Paranoia Ingredient

Paranoia Ingredient

----- [[[[[-Requiem of A Dream-]]]]] -----

As an ironic turn of events, it turns out I was only out of touch with reality for...

Well, let's just say it wasn't long. I still saw Twilight Sparkle in my distant view, though this time she wasn't all demented and looking like a demon.

"Hmmph! HuuurRAAAHH!" I saw her, so I knew I was definitely conscious, though I really doubt that what I saw was part of a conscious mind. She was the only thing I could see, and it pained me to see her in as miserable of a condition as she was just then.

Everything else was pitch-black, but I could still see the faint polished edges of the stairway rails. The red carpet was like a sheet of glass, that of which could provide a walkway over the red liquid below.

Blood. The thought reminded me of the mare with the red eyes. She was nowhere to be seen.

"Twilight?" I requested a response from the deep-violet unicorn, both of us in a paralyzed state.

Twilight stood on her hind legs, looking as if she were being held back by something. Her front legs were behind her back, and she let out a disgruntled series of inhale-exhale performances. She must have been (or already was) killing herself trying to break free of the demonic presence that now lingered in the castle.

Speaking of that, darkness immediately devoured what illumination was left of the room me and Twilight were heavily suffering in.

"GAAHHH!" Pause. "LET. US. GO!"

"TWILIGHT!" I summoned some of my reserved strength to call out to Twilight, just to let her know that she wasn't alone, that she didn't have to suffer all by herself. It was also the first thing I would naturally do. "TWILIIAAAAHHH!"

But once I resent the request, I had become the victim of yet another sharp and vicious flare of pain, this time targeting my mind. Whatever it was that had altered reality so drastically, it must not have liked the fact that I was still awake, still fighting the evil influence.

It was so easy for me to resist the temptation to conform to darkness.

To join the fallen ponies who have gathered here in the castle.

"Fluttershy." My face refused to smile, even if though the voice came back. The one from back at the cottage; Dashie's voice. As it was before, it was an illusion, a fake.

I panicked again, slowly moving my head left and right, just hoping that something would wake me from this apparent nightmare. I didn't see anything of the sort; only further evil was invited to watch me and Twilight suffer.

"For months." The voice suddenly mutated into that of a slightly higher octave. "For years you have kept to yourself, a secret, a gift that is most unique only one type of living being. And that living being..."

"Is you, Fluttershy." During that brief sentence, where my name was mentioned. That's when Twilight took over the speech. She herself was speaking outside her normal, reassuring voice, and I saw it.

All around Twilight's physical form, evil, demonic silhouettes of ponies appeared in such a manner as if they were walking to her side. I heard the marching of their hooves, too.

"There's no need to be afraid, my dear." bellowed the prolongedly echoed voice.

Despite the sarcastically reassuring statement, I naturally couldn't help but be afraid, and it was getting worse by the second. I flinched as the echoes ceased with the sound of a mare's desperate cry for help, like she was being killed slowly and very painfully. Afterwards, I made the mistake of darting my eyes left and right, in all directions, really.

To the far left, more and more nightmares appeared seemingly out of nowhere, as if that single room had the capacity to contain numbers surpassing the thousands. The same exact thing happened to the right side when I quickly glanced in the direction.

But except for countless silhouettes, there were only four ponies, realizing this as they came into a more visible range.

"You know..." The Twilight's augmented voice grasped my attention in an instant. "You thought we loved you? You thought we would invite you into our lives without need for your gift?"

I managed to churn up some artificial courage and respond. But what I said:

I meant it, and I was angry on top of that. "No." I beat my fears down to a pulp when I sent the message clear.

And that message sent the following message:

"Fuck you, nightmare. I'm not afraid anymore."

"Now Fluttershy" one of the ponies on the right spoke up, no matter how dull and creepy it may have sounded. "Why would you go and lie like that?" said Rarity.

"We all know you're freaked as fuck." The next to speak was AppleJack, and she was the least creepy out of the four. I mean, they all looked the same: huge empty eye slits, small red 'candles' burning inside them, blood leaking from the slits of their eyes and mouth, and the faint color of their manes. And by faint, I really meant it; I could barely make out the colors. But the shape of their manes gave them away.

"Twilight's right." spoke Rarity, who was two ponies away from AppleJack, the farthest pony to the left of the column of four. "You should have never shared that legend with members of a new generation."

