Nightmare Night Bedtime Stories

Chapters

Rarity's Rage
Teeth
Buttoned Eyes
Breaking the Chains

Rarity's Rage

Rarity stood by the front window of her boutique, looking out at the slightly flooded streets of Ponyville as the rain poured down. She watched as a carriage pulled up outside her shop. The puller of the carriage was a gray earth pony, with a short, rain soaked mane.

The carriage doors opened and Rarity’s parents stepped out into the pouring rain.

“Oh my, it’s really raining hard.” Rarity’s mother said. She and her husband galloped up to the door and at that moment Rarity heard a knock on the door. “Come on Sweetie Belle.”

Rarity continued staring out the window. Her attention was brought back to the carriage. She watched her younger sister tumble out of the carriage with a suitcase in her mouth. She got up off the wet ground and ran up next to her parents. There was another set of knock at the door.

The classy dress designer let out a sigh and slowly made her way to the front door. She opened the door and her family didn’t hesitate from stepping inside.

“Hello Mother, Father.” Rarity said, not sounding too excited to see them. She looked down at her little sister. “Hello, Sweetie Belle.”

Sweetie Belle dropped the suitcase from her mouth and pounced at Rarity, locking up to the white unicorn in a tight hug.

“Rarity, I missed you so much.” Sweetie Belle said, still clung onto her sister.

“I’ve...uh, missed you too.” Rarity said, not feeling too comfortable. She lightly pushed Sweetie Belle off of her.

“Oh, wasn’t that just adorable?” the two sisters’ mother said.

“It sure was, dear.” their father said in response. Rarity rolled her eyes. “Why don’t you go put your stuff in your room, kiddo?”

“Ok.” Sweetie Belle said happily. She picked up her suitcase and galloped out of the room. The three ponies that stood by the front door could hear the filly moving up the stairs.

After hearing a door close, Rarity began to speak, “Now, how long, exactly did you say you’ll be gone?”

“A week.” Rarity’s father answered.

“A week?!” The white unicorn exclaimed. “but I have to finish a new line of dresses by this Thursday. This project is really important to my business. They’re going to be judged by one of the biggest critiques in Canterlot and if she likes my work she’ll promote my boutique. How am I suppose to finish them if I’m stuck watching Sweetie Belle?”

“You see this is exactly why we’re leaving her here with you.” The unicorn’s mother said. “You’re always working and Sweetie Belle almost never gets to see you. This will be good for both her and you.”

“But...”

“No butts.” her mother said, cutting her off from trying to convince her otherwise. “Now I want you to try and spend some quality time with your sister. Alright?”

Rarity tried to say something, but she knew she couldn’t win. “Very well”
“Good.”

Sweetie Belle galloped down the stairs and trotted into the room with Rarity and her parents.

“Well, we best be going.” the mother said. Sweetie Belle ran up to her and gave her a hug. “You be good to your sister.”

“I will.” Sweetie Belle said. She let go of her mother and gave a tight hug to her dad.

“Have fun, kiddo.” her father said.

“I’ll miss you.” the filly said.

“We’ll miss you too.” the father said. Sweetie Belle let go of him. “Have a good time, Rarity.”

“You too, Father.” Rarity said. Her father lifted up a hoof, welcoming her to a hug. The designer let out a sigh and gave her father a hug. He gave her a quick kiss on the head and then the hug broke. Rarity hugged her mother and then the two parents headed out, backing into the rain and quickly made their way into the carriage

When the carriage moved and went out of sight, Rarity closed the door and headed into the other room.

Sweetie Belle was jumping happily next to her sister. “So what are we gonna do? We could play a game, color, read a book...”

“I have to work, Sweetie Belle.” Rarity said. The designer pony saw all the joy and excitement drain out of her sister.

“Oh.” Sweetie Belle said. She lowered her head to express her disappointment.
“Ok, how about this?” Rarity said. “I’ll work for an hour and then perhaps you and me can play a game or something.”

Excitement and happiness returned to Sweetie Belle. “Really? You promise?”

“I promise. But once we’re done I have to get back to work. Ok?”

“Ok.” Sweetie Belle looked extremely happy. She was jumping up and down with massive smile on her face.

Rarity began to walk slowly up the stairs, down the hall, and into her inspiration room. She stopped near the door and turned her head to the right. Standing next to her was Sweetie Belle, who was looking back up at her sister.

“What are you doing?” Rarity asked.

“Following you.” the filly answered.

“Why?”

“Because I want to watch you work.”

“Listen, Sweetie Belle, my job requires me to think and concentrate. One mistake and I might have to start all over. In order to do my job correctly, I need peace and quiet.”

“I won’t be loud...” Sweetie Belle said, trying to convince her sister to let her stay and watch. All she wanted was to be with her sister.

“I’m sorry, Sweetie Belle.” Rarity said. Sweetie Belle lowered her head in disappointment.

“Okay.” the filly said in a low and depressed tone. She turned around and slowly walked out of her sister’s inspiration room.

Rarity’s horn glowed a light crystal blue and the door closed behind Sweetie Belle. The designer let out a sigh of relief. “Alright,” she said to herself. “time to create.”

While Rarity worked, Sweetie Belle was downstairs, looking out the window at the rain. She sighed. There was nothing to do and she had an hour kill.

Every thirty seconds the little white unicorn would look up at the clock to see that almost no time had past. She looked around the room for something to do. Opal walked pettily passed the doorway and then Sweetie Belle was given an idea.

Rarity paused from her work and glanced at the clock that hung on the wall. A little more than an hour had passed. Rarity was sure that Sweetie Belle would have informed her on the dot. It wasn’t like her to just be patient.

The white unicorn left her inspiration room. She looked down the stairs and called out to her sister. “Sweetie Belle, is everything alright?” There was no response. This couldn’t be good. Rarity went down the stairs and poked her head into the shop. There she saw her sister and her cat, but Opal didn’t look right. Her fur was all spiked up in different directions and had been dyed a dark green. Opal did not look too happy.

Rarity let out an ear piercing scream which announced her presence to Sweetie Belle. “What have you done?” she said as she galloped over to her cat. Her horn lit up and Opal was levitated off the ground. The cat let out a hiss as Rarity examined her.

“I gave Opal a makeover.” Sweetie Belle said.

“Do you know how long it’s going to take me to clean her? Look at her, she looks like a horrid troll.” The cat hissed at Rarity again and swiped at her with her claws. Opal missed her just barely.

Sweetie Belle didn’t say anything, she was in a mix of feeling guilty and disappointment.

Rarity closed her eyes, took in a deep breath, and then exhaled, letting out as much stress as she could. “It’s fine, I’ll just get her cleaned and then I can get back to work.”

“But what about doing something together?” Sweetie Belle said, her voice was breaking from her sadness.

“I’m sorry.” Rarity repeated. She dared not look into her little sister’s eyes. “Maybe another time.” She then walked out of the room with her cat floating next to her, leaving her sister in tears.

It was late. around midnight. Rarity was now in her workroom, finishing up her second dress, which was long, beautifully light blue and was lined with silver silk.

“Almost done, Rarity.” Rarity said to herself. “Just one more...and...done. Perfect.” She backed up and began admiring her latest creation, which was being worn by one of her manikins. “I do say, Rarity, I think this might be your best work yet.”

At that moment there was a loud, high pitch scream. In an instant, Rarity dashed out of her workroom, down the hall, and into Sweetie Belle’s room. There she found her sister thrashing around in her bed, screaming with fear.

The mare quickly moved the side of the bed, grabbed Sweetie Belle with her hooves and began shaking her. “Sweetie Belle!” Rarity shouted. “Sweetie Belle, wake up!”

Sweetie Belle’s eyes shot open and she let out one more scream. “Don’t kill me, please don’t kill me.” the now crying filly said in a begging tone.

“Sweetie Belle, I’m not going to kill you.” the older sibling said. She hugged Sweetie Belle, who didn’t hug back, at least not yet. Rarity could feel tears dripping onto her back. “You’re safe. I’m not going to hurt you.”

Sweetie Belle hugged back. Her grip was tight on Rarity.

Rarity started gently stroking Sweetie Belle’s mane, which felt wet due to the fact she had been sweating.

There was a bad smell. It was musty and strong. Then Rarity realized that Sweetie Belle must have wet the bed.

“Rarity, I...” Sweetie Belle began, but her sister cut her off with a “Shhh”. That night Sweetie Belle slept in Rarity’s room and that morning Rarity took the wet sheets off the bed and brought them down into the laundry room to wash them.

Sweetie Belle was still sleeping in Rarity’s bed, so Rarity took advantage of that moment and worked on her dresses. Tomorrow was the deadline and she had to use every bit of time left to complete her task.

During that time she was able to finish half a dress, which was turning out very nice, but it was nothing compared to the blue dress she made the night before. That blue dress was sure to bring Rarity to the top.

Rarity stopped working. She looked over at the blue dress and for a moment she was able to vision herself in Canterlot, surrounded by hundreds of ponies, who wanted nothing more than her and her attention.

As she was admiring her own creation the door began to creak open. Rarity turned around to see Sweetie Belle standing at the door way. Rarity looked at the clock to see that it was twenty past noon and then looked back at her sister.

“How are you feeling?” the designer asked. Sweetie Belle’s eyes were half shut and her mane was an absolute mess.

“Tired.” the filly said.

“Well give me half an hour and I’ll come downstairs and fix us up some breakfa...I mean lunch. How does that sound?”

Sweetie Belle just nodded and just walked away. Rarity closed the door using her magic and went back to work. By the end of that half hour she had completed the dress. This one was a light yellow with sapphire sequins all over it.

Rarity smiled at her creations. Just one more dress and she would be finished. “I guess I’ll work on it later tonight.” she said to herself. After hearing Sweetie Belle’s screams last night, thinking that Rarity was going to kill her made Rarity realize the Sweetie Belle was starting to see her as a monster. So after a lot of thought she decided that she will spend the day with Sweetie Belle, doing things her sister wants to do.

Rarity let the room and went downstairs to find Sweetie Belle sleeping on the couch. She smiled at this adorable sight. She headed into the kitchen and began making sunny side up eggs and toast.

Sweetie Belle slowly awoke to the smell of eggs and toast. She got up off the couch and then made her way into the kitchen. Rarity was at the stove, using her unicorn magic to slide the eggs off the pan and onto a plate. Next to that plate was another plate that already had eggs and wheat toast on it.

The pan was placed back onto the stove and the two plates of food levitated from the counter over to the dinner table and were placed down carefully.

Rarity turned around at Sweetie Belle and then spoke with a smile on her face, “Hello Sweetie Belle, you hungry?”

Sweetie Belle nodded and then walked over to the dining table. She hopped into her usual seat and began to eat her eggs. Rarity did the same. For the first couple of minutes neither of them spoke a word.

Finally Rarity broke the silence. “So, how’d you sleep?”

“Fine.” the filly said. Rarity had never seen her sister so gloomy in all her life. She had to cheer her up. For a moment she felt like Pinkie Pie when she sees somepony sad.

“I was thinking, since I’m a head in my schedule, we could spend the day together.” Rarity said. She watched as Sweetie Belle’s frown transformed into a smile. This made Rarity smile too.

“What are we going to do?” Sweetie Belle asked.

“Whatever you want. Today is your day.”

Sweetie Belle’s smile grew larger. “Can we go for a walk?”

It was wet and muddy outside and probably humid. The humidity would ruin her mane for sure. Not to mention all the puddles of mud.

Rarity nodded, keeping the smile on her face. Sweetie Belle nearly squealed with joy.

After their meal the two unicorns left the shop and began their walk. The conditions of the outside world were far worst than Rarity had imagined. She could feel her fabulous styled mane becoming all frizzy from the humid air.

