The Nightmare Night festivities were almost over for another year, and Princess Luna's moon hung high in the sky. The last remnants of the candy for the night were being devoured by any ponies still awake, mostly Pinkie Pie, who had tried to eat any leftover loot from those who failed to finish their treats. For most of the inhabitants of Equestria, the noise had died down to a soft night time lull.
As thin clouds passed over the full moon, its light reflected down on a gathered group of ponies at the outskirts of Ponyville. A crackling campfire burned atop a pile of logs, the sparks popping upward to seemingly scatter into the moon's light itself.
It was the perfect night for scary stories.
They gathered around the campfire for another Nightmare Night story time, the firelight flickering over their faces half in light and half in shadow. Any costumes lay well behind the group, minimizing the risk of burning. Twilight and her friends sat together with Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo, huddled around the warm flames. Their attention was focused on the yellow filly standing on a nearby log, telling a story she insisted was true. This was Apple Bloom's turn.
"After Mita told me to run for mah life, 'Ah ran as fast as 'Ah could to get outta Sunny Town. But the ponies livin' there were chasing me through the forest, comin' closer and closer!" Here Apple Bloom's eyes grew wide, as if she actually was remembering a real life incident. She moved back and forth on the log, miming the motions of running.
"Their eyes were glowin' all red in the dark as they were chasin' me, sayin' that 'Ah'd never become like Ruby, and they'd protect me... FOREVER!" The young filly's voice became almost a hiss on the word "forever" as she turned sharply at her audience, causing her two filly friends as well as Pinkie Pie and Fluttershy to flinch a little.
Apple Bloom knelt down slightly, looking back and forth with a small smile on her face, brow furrowed in the increased tension of the tale. "Mah heart was poundin' and I'd never been so scared it mah entire life. Ah thought I was a gonner for sure! But suddenly, just when I thought I was gonna be turned into one of them zombie ponies forever, Ah saw the gray and yellow pony Ah first followed, starin' at me with glowin' yellow eyes!"
"Was that the pony they had killed for having her cutie mark?" Sweetie Belle whispered, recalling the one the Sunny Town dwellers had spoken of earlier in Apple Bloom's story.
"I think so," Scootaloo whispered back to her friend.
Apple Bloom nodded, confirming their suspicions. "Ruby came to help me outta there! With her cutie mark bein' a magnifying glass, she said to me," here Apple Bloom adopted a slightly more mature tone to her voice, yet near a whisper, as she spoke for Ruby, "'turns out I'm really good at finding things. I finally understand what that means...' Then she smiled at me, and it was the most comforting thing Ah had seen all night, even though those zombies were surroundin' us! Then she said, 'And I will find you a way out of this!'"
"The zombie ponies were movin' closer and closer, and for a second Ah didn' know if we were gonna make it. But suddenly, there was a big ball of light above us, and it was so bright that Ah couldn't see anything around me! But after the light cleared, I was on the edge of the forest and Twilight found me!"
The filly grinned at Twilight, who cracked a faint smile in return. She remembered searching frantically for Apple Bloom until she had, indeed, found the young filly on the edge of the forest.
"And just as we were leavin', Ah thought I heard Ruby's voice one more time."
"What did she say?" Sweetie Belle whispered.
The young earth pony smiled happily as she spoke once more in Ruby's voice. "See you later, friend."
The other two Cutie Mark Crusaders were spellbound at Apple Bloom's story as they clapped their hooves. The others joined in, Applejack clapping the loudest. Despite her enjoyment of the enthusiastic filly's tale, Twilight felt that she couldn't get as much into the story as she would have liked. Twilight had heard this story time and again after she had recovered the inventive filly, so most of the potential scare factor was lost on her. She couldn't deny though, it was still rather creepy as far as Nightmare Night stories went.
"That was a great story!" Sweetie Belle exclaimed as she clapped her hooves.
"Did that really happen?!" Scootaloo piped up, eyes bright.
Apple Bloom bowed and put a hoof to her chest, holding her head up high as if she had just won first place in an intense obstacle course. "Yup, it's true!"
Twilight let out a faint sigh at that answer. "Look Apple Bloom, that really was a great story, but I assure you, I checked around the Everfree Forest myself after you kept mentioning it to me, and I didn't see any haunted town or zombie ponies."
"But it is true!" Apple Bloom insisted, her pleased expression replaced by an imploring look. "'Ah swear it! Cross mah heart, hope to fly, stick a cupcake in mah eye!" The filly did the motions of the 'Pinkie Promise' as she said the words.
"Well, she did Pinkie Promise, so it must be true!" Pinkie exclaimed. "You don't make a Pinkie Promise lightly!"
Applejack smiled. "'Ah know that all too well." Her friends laughed, remembering exactly what the farming pony was talking about.
Rarity yawned a little, stretching to rid herself of the stiffness that came from keeping her legs in one place for so long. "I think it's time that we all go to sleep, it's getting late-"
The white-coated unicorn was interrupted by Scootaloo, who wasn't looking the least bit tired. She raised her hoof, waving eagerly into air, looking as if she was nearly going to lift off into the sky. "Oh, oh! I have a really good story to tell!"
The others looked at Scootaloo, and the all-too-eager expression on her face.
"Is it scary?" Spike asked hesitantly, still looking a little unnerved by the tale Apple Bloom had told.
The young orange pegasus nodded enthusiastically. "Yup, it's super scary!"
"Scream-your-head-off scary?" Sweetie Belle asked, her sap-green eyes clearly expressing her curiosity as she gazed at her fellow Cutie Mark Crusader.
"Mega-scream-your-head-off scary! No! It's turn-you-to-ice scary! I heard it at a camp I went to once!" She sported a wide eager grin as she spoke.
Fluttershy instantly recoiled. "I'm not sure if I want to hear it," she admitted.
Rainbow Dash wasn't in agreement. "Aw, come on. Let her tell it. I can handle any camp story!"
Applejack shook her head in exasperation at her friend's bragging.
The light blue pegasus flapped into the air, reclining slightly a few feet above the small crowd. "Let's hear it, Scoots."
Leaping eagerly onto the log opposite the others, the flames illuminating her small frame, Scootaloo cleared her throat and began speaking with her best attempt at a spooky story telling voice.
"They say on dark nights like this, the creatures known as the Bloody Hooves creep out from their dark places. Always watching, waiting for a pony of interest to devour and turn into one of them!"
"B-Bloody Hooves?" Fluttershy stammered, moving a little closer to the others the moment there was mention of blood. "Devour?"
"Now this is a story I haven't heard of before," Spike whispered.
"Shh," Twilight hushed him, thinking the same thing.
Scootaloo went on. "It's said that the Bloody Hooves are not really ponies from this world, but are actually demons from the pits of Tartarus. They have jet black bodies that blend with the night itself, and they leave a trail of bloody hoofprints on the ground to lure curious ponies into their traps." She stomped her hooves on the log as she moved in a slow, stalking motion to emphasize the sinister gait of the nightmare ponies. "The same blood that covers their hooves also drips from their cold, empty eye sockets."
The expressions of the listeners were a mix of fear and disgust at the description of the demonic ponies.
"It's not exactly certain what a pony 'of interest' to them is, but there are a few guesses." Scootaloo continued with wide eyes as she lowered into a crouched position, her darkened mane hanging over her face and highlighting her stare even more. "Some say that they only go after young foals who are left unattended by adults, snatching them away before ripping their bodies apart. Others say they lure unsuspecting adult ponies too, ones who have strong abilities at flying or magic or are really really good at something that could be useful to them." Rainbow Dash lowered herself to the ground next to the others as she and Twilight both looked at each other.
