Go to Sleep: A Halloween Story

Chapters

Prologue
1) New Deaths
2) Horrible Revelations
3) Research and Preparation

Prologue

Canterlot City, 1892

Stygian was having a wonderful night with his daughter. The small girl of nine years was playing outside in the woods for nearly half the day and had to return home before the sun went down. The autumn nights were bitingly cold and the leaves sang as the wind caressed them. It was time for the girl to go to bed as soon as she ate supper with her parents.

As soon as the girl settled into bed, she looked around the room in fear.

"Father, is the Sleeper going to get me?" the small girl asked worriedly.

"No, no. sweet one. The Sleeper is nothing but a make-believe story," Stygian said.

"But what about my friend Sophia? I heard she was found dead in her bed one morning," the girl retorted. "The other kids say it's the Sleeper that got her!"

"I'm sure that whatever happened to your friend wasn't the work of a monster," Stygian said. "Besides, if anyone tries to harm you, you know me and your mother will be here to protect you."

"You promise? You won't let the Sleeper eat me?" the girl asked.

"Of course we won't. You'll be safe as long as we're here," Stygian said.

Stygian walked over to the window and pulled back the curtains. A bright waxing crescent moon waiting to fatten up beamed down its soothing light through the glass. Stygian walked over and blew out the candles lighting the room.

"Don't worry, dear. The moon is smiling down at you and will help watch over you as you sleep," Stygian said. "Goodnight, darling."

"Goodnight, father," the girl said.

Stygian closed the door and walked downstairs to head to bed with his wife Meadowbrook. As they settled into bed, Meadowbrook looked to her husband.

"Honey, are you sure we shouldn't have let her sleep in our room if only just for tonight?" the woman asked.

"Dear, I promise that our little angel will be fine," Stygian replied.

"Are you sure? What about those child killings?" Meadowbrook asked. "A child was killed not too far from where we live."

"I'm a light sleeper, remember? Besides, if I hear anything out of the ordinary, I have my rifle."

Stygian then pointed to the wall to refer to a long rifle hung up on hooks on the wall. If he had to, he wouldn't hesitate to kill anyone who would harm his family. Besides, he wasn't afraid of a legend. Meadowbrook still looked worried.

"Look, if you're that worried, how about this? We let her sleep in her own room tonight, and when we wake up and she's still there, we'll let her sleep in our room tomorrow night?" Stygian suggested.

"Okay, honey. Besides, she's probably asleep by now," Meadowbrook said. "Goodnight, dear."

"Goodnight, love," Stygian said.

As Stygian lay there waiting for sleep to claim him, he somewhat noticed a slightly sweet smell in the air. It was subtle, but it was most certainly there. Stygian didn't think much of it. He thought it was one of his wife's fancy perfumes she got from the city's shopping district. Either way, the sweet smell was making him even more sleepy. He fell into the realm of dreams in a matter of seconds.

*****

The Next Day

Stygian woke up pretty early in the morning to the day being greatly overcast and a large gathering of ravens perched in the trees outside the house. Curiously, they were all looking directly at the house. Having that many ravens looking into the house was somewhat unnerving. Still, he had to focus on other things, like getting his daughter ready for school.

He walked up the stairs to his daughter's room and knocked on the closed door. "Darling! You've got to get ready for school!"

No reply. There was no reply to come from the bedroom at all. Strange, she was usually up and about by now. Even stranger, Stygian began to smell a strangely sweet smell emanating from the room. There was another smell mixed in with the sweet smell, only this one metallic and bitter. Growing worried, Stygian opened the door to his daughter's room, only to stare in shock at what he saw.

The sight before him was a slaughter. Blood stained the floor and walls of the room and the window was smashed open, with glass shards laying on the floor inside the room. However, the worst thing he saw was lying on the bed.

His daughter lay on the bed as a bloodied corpse. Her nightgown was ripped off and her abdomen was ripped open, revealing an empty body cavity. It seemed that whatever did this to her devoured her organs and other bits of soft tissue, with her legs missing entirely. The girl's face was a sickening mask of peace, as if she was killed in her sleep. As Stygian drew closer in shock, he could see something sticking out of the girl's barely-open mouth. Stygian slowly reached out with a shaking hand and pulled out... a wrapped piece of candy. Indeed, the girl's mouth was stuffed full of candy.

It was with this discovery that Stygian finally let out a scream of despair at seeing his daughter dead. He slumped to the ground and continued to scream. He didn't even notice Meadowbrook entering the room and begin to scream herself. As the now-childless couple sat there despairing over their dead daughter, Stygian could here the ravens outside beginning to caw in a way that sound almost exactly like mocking laughter.

