Gorebrie pushed open the door to the library and slid inside, enjoying the cool air as it touched her coat. She trotted to the front desk and tapped the bell.
Ring!
She heard some shuffling in the back room and before long Twilight emerged to greet her.
"Hello, Gorebrie! What brings you in today?"
"I'm looking for a book for my sister," Gorebrie replied. "I'm not sure you've met her before. Say hi to Princess Twilight, Cheeseblood."
Twilight's eyes widened for a moment when she heard the strange name, but she quickly regained her composure.
"No wanna," came the high pitched reply from somewhere behind Gorebrie. Twilight peeked to the side and saw a small, brightly coloured pony vibrating in place, her head darting about as she surveyed the stacks.
Sensing that the library card signup process might be difficult, Twilight decided to cut to the chase.
"Are there any topics you find interesting, Cheeseblood? We have one of the finest-stocked libraries in all of Equ-"
"Cheese!"
Twilight paused and considered the little pony before her. She swallowed hard before continuing.
"You like... chees-"
"Also blood!!"
Twilight shot the sister of the pair a quick glance. Gorebrie avoided her gaze and smiled sheepishly.
"...Okay," Twilight replied, trying to sound as diplomatic and un-freaked-out as possible. "We have several volumes on cheese, and the medical section will surely have books about blood. The latter might be a little mature for you though...?"
Twilight looked to Gorebrie for clarification, only to find her noticeably absent.
"Keep an eye on her, Twilight! I'm gonna get some shopping done," shouted Gorebrie from around the doorjamb of the library's entrance. The door closed with a thunk and Twilight knew she was on her own.
Shifting her attention back to the little yellow pony before her, she found that Cheeseblood's snout was now milimetres from her own.
"AAAAAA," Twilight shouted in surprise, recoiling in fear.
"... Books," said Cheeseblood. "......ffffFFFUN BOOKS!" The last two words shot from her mouth like bullets from a gun. Twilight edged back further only to find that she was pressed up against the wall.
"W-We have those! Fun books, I mean."
Cheeseblood approached Twilight slowly. The princess noticed in horror that the pony was staring, unblinking, into her eyes.
"Books with.. pictures?!" said Cheeseblood, the corners of her mouth crawling up her face into a freakish grin.
"Celestia, yes! Lots of pictures!" Twilight curled into a ball, shielding her face with her hooves.
"I like pictures.."
The lights in the room dimmed, and the pencils on the checkout desk began to chatter and vibrate. A book from one of the shelves above Twilight crashed to the ground and she let out a yelp. Wheezes and screeches from beyond the aether clogged her ears and clawed at her brain. Otherworldly obscenities in a fetid unknown language scraped slowly at her sanity. In her mind's eye she saw the weeping city of her consciousness, and knew with sudden clarity that her doom was approaching.
"You will show them to me, won't you?"
Twilight's hooves thrashed against the floor, the last instinctual impulse of a creature that had already given itself up for dead.
"Great!" shouted Cheeseblood, her voice suddenly angelic. The wretched darkness and screaming that had so tormented Twilight vanished in an instant. Twilight peeked between her hooves and saw Cheeseblood bouncing like a child in front of the shelves; a high pitched EEEEEEE sound filled the room. Gorebrie's gentle hooves lifted Twilight from the floor.
"Were you able to find a book for her, princess?" she asked.
Twilight rubbed her eyes as she struggled to readjust to reality.
"Twilight, I was gone for two hours, and you two weren't able to choose something?" asked Gorebrie.
"T-Two hours?!" exclaimed Twilight, her mind still foggy. Gorebrie smiled and shook her head.
"It's just as well, we should be leaving anyway," she said. "Come on, Cheeseblood! We're going home.
Gorebrie winked at Twilight and grinned.
"Thanks for taking care of her, Princess!"
Cheeseblood hopped along behind her sister as they exited the library, and said over her shoulder:
"Bye bye, Princess! I'll be seeing you again soon, I'm sure."
The End.
Twilight squeezed her temples with her hooves as she stared at the blank page before her. She had written countless letters and diary entries since coming to Ponyville, and the words had always flowed so smoothly from her pen. But today she was thoroughly stumped.
She realized that the ink on her quill had dried up, so she gave it another quick dip in the inkwell and resumed her staring. After a moment's pause, she tentatively put pen to paper and began to write.
Something strange happened at the library today.
She quickly crossed out the word 'strange.'
Something strange horrible happened at the library today.
"Gah!" Twilight cried out in frustration. 'Horrible' wasn't a strong enough word either. "Perhaps monstrous?" she thought aloud. She had rarely found herself wanting in vocabulary, but there was something about the day's events that seemed to defy explanation.
A chill travelled down her spine as her mind replayed her encounter with Cheeseblood. She grimaced; even the name itself left an odd taste in her mouth, though whether literal or figurative, she could not tell.
Slowly, the pictures in her mind tore themselves free, and Twilight was confronted by a nightmare made real. Horrors bubbled up from the depths of her consciousness, and she broke out in a cold sweat. A high pitched EEEEEEing sound filled her ears, while images of the oddly-coloured pony flitted before her eyes. Her nostrils flared as she was assaulted by the sour odour of rank dairy, and the iron stink of blood. Darkness creeped in from the periphery of her vision, and she gasped desperately for air. The world was closing in, pulsing in and out like a thumping heart.
Twilight clawed at the air and fell from her seat. Landing in a heap on the ground, she turned her face skyward and watched as a kaleidoscope of fire and smoke engulfed the ceiling above her. A booming wail, both other-worldy and sickeningly familiar, filled the room. Its pitch wavered up and down like the waves of a boiling sea and, with horror, she realized it was her own.
From this hellscape emerged the visage of a pony, one whose coat was yellow as the sun, and whose wings were red like a smoldering ember. Dark tendrils oozed toward Twilight and took hold of her, bringing her face to face with the monster. The darkness, the sheer nothingness, within its eyes took Twilight's breath away.
The shock to her senses crystalized at once, and Twilight was confronted with Equestria's oldest and strongest emotion: fear.