"There are still others that claim they attack anypony who ends up crossing their path, and nopony knows where that path will be." Everypony had scooted a little closer together, from both the chill of the night and the performance the teller put into her tale.
"There was once a group of young ponies, Wilderness Scouts, who walked into the Everfree Forest together, setting a Nightmare Night challenge that they would make it safely through the forest by the end of the hour. They all went through it with their leader, who claimed that he knew the forest like the back of his hoof. But as they stepped into the forest," Scootaloo lowered her voice for dramatic effect, "the foliage surrounded them and trapped them inside."
Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle gulped and held on to their sisters' hooves.
"One of them, a unicorn filly, was determined to try to go back, but their camp counselor told them to keep going, insisting that he knew the forest to be safe. As they walked further into the darkness of the forest … that was when they saw it."
"O-One of the Bloody Hooves?" stammered Sweetie Belle, worry clear in her gaze.
"I hope not," Rarity whispered back as her sister snuggled close to her.
Scootaloo continued. "Bloody hoofprints on the forest floor, and they were leading right into the direction they were heading." The filly's expression leered and gleamed unsettlingly in the flickering firelight.
Fluttershy gasped, shaking a little.
"They were worried that somepony might be hurt, so they all followed the bloody trail. What they found at the end of the trail was one of the Bloody Hooves." The others let out murmurs of nervous anticipation. Spike moved closer to Twilight.
Scootaloo leapt off the log. The fire cast its glow over her, and her voice grew raspy as she spoke as one of the Bloody Hooves. "'One of us,' the Bloody Hoof said as it stared at them all with its empty eyes. 'You cannot escape your fates'. The scouts turned around and tried to run, but it was too late. Their path was blocked by more of the creatures. And then ... the Bloody Hooves ATTACKED!" Scootaloo rose up on her hind hooves and rapidly reached out toward the others with a wicked grin. At that same moment the the fire burst with crackling flames, causing everypony to scream in spite of themselves.
The young pegasus's voice rose in volume, and she lowered herself as she began sneaking along the ground. "The Bloody Hooves bit and tore at the living ponies, ripping them limb from limb with sharp, jagged shards of teeth. Their organs and eyes were torn from their bodies, and their blood stained the forest floor."
The other two Cutie Mark Crusaders held tightly to their sisters' forelegs, as Twilight and her friends huddled closer together, though Rainbow Dash attempted to put on a brave face. Spike shook like a leaf as he clung to Twilight.
"When the Bloody Hooves had finished their meal, they constructed new bodies from the leftover pieces, to house the tormented spirits of the murdered ponies. In this way the Bloody Hooves could enslave them and, if they wanted, they could change them to appear as they had in life.”
The young storyteller's voice took on an eerie tone, her gray-purple eyes bright. "So if a friend of yours goes missing and then comes back, pay attention to them. Their eyes might turn empty, and they may be a bit more hungry, and not just for things like apples and cake and muffins." Pinkie looked for a split second like she was going to make a comment about the cake, but said nothing.
"Their loyalty is to the Bloody Hooves, and if you aren't careful ..." Scootaloo had slowly started to creep around to the other side of the fire, her voice growing quieter as she went out of their sight. "If they find you of interest, they'll watch you ... they'll catch you in the night..." There was a pause. For several tense seconds, the only sound was the flickering of the flames.
"...and they'll EAT YOU!" Scootaloo leaped out from behind the fire into the view of the others, yelling out the last two words at the same moment as the fire practically exploded in a crackle of sparks.
Everpony else screamed, their hearts practically stopped and their blood chilled. The combination of the dark night and the skill of the young story teller had sent them into a whir of fright for a full minute. Scootaloo grinned at their reactions, stopping her dramatic movements to show that she was finished with her story. Once the screams had been quelled, there was a tense, frightened silence broken only by the crackling flames, as if the voices had been taken from everypony.
The silence was eventually broken by Rainbow Dash, who looked at Scootaloo with an absolutely bewildered expression. "Where the hay did you go to camp?!"
Scootaloo grinned. "It was just a summer camp that I went to a while ago, before I met you guys."
"Remind me never to go there!" Sweetie Belle squeaked out.
"Uh huh!" Apple Bloom shakily nodded in agreement.
The orange filly frowned and walked over to her friends. "Hey, that was just about the worst of the stories. So if you hear it a second time, it won't be as scary, right?"
The other two Cutie Mark Crusaders looked unsure, but softly murmured in unison, "We'll think about it".
"That was the most downright gruesome campfire story Ah've ever heard!" Applejack exclaimed, holding onto Apple Bloom as if afraid one of the Bloody Hooves would snatch her little sister away.
"Didn't you get scared?" Pinkie asked. "Weren't you afraid to go to sleep after a story like that?"
"A little … "
"Just a little?" Twilight asked incredulously.
"Yeah … " The young pegasus looked as if she were about to say more, but she yawned, covering her mouth slightly as her eyelids drooped.
Twilight chuckled a little. "I think somepony's getting sleepy," she said, looking at Spike and the other two Cutie Mark Crusaders. "Let's all get to bed." She found herself stifling a yawn as well, as everypony gathered them belongings together. "Happy Nightmare Night, everypony!"
"Happy Nightmare Night!"
"See ya later, Twi."
"Those were some creepy stories."
"Good night."
"Night!"
Everyone said their goodbyes and began walking in the direction of their homes. Scootaloo tagged along with Applejack and Apple Bloom.
Twilight and Spike headed back to the library. Along the way they chatted about the stories they had heard that night and how creepy they were. The two struggled to keep their eyes open as they walked home, thoughts of sleep and cozy bed filling their heads. It was then that Twilight got the sudden peculiar, yet unmistakable, feeling that she was being watched.
She whipped her head around, her gaze landing on the shadow of the Everfree Forest that loomed in the distance. She stared intently at it, but saw nothing out of the ordinary.
Spike turned around as well when he saw Twilight staring off in the direction of the forest. "What's wrong, Twilight?"
"It felt like somepony was … " her eyes tried to search the wall of darkness that comprised the treeline, "watching me." Spike stared for a moment as well, suppressing a shudder the campfire stories fresh in his mind.
After a moment the pair shook off their mutual feeling of unease, and turned to continue the trip back home. They walked on in silence, and the eerie atmosphere of the night managed to quicken their steps more than just a little. After a few minutes more, they reached the warmth and security of the library tree-house.
Spike fell asleep about halfway up the stairs. Twilight was barely able to put the dragon in his bed before flopping down into her own and falling asleep. Unlike her dragon friend, however, her sleep was not at all restful.
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She was running blindly through the darkness of the Everfree Forest, hearing the pounding of hooves behind her. Her heart threatened to leap from her chest, and her mind was empty except for thoughts of escaping the threat behind her.
This was a dream. It had to be a dream. She felt awake, and everything seemed far more real than it should have, but this couldn't be anything except a dream.
The Blanks, with their burned skeletal forms advanced on her. The Bloody Hooves with their carnivorous teeth snapped into her flesh, and twisted her downward bringing her escape to an end. In an instant they were on top of her, pulling and tearing, breaking her apart.
Twilight screamed, but nopony was there to hear. She only knew pain, the sharp teeth shredding into her soft flesh and organs, devouring her alive.