As they passed Sweet Apple Acres Sweetie Belle discovered a chain of puddles, which she skipped into, making larges splashes that soaked Rarity. For a moment Rarity was angry, but she pushed that emotion out of her body.

By the time the two sisters returned home, they were soaked in water and mud, their manes were all frizzy, and Rarity had a scrape on her back right knee after tripping over a fallen branch.

Rarity was the first in the shower. Luckily Sweetie Belle had her own shower in her room. The filly took a quick shower and soon after became instantly bored. She walked around the house, looking for something to do.

As she was passing Rarity’s workroom she saw something from the corner of her eye. She turned her head to see a box of crayons on top of a high shelf. Sweetie Belle smiled and walked into the room.

She took notice of a beautiful blue dress that was being worn by one of Rarity’s manikins. Usually Sweetie Belle wasn’t interested dresses, but this dress was, what Rarity would call, fabulous. A true work of art.

Sweetie Belle turned away from the dress and back up at the box of crayons. It was far out her reach. It was times like this when Sweetie Belle wished she knew how to perform magic.

The unicorn filly jumped up onto a desk, which was close to the shelf and the beautiful blue dress. The shelf was still too high. Sweetie Belle stood up on her two back hooves. She was wobbling and having to try extremely hard not to fall.

She raised her right hoof and reached for the box of crayons. Not quite there. Sweetie Belle stepped a little closer to the edge. She leaned forward, just barely able to touch the box. But then the worst happened. She fell.

Rarity was still in her bathroom, and had been for at least half an hour, but one can’t rush perfection. Or beauty for that matter.

She was currently drying her hair with her blow dryer, taking extra caution not to ruin her intricate hairstyle. “You truly look fabulous, Rarity.” she commented to herself while looking into her bathroom mirror. And then CRASH!

The sound was loud and startled Rarity. She ran out of the bathroom, out into the hall, and down to her work room. There she looked in horror at the now trashed room. The shelf that held all her art supplies lied broken in half on the floor. Art supplies covered most of the room and one of the manikins lied in pieces. But that wasn’t the worst part. Rarity saw her blue dress ripped apart, her sister’s head sticking out of one of the holes.

Slowly, Sweetie Belle crawled out of the hole and walked over to Rarity, looking dazed and confused. “What...what happened?” Sweetie Belle asked.

“What. Have. You. Done?” Rarity asked. She galloped over to her dress to inspect the damage.

Sweetie Belle remembered what had happened. She felt guilty and a bit scared. “I’m...I’m so sorry, Rarity.” Sweetie Belle said.

“Shut up.” Rarity said quietly. After seeing the damage that was inflicted on the dress up close, she realized that the damage was beyond repair.

“I was just trying to get the crayon box...”

“Shut up.” she said a little louder.

“I didn’t mean to ruin your dress. I’m sorry.”

“DAMMIT, SWEETIE BELLE, I SAID SHUT UP!” Rarity yelled. Her face was red with rage. Her horn lit up and a thread and needle floated over to Sweetie Belle, and before the filly could even scream, the needle pierced her mouth. Blood flowed from her mouth and poured onto the floor.

The sewing needle sewn Sweetie Belle’s mouth shut. With each incision, more and more blood spilled from the fillies mouth. Sweetie Belle tried to scream but her mouth was now sewn shut. There was a noise coming from her throat as she tried.

“All you do is ruin everything!” Rarity said, her mind going foggy from all the rage. “I work real hard for my career and then you come along and screw up everything.”

The white filly began to cry in fear and pain.

“Quit crying!” Rarity ordered. But the tears didn’t stop and a groan came from Sweetie Belle’s throat. “I SAID QUIT CRYING!”

Rarity’s horn lit up again and a piece of the broken manikin floated over to Sweetie Belle, who was on the floor writhing in pain. Rarity brought the piece down with all her strength onto Sweetie Belle’s muzzle. There was a loud crack and blood began pouring from her nose onto the floor.

“All you do is fuck up!” Rarity yelled. The floor was becoming soaked in Sweetie Belle’s tears and blood. “Well guess what. You fucked up for the last time.” She brought down the piece onto Sweetie Belle’s face again. There was another loud sound as the filly’s skull cracked from the impact of the piece. The groaning and squirming stopped, but not Rarity. She beat Sweetie Belle’s lifeless corpse with the bloody piece until her sister’s face was completely denting inwards, like a pothole in the road.

Rarity collapsed and she passed out with her face lying in the pool of Sweetie Belle’s blood.

The next morning Rarity woke up feeling delirious. “What happened?” she asked herself. She looked around the room and saw that it was covered in blood. She looked down at the corpse of her sister lying in the center of the puddle of blood.

Rarity let out a horrified scream. “Sweet Celestia. What happened to...” And then she remembered the night before. “What have I done?” Tears began to build up in Rarity’s eyes.

Just then the doorbell rung. Rarity’s sadness and guilt turned into fear and panic. She knew who was at the door and what she wanted. Rarity looked at the room around her again. Almost everything was covered in blood. All except one dress, which was bright yellow.

The sound of a bell ringing echoed throughout the boutique. Spotlight was in her shop. Rarity rushed to the mirror. Her mane was a wreck and her eyes were red. But none of that really concerned her right now.

Rarity’s face, hooves, and body were soaked in the blood of her sister. She turned on the sink and began washing her two front hooves. Thank Celestia the blood was coming off.

She turned off the sink and quickly made her way to the shower.

“Ms. Rarity, are you up there?” Spotlight shouted from the downstairs. She had a very strong Canterlot accent, which reminded Rarity how important this client was.

“Yes,” Rarity replied. “I’ll be down in a minute.”

“Alright.”

The white unicorn turned on the shower and immediately stepped in. The water was cold, but that was the last thing on Rarity’s mind. She watched as the blood washed off her body and go down the drain.

She turned off the shower, grabbed a towel, and quickly began drying herself off. The panicking pony galloped out of her bathroom and quickly made her way downstairs.

There, waiting in the shop, was her client, Spotlight. “Good morning, Miss Rarity.” she said. “Did you just get out of the shower, because you look a bit damp.”

“Yes, Ms. Spotlight.” Rarity responded. “And please, call me Rarity.”

“Thank you, darling. Now, should we get started?”

“Get started on what?” Rarity wasn’t really thinking. Her mind was stuck on the body of her former sister which lay lifelessly upstairs.

“Why, taking a look at your dresses, deary.” Spotlight said, sounding like a true Canterlot pony.

“Oh, yes, of course, umm... Can you give me a little while to quickly clean up first? I didn’t expect you to arrive so early and I’d hate to bring such an important pony into a filthy room.” Rarity began thinking about the horrifying mess up stairs. Her heart was racing and she could feel herself starting to sweat.

“Go ahead. I have nowhere to be today, so, no rush.”

Rarity dashed to a broom closet, which was just in the other room. Her horn began to glow and a bunch of cleaning supplies levitated out of the closet. She hurried upstairs and into her work room.

There in the center of the room stood a blood covered Sweetie Belle. Her eyes were closed but she appeared to be alive. “You killed me.” Sweetie Belle said. The stitches in her mouth had been broken.

Rarity let out a scream. She closed her eyes and then slowly opened them to see Sweetie Belle’s body lying right where she left it.
“Rarity,” Spotlight called up from the shop downstairs. “Is everything alright?”

“Yes, everything’s fine.” Rarity responded.

“Are you sure? I thought I heard you scream.”

“Just a spider, but I got it.”

“Well alright then.”

Rarity almost broke down and cried. She killed her sister. Tears began to build up in her eyes, but only one fell from her face. She pulled herself together and started her cleaning by mopping up the blood off the floor.

Mopping hardly helped, it just spreaded the blood across the floor. Rarity groaned. She used her unicorn magic to clean the floor with a sponge. By the time the floor was clean the sponge was completely red.

There was still blood on the walls and on most of her dresses. Rarity galloped to her bathroom. She rinsed the sponge and galloped back to the work room. She first cleaned the walls, which didn’t take long and then she removed all the blood covered dresses and just threw them into her bedroom.

Rarity disposed of the broken manikins and the torn blue dress. All that was left of the evidence was Sweetie Belle’s body. Just looking at it made her stomach turn and brought tears to her eyes.

She began looking around the room. Looking for a place to put the body until she can come up with a permanent solution. There was a chest on the other side of the room caught the murderer's eyes.

Rarity used her magic to lift the corpse off the ground. Parts of the body were stuck to the floor from the dried up blood and as Rarity levitated it off the floor the body made a crunching and tearing sound.

That horrible sound made Rarity feel sick. Once the deceased filly was off the floor, its murderer carried it over to the chest. Rarity, with her magic, opened the chest and placed the body into it. She closed it.

After Rarity cleaned up the dried blood off the floor. She headed downstairs. Spotlight was waiting in the shop, patiently.

“Sorry for taking so long.The room was a real mess.” Rarity said.
“It’s quite alright.” Spotlight said. “Now, may we go see the dresses?”

“There is a bit of a problem. I only have one dress.”

“I see. Well no matter. Let’s go see this dress of yours.” The two mares went up the stairs and entered the now clean workroom. Spotlight noticed the yellow dress across the room and approached it.

Spotlight was not far from the chest and this made Rarity very nervous. Spotlight turned around to look at Rarity and noticed how nervous she looked.

“Honey,” the client said. “relax.” She returned to examining the dress.

Rarity took in a deep breath and then slowly exhaled. She looked over at the chest and saw that it was now opened. Sweetie Belle was poking her head out. Her face was completely mangled and disfigured. Tears flowed down her closed eyes as she spoke. “Look what you did to me.”

Rarity shook her head and looked back at the chest. It was shut.

“Well Rarity, I have to say this dress is absolutely marvelous. And I’d be honored to be the first to purchase this fine piece of design.”

Rarity, for a moment, felt like dancing from the amount of joy being put on her. But she kept her cool. “That’s great news.” the designer pony said. But all the joy left Rarity when she took another glance at the chest.

Two days passed by. Each day more horrible than the last. Rarity felt like Sweetie Belle was everywhere; in her room, in her shop, in her mind. She was everywhere.

Rarity was in her room, crying. “I’m sorry.” she cried into her pillow. She had been crying for more than an hour. The pillows and bed sheets were soaked in tears.

Downstairs, the doorbell rang. Rarity got up out of her bed and slowly moved downstairs. Her tears had stopped but her eyes were still red.

Rarity opened the door and outside stood two fillies, Applebloom and Scootaloo.

“Hey Rarity.” Scootaloo said. “Is Sweetie Belle home?”

Rarity’s heart began to ache again and she was just able to hold back her tears. “Ni-No I’m afraid you j-just missed her. I think she went looking fo-for you.” Rarity lied.

“Oh, ok.” Scootaloo said.

“Hey Rarity, are you alright?” Applebloom said. “You look like you’ve been cryin’.”

“Yes A-Applebloom, I’m alright. I hope you two f-find Sweetie B-Belle.” Saying that name nearly made Rarity breakdown and cry right in front of them.

“Thank you.” the two fillies said and they walked away. Rarity collapsed onto the floor and proceeded to weep.

“Who was that?” came a voice from behind Rarity. The crying mare lifted her head and turned around to look at her sister. She looked like she had started to decay. The blood on her body was dried and black looking, but Rarity couldn’t smell her decaying body. Was this real? Rarity thought to herself.

“Please,” Rarity said as tears fell from her eyes. “forgive me.”

Sweetie Belle didn’t say anything. She just faded away. Rarity began to cry again.

That evening, Rarity just looked at a picture of her and her family together. In the picture Sweetie Belle was hugging Rarity and their parents were standing close next to each other.

The sisterless unicorn was heartbroken. It seemed like she had been all day.

