Eventide

Chapters

Chapter Two: The Transients
Chapter Three: Shadow of a Doubt
Chapter Four: The Road
Chapter Five: The Arcane Huntsman
Chapter One: Nightfall

Chapter Two: The Transients

Chapter 2: The Transients

by Lan

Two cloaked figures strode across the cheery plaza in the middle of the town. Swarming around them was a horde of ponies going about their daily lives, unaware of the unnameable horror that strode mere feet away. None of them seemed to realize that they had never seen the pair before, too concerned over their own lives to take any notice of the environment surrounding them. That was, until a curiously happy pink pony bounced up in their direction. The pony did a double take when her eyes fell upon the gloomy pair.

She rushed up to them, her smile becoming impossibly larger with every step she drew closer to the two. “Hi, I'm Pinkie Pie and you must be new here in town!” She extended one sticky hoof to the pair of surprised ponies.

Slumber responded almost instantly, shaking Pinkie's hoof, “Hello, Pinkie Pie. I am Shut Eye. It's a pleasure to finally meet somepony in this town. This here is my husband. Say hello, dear.”

The stallion replied with his pseudonym, “Dusk.” He did not shake Pinkie's hoof.

Slumber sighed, “We recently acquired a home nearby and thought we'd greet the locals. Would you mind telling us about this fine town?”

“Absolutely!” the pink pony hooted. “This here is the marketplace. We've got a costume shop, bookshop, bowling alley, joke shop, jewelry shop, but you can see all that from here. Over there” she pointed a hoof “is Sugarcube Corner! That's where I live with Mr and Mrs Cake. Be sure to stop by and I'll stock you up with all kinds of oh-so-yummy treats! Over there is Carousel Boutique, where my friend Rarity works. If you want some new clothes, just stop on by. Down that road is Sweet Apple Acres, where my friend Applejack and her family works on their apple farm. Over by the Everfree Forest is my friend Fluttershy – she takes care of animals, so if you want a pet, you should go see her. And over there is the library where my friend Twilight lives. If you want to check out a book, see her.”

Pinkie went on and on about the other sights and where to go for what. Slumber took careful note of all these details, but her “husband” didn't seem to pay much attention. “And since you're new in town, I'll have to throw you a party!” Pinkie jumped up in the air slightly at her last statement gleefully.

Slumber immediately exclaimed, “Oh that's awfully nice, but-”

“We'll have streamers and balloons and cupcakes and music and-”

“We don't live in town, Pinkie, we're just visiting!” Slumber interrupted loudly.

The pink pony looked like she'd just been stabbed. Her eyes grew wide and solemn, “But... But... I was gonna throw you a party. Don't you like parties?”

Feeling slightly guilty over making Pinkie upset, Slumber responded, “Well, we've never really been to any-”

“WHAT!?” shouted Pinkie, jumping ten feet in the air, drawing a few curious looks from the nearby citizens. “Then we've got to throw you a super-duper-first-party-ever party! I'll have everything set up by tonight! Just come to Sugarcube Corner when everything is ready! Everypony will be there!”

Before Slumber could say another word, the pink ball of energy bounced away faster than she would have thought possible. “I guess we're going to meet everyone.”

The stallion next to her grunted, “We shouldn't.”

“I know, but we can't draw unnecessary attention to ourselves by not showing up at a party thrown in our honor.”

“Fine," he sighed. "I guess we'll go.”

~~~~~~~

They spent the rest of the day visiting some of the sights Pinkie told them about, but did not really talk to very many ponies. When they finally arrived at Sugarcube Corner, the sun was beginning to go down and they were flogged with a heavy techno beat. The entire building, as well as part of the street, seemed to bounce with the music, if it could be called that. The couple paused for a moment, exchanging puzzled looks with each other before proceeding into the gingerbread house.

The inside was a bright kaleidoscope of color, with the promised streamers and balloons decorating every inch of space inside the tiny building. There were bowls of variously-colored drinks placed all around the store, and platters of very colorful cupcakes and other sugary sweets that would rot the couple's teeth to the core. Behind the counter, a pony with a large, electric blue mane was sitting at a DJ station, her goggles pulled over her eyes and a large grin plastered on her face. The floor was covered in ponies, some standing upright, dancing to the wild music, some talking to each other on the ground. There was no space for moving, but the couple somehow made their way inside as a familiar pink blur rushed up to them as if the crowd did not exist.

“There you are! I was wondering when you would show up! Isn't this party great? It's got everything a party needs! Streamers, balloons, cupcakes...” The pony counted off on invisible fingers. “Let me introduce you to my friends. Wait! Everypony here is my friend. Wait! Let me introduce you to my close friends!” She reached into the mass and pulled out an orange pony with a yellow mane and a cowboy hat on her head. “This is Applejack! I told you about her.” Her cutie mark was a bunch of apples.

The slightly shaken-up pony paused for a second, rattled her head as if shaking off a layer of dust, “It's nice ta meetcha!”

Slumber responding, “The pleasure's all ours. I'm Shut Eye.” After some brief introductions, Pinkie proceeded to show them her other friends, all of whom responded similarly to Applejack without any real conversation. At last, they worked their way across the rampant dancing that threatened to take their heads off on several occasions.

The pony they arrived at last was a purple pony with a dark blue mane that had a pinkish red stripe down the middle and a strange cutie mark made of stars. “And this is Twilight!” The pony looked very busy and out of place at the party. She had picked a table in the corner, where a large number of papers and books were scattered. Pinkie leaned to the couple and whispered, but loudly enough that they could hear over the music, “She's trying to solve a mystery.”

“What kind of mystery?” inquired Slumber, already knowing the answer,

“Someponies were found murdered the other day.”

“Oh, how awful!” exclaimed Slumber innocently, though in the back of her mind she hid a burst of laughter over her deceit.

Pinkie tapped Twilight on the shoulder and pleaded, “Twi, meet the new ponies in town.”

Twilight stopped writing, putting the pencil down with a clak, and turned to the couple, her eyes tired. “Hello –” she started before looking at “Dusk.” Her eyes grew wide, losing their tired appearance, and her mouth dropped open at the sight of the haunting figure before her. Her eyes darted from his blood-red cutie mark to his fiery eyes for several seconds. Suspicion gripped her mind, followed rapidly by fear. She grabbed everything on her table and sprinted along the wall to the back door only a few feet away. “SorryPinkieI'vegottogoseeyalater,” she squealed.

Quick to defuse any suspicion in Pinkie's mind, Slumber declared “That mare must have forgotten to do something important back home. Maybe she didn't turn her stove off.”

Pinkie accepted this notion and turned back to the two, “Well that's everypony. Enjoy the party!” She bounded off to another room, either to make more food or to bother somepony else.

“Dusk” turned to Slumber, “I think we should leave and take care of this... situation.”

Slumber nodded in agreement and the two proceeded out the back door Twilight had sprinted through moments prior. “Pinkie said she lives at the library. Let's go there first.” The two proceeded down the streets, now once more ensnared by night's shadow, at a slow, steady pace. The pony could not get very far, even if she did not go to the library.

“We should try talking to her first. If the pony investigating is also found dead, it would raise a lot of suspicion over us, especially after the way she reacted.” Slumber theorized.

“We will try, but I doubt we will not have to kill her.” the stallion replied.

Presently, they arrived at the library, a building carved out of an enormous tree. All the lights were off on the inside, but that did not mean the terrified pony was not home. Slumber was the one who knocked on the door, a light tap that was audible, but not too loud. Too much force would scare the pony away. After half a minute with no response, she tapped again. “Please let us in. We just want to talk to you.” Still no response. Slumber tapped again, “Twilight! Please.”

Finally, a small, squeaky voice from inside the house questioned, “What do you want to talk about?”

Slumber grinned at this. Her plan was working. “Pinkie told us you were trying to solve a murder. It's obvious that you suspect us. Please let us dissuade you of this notion.”

There was no sound for a few seconds. “Dusk” looked over to Slumber, his eyebrow raised. The voice from inside squeaked, “J-Just a second.” The couple could hear the key enter the under-used lock on the front door, which screamed slightly in protest to the strange, new feeling of the key in the tumbler. The door opened slightly and a purple eye peered out from the darkness into the gloom of the street.

“Thank you for deciding to talk to us.”

“N-No problem.” Twilight stuttered, unmoving except for a slight shaking in her legs.

After a few seconds, Slumber asked, “Are you going to let us in?”

The frightened pony stuttered, “Of c-c-course.” and opened the door all the way, standing back along the outer wall to let them pass it. “T-Take a seat.” she gulped.

The couple sat down and stared at Twilight, who remained frozen beside the open door, the cool air of the night breezing into the home. Slumber coughed loudly to snap Twilight out of her daze.

Twilight flinched and blinked a couple times before regaining her senses. She shut the door with a kick and her horn began to glow as she turned the lights back on. Once the pair was in the bright light, they did not seem so menacing. She regained some of her waning confidence and walked cautiously over to a seat opposite them.

Slumber broke the silence again, “I understand your suspicions of the new ponies in town. I would be too if something so horrible had just happened in my hometown,” she lied, “But rest assured – My husband and I wish no harm on anypony in this town.”

Twilight relaxed slightly, frowning at herself at her foolish assumptions. “I'm sorry. It was awful of me to suspect you two without having met you. Please, let me start over. My name is Twilight Sparkle. I'm Princess Celestia's disciple.” She extended a hoof, which Slumber shook right away, happily. She moved it over to “Dusk,” who simply snorted in response.

He shot back instead, “It was mighty presumptuous of you to assume we were involved in any way. If this is how the ponies in this town greet people, I'd say you're off to a fine start.” The anger and annoyance in his voice carried a weight that made Twilight's ears fold back and face hot.

As she grew more and more red, she averted her gaze and whispered, “I'm sorry. It will not happen again.”

“You're darn right it won't happen again.” he finished, a snarl still on his face.

Twilight continued to whisper, “It was just that –”

“Just that what?!” the stallion roared out of nowhere, now standing up and towering above the quivering pony before him, his rage returning in a heartbeat. “Just that we can't mind our own business in this town without being taken as criminals?” His snout pulled up to reveal a sharp set of teeth, sharper than any pony's should be. His pupils dilated and his coat began to get a waxy quality to it. “Just that some pony who's too focused on finding a murderer suspects the first couple she bumps in to? That the same little pony is poking around where she doesn't belong?!” His voice reached a new depth in his anger. The tiny purple pony dropped her head down in fear, but could not peel her gaze away from the hulking monstrosity the stallion was becoming. His snout was beginning to get longer and more unnatural. The lights all went out in a flickering burst, a loud pop electrified the atmosphere.

Slumber jumped to her hooves, horn glowing brightly. The stallion stopped as if he had been imprisoned in a shell just slightly larger than himself. His eyes undulated, dilating back to their original size. His coat unmatted and his snout began to shrink, teeth returning to their proper size. Soon, he was the same stallion that had entered the house. He looked tired, as if he hadn't slept in days. “Terribly sorry about that,” he murmured. “We should probably get going. You must be incredibly busy with the case.”

Twilight squeaked slightly and nodded, closing her eyes tight, wishing that when she opened them that the pair would be gone. When she finally did, she saw the door just shutting behind them. She let out another squeak and hid her head under her hooves.

Out in the street, the couple seemed to meld in the shadows as they quickly galloped back to their cave, their only refuge from this town, the only place they had left to go. The cool night air stung their eyes as they went faster, Slumber urging her lover onward. He had difficulty as he was still recovering from mid-transformation, feeling as if his insides had been hit with a baseball bat. Slumber could revert his transformation only temporarily. Soon, he would finish the transformation and lose all control over his senses, as if he had been pushed out of the driver's seat that was his mind.

He could feel consciousness slipping away, barely able to hold onto the threads that bound his soul to his body. He knew he would not make it all the way back, but he had to try. The streets seemed to fade away from his vision. All that was left was Slumber, galloping ahead in all her perfection and beauty. Soon, even she faded.

~~~~~~~

Lemon Fields was having an amazing night at Pinkie's party. Other plans would force her to leave earlier than she would have liked. When the clock struck midnight, she knew it was time to leave. She would miss the atmosphere, the music, her friends all having a good time. With a sigh, she reluctantly departed from the company of her peers, gradually waltzing her way to the front door.

Having adjusted to the climate of the party, filled to the brim with hot, sweaty ponies all moving around and having a good time, the chill of the night air brought a shiver down her spine and a whinny from her mouth. The deserted streets were an alien sight to her. As she passed street after street, she felt as if somepony was watching her. Of course, this was a completely natural and foundationless fear.

When she usually went into town, the streets were packed with ponies. Now, it was just her. No, wait. There were two others galloping towards her. She stopped to stare at them, not knowing if they wanted something from her or if she was just in the wrong place at the wrong time. The latter turned out to be correct.

Suddenly, the black stallion behind the dark blue mare collapsed, writhing on the cobblestone street like a worm just pulling itself out of the ground during the rain. The mare in the lead stopped, spinning to face him. Lemon could hear her, “No no no no no no! Not here!”

Lemon gasped when she saw the stallion stop writhing, fearing he was dead. In a sense, he was. His heart had stopped. The blood no longer brought life through his veins. His lungs drew no breath. She trotted over to see if she could help, but screamed when the thing ceased to be a stallion. Unfortunately for her, all the ponies were at Pinkie's party far down the street and nopony but the mare and what was once a stallion heard her cries of terror.

The abomination lurched to its spiked legs and charged at the filly without making a single sound. A single spiked hoof reached under her and stabbed her chest before she could scream again, raising her off the ground with a delightful cackle. The thing stood up on its hideous hind legs and used its free hoof to puncture the filly's throat, and laughed even harder when her eyes bulged and she could no longer make a sound. Still not dead, the filly's eyes filled with tears which poured like molten lava down her cheeks, now drained of blood. Her blood. The same blood which now covered the monstrosity from head to hoof.

It slammed her body back down on the ground and removed both spiked forehooves. The spark of life was beginning to fade from the poor filly's body. The creature reared up and brought both pairs of spikes directly down on top of the filly's stomach, spreading them and ripping her open still alive. It slammed its loathsome skull into her organs and began to chew. At last, life left the young filly and finally brought endless slumber and peace to her tortured soul.

Slumber had already fled the scene, a plan hatching in her mind. She raced to the party and reached the front door when what was once her lover began to devour the filly. She slammed the door open and screamed to the crowd of happy party-goers, “Quick! Everypony! Get outside NOW! There's a horrible monster killing a young filly!”

The guests all stared at her, mouths hanging open in shock. The DJ ripped the music off with a stutter. Slumber continued in spite of their reaction, “Is there anypony here who knows medicine? My husband went to the hospital to get help, but I fear he won't be back in time.

“There's nopony at the hospital. We all came to the party. I can help.” Nurse Redheart volunteered.

“Then quick, everypony, before she DIES!” Slumber shouted. The crowd all moved to get out of the tiny house at the same time. Finally, the mob all began to move onto where Slumber was pointing. As they got close, some of the ponies in the front could make out the body, with the monster on top, ripping open her intestines hungrily. Some of them shouted at it and one threw a rock that hit it right in the head. It stopped feasting on its meal and turned its head. The crowd was gathering upon it. Its instincts told it to run when outnumbered and that is just what it did.

The thing jumped with unnatural force and landed noiselessly on the top of one of the nearby buildings. It knew it could not lead them back to its den and jumped onto the houses in the opposite direction. The crowd followed, shouting and throwing more rocks. One unicorn grabbed a very heavy rock telekinetically and chucked it at at the creature, but missed and wound up putting a hole in somepony's house.

Unbeknownst to the crowd, the same pony who had gathered them all was nowhere to be found. She had slipped off to the other side of the town. When she was sufficiently satisfied that the crowd was far enough away, her horn began to pulse. A ripple almost invisible to those who were not looking for it began to pulsate through the town. When the first wave reached the creature, it stopped, grinning widely. In a puff of smoke, the thing vanished. The smoke was heavy and voluminous, wrapping around the entire mob in a putrid fog. Half began coughing and the other half fainted from the smell.

The air to the left of Slumber was almost ineffable. The light that passed through the spot warped towards a center point that began to grow in size until it took the outline of the monster. The air became stale, like a fire was burning at that point, fueled by the oxygen in the air. Suddenly, the monster faded into reality once more and turned to Slumber, recognition in its eye. It took a quadrupedal stance again, its spikes sinking into the soft grass underhoof. The pair turned and began to slowly walk back towards the cave they had created earlier.

From a distance, it only looked like one pony was walking across the field. The night was darker than the one they had arrived in and it was almost impossible to discern the other figure from a dark shadow. When they arrived, the monster took the first step into the cave, followed soon after by the mare after she made sure they were not being watched. The thing had collapsed on the bed assembled in one of the rooms, apparently dead. However, it had a sheepish grin on its sleeping face, having a full stomach and pleasant dreams.

She was not repulsed by the horror sleeping in her bed. She had grown so accustomed to it after all these years and curled up next to it, wrapped in its monstrous hug. Nopony even noticed she was missing from the party. They had all either gone home or were helping take care of the body lying peacefully and serenely in the middle of the street with its blood a bed for its endless dreams.

Chapter Three: Shadow of a Doubt

Chapter 3: Shadow of a Doubt

by Lan

Dear Princess Celestia,

I would like to request information on a couple of ponies that have recently arrived in Ponyville. Having shown up immediately after the murder of the family down the road, I instantly suspected them. I know this was wrong, but when I tried to talk to them about it, something... happened.

The stallion who goes by the name Dusk, as I found out from Pinkie Pie, began to transform into a horrible creature right before my eyes in his rage. He has a dark black coat and mane with red eyes and a red splatter cutie mark. The other, a mare by the name Shut Eye, was able to calm him, at which time both fled to wherever they are staying. She has a dark blue coat with a redish-purple mane and blue eyes. Her cutie mark is a clock without hands.

This morning, as you probably already know, the body of a young filly was found torn apart and eaten. During Pinkie's party, Shut Eye was the one who pointed her out, leading the mob to the monster, which I have heard a description of second-hand:

It is dark black, a horrible demon in form. Its snout like that of an alligator, its teeth like scythes. All the witnesses describe it as being hard to look upon, as if it wasn't really there. They said that it moved at an unnatural level of speed and surrealism. They only raised more questions for me, however.

Why was Shut Eye outside of the party if she had nothing to do with it? She claimed that Dusk was seeking help at the empty hospital. How convenient that no one saw him. Why would she return to the party to point out the murder if it was Dusk's doing? The only explanation I could think of was that she was trying to cast doubt away from themselves, after all, everypony was at the party except them. It would look mighty suspicious if they vanish and somepony ends up dead.

I believe that Dusk is the same monster described by countless witnesses. His cutie mark, although I am not entirely sure I know what it is, I believe to be a blood splatter. How he came upon his affliction, and his talent, I do not know. What I do know is that I need more information on the couple before I can confront them, and hopefully have them arrested. Please, if you know anything, you'll let me know.