*****

Stories like this have been reported throughout the city's history dating all the way back to the city's founding. It all started with people going to sleep like normal, only to wake up and discover that one of their family members have been ripped apart and eaten in their sleep. The "Sleeper" is an enigma of a folkloric creature that has been the subject of much scrutiny over the over 300 years since the first reported sighting of the Sleeper.

Those who claim to have seen the monster all reported seeing a tall figure wearing a black cloak with a hood and large red glowing eyes underneath its hood.

What it is or where it came from has been greatly disputed. Some think it's a demon that came up from hell to punish naughty children. Others think it's some undiscovered species of predatory animal. Others think it's the work of a brutal serial killer. As time went on, and both incidents and sightings have dropped to nearly zero, belief in the Sleeper diminished to being only a scary town legend.

Nowadays, the Sleeper is only the subject of scary bedtime stories or tales to tell around the campfire. But this begs the question: what was responsible for the legend to begin with?

1) New Deaths

Canterlot City - Modern Day

The city of Canterlot was in a buzz of fear after what's been happening over the past few weeks. People have either been going missing or been found brutally murdered in their homes in the dead of night. Those who've been found were found ripped apart as if it were an animal attack. The situation's gotten so bad that the mayor has been considering forbidding trick-or-treating on Halloween night. She's already issued a curfew and doubled police patrols. Armed people patrol their homes and keep their doors and windows locked at night.

Despite everything that's been going on, there were people that were somewhat fascinated by the killings. At Canterlot High School, the students were distracted with their own theories about what exactly could be going on. The Rainbooms sat in the cafeteria mulling over what they think could be going on.

"I think it could be a serial killer!" Rainbow Dash proposed.

"A serial killer that rips people apart like an animal?" Applejack asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Jack the Ripper did the same thing, so it has to be a serial killer," Rainbow argued.

"But to this extent? I think it could be some kind of animal," Applejack said.

"What animal leaves candy in their prey's mouth?" Twilight asked.

"Perhaps this is some form of new brutal serial killer," Rarity said. "People can be more brutal than any animal."

"True," Applejack said.

Pinkie Pie jumped up into the air with a raised hand. "I have an idea about what this could be!"

"You don't have to shout, Pinkie. We're right here," Sunset said kindly.

Pinkie sat down in her seat and leaned forward. She had a very pronounced look of seriousness on her face and motioned for the others to lean closer to hear what she had to say.

"I think... it was the Sleeper that got them," Pinkie whispered.

Everyone but Sunset rolled their eyes and groaned. Sunset just looked confused while the others said their piece on the matter. Applejack was the one to address their friend's suggestion first.

"Sugarcube, do you really think that a bedtime story monster is eating people in their sleep?" the farm girl asked.

"What else could it be?" Pinkie asked in rebuttal. "The victims were ripped apart in their sleep with no obvious way they could've gotten into the house and the victims had candy stuffed into their mouths. It has to be the Sleeper!"

"Pinkie, the Sleeper is nothing more than a town legend. There's no way that the Sleeper is the one doing this," Rarity said.

"Then what do you think it is if not the Sleeper?" Pinkie asked with crossed arms and a raised eyebrow.

"Maybe it's a brutal serial killer that's mimicking the legend," Twilight said.

"Then how would they have gotten in the house?" Pinkie clapped back. "You saw the news reports, there was no sign of a break in and almost no evidence apart from claw marks underneath the windows."

"Like Twilight said, it could be a serial killer acting like the Sleeper," Rainbow said.

At this point, Sunset's question was buzzing around in her head like an angry hornet's nest. She jumped with as soon as she an opening in the conversation.

"Who or what is the Sleeper?" she asked with a louder tone than she intended.

The others turned to Sunset to answer that very question. Pinkie Pie looked the most shocked.

"You've never heard the legend of the Sleeper?" Pinkie asked.

"I haven't exactly lived here long," Sunset said.

"Well, it's one of the more popular scary stories in our town," Twilight said. "It's almost as old as the town itself."

"The Sleeper is a monster that eats people while they sleep and leaves candy in the mouths of its victims," Rainbow said.

"Laaame! That's no way to really tell the story of the Sleeper!" Pinkie said.

Pinkie proceeded to jump onto the table and motion to everyone in the cafeteria with her hands. Her friends could see where this was going.

"Is Pinkie about to sing?" Twilight asked.

"Yep. This might be good," Sunset said.

With everyone's attention fixed on Pinkie Pie, the girl began to sing.

Gather round, I'll tell the tale
Of a monster, leave you pale
A beast that haunts the wooded hills
Comes by night, blood it spills
Dressed in black,
The Sleeper will attack!

(Chorus)
Go to Sleep!
The Sleeper wind find you!
Go to Sleep!
The Sleeper will eat you!
Go to Sleep!
There is nothing you can do!