Poor Sweetie Belle. Rarity thought to herself. What about Mom and Dad? They’ll be here in a few days and then what will I do. I can’t tell them what happened. It’ll break their hearts. I know, I could bury her. No one will ever know. Everyone will just think she’s missing or something. Yeah.

That night she took the chest and shovel and went out back in the garden. She used her magic to use the shovel on the group. She dug and dug until she reached around six feet.

She pushed the chest, which contained her sister, into the hold. The chest landed on its side but didn’t open. Thank Celestia. Rarity thought. She couldn’t bear seeing her dead sister one more time. She picked a rose from the garden with her teeth and dropped it into the hole. “Goodbye, little sister.” Rarity said.

She began shoveling the pile of dirt back into the hole till it was completely covered. A tear fell from her eye onto the spot where her sister was buried.

She went inside and got ready for bed. She slid under the covers and closed her eyes.

“Rarity.” said a voice, which sounded like that of her sister.

Rarity opened her eyes and looked around her room. She was alone. The mare closed her eyes once more and tried to fall asleep.

“Rarity, come play with me.” said the voice.

The unicorn opened her eyes again. “Hello?” she said.

“I love you, Rarity. Please come play with me.”

“Sweetie Belle, is that you?”

“Rarity, I’m sorry.”

“Sweetie Belle, it’s alright.”

“Please don’t kill me.”

“I’m sorry, Sweetie Belle, I really am.”

“No! No! No!” Then the voice let out a horrified and pain filled scream. Rarity covered her ears with her hooves, but that didn't help. The scream was in her head.

The screaming eventually faded, leaving Rarity shaky, sweaty, and in tears. She got out of her bed and slowly and wobbly to the bathroom.

She turned on the bath. She waited for the water to get warm and then plugged the drain. The water quickly filled up the tub. Rarity turned off the water and stepped in. She lied down on her back. The water felt great. The warmth relaxed her muscles and calmed her down a whole lot. She still felt stress and she still felt guilty. In her mind she could see her sister.

Her sister was in a field, smiling and playing with a couple of butterflies.

Poor Sweetie Belle. Poor sweet, innocent, Sweetie Belle.

Rarity was feeling a mix of happiness and sadness as she envisioned a happy and playful Sweetie Belle. Rarity smiled and a tear fell from her eye into the bath water.

The unicorn opened her eyes and saw that the bathwater was now a dark red. Rarity shrieked in horror.

“You will burn for what you did.” said Sweetie Belle’s voice.

Rarity let out another scream.

The next morning there was a knock at the door. No one answered. Outside the door stood Rarity’s parents, who were wearing their beach clothes. The father wore the straw hat he liked to wear on every vacation.

The mother knocked on the door again. They waited a minute, but there was still no answer. Rarity’s father opened the door and the couple were introduced to a dark room.

The two ponies stepped inside the boutique.

“Rarity! Sweetie Belle! Are you home?” the mother called out. No answer.

Rarity’s father’s horn lit up and all the lights in the shop turned on. The two unicorns walked around the shop, but there was no sign of Rarity or Sweetie Belle.

They began to head up the stairs and as they got closer to the top they began to hear somepony talking.

“Rarity? You up here?” called the father. There was no real response. The voice just kept ranting on and on.

They walked down the hall. The voice was becoming louder and more clear.

“I love you, I love you so much.” said the familiar voice.

The two parents entered Rarity’s work room. It was dark, so Rarity’s father used his magic to light up the room. On the other side of the room was a white unicorn with a messed up purple mane, lying down like a normal pony. She had a large grin on her face that screamed insanity.

“Rarity!” the parents shouted in worry. They galloped over to their daughter and each placed a hoof on her.

“I love you, Sweetie Belle.” rarity said in a dull, yet joyful tone.

“Rarity, what’s wrong? Where’s your sister?” asked the mother.

“I’m so glad we could spend so much time together.”

“Rarity, where’s Sweetie Belle?”

“Who?” Rarity asked.

“Sweetie Belle. Your sister.” her father said.

“Oh yeah. I love Sweetie Belle so much. She’s such a good girl.”

“Rarity, where is she?” her mother asked.

“She’s in the garden, sleeping.” Rarity told them.

The two parents looked at each other and then left the room to go check in the garden for their youngest daughter.

Rarity just sat there with that smile on her face. She was skinnier than ever, like she hadn’t eaten in days.

“I love you, Sweetie Belle.”

“I love you too.”

Teeth

“No. You can’t make me go.” Rainbow Dash yelled. Twilight and Applejack were holding onto the thrashing pegasus. Rainbow Dash’s wings tried to break free of the rope, but it was just too strong.

They slowly moved down the streets of Ponyville, Twilight and Applejack had to push and drag the resisting pony as she struggled to break free.

“Rainbow Dash, you have to go.” Twilight said, pulling her friend with her two front hooves. Twilight had tried using her magic earlier, but Rainbow Dash broke free from the spell and took off. Luckily Applejack was there and was able to lasso the rainbow maned pegasus before she could get too far.

“No I don’t.” Rainbow Dash said. “I’ve never been before and I’m not going now.”

“That’s gross.” Twilight stated.

“Yeah.” Applejack agreed. “How’re ya suppose ta meet a nice stallion with dirty teeth?”

“I don’t want a nice stallion if it means going to the dentist.”

“Rainbow Dash, they’re just going to look at your teeth and clean them if they need it.” Twilight said and then murmured to Applejack, “And they do need it.”

Applejack nodded in agreement.

“You’re lying.” Rainbow Dash yelled. “I know what they’re gonna do. They’re gonna drill into my teeth and remove them.”

“You’ll be fine.” Applejack said.

“You don’t know that.”

“Trust us, nothin’ bad’s gonna happen.”

Rainbow Dash’s struggle stopped. Not because she believed Applejack and Twilight, nor because she felt reassured, but because she was tired.

Up the road was a building with a sign with a tooth on it. The building structure was the same style as every other building in Ponyville.

The three mares entered through the doors and were introduced to a large waiting room with many benches and in a corner there was a large bucket of toys where two foals played.

Just a few yards away from the trio was a desk and behind the desk was a brown earth pony with a red curly mane.

“Applejack, take Rainbow Dash over to one of the benches. Make sure she doesn’t run away.” Twilight ordered Applejack.

“Yes, ma’am.” the orange earth pony said and she led Rainbow Dash to a bench near the bucket of toys. Twilight walked up to the desk.

“May I help you?” said the mare behind the desk.

“Umm, yes. My friend, Rainbow Dash, has an appointment with Dr. Colgate for a check up.”

“Ah yes, Ms. Rainbow Dash.” the mare said. She began looking through some files and papers, and for the next minute or two there was silence. “Colgate is currently finishing up with another patient and should be with you and your friend shortly.”

“Thank you.” Twilight said.

“Have a nice day.”

Twilight walked over to her two friends and sat down on the bench. Rainbow Dash was now fast asleep, probably dreaming about being in the Wonderbolts or something.

There was a loud scream which awoke Rainbow Dash and caused her to fall off the bench. “What was that?” the pegasus asked instantly and in fear.

“Probably just one of the patients.” Applejack said.

A mare walked into the waiting room. She wore a white lab coat and with a smile she called, “Rainbow Dash.”

“Nope. Not going in. Buck that.” Rainbow Dash said. She galloped towards the exit as quickly as she could, but was stopped by Twilight, who was using her magic to pull Rainbow Dash towards her.

Rainbow Dash tried to fight back, but without the use of her wings, resistance was futile.

Twilight brought Rainbow Dash over to the nurse.

“Follow me, please.” the nurse said. Twilight followed the nurse, dragging Rainbow Dash behind her. Even though resisting was useless, it still didn’t stop the pegasus from trying to fight back.

The three mares went down a hallway and into a room filled with machines and cleaning utensils.

“No! Please, no! Don’t make me go in there!”

“Rainbow, you’ll be fine.” Twilight said and then tossed her into the room. The door slammed shut. Rainbow Dash attempted to get the door open, but unfortunately for her it was locked.

She turned around, pressed up against the door, and looked at the nurse with an expression of fear on her face.

“Now, Rainbow Dash, please try and relax.” the nurse said. “Why don’t you take a seat in the chair?”

The panicking pony looked at the chair the nurse was referring to. She looked back at the nurse and then spoke, “No way, you wanna drill into my teeth.”

“Rainbow Dash, I promise you we’re just going to look at your teeth.”

Rainbow Dash looked deep into the nurse’s eyes. She looked into them for a good half minute and was able to see that she was telling the truth.

She hopped into the chair and lied down on her back.

The nurse gave a smile. She handed Rainbow Dash a pair of shade. “Put these on.” she said.

Rainbow Dash did as she was told. She still felt really nervous and uneasy.

“Alright, I need you to open you mouth as wide as you can.”

The pegasus slowly and nervously opened her mouth. The nurse flipped on a bright light that hung directly over Rainbow Dash.

The nurse looked into the mare’s mouth. With a look of disgust on her face she said, “Oh, sweet Celestia.”

“What?” Rainbow Dash asked, getting worried. “What’s wrong with my teeth?”

“They’re disgusting.”

“Your teeth aren’t shining diamonds either.”

‘No, I mean they’re filthy.” The nurse looked like she was going to vomit. “How often do you brush?”

“Oh, I don’t brush.” Rainbow Dash said.

“What?”

“Well I don’t have time to brush my teeth. I’m too busy being awesome.”

“Yeah.” the nurse said sounding weird out. “Well the doctor will be with you shortly.” The nurse shut off the light.

“Alright.”

The nurse left the room and locked the door behind her.

Rainbow Dash let out a sigh of both nervousness and relief. She looked around the room. There were a number of posters relating to the topic of teeth. One poster was a yellow filly giving step by step instructions on how to brush your teeth. Another poster showed the jaw of a pony and each tooth was labeled by its proper scientific name.

The rainbow maned pegasus turned her attention to the objects on the counter. Most of the utensils appeared to be extremely sharp, but there were a few that looked to be regular cleaning tools. There was also one that looked like some kind of mirror.

There were mold models of teeth, computers, x-rays, and much more medical equipment.

There was a knock on the door and then somepony tried to open it, but the door was still locked.

“Nurse.” said a female voice just outside the door. “Why is the door locked?”

“Oh, the patient was trying to run away, so we couldn’t take any chances.” said the nurse.

There was a sound of the door unlocking and then the door opened. A blue unicorn, wearing a green lab coat, walked into the room. Her mane was a light blue with white highlights and her cutie mark, for some odd reason, was an hourglass.

“Good morning, Rainbow Dash.” said the unicorn. “I’m Dr. Colgate, and it says here that this is your first time at the orthodontist, am I correct?”

“Yeah, so?” Rainbow Dash said.

“This is very serious, Ms. Rainbow Dash. You could be at risk to tooth decay and even gingivitis.”

“Yeah, yeah, whatever.”

“Well, you obviously don’t care, so let’s just get started.” Colgate said and then she turned on the light. “Please open your mouth.”

Rainbow Dash did so.

Colgate looked into her mouth. “Mmhmm.” she said. Her horn lit up and two dental tools floated over to Rainbow Dash’s mouth One was a scraper and the other was a small mirror. “Oh my.”

Rainbow Dash rolled her eyes. After about five minutes Colgate turned off the light and backed away from Rainbow Dash.

“Rainbow Dash, I must ask you to wait here for a moment.” Colgate said. She opened the door with her magic and stepped out into the hall.

“Where’re you goin’, Doc?” Rainbow Dash tried to ask, but Colgate already closed the door before she could finish. She began to feel sleepy again, so she closed her eyes and fell asleep.

“Twilight Sparkle.” Colgate called.

Twilight got up off the bench. Applejack was on her back, sleeping, with her hat over her face.

The purple unicorn walked up to Colgate. “So, what’s the damage?” Twilight asked.