Okay, that hit me kind of hard, in the form of a question:

What did...this presence mean? Why would my sharing of the Nightmare Moon story-

Why would it cause this to happen?

"I speak to you the truth, Fluttershy." Twilight took over. "Your mistake will not reconcile without a steep expense. AND THAT IS WHY YOU MUST CHOOSE, FLUTTERSHY." My mind was beginning to run; it sent endless, hornwritten text throughout my eyes. Even though they were tightly shut upon my mind beginning to ache, I saw it all, all the mysterious text that was flashed at me.

After that, it was gone, leaving me begging for air to breathe in.

But my lungs failed to find any. I was dying, in the most unexpected way I would probably have ever thought of upon the situation materializing.

"YOU MUST CHOOSE, BETWEEN YOUR PUNIBORN FRIEND-"

"You did NOT... just say that!!"

"AND YOURSELF."

There was no chance I was even going to take the upcoming question into consideration, even before it was literally asked.  I made a stand.

Even though I was critically injured, making the situation even worse by trying to breathe deeply through my mouth, a statement was made.

And it was published, truly published, by yours truly.

My body became extremely cold all over; I forgot about having to breathe. “I know what you're trying to do. Oh, yeah I do." ...But I didn't sound like myself while I was beginning to make a stand. "Listen here, you fucker. You stop messing with my head THIS INSTANT! Because for one, I've beaten you; that's right, Pinkie." I threw attention to the corrupted face of my dear friend Pinkie Pie, who had broken away from my other three 'friends'. She must have been alerted when she heard me say that I have conquered my fear, once and for all.

She looked back at me with the same, eye sockets which did not capacitate the sky blue eyes she used to have. The small spark that was a flame grew ever dimmer since the last time I looked at her malicious form.

"Have...you quite possibly come to a ...resolve?” she- It said, in Pinkie's normal voice. It's head was bent unnaturally to it's left, tilted back a little as well.

"Yeah, four words, bitch." My eyebrows lowered dramatically.

"Giggle at the ghostie."

I meant it; I wasn't scared anymore. The words that this evil entity spoke through Twilight Sparkle had enraged and saddened me at the same time.

Pinkie threw me an immediate sign of anger as she charged at me. Pinkie was never this fast; well, she was if she was hyped up on sugar or something.

"Pinkie." I confidently said. "You just made the biggest mistake of your life." I countered her assault when I butted my head with hers, throwing her back against a wall of entire black. Pinkie didn't need to recover, as she charged at me again, only this time with a would-be disturbing moan of pain. It sounded as if Pinkie Pie was her normal self, with her normal scream of agony; just like any other pony's.

I guess it was meant to try and get me to back down, to stop fighting and let evil prey on its victim.

But I wasn't going to let myself become a victim any longer. I turned around, lifted up my front legs, and smashed the hind ones straight into Pinkie's face, and hard.

I kicked harder than I ever have before. I swapped positions and watched Pinkie suffer the damage she had just taken. It sent an arousing feeling through me.

I felt...alive.

Yes... Keep it up, Fluttershy.

"What'cha gonna do now, huh?" I challenged her. "Shit, that's all you can do!"

Countless times, Pinkie Pie kept on rushing at me, and I just kept on forcing her back. I watched as her face took on the personality of a broken mirror as my new audience just watched. Before I struck her endlessly, she took on a new fragment; like a jigsaw puzzle. She didn't seem to give up her pursuit, so I decided to switch up my game drastically, since the slow beating was getting nowhere.

There was so much blood spread across the black floor, that the glass carpet thing was no longer necessary.

I knocked her back one final time, she hit the invisible wall. My audience seemed to grow, by the way.

The reason I sent her back again was to ensure that the black wall was still existent. I was planning my final attack.

"Sorry Pinkie, but I gotta be cheap here." I flew towards the invisible wall at full speed. I flew faster than I knew I ever could.

First kicking harder, now flying faster? What's next?

Reaching my destination faster than I expected, I selected a new one as I added the momentum I had recently acquired to my leap from the wall.

It happened so quickly. I launched toward Pinkie at an incredible speed, Poor Pinkie, though; she couldn't do a thing. She knew her death was upon her.

But, something happened before that.

I...changed my mind. I didn't want to kill Pinkie, why would I even consider the thought?

WHY?

I couldn't do anything about it, though. I had, somehow, launched an assault on Pinkie Pie, my friend.

