Graveyards were often known to be the source of Nightmare Night stories, and the Canterlot Graveyard was no exception to the rule. It was the resting place of royal nobility, of powerful mages, of ponies both long forgotten and eternally remembered.
But in that afternoon, there was an almost tangible energy that could be considered a very good source for Nightmare Night tales.
It was as if the essence of the graveyard itself knew there was something different going on than the usual gloomy occurrences. There seemed to be a new energy around, an invisible yet all-too-present force that surrounded the area. One that those skilled in magic could especially detect.
And a certain group was there to investigate it.
The ordinary silence in the graveyard that afternoon was broken by the movements of six ponies and one young dragon. And the leader of the group looked to be the only one with an eager, almost ecstatic expression on her face.
"Twilight, remind me again why you were so insistent on coming here?" Rarity inquired, trying to avoid as many twisted clumps of dirt and leaves as possible. "I don't know why you'd want to bring us to a place that's so..." She put a hoof to her chin, muddling over the right word. "Dreary..."
Rainbow Dash crossed her front hooves, hovering in the air with a bored expression on her face. "Aw come on, Rarity, you're not scared, are you?" She looked around, her gaze only meeting the soil and headstones of the graveyard and her friends walking below her. "It's just some spooky old graveyard."
"Y-Yeah... just a... g-graveyard..." Fluttershy said in a whisper, hiding behind her long pink mane as her teal eyes darted back and forth for any sign of danger.
Twilight marched forward with a smile, the only one of the group who seemed genuinely excited to be there. "It's not just a graveyard. There's something special happening here this evening."
Pinkie Pie, moving along with a spring in her step, suddenly rose up on her hind hooves and attempted to make spooky-sounding noises. "Ooooh, are ponies going to rise from their graves?"
A sigh. "No, Pinkie. We are not here to raise the dead." Twilight frowned, using her magic to flip through a few pages in the dusty large tome she had brought along with her. "I don't think that's even scientifically possible."
"So, what is so interestin' here, Twi?" Applejack gazed at the horizon, Celestia's sun sinking lower into the sky. "Dosn' all that spooky graveyard stuff usually happen at night?"
Twilight was looking visibly irritated now. "That's just Nightmare Night stuff! This is for purely scientific investigation."
"And that being..."
"It's a little thing I read in the archives the other day that has to do with Star Swirl the Bearded," Twilight elaborated. "You know how he did those time travel spells and such that are recorded in the archives?"
A collective murmur from her friends served as a "Yes".
"Well, it's said that he was so powerful that after he died, residues of his magic still remain manifested around his grave, and some unicorns come to Star Swirl's grave to get an epiphany of magical insight or something. I think it might have to do with all the different kinds of spells he created."
"So, let me get this straight." Rainbow Dash flew above Twilight, tapping her head as if thinking there was something in their messing with her head. "You're hoping that if you go to some old pony's grave and you'll suddenly be infused with a bunch of super-magical energy?"
"Sort of. I read in that book that every century there's a discharge of magic here that reacts with the fabric of reality itself to a stronger degree than normal." Twilight continued flipping through a few more pages as she walked, eyes narrowed in precise observation. "And we're here to investigate it." She clapped her front hooves together as if it were the most exciting thing in the world.
"Sounds kinda spooky, sugarcube," Applejack admitted. "Ah thought you didn' believe in any of that curse stuff."
"If it can be explored by science like this can, it's a perfectly valid reasoning," the unicorn explained.
The prospect had Rainbow's full attention now. "So what will happen if it goes wrong?!" A grin spread across the pegasus's face. "Will it cause a zombie pony apocalypse?"
"Zombies?!" The cry came from three of the group - Fluttershy, who looked like Rainbow Dash was the only thing keeping her from hurrying out of there as fast as possible, Pinkie, who seemed to defy gravity at the thought the undead rising to eat her brains, and Spike, who gripped Twilight's mane tightly as a source of protection from the invisible threat.
Twilight's gaze turned toward her frightened assistant, her expression deadpan. "It's not zombies. I think you've been watching too much Cemetery Stallion."
Rainbow Dash looked indignant. "Hey, it's a good movie!"