The darkness of the forest mixed with the crimson of her own blood. She flailed and screamed and gasped for air that her punctured lungs could not provide. Her whole world fell into agony and terror and darkness and-
In that moment, Twilight's eyes snapped open. She was bathed in a cold sweat, and the pain of the dream massacre still held weakly to her body. As her awareness became to increase, her panic rose, any vestiges of sleep leaving as legs nearly dropped her to the ground. She had woken up outside, and stood facing straight into the darkness of the Everfree Forest.
Twilight held back a shout of surprise, quickly steady herself to keep from falling over. Shock and the remnants of a sleep in her head kept her from mentally considering the situation beyond realizing that she didn't want to be there. She turned and hurried back to her library. By the time she began mounting the stairs to her room, her mind was fully awake.
That nightmare ... it was so awful, the unicorn thought frantically to herself. And I sleepwalked. I never sleepwalk! I was going straight toward the Everfree Forest too! Just like in my nightmare!
Twilight managed to keep herself steady and suppress a nervous shudder as she crept back into her bed. As she pulled the covers over her shoulders, Twilight stared out the nearby window at the bright silver moon that still hung in the sky. "That nightmare was a one time thing," she said quietly. "Those stories didn't really affect me. Not at all." Slowly, softly, she let sleep take over her consciousness.
Twilight found herself running once again, the forest seeming like a never-ending maze as her pursuers relentlessly closed in. She turned to face them, this time hoping to use her magic to save her.
They were too quick. She was thrown down, and her horn snapped off. Then they went at the rest of her, starting at her hooves.
Once again, Twilight Sparkle awoke. She was closer to the forest this time, close enough to see how each of the twisted gnarled trees seemed to yawn out towards her, beckoning. Twilight turned toward Ponyville and hurried back into its streets without stopping to look back.
“This can't be just a coincidence.” With blood rushing to her ears, she galloped back into the library, intent on researching the topic of sleepwalking as it pertained to the psychology of fear. There had to be a rational explanation for this. She wasn't about to go back to sleep anytime soon, so she might as well make the best of the situation.
The night wore on, and Twilight fought against her need for sleep as she poured through countless books on the workings of the mind, both asleep and awake. Hours passed until the first rays of daylight shone over the horizon.
____________________________________
"Twilight, what happened to you?"
Twilight groaned. She had been asked that again and again by just about everypony who had seen her that day, starting with Spike when he woke up. In truth, the young librarian couldn't blame them. She looked dreadful.
Aside from explaining her nightmare to Spike, the answer to the question had been the same all day. "I just had a rough night." The mare didn't want to let the whole town know about her nightmare. However, the pony who inquired in that moment was Applejack, joined by her other friends. She could trust them not to blab the events of her nightmare to the whole town.
"I ... I had a nightmare about the Everfree Forest," Twilight finally admitted, scraping her hoof along the ground as her purple eyes glanced downward. "It was about the ponies from the stories. You know, the Bloody Hooves and the Blanks? They just kept chasing after me, and they didn't let me go." She sighed, struggling to talk. Her friends came a bit closer to comfort her before she spoke again.
"They caught me, and they ... tore me apart and killed me. When I woke up, I found myself in front of the Everfree Forest. I went back to sleep, but it happened again.” Twilight hung her head low, as she clenched her eyes closed. "I was just so scared, and they felt so real. I couldn't bare to try to sleep again, so I ended up staying up the rest of the night looking through my books for an explanation linking those behaviors together. I didn't find anything, though."
"It's alright, sugarcube," Applejack said, gently placing a hoof on her friend's shoulder and pulling her into a hug. "Nightmares feel real when you're in them, but when ya wake up, everything's fine. Ah think ya might've gotten a little too spooked by those Nightmare Night stories. If ya ever need anythin' at all, just come to us, okay?" Twilight nodded, accepting the offer of comfort as she returned her friend's embrace.
"Applejack's right," Rarity said confidently. "And if it were possible for me to make a dress that could keep away nightmares, I'd gladly let you borrow it." She tilted her head curiously. "Do you suppose that sort of thing could be made, Twilight?"
Twilight managed a small smile, feeling a little bit better. "I don't see why not. There are all sorts of enchanted articles of clothing used by the unicorns in Canterlot."
Rarity's purple eyes lit up, as she was suddenly hit with the inspiration for nightmare-repellent pajamas right. "I'll look a bit into sleep magic, and see if I can whip a little something up."
"If they get too scary, just laugh, remember?" Pinkie Pie offered with an enthusiastic giggle of her own, smiling in a way that she hoped would be contagious. "That'll make those scary things go away super quick, no matter how creepy they are!" She frowned a little. "Though, those stories were really super creepy."
"Yeah ... we're here for you Twilight ... okay?" Fluttershy spoke in her usual quiet voice. "I mean, I'd be terrified of having a dream like that, I think anypony would. Those stories were really scary. I'm surprised all of us didn't have nightmares." The yellow pegasus shivered and fell silent.
"Man, if I could enter that nightmare of yours, I'd get those freaky zombie ponies away before you could even blink!" Rainbow Dash flew up into the air, making punching motions with her hooves.
Applejack narrowed her eyes incredulously at the pegasus's boasting. "Rainbow ..."
"Alright, two blinks!" Rainbow Dash countered, folding her front forelegs in a gesture that clearly meant she was leaving it at that. She turned her head in a huff, effectively hiding the brief hint of unease in her gaze.
Twilight smiled gratefully, and joined her friends in a group hug. "Thanks so much you guys.” At least her friends were there to help make her feel better. Simply talking about her experience relieved some of the pent-up tension she had been feeling.
Twilight went through the rest of the day in better spirits. She even managed convince herself that her friends were right – that the nightmare wasn't going to happen again. It was all brought on by a very vividly told camp fire story.
They aren't real, she told herself. The nightmares aren't real. They aren't. She repeated the thought inside her head until she was almost certain she believed it.
_____________________________________
That night the royal Princesses had planned a lunar eclipse. The sky was bathed in the deep red glow from the full moon, casting the entire land in a dark crimson hue.
Twilight paced back and forth beside her bed, her eyes darting around the room as her frayed nerves forced brutal and savage memories to the surface of her mind. The slowly reddening moon did nothing to wipe away the print of the blood stained hooves that tracked through her dreams. With ever increasing certainty, she began to realize she would see them again.
"Uh, Twilight?" Spike approached, his green eyes bright with concern. "Are you nervous?"
"Nervous?" Twilight quickly spun around to face her assistant. "Not about going to sleep. Not because of some little nightmare." She almost managed to keep herself from letting out a small shaky chuckle.
Spike sighed and climbed into his own bed. "Don't dreams usually just happen once?"
"Usually," Twilight murmured. "But this one has already happened twice."
"I'm sure it'll be-" the young dragon was sound asleep and snoring before he was able to finish his sentence, one claw curled peacefully around his blanket.
Knowing that sleep was inevitable, Twilight prepared herself. "The nightmare will stop," she told herself, attempting to cast the stories out of her mind. "You talked it over with you're friends, and Nightmare Night is over. No more nightmares, and no more being scared of things that don't exist."
The unicorn crept into bed, her gaze lingering on the bright red moon outside. "Just because the moon is red like the eyes of the Blanks doesn't mean anything. This was a scheduled event." She yawned, pulling the covers over herself as she turned away from the window. "Just get some sleep."
She got under the covers of her bed and, with one last glance at the bright red moon, allowed her eyes to slowly close. Her sleep was, for the moment, restful.