Your faithful student,

Twilight Sparkle

~~~~~~~

The morning's light shined brightly through the mouth of the cave the pair of ponies resided in. Slumber awoke from her sleep and found her lover returned to his natural form, not yet haven taken the first breath of life for the new day. It was utterly peaceful, the warmth of the light bringing a sense of home to the den. It was a strange feeling, something she was not used to. They had spent the last many years active only at night, when they would have the lowest chance of being caught, and traveling constantly. Suddenly, their cycle was changed and she woke up in the morning. The break in her sleep cycle left her with a mild headache and a wanting to go back to her enchanting dreams. After the events of last night, however, it would look strange if neither of them showed up in town.

But her lover was not yet living and she simply rested her head back down on the bed they had constructed out of the materials they brought with them. In this room, there was the bed on the far wall, opposite the threshold to the hall, which led up to the surface. To her left was a small, collapsible table she had brought with them. On the surface was only a small bag of bits and a carrot, which had begun to whither being left to the exposed air. On the ground opposite the table were two very deflated saddlebags, their contents removed, but still showing the strain of how much they were carrying. The fibers that held it together had started to pull apart in places and they looked like they would fall apart on their own, much less if she were to put anything back inside them.

On the walls, the orbs of blue light started to fade. Her horn pulsed slightly with an aura of magical energy. With the pulse, all the orbs went out, vanishing from existence as if they were never there at all. In the hall, there was a room to her left, where the rest of their belongings were kept. The right side held a staircase going down to the empty, yet-unpurposed rooms in their anthill-style network.

Her stomach grumbled and she levitated the carrot over to her from the table, trying not to move and accidentally reanimate her lover before his time. The glow around her horn changed to a white light instead of the blue that she had been using. The carrot began to unwither as the juices of life began to feed back into it. When her spell was finished, it looked like it had just been pulled from the ground and cleaned. This meal would satiate her until they went back to the market later and purchased some food with the bits on the table. The stallion whose legs wrapped around her body would not be hungry. After all that he had eaten recently, he would not be hungry again for a week. The knowledge of what his last meal had been no longer bothered her. The stink of death on his breath that would haunt him as soon as it returned would not bother her. The blood that still caked his coat did not bother her. She loved him and he loved her. That was all that mattered.

Finally, the stallion's breath returned to him in a gasp as though he had been underwater for days without returning to the surface. As his heart began to beat with a new vigor, he stood up and stretched out the muscles in his body. Slumber, slightly startled by her lover's sudden return to life, stood up immediately with him. “Good morning, sunshine.” she stated coyly.

“Very funny.” the stallion replied, a heavy weight resting on his forehead. “What are we doing today?”

“I thought we'd go into town and-”

“After what happened last night? I don't think that's a very good idea.” he interrupted.

“If we don't go back, they'll wonder why and from there it won't be hard to figure out what happened.” she stated back. “And besides, I need to get some food. And maybe we can find some way to earn some bits. Our supply is running low.”

“Fine, if you think that's best.” the stallion grumbled, moving towards the exit as if his legs were made of wood. Slumber followed him into the town. “What happened last night? I remember being at that purple filly's house and...” his voice trailed off, waiting for her to fill in the blank.

“You transformed. Luckily, there was only one witness.”

He stopped in his tracks. “What?! I -”

“-killed her.” she finished. “And I tied up the lose strings. No one suspects a thing.”

“Good,” he grunted, continuing along the path from Everfree Trail,stifling a yawn as he began to clean his coat. “Wait. Who was it?”

“Some little filly. Not Twilight.”

“Oh well. Maybe next time.”

~~~~~~~

Dearest Twilight Sparkle,

I have received your letter. There is no documentation on any ponies with the names Shut Eye or Dusk matching your description. It is entirely in the realm of possibility for the events you have described to me thusforth to have been quite within the bounds of coincidence. Maybe you misheard their names or produced them from your own need to solve the case.

What I have heard is a rather brave tale of two new ponies in your town trying their hardest to save a young filly's life.

Although I admire your dedication to the pursuit of this effort, I do advise that you consider all the variables before arriving to your decision rather than forcing the evidence to conform to your predetermined conclusion.

-Princess Celestia

~~~~~~~

“What?!” Twilight shouted, startling Spike, causing the baby dragon to fall off his ladder. The stack of books in his hands scattered across the floor with several thumps.

“Ouch. Jeez, Twilight, what's the matter?” he questioned, somewhat annoyed.

“This, is the matter, Spike,” Twilight lectured, levitating the letter inches away from the young dragon's face. “Princess Celestia doesn't believe me! Oh, this is just like Nightmare Moon all over again!”

Condescendingly, Spike replied, taking the letter from the air, “I dunno, Twi. This seems to make sense to me. Why don't you question everypony before accusing these two?”

Rather irked, Twilight shot back, “I dunno, Spikey, why don't I question everyone in town when it was obviously these two?! I can't believe I'm the only pony who sees this. It's obviously them, I just need some way to prove it.”

“Exactly,” the dragon responded, now leaning over the top of Twilight's head,“prove it before you go causing another riot like that time you tried to make your own friendship lesson.”

“Ugh!” Twilight groaned in frustration, rolling her eyes before storming out of the library and knocking Spike to the floor.

She proceeded to Sugarcube Corner, intent on interrogating Pinkie again, when she spotted the two in the marketplace. Deciding to at least try her mentor's advice, she trotted up to the couple. Shut Eye had a bag of groceries on her back. Dusk looked as solemn as ever.

“Hello, guys!” she jumped in front of them. “I think we started off on the wrong hoof yesterday. Let's try it again. I'm Twilight Sparkle.” She forced herself to smile as wide as she could, until it began to hurt, and raised her right hoof.

The couple looked at each other briefly before they turned their attention back on the strangely grinning pony blocking their path. Of course, Shut Eye was the one to break the silence, “Hello, Twilight, I'm Shut Eye. And this is Dusk.” she replied warily, suspicious of Twilight luring them into a trap, and shook her hoof. Once again, “Dusk” did not.

“So, what brings you to town?” Twilight inquired, a hint of tension in her voice as she tried to hold her crocodile smile.

“Just passing through” Dusk grunted as Shut Eye replied,

“Just looking for a place to settle.” The two glared at each other and returned their gaze once more to the crazed purple pony, whose eye began to twitch at this contradiction. “Like I said, we're looking for a place to settle down.”

The one who went by the name Dusk sighed, but otherwise seemed unchanged in demeanor from when Twilight first spotted them.

“Uh huh...” Twilight pondered. “Why Ponyville?” Suspicion filled her mind once more, her mentor's words completely forgotten.

Slumber did all the talking this time. “It seems like a very pleasant place to stay, you know, ignoring the murder part. How's your investigation coming along?”

Ignoring the question, Twilight responded, “Yeah... Uh... Where'd you say you come from again?”

“Uhh,” Shut Eye hesitated, eying Dusk.

“That's none of your concern.” he declared bluntly, his voice like sandpaper. “And if you don't mind, we'd like to be on our way.” The pair tried to step around Twilight, both taking a step to the right in unison. Twilight, however, blocked their paths once more.

Her voiced raised and speaking quickly, she questioned, “Where are you going? What did you think of Pinkie's party yesterday? How come no one saw him while Lemon was attacked?” The barrage of questions, ever increasing in accusation, was simply ignored by the pair, who shrugged it off, each stepping to opposite sides of Twilight, who grunted in frustration at their nonchalant attitudes and flew off to Sugarcube Corner in a storm.

“Are you sure you don't just want me to kill her?”

“Quite. Now lets drop these groceries off back home and find out how we can make some money in this town.”

As it turned out, the Cakes at Sugarcube Corner were hiring, but the couple immediately decided against working there on account of Pinkie's antics, even if her completely trusting personality would be beneficial in establishing themselves as trustworthy citizens. They visited many other shops, all of which either had no opening or one of them refused to work at.

Their lengthy expedition had to draw to a close, concluding fruitlessly. The couple sat down near the fountain back in the town square, watching the sun set over the horizon grazed by countless trees. The warmth of day that the glowing orange-yellow ball in the sky brought with it cast an extraordinary change. Unaccustomed to the new sensation, they feared the dangerous fire as much as they relished the conversion from crisp night air to the dry warmth of day. The blue-haired mare sighed, defeated not as much by the town as much as the lazy feeling direct sunlight brought. As the sun began to set, casting a magnificent array of autumn colors over the cerulean sky, the lovers began to return to their old selves, craving the frore breezes of the witching hour.

Eying the mare, the stallion presented, “I know how to make some money here.”

She already knew what he had in mind. “Just be careful not to get caught.”

“I know what I'm doing.” He turned his gaze to one of the nearby shops, a jewelry store. The earth pony began to stare at the storefront, his eyes intensifying. Had anyone cared to pay attention to him, they would have noticed a strange black aura surrounding his eyes, which had become pitch black. The amaranthine seconds passed, the aura faded and the stallion raised his hoof, inspecting a rather large diamond that had materialized in his grasp.

Irate, the mare hissed, “What are you thinking?! The only place we could possibly sell that is the place you just took it from! If we're caught with that on us...” She let her voice trail off, letting the consequences manifest on their own in his mind.

“Fine. I'll just put it back.” But before another moment could pass, an earth pony ran out of the store, the manager by the looks of him.

In a blind panic, the pony yelled to everyone in the vicinity, “Help! I've been robbed! My largest diamond is missing – vanished before my own eyes!”

“Oh great.” The blue mare whispered. “Now what are we going to do with it? We can't just put it back now. Everyone's watching. Hide it!” The stallion dropped the diamond into the clear blue water in front of him. No one noticed the sickening splash as the rather large gemstone floated to the bottom below, taking with it all its wealth and glory. “Quick, let's get out of here before somepony finds it.”

Everypony in the square was searching left and right for anyone suspicious. One orange pony with blue hair confronted the couple, seeing as they were the only one's not helping the search, trying to get away. “Just where do you think you're going? Why are you the only ones trying to leave?” His suspicious eyes turned to Slumber's dark blue horn before returning accusingly at her.

“We have prior plans and we were just on our way. Now if you don't mind, please let us pass.” Slumber answered formally, although an air of exhaustion hovered over her words.

The other ponies in the square had taken notice of the confrontation and were all heading over, the fuming store manager leading the pack. He squawked, “What's going on over here?”

“These two were just leaving.” The orange coated pony replied, raising a hoof to the couple.

“Is that so?”

“We were just on our way. Is that a crime?” Slumber retorted.

“It is if you're trying to get away with stolen property.” lectured the manager, a rather weak looking pony, but one with a glare that meant business, directed at the blue unicorn.

The one called Dusk, infuriated at the accusation directed towards his lover, “We don't have anything of yours, and I think you deserve having lost it. We didn't do anything wrong, and here you are accusing us of petty theft! We were just minding our own business when this fine fellow stopped us because we didn't help an idiot look for what he lost. It's probably back in your crummy shop. Did you check under the table before you decided to prosecute us? Or maybe you took it for yourself! Don't think that I will just stand back and let you berate my wife for something we didn't do!” The stallion had seemed to grow a foot taller than before, now towering over the manager, who gulped at the thought of what the pony might do to him in his seething rage.

Inside, the mountainous stallion grinned, but somehow remained stone solemn on the exterior. The counterfeit fury broke the manager, a pony half Dusk's size, whose hind legs began to quake. Dusk had all the advantage now. The manager's mind was weakened by fear, feeble like a turtle without its shell. He reached out through his consciousness into the dark realm of thoughts, feeling for the exposed consciousness of the frightened pony.

He could see the minds of all those around him. The crowd all had the glow of consciousness shrouded and preserved with mental defenses. All except the cowering pony he was staring at dead in the eyes. That mind was shining brightly, unobscured and without protection, the white light like staring at a sun without the burning retinas associated with such an act. His mind was prey before Dusk, a mouse trapped in a corner with nowhere to run. The black void surrounding all their thoughts became an immense field with nowhere to flee from the demon.

Dusk's mind grasped the quivering pony and constricted like a snake, the inky tendrils feeling the mind resist pathetically as it was crushed beneath his might. The manager's eyes bulged and he looked like the wind had just been knocked out of him, as if his body was also being squeezed of life. His mind popped like a balloon under the pressure choking it and Dusk gathered the remnants in an instant, like candy pouring out of a pinata. The manager's eyes dilated inwards and he stopped shaking, standing back up as if the confrontation had never happened. Dusk now had total control over his thoughts, the pony's consciousness like a child's plaything.

“Quite sorry,” the once alert unicorn said in monotone, a glaze over his eyes. “I can see now that it wasn't you. I guess it was my own foalish fault for leaving the case unlocked. Here, take this for your trouble.” He handed the stallion a bag of bits, heavy and full from the day's work. The stallion smiled as the manager proceeded back to the door in a zombie-like trance, pushing members of the crowd out of his way.

One of them called out, “But what about the diamond?”

“I'll just have to get a new one.”

The crowd all stared at each other, confused over the manager's behavior. They all gave up, seeing no point in helping out now that the manager didn't want any. The crowd, once pent up and ready for conflict, reluctantly went back to their normal lives, somewhat addled by the strange events that had just transpired. When the manager would slip back into consciousness the next morning, he would find the diamond sitting right in the display case where he had left it.

“Told you I could make some money around here.” The stallion playfully jibed to his lover as the pair slowly sauntered to their home over the cobblestone road, their hooves making light clopping sounds as they traveled.

“Was there ever any doubt?” She replied, giggling, nuzzling her head against his shoulder.

~~~~~~~

Twilight paced around her home back and forth for hours. She knew that she had to reveal the two to be just what they were – monsters that don't deserve to inhabit her town, or anywhere for that matter. Princess Celestia wouldn't help her, so she had to rely on herself. She gathered all the facts and listed them on a parchment sitting on her desk.

She knew that the stallion who called himself Dusk was the monster. She knew that it could easily rip open a young filly, that it could jump to the roofs from street level, and that it could teleport. It's dark nature, masking itself in shadow and producing its own if there were no shadows to be found, could only mean it was a creature that thrived in the darkness. She hypothesized that it could only transform at night, or that if it did during the day that it would be significantly weakened. The conditions for transformation she could only speculate at. It could be emotion-based, time-based, or even something else which she could not comprehend. There had to be some stimulus that facilitated the alteration, though. Of that, she was certain.

The mare who called herself Shut Eye seemed to have some power over him. She did something to revert the process, preventing her from fully witnessing the mutation in person. But it failed, or wore off, and he transformed in the street, killing the filly. It had to have something to do with her cutie mark, the clock without hands, whatever it meant. Twilight could not think of anything such a symbol could represent.

If she could somehow separate the two and spur the metamorphosis, she would have all the proof she needed that Dusk was the monster. It would be simple from there to have him arrested and tried for murder. She would like to perform some experiments on him to see what ailed him, but she would probably never get that chance.

It is a dangerous game. Luring the monster out should not be the problem. Controlling it is a far different matter. Once out in the open, exposed for all the world to see, it could react violently, even destructively. Containing the horror safely would be quite an accomplishment in and of itself.

The rhythmic clicking her hooves made when clashing with the soft wooden floor elicited a deeper state of thought in the troubled apprentice, helping her plan for what was to come. Across the ligneous dwelling lay reports and scripts, plans and sketches, essays and notes of a strewn psyche, all for the singular purpose of defeating her adversary. Deep purple circles dragged at her eyes like sandbags. She hadn't slept since that first encounter at Pinkie's party. Sleep would only leave her vulnerable. Sleep took away valuable time that she needed to hamper any future attempts on the lives of Ponyville residents.