Twilight ignored her. "We just need to find that gravestone before the sun sets..."
It was a few minutes before Twilight finally spotted it - a headstone that was considerably large like some of of the others, but a distinguishing feature was that a pattern of stars and swirls were etched onto its surface. At the somewhat wave-like top of the grave was a star at the top, a swirl carved intricately inside it.
"Aha, found it!"
The group of seven all looked at the headstone curiously, observing its unusual markings. Even those of the group who weren't unicorns could sense there was something strange about it.
"Well, Twilight, it seems we found the gravestone," Rarity said quietly. "How exactly is this magic thing supposed to work?"
"I'm not really sure," Twilight admitted, turning the pages of her book and scouring every word, "there doesn't seem to be any- wait!" The unicorn opened the book a little wider, stretching out the pages for everypony to look over her shoulder and see.
The two pages which Twilight had opened to detailed Star Swirl's grave and what it was said that ponies would do to gain wisdom from his spirit. Alongside the text, there was an illustration that showed a unicorn touching the tip of their horn to the swirl in the center of the headstone's largest star.
"So all you have to do is touch your horn to it?"
"Looks like it..."
Twilight arched her brow, curious, but stepped forward. She gazed steadily at the horizon, Celestia's sunrays nearly fading. If she was right, the discharge of energy would happen any moment now. If unicorns really were able to gain wisdom or power if they touched their horn to the stone normally, what would the magical flux do? Would it enhance her? Would it hurt her?
This only happens once every century Twilight thought to herself, taking a deep breath. It's now or never.
Lowering her head, Twilight gently caused a spark of magic to light up her horn as she touched it to the indented swirl on the ancient pony's grave. The same instant that the last rays of Celestia's sunlight cast their glow over the gravestone.
"Woah, HEY!"
Star Swirl's grave shone with a bright, shimmering white aura, the powerful burst of magic casting a whirlwind of energy into the sky. The force of the blow knocked everyone backward, causing them to crash to the ground.
Everyone, that is, except for Twilight.
"W-What's going on?!"
Twilight attempted to pull her head away from the gravestone, but it was no use. It was as if her magic had been fused to the magic force erupting from the grave of the ancient pony, the energy coming forth in waves of hightened perception.
One instant she saw thought time. Next she was aware of nothing.
For one second, she was blinded. The next, seeing colors she had never known existed.
Her perception of reality became so distorted thanks to this new magic, that she felt as if she were on the brink between life and death...
And the mare let out a silent scream when she saw the sudden ghostly figure of a pony manifest before her. His form was surrounded by a faint green glow, but his appearance instantly told her who this mysterious pony was.
"S-Star Swirl?" At least, that was what Twilight attempted to say. The vortex seemed to be pulling her in all directions, and she was unable to hear the cries of her friends, or see their futile attempts at reaching her.
Despite her inability to vocalize her question, the specter pony understood. "Yes, I am the pony you think I am, but there isn't much time! This flux of magic happens to coincide with a strong magical force in another world! You're caught in the collision that resides in the middle of it"
Twilight's eyes widened still further. Another world? Collision? She felt the magic from her horn begin to fade, the fabric of her reality appearing to shift into waves before her eyes. She could dimly see a form of swirling energy that looked like a portal appear into being behind the grave.
Twilight's friends, too, were trying to prevent themselves from getting sucked into the vortex, unable to help the trapped unicorn get free.
"What's with the swirling vortex thing?" Pinkie attempted to call out over the roar of the wind.
"I don't think it's supposed to do this!" Rainbow Dash shouted in reply, unable to break away even at full wingpower.
But the tremors and whirlwind of the enigmatic portal became too much for the ponies and dragon to resist, and they were sent flying, unwillingly, toward the portal's entrance.
Time seemed to stand still for Twilight, almost in a trance as she too began to lift away from the gravestone. Her body felt light, almost ethereal, as her horn briefly was still connected to the stone.
"You shouldn't have come!" Twilight had a feeling that only she heard the spirit's words. "If you don't stop this, then-"
She never heard Star Swirl finish his sentence, as in that moment she was propelled into the air to crash into the vortex which threatened to lead into another world altogether.