_____________________________________
Twilight opened her eyes just as the vines of the Everfree Forest were closing their thick tendrils over the path she had come through. Panic seized her mind as she whirled around to see the last view of Ponyville disappear.
"No! No, no, NO!" Twilight's horn sparked with the familiar purple glow before sending out a beam of magic into the thick mass of plant life. There was no effect. She tried again, concentrating harder, pulling her focus toward the tip of her horn. The resulting blast didn't even singe the bark from the trees. On closer inspection, Twilight saw that the underbrush had actually grown slightly more dense in response to her attentions.
Her mind spun as she searched for alternatives. “OK. Calm down. You can still get out of this, Twilight.” She only half believed her own words. She closed her eyes and forced herself to focus. She conjured up the mental image of her house and the surrounding area. She mentally mapped it out, and then began pressing her magical essences back into her horn. Sweat formed on her brow as she realized she was still standing in the forest. “I can't teleport! The forest has me trapped inside.”
Twilight could feel her heartbeat quicken as she recalled Scootaloo's story, but she forced herself to calm down. She'd never make it out if she panicked. She paused again, trying to think of another way.
"Zecora." The zebra knew many things about myths and lore, and the forest was her home. Certainly she could be of help in finding out why Twilight's magic hadn't worked. The desperate unicorn galloped off down the only path available. It would eventually branch off at a crossroads that would lead to Zecora's hut - that was logical. There were only a certain number of pathways through the Everfree Forest, and she knew where she had just entered from. She knew this path would turn to the right up ahead.
Twilight ran on. Why wasn't the path turning? She had made the trip to visit Zecora dozens of times before, but now she didn't recognize this area. She swung her head from side to side as she continued running, looking for any familiarity. Frosty pinpoints of dread began to dig into the back of her neck.
She stopped dead in her tracks when she heard it. The laughter echoed through the trees with no discernible origin. She turned just in time to see the shape of a pony dart down a side path. She must have ran right by it in her panic.
She had only a brief glance at the light gray pony, but that was enough to know that he wasn't a creature from her nightmares. She let out a small sigh of relief before moving down the newly discovered path.
"Hey, wait!" Twilight called out, her hooves hurrying after the gray pony. "Do you know how to get out of here?"
The gray stallion just kept running. There was a moment of silence before he responded in an eager voice. "This way!"
Twilight allowed a small smile across her face as she realized that, whoever he was, he seemed to know a way out. She followed him through the twists and turns of the trees and forest paths. She was about to call out again when she came to a clearing populated by a series of decrepit buildings. They were extremely run-down, some having completely collapsed inward, and looked to have been abandoned long ago.
The gray stallion had stopped. He didn't move from his position or lead her further on, but instead sat on his haunches and tilted his head slightly, waiting for her to come over. A small smile crossed his face, though it wasn't sinister or unkind.
"Hey, I thought you said you knew a way out!" Twilight shouted, her eyes narrowing angrily as she moved to approach.
The stallion laughed lightheartedly. "I never said that. I only said 'this way'. You looked lost, and nopony should be wandering in this forest by themselves."
Several other ponies emerged from the relics of the old buildings, some seeming a bit hesitant.
"Who are you?"
"I'm Gray Hoof," the gray pony responded. "I wanted to welcome you."
A frown crossed Twilight's features. That name sounded familiar. She considered this for a brief moment before noticing something that made her blood run cold. She stared at these fully grown ponies who were approaching her, starting to form a semicircle around her, and realized that none of them had cutie marks.
"We haven't had a visitor in a while. It's much better than being alone. So I thought to lead you here as a new initiate. You could help us."
"All we want is friendship," a green mare said as she stood beside Gray Hoof. "My name's Three Leaf." She exchanged a smile with her companion. "All we want is friendship."
"Well, I ..." Twilight laughed nervously, "I'm good with those kind of things. Heh. It's part of what I do for the Princess."
"We know," Three Leaf responded. "We know a lot about you, Twilight Sparkle, and what happens when those friendship lessons of yours go wrong." She stepped closer, peering at the unicorn. "There's a dark and vast potential in your eyes."
Twilight stepped back. "What do you mean by that?"
"Your magic is immensely powerful, and it could eventually consume your mind." Three Leaf gave a curious tilt of her head. "Can't you tell?"
Twilight's fear mingled with confusion. "But I'd never ... and Princess Celestia-"
"Yes, Celestia is powerful," Gray Hoof interrupted, "but she's centuries old. You can't know everything about her. Can you really be sure she has never once used her powers for evil?"
Twilight silently stared at the group.
Gray Hoof continued. "You've caused chaotic things in the past without being evil, haven't you?"
Twilight froze, a rush of memories coming back to her. When she couldn't find a friendship lesson, she had to make a friendship problem. Her spell caused much more harm than good that day.
It's true. A voice in her mind insisted that there was truth in Gray Hoof's words, as much as she hated to even think of the possibility. She mentally shook herself. This was a distraction, a trick. She wasn't evil.
"No." Twilight shook her head. "You're lying."
"We receive messages from beyond the forest sometimes," Gray Hoof said, stepping closer. "And we know that, if you had the inclination, you could probably free Discord yourself."
Twilight's eyes narrowed. If Apple Bloom's story was correct, these ponies had been trapped within the forest for ages. "How do you know who Discord is?"
"We hear stories from those who can venture beyond our boundaries, from their voices carried in the winds of the forest. The voices of the Bloody Hooves," Three Leaf replied.
Twilight was only dimly aware when her legs started trembling. She quickly shook her head from side to side. "No. They're just part of a campfire story."
"You said the same thing about us to young Apple Bloom, didn't you?" Three Leaf smiled again as she saw Twilight's eyes widen.
"Yes. Yes, you did. They told us so.” A white-coated mare with a red-orange mane stepped forward, speaking in an almost serene tone. "Unlike us, they can go where they please most of the time. But they sometimes need new ones among their ranks. They need to feed."
Twilight gulped, fear freezing her to the spot. She didn't want to believe it, but here they were, standing right in front of her. Apple Bloom's horror story had been real the whole time, and now she was standing in the middle of it. Twilight finally let the next thought enter her brain. If these ponies were telling the truth, Scootaloo's story was real too.
Gray Hoof stared her down. "They need to feed, but not us. All we want is friendship.” His smile stretched wide across his face. “All we want is friendship.”
The phrase repeated itself through the voices of the other ponies, droning through the crowd and repeating again and again. “All we want is friendship.”
Then, under the blood red light of the lunar eclipse, the residents of Sunny Town began to change.
The scene played out slowly, as if time itself were taunting the unicorn, forcing her to watch every detail. She could not run, nor could she look away, and she momentarily forgot everything except the macabre spectacle before her.
The hides of the ponies began to crack and slide from their bodies. As if gripped by invisible hands, the skins pulled themselves downward, falling away to vanish into the shadows of the ground. Beneath were pulsing organs and twitching muscle, each moving as they would within a living pony. These too fell away, the bones unable to hold them. The horrific chunks faded into darkness before hitting the ground. Only cold skeletons were left standing, their bones cloaked in shadow and their glowing blood-red eyes glaring back at the helpless unicorn. It was just as Apple Bloom had described.
Gray Hoof spoke in a cold, dead whisper. "Apple Bloom found out the truth. She should have stayed to live among us for all time. We would have spared her from the cursed mark. It is the same mark you have Twilight Sparkle." The Blanks began to slowly advance toward her. “We cannot let you leave."