She paced and paced endlessly through the night trying to figure out how to separate the couple. They were always together and would never trust her enough to convince them to go to two separate locations. She would have to do something unconventional.

~~~~~~~

The nocturnal inhabitants of the subterranean habitat on the edge of Ponyville, bordering the Everfree Forest, were forced once more to rise with the blazing sun. Neither wished to stir from their slumber, but they convinced themselves that they needed to be in the town or endure the mistrust of the locals. Never had such a situation come up in their years together. They had never caused the townspeople to be so mistrusting. It would have been completely avoided if not for the Pinkie incident. That party was a mistake and should never have occurred. And now the Twilight Sparkle matter would make it difficult to do anything without being put under scrutiny.

With a sigh and a groan, the two lovers made their tired way out of the den and into the town. Having nothing better to do, they went to their usual spot beside the fountain in the marketplace. Greatly disturbed by their lack of natural sleep, they just sat there, resting their heads on each other, staring at the fountain and listening to the gentle flow of water. Slumber fell asleep first, then “Dusk.”

Slumber's dream was one that had recurred to her since foalhood, but had not had the pleasure to experience in the past few weeks. A line of doors down a hallway with no end sprouted into existence, highlighted with a bright white light that lacked a source. Each door had a unique combination of color, material, and design. The first door on her left was a gray steel door, rivets bolting it to the wall. It stuck out further than most, with no visible means to reveal its unseen contents. The next was a door that had once been light blue, but had faded to gray from years of neglect. She had been in this room many times before. She ignored this door and walked slowly down the hall, looking at the familiar doors she had seen innumerably, but refusing to open a single one.

Dusk's dream, if it could even be labeled as such, consisted of darkness. Nothing happened; He thought nothing. There was only the emptiness. He could not recall having ever dreamed anything but darkness in his life. That's what it always had been and all it ever would be.

The sun had reached its peak in the sky and had begun to descend as the two slept under the clement weather. The one called Dusk finally opened his eyes.

“Good. You're finally awake.” The voice startled him. There was a familiar quality to it. He turned his head and met a set of antagonistic eyes staring at him. “I was wondering which of you would be the first to come out of it.” It was Twilight Sparkle.

Slumber was sleeping peacefully beside him, he checked. “What do you mean?” the stallion questioned.

“I put a sleep spell on the both of you. I figured you'd come out of it first, Dusk.” she spat.

“Excuse me? You did what?” Dusk was fully awake now. He reached over to his lover's body, still sleeping next to him, proding her. When she did not stir, the stallion began to panic, gripping his lover with both hooves. “No no no no no.” beginning to shake her violently. She did not wake.

“I put a sleep spell on you two. It would have been just her, but it works only in an area rather than a target.” She sounded like she was teaching a lesson in school. “I needed you awake and her alseep.”

“Undo it this INSTANT!” he screamed at her, oblivious to the surrounding bystanders, now staring at him.

A smile spread across the purple pony's face. “I can't. And even if I could I wouldn't.”

“You don't know what sleep spells do to her!” He grabbed “Shut Eye” by both shoulders and shook violently, yelling “Wake up! Wake up! Wake up!” He let go and she slumped to the ground, a ragdoll.

Everypony was now watching him to see what he would do next. All were surprised, but none more so than Twilight, as not rage filled the stallion's voice, but sadness. Tears poured down his face, his mouth open in shock. “Please wake up.” he whispered to her and lay still. He did not sob, but the red-hot tears seared down his face nonetheless. He reached out through the realm of thoughts once more. He could not find her light.

He turned to face Twilight, a grimace in anger. “What have you done?!” he spat, standing up and marching over to her. Tears blinded him and the purple pony became a purple blur. Throttling her, he picked her up by one hoof. “Fix herrrrr” he hissed.

Something was different. He wasn't beginning to transform. Why wasn't he transforming? Maybe it does only work at night, thought Twilight. “I can't.”

“You have to do something!”

“There's nothing I can do.”

Someone from the crowd called out, “That pony needs to be taken to the hospital!” The others murmured in agreement.

Twilight, ignoring the crowd, questioned, “What do you mean before? What happens when she's under a sleep spell?”

“Not here. I'll tell you when we're some place where the truth won't cause a panic.”

“Then we'll have to take her to the hospital.”

The black stallion walked back to his lover, tears still fresh in his eyes, and placed her more gingerly than Twilight would have thought he was capable of on his back. He glared at her, “Not 'we.' You've done enough damage.”

Slumber wandered the hall of her dream. She passed door after door. She stopped to look at one, wooden with pink paint, three bright, cheerful balloons adorning it. The sounds of laughter and music leaked out from inside and enveloped the hall with its pleasure. Soon, she passed it too and continued walking. Some were faded from not having any connection to them in some time and would not open and others, like the one she had just passed, were very bright from recent contact.

The light that illuminated the start of the hall so powerfully before began to fade the further she wandered from it. She had not usually come this far in her dream. Whether it had an end or not, she did not know. The length of the hall was impossibly long, too distant for her to have ever crossed. The iron door at the start of the hall was where she spent the most time when she had this dream, desperately trying to open it and reveal what lay inside, but always to no avail.

Either there or the once-blue-but-now-grey room, where she would talk to her mother. Each door was the entrance to another acquaintance’s soul. Her mother had died years ago. Now the room was empty and bleak, but she still found its allure entrancing. The relics that remained, totems of her mother's thoughts and feelings, brought a sense of peace to Slumber, who lived so much of her life without it, without her. It was a cathartic place for her.

The fact that she was not yet awake bothered her slightly as she roamed the corridor, but she mainly ignored the feeling of growing dread and continued to inspect the doors. She passed a door with a chain strung across the light blue frame in the shape of an 'X'. She knew who this was. This door belonged to the one she hated most, whom she would kill if she ever saw again. With a snort, she turned her snout away and inspected the next door, a light green paint over a light oak body with a landscape design etched on the surface.

“Quite simply, I don't know what's wrong with her. She seems fine, but she just won't wake up. You said that all it was was a 'simple sleep spell?'” Nurse Redheart asked Twilight. The black stallion sat next to “Shut-Eye,” staring dismally at his lover, his heartbeat arrhythmic in fear for her.

“Yeah. I've used it many times before on my assistant, Spike, whenever he refused to go to sleep. I've never had this kind of reaction before.” Twilight explained.

“We don't know what to do. The best I can ask is for you two to just let her rest and see if she recovers on her own. Until then, we can keep her well cared for and hope she gets better.”

“Thank you, nurse.”

“You're welcome. I'll be in my office if you need me.” She turned and walked out the door, her hooves tapping on the sterile clinic floor, the only sound other than Dusk's heavy, ragged breathing. The sheet he leaned over on Slumber's bed had collected all his tears for the past hour. Now, the tears no longer flowed, but his tired, red eyes still held the same mournful gaze, his chest rising and falling rapidly, but not hyperventilating.

Twilight watched, an eternity of waiting, staring at the stallion and his lover, waiting for the right time to bring up her question again. Finally, curiosity seized her mind and she blurted out, “What's happening to her?”

A deep sigh arose from the mountain of a pony. Never taking his sight off the mare in the bed, he answered, “She is a vessel for dreams and time. She can see any pony's dreams and desires from any point in their lives. She even knows when they will die. More importantly, dreams can control her if they are powerful enough. Normally, her mind is warded with many mental barriers, but with her consciousness gone, they will be able to enter this world through her, attracted like ants to honey. If she does not return to us by nightfall, all the dreams and nightmares of this town will come to life.”

“That's amazing,” Twilight gaped.

“Normally, most ponies don't have nightmares, but nightmares are more powerful than dreams. Tonight, everypony will have nightmares, and every night until she returns. I will be able to stop the weaker ones from emerging, but the strongest fears of those in this town will make it through.”

“How do you plan to stop them? I don't see a horn on your head.”

“I'm sorry, Twilight, but I cannot tell you everything. You just need to take my word that I will do my best to keep them from coming through her and into existence. Most importantly, as much I hate to ask it, I need your help. The nightmares will vanish when the pony that dreamed them wakes. However, they can continue to live after this if they possess her. I will need you to help guard her.”

“Okay, I'll help. But first, tell me. Why did my sleep spell make anything different? Shouldn't she just be sleeping normally?”

“When she sleeps naturally, she has control, some way of finding her way back. Being forced into sleep unnaturally rips her focus apart. She will need to find her way back on her own, rather than relying on her own paths.”

“How do you know all this? Has it happened before?”

The stallion paused. “I have never seen it happen. It is just what she told me when we met. It is the reason why she is a wanderer. She destroyed her home when she was just a small filly. They exiled her for it, forbidding her to return.”

“Why do you travel with her if she is so dangerous?”

“Why does anypony do the the things they do? It is the love for another that drives us all. I will always stay with her. Now, go out into the town and make sure no one's nightmares have come to life!”

Startled at the sudden outburst, Twilight reared back for a moment before obeying his order and galloping out into the street. It was still daylight out, so there shouldn't be much trouble for the next couple hours, but she patrolled nonetheless.

The doors began to all become the same to the rambling apparition, a blur of colors in her mind as she wandered aimlessly, lost in thought. She passed them all without seeing them, thinking intensely. Why haven't I woken up yet? I've been wandering for hours. I should have woken up by now. Maybe I should just head back. All she had to do was find her own door to wake up. The mind cannot perceive itself and forced her from sleep whenever she tried to open it. Deciding on this to be the best option, the mare turned around and gasped.

Behind her, where there was once just a single, infinitely long hallway, now lay two halls, going off in different directions at right angles. She turned back around to the direction she had been facing. Again, the hall split apart. Peering down one of the paths revealed another fork. The linear passage had now become an impossible endless maze of doors, each taking her to the mind of any pony she had ever met or seen.

Hours later, the sun finally began to set itself down on the horizon. The inhabitants of the town were now all on their way back to their homes, fleeing the blanket of darkness shrouding the town. Laying themselves down to what they believed to be a peaceful night of sleep, not a one could have any approximation of the appalling scene they would bring forth.

Many fell asleep, not yet dreaming in the early stages of their rest. In under an hour, Dusk shattered the first nightmare to try to enter the physical world. His mind wrapped around the foal's formless fear and twisted until it could do no more. It would be back the next time the child would fall asleep. Jerked from the realm of dreams, a young foal cried out for her mother at the other end of the town at the sudden, rude awakening, frightened also in part by the nightmare.

The first wave of petty nightmares were all crushed before they could coalesce into the physical realm. All these were primal fears, not fully developed in the minds of young foals all over Ponyville. Soon, however, the adults themselves would fall asleep and spew forth more developed, monstrous hallucinations.

As Slumber navigated her dream, she saw something, a small shadow from the corner of her eye. A door was open, revealing the callow environment of a child's mind. How can that be? No one can open these doors but me! She approached the door, a sense of dread filling her stomach. A siren's call whisked away her attention. Down the path a shadowy ball floated, singing. It didn't seem to notice her yet. It's whistles were soothing, relieving the dread moderately as the tune rose in pitch and fell softly. The foreign entity seemed strangely familiar to her. She neared cautiously, trying to make out what the thing was and what it could possibly be doing.

Only feet away, the ball stopped singing. She froze. Despite having no physical form with which to move, the wisps of inky smoke seem to turn around. Whatever it was, it had no eyes; it couldn't possibly see her. A sound like a gasp, but sounding as though it were far away and reaching her ears only by echo, emitted from the gas. Slumber blinked her eyes as if making sure it wasn't a figment of her imagination. Suddenly, the ball lurched forward, hunting for the observer. It passed through her, chilling the very core of the pony, a shiver creeping down her spine. The thing was gone, nowhere to be seen in the hall. The door that was open suddenly slammed itself shut with a bang!

Recognition filled the young mare's eyes. She knew where she had seen such a creature before. It was the night her town was destroyed and she was banished. She gasped at the sudden memory returning to her and galloped down the hollow halls, quickly trying to find her room. I can't let any more get out! The dark blue pony screamed in her head. She had to find her room before one of the thoughts that made it to the physical realm could hijack her mindless being. A door behind her slammed open, but she just galloped faster, barely having time to inspect each door for her own. She passed hundreds of doors in just one minute, racing as fast as her somnolent mind could navigate the endless corridors.

As time flew by, more and more doors swung open with deadly force, the constant booming sounds echoing ahead of the terrified pony, desperately trying to escape the unseen horrors continually gushing from the rooms. The pony could hear the ever-growing horde of nightmares behind her, gathering closer with each heartbeat.

One of the doors on the left sprung open, almost causing the pony to run into it. She expertly jumped to the side, however, as the apparition charged at her. This one was different, possessing a form rather than being a disembodied thought. Successfully ambushing its prey, the beast stumbled for the mare, an ungodly screech puncturing the rabble's racket. Unlike before, when this nightmare touched her, a burning sensation filled the pony's body as if her insides were on fire. She broke out in a cold sweat, paralyzed at the fiery sensation, her conjured lungs gasping for imaginary air.

Another cold sensation broke the paralysis and she bolted from the spot, heart beating at a million miles per hour. The numbness in her legs quickly gave way to pain, electrifying every step the mare took. As she ran, scanning each wall for asylum from her mind, more and more doors burst open ahead of her. Ignoring the heat and the cold, she never stopped galloping, never stopped searching. She could no longer feel the intolerable pain in her appendages. The only thing left in her fragile mind was the image of her room, a dark blue door covered in broken clocks like a badly decorated house.

The uproar behind the pony grew to a deafening height, the rage of the succubus monstrosities hunting her building with every passing moment she eluded them. No longer seeing the doors slamming open in front of her, the blue blur charged, taking random turns, trying to shake the vicious blood-thirsty menagerie from her shoulders.

The abrupt surge in the number of nightmares was astonishing, their quantities tripling in number. Although he did his best to destroy as many as possible, the nightmares grew more powerful with every waking moment, desperate for the freedom of the physical world. There were too many. “Dusk” reached out with dozens of tendrils, his mind stretching to its furthest bounds, straining under the load. How can there possibly be this many ponies in such a small town? Questioned the stallion to himself.

Salt on his tongue from the beads of sweat breaking out all over his body, he collapsed when an unusually fast nightmare slipped through his grasp. Not even realizing that he had been holding his breath, the black being gasped for air, his lungs stale from being held so long. Immediately realizing that more could be trying to get through, he refocused his mind on the task at hoof, a razor-sharp determination slicing through the crowd gathering around the vessel. The first wave of thoughts burst into nothingness, their lights replaced instantly by even more. He could only imagine what was happening to his lover, lost in her dreams, pursued by the monsters of hundreds of ponies' worst dreams.

Out in the street, Twilight turned around at the explosion reverberating through the air. It was not a real explosion, merely a shattering of glass, but to Twilight, it might as well have been a cannon being fired next to her. The window to one of the nearby houses now lay glittering in the darkness lining the cobblestone road. A low growl stopped the purple pony dead in her tracks. She could see the light reflecting off the beast's eyes as it crouched otherwise beyond view in the dark shadows of the building. A second later, it was gone, nowhere to be seen. Looking left and right, the pony could see no sight of what was hiding before her moments ago. She could still hear the growl, fading away in the distance.

The number of nightmares still increased, the pace paying no heed to the efforts of the umbrageous guardian. Now that the night reached to its darkest hour, the older citizens set off to sleep, ignorant to the results of their nightly rituals. The strongest nightmares would begin to rear their hideous faces.

The first door for this new wave of monsters did not open like the others previously. The hinges squealed as the door inched its way into the hall. A dead pony, rotting and falling apart stepped out into the maze. The empty sockets searched for the vessel, unobscured by the darkness that clung to every surface. Here, the original light did not penetrate the darkness. All throughout the maze, the sourceless lamps went out, flickering before giving way to the black. The dark blue pony was enveloped in the pure darkness, blind. In reaction, her horn let out a blue light, a small orb barely visible attached to the tip of the bone, illuminating the path before her in a pale blue light. She did not react fast enough to the new light levels and crashed into the T-junction where the three halls separated.

Her light went out as she staggered to her hooves, the sounds of the monsters undeterred by the darkness still beat at her ears. Before her light flickered back on in the darkness, she could smell the sickening stench of decay. Had she not been asleep, she would have thrown up. The light finally flickered on and she came face to face with the undead pony, staring into her eyes with vacant sockets. The thing opened its mouth, a tooth falling out from rot, its snake-like tongue reaching for her. She reared back, unable to take her eyes off the horror straight from somepony's nightmare. Her hooves slid on the floor as she scrambled, desperately trying to stand up, succeeding only in flailing about on the floor, gasping in a high pitched tone. Pain shot throughout her incarnation with every motion. She flailed even more at this additional stimulus, picturing the lesser horrors having finally caught up to her.

The gangrenous corpse stepped forward, its stiff limbs shambling, unused to movement, heading for the helpless pony writhing on the floor. Down the hall, the sounds of the horde drew ever-closer, raising in volume every second. Regaining a miraculous degree of control over herself, adrenaline pumping, the mare thrust the abomination away telekinetically. It splattered against the wall in a sickening crunch and explosion of gore. She scrambled to her hooves and took off sprinting in the other direction, leaving the flesh to crawl along the floor until it reformed the living corpse, which continued to shamble down an adjacent hall.

This was only the first horror.

Struggling to meet the new demand, Dusk strained to keep his mind focused on all the dreams. Up to this point, they were all defeated with relative ease. Only one had managed to break through his defense and escape into the physical world. Now, however, there was a light in the realm of thoughts and dreams that refused to be extinguished. It was much stronger than the previous lights and was actually fighting back, resisting Dusk's grip. Focusing on this one would give the others an opportunity to break through. Not focusing on it would give it a chance to break his hold. For all he knew, this one nightmare could be far worse than all the others combined.

Back in the street, three more monsters arose from the sleeping minds of the Ponyville citizens and made their gleeful ways outside. Soon, Twilight heard cackling and snarling from many different directions all at once. She spotted one and seized it telekinetically, floating it closer for inspection. The thing seemed flat, almost two dimensional. It had a grainy texture to it, almost like it had its picture taken with an old camera. Not knowing what to do with the creature now that she had it helpless, she did the first thing that came to mind and dashed it against the cobblestone street. The thing exploded in a puff of gray smoke. The pop seemed to displace the atmosphere, bringing it back in for a second subsequent pop.

Dusk was now grappling with three powerful thoughts at once, grinding his teeth and holding his eyes shut tightly. The sweat billowing off his body presently gave the tiny humid room a musky odor. A fourth orb entered the fray and when the tendril's of Dusk's mind neared, it pushed him away. Before the stallion could counter, the thing had won. A powerful nightmare was now somewhere in Ponyville.

Twilight's ears flicked, shifting rapidly to various directions. Something was different. A sound like a fire crackled along the empty streets. An orange light lit a window. The source, an alarming mix of phobias, presented itself as it squeezed out the window and scaled the down to street level. A flaming black-widow spider, easily ten times the size of Twilight herself, screeched at the top of its lungs, sounding almost like the needle had jumped off a record. How it's wailing didn't wake anyone in the adjacent houses, Twilight couldn't even begin to guess.

As it yelled, the arachnid's pincers quivered, thoroughly soaking the street in venom, which in turn caught on fire. Before its target could recover from the sudden attack on her ears, the widow scuttled towards her, leaving a trail of red-hot flame in the air.

Twilight didn't even realize that she was screaming as it raised a sharp, pointed limb into the air with the speed and grace of a machine. In her blind panic, a purple force field appeared around her, narrowly deflecting the spider's attack. Frustrated, the gigantic flaming elemental cried out again, bringing Twilight to wince at such close range, this time like nails on a blackboard. She screamed again, barely managing a “H-Help!” at the end of her overdrawn breath.

Inside, the black earth pony did not hear his assistant's cries for aid, too focused on the task at hoof. Wrangling the essences of such powerful nightmares was difficult enough, and the desperation of the situation did not make it any easier. Lesser thoughts still made their way through constantly with these new distractions. They were pouring out into the streets from the houses. Searching for those not joined in sleep, the creatures scoured the streets in an attempt to find either someone to harm or the vessel that would grant them permanence. They would not attack their dreamers, knowing that if they did, they would cease to exist as soon as the hosts were roused.

That thought brought a mischievous smile to Twilight's face. Letting lose a blinding flash of light, she took off running as the spider cringed and tried to regain its sight. She sprinted to the marketplace from the front door of the hospital, galloping as fast as she could. Her heart pounding at the thought of the flaming nightmare catching up to her. She would have to act quickly before the monstrosities could get to Dusk, and more importantly, to Shut-Eye.

Knocking the door to Sugarcube Corner off its hinges, she shouted, “Pinkie! Get down here now! I need your help and its really, really important!”

As bright and cheery as always, as if she hadn't ever gone to sleep, the cotton-candy colored pony hopped down the stairs, smiling and humming to herself. “Good morning Twilight! Or is it good night? What time is it?” She gasped. “Are you here for a late-night slumber party?! This will be sooo much fun! I-”

“That's right Pinkie, I'm here for a party! I need the biggest, loudest party-throwing machine to announce how awesome it will be! And quickly. The faster I get it, the better!”

Squinting slightly and raising one eyebrow, Pinkie asked, “How did you know about the Party-Orchestrating Noisematron, Yellow edition?”

Twilight paused and the two ponies stared briefly at each other. “It doesn't matter. How does it work?” she prompted curtly.

Returning to normal, the pink pony replied happily, “You just press this button right here!” Grinning broadly, she reached into an adjoining room and pulled out a very large contraption of many colors, mostly yellow. It had a wide variety of instruments decorating it. From trombones to kazoos, from tubas to noisemakers, every instrument she knew, and some Twilight had never seen before, was attached to the organ-piano-sized machine. Pinkie pointed her hoof to a bright green button with three balloons exactly like her cutie mark on it, the words “DON'T PANIC - PARTY” in large, friendly letters on the chassis.