“Well to start, she has the unhealthiest set of teeth I’ve ever seen. And I’ve seen a lot of teeth.” Colgate said.

“They can’t be that bad.”

“Every tooth was covered in plaque, she has twenty cavities, and at least two molars are suffering from tooth decay.”

Twilight gave a look of disgust. “Ok, they’re bad.”

“How she’s not in excruciating pain, I don’t know. But I suggest surgery.”

“Today?”

Colgate nodded. “I recommend you and your sleeping friend over there go home.The surgery can take hours.”

“Oh, umm, ok.” Twilight said, not sure about leaving her friend here alone.

“And don’t worry about your friend. She’s in good hooves.”

Rainbow Dash was awoken by a blinding light. She realized that her shades were gone and could already tell she wasn’t in the same room.

Her eyes began watering to the intense light beaming down on her face.

“Where am I? What’s going on?” she asked. The light was moved about a foot further away from Rainbow Dash, revealing a blue unicorn with a blue and white mane.

“Hello Ms. Rainbow Dash.” Colgate said. “Comfortable?”

The colorful maned pony tried to move but found that she couldn’t. She was strapped down to a chair, like the one she had fell asleep on before waking up here.

“What’s going on?” Rainbow Dash asked again.

“Why, your surgery of course.”

“What do you mean surgery?” the tied down pegasus could feel herself shaking in fear.

“I mean I’m going to remove your teeth.” Colgate answered.

“Why?”

“Because your teeth are repulsive. Your teeth are by far the dirtiest and most cavity infested I’ve ever seen. So, they have to come out.”

The pegasus was now beginning to sweat. Her heart was pounding heavily in her chest and her fearful shaking intensified.

“You’re gonna give me medication, right?” Rainbow Dash asked. “You know, to numb me or sedate me or something?”

“Now, why in Equestria would I do that? How can you learn if I just take the pain away?”

“Learn?”

“Wow, you ask a lot of questions.” Colgate said. “Let me explain. Nearly all my life I’ve been fascinated by teeth. I don’t know why, but the topic soon became an obsession. I went to a school in Canterlot where I got my PhD. I had studied hard and was even the first to graduate in my class. I soon moved to Ponyville and started my own business. First day of work I got my first patient. He was a nice stallion, good looks, well groomed mane. There was only one thing I despised about him. His teeth. It made me furious that somepony could care so little for their teeth. So I took my pliers and yanked all his teeth out. Now of course I couldn’t let him leave after that.”

“So you killed him?” Rainbow Dash spoke up.

“Oh, heavens, no.” Colgate said. “I’m not a murderer. I’m just a mare that believes in a world with perfect teeth.”

“What did you do with him?” Rainbow Dash asked feeling more scared than ever before.

“He works for me now.”

“But I didn’t see any stallions working here.”

“Well I can’t have a toothless pony working upstairs in public, also can’t have them so close to the exit, can I?”

“Them?” Rainbow Dash asked, though she already knew the answer.

“Oh, you think you and him are the only ones? I have a whole factory just in the other room.”

“A factory? What could you possibly be making down her?”

“While I was in school, I kept myself busy by doing research on teeth and ways to make them cleaner. I soon discovered that there was something in the teeth themselves, that when melted down and mixed in with the proper chemicals, the chemical reaction would create a type of paste that made teeth stronger, cleaner, and prevented cavities better than any other toothpaste brand.”

“Well why can’t you just clean my teeth with that paste and let me go? Please, I won’t tell anypony about all this. I just want to go home.” Rainbow Dash begged.

“I could, but I lost a worker the other day and I gotta fill that empty spot. Poor filly, died of exhaustion.”

“You’re a monster.” Rainbow Dash yelled. She was starting to cry.

“I’m not a monster.” Colgate said. “I’m the future.”

Rainbow Dash looked into the insane dentist’s eyes and saw nothing. No guilt, no remorse, no soul.

“Now, I think that’s enough chit chat. My shift is in about two hours and I haven’t been late before.” Colgate walked away into the shadows and returned to the light, pushing a tray cart covered by a white sheet.

Colgate stopped next to Rainbow Dash and then pulled the sheet off the tray. On the tray were a number of sharp objects, and a thing of metal pliers.

The unicorn’s horn lit up and the pliers lifted off the tray.

“Alright, Ms. Rainbow Dash. I must ask you to open your mouth, please.” Colgate asked nicely.

“Hell no.” Rainbow Dash said.

“Come on, Rainbow. Don’t make this more difficult than it already is.”

Rainbow Dash didn’t open her mouth. She just looked at the eyes of the mare before her.

“Have it your way.” Colgate said. Her horn glowed brighter and out of the darkness, from different direction, hurdled four hooks connected to chains. The hooks forced themselves into Rainbow Dash’s mouth and pierced the four corners of her mouth. Blood began to run down the side of the rainbow maned pony’s muzzle.

Rainbow Dash yelled out in pain.

“You brought this upon yourself.” Colgate said. Her horn got a bit brighter and the chains pulled back; forcing the pegasus to show her teeth.

Tears ran down Rainbow Dash’s face. She clenched her teeth together. She wasn’t going to just let this psychopath yank out her teeth.

Colgate saw that Rainbow Dash wasn’t going to open her jaw. The dentist smiled. Her horn grew brighter again and from the tray levitated a tool that looked like a pair of pliers, except at the end it was two flat, metal pieces pressed together.

Rainbow Dash watched as Colgate teased her by making the two metal pieces open and close.

Colgate giggled.

The metal instrument floated over to Rainbow Dash, forced itself in between the pegasus’s bite, and then forced itself open, forcing Rainbow’s mouth wide open.

“There we go.” Colgate said.

More tears flowed down from Rainbow Dash’s eyes.

The metal pair of pliers, which were still levitating in the air, moved over to the crying pegasus. The clamps opened and placed themselves tightly onto one of Rainbow Dash’s from-bottom teeth.

Rainbow Dash’s silent cry turned into whaling.

“Try and keep still.” Colgate said to Rainbow Dash. “You don’t want me to mess up.”

There was a small pause, but then Colgate spoke, “Are you ready?”

Rainbow Dash shook her head. Tears went down her face and into her open mouth.

“Then this isn’t going to be pleasant.” The pliers got a tighter grip on the tooth. Rainbow Dash could feel her heart pounding violently in her chest.

Colgate jerked her head back and the plier followed. There was a click and a bit of blood squirted from Rainbow Dash’s mouth.

The pegasus screamed. But the screams turned into a gargle as her mouth quickly filled with blood.

Colgate dropped the tooth into a cup that was on the tray. She placed the bloody pliers next to the cup and then used her magic to turn on a machine. The machine made a humming sound. Connected to the machine was a thin tube, which Colgate used her magic and place it into Rainbow Dash’s mouth.

The tube began sucking up the blood from the mare’s mouth.

“Can’t have you drowning in your own blood. You’re no good to me dead.” Colgate said. She chuckled at the cries of her victim. “Alright, let’s go again.”

Rainbow Dash didn’t hear her, she just continued to cry in horrible pain.

Colgate used her magic to lift the pliers from the tray it moved over to Rainbow Dash’s mouth and once again took hold of one of her front teeth.

Once Rainbow Dash felt the grip on her tooth she began thrashing her head around yelling something that sounded like “no”.

“Quit moving.” the dentist said. “This will only make things worse for you.”

Rainbow Dash didn’t stop. She writhed in her chair, the tube moving around in her mouth, sucking up all the moisture, drying up her mouth and throat.

“Very well, then.” Colgate jerked her head back. More blood shot from Rainbow Dash’s mouth. She screamed an ear piercing scream that made Colgate have to cover her ears with her hooves.

Colgate looked over at the pliers and saw that they only held half a tooth.

“I told you.” Colgate said. She dropped the piece of tooth into the cup with the other teeth. The pliers moved back into Rainbow Dash’s mouth and got a hold of the other half of the tooth. “Now, keep still.”

Once again, Colgate jerked her head and the pliers yanked out the other half. On the end of the tooth was a small chunk of the pony’s gums.

Blood poured into the pegasus’s mouth and was sucked up into the tube. Even though the blood was being sucked up out of her mouth, Rainbow Dash could still taste it’s very metallic taste.

Colgate put the tooth in the cup and continued the process of removing Rainbow Dash’s teeth.

She’d grip the teeth with the pliers, yank the tooth out, then put the tooth in the cup.

After the sixteenth tooth Rainbow Dash began to feel light headed. She was in so much pain and was losing a lot of blood. Right after the seventeenth tooth, Rainbow Dash passed out

“Rainbow Dash.” said a faded voice. “Rainbow Dash, wake up.”

The pegasus slowly opened her eyes. Everything looked fuzzy and blurry. She was able to make out a blue pony’s face and when things started becoming clearer she realized the one telling her to “wake up” was Colgate.

Her entire mouth felt sore. But that wasn’t the only thing that hurt. Her neck felt like it was on fire.

She felt around her mouth with her tongue and was only able to feel the ridged surface of her gums. She had no teeth. Her vision was completely restored to her and at that moment rage filled her very soul as she looked at Colgate.

“Awl keel you, you bith.” Rainbow Dash said, not used to talking without teeth.

“Nuh uh uh.” Colgate said. “I wouldn’t do that if I were you.”

It was then Rainbow Dash recognized two large hooks that were connected to chains, hooked into her neck.

“If you try to escape, the hooks will rip through your neck and you’ll bleed out. If you remove the hooks, even carefully, you’ll still bleed to death.”

“Wherth am I?” Rainbow Dash asked.

“Why, you’re in the factory.”Colgate answered. “It’s after hours, so everypony is asleep.” She pointed a hoof at the floor. Rainbow Dash slowly lowered her head, feeling the pain of the hooks moving around in her neck. The floor was covered in sleeping ponies, all of which had hooks in their necks as well.

“Your shift starts in an hour. So you better rest up.” Colgate turned around and started to walk. She stopped after about two steps. “Oh, and if you refuse to work I’ll have no choice but to remove those hooks for somepony else to use.”

Colgate continued to walk deeper into the shadows.

“Come backth herth!” Rainbow Dash yelled. There was a light in the shadow, which Rainbow Dash knew was a door. “Come backth hereth an leth me go!” The door slammed shut, leaving Rainbow Dash in darkness.

Buttoned Eyes

“Spike, have you seen my book, History Of Advanced Magic?” Twilight said. The purple unicorn stood at one of the bookcases searching through all the books.

“History Of Advanced Magic? One Second,” Spike said.

He pushed the ladder over to one of the center bookcases and then climbed up to the top shelf. Without even having to search, Spike pulled out a blue book with a white star in the center.
“Here it is”.

Twilight’s horn lit up in a lavender glow. The book was snatched out of Spikes hand, nearly causing him to fall. He let go of the book and quickly grabbed onto the ladder.

The book levitated over to the librarian and was placed delicately in front of her. She lied down and then used her magic to turn the book to the first page.

Spike climbed down the ladder and walked over to Twilight, who paid no attention to him. “So what’s so important about learning about history?” Spike asked. “It’s already happened and what’s happened, happened.”

“Because Spike, it’s interesting.” Twilight told her assistant. “Like, did you know that teleportation was discovered by accident when Starswirl the Bearded…”

Spike’s instincts kicked in and his mind zoned out. He began imagining him and Rarity together in a field. The sky was orange like fire as the sun set in the distance. Their eyes met as they drew closer to each other. They closed their eyes, their lips less than an inch from each other.

“Spike!” Twilight barked.

“Huh, what?” Spike said, breaking away from his daydream and coming back to the real world.

“Were you even listening?”

“yeah, of course.”

“Then what did I say?” Twilight asked.

“Something about magic, right?” the dragon said. Twilight rolled her eyes.