The Sleeper comes and hunts at night
Leaves behind a grisly sight
Leaves tasty candied treats
In the mouths of those it eats
When ravens abound,
You know the beast's around!

(Chorus)
Go to Sleep!
The Sleeper will find you!
Go to Sleep!
The Sleeper will eat you!
Go to Sleep!
There is nothing you can do!

When the owls call at night,
The Sleeper comes to give you fright!
When the monster screams to air,
Please look out and beware!

When Pinkie had finished her little performance, everyone in the cafeteria started to clap for her. Pinkie took a few stage bows before sitting back down with her friends. Laughing, Sunset looked to Pinkie.

"At least I know what the Sleeper is now," Sunset says. "But are you sure that it's a monster doing this and not a person?"

"I'm certain it has to be the Sleeper! There can be no other explanation!" Pinkie argued.

"Still think this is a serial killer, Pinks," Rainbow said.

The bell rang loudly, indicating the end of lunch. As they got back to their classes, they had to put their Sleeper theories out of their minds. This had to be the work of a human, not a folklore monster.

*****

Sweet Apple Acres - Later The Night

Applejack was more than ready to get to bed. Ever since she arrived home from school, she had been gathering apples like there was no tomorrow. It was around the time of year where the apples would be nice and fresh, so they had to get them ready for the Apple Family's upcoming Halloween celebration.

There would be candy apples, apple pie, apple cider, apple-bobbing, and the corn maze. To make this happen, the family had to get as much of the crop as they could.

Applejack was the last one to complete her work as Big Mac became sick with the flu and Apple Bloom had to complete her homework. She was walking up the trail with the last of her portion of the harvest when she noticed a thick fog rolling in from the denser portions of the orchard.

"Better get this into the barn quickly. Hate to get lost out here at night," Applejack said to herself.

She hurried her pace through the orchard as the fog seemed to almost chase her. As she walked, Applejack noticed that she couldn't hear anything but her own footsteps. The silence was very bizarre due to how thick it was. When she rounded a corner, Applejack saw something fly into one of the trees. As she got closer, she realized that it was a large barn owl gazing at her with large dark eyes. She breathed a sigh of relief.

"Whew! You scared me there for a second, little guy," Applejack said.

The barn owl just stared at Applejack for a good while. Something about the owl's stare felt off. The owl didn't move its head at all. It stared at Applejack like it would stare at a mouse, fierce and predatory. Suddenly, the barn owl let out a deafening shriek in Applejack's direction. The poor farm girl was so startled that she nearly dropped her buckets of apples.

"Uh... have a good night, little owl," Applejack said.

Applejack could feel the owl's gaze on her as she rushed past the tree where the owl was perched. All she wanted to do was drop off her buckets of apples, go to bed, and forget about the shrieking barn owl. She didn't have that far to go at this point. Her mind was starting to wander as she felt like she was still being watched from the fog creeping in and the branches of the leafless trees started to look like grasping claws.

The farm girl burst through the tree line and saw the family homestead. The lights were off as expected, since everyone should be asleep by now. Curiously, there was a large flock of ravens perched on the roof of the bar and in the nearby trees. The ravens were all looking at Applejack all at once. She had seen ravens around the farm before, but they never focused on one of them before. The ravens began to call all at once in a way that reminded Applejack of laughter.

The ravens continued their "laughing" when the door to the barn slowly opened to reveal darkness beyond the doors. Applejack's heart began to race and her stomach dropped. A sound emanated from the barn that was gradually drowning out the "laughter" of the ravens. It was a girl's laughter. A loud cackling slithered out from the barn an towards Applejack's ears. It sounded oddly familiar, too.

After thinking about the laughter, she recognized the laughter to be her sister's laughter. It must have been Apple Bloom playing a prank on her or something. Applejack gave a laugh she hoped didn't reveal her nervousness.

"Alright, Apple Bloom! You got me! Really funny," Applejack said. "Save some of that energy for the Halloween celebration."

She couldn't see Apple Bloom within the dark barn, but her voice called to her from the darkness.

"I will, AJ. Say, could you help me sort out which batch of apples we'll be using for the party?" Apple Bloom asked in a tired voice. "I'd like your help with this before bed."

It was a bit weird that Apple Bloom would be trying to sort out the apples in the dark, but Applejack remembered that Apple Bloom would often forget things when she's tired. Good thing she had a flashlight on her phone.

"Sure, I'll help you, sis. Then it's straight to bed, you hear?" Applejack asked.

"Sure thing, Applejack! Just get in here and help me out, will ya?" Apple Bloom replied.

Applejack walked towards the dark barn and pulled out her phone and turned on its flashlight as soon as she entered the dark barn. As soon as she did, the barn doors closed and locked. Applejack swung her flashlight around the barn to find that Apple Bloom wasn't in the barn. There was no one in the barn at all.