And I don't even remember any thought, any action, except that one.

The only thing that came to mind during the few seconds of an interval. "PINKIE LOOK OUT!!!!"

Pinkie was just the same as before; zalgofied. She turned her head.

Her eyes... Now they were just black, and nothing else. She opened her mouth so wide that it grew to lengths that exceeded her bloody, fractured face.

"GUUUUURRROOOOOOOOOOAAAAARRR!"

Then...

If anything should be a nightmare, it should be this.

I had grabbed her by both sides of her ribcage, in which I actually felt the clefts of my hooves come into contact with bone. However, she just ignored me and continued moving forward at a growing speed.

Once I maintained a sturdy grasp on her, I applied pressure on her back, and lots of it. I leaned on her, while she just continued to dash forward. I was trying to build up strength in my front legs, so that I could possibly slow her down, or even stop her entirely.

I held her by both the front and back of her neck and pulled her head backward. I was thinking that I could get her to suffocate a little; then, she would stop rushing in the same direction she was going.

But instead, we came into contact with a wall. An adjacent invisible wall, apparently. The way I had her head positioned, her chin was bulging out from it. The impact weighed all on her chin; enough pressure and momentum was built up to where the impact impaled Pinkie with her own bone, and that very bone scooped her head up from her neck while I heard the sound of her internal circuits being ripped apart. I looked at her in shock and mistakenly glanced behind me.

Her head went flying backward and quickly crashed down to the floor. Her skull burst into a million fragments, flesh still intact, but the first thing I noticed about her dead body was that-

-There was no blood flooding from her neck.

...Then...I killed...Pinkie Pie.

This is when I noticed all of the surrounding, demented ponies; they were all gone, including Pinkie.

Twilight was the only pony left, and from what I remember, she was the only mare who was not influenced by the evil entity. Artificial light suddenly brought the room to life once again. No signs of death were present. And I saw that, the spot where Pinkie's body lay; it was no longer there.

An odd number of seconds pass, about maybe seven or nine.

"Huuuuuhhhhh..." Twilight was still conscious, thank goodness.

"TWILIGHT!!"

Now, the castle was completely empty. Even before I called out for Twilight, I heard nothing, not a single sound coming from any corresponding hallway or chamber during that brief time.

"Flutter...shy?" She was recovering faster than I thought she ever could. "I-I didn't mean what I said..."

I knew the presence was truly gone; I had acquired an odd way of sensing it now, one that I couldn't explain.

"Relax, I know you didn't. Some evil entity was taking you over, speaking through you."

"Yeah. So...you forgive me?"

"Of course." Twilight noticed the sweet smile I gave her, and she smiled back, however weak it was.

"Fluttershy... we're not gonna die..." At that moment, Twilight slowly cast a spell. "Once I heal myself up here...we're gonna consult princess Celestia about this evil you're talking about. Clearly, we’re dealing with something demonic here.

"Twilight... Just don't strain yourself."

An hour had passed, and still, nothing was heard except for the sound of Twilight tending to her mental wounds.

"Alright..." she said with relief. "Done."

"Are you sure you're okay to move around?"

She answered my question by quickly springing up to her hooves. "Yeah! See?" She examined herself thoroughly, acknowledging her Cutie Mark.

She spoke the truth; before, during the nightmare, she almost had no control over herself, although she was bound by darkness. It must have messed with her mind too, just like mine.

"Twilight." I asked. "During...all of that. Did it try to get into your head? Your brain?”

"I was hoping you wouldn't ask. So it happened to you, too?"

"Did it-What did it do to you?"

Twilight looked saddened upon my questioning. "I...I don't know how I would even begin to explain it." She took a few seconds to gather her thoughts. "It's like... I saw, a whole bunch of words, text."

"I'm worried about this... That's what happened to me, too."

Twilight grew frustrated from the temperature. But I couldn't blame her; the windows overlooking the royal meeting place had become completely broken and painted with a deep red.

"Come on." she said. "I heard the princess is expecting you anyway. Is that right, Fluttershy?"

"The girls... Yes, that's right! Apple bloom, Sweetie Belle, and Scootaloo, too!"

I nodded in her direction, giving her the signal.

"Teacher...we're coming." Twilight spoke those few words before she cast a spell.

A spell similar to what Trixie did on Mount Skyward, her insta-warp spell.

In no time at all, we were on our way.

My destiny awaited me.