“I don’t know why I try to explain things to you.” The unicorn went back to reading her book. Spike walked away and continued his daily chores.

The sun had set, but Twilight continued reading that book of the History Of Advanced Magic.

She hadn’t moved from that one spot all day. The only break she took was when she used her magic to light a few candles. She hadn’t eaten or drank all day either. Although, she hadn’t felt hungry or thirsty for she was so caught up into her book.

The sound of the wind blowing outside the library could be heard from inside, but it didn’t bother Twilight. In fact she found it rather soothing.

A window blew open letting in a chilly gust of wind. The fire on the candles went out, leaving the room in darkness.

Twilight jumped up from her spot, her legs feeling tingly. She quickly galloped over to the window and pushed it shut. It was at that moment Twilight realized she could have just used her magic to close the window. She let out a sigh.

Twilight froze up to the sound of the front door creaking open. “Spike, what are you doing up?” She said. There was no response. The wind blowing could have made Spike unable to hear her.

The door slowly creaked shut, quieting the sound of the wind.

“Spike?” Twilight said again. Right behind her she could hear tapping. The tapping seemed move from one end of the room to another. Twilight quickly turned around to see that no pony as there, Nor any dragon for that matter.

“Hello?” Twilight said. She walked to the bottom of the stairs and saw a shadow moving at the top. Her stomach started to turn in dear. She was afraid to go upstairs, yet she was curious to know who or what was in her home.

She slowly went up the stairs, one step at a time. On the sixth step a creaking sound echoed through the library. Once again Twilight froze up in her place. Her legs were shaky and sweat dampened her forehead.

Twilight waited for something to happen, but nothing did. She continued up the stairs until she was at the top. The room was dark. The only noise was that of Spike’s snoring.

The lavender unicorn looked around the room. Nothing was out of place, no pony else in the room.

“It was probably nothing.” Twilight whispered to herself. “I’m just tired.”

She walked over to her bed and then noticed, sitting next to her pillow, was a grayish-brownish doll with button eyes and dark yarned hair.

“Smarty Pants?” The mare was shocked to see her childhood doll sitting on her bed. “I thought I lost you. How’d you get here?” Of course, the doll didn’t reply. “Well, I’m glad you’re back Smarty Pants.” Twilight got into her bed and almost instantly fell asleep. She had a hoof wrapped around the doll and held it close to her.

The next morning Twilight was awoken by a knock at the front door. She took notice of Spike, who was still sleeping in his basket bed.

She let out a tired groan and then got out of her bed. The lavender mare went down stairs into the library and before she could get to the door there was another set of knocks.

Twilight opened the door and standing outside was her friend, Applejack. But she didn’t look right, though. She looked worried and full of anxiety.

“Applejack? What are you doing here?”

“It’s Big Mac.” Applejack said. “He’s missin’”

“What do you mean he’s missing?”

“Yesterday afternoon Big Macintosh went out to buck for apples to put in our apple cellar, but he never came home. Please Twi, help me find my brother.”

“Of course.” Twilight said. Applejack gave a slight smile.

“Thank you, Twilight.”

“Anytime. Have you talked to the others already?”

“Rainbow Dash is doing a fly check over the town, Fluttershy and Pinkie Pie are askin’ other ponies if they’ve seen him, and Rarity is walkin’ around Ponyville.”

“Wow, sounds like you got a whole search party.” Twilight said.

“I also sent a letter to Zecora, askin’ her to search the Everyfree Forest.” Applejack informed.

“So, what are we going to be doing?”

“I need you to company me in searchin’ the orchard. Maybe he got lost or hurt while he was out there. I doubt it, though. Big Macintosh knows the orchard like the back of his hoof and he’s the toughest pony I know. But I can’t take any chances.”

“Well then, let’s go.”

With that the two mares began their walk to Sweet Apple Acres. Things seemed quiet around Ponyville that day. Hardly anypony was outside and those that were out were the ponies heading off to work.

“Look, here comes Rainbow Dash.” Applejack said. She pointed a hoof up at a blue Pegasus who was flying in their direction.

She stopped just over the two grounded ponies.

“Did you find him, Rainbow Dash?” Applejack called.

“There’s no sign of him, anywhere.” Rainbow Dash said. “I’ll keep an eye out for him, though.”

“Mighty appreciated.”

The pegasus took off in the opposite direction. Applejack and Twilight continued to walk down the road.

With in about fifteen minutes, the two mares arrived at the farm.

“Alright Applejack,” Twilight said. “where should we start?”

“I reckon we start in the sour apple fields and then work our way up.” Applejack said.

“Sounds like a plan.”

“Oh, and Twilight.”

“Yes?”

“Try and stay close. I don’t want two missing ponies.”

“I will.”

--------------------------------------

The two mares spent the next seven hours searching the orchard for Big Macintosh. They had searched nearly every square inch of the land, but there was no sign of him.

The sun was beginning to set and the sky had turned a beautiful orange. A breeze blew threw their manes as they began walking back towards the farm house.

“I’m sorry Applejack.” Twilight said. “We looked everywhere.”

“It’s alright, Twilight.” Applejack said. “Thanks for your help. You’re a real friend. How ‘bout I treat you to some cider. I like to have a mug or two after a long day and I’d love the company.”

“That would be great.”

Applejack smiled.

The two ponies were now out of the orchard and over the hill stood the Apple Family barn.

Applejack and Twilight walked to the side of the barn and in the ground was the cellar door. Applejack wrapped her hoof around the handle and pulled. It wouldn’t open.

“Huh, it’s locked.” The earth pony said, “Hold on.” Applejack walked over to a rock which was a few yards away from the door. She knocked the rock over and right where the rock was, was a bronze key. She picked up the key with her mouth and brought it over to the cellar.

Applejack opened the cellar door. There was a set of stairs leading down into darkness.

Just a little ways down the stairs was a switch. Applejack went down the steps and flipped the switch.

Nothing happened.

“Shoot.” she said. “Darn modern technology. Twilight, can you light your horn so we can see? When we get downstairs you can light a lantern.”

Twilight nodded. She closed her eyes and began to focus. Her horn started to glow a light lavender and at the tip sparked a dim light.

Twilight and Applejack made their way down the stairs, the light being only bright enough to see the steps below them.

When they reached the bottom of the steps they noticed that the floor was wet.

“Dang nabbit.” Applejack said. “One of the pipes must be leakin’. Twilight can you light those lanterns on the table over there?”

The unicorn slowly made her way over to the wooden table. On it were three lanterns. She focused on the lanterns and in an instant they lit up, lighting up the whole cellar.

“Much be...” Twilight began. She looked in shock and fear at the bloody horror before her. THe floor was flooded in dark red blood and intestines were spread out across the room. She was speechless.

Twilight turned to Applejack. The work pony’s eyes were tearing up. Her legs were rapidly shaking and she looked like she was about to collapse onto the blood flooded floor.

Then Twilight saw what Applejack was looking at. It was Big Macintosh. Or at least it was Big Macintosh.

He had been nailed to the back wall. His arms and legs spread apart. His stomach and chest region were covered in stitches and his blond mane was braided like some kind of doll.

But the one thing that caught Twilight’s attention was his eyes. They weren’t there. Instead there were two big black buttons.

Big Macintosh was completely disfigured. His mouth had been sewn shut and was forced into a smile. Below him were bits of guts and fluff.

Twilight could hear Applejack hurling behind her. She felt like hurling herself. She turned her head and stared at the gruesome mess one the floor. His lungs, liver, kidneys, and his eyes which were practically split in half with nerves still attached to them, were spread across the floor.

On the wall, written in the blood of Applejack’s brother, was a message of some sort.

“When the colt is too old to play,
He’ll never see another day”

“Applejack?” Twilight said. There was no response she turned around and saw her friend passed out onto the blood soaked floor.

Twilight’s horn lit up and Applejack was lifted up off the ground. “Come one, let’s get out of here.” She took Applejack up the stairs and they were welcomed outside with a light breeze and a sky filled with hundreds of twinkling stars.

She started walking back to the library. Twilight could have brought Applejack to the farmhouse, but Twilight felt uneasy about leaving her alone. Sure she would have Applebloom and Granny Smith, but she didn’t think they’d keep a psycho killer out of their house.

Twilight opened the door to the library and was introduced to a dark room. Her horn grew brighter and then a couple lights in the library lit up.

She stepped inside and the first thing she saw was her smarty pants doll, sitting upright on a chair, facing Twilight and Applejack. Really, Twilight didn’t think anything towards it, except for the fact that Smarty Pants had been in her room when she left.

Twilight brought Applejack upstairs and laid her in her bed. She tucked her in and walked away.

Twilight looked over at Spike’s basket and noticed that it was empty.

A terrible thought popped into her head. What if the pony that killed Big Macintosh took Spike? She shook the thought away. “Don’t jump to conclusions.” Twilight said to herself, quietly. “Maybe he went out or something.” But he never just goes out. “There’s a first for everything.”

The unicorn went to the stairs and down at the bottom step was Smarty Pants, looking up at Twilight.

“How did...did you...don’t be silly, Twilight. You’re just tired and paranoid, that’s all.”

Twilight went down the stairs, turned off the lights, and went back upstairs. She got into the spare bed and fell asleep.

Light shined through Twilight’s bedroom window and onto Twilight’s face. It was bright and made the unicorn have to shield her eyes with her hoof. Her eyes eventually adjusted to the light and she was able to move her hoof away from her face. Right in front of her face was her doll, looking directly into her eyes.

Twilight let out a ear piercing scream and then hit Smarty Pants off the bed. Twilight’s heart was racing and for a moment she felt paralyzed. But she was soon able to move and get out of bed.

She looked at Spike’s basket. It was empty. She then looked over at her bed, where she put Applejack the night before. But Applejack wasn’t there. There were dried blood stains on the sheets, but that could have been Big Mac’s blood.

Twilight started to feel worried and scared. She quickly went downstairs and then dashed out the door.

Panicking, Twilight began asking everypony if they’ve seen Spike or Applejack. But no pony was able to help. She even visited her other four friends and asked them. But they all said the same thing. “I haven’t seen her since earlier yesterday.”

She knew it was hopeless to ask more ponies and that she should just go home, but that doll was still there. It scared her. Terrified her actually. Something wasn’t right about that doll.

Twilight thought of sending a letter to Princess Celestia, but then she remembered Spike was gone.

She groaned. “What am I gonna do?” She said. Then an idea came to her. Zecora.

Twilight Sparkle walked down a path in the Everfree Forest. The tall trees that inhabited the forest blocked out the sun, making it seem like it was later than it really was.

Birds, that could only be found in the forest, squawked and they echoed through the forest. Bushes would rustle when Twilight got near them and at one point she came across a large patch of poison joke, which she had to teleport over in order to avoid touching them.

After another five minutes of walking she was able to see the lights of Zecora’s hut.

Twilight galloped as quick as she could to the door and then rapidly began hitting it with her hoof.

The door opened and there stood Zecora. “Who is outside my hut tonight?” the zebra asked. “Ah, it’s my good friend Twilight.”

“Zecora, something horrible is going on in Ponyville. My friends are disappearing and me and Applejack found Big Macintosh slaughtered in their apple cellar. I didn’t know who else to turn too. Please, help me.” Twilight said quickly. The words seemed to have streamed into one long sentence.

“Oh my. Please, come inside.” Zecora made room for Twilight to step into the hut and then closed the door. “Now please relax my dear, and tell me the story of before you came here.”

Twilight told Zecora everything that has happened up till now. She told her about finding Big Macintosh’s body in the apple cellar in detail, about bringing Applejack back to the library and then waking up to find Applejack missing.

“This is terrible indeed.” Zecora said. “I shall help you catch this fiend.”

“Thank you, Zecora.” Twilight said.

“First I must ask you something, my dear. Have you noticed anything else weird?”