“Great! Thanks, Pinkie.” Twilight hollered back as she wheeled the contraption out of the confectionery, its wheels grinding in protest to the top-heavy load. The streets were filled with all kinds of nightmares now. She spotted the spider again, highlighted against the darkness of the town by its flaming ligaments, as well as the skeleton of a pony wielding a rather large blade, a dark silhouette of another, like a living shadow, a living gas that threatened to smother anything it came in contact with, and a number of other indescribable abominations that the ponies of Ponyville feared. A number of smaller, undeveloped nightmares also followed in pursuit. Attracted to the large, colorful, moving target, the nightmares all gave chase to the little pony, who still pushed her burden to the center of town.

The monsters were all drawing near, to the point Twilight could smell their rancid stenches, consisting primarily of decay, ammonia, and blood. Her stomach heaved as she pressed the button. A number of bright lights flashed on, stunning some of the creatures. The trumpet began the “orchestra,” mechanical lips blowing through the cold metal. As the bleating horn began to die down, the machine appeared to malfunction, the lights turning off and becoming silent once more. Her plan had failed, she would not be able to wake up Ponyville.

The entities of terror surrounded Twilight, prepared for the first kill of the night. Suddenly, the machine sputtered to life all at once, disco lights in all colors shone brightly, like it was daylight again. The music now pumping through the machine was deafening, forcing Twilight to clench her hooves to her ears and lay on the ground, wincing. All the instruments had come to life in a resounding chorus, followed by the same techno beat the DJ had played at the party two nights prior. Feeling like her eardrums would burst, Twilight rose to her hind legs and ran away from the blaring music.

All over town, ponies were rudely ripped from the slumber, although much to their relief. The nightmares from their minds vanished, popping from every direction. The spider, confused and disoriented over the sudden sounds and lights, thrashed violently. As Twilight watched it beat closer, she hoped its dreamer would wake up. She needed the dreamer to wake. It was getting too close!

She had no such luck. The razor-sharp, flaming limb stabbed into her flesh, bringing her off the ground like the filly from the other night. Her breath left her. Time seemed to slow down as her brain tried to comprehend the agony piercing through her chest. She raised her trembling forehooves as if to grab the knifey limb. Thick, red blood poured down it. Her blood.

The spider, still writhing in agony, threw her across the marketplace. Landing bluntly in the fountain, the cold slap of the water chilled by the night sent the poor purple pony even further into shock. Twilight looked up and saw the stone figure of her mentor, Princess Celestia, watching over her. The full moon passed directly overhead, just about to touch the statue's horn, looking as if the spread wings were pulling it in. As the water submerged her body, invading her last working lung, she lost consciousness, fading away into dreams. Or nightmares.

Slumber paused. She turned around in the dark hall, shining her horn like a flashlight. All the creatures had vanished; their doors slammed shut. Confused, but relieved, she took a deep breath and slumped to the floor. A door a little while down the hall slowly opened. It was a purple door covered in stars. Listening to the eerie groan from the hinges, Slumber turned her head. Out stepped a completely black stallion with an even blacker mane. She watched in disbelief as the caricature of her lover stalked closer, keeping to the close wall, barely visible in the darkness. Her horn's light grew weaker as her heart began to beat against her chest faster and faster.

She knew it was not her lover. Something was different. He was different. An unnatural toothy smile lit up across his face. His eyes were totally black, showing no emotion other than delight as they sparkled, thinking of what it would do once it reached the real world. The transformation took less than a second.

Having taken a much needed break from repelling the nightmares, “Dusk” collapsed over his lover, panting as he listened to her breathing. He closed his eyes and relaxed, too relieved from his efforts to question why the onslaught had stopped. The pulsing in his ears prevented him from hearing the parade emanating from the marketplace. Faster than he expected, the final horror sped through the vessel. Dusk straightened up, reaching quickly back through the darkness, but it had already gotten through before he could stop it.

At the fountain, Twilight's head began to pulse with a black aura. From her thoughts emerged the beast that terrorized the town so many nights before. The smokey tendrils poured from her forehead, convalescing just outside the border of the fountain. Several of the nearby houses lit up with new lights, the angry tenants emptying out into the street to inspect the ruckus.

The beast's first course of action was to destroy the source of the earsplitting cacophony. Gears flew across the square and the music ended like the chorus of a dying animal.

Pinkie, wondering what happened to her device, stepped out into the street only half-prepared for the party. She was wearing a party hat and had only partially decorated the bakery. She caught sight of the beast raking its spikes over the large piece of party equipment and immediately turned around, stepping back into the house, muttering, “Nope.”

Sensing something odd, “Dusk” dragged himself off the bed and out of the hospital, peering down the street. Mentally exhausted, he slowly followed the odd sense that something was wrong. His hooves against the stones in the street were the only sound he could hear. He did not realize it, but as he walked, his posture changed. He was walking on two legs, his forehooves began to grow spikes out the bottom. His hair matted and became connate to armor. His waking mind faded to instinct and the pony became monster again, a renewed vigor in its step. It could smell the fake imitative look-alike and hunted for it, enraged at the mockery that it was. The sounds of the spikes that grew from its hooves clinked down the streets, replacing the clopping from moments earlier.

Tears streaming down her face, Slumber finally stood up off the floor of the hall, quaking as if she was just touching the ground for the first time. Disoriented and feeling betrayed, she could still feel the sting where the spikes had reached through her disembodied consciousness and punctured through to reality. The pain of this betrayal was like being forced to give birth as she gave it life. The tears burned as she limped down the hall, continuing the search for the portal to her own mind. She glanced into the room the door had opened from.

It was filled with water, like looking at a fish tank, reaching almost to the ceiling but not flowing out of the room. Looking around, she saw a little filly in an air pocket lying in the fetal position perfectly in the center of the floor. A large number of books floated around, pulled by the swirling tide. Slumber reached out to touch the water, but it was solid like a stone wall. The air bubble was slowly decrementing in size, shrinking as if attached to some kind of clock that was ticking away.

Giving up, the mare persisted in her search, wiping the water from her eyes and examining the next door along this wall. It was her own: A bronze door with dark blue paint on it, covered in broken clocks. She reached out her hoof to turn the doorknob, but stopped herself. She put her hoof back on the ground and went back to the previous room with a sigh.

“You're lucky you're cute, kid.” she whispered to the sleeping filly in the shrinking air bubble. The light on her horn went out, only to be replaced by a new white aura. The air bubble began to grow and the water level depressed away from the ceiling. One minute later, all the water was gone, but the filly did not stir. The mare stepped beyond the threshold and into the room.

The surroundings began to warp, pulsing like a series of drops in a puddle, until the dark blue mare entered the dream. She was standing ankle-deep in water. Glancing around, she recognized the location as the interior as some kind of library. Everything had a clay texture to it, almost like it was from a cartoon. A large black spider with large mandibles hissed in one corner, declaring its territory to the newcomer. The windows showed nothing of the outside, the obsidian color like a paint glazed over the glossy surface. Except for the corner housing the arachnid, the room was fairly well lit, with the light seeming to emanate from nowhere in particular.

It would be difficult to find the dreamer, as dreams are seen from the dreamer's perspective. To the intruder, the host to the party would never be able to show herself to the guests. Only in reflections would the dreamer reveal herself.

“Hello?” Slumber whistled through the air. No response. She was beginning to feel alone, stranded in a dying dream.

A childlike voice cautiously called back, “Who's there?” Slumber felt her spectral form's heart lurch at the pitiful melancholy tone. The voice originated from the upper floor.

Ascending the serpentine staircase, looking around for any evidence where the child may be, she heard a slight whimper from under a bed. “There's no reason to be frightened.” she coaxed the source of the sound. “I'm here to help you.”

“M-Make them go away.” Melting inside at the innocent voice, Slumber inspected the surroundings.

Soothing the voice, “I don't see anything here. Why don't you come on out?”

She heard the patter of tiny hooves from under the bed, gingerly inspecting the floor. Recognition filled the voice, “S-Shut Eye?” it squeaked, hiding under the bed once more.

“Do you know me?”

The voice only chirped again in response, shuffling back under the bedstead.

Pressing further for information, Slumber prompted, “Who are you?”

“T-Twilight Sp-Sp-Sparkle.” stuttered the voice. Now Slumber recognized the library as the one in Ponyville. It was warped to the personal bias of the student, giving it a different appearance than she remembered from the night of the party.

In her weakness and trepidation, Twilight's mind had regressed to her fillyhood. If Slumber was going to make any progress, she would need to bring back Twilight to her full lucidity, rather than hiding behind the mask of a frightened child. Slumber would need to find the root of the fear powering the nightmare. “What are you so afraid of? What is in this house?”

Babbling, the disembodied voice mumbled loudly, with a level of articulation far beyond the years of a filly, “The fear of fear is the first of mortal consciousness. When the end becomes black, the beginning returns to claim all again.” A gasp. “He has taken what is his and seized from us. We need to hide. Hide!” Hissing, the voice warned, “If you don't hide, he'll find you. Then, the demons will not find their way back. They will succeed if you do not hide!”

The level of urgency in the voice brought doubt into Slumber for what she was about to do. “Just look around. There's nothing he-” she saw the water level rising above the staircase. It flowed to her hooves like the tide coming in to the shore. The strange dark liquid was not water anymore. It was abnormally cold and a fine mist floated above the surface. Her eyes could not penetrate the veil and she could no longer see the floor, despite the liquid being less than an inch deep.

The voice under the bed squealed as the numbing fluid reached her. The house began to sway as if it were a boat on the ocean. The water surged out of the hole in the floor where the staircase was, washing the off-balance mare in a wave that brought shivers to her spine before it even touched her coat, which she could feel standing on end.

In a slightly more panicked tone, she hissed at the bed, “Come on! We need to get out.”

“There is no way out.” The voice was pitiful, almost a whine.

Slumber reached back in her mind to remember what was downstairs. She couldn't remember the door to the house being there. There's no way she could check now that the liquid filled the entire first floor, rising to claim the second in a matter of minutes. She needed to think of a plan, and fast.

The beast tore through the streets, once again on all fours, the cobblestones coming loose from their resting places, some shattering under the force of the spikes extending out the bottom of the thing's hooves. It reached the marketplace in moments, eying the insulting look-alike in eyes of pure hatred. It stopped. The other had not yet noticed it. Standing bipedal, it clung to the wall of one of the nearby houses. Bringing a spiked hoof up to the wall with its hind leg, it pounded and the spikes slid in, the hoof now securely anchored to the surface. It did the same with the other hind hoof. Doing so again, it began to scale the wall, facing the duplicate the whole time.

When the creature deemed it had reached a sufficient height, it launched itself perpendicular to the wall, rocketing toward the other in a black blur, leaving a wispy trail in the air. Appearing to sense the original hurtling toward it, the other paused from its conquest of destruction and glanced in the direction of the rocket propelling towards it. Uncomprehending of the sight, it froze in place, like a deer in headlights.

The residents of the surrounding houses all watched in terror from their windows as the titans clashed before them in their once-peaceful town. Their breath brought a fog to their windows in the cold night air. One mother pushed her foal away from the window, whispering hushedly, “Go to bed, sweetling. Everything's fine. Just go back to sleep.” The screaming cry in the street did not soothe the child.

The torrent of stabbing strokes moved in a shadowy blur, the dark mists pouring off the two creating a fog that hid the event from their captivated audience. Every swing, kick, and buck came through instinct. No thought was required to anticipate the enemy's next attack. Each stabbed the other, bit the other, and struck it in any way possible. They did not bleed, the flesh tumbling off the umbral phantasms in rotten chunks. The shooting pain only infuriated each more with every passing second. The roars echoed down the otherwise noiseless square, causing many of the observers to step back from their windows in shock.

The original monster grabbed the other in an embrace almost reminiscent of a hug. Struggling to throttle it in any direction, they were finally taken off balance, tumbling to the ground. The duplicate rolled to the top and kicked off the original, using it as a spring board, spiked hooves digging into its flesh. The abnormal strength of the creature threw it into the air, landing deftly on top of the alicorn statue's head on one knee.

As it was about to pounce again, it took notice of the aroma of fresh blood emanating from below. It looked down and saw a purple pony bleeding out and drowning motionless in the crimson pool below. Something about it attracted the creature's gaze and held it there, a shadow of a thought forming in its mind. It had to do something for the equine in the water, something vital to the duplicate's own survival. But as its primitive mind struggled to figure out what to do, the original pounced and knocked it from its perch.

Tumbling again, the pair rolled around in the water below, the virgin blood washing over them, bathing them. The taste and scent of the dilute ambrosia invaded their senses as they fought harder and more viciously, snarling at each other. Their bout gradually circled the circular fountain and they found themselves fighting on top of the dying faucet of velvety blood.

Understanding now what to do, one of the monstrosities took action. Letting the other bite into its shoulder, the doppelganger kicked one leg in such a fashion as to raise the breathless mare out of the water and onto the edge of the fountain. In a brilliant move of ingenuity, it leaped away from her, dragging the other monster in the opposite direction, ready to continue the fight.

Astonished, the pair of figments took a deep breath, relieved as the arctic water sunk away from the ceiling. Gasping for breath heavily on the ground, Slumber realized something, her eyes growing wide. “The water must be leaving through somewhere! Quick, Twilight, take my hoof and we'll follow it.” She felt an invisible touch grab her extended hoof. Throwing themselves downstairs, she was baffled. The water level was still plummeting, but there was nowhere for it to be going to. No drain, no hole in the wall, no avenue of escape.

“But. I. This... How?!” her grip tightened as she shouted at the empty library, still panting.

The inconspicuous filly let out a gasp. If Slumber could have seen her, she would have known that she was pointing to the far wall. Slumber was just barely able to catch a glimpse of the spider as she searched for whatever caused the child to gasp.

The spider had scuttled behind a very large cocoon in the corner, the same color as the wooden wall. It's head peered back out over the side as its fangs pierced the shell and it began to suck away at whatever was inside.

Slumber winced as a high-pitched wail filled the air, the filly screaming in pain. Instantly figuring out the situation, Slumber levitated the heaviest nearby book she could find and shot it like a cannon at the arachnid, hitting it dead center in the head. The filly quieted down, but still whimpered to herself, lying invisibly on one of the steps.

Enraged, the spider spat venom at the attacker, who grabbed it out of the air with her horn and lobbed it into the thing's numerous beady eyes. Now blind, the black invertebrate gave a high-pitched hiss and cowered behind the cocoon, hoping that the unicorn would go away.

The unseen filly shivered on the steps. “What's in there?” Slumber wondered aloud. Magically severing the strands of spider silk, she simultaneously raked her hooves over the steps, finally finding the grumbling filly. Slumber placed her cautiously across her back and finished her descent down the stairs.

Twilight stirred, mumbling, “Where did it go?”

“It's still there. It's just hiding, like you were.”

“Oh.” An unseen smile of content slid over her face.

At the foot of the stairs, Slumber's horn flared and the cocoon rolled away with a slight brushing sound against the wooden floor. The spider had shrunk tremendously in size. It was now less than half the length of one of the many books adorning the shelves. “Care to do the honors?” A sly half-grin presented itself to Twilight. Or at least Slumber hoped it was to her face and not on the other side.

“Huh?” She wiped the remnants of a tear from her eye. Slumber pointed to one of the nearby books, lying open and waterlogged on one of the desks. “Ohhhh.” Slumber saw a small purple light encase the tome and the book fell on the spider with a satisfying slap. “I feel so much better.”

“So do I, kid.” she responded as the cocoon levitated through the air and set itself down in the center of the room. Her horn began to glow with a pulsing blue aura as she severed the strands to the silky envelope. A small line formed down the shell as she cut it open. Once she was done, the mare extended a hoof and peeled the sticky substance away to reveal what was inside.

A purple unicorn with cutie mark of many stars lay inside, breathing shallowly. It was the fully-grown adult Twilight. The filly over Slumber's back gasped again and disappeared. The body in the cocoon woke up, becoming invisible to the guest as consciousness returned.

The room seemed to illuminate brighter until the two felt like it was daylight out. Even the warm feelings of the sun seemed to come from the windows, now lacking the obsidian cover. The real Twilight would now wake up soon, whenever her last nightmare was vanquished on the outside. Or if it found its way to Slumber. She hoped for the former.

“Mommy, what's going on?” A butterscotch-colored foal, barely able to speak, stepped out from his room.

His father answered, “Now is not the time, son. Stay away from the windows. It's dangerous out there.” A chilling roar shook the window in its frame and the family of three cringed, flattening out to the floor. “And put that light out!” the father rasped to his wife, who turned into her son's room and blew out the candle.

When she came back, she noticed him staring intensely out the window. Her son stood in the other corner. “What is it?”

“Somepony's out there.” he whispered, as if the monsters could hear him from the windowsill. He added, “In the fountain. She looks hurt.”

“Well don't go out, it could be dangerous.”

“They're gone, though. I have to help her. It's what I've been trained to do.” He worked down at the hospital and could at least try to help her injuries, assuming she was still alive.

“Daddy, don't go.” pleaded the foal from the corner.

Ignoring his son, the white pony with the medical cross cutie mark crossed the room and opened the front door, bringing the chill from the night into the tiny home, first aid kit strapped to his back. “I'll be right back. You don't have to worry about me.” He left his wife and son with a smile of confidence, feeling considerably less so on the inside.

His steps down to the fountain proceeded like a dance. Two steps there and pause. Three steps and pause. Finally sauntering the whole way down without any sight of where the creatures had gone, he pulled the pony the rest of the way out of the fountain, spilling some rust-colored water as she hit the ground. Putting his ear up to her chest, he realized she had stopped breathing. She still had a pulse though. She couldn't have stopped breathing for more than two minutes.

Acting as quickly as he could manage, the stallion applied disinfectant and put a cotton pad on her wound. It had punctured one lung and the other had to have been filled with water. Next he applied CPR, opening her mouth to check the airway, which was empty. Drawing a deep breath, he breathed for her and began chest compressions.

Statistics told him that he would probably do nothing, that the success rate for on-site CPR was low. It wouldn't even matter after six minutes, when the brain dies. He continued nonetheless. A minute passed. No change occurred. Two minutes passed. Her heart stopped beating. Preparing to give up, he gave himself one more minute, despite beginning to become light headed.

Miraculously, the pony coughed, her heart and lung recovering from the lapse in performance. The water that had filled one lung poured over her muzzle and she lied still, breathing once more. Somewhat shocked that she had defied the odds, the stallion grinned to himself, breathing a sigh of relief.

Dragging her back to his house quickly but smoothly, on guard for the return of the beasts, he started a fire for the drenched mare in the fireplace and left her sleeping on a rug. He had applied the gauze and now her wound would have to heal. The lung, however, would have to wait until he was sure the monsters would not return. Setting a timer for thirty minutes, he waited, watching over the purple unicorn solemnly, wondering if she had any chance of recovery.

The hulking silhouettes raged on in their unending battle, the new location: Everfree Fields. Dirt and soil flew, debris in a hurricane. Trees tumbled and boulders shattered. War torn, the two monsters no longer resembled their former appearances. Severed body parts lay half buried in the dirt. One no longer had its fore legs and the other was missing a hind leg, a large chunk of shoulder, and a jaw. Their bodies, riddled with holes from where they had been stabbed, began to resemble changelings.

One of them had deliberately shredded its own foreleg, replacing the array of spikes with a long, sword-like appendage. Moonlight illuminated their tattered bodies, but they did not need it. Moving with great swiftness, they propelled themselves over the fields, which now resembled the trench warfare of World War II, including some little gulleys scattered throughout. No grass still grew in the wake of their carnage.

Delivering blow after blow, the kind which would have killed any normal pony, their struggle began to look more like a black, sooty tornado than a fight. Tooth and nail, neither would stop until the other moved no more. As the night dragged on, many of the inhabitants remained too scared to leave their houses, too worried of the shrieking in the distance as the monsters ripped each other to shreds.

Wielding its sword-arm, one of the indistinguishable creatures sliced, blade whistling through the air, to no avail as its target jumped back, lashing in retaliation with a kick. Snarling as the kick impacted its shoulder, it spun, knocking the other off-balance. The upright fighter landed on the ground with a soft thud and kicked off with its hind legs, flipping through the air and landing back on its hooves, their spikes sinking back into the soft earth. Much more nimble without the additional weight of its forelegs, it dashed at a slight curve towards its opponent.

As the grounded foe swung at the umbral bullet, the black silhouette jumped into the air. Unable to rear up onto its one hind leg, the tattered figure that remained on the ground attempted to look upward at the enemy, only to have one spiked hoof rip through the left side of its neck. In a scream of rage rather than agony, it swung blindly with its last attached limb at its recovering adversary, missing by a hair. The attacker jumped back, staring at the monster that shared its form as it tried to crawl in pursuit, leaving the severed remains of its left leg, spine, and hind leg in the dirt, unphased at its losses. Gnashing its teeth and snarling, the mobile head used its sword-arm to inch closer. It swung into the ground and pulled the snarling face through the clods of torn-up soil.

Its target snorted, in something barely resembling a chuckle. Walking calmly over to the head, it deflected the sword with one leg, pinning it to the ground. It raised the other hoof and brought it slamming down into the incapacitated monster's head. The skull crumbled with a crunch and lay still. A soft breeze of warming air blew over the field as the sun peered over the horizon. The form disintegrated into a wispy cloud of gray smoke, an audible pop the only other evidence that something had once occupied the space. In victory, the monster roared at the top of its lungs, piercing the fresh morning air.

Slumber suddenly found herself in the hall again. Twilight's door now stood firmly shut. Twilight's dream had ended. She could have just woken up, meaning that her nightmare had been defeated, or she could be dead, having been killed on the outside. Dusting herself off as she rose from the floor, Slumber shuffled to her own door and turned the nob.

The monster, satisfied with its victory, walked across the field to the mouth of a small cave. Entering, it strode across the hall and laid its body down to the rest of the soft, welcoming bed in the opposing room. As usual, it did not dream of anything but darkness.

