Nightmare Night: the Lucky & Unlucky
Author's Note
I don't normally do horror; I was never good at it. Even so, you may view it at your leisure.
Black Harrow/Wring Out
One... two... and a harrowing scream is heard. Four... five... the echoing of bones snapped. Seven... eight... the blood began to flow. Nine... ten... and a scream was silenced.
A darkened night is full of screams as terror filled the air, singling the scariest of nights: Nightmare Night, a time where the most evil of monsters that lurk come out into the open to bathe in the atrocity, and a time where festivities are lauded by unsuspecting victims who tread too far from the light, becoming scapegoats for those who live in the dark shadows.
There is an unnamed mare, whose future is bleak and uncertain, that had strayed too far from the light and drifted close to the shadows. It is not her fault, however, it was the party that clouded her vision and lowered her awareness, but even so, it would not matter.
The mare had made her way towards a black cave far from the gathering as she felt queasy from all the drinks she had, and thus, took a brief refuge inside the cave to rest her unsettled midsection. Unfortunately, her pained stomach roiled something fierce, and the mare retched painfully, her vomit bathing the earth.
After a few minutes to collect herself, the mare took a good look at the cave: it was quite daunting and unnaturally large at the entrance, but the inside felt warm and cozy and reminded the mare of her bungalow. With the chilly air from the outside, the cave felt evermore enthralling.
She sat on warm, hard stone, and shook her head lazily back and forth. "Argh..." the ailing mare moaned, rubbing her throbbing head, anxious to quell the rising pain. "I had too many drinks again. Oh well, it should die down soon. This cave is lit poorly, but it will do. It truly has been a good Nightmare Night. I wonder how m-"
The mare had heard a loud thud coming from deeper within the cave. The sudden noise silenced her lips and caught her immediate attention as she went to investigate. She traveled deep into the dark cave, and she began to hear a multitude of noises coming from all around. They sounded like something gnawing on something else, and the mare grew apprehensive, but she couldn't go back now, she's gone too far in.
Shortly after, she felt something crawl across her hoof and yelled loudly, her echoing wail quieted the gnawing cacophonies. It went deathly silent and the mare almost dared not to speak a word.
It was then she felt a faint rumble on the ground, growing stronger, and heard large, several steps. Out of fear, she crouched to the floor. She saw something in the darkness standing before her, a shadowed dweller who took notice of her screams. The mare saw eight glowing white eyes glaring down at her body.
The looming lurker extended its arms out of the darkness and into the dimly lit light. They were thin, brown, and hairy. It would seem the lurker offered to help the mare off the ground. She took its hands and got off the floor, but she quickly pulled away right after.
The mare swallowed her spit and said, "Who are you?"
The looming lurker opened its mouth and spoke to the mare. "Harvest..." it chortled darkly. The voice of Harvest was low, almost demonic, and guttural; it was jarring to the mare's ears. "It looks to me that another lowly head has entered my dwelling."
The mare wanted to escape, but fear clamped her legs and she found herself immobilized. "I... I do not know what you mean."
Harvest's beady white eyes began scanning the mare's body feverishly. "You have made a grave error stepping into my home and on the night of all nights," it chortled. "How lucky am I to have another lowly, hanging head. You're a bit scrawny, but you'll do nicely."
"W-what?" the mare sputtered.
"I like art," Harvest said gaily. "I make art. I make good art. It's something different every time." He pointed to the mare with a ghastly finger. "Do you like art?"
"I... I-I don't know..."
"I make art whenever something stumbles inside, and you'd make a perfect piece... however... my little ones are quite famished, and they must be fed," Harvest ominously said. "You would have made a good curtain. Come to me, child."
"No!" the mare cried out, attempting to run away, but Harvest gripped her right back leg and slowly pulled her in, sending her hitting the ground.
"No! Let me go!" The mare yelled and resisted, angering Harvest as he begins applying pressure to the mare's legs.
"Foolish unicorn," he chortled. "I'll have you wrung up like a dead animal and have my little ones consume your flesh!" Harvest applied so much force to the mare's back right leg, that he physically crushed it, leaving the mare shrieking in pain as her horn glowed, flashing Harvest in the eyes and briefly revealing his body.