There was the sound of a girl's laughter again, louder and more crazed. It sounded more and more like a lunatic's cackle than the joyful laughter of a child. Applejack was getting more and more scared and angry.

"Who are you?! Where are you?!" Applejack cried out to the darkness.

The only response she got was the laughter accompanied by some other sounds. Applejack could hear the sounds of someone, or something moving around in the barn. Whooshing sounds came from all sides while long claw marks could be seen on the wooden walls of the barn while the mysterious intruder continued laughing all the while. Finally, the sounds came to a stop right behind Applejack. She turned around and focused her light behind her.

A short figure stood behind her dressed in a black cloak, with a hood covering her face. The light started to shake as Applejack's hands were trembling with fear. There was a ten foot distance between the two of them, but Applejack took a small step forwards and spoke in a tentative voice.

"Apple Bloom? Is... is that you?" Applejack asked.

The figure slowly lifted her head and, while Applejack couldn't make out a face, she could see two large eerie eyes that gave off a red glow in the light. The eyes were like those of an owl, large and fixed in their sockets, gazing at Applejack with a look that spoke of hunger. The creature standing before Applejack spoke in Apple Bloom's voice.

"What's wrong, sis? Don't you recognize your little sister?" the creature asked in a mocking tone.

The creature suddenly swung an arm at the one holding Applejack's phone. Not only did the phone fly from Applejack's hand, but her entire right hand flew off as well. The farm girl screamed in agony as she gripped a bleeding stump. She fell to the floor as the creature began to advance on her.

The light from the phone was still on, so Applejack could make out the creature's form as it approached. The thing shrieked like an owl and Applejack could make out long curved claws tipping the monster's fingers. A soft hissing sound came from the creature's throat as she could make out a strange cloud coming from the monster's hood. Applejack started to smell a sweetness in the air that started to make her feel drowsy.

Applejack's senses dulled and her vision became blurry as she continued to smell the sweetness from the cloud. Her strength was failing her second by second as the monster was now leaning over her. The last thing Applejack saw before her eyes finally closed was an open mouthful of sharp teeth coming for her throat.

*****

Canterlot City - 1762

The day was overcast when little 9 year-old Strix went to school. Her parents were happy to see their pride and joy skip off to school to get an education. Strix was looking forward to seeing the schoolmaster there.

The school in their budding town was a simple and small two-story brick building with black shutters framing the windows. Standing just outside the schoolhouse was the main schoolmaster, Mister Thornheart.

Mister Thornheart was a tall wiry man with black hair graying at the temples and a rather pale complexion. He wore a black coat with a white waistcoat and black breeches, white silk stockings, leather shoes with low-stacked heels, and a broad tricorn hat with a peacock feather in it. A pair of circular glass sat on the bridge of an aquiline nose framing his bright green eyes. The schoolmaster Thornheart smiled when he saw Strix.

"Hello, dear Strix! Are you ready to learn today?" he asked in greeting.

"I am, Mister Thornheart! I can't wait to get started on arithmetic today!" Strix replied.

"Good, now join your schoolmates and we'll get started," Mister Thornheart said.

As the teacher and student made their way to the schoolhouse, Thornheart turned to little Strix.

"I have to ask, Miss Strix, have you been hearing about how children in this town have been going missing?" Thornheart asked.

"My parents have told me of this. They said that I need to head straight back home after school until the culprit can be caught," Strix said.

"Smart people, your parents. If I may offer a suggestion, how about I escort you home after school today?" Thornheart offered with a smile. "Better that a trusted adult walk you home then for you to go home by yourself. Besides, your family lives pretty far away from the center of town, don't they."

"Well, that would be nice. I know I can trust you, Mister Thornheart," Strix said. "But why do you want to escort me out of all the other students?"

Thornheart leaned down and whispered to her with a smile.

"Don't tell your schoolmates this, but you're my favorite student," Thornheart replied. "That's why I want to make sure you get home safely."

That "favorite student" comment got Strix grinning from ear to ear. She almost felt like a princess with the attention her teacher was giving her. She walked into the schoolhouse with a boosted sense of pride. Mister Thornheart walked to the blackboard in front of the desks and tapped his ruler on the desk.

"Alright, children! Let's get started with your lessons for today!" Thornheart said.

"Yes, Mister Thornheart," the children replied.

2) Horrible Revelations

Canterlot City - Modern Day

The morning was gray and cold with nothing but gray clouds covering the sky. The Rainbooms were driving like madwomen to get to Sweet Apple Acres. They had recently received a call from the police informing them that Applejack was dead and that Apple Bloom was missing. Their van pulled up to the house among a collection of police cars. They could see Big Mac, Sugar Belle, and Granny Smith being questioned by the police. The horrid looks on their faces said it all.