~~~~~~~

Returned to its true form, the pony returned to life still in a dreamy state. The light from the sun burned into his retinas and he rubbed them with his hooves. Getting up slowly, he noticed his lover was nowhere to be found. Memory rushed back into the stallion as his eyes grew wide. Breaking off into a sprint, he soon found himself galloping through Ponyville, nearly knocking down several ponies in his wake. He could hear his breath and his heart pounding as he sprinted through the town, his body numb to all other sounds and to the impact his hooves made against the stones lining the street.

The door to the hospital slammed open, startling the few occupants inside. Striding to the room where he last left his lover, time seemed to slow down for the stallion as he slowly pushed open the door with one hoof, his ears deaf to the squeaking from the unoiled hinges. At first, he didn't see her move and assumed the worst. Then, he thought he saw movement and stared, holding his breath, from the doorway. Her chest rose and fell and he breathed a sigh of relief, feeling his legs start to wobble. Still in a daze, he slowly stumbled over to her, his steps barely audible. Remembering all that she meant to him brought tears of joy to his eyes. All the monsters were gone and he could feel that she had returned.

He sat down, bringing his hooves up to her bed. Feeling the movement, the ultramarine figure stirred, taking in a deep, much-needed breath. She turned and blue met red as their eyes locked. She too felt tears swell forth. The mare lurched forward and took the stallion in a firm embrace, her breath ragged. “I was so worried about you.” she gasped into his ear through the tears.

“I was about to say the same.” Neither moved for the longest time, just letting the joy and relief flood the moment as they took it all in. When their tears finally dried, they loosened their grasps, but did not let go. “I love you so much, Slumber.” was the most his tired mind could manage.

“It is with equal force and pleasure that I say the same, Eventide.” A short laugh sprang forth and she brought her muzzle to his, reveling, for she was made whole again.

Across the hall, a purple unicorn with a bandage over her chest observed the couple through her accommodation’s right-side window. Her door ajar, she could hear everything that was said. “Eventide...” She whispered to herself lethargically, a small, devilish grin spreading over her face as plans swarmed in her mind.

Chapter Four: The Road

Chapter 4: The Road

by Lan

Dear Princess Celestia,

I will be going out of town for a little while, following a lead I recently acquired. I expect to be back within a month, but do not worry if I stay longer.

Your faithful student,

Twilight Sparkle

~~~~~~~

Twilight pinned a similar notice to her friends on the front door of her house, leaving with a saddlebag over her back, the inventory consisting of camping supplies and provisions that would last roughly one week. She even brought a couple of books to study from on her sojourn in the Outer Lands. Leaving her assistant, Spike, as custodian of the library, the purple pony departed for Everfree Trail. Reasoning to herself, Since no monsters have been reported in Canterlot, Fillydelphia, or Manehatten, they must have come from the Outer Lands.

Lost in thought, she trotted down the unpaved road, trying to convince herself that she was taking the correct course of action. She spotted a familiar orange mare with a yellow mane and three red apples on her flank waving to a cart from the side of the road, apparently in farewell. She caught Twilight's eye as well and slowly began to walk over to her, detaining the wooden cart with a gesture. “Hi, Applejack.” Twilight greeted cheerfully.

Applejack had a thick Southern accent that did not fail to present itself. “Nice ta see ya, Twi.” She glanced at the saddlebags. “You headed somewhere?”

“I have a lead for the case and I'm going to The Outer Lands.” She continued to hold herself cheerfully, despite putting herself willingly into a dangerous situation. “I should be back in a month, but I may take longer.”

Agape, Applejack was stunned. “That's too dangerous for ya ta go all by yerself. Why don't Ah git all our friends an' we'll go together? We just finished Applebuck Season, so Ah could go with ya.”

“Thanks, Applejack, but I don't need any help. I'm just going to the towns to ask for information.”

“Ya do know this here trail goes through Everfree, righ'?”

“Yeah, but I see ponies using it all the time. I'll be fine, really. I know how to take care of myself.”

“You'll be fine against monsters? Ya don't look like ya have anythin' on ya tha' can stop monsters, Twi.”

“I do have this, though.” she tapped her horn with her hoof, the light click barely audible over the ambient noise radiating from the proximate green ocean that threatened to swallow the landscape in its untamed maw.

Grumbling at her friend's stubbornness, Applejack surrendered. “At leas' let Golden Delicious here accompany ya. At least that way ya won't be alone. If Ah'm not mistaken, he can take ya about half ah the way.”

“Thanks Applejack.”

With a sigh, “It's no problem, Twilight. Ah just wish ya would listen ta reason and not go all by yer lonesome ta those dangerous places.”

“I'll be fine. There's no need to worry. And I'll have your cousin helping me half-way. So I've only got to walk half of Everfree on my own.”

Without another word to arrest her friend, Applejack plodded back to the wagon to talk to Golden Delicious. “This is ma friend, Twilight. Ya don' mind if she goes with ya down Everfree Trail, do ya?”

The brown stallion, having a black mane and three golden apples on his flank, nodded. “It's alrigh' with me.” He had a similar accent, but something was slightly different about it compared to Applejack's. He was pulling a large cart filled with a pungent mulch. Twilight had to hold her breath as she stepped up to the side of the earth pony. She noticed the step-rifle strung across his back, barely not interfering with the wooden yoke. The firearm extended out from underneath his chest, the straps tight across his back. A small wire extended off the device and down his right foreleg to a metal gauntlet on his hoof. Kicking the dirt with this hoof and with enough force would cause the weapon to fire. The magazine was easily accessible via his mouth to swap cartridges.

“Thanks, Golden Delicious.” She extended one hoof. “I'm Twilight Sparkle.”

Shaking her hoof with the strong grip of a farm worker, “Nice to meet ya' Twilight Sparkle. I'm Golden Delicious, but you can jus' call me Golden.”

Laughing, Twilight replied jokingly, “Okay, Delicious. You can just call me Twilight.”

“Heh. I like ya, Sparkle.” He turned his attention back to the orange mare on the side of the road, “See ya, cuz.”

After exchanging farewells, the company of two departed, talking like old friends.

~~~~~~~

The perambulate journey through the forest went slowly, at an easy, relaxing pace that would not tire either wayfarer. The morning sun quickly rose high in the sky and began to descend.

“You've got to be kiddin'! My Applejack did tha'?!” Golden Delicious laughed full-heartedly at the thought.

“Well, it wasn't as bad as it seemed at the time.” Twilight giggled too.

Continuing to laugh at the amusing image in their minds, the two continued along and soon forgot to talk, their minds wandering in thought.

Snapping the silence between them like a stick underhoof, Golden asked, “So, what brings a pony like you out inta tha Everfree Forest?

Suddenly standing up straight, the purple pony took an air of dignity. “I have been asked by Princess Celestia herself to assist in apprehending a serial killer, the perpetrator of at least 4 murders in Ponyville. Recent evidence suggests that I may be able to find the information I'm looking for at whatever town is at the end of Everfree Trail.” She sounded very official and determined.

With a somewhat questioning look of disbelief on his face, the stallion eyed the pony, but did not say a word. Instead, he returned his stare to the road ahead. “If you say so.”

“I do say so. Do you not believe me?”

“What are the odds that you really know a god? Applejack's bad enough, talkin' like she knows tha Princess. Even claimed to be an Element of Harmony! Can ya believe that? An earth pony possessing a magical ability to defeat any foe? Ha!”

“We do know the Princess. And she is an Element. So am I.”

“Yeah, sure ya are.”

“I'm the Princess's number one disciple! I have received lessons in magic directly from her! In person! I also represent the Element of Magic!”

“Uh huh.” His nonchalant disbelief was infuriating. “If yer so great, then why are you the one going on this hunt fer information? If yer so high up in the Court, couldn't ya just get somepony else ta do it for ya?” He wasn't as clueless as Twilight would have suspected a farm pony of being.

“Well, the Princess doesn't exactly know I'm going on this journey. I sent her a message, though.”

“Right, of course.” He rolled his eyes.

Irked, Twilight defended, “I did! She doesn't believe me that this stallion in town is the one who did it. He showed up right after the murders occurred. And another happened when he was nowhere to be found! They came from somewhere and I suspect that it was along this path. The evidence I'm looking for must be at the end.”

“'They?'” the pony quoted.

“Him and some mare. They showed up in town a little over a week ago.”

“Ah. And how do ya know it was them?”

“I just told you!” she was shouting at him now.

Surprisingly, instead of asking another question he gently laughed. “Ya know, yer cute when ya do that.”

Blinking twice in confusion, “What? Do what?”

“You get all worked up like that.” He laughed again. “It's cute when you start grinding your teeth and yer eye twitches.”

“I do not!” she exclaimed, somewhat yelling at the stallion, somewhat at herself for getting so 'worked up.'

The brown earth pony dropped the conversation and chuckled one more time, continuing to pull his burden in the same manner as before. The wheels groaning and the click of the metal gauntlet were the only remaining sounds the two made as they walked. Twilight zoned out, lost in thought. Suddenly, she felt her face grow warm as it turned red.

“You think I'm cute?” she whispered in embarrassment.

He did not respond, only turning his head away to hide the deep blush. “I didn't mean it like tha'. I only meant... Uh...” The stallion lost his train of thought. “Never mind.” Neither talked again until they set up camp, too embarrassed to resume their conversation.

They had to set up camp before it became dark out, as the dangerous creatures came out at night. Some ne'er-do-wells even prowled in the darkness, prepared to strike at any moment at passers-by. Both had brought their own camping supplies and they set up their tents adjacent to one another's beside the road.

Twilight's was made of thick fibers to insulate the interior from the environment, trapping the warmth inside. She had designed it herself and asked her friend, Rarity, to make it for her when all her friends went camping one night. Only even having been used that once, it was very clean and looked like she had recently purchased it. It was a purple tent, matching the color of her coat perfectly.

It magically sprang to life and assembled itself, matching what Twilight had learned in her book on camping to the exact detail described. She did the same for Golden's dark green tent, which had begun wear in some places from too much use. He must travel this road a lot. Twilight thought to herself. That means that he knows what he's doing and we should be safe. When both tents were aligned, the stallion stopped in the side area, unlatching himself from the wagon.

Leaving it where he stood, the brown pony stated, “I'm goin' ta find some decent firewood. I'll be righ' back. In tha meantime, make sure nopony tries to steal anythin' while I'm gone, 'kay?” As Twilight nodded, he turned and walked into the forest, metal clicking against his hoof. Twilight sat in the median of the two tents, listening to the wildlife, its lullaby entrancing. An owl hooted, crickets chirped, and Twilight heard a large number of sounds that she couldn't place with any animal.

Once more, she found her thoughts wandering in the serenity the forest brought. It was strange that she could feel so at peace when she had only ever heard macabre tales about the Everfree from ponies too scared to even enter along Everfree Trail. I don't see what Applejack was so concerned about. I've been in the Everfree Forest before. If I'm just careful and stick to the road, I doubt I will even see any of the creatures that live in the depths of the forest. And besides, I've got Golden Delicious here to help out if need be. Her mind jumped back to what they had exchanged earlier and she blushed again, despite the stallion not even being present, her hot face radiating in the cool air.

Regardless of all she built up in her mind about Everfree being nothing to fear, she flinched when a twig snapped behind her. Darting around, the memory of the battle against the nightmares rising fresh in her head, she could see nothing in the emptiness of the trees. She didn't see one creature capable of snapping a twig. She stood up and carefully stepped forward, as if she was checking the temperature of a pool of water. Leaning her head left and right just beyond the back of the twin tents, she continued to see no movement. Her voice cracked, “H-Hello?”

There was no response. She turned around, a tingling creeping up her spine and sat back down just as another twig snapped. Wasting no time, she jumped around, spinning through the air and startled a large black raven that took flight, seeking the safe haven of the treetops, the pines providing a veil that her eyes could not penetrate at the roof. The raven was gone.

Feeling foolish, she slowly turned around as the silhouette of a pony crossed in front of her in the moonlight. She finally realized that Golden had been gone long enough for the sun to have set and the moon to rise. Worry crossed the young pony's mind as thoughts of what had become of the stallion consumed her, wondering if the figure before her had played some part in his demise. She held her breath, trying not to make a sound, clinging to the protective penumbra of the shadows between the tents. She would have stilled her heart if she could have, just to prevent the thump thump thump that boomed in her ears like drums.

The figure convulsed, spinning its back side to side. Chunks of wood fell off its back and landed in the side of the road between the two tents. “How ya' holdin' up, Twilight? Anything come to tear us ta pieces?” The follow-up chuckle brought breath back to Twilight and she heaved a heavy sigh of relief.

“You scared me to death, standing there like that! I was beginning to think you were dead because you were gone so long.” She stood up and slowly approached Golden's silhouette.

“Aww, ya don't have ta worry over me like tha'. I'm fine, see?” He flexed a muscle, barely visible in the night. “Can ya get my flint and steel from my pack over there?” He motioned towards the tent.

“Sure,” she responded, finding it in the bag with relative ease. She brought it over and presented it to the stallion, beaming for some odd reason, her grin wide and proud.

“Thanks, Twi.” He responded as he sat down and began to strike the two objects together. A spark flew, but nothing happened to the pile of wood. He struck again, only to achieve the same result. “Come on, ya-” he struck again and one of the twigs caught fire. “There we go. Didn't think it would work out fer a second there.” He blew over the flame, spreading it to some of the adjacent twigs. “Now we'll have a nice fire ta keep ourselves warm and ward off all kines a' critters.” The fire was barely far enough apart from the tents to prevent them from catching fire.

The fire lit up the night's air like a lighthouse, beginning to blind the pair with its intensity. The heat was comforting to the couple, and Twilight realized for the first time just how frozen the night was. She didn't want to peel herself away from the fire to lay her body down to rest in the tent beyond. When her eyes adjusted, she found herself staring into the fire, despite the burning on her retinas. The flames danced before her eyes, a performance like no other, made for their eyes alone. As the inferno rose higher into the night sky, burning brighter and warmer than ever, her eyelids became sandbags and soon she found herself unable to continue watching the ballet of fire. Instead, she let it warm her as she closed her eyes and dropped her head, the ground welcoming her.

“Wake up.” A voice rasped quietly, tapping her with a hoof.

“Huh?” she yawned and opened one eyelid. Golden was staring down the path, intensely focused on something hidden in the darkness. Following his gaze, Twilight turned her head. A small band of ponies, wearing some strange clothing, marched towards them. As they moved closer, their equipment became more apparent. The leader of the pack wore a step-rifle around his tan clothing. It looked like the hide of some creature and had been sewn together by hooves without skill, the stitches very distinct along the seams.

The troop of disheveled ponies passed by, giving a wide berth to the fire. Twilight met their forlorn eyes as they walked, looking like they had given up hope long ago, but continued on, keeping pace with the leader. Neither of the campers spoke until the company had drifted out of sight.

Turning her attention back on Golden, she prompted, fatigued from consciousness, “What did you have to wake me for?”

He turned to the exhausted, red-eyed pony, “If they had sensed weakness, such as half er group bein' unprepared an' asleep, they would've attacked.” The serious solemnity of his voice instilled anxiety in the half-awake mare lying by the crackling fire. No longer feeling its warmth, a shiver rolled across her shoulders at the thought of all four attacking them.

“The way I see it, they 'ad no idea how many more were in tha tents and thought it best ta leave us alone.”

“I guess we won't be going to bed then.” Thought Twilight aloud, not realizing the implication until she had already spoken. Quickly withdrawing the sentiment, “I-I mean, -”

“I know whatcha meant.” She blushed, thankful that the orange light would at least mask some of the color spreading over her cheeks. “An' these marauders don' let any others git near 'em, so we shouldn't see any more tanight. You can go inside an' sleep. I'll keep guard. Strange, though, they're usually more 'n than.”

The offer was enticing, the thought of the soft bed away from the “marauders” bringing a longing that tugged at her weary mind. “No, I'll stay with you.” she replied almost reluctantly. She felt a swelling in her chest as she thought of Golden keeping watch over her, protecting her from the horrors of Everfree while she drifted off to sleep. A smile lit up across her face as she closed her eyes and prepared to rest.