Forcing her fear aside, Twilight moved into a battle stance. She fired off several bullets of magical energy toward the undead monsters. To her horror, the blasts passed harmlessly through them, swallowed up by the darkness.
Twilight turned and galloped away as fast as she could, taking whatever paths were available. She ran full speed through forest maze, trying to remember the way she had come. In her panic she ran off the path, barreling through the underbrush and dodging passed the trees.
As she ran, she chanced a glimpse back. Over her shoulder she saw the thin skeletal forms shifting easily past underbrush that had hindered her own movement. Their bone frames contorted or collapsed to fit through gaps between trees that would be impossible for a living pony to traverse. Fear fueled Twilight's speed.
In her desperation she cried out with all the strength in her lungs. "SOMEPONY HELP ME!" Her call went unheard, and the Blanks continued their chase, ever relentless.
"All we want is friendship."
"You have a mark, you can't go."
"You won't escape!"
She pushed the cold whispering voices from her head and ran onward, heart pounding to escape her chest, blood racing like fire in her veins. She just had to focused on getting away from this place, and back to Ponyville, where it was safe and sane.
She burst free of the thick mass of trees, tripping and landing face first onto a small pathway. She scrambled to pick herself up, until her eyes pulled into focus as she peered down at the dirt path inches in front of her face. She froze. Bloody hoofprints led off down the trail.
Twilight felt her mind go numb and empty. Her head moved automatically as her gaze followed the tracks farther down the trail. Through the red tinted light of the eclipse she was just barely able to see what was making them. Something was standing in the gloom down the trail.
Her mind frosted over. Twilight lay motionless for a time, the Blanks forgotten. Perhaps it was a second or perhaps an hour; she couldn't tell. Her eyes were locked on that dark form standing motionless in the distance. She wondered if it had seen her. Her joints moved like molasses as she lurched to stand. The thing did not move. Time started to move again when she had nearly made it to her hooves. Her senses gradually returning to her as she stood.
Then, just behind her, she heard the thump of a hoof on the trail. She didn't have time to turn. A massive force slammed her off her hooves and back down into the dirt. She couldn't move. She couldn't see. Pain exploded again in her back before she was even able to draw in enough breath to scream. The taste of blood mixed with the dirt in her mouth.
Then she was airborne. For a brief instant her thoughts and fears tumbled in every direction, along with the rest of the world. More pain followed with the impact. Twilight came to rest on her side, still gasping for breath. That's when she felt the cold force pressing down on her, rolling her to face upright.
She was staring directly into a pair of empty seeping eye sockets. An onyx hide stretched over the face of the beast, split and raw around the edges of the mouth. Twilight felt her mind crack as the thing's words crumbled out from between its broken bleeding teeth. In her numbed mental state Twilight was suddenly reminded of the crush of dry decaying leaves under hoof.
"One of us.” The tone had a vibration to it, as if two shattered voices were speaking at the same time. The air around its mouth plumed black with shadow as the words burned with frost into her mind.
Twilight was frozen, all physical pain dulled along with her mental faculties. From the very corner of her vision she was only half conscious of the Blanks standing motionless beyond the edge of the pathway. Then the sound of hooves beating against the ground brought her mind partially back into her control. Several more of the Bloody Hooves had formed a circle around the little unicorn.
Twilight tried to focus, tried to concentrate on magic of any type. She thought of summoning fire or frost or anything at all, but her thoughts were spread like ashes into the wind. Her hope died before it had a chance to draw breath. Then the nightmare creature spoke again.
"You cannot escape your fate."
They moved quickly, closing the circle around her, and agony followed. Razor-rock teeth tore at her scalp, removing her ears and a good portion of her face. Her horn made a thick sickly crack as it was wrenched from her skull, pouring blood into Twilight's vision. She tried to scream, tried to sob or wail or call out for help, but it was no use. Any voice she had left was drown out under a choking gurgle of her own blood, much of which was now staining the forest floor.
The creatures gnawed into her legs, stripping off the skin in smooth fluid twists. Tendons and ligaments hung in strips, having been picked clean of the muscle meat. Her hind legs were now completely gone, and her forelegs would soon follow in their stead.
The gashes and tears on her torso rapidly widened to spill more blood onto the forest floor. Twilight's fading awareness saw her abdomen peeled open the stench of blood overpowering. The monsters shoved against each other as they huddled their hungry muzzles into the widening gap of the wound. She dimly felt her abdominal wall stretch and rip open, pouring her organs onto the ground for her attackers to gorge themselves.
There was a blow to her chest. The pressure of the impact was so sudden and violent that Twilight was jerked back into the waking world, her senses engulfed with a flood of new misery. The initial thump resounding from her chest cavity was followed by a sharp crack as her ribcage was crushed inward. She lay writhing, impossibly still conscious, attempting to scream through missing throat and ruptured lungs. Her heart was compressed down between the shattered pieces of her chest.
Twilight's head was pulled roughly into the vice-like grip of one of the larger beasts, the whiteness of his teeth glinting like a dagger as they positioned themselves above her skin. Just as her heart burst under the weight of repeated strikes, he leaned down with a wide grin to bite the eyes from her skull.
Time passed, stretching into what seemed like an eternity. The Bloody Hooves worked quickly to fill their bellies with the young unicorn's remains. Finally, when the last of them lost interest and stepped away from the pile that had been Twilight Sparkle, the Blanks stepped out from the trees. They began gathering up the bones and what little flesh and skin remained. In that terrible silence that followed the slaughter, it was time for them to go to work.
______________________________________
There was pain.
There was darkness.
There was-
"Twilight? Twilight, wake up!"
The voice of her assistant jolted the unicorn awake. The sudden flailing movement was just enough to cause her to fall out of bed. She glanced around wildly, the fervency of what she had just experienced still fresh in her mind. Then relief spread over her. The daylight streamed into her room banishing thoughts of any horror. She stood and hurried over to her window, looking outside.
Princess Celestia's sun was shining brightly, and everything looked the same as ever. The ponies of early morning were out on their chores and the birds sang sweetly in the branches of her. Everything was right. No more zombie ponies of Sunny Town and no more Bloody Hooves. She was home. She was safe. Her eyes began to water as she stared out at the bright happy scene of the new day.
Spike looked up at Twilight as he saw her shakily pull her head back in the window. "Was it the nightmare again?" Twilight looked down at him before reaching down to snatch him up into a long hug. “Ah! Hey! Was it really that bad?” There was concern in his voice as she released him.
She took a few deep breathes, the rush of energy fading as she began to center herself more into the reality of where she was. The panic of her dream had faded. Somehow, in the depths of her heart, Twilight knew that she wouldn't have those nightmares any longer.
“It's alright now Spike. I think it's over.” She looked down at her dragon familiar and spoke with a reassuring tone.
He blinked up at her for a moment before letting his own smile spread across his face. “Well, good. Now how about some breakfast. I was going to make waffles.” He unconsciously licked his lips as he said the words.
"Absolutely. You go start things, and I'll clean up a bit before coming to help.”
“Will do.” The little dragon stood up very straight to give a salute, before giggling and running exuberantly down the stairs.
Twilight smiled to herself as she watched him go. She was still grinning as she stepped in front of her mirror, and magically grasped her brush to start combing out her mane.
She froze as she looked in the mirror. For a flash of a second, she had seen her eyes change to a cavernous, empty black rimmed with bloody sockets. The mare blinked rapidly, and the frightening image was gone. Twilight felt all sounds and sensations driven out of her mind. She struggled to choke out a few words.
