting on them. Crying out in despair, as her ears were filled with the sounds of screaming, crunching, crushing, and chewing she looked for somepony, anypony to help in this moment. This was a battle they were losing, and it seemed like before the sun rose they would all be wiped from the face of the earth.
Desperation filled her, and as Rainbow Dash looked around for help she spotted the desperate ring of elder ponies, who seemed to have abandoned their chanting for the time being.
"We may be able to bind it within somepony!" One of the elders called, shouting to be heard above the din. "We will need a willing volunteer!"
Those that were within earshot shuddered as they ran, clearly not wanting to take part in this since they were obviously on the losing side of things. Watching, Rainbow Dash heaved herself to her hooves while she sucked air into her lungs to center herself.
"I'll do it!" She cried, flaring her wings like a human spreading their arms to be seen better. "I volunteer to be the vessel for this creature!"
Nodding, one of the elder mares galloped forth and brought Rainbow Dash with them over to the bonfire, as herbs were flung into the flames and caused a myriad of colors to shoot forth into the sky. With her in the center by the mirror, the elders fanned out into a circle, chanting as one in a language that was as old as the very bones of the earth. They moved clockwise and counterclockwise, throwing their heart and souls into the ritual that could very well mean their survival.
Their efforts drew the attention of the beast, but some of the remaining villagers were heartened by the show of effort and threw items at the creature to try and slow it down before the pivotal moment that would seal it within the young filly. Horseshoes, sticks, bits of coal, scraps of cloth, rocks, these and more were lobbed like homemade bombs but it didn't seem to have any effect in hampering the beast in the slightest. Roaring, it swung wildly, throwing ponies to be impaled on the village walls or crushed beneath falling, flaming buildings.
Magic charged and grew, pulsing with energy while the air seemed to crackle. Rainbow Dash knew the moment was coming, and with an epic war cry flung herself at the beast just as the ritual seemed to come to a climax. The sudden explosion was massive, sending out a cyan and white colored shock wave that flattened the ring of elders and dropped everypony in vicinity like a rock.
In the silence that followed, it looked as though the ones who hadn't fled into the night had perished when the magic had reached its peak. Nothing and nopony moved, all was still save for the blowing winds on the blades of grass. The beast was nowhere to be found, so perhaps the ritual had been a success after all. After so many hours of sound, the quiet that now dominated seemed out of place.
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.