“Twilight?” She was already asleep. He paused, waiting for a response that never came. “I'm really glad yer here.” he whispered to her.

~~~~~~~

The morning came without incident as the brilliant sun peeked over the horizon, kissing the trees with a bright orange glow, igniting the morning sky in a festival of color. Weary, the two companions stretched their aching limbs and enjoyed a warm meal together before continuing on their journey. The frosty air, still cool and crisp from the night's chill, became strangely comforting, a foil to the radiant heat of the sun. The scent of pine along the trail mixed perfectly with the air and perfumed the landscape in its euphoric aroma. All the animals of daytime began to wake and soon the hooting of owls gave way to the chirping of birds. It was a perfect morning, instilling peace on the verge of tranquility.

But the forest still remained a dangerous place. The company of two found themselves face-to-face with the remains of another campsite after a few hours of walking. Flies swarmed around the area and the pine scent became masked by a lingering fetor that could only be blood. The charcoal from the fire lay scattered, a charred, white body of a pony or similar creature smoldering in the pit. The array of nearby tents had all collapsed, or been torn down, some even set aflame. Debris from the supplies and rations lay bestrewn like the remnants of a storm. Most of the bodies lay on the ground, riddled with bullets or stab wounds in pools of dried blood. A few seemed almost alive with the sheer quantity of flies gathered on them. Some of the bodies wore a tan hide armor that the pair recognized instantly.

“Marauders...” Twilight wasn't sure if it had been Golden Delicious or her that had said it, but they both knew it to be true. The camp covered the entire road and tiny aggregation was forced to advance, laggardly ambulating amid the residue of the horrors from a conflict long-concluded, occasionally pausing to examine the wreckage. Not one pony had survived the onslaught. Holding her breath as the stench grew worse, Twilight found herself stepping on a horseshoe that matched her hoof perfectly. Anxiety burrowing a pit in her stomach, she rushed to the fringes of the camp and inhaled deeply, a bead of sweat running down her temple. Waiting for her breath to relax, Twilight stood still as her companion pulled his cart through the ruin and presently reached her.

“I guess now we know why there were so few a 'em last nigh'.” He still seemed somewhat tired, as he had hardly slept that night.

Twilight, still worried, “Do you think we'll see any more?” The fear was apparent in her voice.

“Doubt it. Like I said, they don' like other groups a marauders anywhere near 'em.” He waved his hoof in dismissal of the thought. “We should still be careful, though.”

“Agreed.” she heaved, her spirits lifting to relieve the place.

~~~~~~~

“Where are the Marauders from?” Twilight asked curiously, breaking the silence of the past few minutes.

Golden thought for a moment, then rasped, “I'd reckon Tartarus. It's where the blasted things belong.”

“Where do they hide out? I doubt they stay awake all the time, but I don't think they'd stay on the road.” She hoped that he would at least be able to guess at this one.

“They hide up in the trees.” He grunted, not wanting to think much more about them.

“So... What do they do?” It sounded like a question with an obvious answer, but the purple unicorn needed more information. She could at least report some of this to Princess Celestia.

“They steal, kill, and destroy everythin' they can. If they see ya out on tha road, an' their numbers're larger than yers, they'll kill ya. That is, if they don' torture ya firs'.” He developed a grimace as he spoke, clearly agitated at the thought of the ruthless bandits.

Twilight mulled this over for a few moments. “Why doesn't anypony stop them? Is there no guard out here?”

“I don' know anypony fool enough ta try. Besides, they think they're doing good, clearing the path of the monsters that live in Everfree, but it's really jus' a way for 'em ta justify what they do. They claim tha' what they do is jus' tha price a protection.”

“How come they've never attacked you?”

“Did I say that? Nah, I've been robbed a buncha times. They don' always kill. Usually, tha' happens when tha group they've encountered is large enough tha' some a 'em start complainin' about it. I mostly jus' avoid 'em by coverin' my cart an' takin' refuge in tha forest. But, I've lost a fair share of apples to 'em, the greedy swine!” A vein in his neck bulged and he struggled to calm himself down, taking a deep breath. He glared at the path, never taking his eyes off of it for the duration of the conversation.

“What about you? Why are you takin' tha risk and comin' out here?”

“Like I said before, nopony believes me.”

“And that's reason enough ta risk death?”

“Well, no... But if I don't do something, more ponies will die and I will know I could have prevented it. In fact, they'll probably die while I'm gone, but at least this way, there will be less casualty.” She sounded somber now, like she was already mourning those who would die in her absence. “He needs to be gone. And not just from Ponyville; He needs to be gone from all of Equestria, the entire planet even! And her...” Her voice trailed off.

“Who?” he snapped the pony back to reality.

“Huh?” she questioned. “Oh! He brought a mare with him, claiming she was his wife. Apparently, she can bring nightmares to life or something like that and Ponyville was nearly overrun! If it wasn't for me, there would have been too many monsters to handle and...” She trailed off again, not wanting to comprehend the consequences of what her failure might have brought.

~~~~~~~

The sun finally hit midday, but it was not the only body in the sky. The clouds had begun to coalesce and cover much of the sky in a dark hue. It would rain soon, the thought of which was outlandish to the unicorn, who had never experienced unscheduled inclement weather before. A kind of fascination crossed her, and a sense of anticipation she hadn't felt since she was filly. I wonder what kind of weather it will be. It could be a snowstorm! I love those. Continuing to ponder the weather in such a manner, she began to stare at the sky, her demeanor shifting to a more reserved manner.

Raising an eyebrow, Golden gave her a curious look. “Wha's tha matter?”

In a voice barely above a whisper, she muttered, “The weather controls itself...”

Genuinely confused, the earth pony responded, “Why wouldn' it?”

“How could it do that without pegasi moving the clouds?”

“I guess tha wind jus' pushes 'em along.”

“Yeah... I wonder what kind of weather it will be.”

Not missing a beat, he answered, “Looks like rain ta me.”

Defeated at the anticlimactic response, she mumbled, “Oh.” Presently, she inquired,“How long do you think it will be until it rains?”

“Couple a hours.”

Soon, the air grew heavy and humid, the storm preparing itself in a way that Twilight could never have predicted. She could begin to feel the storm closing in, and that was terrifying enough without it arriving on its own schedule. The sky mutated from a cerulean blue to a dark gray, an ambient light casting down over the usually well-lit blanket of trees. The scent of pine began to fail, weighed down by the thin mist permeating the atmosphere. She felt like she was sweating, but remained dry to the touch. She could feel her heart beat faster as she worried about the side-effects of this “unnatural” weather.

The sun faded from view, masked behind the darkening clouds. A flash of light ignited the landscape in a brief burst, the trees becoming white in the intensity. The boom that followed a few seconds later made the poor pony jump out of her skin with a yelp. Her companion politely ignored the outburst and tried not to laugh, but a small chuckle came through anyway. Twilight glared daggers at him, which only made it harder for Golden to stop. She had not expected the thunder to have such a high volume, the kind that she could feel the pressure wave contract her chest. With the next flash of light, she prepared herself, holding her breath and pushing out her chest as much as possible. The boom was not as powerful as she remembered.

The raindrops came a few minutes later, hitting Twilight square on the nose. “Don't you think we should begin to set up camp?” she worried.

“Soon. Tha sun hasn' even set yet.”

“How can you tell? The sky is all one shade of gray.” She scanned the heavens for any sign of the sun and noticed a cloud somewhat brighter than the others, a slight tinge of orange to it. “Oh.” she sighed. “And besides, the clouds are making everything dark. It's practically nighttime already!”

“We'll set up camp in an hour, 'kay? Tha' way, we'll still have some light while we set up an' won' wake up before sunrise.”

“Okay. But what about the rain? I don't think your tent will keep it out.”

“I'll be fine. It won' be the firs' time I slept in my tent in tha rain.”

The rain remained fairly light for the next hour. At last, the duo set up their shelter, not bothering to create a campfire. As the sun's minimal light began to fade away to a further abysmal darkness in the night, where not even the moon shined, Twilight lit up her horn, casting a dim glow that stabbed at the tenebrous gloom. Despite knowing that her companion lay mere feet away, she could not discern him from the shade that surrounded the couple. At last they entered their respective tents, weary from the day's travels. Her tent's thick walls masked his rhythmic breathing, replaced only with silence.

As the sky poured itself on the pair, the heavy roar of rain beating down on the tents, Twilight found herself unable to dream, staring into the penumbra that clung to the canvas like a thick syrup. Sick of her restlessness, she stood up and stepped out of the tent, letting the water rush over her like a river. The initial impact took her breath, letting out a short gasp at the frore waterfall. Her horn became enshrouded in a purple-violet aura, a film that cut away at the night. She sat down at the foot of the road, staring into the pines, ignoring the drops that filled her eyes and nostrils. Despite the thunder in the distance and the roar of the torrential downpour, she felt at peace with the Everfree. She took in a deep breath, breathing in the earthy smells the rain conjured.

She turned to look back at the tents. There her's stood, perfect to every detail, the water sliding down the impenetrable purple exterior. She looked at Golden's tent. Falling apart, the brown fibers obviously gave way to the rain. The inside would have been soaking wet. The flimsy material could not withstand the river pouring down upon it. Sighing at Golden's earlier stubbornness, Twilight lifted herself up and slowly walked to his tent, her hooves digging into the mud, oblivious to the drops that hit her face. She opened up the tent flap in one hoof.

“Golden, are you awake?”

A figure tossed on the cot in the middle of the tent, the light reflecting off the watery stallion. “Yeah.” he mumbled. “What's the problem?”

“The problem is you're getting soaked. I have some extra room in my tent. Why don't you come over to mine. It's dry there.”

“I wouldn't want ta be a bother.” he continued to mumble.

“You wouldn't bother me. I couldn't sleep anyway. And you'll catch a cold if you stay here. Just come over to my tent. I insist. ”

He sat up now, slightly more awake. “Did ya bring an extra bedroll? Mine's all soaked an' muddy an' I wouldn' want ta mess up yers, me bein' all wet.”

“It's fine. I'm soaked too. Come on.” she motioned with a hoof for him to follow her.

A light smile springing to his face at the prospect of a better shelter, “All right, if you insist.” He stood up and made his course outside of the tattered tent and into Twilight's. She was wiping the bedroll off with a cloth before lying down on it. “Thanks.” he said as he followed suit, lying down next to her. It did feel better to be out of the rain. The tapping overhead felt strangely comforting. The tiny tent trapped all the heat in it and was still warm from Twilight's earlier presence. The warmth, dryness were all the shelter he could have asked for. It was far better that he wasn't alone for once.

He repeated, “Thank you for letting me sleep here. It was mighty kind of ya.”

“Thank you for escorting me.” She whispered, and, to both their surprises, gave him a light kiss on the cheek. In the darkness, neither could see the blush on the other's faces.

“Yer quite welcome, M-Miss Sparkle.” he stammered in a moment of abashment.

Giggling, she recalled the banter from when they first met. “I told you to call me Twilight, Mister Delicious.” Much to both their reliefs, he laughed too. “I'm really glad you're here.” She nudged him affectionately.

They talked for the longest time, the rain's roar no barrier to their conversation. Telling jokes and stories lightened the gloomy mood and soon the couple were both dried in the warmth their two bodies generated just sitting there, smiling wholeheartedly. The room began to become slightly humid from the rain, but neither seemed to notice, too lost in their exchange.

Eventually, their minds gave way to their tired bodies and sleep seized them with an iron grip, Twilight's horn leaving only the darkness once more. Her mind swirling with thoughts, of her mission, of the monster, and of Golden, she faded out of awareness and into the sweet embrace of dreams.

~~~~~~~

The morning came in a haze, a thick fog shrouding the scene from the sun's radiant glow. Golden rose first, stretching and preparing breakfast. He opened Twilight's saddlebag and removed some rations and a small pan. Starting a fire, he set down the pan to heat up while he poured in water. While he added the oats, Twilight arose and, smelling the freshly-cooked oatmeal, opened the front flap of her tent. Her hooves sinking into the mud that lingered from after the rain, she approached the fire, still somewhat sleepy.

After exchanging pleasantries, the two devoured the collation, leaving the pan without a morsel. After a brief rest, Twilight took down the campsite in seconds, every piece telekinetically folding itself up and stowing itself away.

As they continued down the Everfree Trail, the fog leaving them with a wet chill as they walked, the pair stumbled across an unexpected sight that worried them both to the core. A series giant footprints, easily six feet across each, crossed the trail. It was obviously that of a large predator, with talons at the tips of the toes, that had strode over the road while muddy from the rain. The imprint was pressed in a good four inches. They almost didn't see it, the fog obscuring their vision.

“Whatever creature made this must have weighed tons...” Twilight theorized at the sight of it. “Do you know of anything that could have made a print this large?”

“Nothin'” he stated, mouth hanging open in shock. “How could somethin' this large move unseen in a forest? It mus' knock down all the trees in its path, but they're all still standin'.”

“I don't know, but I think we should keep going. It might be trying to set this up as its territory and kill everything in sight.” Her voice projected worry with every syllable. “Though, luckily, the fog will muddle our scents and it won't be able to smell us.”

Golden nodded in agreement, the group circling around the enormous print and continuing on their journey, albeit with a fair hind of caution in every step. The mud trying to take their hooves off their legs in some places, the pair traveled at a slower pace than usual.

The rest was an uneventful experience; they only met a few other travelers, all of whom seemed very pleasant and amiable. Presently, the fog lifted and the serpentine trail revealed itself, snaking through the Everfree. The sky was mostly clear of clouds, the blazing sun unhindered by their shrouding cloak. The celestial body crawled across the sky, slowly drying the land. Golden's heavy cart no longer sinking into the ground, their progress returned to normal only a few hours before sunset.

A display of brilliant autumn color shading across the sky once more, this night would be their last together. An offshoot of Everfree Trail appeared on the right side with a sign that read Sunshine Farms. Deciding to stay with his companion for one final night, Golden suggested setting up camp early at the intersection. Surprisingly, no one passed them along the trail after that. The brilliant, glowing moon ascended and the couple had the stars all to themselves, stargazing with each other in utter tranquility, the crickets chirping in the distance.

“And that one is Sagittarius” A purple hoof extended, pointing towards the constellation, drawing it out on the sky. “Those are his legs... and those make up his bow.” They lay upside down in the grass, their crows meeting. Twilight's horn barely missed his head, extending slightly into his field of view, but not enough to block the sky.

Whispering, “I see it.” Golden replied, stunned at her textbook knowledge of astronomy.

“And there is Centaurus” She connected the dots again.

“Wow. How many are there?”

Smiling, “Stars or constellations?”

“Uh... Stars, I guess.”

“Some say there are an infinite number of stars, all glowing brightly, but some not enough for their light to reach us. In the vastness of space, it's hard to know for certain. Even the stars have their own lives, dying out and no longer shining. We can still see the light of dead stars, just now making their way to Equestria after their eons-long journey. It proves that even dead things are beautiful.”

“Yeah.” For a brief moment, his accent disappeared and he seemed lost in though as he spoke aloud. “Do you ever worry about dying? Death I mean. Like, what happens to your consciousness when your body is gone? If there really is a life beyond death, then there's nothing to fear in dying. If there is nothing, it makes life on this world so much more meaningful. Either way, I think we should always live our lives to the fullest.” The moment of strange articulation ended. “Wha' do you think?”

“What you said makes sense to me. We do know there is magic in the world. Princess Celestia is an immortal goddess! If there is a divine power out there capable of creation, I'm sure every living thing would be granted eternity.”

Together lost in thought, the two fell silent, staring at the skies and wondering to themselves. When their eyes could barely hold themselves open, they whispered in perfect synchronicity, “I'm really glad you're here.”