The girls all walked up to the lines of police tape. They could see a lot of officers gathered around something in front of the house. When there was break in the group, the girls saw what it was the officers were looking at.

It was Applejack's head. Her head sat upright impaled on a wooden pike, facing towards the house. From what the Rainbooms could see, her eyeballs were missing and her mouth was wide open. Bits of wrapped candy could be seen jutting out from her mouth.

The Rainbooms all screamed at seeing the state of their friend. Rarity seemed especially upset at seeing Applejack's head. A lot of the police officers turned to see the girls screaming and crying to see the horrible display. One officer, Sheriff Silverstar, walked over to the girls.

"Girls, I'm sorry, but you please stay around here until we're finished speaking to the family?" Sheriff Silverstar asked in a gentle tone.

"Sure, Sheriff. We'll stay, but can you please do something about Applejack's head?" Sunset replied.

"Of course. Deputy! Put a tarp over the victim's head, will ya?!" Silverstar shouted to one of his officers.

The officer thankfully put a tarp over Applejack's head. Sheriff Silverstar lifted the tape and allowed for them to enter the crime scene. They were led to some of the cars by some of the other officers so that they can wait until they were finished speaking to the family. Once that was done, the officers escorted the members of the Apple Family to one of the cars. Sheriff Silverstar then walked over to the Rainbooms, who were now drying their tears.

"I'm so sorry you had to see what you saw, ladies," Silverstar said. "If you can, can you please tell me if you noticed anything out of the ordinary surrounding Applejack?"

"No, there was nothing strange going on," Rarity said with puffy eyes. "Things were normal for us. She never gave any indication that something was off."

"Did she have any enemies or someone who may have hated her?" Silverstar asked.

"No, no one," Twilight said. "Well, the Dazzlings hate us, but last I heard, they were in Manehattan."

"What happened to Applejack?!" Pinkie demanded, still crying.

Sheriff Silverstar flipped through his notes. He seemed to want to start at the beginning.

"Well, according to the family, Applejack volunteered to finish bringing in the last of the crop," Silverstar relayed. "She and her younger sister Apple Bloom were both not in their beds. When they began to search outside, that's when they found... Applejack. Apple Bloom is now considered missing."

"Have you been able to find any evidence so far?" Sunset asked.

Sheriff Silverstar looked hesitant to reply to that. It could be that he shouldn't divulge too much information to regular civilians, or he didn't want to give them a dark image of their friend's final moments. Still, Silverstar replied to the question.

"Well, we found that Applejack was attacked in the barn while dropping off her crops. After that, the perp took her head and displayed it as a way of mocking her family," Silverstar said. "Her body was missing by the time we got here. And we're investigating Apple Bloom's disappearance."

These words seem to act like hammer strikes to the Rainbooms' hearts. It was horrible to think that someone would do something so terrible to Applejack and kidnap Apple Bloom. And what's worse, there would likely be more until the perp was caught.

"Any ideas about who could've done this?" Rainbow asked.

"It seems to be someone pretending to be the Sleeper, given the nature of the attacks," Sheriff Silverstar replied. "The weird part is the candy. It's not store-bought candy."

"It's not?" Pinkie asked.

"Nope. This candy is hand-made, and wrapped in cloth or simple plastic, like candy from the old days," Silverstar said.

"So this copycat Sleeper makes their own candy?" Rarity asked.

"It would seem so. We're looking into candy makers throughout the city, but nothing suspicious has turned up with their supply inventories or employee histories," Sheriff Silverstar replied. "Rest assured, we'll find whoever did this and bring them to justice."

"Would it be alright if we helped you?" Pinkie asked. Sunset put a hand on her shoulder.

"Pinkie, what are you doing?" she asked.

"It seems to me that there's something extremely fishy going on here, and we know a great deal about magic. We could be a great help to you if we're dealing with the Sleeper," Pinkie said.

To their surprise, Sheriff Silverstar actually seemed to be considering this. He knew that the Rainbooms had dealt with magic-based threats before, and thought that they might be a good help. Finally, he gave them an answer.

"Alright, but you have to do this by yourselves," Sheriff Silverstar said. "If the Mayor found out that I was letting high schoolers help with a murder case, she'll have my head."

"We'll do whatever we can," Twilight said. "Can we look around here to figure things out?"

"Sure, just don't touch anything with your bare hands," Silverstar replied.

The Rainbooms got up and made their way to the barn, seeing as Applejack was attacked there. As they walked, Fluttershy noticed the large amount of ravens in the tress and the roof of the barn. The ravens were all looking at the barn as if entranced. Something was very wrong here.