"Everything's fine..."
A frightening familiar voice began to creep into her head.
"You can't escape your fate." A sensation accompanied the voice. It was a pull, a calling to return to the forest after nightfall.
Twilight stood rooted to the floor, the haunting voice echoing through her mind. A feeling of impending doom descended upon her just then. She shakily lifted her hoof, pausing as she looked down at it. She silently prayed to the sun goddess that the voice was only a vivid recollection of her nightmare. She took a deep breath and firmly pressed her hoof against her chest.
Her eyes widened, staring dully into her own reflection as she her hoof remained squarely on her chest. She felt nothing. The comforting thump of her heart was absent. In the ensuing silence, it took over a minute for Twilight to realize that she had been holding her breath in anticipation. It took a minute more before she confirmed that she could have continued to do so indefinitely.
_________________________________________________
Scootaloo looked up from her hiding spot in the bush behind the library. Her purple eyes lit with keen interest as she recalled Twilight's expression at the bedroom window. Something had changed in the librarian since Nightmare Night. The little pegasus could sense it.
A voice echoed in the orange filly's head. "How did the unicorn escape?"
"She didn't escape, sir." Scootaloo smiled. “The faction in Everfree killed her. She'll be joining us in the forest soon enough.”
Twilight's world fell away. Her chest was hollow and her sockets eyeless. She scrunched her eyelids shut, brow furrowed in concentration as she stood, hooves planted to the floor, attempting to focus her thoughts. It's just my imagination, just a remnant of the nightmare. When I open my eyes, everything will be okay again.
Steeling herself, Twilight tentatively opened her eyes. Relief washed over her at the sight in her mirror. The bright purple orbs of her irises stared back, normal as ever. A few quick blinks, and her eyelids responded accordingly. Normal. Everything is normal.
Feeling a little more confident, the unicorn placed her hoof back to her chest. It was not uncommon for ponies to be prone to brief hallucinations just after waking from particularly vivid nightmares. Logic and reason dictated that she was experiencing this phenomenon now.
She held her hoof squarely against herself. The smile faded from Twilight's face as silence greeted her once again. Nothing there. The thought filled her with a cold dread.
She slowly brought a lavender hoof to her eye to just barely touch the surface, wincing slightly as she dreaded the possibility of what might happen. A gasp caught in her throat as the edge of her hoof met only air. There was no visible evidence of a vacant socket, but it could certainly be felt.
Twilight's mind reeled as her sweaty hooves gripped the dresser, trying to steady herself. This is impossible. If I have no eyes, how can I see? How is it that I feel as normal as always?
She whipped her head back around to her bed half expecting, even hoping, that she'd see herself laying there, still dreaming. Her gaze landed on the bedspread, seeing nothing out of the ordinary. She had to confront the facts of her current situation, no matter how much her rational mind urged her to deny it, those events hadn't been a terrible dream.
A wave of nervous nausea made her clench her eyes tightly closed. She staggered a blind step away from her bed before opening her lids again. She was facing her reflection when her strained vision cleared, and she nearly screamed again. The thing staring back couldn't be her. It couldn't be.
Then Twilight realized exactly why she had felt a sense of relief that morning, the sense of calm that came with the knowledge that the nightmares would cease. There was no reason for the nightmares to plague her anymore when the true event had already taken place. Those things released their grip on my psyche, because they don't need to lure me in anymore. Free in one way, trapped in another.
Twilight heard her own voice speaking shakily, nearly beyond her control. “I am … awake ...” Her head slowly shook back and forth on its own accord. “I am … I … ” She stared open mouthed at the reflection of wide ripped bleeding holes, black as night where her eyes should have been. The reflection's cracked teeth shone slick with a red stain in the morning sunlight.
She recoiled, bringing her hoof up to cover over her face. She stopped then, looking at the leg and hoof in front of her. Her appendage was normal. Her naturally curious mind began to take command, and she reluctantly ventured a glance back at her vanity. In the mirror her leg was stained with dark dried blood. She blinked as the moved the limb up and down in front of her face, watching as the blood soaked reflection mimed her motions. The mirror reflects differently.
She looked closer. Her leg wasn't just bloodied, but fragmented and uneven, like it had been hastily stuck together using spare parts from different ponies. A single word shot through Twilight's mind. Reconstructed.
She could only stare, her gaze shifting periodically from her reflection down to her hooves and then back to the mirror. She was so enthralled that she didn't hear Spike calling to her the first time. The second she heard, but the numbness in her mind prevented her from responding right away. After a third, and somewhat concerned call, she turned to yell down the stairs toward him in the most composed voice she could muster.
“Don't come up. I mean, I'm fine. Don't trouble yourself. I'll be down shortly. I just need to finish something up first.”
The baby dragon's voice carried audible relief as he called up to her. “Oh good. Well, I just didn't want your breakfast to get cold. Hey, I'm going to start on mine if you don't mind.”
Twilight turned back to her grizzly reflection. “Yeah, go right ahead.” She heard Spike begin to hum as he waddled back into the kitchen. She took a few deep breaths, closing her eyes to clear her head. That was a bit close. I don't want Spike seeing me like this.
Her thoughts suddenly frosted over inside her head. Her eyes snapped open as she stood straight up to stare at herself again. What will my friends think if they find out? What will the PRINCESS think?!
She held a shaking hoof up to touch the unyielding glass surface, her reflection reaching out with a mangled hoof stump to do the same. Her voice was thin and fragile as she spoke. “Oh no ...”
She felt the tears begin to pool in her eyes shortly before they ran down her face. In her reflection, the horrifying empty sockets leaked streaks of bright red. Reaching up, she wiped at the warmth that ran down her cheek. It was a tear, clear and clean. She reached for a handkerchief and began dabbing. She let out a soft sob as her knees buckled, sending her swiftly to the floor. Wrapping the embroidered cloth over her eyes, she wept quietly into her hooves.
A few minutes went by before she brought her head up from the wooden floorboards. Wiping her face one last time she discarded the damp cloth. She stood with new resolve as she stared down her broken bloodied image.
No pony must know. No pony WILL know. Not one single solitary soul. It will be easy. Aside from the mirror, there doesn't yet seem to be any side effects of … of being dead …
She strangled down another fearful sob that threatened to escape. No. We'll have none of that. Now is the time to think with logic and reason, and not succumb to fear. Nothing meaningful has changed. I am still me, no matter if I am … dead.
She frowned again, squinting her eyes at the mirror. But it's worse than that, isn't it. This isn't the afterlife. I'm not a wandering spirit. This is an undeath. Like a -
She let out a short nervous laugh, remembering how scared Spike had been when he had said the words and how ridiculous it had seemed at the time. Her outburst stopped abruptly, filling the room with a dense silence before she spoke again to herself. “Zombie pony.”
She continued to stare into the hollow caverns that yawned out from her reflection's face. This time her voice carried the full weight of the reality of her new situation. Softly, soberly, she made her admission of acceptance to herself. “I'm dead.”
The words rang like a hollow bell within her head, filling her with a terrible sense of loss each time it echoed back on itself. The chime reverberated through her head again and again, diving deeper with each strike. Despair spread through her when she realized each tone had gradually twisted into the low horrid din of a voice, growing progressively louder. It was the same terrible voice from before.
"Those ponies... so full of life...."
Twilight's scowl deepened as her brow knitted upward.
"Tonight you are to kill on sight..."