“Well, my Smarty Pants doll mysteriously appeared in my home two days ago. It’s really creeping me out, too. I feel like it’s following me.”

There was a short silence between the two, until Zecora spoke up. “A thought has come to me, for I might know who took those three. It creeps around and silently roams, for the killer is the one that’s returned home.”

“Wait, you can’t seriously be suggesting that my doll killed Big Macintosh, Applejack, and Spike.” Twilight’s heart ached from imagining her friends dead.

“I know what I say is absurd, but please believe my word. Keep an eye on that doll or you too will fall.”

“Ok, ok.” Twilight said. “Let’s say it is my doll killing my friends. What should I do?”

“If destroying it is your desire, then you must cast the fiend into a fire.”

“What, I can’t burn my doll. I had it all my life, it’s special to me.”

“Then there’s nothing else you can do, so watch out for yourself or sure be doom.”

“Thanks for your help, Zecora.” Twilight said.

Zecora nodded and then Twilight turned around and left the hut.

When she got back into town she was greeted by her friend, Rainbow Dash, who looked worried.

“Twilight, have you seen Pinkie Pie?” Rainbow Dash asked.

“No, I haven’t.” Twilight said. Oh no, not Pinkie too.

“Man, I’ve been looking everywhere for her. If you see her let me know, ok?”

“Of course.”

Rainbow Dash took off and Twilight galloped back to the library. It was already late afternoon and darkness would soon shroud Equestria.

She walked into her home and the first thing Twilight noticed was that the door to the basement was wide open.

Twilight gulped. She slowly approached the doorway and then called out into the darkness beyond it. “Hello? Is anypony down there?”

“Twilight, is that you?” a high pitched voice responded.

“Pinkie? Yeah, it’s me. What are you doing down there?”

“It’s got me tied up down here. Please help me.” Pinkie Pie said, sounding like she was about to cry.

“I’m coming down.” Twilight informed Pinkie Pie.

“And hurry, before it comes back.”

Twilight focused on her horn and then it lit up. She walked through the doorway and down a short walkway. The floor was covered in blood.

The unicorn went down a flight of stairs and then saw in horror at the most gruesome sight she’s ever witness.

Hanging upside down was Spike. He was completely covered in blood. Twilight then realized that all of his scales have been removed and his eyes have been gutted out and sewn in their place were two green buttons.

Twilight stepped back. She stepped onto something soft which broke open, leaking out a sticky liquid. The librarian turned and looked at what she had stepped on. It was white with a mesh of green in it. It was at that moment Twilight recognized it as one of Spike’s eyes.

She almost screamed but was just able to hold it in.

Twilight turned back around and saw in a corner a small pile of gore and feathers.

The smell of rotting flesh lightly burned Twilight’s making it harder for her to hold back her cry. Tears ran down her face. Her heart ached with sadness and fear.

“Twilight, you there?” Pinkie Pie asked.

“Yes...I’m h-here.” Twilight responded. She walked further into the basement. She past by tables, which held sewing needles, thread, buttons, and knives.

Twilight made it to the back of the room where she found Pinkie Pie tied to the wall. “Pinkie, I’m here. Don’t worry, I’ll get you out of here.”

“Where? I can’t see.”

Twilight looked at the pink earth pony’s face and saw in horror that there were large, black holes where her eyes have been. “Oh, sweet Celestia.” Twilight said.

“What’s wrong?” Pinkie Pie asked.

“N-nothing.” The lavender pony slowly approached Pinkie Pie. She slowly turned her head and saw that next to Pinkie Pie was Applejack’s corpse, whose hooves were tied to the wall. Her stomach and chest area was cut wide open, but all her organs were not inside her. They were in a pile on the floor just under her. Her eyes were gutted out and replaced with buttons, just like the others.

“Wait, what was that?” Pinkie Pie said.

“What was what?” Twilight said.

“Something moved.”

“It was probably noth-” Something hit Twilight on the back of the head and everything went black.

Twilight regained consciousness. Her head hurt and she felt a lot of pressure on her chest, legs, stomach and head. “Wha-what happened?” she said. She tried to rub her head with her hoof, but she couldn’t move.

A dim light came on and Twilight was able to make out her surroundings. She was in her bedroom, strapped down on her bed.

“What’s going on? What’s happening?”

At that moment a brownish-grayish doll hopped up onto the bed and gave Twilight a little wave.

“Smarty Pants?”

The doll gave a little bow.

Twilight was speechless. How can her doll be alive. This wasn’t scientifically possible.

After a while of trying to collect her thoughts she was able to get some words out. “Why are you doing this?”

Smarty Pants didn’t say anything. Well, couldn’t say anything.

“I’m getting out of here.” Twilight said. She closed her eyes and focused. Nothing happened. “What? My magic.”

The doll jumped off the bed and soon returned with a purple horn with a rigid base.

“My horn!”

Smarty Pants began playing with the severed horn like it was a sword. He waved it around at Twilight like she was some kind of beast and he was a knight in shining armor.

He tossed it away and then hopped off the bed once again. Twilight struggled with all of her strength to break free from the straps.

Smarty Pants jumped back up onto the bed with a scalping knife.

Now Twilight’s struggle turned into thrashing. The doll approached Twilight’s face and readied himself to use the scalpel. He brought down the blade slowly and carefully. A burst of pain struck Twilight’s eye. She let out an ear piercing scream.

Smarty Pants began twisting the blade in the pony’s eye after a bit of torturing he pulled the blade, the eye still attached to the end. The veins and nerves connected to the eye snapped in half. Twilight screamed louder.

Everything went dark on one side of her vision and on the other side everything became blurry.

Blood poured out of Twilight’s empty eye socket.

Smarty Pants, due to his size, had a difficult time pushing the eye off the blade.

Twilight tried to break free. The pain was unbearable and made her feel light headed. But she didn’t give up. She struggled even harder.

The eye finally separated from the blade and went flying across the room. Smarty Pants approached Twilight again with the scalpel.

Twilight thrashed around and when Smarty Pants was nearly in Twilight’s face the strap on her front right hoof snapped and she hit the doll off the bed.

The unicorn quickly undid all her straps and then hopped out of the bed. She was about to gallop to the stairs but something stabbed her in the back of her leg.

Twilight jumped forward and let out a painful scream. She hit her head on the dresser and then something crashed onto the floor next to her.

In almost an instant flames rose up from the wooden floor.

She quickly got up off the ground and limped down the stairs. Halfway down, Smarty Pants jumped onto Twilight’s back. The surprise caused the mare to slip and fall down the stairs.

Twilight felt dizzy. She was lying on her back looking at Smarty Pants standing on her stomach. Flames blazed behind the doll. The roof was starting to collapse and smoke filled the whole library.

The doll brought the knife down onto Twilight’s stomach. A surge of pain struck the unicorn as she writhed in pain.

Smarty Pants stabbed her again and Twilight smacked him with her hoof. The doll flew over to the center of the library.

Twilight slowly got up and limped to the door. She turned around for a moment at her burning home. She watched as Smarty Pants started to get up, but the roof then collapsed down onto him.

“Burn in Hell.” Twilight said and then exited the library.

Outside, Twilight watched as the fire consumed the library. A tear fell from her eye. She sat down on the road, letting the blood flow from her stab wounds and empty eye socket.

Pony’s all over Ponyville gathered around the library and watched the tree home burn.

One week later

Twilight stood just outside the Apple family orchard. She had a glass eye in her eye socket and stitches on her stomach and her back hoof.

Next to her stood Fluttershy, Rainbow Dash, and Rarity. They looked down at a set of lined up tombstones.

“Big Macintosh
A Hard Worker and a Loyal Brother”

“Applejack
A Dependable, Strong, Honest Friend”

“Spike
A Number One Assistant”

“Pinkie Pie
Full of Laughter and a Friend to All”

Fluttershy burst into tears. Rarity began comforting her by placing a hoof on her upper back.

Rainbow Dash and Twilight’s eyes began to water. Their hearts ached and it was becoming harder and harder to look at the tombstones.

“Now what do we do?” Rainbow Dash asked.

“Carry on, I guess.” Twilight responded. “It’s what they would have wanted. But they’ll never be forgotten.” There was a long pause and then she spoke once again. “I love you all.”

All three of her friends smiled and they all gathered in for a group hug.

Breaking the Chains

What time is it? Earlier than six, no doubt. Unless they forgot to bring me my dinner. Maybe they didn’t forget and just want to watch me starve. Wouldn’t be the first time.

My nose itches. Damn this straight jacket. Hope one of the guys will let me out while this thing is going on.

What if it fails? I’ll be stuck with this itch for a while. That’d suck. I laughed hysterically. It’s been forever since I last laughed. Ten minutes I think. That’s way too long.

My laughing calmed down when a stallion’s face appeared outside the door’s window. He opened the steel door and entered my dark room.

“Hello, servant.” I said and then burst out laughing once more.

“I’m not your servant, rat.” the stallion said. His horn lit up and a bowl of mush floated into the room.

“Oh, so you’re not serving me my dinner?”

“Be quiet, Screwloose!”

The bowl moved in my direction and was dropped uncarefully right in front of me.

“Ah, oatmeal, again. Thank you, good sir.” I said. “How’s the family?”

“That’s none of your concern.”

“Very well.”

The “servant” left the sponge room, leaving me alone, once again, in the dark. I leaned forward and fell on my front hooves. The bowl was right in my face, so I started to eat.

Oatmeal is such a dull and boring meal, especially if it becomes your breakfast, lunch, and dinner for everyday of your life. I wouldn’t even be eating it if I wasn’t so hungry.

I ate until it was all gone. I even licked the bowl completely clean.

When I pulled my head out of the bowl I could feel the remains of my meal running down the side of my face. It didn’t bother me, but it’s not like I can wipe it off if I wanted to.

Once again, I burst out laughing. I laughed so hard tears began to build up in my eyes and then streamed down the side of my face, mixing in with the oatmeal.

Such a wonderful thing laughter is. Makes me feel good. Makes me feel right. I don’t know what I’d do without it. Probably wouldn’t be in here, but I’d rather be here than be unable to laugh.

Shouldn’t be long now. Probably be another minute or two. Who knows, maybe he’ll fail and I’ll be waiting in her all night.

The itch on my nose disappeared, which I am quite grateful for.

Oh, how I can’t wait to get out of here. They’ll come for me. I’ve known these ponies for years. They’re like family to me and I hope they feel the same about me.

Can’t wait to see the sun again. It’s been years since I’ve seen it. I wished this place had a courtyard or something we can hang around in, but the guards told me that the citizens of Ponyville don’t want to look at a bunch of half brain nut jobs.

Time seems to go by dreadfully slow in here. Not much to do while in a straightjacket in an empty sponge room.

I sit here day in and day out, watching my sanity slip away even further. Yeah, I know I’m nuts, but hey, that’s just who I am.

Suddenly an alarm loudly buzzed and through the window on the door slowly flashed a red light. I could hear guards shouting and I could see some of them gallop past the door.

Once again I laughed insanely. I can’t believe I might be getting out of here. I tried not to get my hopes up too much. There’s still the possibility that they’ll fail.

Ooh, I wouldn’t want to be them if they got stopped. Just thinking about what would happen to them if they got caught sent shivers down my spine.

They’d probably get the shock treatment. The staff here seem to favor that one. They give it to me almost once a week. I don’t recall doing anything wrong when they give it to me, just something they enjoy to do. I don’t mind it though. It’s the only time I ever get to leave this boring old room and go to another room.

Maybe they’ll just beat them. No, wait I forgot. Last time they beat a new guy to death. They got charged and were forbidden to beating their prisoners.

Maybe they’ll dunk their head in a tub of cold water and hold them under for a good amount of time.