When they entered the barn, they could smell blood entwined with the smell of hay and animal refuse. There was also a very large blood stain on the ground, with some remains of arterial spray covering the walls. It was the sight of a massacre. Rarity went outside to throw up at seeing it. Twilight and Sunset were looking at the scene closely with discerning eyes. Sunset tapped on Twilight's shoulder and pointed to the walls.

"Hey, are those... claw marks on the walls?" she asked.

Sure enough, there were distinctive markings on the wall that looked like claw marks. Deep scratches along the wall ran as long as six feet. Twilight looked at the marks closely.

"Something was crawling along the wall, stalking Applejack," Twilight said, following the path of the marks. "The killer crawled along the rafters, too."

Twilight then looked down to the floor. There were noticeable marks in the hay on the floor, as if someone stood in a spot in front of the door around twenty feet away from where the blood stain was.

"Someone jumped down from the rafters and surprised Applejack. She was struck down and she tried to crawl away, but the killer caught up to her and... finished it," Twilight said with a downcast gaze. "The killer... removed her head and put it on the pike. Next, the killer came back for her body and left."

"What about Apple Bloom?" Sunset asked. "She's been reported missing."

"The blood looks pretty dry. The killer probably came back later in the night and abducted Apple Bloom," Twilight said. "But we should look at the house just in case."

Twilight and Sunset led the others to the house, giving the tarp covering Applejack's head a wide berth, and stood underneath the window leading into Apple Bloom's room. Twilight looked at the wooden siding more closely to see if there were any claw marks there. There were, but they were on the sill of Apple Bloom's window, which was a good forty feet from the ground.

"You know what this means, Sunset?" Twilight asked.

"Yeah, no human could get up to that window," Sunset replied.

"Hey, look at the ground," Fluttershy said, pointing to the ground.

They looked to the ground and saw that there was a barely noticeable track of dead grass leading from the house to the woods. In fact, every one of the plants in the side garden was dead and rotten. Twilight and Sunset looked to each other.

"You getting the same feeling I'm getting?" Sunset asked.

"Yep. The Sleeper may be more fact than fiction," Twilight replied. "Which means we've got work to do."

*****

Canterlot City - Strix

Strix had a wonderful day at school. Her lessons were surprisingly easy, thanks to the teachings of Mister Thornheart, and was now waiting for him to escort her home as he promised. After all the other students had cleared out, the cheery schoolmaster finally came out with his usual smile on his face.

"Hello, Miss Strix, are you ready?" he asked in a pleasant tone.

"I am, Master Thornheart," Strix said. "My mother and father will probably give you some free samples of their new recipes."

"Ah, yes. Your parents are candy-makers, yes?" Thornheart asked.

"The best in the world!" she replies with a look of pride.

"Perhaps I'll try some of your family's candy sometime," Thornheart said with a chuckle. "But right now, we should heading to your home."

The student and teacher walked away from the school and made their way through the town and towards the rural part of town where Strix's family's candy shop was located. They built it in the countryside because her father was worried about thieves stealing their family's candy recipes, so the two had quite a ways to walk.

Once they made it to the wooded path to the countryside, Thornheart spoke in a somewhat lowered tone.

"Miss Strix, can I ask you a peculiar question?" Thornheart asked. "What would you do to stay alive?"

"What would I do? Fight, why?" Strix asked.

Thornheart stopped walking and turned to look at her with an expression so icy that it sent a shiver down her spine. The schoolmaster reached into his pocket and pulled out a rag.

"I was just wondering, because I want to stay alive, too," Thornheart replied.

In an instant, Thornheart lunged and grabbed Strix by the arm and shoved the rag into the poor girl's face. Strix tried to scream, but nothing more than a few squeaks left her lips. The more she struggled, the more she felt her limbs growing weak and her mind became a hazy fog. Strix slumped against Thornheart with everything going black.

3) Research and Preparation

Canterlot City Public Library

The Rainbooms were driving to the public library to learn as much as they could about the legend of the Sleeper. If they were actually looking for the monster, it would be best for them to be as well-prepared as possible. The group walked into the library with great purpose and Twilight approached the librarian.

"Excuse me, do you have any books on the Sleeper?" Twilight asked the older woman.

"You're going to want to look on the second floor in the fiction section," the librarian replied.

"Thank you," Twilight said.

The group followed Twilight up the stairs and found the fiction section. Twilight turned to face the group.

"Alright, girls. Split up and search the entire section for anything regarding the Sleeper or at the very least the town's folklore," Twilight said. "Bring any books you find to the tables in the reader's section."

"Right!" the girls said.

The girls spread out and thoroughly searched the entire section for any books on the Sleeper. Once they found all the books they needed, the girls brought the books to one of the tables and began to read through them. Sunset focused on one book in particular out of the pile.