She felt a chill go down her back. It wasn't just trying to scare her this time; it was giving a command. N-No! she mentally stammered, attempting to keep her composure steady. I'd never kill anypony!
The internal voice surprised her by actually answering back. "We need to feed. So will you." The whisper was accompanied by a chuckle that resonated through the chambers of her mind. "You won't be able to stop yourself."
Twilight forced herself to breathe evenly. She just needed to take the day one minute at a time, to hide her fear, and pray that the whisper didn't have the same hold over her actions that her dreams had.
There were many ponies walking around the town that day, purchasing items from each others' shops and generally enjoying themselves. Several times, when Twilight glanced at another pony, a sensation would come over her which she found similar to hunger. She needed to eat, and not something like the waffles she had shared with Spike that morning. Her body yearned for the perfectly healthy specimens that were walking all around her.
Twilight removed herself to a lesser populated section of the town and knelt down beside a small fountain to look into its depths. She took long slow breaths, hoping that none of her friends would walk by and notice her behavior. The words of the Bloody Hooves came back from the farthest reaches of her mind, as if they had replaced her heartbeat.
What if I really do kill somepony tonight? What if I can’t fight through this? She suppressed a shudder as she began to stand.
"What's wrong, Twilight?"
The unicorn ducked quickly into a crouch at the high pitched voice. Regaining some composure and raising her head up, she saw Pinkie's bright blue eyes gazing at her with an expression of worry. "Is it the nightmares?" When Twilight hesitated in her answer, Pinkie pressed the question. “You can tell me Twilight. We're friends.”
Twilight's spirits rose a little when she remembered her friend's normally sunny disposition. She can't know. Even if she wouldn't tell. Even if she 'Pinkie Promises' to keep it a secret, I can't allow her to be exposed to this.
Twilight nodded. "Yeah. It was really bad last night." She swallowed. "I mean, I feel like the nightmare cycle has stopped, but it all seemed so real."
"Worse than before?"
Another nod as Twilight stood, mentally squashing the urges rising inside her.
"Don't worry, Twilight!" Pinkie assured, pulling her despondent friend into a hug. "I'll help Rarity finish that nightmare-repelling dress tomorrow. Oh, I know! Later today I'll throw you a 'We're-here-for-you-Twilight' party at Sugar Cube Corner! That should help cheer you up and tide you over until the dress is done." The earth pony began bouncing on her hooves at the thought.
Twilight managed to keep a small smile plastered to her face. "I don't think that's such a great idea Pinkie."
"What? What do you mean, Twilight? A party is always a good idea, except when it's a great idea! And sometimes it's even a super wonderful colossally awesomely idea!"
The urges crashed against Twilight's mind again, and she clenched her eyes shut as she snuffed them out. Suddenly a weight lifted. The unicorn opened her eyes in surprise. I can't feel it anymore. Maybe I just need to concentrate hard enough and exert my will firmly enough.
“Twilight? Are you OK? You look like you might need to go find a bathroom.” Pinkie's brow was furrowed in concern.
The unicorn blushed a little. “Y-yeah. Yeah, I'm fine.” Twilight took a step closer to her bubbly pink friend. “Hey, could you do me a favor and just have the party be between us and our close friends? I don't want to concern everypony in town."
Pinkie grinned, giving her friend a quick salute. "I Pinkie Promise it'll be just us!" She reinforced her point by performing the traditional movements that accompany the promise.
Twilight gave a smile of gratitude. I can do this. I am in control. I'll prove to myself I can do this, and a fun little frivolous distraction will be the perfect starting point.
That evening, Twilight and Spike walked into the library to turn in for the night. While Spike chattered away about how great the party was, Twilight shut the door behind her with a firm shove. The mare hurriedly moved her tongue over her mouth, spitting out fragments of frosting and cake batter. “That was the worst cake I ever tasted.”
“Really?” Spike looked perplexed. “I thought it was the best cake I ever tasted!” He licked a remnant of frosting from one of his claws, savoring the taste before glancing back at Twilight. “Everyone else seemed to like it. Did ya get a bad piece or something?”
“I don’t know,” Twilight admitted. “It just tasted kind of ... bitter. Like it wasn't baked right.”
The young dragon looked at her sympathetically. “I guess that wasn’t the best ‘cheer up from the nightmares’ party, huh?”
When the young mare shook her head, Spike comfortingly put a claw on her shoulder. “Well, on the bright side, you said you didn’t think you’d have those nightmares anymore, right?”
Twilight sighed slightly. “Uh huh.”
“So, maybe tomorrow will be better!” Spike assured her as they climbed up the stairs to their bedroom. “No nightmares for one night ought to do you some good.”
Twilight looked down at her assistant and a faint smile spread across her lips. “Thanks Spike. You’re probably right.”
The dragon puffed out his chest and held his head high as he spoke in an overly exaggerated tone of pride. “Of course I am. You should listen to me more often.”
Twilight spoke wryly as she magically turned down her bedsheets. “Yeah, I don't know why I even keep the reference books in stock. With you around they're just redundant.”
The young dragon chuckled before stopping abruptly near his bed. Something on the floor near Twilight's vanity had caught his attention. He cautiously walked over to stand near the balled up handkerchief. “Twilight. What … what happened?” His voice was small and fragile.
“What do you mean Spi-”. She stopped short when she saw the dried blood on the crumpled square of cloth. Her mind raced for an answer. “That’s … I had a nosebleed this morning. I guess the air was a little too dry. That was what took so long before breakfast. Sorry. I should have rinsed that out.” She mentally breathed a sigh of relief when she saw Spike's expression relax.
Her horn glowed and the bloody cloth was quickly deposited in the nearby clothes hamper. “I'll get to it in the morning.”
Spike shot her a sidelong glance. “You mean I'll get to it.”
“No! I mean, that's not sanitary. I don't expect you to clean up that sort of mess.”
“Soooo … does that mean that you don't expect me to clean any of the other clothes that are still in that hamper either?” He arched an eyebrow toward her and gave an earnest grin. “I mean, you wouldn't want me to be handling anything that might have gotten contaminated by some 'unsanitary' mess, now would you?”
Twilight sighed and nodded. “There's probably only a few pairs of socks in there anyway. It won't hurt for me to do my own little bit of laundry for once.” Spike made a victory fist pump. “But I won't be making a habit of this.”
Spike was still smiling as he nodded to her and climbed into his bed. “Oh, of course. I understand completely.” He laid down and wrapped himself in his blanket. “Goodnight Twilight. I hope you have good dreams.”
“You and me both. Goodnight Spike.”
Unlike her assistant, Twilight was from tired. She lay on her bed and stared up at the ceiling. So many little extra things for me to be careful about now, for me to worry over. And what about the cake? I'm certain it tasted so bad because of something they did to me? If I have trouble eating normal food … if I'm unable to gain nourishment from it, then how will I ...
Her mind lingered back to the demonic command. The order for her to kill somepony. No. I'll prove that I can beat this. It's going to be just fine. She willed herself to slowly close her eyes, hoping slumber would bring her a temporary peace.
In Twilight’s dream-like state, she became increasingly aware of her actions. She was aware that she was walking ever closer to the forest. She tried to cry out, to step back, to use magic, anything to break free. It was no use. She was a prisoner in her own body, her limbs moving against her will, as the twisted vines of the forest wrapped downward to obscure her from any who might have seen her.
As she moved onward she felt her will being stripped from her, replaced by a strange new sense of awareness. Her body – or whatever was controlling it - was seeking something out.