Or maybe they’ll just kill them. Lethal injection and then things go back to the way they were. That’s boring. You don’t just kill somepony. You gotta torture them, make them scream. Only then can you teach somepony a lesson.

“No, please no, please...” somepony begged outside the door and then blood splattered onto the window.

I chuckled.

The door swung open and a gray unicorn came galloping inside the room. He stopped in front of me. His horn lit up and then the buckles on the straightjacket became undone. He bolted out of the room and down the hall. I slipped out of the jacket and the first thing I did was stretch my legs. It’s been forever since I’ve used them. I felt my whole body pop as I stretched. It felt really good.

I wiped away the oatmeal from my face, galloped out of the room and into the the dark hallway. Red faded in and lit up the hall, revealing many bodies on the floor, and then it faded back into darkness.

Screams of helpless staff members echoed through the hall, followed by hysterical laughter.

I trotted down the hall, following the scream and laughter.

The farther I went down the hall the larger the body count was. There were corpses with their bottoms jaws broken off, some had their heads turned completely around, and I think I saw one whose throat had a huge chunk bitten out of it.

Up ahead was the stairwell. I quickly made my way down the stairs to the second floor. Out in the hall all hell had broken loose.

The guards didn’t even have a chance. For every one of them there were ten of us.

As the riot went on I just stood there and watched. I didn’t attack, nor did I help anypony. I just watched.

It was a slaughter. Guards were dropping like flies. Two unicorns used their magic to grab a guards front legs. They commenced pulling as hard as they could. THe guard screamed in pain and agony and then suddenly his legs ripped right off. Blood sprayed everywhere.

I and all the escaped prisoners roared in a loud cheer. As the group cheered they galloped down the hall.

Once the hall was clear I began walking. As I stepped over the dozens of mangled and dismembered bodies I glanced into the rooms to see what I’ll be leaving. Wasn’t much. I hated this place more than anything else. The only good I found in it were my friends.

In one room there was nothing. It was completely empty. In another room there was a corpse on one of the guards lying on an operating table. His stomach was cut open and another pony was standing up on his back hooves, eating the guard’s intestines.

The living pony looked at me and then gave me a funny face.

I snorted as I laughed uncontrollably. I just love it. Who doesn’t? Laughing is the best thing about the pony body.

I laughed and laughed. I tried to breath but the fact there was a strip of small intestine dangling from his mouth made it nearly impossible. I laughed even harder and fell onto the floor.

The pony went back to what he was doing. I was eventually able to get a hold of myself. I got up off the floor. My sides were hurting as I tried to walk again.

The laughter and cheers of the riot echoed through the hall. I chuckled along with it. My walk turned into a trot and my trot soon turned into a gallop. I wanted to be a part of this. This was the day I’ve waited most of my life for.

I went into another stairwell and quickly made my way down the steps. On the first floor there was chaos.

Blood sprayed all over the place. Screams and laughter stimulated my ears. It was overwhelming.

Somepony grabbed my front leg. I looked down and there was a nurse, whom I remember seeing only a few times before. Her back legs had been torn off and one of her ears had a big chunk bitten out of it.

“Please,” she said to me. “help me.”

I laughed. I laughed. Tears built up in the nurses eyes and then she cried. I rose upon my hind legs and then brought my front legs down onto her, bashing her skull in. Blood covered my hooves and some sprayed onto my face.

I licked the blood that had gotten on my lips. It tasted warm and felt pleasant. Joy filled my body. My heart raced and my smile grew larger. This was the feeling I’ve so longly craved. I couldn’t hold my emotions back any more. I dashed excitedly into the brawl.

I grabbed a female doctor by the mane and somepony, whom I’ve never seen before, grabbed her by the legs. We pulled with all our strength.

She screamed loudly in pain and fear. We pulled and we pulled. The doctor’s head started to bleed and the blood flowed down her face. I pulled harder and harder. She screamed louder and louder.

As I couldn’t pull any harder, her scalp torn off and I flew backwards with doctor’s mane still in my hooves. I landed on my back, knocking the wind out of me for a second. I looked up at the doctor and saw she was still alive, screaming at the top of her lungs.

The pony that had helped me dropped the doctor’s legs and slid over to her head. The screams of the doctor turned into a cry.

He laughed hysterically. It must have been contagious because I started laughing as well. He began looking at the mare’s visible skull with a hungry stare. He punched the top of her skull as hard as he could and there was a loud crack which could be heard over the riot going on around us.

The mare’s cries and struggling stopped. The stallion removed the cracked skull cap in pieces until her brain was showing. He then buried his face into hit, eating the brain like some kind of animal.

I laughed harder. I rised from the ground. Everypony let out a cheer. I looked around and saw that the violence had stopped.

“Quiet!” one stallion shouted. He hopped up onto a desk as the crowd silenced. I recognized him as Bones. That’s not his real name, but no pony here knew his real name. “Victory is not yet ours. But it is close. There are still ponies imprisoned and also some staff still remain alive. In order to achieve victory we must save our brothers and sisters, and destroy those that have imprisoned us. Now go!”

The crowd roared and then took off. Within half a minute the room was cleared of ponies, except me, the guy eating that mare’s brain, and Bones.

He looked at me. “What are you doing?” he said. “Go help your brothers and sisters!”

I turned around and walked down a random hall. It was lit by a couple dim, flickering light bulbs.

A mare screamed down at the end of the hall. Curious, I picked up the pace. There was an open door up ahead, from which the screams were coming from.

“Come on, hold her down!” said a male’s voice. I looked into the room. It was dark and inside there were two stallions and a nurse, who was on the floor screaming and crying. She attempted to crawl away, but one of the stallions dragged her back over towards them. “Keep her still!”

The stallion that had spoken was Nutjob. The other one, who was now holding the mare down, was Brain Dead. Brain Dead never spoke and all he seemed to do was take orders from Nutjob.

The nurse struggled and squirmed. Nutjob gave a creepy smile that gave me the chills. I watched as he proceeded to rape the mare. I smiled, but I didn’t laugh. Don’t want them knowing I’m here. Nutjob is crazy, well crazier than most here. Probably rape me. Or maybe even have his buddy do it.

My smile grew larger as the nurse cried and yelled. After about five minutes, Nutjob let out a loud groan and then collapsed onto the mare. A smile was imprinted on his ugly little face.

“Please...just let me go.” the mare said.

Nutjob lifted his head and looked at her. “I can’t do that, sweet lips.” he said.

“Please.”

Nutjob got up off her and then looked over at Brain Dead. “Kill her.”

“NO!” the mare screamed out. Tears flowed from her eyes. Snot ran down her muzzle. “Don’t kill me! Please, don’t!”

Brain Dead placed his hooves on the slide of her face. My smile grew even larger.

“NO!” she wailed and then there was a loud snap as Brain Dead broke her neck. She stopped crying, stopped squirming, and stopped screaming.”

I almost burst out laughing. It was too rich. I quickly galloped down the hall. My hooves clopping echoed through the hall. They probably heard me, but I didn’t hear anypony behind me, so they must have thought nothing of it.

Up ahead was an intersection. I turned left and then stopped. I tried to catch my breath, but I couldn’t hold it in any longer.

Laughter burst from my mouth. I felt relieved and satisfied. It was like a drug. A sweet, sweet drug.

My laughter soon died down. This was so much fun. The adrenalin, the excitement, it was all so wonderful.

I went up to the closest closed door, which was just the left of me. I turned around and bucked the door open. I turned back around and saw an office. It was dark. None of the lights in it were on and it seemed nopony was inside.

I didn’t take any chances. I searched under the desk and any other place where somepony could be hiding.

There was nopony in the room. Well, except for me. So I left the room and then moved onto the next shut door.

Same thing, nopony inside. I continued down the hall, checking every room. Even the ones with an open door.

I eventually came to the last door in that hall. I bucked it open and then somepony let out a horrified scream.

The mare began to weep as she screamed. The room appeared to be a medical room of some sort. She was on the tiled floor, surrounded by blood.

“Please, don’t hurt me.” she yelled. I approached the mare with a wide grin on my face. She pushed herself across the floor and up against the wall.

I lowered myself to get on her level and then licked the tears on her cheek. They tasted great. They tasted like fear. I chuckled. She cried harder.

I pulled her head back, giving me a good look at her neck.

“Please, I’ll do anything.” the mare cried. “Just please, don’t kill me.”

I burst out laughing. Her begging and pleading, it was so satisfying. I sunk my teeth into the mare’s throat. Blood filled my mouth.

The bitch screamed louder. Little did she know that the screams and cries only motivated me.

I dug my teeth deeper into her neck and then tore her throat out. Blood sprayed on the walls, her screams turned into a gargle.

I chewed the chunk of flesh slowly, savoring its unique taste.

The mare’s gargling stopped as she drowned in her own blood. I looked at the corpse and saw that her eyes were rolling upwards. It looked silly, I couldn’t help but laugh.

The image of her begging for mercy made me laugh even harder. She just looked so ridiculous.

Something started to cry from the other side of the room. I got up off the blood covered floor and followed the sound.

On the bed was a lump under a blanket. I grabbed the blanket with my mouth and removed it from the bed.

On the bed was a little foal, crying it’s little heart out. I didn’t laugh at its cry, nor did I snicker or giggle.

I felt sorry for her. Her mother was dead and now no one was there to take care of her. Well, what about me? I could take care of her. She’ll make great use to the family in the future.

But I must ask Bones, though. He’s the leader and the leader knows best. I took the blanket off the ground and wrapped it around the filly. Her crying didn’t stop. In fact it might have gotten louder.

I put her on my back and then walked out of the room. While I went down the hall I was given many weird looks. But when I got closer to the lobby the worst happened. Nutjob stepped in my way.

He looked at me and then at the filly on my back. He grinned demonically. His buddy, Brain Dead, stepped up next to him.

“Hello sweet thing. What’s with the foal?” Nutjob asked. “Didn’t know anypony here was knocked up. Who’d you fuck? Come on, baby, don’t leave me in the dark. Who’s the little bastard’s father?”

“I don’t know.” I said truthfully, but before I could speak again Nutjob cut me off.

“I knew you were a slut. Maybe you and me can get busy later on.”

“Fuck you, Nutjob. I’m no slut. And if you must know, I found this foal in one of the rooms. I’m taking her to Bones to ask if I may raise her.”

“You know what he’s gonna do, right?” He said. “He’ll take it, kill it, and then kill you for suggesting such a thing. That child comes from the ponies that imprisoned us. Now you could give it to me and I’ll dispose of it, sparing your life. Or you can bring it to Bones and you’ll both be killed.”

“I’m not giving her to you, you creep.” I shouted. “Now get out of my way before I kick your damn teeth out!”

“Have it your way.” Nutjob stepped aside, letting me pass.

I could see Bones just up ahead. He was talking to another pony. Probably giving orders or something.

As I drew closer to him he looked over at me. Probably because he noticed the crying filly on my back.

“What is this, sister?” Bones asked. “Is this child yours?”

“No, I found her in one of the medical rooms. I killed the mother, but I brought the child to you to ask if I may raise her.” I said.

Bones turned his attention to the crying foal. “What makes you think you should raise this filly? And let’s not forget she is a descendant of those that have imprisoned us.”

“I could teach her our ways. She is only a newborn and hasn’t been tainted by our enemies.”

There was a short pause between us. I watched as his eyes went from me to the filly and then back to me.

“Alright, my sister, you can keep her. But she is your responsibility. I don’t promise her protection.”

“Of course.” I said.

“Keep an eye on the others. They’ve eaten nothing but oatmeal for years.” Bone’s informed me.

I nodded.

“Now go and...”

“Bones! Bones!” yelled a stallion as he and one other pony approached our leader. The other pony was pushing and shoving another pony who was blindfolded and gagged with old dirty rags. His horn had also been broken off. Blood flowed from the stump and ran down his forehead and absorbed into the rag. “We found this bastard sending a letter. He says it was to Celestia.”