It was a small leather-bound journal of some kind with no title. She picked it up and opened it to see that everything in the journal was handwritten by someone.

This is the diary of Stygian, one of the local librarians.

My hope is with keeping this diary that I can provide others assistance with hunting a most vile abomination: The Sleeper.

This diary is to log my discoveries about the Sleeper and my attempts to kill the thing that took my family from me. May God help anyone who finds this should I fail.

Stygian, 1893.

This journal made Sunset's eyes widen. She showed this journal to the others.

"Girls! This is a journal from someone who's been hunting the Sleeper!" Sunset said.

Sunset's outburst immediately caught the other girls' attention. They all put down their books and looked at Sunset with astonished looks on their faces.

"What?!" Twilight asked.

"Someone's been hunting the Sleeper before?" Rainbow asked.

"Yeah. And they've written down everything in this journal!" Sunset said.

"Well, what are we waiting for?! Let's start reading it!" Pinkie said.

Sunset started to flip through the passages in the journal. The first few passages of Stygian's journal didn't really hold anything of note. Eventually, she found something that really caught her eye. Sunset motioned for the others to gather around while she read the passage.

August 6th, 1893

Nighttime has always somewhat bothered me, but ever since that night my daughter was taken, it is now my own personal demon. Whenever the sun goes down, I'm reminded of the child the Sleeper ate, and my wife who had hung herself out of sadness. Besides that, my first true hunt has been more than fruitful.

I was walking through the countryside when I spotted the monster. It flew through the air like how a serpent swims through water. Following close behind the creature was a large murder of crows and ravens. The creature landed on the nearby barn and seemed to be examining the house. I knew what would come next, so I didn't waste any time.

I jumped out of the bushes and raised my gun to finally kill the beast. I am certain the bullet I fired hit the creature as I saw it jerk backwards from the bullet. After that, nothing. The Sleeper stared directly at me with those terrible glowing eyes. Then... it smiled at me, a sick and twisted smile.

Fortune seemed to be on my side, for when the family ran outside to investigate my gunshot, the Sleeper flew away into the woods without incident. The family would be safe from the Sleeper's hunger tonight and I learned key information.

It seems that the Sleeper prefers to avoid direct conflict it can be avoided and guns won't work against the beast. I won't let this failure discourage me. If I can kill the Sleeper with a gun, I'll use every other method at my disposal to bring it down. My daughter and wife will be avenged! I will hunt the Sleeper till my dying breath!

Once Sunset had finished reading the passage, the girls were all taking stock of the information they've managed to gather from the diary. Twilight seemed particularly interested.

"So bullets won't kill the Sleeper?" Rainbow asked.

"That is a bit weird. So how would we be able to take it down?" Fluttershy asked.

"We have the journal, so we can figure out our strategy for hunting the Sleeper," Sunset said.

"Well, whatever we decide to do, we better hurry," Rarity said pointing to the window. "Because the sun's going down."

The sun was indeed going down. It wouldn't be long until the Sleeper came out to feed. The Rainbooms had to be quick in their hunt.

*****

Scootaloo's House

Scootaloo was very upset. Her friend Apple Bloom was missing, taken by the psycho that's been killing and kidnapping people around town. The two aunts she lived with have been some help, but the pain remained. She sat down on the back porch looking up at the night sky. The stars were certainly a beautiful sight whenever she was feeling down.

One of her aunts opened the door and spoke to Scootaloo in a tentative voice. "Hey, Scoots. You coming to bed soon? You'll catch your death out here."

"I'll be inside in a moment. I just want to look at the stars for a bit longer," Scootaloo said.

"Well, okay. If you ever want to talk... we'll be there for you," the kind woman said.

The aunt went back inside after that. Scootaloo continued to stare up at the stars until fresh tears came to her eyes. She banged her fist on the chair in frustration and sadness.

"Damn it! Why did this have to happen to Apple Bloom and Applejack of all people?!" she screamed into the air. "What did they do to deserve that?!"

Suddenly, a great horned owl flew down from the trees and settled on the back porch railing in front of Scootaloo. The large owl stared at Scootaloo with an intense gaze. Something about the owl's look felt creepy to Scootaloo. The owl was unwavering in its stare.

"Uh, hello," Scootaloo said cautiously.

A loud bloodcurdling scream tore through the night air, coming from the woods. Scootaloo jumped up from the chair and looked at the forest. Something about the scream sounded weirdly familiar to Scootaloo.

"HELP ME!!" Apple Bloom's voice called out from the woods.

It was her. It was Apple Bloom! She was alive and she needed help! Scootaloo ran over to the woods as her backyard didn't have a fence. She kept her ears open for any sign of Apple Bloom.

"HELP ME!!" Apple Bloom screamed again.