They fell asleep together in the grass, forgetting to go return to the tents. In complete comfort with each other, it never even bothered them when they woke up the next morning covered in the fresh dew of dawn.

~~~~~~~

“Goodbye, Golden. Thank you for escorting me.” Twilight spoke through a hug, not wanting to let go.

“The pleasure was all mine, Miss Sparkle.” Golden replied, a deep smile on his face and an ache in his heart.

“I told you to call me Twilight.” She laughed weakly, still in his embrace.

“Goodbye, Twilight. Thank you for being escorted.”

“The pleasure was all mine, Mister Delicious.” She laughed again.

Finally, they let go of each other, a tear in each of their eyes. Golden hooked his yoke back up to the wagon and slowly walked away, the groaning of the wheels his only company. Twilight picked back up her saddlebag and drifted in the other direction, her hooves dragging in the dirt. The bittersweet tinge left a sour taste in her mouth, one that she wouldn't have given up for the world. Except she would have to, for Ponyville's safety.

There was still a long way to go. It would take a whole week to traverse the Everfree Trail and this was only day four. She met a farmer coming out of the town, a member of the Apple Family, headed to Sunshine Farms who knew Golden. She talked to the old stallion only briefly before continuing to whatever lay at the end of the trail, asking him also about the gigantic tracks she and Golden had seen earlier. He too did not know what could have made them.

That night, when she set up camp by herself, was the loneliest Twilight had ever experienced, now too used to the sound of another's breath. Without the company, she felt like she was all alone in the world, a straggler out of touch with everyone else. Everything seemed to depress her, even the chirping of the many colorful birds in the trees that had seemed so serene and uplifting only two nights ago. Shivering in the cold, icy clasp of night, morning could not come soon enough.

When it finally did, she was not hungry and simply packed everything up with a sigh before resuming her path. Two more days and I'll be done with this road. Looking up at the sky, she saw a gathering storm in the distance. It would rain again. Twilight could not guess when the storm would arrive, or what kind it would be, having no experience in meteorology. Suddenly, a flurry of black motion raised into the sky on her left. A murder of crows, all cawing viciously, scattered from a region miles away, all breaking from an unseen antagonist. A dull, unearthly roar followed moments later, stopping the unicorn in her tracks to gaze into the veiling cope of trees, her eyes unable to penetrate into the unseen abyss.

Somewhere between a trot and a fast walk, Twilight continued down the road, a renewed vigor in her legs propelling her to the destination at the end of the road. Her heart beat furiously at her ribs, trying to make her legs move faster as she tore into a gallop, picturing in her mind what could have made the sound. An hour later, exhausted, the purple pony collapsed under a tree just as the sun reached its zenith. Panting hard, a hammer beating at her insides, she stretched out and heard a series of distinct metal clicks. “No sudden moves.”

She sat up and came face-to-face with a step-rifle pointed at her from the top of the tree, just barely poking out of the branches. “Leave behind yer bags and git!” the voice spat, masked behind the pine needles. “Before I start shootin'!” it rasped.

Gasping, Twilight moved her shakey hooves to unclasp the bags from her pulsing waist, fumbling twice before it opened. “Now, move!” She got to her feet and stumbled back into the road. She glanced back up into the tree, pausing for a moment. The gun fired as the wielder kicked on metallic hoof against the tree.

The dirt exploded at her hooves as the bullet tore into the soil, spraying her with a brown mist that invaded her nostrils with the scent of gunpowder, metal, and earth. Startled, she reared back, pulling the leg closest to the miniature explosion up to her chest. “Move!” the voice shouted.

She galloped away, sprinting until the tree was out of sight. Now she had no food, camping equipment, and no one to share the misery with. She slowed, returning to a slow shuffle before collapsing in the middle of the road, sobbing in a mix of self-pity and fury at herself for being robbed by Marauders.

She took shelter in the trees when the rain arrived, climbing up the thistle and resting on the pine's numerous limbs, her muzzle buried in her hooves. There was a slight booming sound in the distance that she would have dismissed as thunder if it wasn't so rhythmic. The tree began to quiver at each clap and bringing a queasy sensation to her stomach.

Feeling too unstable, she shifted her body, shimmying down the branches until she was lower down and unable to experience the full force of the metrical shaking. As the sound became less distant and the tree shook even more, she stepped out of the branches, pricking herself with pine needles from all directions. Looking around for the source, she saw a strange shape striding toward her over the road, somewhat obscured by the rain.

Standing fifteen feet tall and forty feet long, the giant reptile scanned the landscape for prey. A small motion parallel to the ground. Turning its gaze upon the anomaly, it spotted a purple blur amidst the rain, its eyes too poor to see any kind of form through the darkness.

Unable to believe her eyes, Twilight stood before a massive dinosaur, her mind reverting to a clinical state in defense of the unbelievable. It must be an Allosaur – it's too small and its arms are too big to be a Tyrannosaur. That would explain why there weren't any destroyed trees – it's used to maneuvering through forests. But it shouldn't even be here! Dinosaurs went extinct thousands of years ago! Well, I shouldn't be so surprised, I did travel through time after all. She recalled the mishap with the spell that sent her temporarily back in time to a younger version of herself.

Lost in thought, the pony stood her ground as the creature pounded closer. Upon realizing that the blur was indeed edible, it gave an earsplitting roar that snapped the frightened pony back into reality. Spittle flew from the gaping maw, now only twenty feet away, the splatter coating her head in the slime. She lost all control of her legs, paralyzed.

It can't see you if you don't move. Her mind froze. Wait. That theory was disproved ages ago! Move legs, move! Her legs did not move away, but merely trembled, sending butterflies into the mare's stomach. She felt lightheaded as the blood drained from her skull and into her limbs, the adrenaline pumping and getting ready to flee. The Allosaur closed its jowls, staring hungrily at the tiny pony. It would be easy prey.

When its first clawed foot came crashing down to resume advancing on the statue, it yelped and became a purple blur again, bolting from the spot and spraying mud away from where she previously stood. Twilight's legs moved expeditiously in response, her heart pounding to pump enough blood to her already-weary limbs. The only avenue of escape would be the road; she did not possess the time to maneuver through the woodlands, especially with the precipitation adumbrating her vision.

As she galloped, she could not feel the Allosaur's steps anymore, the impulse from her own hooves counteracting the shockwave. Lightning flashed, immediately proceeded by thunder so deafening that she felt a dull ringing in her ears as her eyes teared up from the pain. The lightning had struck one of the trees a hundred feet away, the beginnings of a conflagration forming there.

Twilight continued to run, faster than she had ever needed to in her life. The Allosaur never seemed far behind, almost matching her speed. The pony galloped and slowly increased the gap between the two of them. She could feel her hooves beginning to slip on the rain-slick soil.

The three-ton monster had no such difficulty, the giant pads on its feet and its claws gave it enough traction. The gap began to close, the dinosaur less than thirty feet away. The rain now filled Twilight's eyes, rendering her effectively blind to her path. A rock appeared in her path. Tripping over it, she landed face-first in the compact soil of the road.

Flailing her limbs, she managed to turn over onto her back and wipe the water out of her eyes. The monster stopped, now less than ten feet away and roared once more. Time slowed as Twilight thought her head would split from the deafening cry. She almost lost consciousness as it closed its mouth and eyed her greedily, growing more faint by the moment.

Another boom, neither thunder nor footstep, ripped through the air, preceded by a brief flash of light. The monster reared back, apparently in pain, as blood leaked out a tiny hole in its neck. Somepony fired a step-rifle, Twilight gasped in thought. The first shot was followed by a flurry of bullets, tearing through the air at the uncomprehending target. She managed to turn her head around.

“Marauders,” she whispered in anger and relief. Unbeknownst to her, one of them wore a saddlebag over his back. Scrambling to her hooves, she hopped thrashingly in a rush to get behind the armed squad.

Alarmed at the sudden scattering of bullet-holes across its body, the hulking beast fled, returning the way it came. “Kill it!” several of the armored ponies cried out in unison.

Ululating, they pursued the prehistoric monster, stomping after it. Not knowing what else to do, Twilight galloped after the band of cutthroats.

One minute later, the beast stopped, his path trammeled in the wake of the conflagration. Several pines had felled, blocking the road in a wall of fire. Left and right, the flames spread across the trees, unhampered by the showering sky. The road leading back to the screaming ponies brandishing firearms became the only means of escape, a peninsula in an ocean of flame. The trees crackled as their trunks slip, sending sparks out into the road, decorating the edges in a glowing orange paint.

With their target cornered, the group stopped, screaming at it, and begun kicking the dirt. As bullets ripped through flesh and bone, the creature roared in pain. Its torso filling with metal shards, the Allosaur charged forward. The overconfident group of Marauders stood their ground, kicking harder and harder at the dirt. The storm of bullets mimicked the surrounding storm of rain, filling the air with their barrage. It was not enough to stop the monster.

Twilight could barely stand to watch as one massive leg stomped down on one of the ponies, a sickening crunch competing with the splatter of raindrops and firing of bullets. Blood sprayed in all directions as the lower half of the Marauder separated from the upper half, mixing with the muddy water in the imprint of the colossal foot. She could not even hear his screams with the other step-rifles firing in such close proximity.

The monster didn't even bother to give this dying pony a quick demise. It lay on the ground, screaming and rolling, its intestines lying outside its body, the purple unicorn barely able to take her eyes of the stallion. A mix of emotions poured through her: anger, relief, sadness, pity. But it was curiosity that brought her gaze back to the dying Marauder. Something big and shiny reflected the moonlight through the rain. His step-rifle was untouched.

Giving quick glances to the Marauders that were still alive, she made her move. Lurching forward quickly, she reached the writhing half-pony in a matter of seconds. It saw her and began to punch with its remaining blood-soaked forelegs. Ignoring his pitiful efforts to keep her at bay, she kicked his head, bringing an unconsciousness that he would never wake from. Unclasping the step-rifle proved to be difficult, as the blood mixed with the rain and mud, making it slick to the touch. At last, she managed to unhook it and pulled the bloody contraption over the stallion's head. Acting quickly, she strapped it to herself, the unfamiliar metal body cold against her chest, even colder than the rain.

Rarity would have a fit if she saw me this messy, she amused, covered in mud and the remains of a dying pony. In the darkness, she could hardly distinguish the bodily fluid from the earthy mixture. She did not let herself think about the blood, only what she was about to do. Standing behind the group, she watched as the monster took down several more, crushing and ripping with its massive claws.

As she watched the loathsome figures fight the prehistoric monstrosity in the moonlight rainstorm, she noticed that one of them still had her saddlebags. She circled around behind this one and waited from a safe distance. The firefight did not last much longer. The Allosaur reduced them to more than half their original number, leaving a crimson glean to the dirt road. Parts of the Marauders lay strewn throughout the battlefield.

Bones, armor, and bullet cases gathered in the amalgamation of fluids. Finally, the Allosaur began to slow, its scaly skin riddled with holes and doused with blood. It crushed one more screaming Marauder and did not take another step, but the Marauders did not slow their gunfire. The motionless target collapsed, the ground shaking on impact. The band whooped and danced wildly, congratulating each other.

“Stop right there.” The feminine voice punctured through the air, catching their attention immediately. The unicorn had fully equipped the gun and had the muzzle pointed directly at the one wearing her saddlebags. The group of four turned and laughed, all pointing their step-rifles back at her in turn.

Twilight grinned sadistically as her horn began to glow, the familiar humming returning to her head as she gripped the rifles in her mind, tearing them from the cachinnating bodies, much to their surprise. Cutting their laughter short, the four glared at her.

“How in Tartarus did she do tha'?” one hissed.

“Look, she's a damned unicorn! Tha's how, blockhead.” another replied.

“Even so, I've never known a unicorn tha' powerful!”

Interrupting, Twilight exclaimed, “Enough! You there -” she motioned to the gray stallion with the saddlebags. She mimicked him, “Leave yer bags an' git!”

A look of disgust crossed his face, barely discernible in the light. “Fuck you, girly.”

No room for remorse in her soul, “You got it.” She kicked the dirt and the stallion collapsed, a bullet in his skull. She had aimed for the dirt like he had done to her, but she had missed her mark, having never used a step-rifle in her life. Masking the startled look on her face, she declared bravely, if not somewhat stunned, “A-And the rest of you had better give me what you got, too.” The rain hid the tear that fell from her eye.

“We'd betta listen' ta her, boss. She's dead accurate.” one of them whispered, a dark green pony.

“Fine,” the black stallion grimaced, displeased at the losses of the night, further fueled at being held up by a mare. “But you'd betta be careful the nex' time we see ya on the road.”

Twilight did not say another word, holding her breath while the three set down all their supplies. She shifted to one side of the road. “N-Now, git!” The trio glared daggers at the unicorn as they trudged back up the road. She did not move until they were out of sight.

Her legs gave way and the purple pony collapsed to the ground, hyperventilating. Tears flowed down her face in a river, but she could not tell in the rain. I've killed somepony! Oh Celestia, what have I done?! I've killed somepony. She crawled back into the asylum in the trees. Unable to control herself and further, her sobbing perforated the rain, breaking the splatters with tears. Her chest felt like it would burst, a red pain searing through it as she couldn't draw enough breath.

Eternity dragged on, her tears seeming to outweigh her body. She passed out several times, hyperventilating again the instant she woke up. At last, morning came and she found her tearducts unable to cry, all dried up. The storm lessened, but a light rain persisted, plummeting down from the heavens and washing away the blood and cleaning the dead. The stench of death had yet to permeate the region in its foul fetor.

Her legs trembling, Twilight slowly rose from her muddy bed, her entire lower body covered in a brown crust. She stumbled over to the saddlebags and threw them over her back, clasping them in place. Quickly scavenging the rest of the dropped goods, her breath ragged every moment, she added some rations and camping supplies to her inventory. She hadn't believed it possible to feel more alone than the previous night. Now she knew better.

~~~~~~~

The sky finally cleared, the sun's light finally unshielded, bringing a glimmer to the drops still on the pines. The birds began to chirp and everything returned to normal in Everfree. All except the single creature trudging through the trail, a purple figure covered in mud, falling apart as it stumbled along the road.

A sign appeared, Welcome to Nightshade.

Chapter Five: The Arcane Huntsman

Chapter 5: The Arcane Huntsman

by Lan

The town of Nightshade fit its name perfectly. Despite the bright day, a dark gloom hung over the town, a kind of gloom implacable to the eye. The layout was a haphazard mayhem, with seemingly no plan. Each building was made out of gray stone blocks, solidifying the eternal foreboding quality. The inhabitants themselves dredged through the narrow streets in quiet solitude. Nebulous shadows clung to the tightly-knit buildings, revealing little of the brightness that beat at them from above.

To the untrained eye, every building would have appeared identical, sharing a similar Gothic design on each. The buildings themselves were all very tall, almost all of them being four floors in height. The wooden doors, shutters, and balconies would have complemented the stones walls and streets if not for the low light levels. Dim fires glowed through several doors and windows, barely visible in the streets, which received only ambient light through the towering structures.

Several buildings held various professions and crafts, as well as their corresponding guilds. The town had a blacksmith, tailor, bakery, and many more specialties. But none held any excitement in their eyes for their businesses. Every pony held a deadpan stare, their clopping hooves filling the air with a slow patter that resonated with the mood.

The inhabitants, however, did not review their town in such a manner as guests. To them, it was quaint, pleasant, and peacefully quiet. All those ponies in the street did not appear depressed, but nor did they appear content. Each simply went about their daily lives with the little fervor required in such a place.

Twilight was somewhat surprised to see that many of the adult denizens held no cutie marks, but was too preoccupied with finding someplace to rest to ask anypony about it, having not stopped walking since, what she now referred to in her own mind as, “the incident.” A wooden sign hung over the doorway that she almost missed in the murk, depicting a bed and a moon.

Pushing the squeaky dry-rotten gateway with a single hoof, she shuffled in, almost emulating the resident's pace. The entrance was not very big, only about ten feet wide and twelve feet long. On the right was a wooden counter, behind which stood a dirty-white pegasus with a bored look on its face, looking over the register before her. The entrance opened up to a much larger lobby, aligned with many plush recliners and couches around a lit fireplace. Every piece of furniture was made of wood with dark red cushions, probably never cleaned in their career at the hostel. A rug adorned the floor, a large red carpet that spanned to exactly two feet from each wall, an intricate golden design around the edges. It, too, appeared to never have been cleaned, except for the occasional broom. Just like the town, an odd, ethereal darkness clung to the corners, almost out of a poem or story, giving a strange, welcoming impression to the otherwise inhospitable hospice. Twilight hardly noticed in her stupor.

The receptionist gave her a blank stare as she turned her head to meet the incoming unicorn. In a nasal voice that resonated with boredom and repetition, she said in monotone, “Welcome to Shade-Inn. How may I help you today?”

“Is there vacancy?”

Rather rudely, “Look around. Do ya see anypony? We've got vacancy like a dog's got fleas.” She paused briefly, taking in a breath that sounded almost like a sigh. “Room's four bits a night. How many nights will you be staying?”

Rather lazily, Twilight responded, “I'm not sure. Here's four bits for the first night.” She scooped out the bits from a side pocket on her saddlebags, levitating the glittering coins out of her hoof and onto the counter, a soft clack sounded for each one against the wood.

“Mm hm,” the receptionist hummed. “Just a sec.” Indolently, the pegasus turned around, slowly extending a hoof and reaching for a key, fastened to a thick string, that read 03. “You'll be staying in room three up the stairs on your right.” She dropped the key on the counter, where the bits had been, letting the brass thud against the rough wood surface.

Still in a state of shock, albeit mild, the unkempt purple pony dragged herself up the stairs and to the room. Consistent with the state of the lobby, the room was fairly dirty, subjected to irregular light cleanings. There was one bed, crimson in color, one splintery, wooden chair, a small wood desk, and a wooden drawer. The exhausted pony barely managed to kick the door shut on her way in before collapsing on the bed, a musky smell pervading her lungs. Ignoring the odor, she closed her eyes as the world faded to black.

~~~~~~~

The morning arrived swiftly, but it was impossible to tell within the room. Twilight woke up and opened one grungy window, unsure of the hour, to find that the sun had already risen over the horizon. She had slept for twelve hours.

Groggy, she opened the door and descended the creaky staircase, making her way to the receptionist, an orange earth pony that shared the same demeanor as the previous afternoon's pegasus. He was reading the local newspaper, The Daily Poison, opened to about halfway through. She approached and cleared her throat, prompting, “Excuse me? Sir?” he lowered his newspaper, returning a blank stare.

“What?” His accent was the same as the pegasus.

“Where can I go for breakfast?”

Curtly, he grunted, “Smiley's cafe is down the street.”

She thanked him and followed his brief directions. Outside, the sky was hardly visible in the agglomerate of obstructing buildings. She walked to the end of the street, the only pony outside at the early hour, her hooves clopping rhythmically against the cobblestone streets. She stopped at a door with a jutting wooden sign, carved with a smiley face. She pulled open the door, slightly worried that it might fall off its hinges as it whined in protest.

Inside the cafe were only two other patrons and yet another sullen pony behind the counter on the right. Despite the cheerful name, the restaurant was just as gloomy as anywhere else. Passing the grid of tables on the left, Twilight stepped to the middle of the counter and read the menu on the wall:

Entrees:

Oats

“Uhh...” she mumbled, wondering if the sign was a mistake or a joke.

The dark green pony behind the counter rolled her eyes. “Do you want to order something?”

“Can I have-”

“No.” she interrupted.

“But-”

“No.”

“Okay.”

“Do you want to order something?” she repeated.

“I'll have-”

“Got it.” she turned her head to the back and yelled, “Hey! One order!”

A voice replied, shouting, “Two minutes!”

“Two minutes.” she told Twilight, as if the purple pony was deaf.

Glancing around after paying the mare in advance, the purple unicorn noticed that the only two ponies weren't eating anything. She turned back to the green pony and asked, “What are they doing?”

“How should I know? You go ask 'em.”

Rolling her eyes, she turned away from the counter and walked over the the pair, both dark gray in color. She watched them for a bit as they did nothing. They simply stared down at the table, thinking to themselves. “Is this what qualifies for fun around here?” she asked to break the silence.

“What...?” the one on the left drearily replied, the stench of alcohol and dirt wafting over the the unicorn, who barely stifled a gag.

The pony on the other side of the table looked up, revealing a pair of bloodshot eyes that looked tiredly at his companion. “She said 'What do we do for fun around here.' Can'tcha hear or are ya deaf now too?” He turned to address the querier. “Nothin.”

“Nothing?” She questioned in disbelief.

The drunk one replied, “There's the bar downtown.” before dropping his head to the table with a loud smack that made Twilight wince.

“Eh, don't listen ta him. There's plenty ta do. If you like...” he made a quick thrusting motion with his groin, a wicked grin appearing over his face as he winked at the unicorn.

Saying no more, Twilight, clearly startled, turned around and walked quickly back to the counter, sitting down on a stool, a red flush over her muzzle. She heard laughing and some unintelligible comment behind her, but did not turn around.

“Here you go.” A bowl of cold oatmeal slid over the counter, stopping perfectly in front her. Twilight finished her meal and briskly walked out the door, barely muttering a “Thanks.” under her breath as she stepped outside. The oatmeal had done nothing to help the cool morning air from chilling her to the bone as she walked around the town.

Exploring, she drifted unknowingly towards the bar the pony in the cafe had mentioned. As she walked, she became vaguely aware of a loud noise emanating from somewhere nearby. As she drew closer, she realized it was a great many ponies all talking at once, nearly having to shout over the noise every other pony was making. A sign appeared over the door to the vociferous establishment, a martini glass etched into the wood.

Maybe somepony here will know something... she pondered to herself before entering. The night had ended and the day had begun, but the assembly had not slowed down in their clangor or jest since it had begun many hours prior. As Twilight opened the door, a fetor so powerful as to make the drunk stallion's breath from earlier seem like roses bombarded her unprepared nostrils. The interior was mostly wooden, with a great many ponies, mostly stallions, crammed into the small space. This was the happiest she had ever seen the residents. She spotted several with mugs of beer or other alcoholic drinks as their cutie marks.

They barely even took notice of her, except for the few nearby the door. She could barely hear herself think over the brouhaha in the one-room building. One of the nearby stallions was talking to her, obviously thinking of himself as suave in his drunkenness, but she could not hear what he was saying. She turned to another, who was simply staring at her as if he had never seen a mare in his life. “I'm looking for some information.” she shouted. He seemed unfazed. “I said, 'I'M LOOKING FOR INFORMATION.'” She was screaming, barely able to hear herself.

“WHAT KIND?” he screamed back, mimicking her tone.

“HAVE YOU HEARD OF ANYPONY NAMED EVENTIDE?” Several of the nearby stallions who overheard her question stopped talking and turned to her. One, a black earth pony wearing a white fedora, pushed aside the stallion she had been talking to with one hoof, stepping in front of him.

He gave her a questioning look, dipping his head close to her ears. “What do you know of him?” A slight sneer appeared on his face as he looked in her eyes, doubting that she would have the information he sought.

“Not much, that's why I'm here.”

The stallion, visibly annoyed at her response, growled, “I mean, did you see him? Do you know where he is?” He sounded almost desperate.

“Yes.”

With startling promptness, he lashed out, grasping her tightly by one shoulder, “Where. Is. He?” Twilight, expecting his breath to be similar to the pony from the cafe, took a deep breath as his head came less than an inch from her horn.

“Ponyville.” she gasped as he tightened his grip.

“Where the fuck is Ponyville? The fuck kind of name is that for a town?”

Answering his first question, “It's on the other side of Everfree Forest, just down Everfree Trail.” Much to her astonishment, his grip somehow tightened further, a burning pain shooting down her shoulder, causing her to pull the leg off the ground, recoiling.

“You've got to be fuckin' kidding me.” he threw her backwards, turning to some of his associates in the corner by the door. They grew wide-eyed and hurried out the door, followed by the black stallion in the white hat.

Still recovering from the invisible laceration, she hobbled out of the tavern in pursuit of the group. “Wait!” He turned and looked at her briefly before snorting and turning his head back down the street, towards his associates.

“What is it?” he asked as he resumed his march.

“What is he? What are you going to do? How do you know him?”

“I don't have time to answer your questions, girly.”

The last word of his sentence sent waves of anger over the purple mare, her pupils dilating as pure rage flooded her being. Images of the Marauders and the trail filled her mind. “You have time to answer my questions if I say you do!” Her horn began to glow and the black stallion found himself being lifted into the air, turned around, and placed before the furious unicorn. “And don't call me 'girly.' Or else.”

Feigning unconcern, “Yeah right, like you've ever killed anypony, girly.”

A vein bulged on her face, her snarl becoming impossibly large. The glowing force-field around the stallion began to compress, crumpling his hat first, before he began to gasp for air. Fear took him, but he could not speak to yield to the livid assailant. He hovered a foot off the ground for a full minute before she finally eased up. The group had taken noticed, but did not intervene, simply staring open-mouthed at the spectacle. “Now, answer my questions.” she hissed, repeating them. “First. What is he?”

“I-I don't know. I-I'm sorry.” he was practically begging.

“Fine. Second. How do you know him?”

“H-He killed my wife and daughter, the bastard.” Tears swelled in his eyes, fueled by memory.

Not swayed by the tears, Twilight asked, “Third. What were you going to do?” She sounded more deadly than ever.

“I was going to hire a hitman to go after him.”

“Hitman? What's a man?”

“I don't know. He just calls himself that.”

“Who is he?”

“The Arcane Huntsman. Surely you've heard of him, even where you're from?” He shuddered as he thought of the Everfree Forest.

She leaned forward, glaring even deeper at the stallion. “Enlighten me.”

“Nopony knows what he is, o-or where he's from, but he's the best assassin on the planet. For the right price, and some information, he can kill anypony.”

“What kind of information.”

“J-Just normal stuff, like where the target is and when.”

“What do they,” she motioned towards the surrounding group, “have to do with anything?”

“They have unsolved business with him too. W-We were all gonna summon the Huntsman.”

Twilight released the stallion, who fell to the ground, unable to control the quaking in his legs. “I'm in.” she told him flatly.