She continued traversing through the forest’s undergrowth, and Twilight slowly became aware of changes in her own body. Her teeth began to sharpen and crack, tearing into the flesh of her cheek and tongue. Her hooves fragmented, split along the length, allowing the rough edges to grind into her raw flesh with each step. Muscle tissue strained terribly, threatening to rip open, as each section expanded and contracted to animate the fissured lengths of bone visible through the gaps in her flesh. Her entire body had become a reconstructed horror, stitched together like a foal’s toy gone terribly wrong. The mirror hadn't lied that morning. The lie was what she showed to her friends and the rest of the town in the daylight.
That terribly keen awareness began to pick up the scent of another pony: one of the town's ponies who was stumbling her way through the dark in an attempt to escape the forest, just as Twilight had the previous night. It was Golden Harvest, or 'Carrot Top' as she often went by.
What’s she doing here? Twilight managed to wonder. I wouldn’t expect her to be here ... unless ...
Twilight was seized with terror as her broken hoof-steps drew her closer to the mare. The realization at what was about to happen slammed into her like a wrecking ball.
NO!
Twilight attempted to shout the word, to warn Carrot Top to run. It was then, staring at the unsuspecting pony, that Twilight heard the beating of a living heart. The rhythmic sounds of the delicious fluttering organ resonated through the unicorn's ears. All reason and remorse were immediately lost. Twilight was on the earth pony before it had time to scream.
Twilight felt that she was operating within a dream while executing a twisted rampaging autopilot program. She wasn't fully conscious of the stifled scream of the earth pony attempting to throw her off, nor of her own teeth digging deeply into the neck. She was only dimly aware of her own movements, that something was happening and she was the cause, but the intent of her limbs acted against her weakened will. Her rational decisions were stifled by the desire to murder the thing she held tightly within her grasp.
Twilight's mouth was a vice, crushing the victim's windpipe. The prey flailed under the shattered unicorn, pinned to the ground by an unholy strength. Magic dimly lit up the nearby trees with a lavender glow, and a loud crack sounded through the forest. The pony lay still, its lower body twisted around at an impossible angle, eyes locked in a terrified stare as they glazed over.
With a snarl, Twilight swiftly sunk her teeth into the side of her prey’s face, tearing an eye from the socket and swallowing it nearly whole. Before she had fully swallowed her first bite, she bent down to rip a chunk free from her meal's shoulder. She quickly devoured the steaming warm meat and went back for more. She bit down again and again, each time pulling off another shredded mouthful of raw bloody flesh, gorging herself further and further.
Then, suddenly, it was over. The bloodlust left Twilight’s face, as did the surge of energy that had fueled her attack. She stood on trembling hooves, staring at the display laid out before her. The unicorn stepped back and leaned against the tree behind her, her legs wobbling weakly. She squeezed her eyes shut trying to will away the terrifying sight.
Silence greeted her alert ears. There was no pounding of hoof-steps, no screams of any onlooker who may have witnessed her dark deed. Even the wind that so often blew through the forest was stilled. The only sounds present to her were the whispers. The commands the Bloody Hooves carried to her mind:
"Kill on sight. Kill on sight."
Like a form of post-hypnotic suggestion, Twilight thought in shock. That seemed to be the only explanation that would surface in her panicked brain. They forced me to kill an innocent pony. They turned me into a murderer.
"We are pleased."
She wrenched open her eyelids, staring again at what she had done. Part of Twilight's panicked brain refused to believe it. Her voice was hoarse and terrified. "No, no, no, no!"
The unicorn shook her head, bewildered. "No! This is just m-more of the sick mind games, just a hallucination!" Her voice grew higher pitched. "It's not true. I can't have ..."
She looked down at the fresh blood covering her broken hooves and scarred chest. The voice continued to pound through her head relentlessly, that same terrifying phrase.
"Kill on sight. Kill on sight. Kill on sight."
Twilight lay there, slumped against the tree and mumbling to herself, until another voice joined the chorus chanting through her mind.
"I know what you did. I saw you do it."
Her mental tormentors were silenced as Twilight whipped her head around. Through the shock of discovering she had an audience, a faint realization dawned. She recognized this new voice. Its tone wasn't completely accusatory, but rather intrigued. That, to Twilight, was its most terrifying quality.
"You brought her here, and ended her before she could scream."
Twilight's eyes widened upon seeing the bright orange filly in front of her. Scootaloo didn't appear to be shocked in the slightest. She stepped closer to the distressed unicorn.
After a moment of silence, she spoke, her tone half accusing, half sympathetic. "Taking a life without realizing it. It's considered to be just about the most horrible thing in the world when it first happens." Her voice held the weighty experienced tone of a pony far older and wiser than one would expect.
Twilight blinked in surprise. Scootaloo didn't seem terrified, or disbelieving, or ready to run back to Ponyville and alert the town of Twilight's actions. If anything, her words were understanding. Like such a terrible act didn't affect her.
"What do you mean by 'when it first happens'?" Twilight had to force the words out.
"Killing without realizing it is usually one of the first things to happen when you're Transmuted," the filly explained, coming closer to the unicorn. She tilted her head upward to look at the young mare, purple irises scrutinizing her appearance. "You're still in the early stages. Trust me, once you're more than just a newcomer you'll have a little more control. At least you'll be able to choose the ponies you kill." Her tone of voice reminded Twilight of one of the magic instructors back in school, when he had describe the discomfort that comes with the first time use of focused spell casting.
"I'd never kill anypony willingly!"
"You will," Scootaloo retorted with a faint smile. "Everypony does, eventually."
Twilight wasn't sure which was more frightening: the fact that Scootaloo was insisting she'd get used to killing or that the filly seemed happy about it. "B-But... how did you get like this?"
"Same as you." Scootaloo's expression turned suddenly serious. "You remember those Nightmare Night stories?"
Twilight nodded numbly, attempting to stop her legs from trembling.
"Yeah. It happened at our camp." The filly walked closer to Twilight, thistle colored eyes staring into violet. "What the Bloody Hooves do is different for each pony." She placed her hoof on Twilight's chest. "I know they crushed your heart."
Twilight's skin prickled under the pressing coldness of Scootaloo's hoof, and she quickly stepped back, out of the filly's reach. Breathing a little heavily, she asked, "What did they do to you?"
"They took my eyes, just like with you. That's part of the covenant." Scootaloo blinked, and in that instant her beautiful bright irises were changed to empty blood-covered caverns. She blinked once more, and her eyes returned to their ordinary appearance.
"How can we see?"
"The Bloody Hooves gave us a new kind of sight. Mine allows me to see more than before, new visual inputs that only a Bloody Hoof can detect - you'll get it too if you do enough for them. I went through a lot at the camp, so now I get to be a carrier for the fear we implant in the minds of others." She nearly broke into a giggle as she spoke.
"Where the hay did you go to camp?" Twilight couldn't fathom any sort of camp where colts and fillies were murdered to become bloodthirsty monsters.
"It's a long story," Scootaloo muttered, "but considering it's just the two of us here, and everypony else will still be asleep for hours yet, I guess now would be as good a time as any to tell you."
Gesturing for the older pony to sit down, Scootaloo stood on a splintered log and cleared her throat. Her false eyes grew wide with excitement as she gazed intently at the blood stained patchwork unicorn. She could almost hear the popping of loose joints when Twilight plopped down on the grass.
Scootaloo held her forehooves into the dark sky as she began her tale. "It happened about 3 years ago."