“Good thinking keeping him alive.” Bones said. “We can use him as a hostage. Celestia won’t do anything to jeopardize the life of one of her subjects. You two lock him up in one of the prison cells and guard him with your life. He might be our only chance of escaping.”

“Yes, brother.” the two ponies said and they proceeded to lead the hostage down one of the halls.

“Alright, sister. Change of plans. Go and bring back any remaining survivors. The more hostages the better.”

I nodded and walked away. Ponies in the halls were still giving me strange looks. I knew why. It was kind of obvious.

The filly had stopped crying. Probably fell asleep.

How am I gonna feed her. How am I gonna keep her safe. Maybe I bit off more than I can chew.

I let out a sigh of anxiety.

What time is it? Doesn’t feel too late. Probably around twelve or one. Two at the latest.

My eyes felt heavy and I let out a long, loud yawn. I giggled. When this is all over I’m gonna take the longest nap I’ve ever had.

I took a left and instantly somepony pushed my up against the wall. “Hey, what the fuck are you doing?” I said. I could feel some other pony lift the filly off my back. Her cry echoed through the hall.

“Hold the bitch!” said a voice. I got a good look at the pony who was pinning me against the wall. It was Brain Dead, which could the wall. It was Brain Dead, which could only mean that the one who took the filly was Nutjob.

I struggled with all my strength, but it was no use. “Get the hell off of me!” I yelled.

“Give her some room, Brain Dead. I want that slut to see every second of this.” Nutjob said.

Brain Dead moved over, but kept me pinned against the wall. I could now see Nutjob standing there, looking at me with a large psychotic smile on his face.

“Give me back that child! Bones gave me permission to raise that child.”

“I don’t give a fuck what Bones said. I say that thing deserves to have its head bashed against the wall until its brain are all over the damn wall.”

The filly’s cry grew louder. Nutjob laughed hysterically.

“You leave her alone!” I could feel tears building up in my eyes and run down my face. This was the first time I cried in years.

Nutjob lifted the filly with his mouth. I wanted to close my eyes, but for some reason I couldn’t.

He tossed the crying fowl into the air. When she came down her head hit the floor, causing a loud thump.

I screamed. The filly’s crying had silenced. She just laid there motionless. Blood surrounded her corpse.

“You know, Brain Dead, I’m feeling hungry.” Nutjob said. He placed one hoof on the dead foal’s stomach and used his other hoof to lift her head. He then sunk his teeth into her neck and tore out a huge chunk of flesh.

Blood flooded the floor. Tears fell from my eyes like raindrops.

“You bastard!” I yelled.

Nutjob laughed harder. His mouth was covered in the blood of the child. It reminded me of when I killed the child’s mother. I recall doing almost the exact same thing.

How her flesh tasted in my mouth. How it felt when it went down my throat. Back then it was satisfying. Now I feel guilty. There’s another emotion I haven’t felt in a long time.

Nutjob tore open her belly and proceeded to eat her internal organs. For thirty minutes I watched this sick fuck eat the innards of an innocent child.

He ripped open the filly’s chest and then his grin widened. He dug his muzzle into her chest and pulled out a small, red, rounded object which was her heart.

Nutjob walked over to me and then put the heart in his hoof. “Eat it.” he said.

“Fuck you.” I yelled. I spit at his face but he only laughed.

“You’re gonna eat this or I’ll kill you and let Brain Dead here do whatever he wants to your body.”

More tears fell from my eyes. I felt afraid. More than I ever had before.

“Eat it!”

I closed my eyes and slowly opened my mouth. What felt like forever nothing happened, but just before I could close my mouth I felt the warm, wet, metallic tasting heart enter my mouth.

My stomach turned. Almost threw up.

“Chew it!” he demanded. I did as I was told. On the first bite blood squirted in my mouth. “Feel it. Taste it.”

It tasted very metallic and felt very slimey. It was horrible.

“Swallow it.”

I tried to force it down my throat, but my stomach had other plans. Vomit spewed from my mouth and soaked Nutjob.

“You Bitch.” Nutjob cursed. He turned around and kicked. I ducked, dodging his back hooves and breaking free of Brain Dead.

I got up, turned around, and saw Brain Dead on the ground. His nose was bleeding.

I didn’t stay long, I instantly galloped down the hall.

“Get back here, you bitch.” I heard Nutjob yell. I didn’t stop, I didn’t look back, I just galloped all the way back to the lobby until I saw Bones. I stopped right in front of him.

He looked at me with his light green eyes. I saw no emotions in his eyes. No happiness, no sadness, no anger, nothing.

I felt like my throat was on fire. I tried to speak, somepony else did before I could.

“Bones, they’re here.”

“How many are there?” Bones asked.

“About fifty unicorns in the front and I saw a few pegasi flying around the perimeter. I broke a window and told them about the hostages and that we’ll kill them if they try anything.”

“Good, good.”

“They want us to show them the hostages. They said we have fifteen minutes before they call it a bluff and come in.”

“How many hostages do we have?”

“Only the one, Bones.”

“Damn.” Bones cursed.

“What should we do?” There was a short pause between the two. Finally Bones spoke up.

“I want you to gather nine of our stallions and mares, dress them up in the worker’s uniforms, and blindfold and gag them.” Bones looked over at me. “You, sister.”

I felt confused for a moment. My brain wasn’t really working right. Has it ever really worked properly? Maybe I was insane. Maybe I should be locked up forever. All the times I’ve laughed at other’s suffering. All the lives I have taken.

“You will be our first volunteer.”

I couldn’t see anything. Nor could I speak. They had dressed me up in a nurses uniform. I was blindfolded and gagged by some dirty old rags somepony got from the kitchen.

The rag was dry and tasted like dish soap. They smelled of soap as well. Never really cared for the taste of soap, nor the smell. Too bitter for me.

I giggled. I couldn’t help it, it’s been an hour and a half since the last time I laughed. It had been building up inside of me the whole time.

The giggle wasn’t satisfying enough, but it would have to do for now. Right now I had to be serious.

“Ok everypony, please pay attention. You have been selected to play the biggest roll of our plan tonight.” I heard Bones say. “You all are our key for freedom and your task is mildly simple. Act normal. No spastic movements or sudden bursts of laughter.”

I gulped. It felt like he was talking specifically to me.

“We will make a trade with the guards, the nine of you for a transfer to another prison. We’ll send you all out, where they’ll take off the gags and blindfolds. When they try and enter the building we’ll attack. You all will attack from behind, but don’t attack until we do. Got it?”

“Yes, brother.” everypony said together. I just nodded.

“Alright, let’s begin.” Bones said and at that moment I felt myself being pushed violently forward.

Something sharp pressed against my throat, but it didn’t cut me. I heard a door open and I was pushed into a cooler environment.

“Alright, try anything and the bitch has her blood spilled onto the fuckin’ ground.” Bones shouted. He sounded very intimidating and for a second I thought he was serious.

“Ok, just calm down. Nopony needs to get hurt.” an amplified voice said. It was probably the negotiator.

“I got eight more inside ready to be killed if you try anything funny.”

“Nopony needs to die. Just tell us what you want.”

“We want freedom. We don’t want to be left in the dark anymore.”

“Now, we can’t let a bunch of criminals roaming free in Equestria.”

“I’ll do it, I’ll cut her fuckin’ throat.”

“Just calm down. I’m sure we can work something out.”

There was a moment of silence. The knife pressed harder against my throat. I could feel the sharp blade dig into my skin.

“Bones, you’re hurting me.” I said. The pressure lightened.

My heart was racing, I was breathing heavily. I was frightened.

“Alright, we think we might have a reasonable compromise.” the negotiator said. “What if we transfer you and your friends to a new location. In return you give s the hostages unharmed.”

“You think I’m stupid. We don’t want to go back to a life in the dark.” Bones shouted.

“We guarantee you’ll get at least two hours a day in a secured outdoor environment, better sanitation, and better meals.”

“How do I know you’re not just full of shit?”

“You’re just gonna have to trust me.”

There was another pause and this time Bones was the one to speak up first. “Deal.” He pushed me forward and I started to walk. I walked till I was stopped by something.

My blindfold was taken off. The first thing I saw was a red pony with purple eyes. He removed the gag from my mouth.

“Are you alright?” the red pony asked.

I didn’t say anything, I just nodded. I turned around and saw the building for the first time in eight years. A line of eight other ponies walked out of the building and towards the large crowd of royal guards.

The guards removed their blindfolds and gags.

I got a good look at the other eight ponies. Seven of them I didn’t know their names, but I have seen them around tonights. The only one I knew was Nutjob. For a moment I wanted to warn the guards, but I wasn’t going to be a traitor to the ponies that have treated me like family.

“Alright men, move in.” said somepony in the crowd. A squad of seven unicorns approached the building. Four of them stood by the door and the other three stood against the wall.

I watched them open the door cautiously and then all seven of them entered the dark prison.

There was a suspenseful silence. It was soon broken by loud screaming from inside the building.

“Squads three, four, and five move in!” somepony shouted. Nearly half the crowd of guards galloped towards the building, but by the time they were halfway, hundreds of ponies charged out of the asylum and went right for the squads.

Everything happened so fast that it was unbelievable. Large flashes of light lit up the dark field. Both the guards and the prisoners were dropping like flies. I looked over at the others and saw that they already were killing those that weren’t on the battlefield.

I saw Nutjob tear the bottom jaw off one of the guards. I watched that guard cry in pain and fear and my heart started to ache.

I have had enough of this shit. I’m sick of hurting others, I’m tired of laughing at other ponies’ pain and suffering.

I want to see the sun rise over the horizon. I want ponies to love me for me instead of being afraid. I’m leaving.

I turned around and began to gallop towards the gate. I felt the wind blowing through my mane. It felt great. It felt peaceful.

I was tackled onto the dirt path. I turned around onto my back and saw Nutjob.

“Where do you think you’re going, trator?” he said. He stomped his hooves onto my face.

The pain was terrible. I felt the warm blood run from my nose and drip into my mouth.

I pushed him off, rolled over, got up, and attempted to gallop away. He grabbed my back hoof and I fell onto the ground once again.

“You’re dead, bitch.” Nutjob yelled.

“FUCK YOU!” I screamed and then kicked him with my free hoof. I kicked him as hard as I could and I could hear something crack. He let go of my other hoof and I ran away, leaving that forsaken place forever.

I trotted through the town. Ponyville I think it was called. It was still dark, but I had no idea what the time was. Hell, I don’t even know what day it is.

I remember living here along time ago. So much has changed. Yet, a lot was the same. The buildings were different, the landscape had definitely changed, but it had that same peaceful feeling.

I ended up walking out of the town and came to the top of a hill. That’s when I saw it. A glow on the horizon, just above the trees.

My heart ached. Tears ran down my cheeks. The corners of my mouth turned up.

It was so beautiful. So incredibly beautiful I nearly broke down and cried.

The sun shined down onto a large farm at the bottom of the hill. An orchard of apple trees stretched on for miles.

The large star warmed my body which had been ice cold for so many years. I was free.

“Hello.” said a high pitch voice from behind me. I turned around and saw a pink earth pony with a poofy pink mane. She gasped loudly at the sight of me. “You’re new here, ohmygosh. That means a new friend to play with. You wanna be friends? Huh? Huh? Huh?”

She had the largest smile I have ever seen. It warmed my heart. It was a friendly smile.

“Yes.” I said. “I would love to be your friend.”

“Woohoo!” she jumped up and down with joy. When she stopped jumping she spoke again. “My name’s Pinkie Pie. What’s yours?”

“Screwloose.”

“That’s a funny name.” She laughed and I laughed too.