~~~~~~~

The syndicate finally arrived at their destination, the Nightshade Cemetery. On the way, the group had gathered a few more members, as not all were present upon learning of Eventide's residence, coming from all corners of the town, which was far larger than Twilight had previously conceived. The materials required for the summoning did not take long to procure.

The sun was beginning to set over the horizon as the congregation of now fifteen members arrived at the wrought iron gates, forged in a similar Gothic design as the buildings. Nothing seemed to live in the field of death. No grass grew from the land anymore, no insects buzzed through the air. Even the equable ambient noise of the wildlife had ceased, leaving the air empty and void.

The setting sun sprung forth not the familiar autumn array, but instead a bleak set of gray-green and blue hues. The oldest tombstones were closest to the gate, and the most degraded, some worn to the point where the deceased could not be read. Old, dead vines crawled up some of the tombstones, dried green claws trying to destroy their last connections to the world. It made Twilight shudder to think about it, even from the other side of the gate.

One of the unicorns opened the gate, which sprang to life in a blue aura as the rusted gates resisted the opening with a groan that echoed over the eerily empty landscape. Nopony moved, all waiting for someone else to take the first step. In the end, the pony with the crumpled white fedora stepped forward, his hooves crunching in the dead grass. A spade was strapped across his back, rocking slightly with each careful step.

Once his body was fully past the gate, the others followed suit, moving together as one entity. Twilight could hear some of the ponies in the assemblage muttering to the others, worried. Each carried a spade, except for three who shouldered over-stuffed saddlebags. They gingerly tip-toed across the field, finally stopping when the black stallion began shoveling the dirt off one of the graves. Twilight did not question why he had chosen this particular grave site.

The dreary sky faded to black as the sun disappeared over the horizon, reminiscent of the Nightshade itself. The grave now lay open, the naked skeleton just visible in the moonlight, partially masked by light, diaphanous clouds. A chill began to fill the graveyard as the group stared at the skeleton, a colder sensation than she had felt exposed to the elements in the forest. She felt chilling waves ripple up and down her spine, could feel the flesh reeling from both the sight and the atmosphere.

Those who had dug to the bottom climbed out of the pit, alleviated now that they were away from the rotten coffin. The lip had collapsed from the pressure and the dirty skeleton slept, exposed to the audience that simply stared. One began to gag, breaking the silence like a brick through a window.

A white fedora, the only part of the pony visible in the darkness, turned to the three carrying the saddlebags. “Okay, drop 'em in.”

The trio nodded and set the bags down on the edge, unclasping the sides and tipping the edge over, spilling the glittering silver contents into the grave. The group had spent the entire day collecting the lustrous coins, filling the three bags. The coins completely covered the skeleton, leaving no bone visible to the naked eye.

“Now, we wait for midnight.”

The night dragged on. Nopony wanted to talk and the entire group sat on the ground in complete silence, listening to only the sounds of their breathing. At last, the moon rose to its peak in the sky, illuminating the field. The group gathered around the grave once more, watching as the fedora-wearing stallion conjured a small blade in his mouth, cutting the soft spot on the bottom of his hoof, allowing a drop of blood to splash the coins below. He passed the knife to his left, to the pony who then repeated his steps. The knife finally reached Twilight on the other side of the grave.

It's okay, its just a slight prick. I'll be fine. Don't think of infections! Her mind swarmed with the thoughts of what could infect her hoof. The slight phobia raised her heartbeat. She could feel it in her ears as she raised her hoof to the knife in her mouth. She clenched down with her teeth when the steel bit flesh, a fresh drop of blood rolling down the blade. Moving the poniard over the lustrous coins, she let a single drop fall, hearing it splat against the silence.

The last pony let his lifeblood mix with the sterling mintage, the soft plip ringing out into the graveyard. Before their eyes, the silver coins began to stir, swirling together at the bottom, the coins clinking against one another. The argent coins lost their luster, tarnishing and becoming near-invisible in the darkness. The ebony coins amalgamated into a thick liquid, taking on a gleam like quicksilver.

The murky pool of the aberrant liquid began to ripple, as if a drop of water disturbed the tranquility in the center. The frequency of the ripples increased, the entire pool becoming visible in the various reflections. A black arrow shot through the center at lightning speeds, the whoosh audible only to the closest ponies. It rose high into the night sky, kissing the lunar orb that hung above, before plummeting back down to the Earth. It struck the pool dead center, from the very spot it sprang from.

The newest ripple created tidal waves that clashed against the walls of the grave. As the influx brought the liquid to the center, a skull rose from the grave. The bones of the unearthed skeleton followed the cranium, reaching the surface and disintegrating into a fine powder.

The liquid stilled, motionless. The ponies at the edge leaned inward, their curiosity too great to hold themselves. A figure, dark as the liquor from which it rose, ascended, rising to the surface without any means of propulsion. It was humanoid in form, slender, but with an air of strength inherent in its figure. Despite being called the Huntsman, the creature was genderless. Across its back was strung a bow, no quiver to be found. The creature opened its eyes, as white as the darkness in a black hole. It was not so much the white of light, but a white in the absence of black, as the black in a black hole is the absence of light.

It stood in the empty coffin, having absorbed all of the thick oil into its essence. The white that cut through darkness like a knife turned its gaze upward, eying each pony individually. Twilight realized she was holding her breath, letting it out slowly as a voice spoke. It was like the speaker was whispering in her ears, but reaching her from far away. Having no mouth, it couldn't have come from the bipedal figure standing below, but it was a voice it spoke with nonetheless.

It hissed, “Why have I been summoned?” Nopony spoke, waiting for another to answer. The creature did not prompt again, but the question still hung fresh in the night's air.

“We have summoned you to kill one called 'Eventide'. He is located in a place called Ponyville. Can you do it?” Twilight never tore her eyes off the figure and did not know who had spoken.

“There is no one I cannot kill. It will be done.”

“How will we know you have accomplished it?” another asked.

“My word is enough. It will be done.”

At that, the figure sprang nimbly into the air, jumping far above the heads of the crowd. Unlike the arrow, it gave off no noise and was utterly silent. It landed in the grass in a similar manner, Twilight unable to hear the crunch of the grass that she expected. The dark figure, not missing a beat, took off sprinting, jumping over the gate and out of sight into the inky shade of the Everfree.

There was a bright flash of light, emitted from somewhere in the congregation. Looking around, not one of the onlookers could see where it had originated from. The stallion with the white fedora realized that the purple unicorn had vanished. He chuckled to himself, but did not say anything to the group.

Chapter One: Nightfall

Chapter 1: Nightfall

by Lan

Two cloaked figures strode across the night, dimly lit by the distant glow of the moon high up in the cool air, masked partly by gloomy clouds, bereaved at their sun's passing. The pines seemed to call out to the two, beckoning them to plunge into their murky depths, filled with the sounds of fellow creatures of the night. The allure to stray from the path gripped the first equine figure, bringing his shrouded head astray, glancing forlornly at the hospice the trees offered. The second, a female form, stopped with a slight hint of worry in her posture, her eyes piercing the darkness that surrounded the two, screaming, begging, for her companion to proceed.

After an eternity of waiting, with the pines beginning to lean towards the couple over the aged dirt path, the figure in front let out a gruff grunt and proceeded forward, his hooves making a louder clopping sound than usual in defiance of the trees. The trees, as if in response, screamed back to the two in rage of their perversity, the wind howling along their backs, but in vain, unable to disturb the figures.

The two made a strange sight indeed. They both wore long, drab robes that came just to their hooves, encasing the two in an infernal blackness that would have rendered them invisible if not for the moon's glimmering light. Their saddlebags, each the same tenebrous shade of void as their owners, bulged with the weight of a couple lifetimes of acquirements.

The figure in the lead was a rather lank pony that had neither horn nor wing, but possessed a far more distinguished trait that brought him down his path in life as well as the one before him. It was a trait that haunted him since foalhood, forcing him into a life of exile and exodus. He traveled the lands, never leaving any ties to those places he had come.

She was all too much the same as him, although she did possess one thick, dark blue horn. Her trait led her down the same path as the one before her. Happenstance brought them together and fate interwove the threads of their lives from that point on. Presently, they traveled together down the oft-used road, never talking to those whose lives were brought down the same narrow strip of land that punctured the otherwise unblemished wild landscape. Their lives were led in a shared secret, now codependent on one another for survival. Although they were never formally wed, the two would never be found separated from one another, joined like fingers to a hand.

Midnight dawned on the pair of almost imperceptible shapes drawn on the side of the road, and although they felt like the path ahead of them never moved, a wooden sign drew ever-closer. In the monotone setting, neither could read the scrawl on the sign until they drew close, but neither needed to read the inscription on the wooden plank, for they knew their destination. The arrow extending off the shaft in the ground read Ponyville.

The trees suddenly departed from their course, a border to the wilderness that would not claim the idle town they had drifted into. Despite the late hour of the maturing night, several of the quaint cottages, with thatched roofs and clay walls flanked by timber supports, still secreted light from their open windows, letting out all the putrid odors and vile sounds that should have been contained inside.

On the reverse of the sign was imprinted Everfree Trail. It was the threshold to a new land, unspoilt to their touch until the instant their cursed hooves touched the soil that lay beyond.

At last, the pair departed from the designate path, nonchalantly strolling down the forest's edge, a pair of ants walking up the side of a dish. They stopped after a brief interval, pulling off their saddlebags with a soft thud as they hit the soft debilitate grass below.

Not one denizen from the town would notice the dark green tent that magically erected itself on the horizon the following day. Likewise, not one soul paid any attention to the two figures that prowled in the tired alleys, as nonexistent as a shadow in the vacuum of space. The pair crept up to one of the houses on the interior of the town, making sure to unite their souls with the safeguard that was the realm of shadow. At last, they stopped in the alley laden with cobblestones bound by two little cottages. The one on the right had all its lights off, ignorant to the horrors that were about to besiege them. The one on the left produced a warm lantern's glow in the street that threatened to reveal the cloaked twins of the night. To their luck, not a living thing, animal or beast, wandered the lazy streets.

The thoughts of what follows could only be described as “wickedly joyous” in his mind. All sense of self became lost; Thought became instinct, but with a sentience all its own. He would never hurt her for she could talk to him without an uttered word, control him briefly if need be. She could only stare at the cloaked stallion as he stopped being a stallion.

His hairs matted down as if doused with oil. His snout grew longer, sharper than before. His entire form grew in length, but lessened in width. The hairs assimilated into one conglomerate shell akin to the exoskeleton of an insect, but far more flexible and strong. From the bottom of his hooves sprang forth a variety of spikes of different lengths and radii. Teeth became talons attached to the thing's jaw, so large and arced that its lips could no longer meet. The entire form took a more ursal posture, capable of both bipedal and quadrupedal movement. The inky cloak slipped through his ever-thinning shoulders, landing on the ground between the two buildings without a sound. It became hard for her to look upon what her lover had once again become.

Its ears perked and became more like that of a fox. Its mane remained unchanged except that it seemed to grow sharper at the tips, like the barbs on a porcupine. Its eyes dilated and became almost completely black, removing what little of his red irises were visible. It took to its hind legs, which looked more like that of a predator, ready for jumping and leaping rather than long-distance running. The whole body seemed like it was melting, that it should have fallen apart but was kept together by an unseen force. Her eyes darted away from the averse sight, pained to acknowledge its existence, as if not perceiving it would halt the inevitable process that continued unperturbed.

A light black gas seemed to pour off every hidden pore on the creature's body, masking it even further than its pitch black coat already provided. Above all, what marked the creature as something unearthly was that the form suddenly became difficult to look at, as if something existed in the space that the universe wanted to deny existence, the effect being analogous only to staring at the naked sun.

The creature, as if seeing itself for the first time, stretched out its lean, muscular forelimbs, flexing the muscles several times before beginning its contemptuous act. It reached out one spiked hoof to the side of the right cottage, moving as if made of smoke held by an invisible container in the shape of the creature. The clink as the longest spike met the clay wall echoed down the alley, but drowned in the ambient sounds from the adjacent buildings. The spike slowly began to sink into the clay, leaving not a record of it having ever met the surface. Inside the dark abode, the shadowy outline of the umbral form glided across the wooden floor, its hind legs sliding across the surface, never leaving from the ground. The spectre made not a sound as it slowly ascended the staircase across from the front door with murderous intent and a cruel smile that spread from ear to ear.

~~~~~~~

“What's all the commotion about?” inquired Twilight Sparkle to one of the ponies gathered around the small house, nearly having to shout above the cacophony raised by the crowd.

“Everypony inside has been found dead!” the mare shot back, returning her focus to the front door, where a stallion in royal armor stood. Things like that just simply didn't happen in Ponyville! Perhaps the mare was wrong?

Twilight, her errand immediately forgotten, circled around the crowd, pushing her way to the guard, exclaiming many “Excuse me!”s and “Pardon me!”s along the way. When she did finally reach the guard, her mane in a raggedy disarray, she reached her hoof out in front of the stallion to grab his attention. Over the noise, she investigated, “What happened?”

“Everypony inside was found murdered this morning,” the guard replied bluntly.

The mare was right! Half in shock, half in awe that such a thing could happen, Twilight interrogated, “How did it happen?”

“I'm not at liberty to discuss the details with those not associated with the victims.”

“But I'm the princess's number one pupil! I know she would want me to investigate the matter, so...” She tried to push around the guard, but he lifted his left hoof up and brought it slamming back down to the ground.

“No one is allowed entry without Her Highness's explicit permission!” he declared.

Rather disgruntled at the guard's lack of willingness to cooperate, Twilight countered with a glare that read I'll just get permission, then! and trotted off back to the library, her errand completely forgotten.

~~~~~~~

The black-coated stallion sharply rose from his dead sleep, gasping for the first breath he had taken in hours, now that his lungs were working again. The cot he had been sleeping on shifted as he stood up, taking jerky steps as the blood began to flow through his veins once more. He called out for his lover, “Slumber! How long has it been?”

From outside the tent, the soothing feminine voice called back “It is already the afternoon. I prepared a meal a little while ago. It should still be warm.” When no response returned from the tent, she proposed, “Why don't you come out here and have some?”

“I don't feel like eating, as you should very well know.”

She only giggled in response. After a little while, she beckoned, “I could really use some company out here all by my lonesome.” Finally, a black stallion with a black mane sporting a red splatter cutie mark emerged from the provisional dwelling and sat down next to his lover. Her coat was a dark blue, her mane a crimson shade of purple. Her cutie mark was a clock without hands.

They just gazed at the town, not saying a word to the other. They didn't have to. There wasn't anything they had left to say that they hadn't discussed a million times before. To break the deafening silence, Slumber asked softly, “When should we make our appearance?” She already knew the answer.

“Not until the third day.”

The two spent the rest of the fading day sitting in each other's presence, watching over the little town as the sun set over it. The second day since their arrival was spent digging an inconspicuous hole into the ground under their tent, shoveling all the dirt behind the line of trees. Their new subterranean home was a complex maze similar to an anthill, with many passages that led to rooms yet without any designate purpose. Despite being dug from soft soil, the walls were padded down to form a framework for their new home, independent of supports. Slumber had conjured small embryonic blue orbs of pure energy inside evenly spaced nooks in the walls, pulsing with a pale blue light up and down the earthy interior of the den's rooms and hallways.

At the end of the second day, the tent above folded in on itself as a magical aura pushed it together and it vanished down the mouth of the new-born cave, followed by the couple not a second later. They slept well that night, wrapped in each other's grasps as their cares, their torments, their sufferings faded away into the darkness in the peace of their new home.