The mare was horrified to see that Harvest was a large, brown, eight-legged spider. A glance above revealed ponies strewn across the cave's ceiling in contorted, painful positions; one had its stomach ripped open, revealing its black, rotted, near-consumed organ. Another was a body with its skin physically torn and stretched open, like a curtain.. a flesh curtain.
Dazed by the sudden flash of light, Harvest releases its hold on the mare as she struggled to get away, limping due to her crushed leg.
The mare tried to return to the entrance of the cave, but due to her agitated midsection and the pain rushing through her body, she puked again, spewing out whatever she had at the party.
Weakened, she fell to the ground wailing and weeping: snot dribbling out her nose, her eyes were red with tears. The pain was too much to bear, so she began to crawl until she heard the booming steps behind her.
"No! I don't want to die! I don't want to die!" the wailing mare cried.
"I will hang you with my white string and drink the fluids from your freshly killed corpse!!!" Harvest spat out. Its threatening voice lingered close behind the crawling pony as she attempted to hide from the monstrous spider. She hurriedly hid behind a rock she could barely make out.
She noticed something lying next to her and saw the rotten corpse of another pony. It was dry like a raisin, missing its eyeballs and teeth. She saw maggots going in and out of the rotting body. Most congregated on the dead pony's decayed tongue, and she nearly puked again, holding her hooves over her mouth to keep quiet.
Luckily, Harvest passed right by her, breathing like a beast looking for its prey. The mere sounds he makes while looking for the mare were almost enough to make the mare faint from terror.
"I remember going down this direction. I have to be close... I must get away from this place," she whispered, fearing Harvest might hear her.
The mare cautiously rises from the ground, wincing greatly from her broken leg. She followed the path she took and after a few minutes she found the entrance, however, Harvest found her and begins to close in.
With no other option, the mare bolted towards the entrance, ignoring the burning in her leg. Harvest hissed and crawled quickly after her. The mare yelled as Harvest's hand reached out to grab her. Luckily, he was just out of range as the mare left the cave.
The monster gave up the chase and went back to the deeper parts of the cave. Harvest is one of the very few monsters whose eyes are highly sensitive to light and the moonlight proves to be too much for the large spider to bear. How lucky for the mare.
The mare got out with her life intact, but the night is far from over as it is young, but for the mare, it was time to head home and call a doctor.
What's dark, drenched in blood, screams in pain, and taken away? You.
It was dark and the moonlight shined greatly across the face of Equestria, gleaming with mysterious brilliance. Tonight was one of horror and dread; Nightmare Night, and there was a party celebrating the gloomy holiday in a village.
A stallion, whose name remains unknown, is seen partying with others about Nightmare Night, and the party was nearing its end. All the ponies stumbled and waddled back to their homes, but the stallion lived nowhere in the village.
He got up from the tables and trotted his way into a forest where he began to hear the various cries of animals that lived inside and became wary. He trotted further in when he heard a sound. It was bubbling and boiling as he turned his head to see a clearing in the forest.
The stallion saw a portal forming on the ground with a body pulling itself out with extreme force. He felt a sense of dread flow throughout his body as he witnessed a creature standing on two feet with large mangled wings. It choked and retched a disgusting black substance that stained the mossy earth.
He saw its rough reddish skin and spikes as it slouched like a predator stalking its prey. It growled, blowing out fire and smoke, and it smelled horrid. The stallion yelled out in fear from witnessing the creature exhale the daunting flames, falling to the ground behind the bushes when it heard him. It turned its head to reveal piercing yellow eyes and a devilish-like smile. It was female in appearance.
The monster took no time and used an unseen force to pull the stallion out of hiding. The stallion looked upon the horror of a Demoness, a Nightmare Night creature of legend that is said to come out only on tonight of all night looking for a victim to ravish, and she found one.
The Demoness strapped the stallion down using that unknown force and jabbed her claws into the stallion, twisting his insides as he cried out in pain. The Demoness loved the stallion's anguish; devilishly deviling him, and proceeded to take it a step further by absorbing his life energy with her mysterious powers.
"Glorious food to keep me full," she hissed greedily. "More... give me more!"
The stallion felt his blood being ripped out of him through his eyes, nose, and mouth, being absorbed into the Demoness's body for consumption. The stallion hollered while his life was being taken away gradually. He could feel himself growing weak, unable to struggle any longer, and passed out.
The Demoness laughed as she summoned her portal and dragged the dying stallion inside it, never to be seen again.