It was coming from pretty deep in the woods. Scootaloo headed in the direction of the screams until she made it to a rise in the land that had a small creek and an old well in the bottom. Scootaloo listened hard for any other sound from her lost friend.

"HELP ME!!" Apple Bloom cried out again.

This time, Scootaloo heard the scream coming from the old well. The killer must've put her down there or she was hiding down there and couldn't get out. Scootaloo ran over to the well and looked down at the pitch-black pit.

"Apple Bloom! It's me, Scootaloo! Are you okay?!" she shouted down into the well.

Weirdly, there was nothing but silence that followed. Scootaloo would've used her phone's flashlight to look down the well, but she didn't have her phone on her. While looking down the well, a pair of glowing red eyes flickered for a split second.

"What the... ?" Scootaloo asked herself.

A large black shape shot out of the well like a cannonball before crouching on the side of the well, staring right at Scootaloo, who had fallen backwards and was backing away. The figure was wearing a black cloak and stared at Scootaloo with glowing red eyes from underneath its hood. From what Scootaloo could tell, the figure was a bit shorter than her and Sweetie Belle. The cloaked figure tilted and twisted its neck in a way that not natural.

"Who... who are you?" Scootaloo asked with fear.

When the figure did reply, it was in a mimicry of Apple Bloom's voice. It was so creepy how it sounded just like her friend.

"Don't you recognize your friend Apple Bloom?" the figure replied. "I've been waiting for you."

Instinctively, Scootaloo got up and ran away. Due to the rise in the land, Scootaloo had to struggle against gravity to get away from the cloaked thing. She looked behind her and saw the figure flying towards her with lethal speed without the aid of wings. The red eyes followed her as she ran.

Scootaloo finally managed to get to the tree line by the time the cloaked creature got to her. The poor freshman found herself pinned to the ground by small, but strong hands. Through the creature's grip, she could feel sharp claws piercing her flesh. Nothing happened for a while at first. Then, she heard the figure speak.

"I don't want to eat her! I don't want to eat people anymore!" a timid child's voice said.

Another voice seemed to respond to that. This one sounded like that of a grown woman, deeper and a bit husky.

"But we must eat! We must eat to survive, be stronger, and make sure no one hurts us!" the older voice said. "Now shut up so we can do what we need to do!"

Before Scootaloo could say anything regarding this creature talking to itself, a set of strong jaws and sharp teeth sank into her shoulder with a vicelike grip. Scootaloo shrieked in pain as the creature tried to drag her back into the woods with no effort. Scootaloo kicked at the creature's hand, causing it to loose its grip on Scootaloo. The injured girl tried to get up and run towards her porch, but the cloaked monster pounced on her again and began slashing at her with its claws. Scootaloo continued to scream in pain.

When the lights to her house came on, her monstrous attacker growled in anger. It began to beat its fists on the ground like it was a child having a tantrum.

"No! [color=be4343]Must eat, must kill, must destroy!" the creature said with its deeper voice.

The next thing Scootaloo felt was the creature hitting her in the back of the head, rendering her unconscious. The cloaked creature then flew into the darkened forest as Scootaloo's aunts came to her with worry. They called an ambulance to help her and dragged her back into the house to stop the more severe bleeding. She would have story to tell once she woke up.

*****

With Strix

Strix woke up in a place she didn't recognize. It looked like an underground workshop of some kind, with tables and desks along the room's walls as well as scientific-looking equipment. She looked down and noticed that she was strapped to a wooden chair with tough leather straps. Strix tried to get herself free, but was unable to do so.

The door slowly opened to reveal her teacher Mister Thornheart. While happy to see him for a split second, she remembered that he was the one who placed her down there. The schoolmaster's appearance was different, too.

Thornheart was wearing a plain white shirt and a leather apron that seemed to be stained with... blood. The teacher also wore a pair of thick glass goggles over his eyes as well as gloves. Thornheart's grin was very creepy to Strix.

"Mister Thornheart... where am I? Why am I here? What's going on?" Strix asked with growing fear.

"You're in my special secret laboratory, dear. You're here to help me with a special project," Thornheart replied. "I need your help with an experiment I'm conducting."

"But why am I strapped to this chair?!" she burst out with fear. "What about my mommy and daddy?! I wanna go home!"

For that, Thornheart walked over and slapped the girl. Strix was shocked by what her usually gentle teacher had just done to her. Her eyes welled up with tears the mad schoolmaster continued.

"Ah, but you see, you can't go home. I need you here," Thornheart said. "You're going to help me unlock the secret to eternal life."

Thornheart walked over to one of the tables in the room and pulled out several vials of chemicals and a few knives. He approached the frightened girl with a toothy grin.

"Now then, let's begin," Thornheart said.