Reaching the portal at the same moment as her friends, Twilight was suddenly hit by a powerful burst of energy, conjoining at her horn and crackling through her body. Pure magic? Electricity? She wasn't sure.
"TWILIGHT!" The call of those accompanying the unicorn reached her ears as she was able to barely bring her eyes into focus to see them.
"Are y'all okay?" Applejack called, attempting to reach through to her.
"Are any of us okay?" Rarity corrected, trying to make sense of which way was up.
"I'M NOT OKAY!" Fluttershy screamed, looking utterly terrified.
Twilight couldn't answer. All she was aware of was that the painful energy was sending her and her friends tumbling through time and space to... Celestia knew where.
No, the thought lingered in her head, I don't think even Celestia knows where we're going.
It was the last thing she thought before the force of the portal's pull and the magic's energy caused her to fall limp into unconsciousness, just as they all impacted the ground of their new destination - a hillside deep in a forest, much like the one they had just left.
But if they had been on the edge of the area in question, the newcomers would have seen a road sign at the area's outer limits:
Welcome to Blithe Hollow.
"Where in the hay are we?" Applejack asked groggily, struggling to clear her head.
The ponies and the dragon slowly picked themselves up, shaking the leaves off that stuck to their skin as they attempted to get a grasp on their surroundings.
"We're clearly in some sort of forest," Twilight said in response to Applejack's inquiry, "I'm not sure where that portal pulled us through, though..."
The forest’s newcomers looked around in uncertainty, attempting to get a potential bearing on their location. One thing they were certain of was that they weren’t in the same graveyard they had been in moments before.
“Well, Twi?” Applejack asked hesitantly. “Ya know Equestria’s geography like the back of yer hoof.” The farm pony flinched slightly as a stick underhoof made a loud crack as it snapped in two. “Any idea where we are?”
“I know we can’t be in White Tail Woods,” Twilight said, glancing around at the bare trees surrounding them. “That forest has at least some greenery all year round.”
“Not to mention the sky up there looks a biiiit too creepy for a normal forest like that,” Pinkie said, pointing up with a hoof. Rather than the clear starry sky present at Star Swirl’s grave, or the concealing canopy that would conceal the sky in a normal forest; Rather the sky above was cloaked in an unsettling magenta hue, dark clouds visible amidst the unusually-colored sky.
“Wherever we are, some pegasai really need to clear that storm up there,” Rarity murmured as the sky lit up with lightning. “It looks dreadful up there.”
“Well,” Twilight began after looking carefully at the seemingly empty forest which surrounding them. “I’m not even sure if we’re in Equestria anymore. But if we are,” she went on, walking off toward where the trees were less dense and motioning for the others to follow, “the one place I can think of is Hollow Shades.”
Spike glanced at her curiously, struggling not to step on even the slight dried leaf or broken stick. “What’s Hollow Shades?”
“It’s a small town surrounded by a forest that’s close to Foal Mountain,” Twilight explained, feeling a bit more confident now as she rattled off her knowledge of the Equestrian landscape. “All that’s missing right now is seeing the town itself.”
“On it!” Rainbow Dash exclaimed, zooming up to the sky with a blur of her multi-hued tail. With a confident grin on her face as she hovered above the treetops, she stayed in place in the sky as she looked below.
“What do you see?” Twilight called up to her pegasus friend, somewhat anxious.
“I think you’re right, Twilight!” Rainbow Dash replied. “I see a town down the hill not far from-AAHHHH!”
Rainbow’s magenta eyes grew to the size of saucers as she stared at the large object in the sky above the town. Despite the lightning, it wasn’t a storm cloud – at least, not any that she had ever seen. The form she saw above was a large, yellow-green form which appeared in the form of a strange face leering down with a roar at the forest below.
Coming out of her stunned stupor, the cyan pegasus spiraled back down to the ground, landing with a thud in front of her friends.
“A-Are you okay, Rainbow?” Fluttershy stammered, wide-eyed. Her wings folded tightly to her sides, having no desire whatsoever to see whatever it was that had started Rainbow so much.
Rainbow Dash looked at her, her surprise still written all over her face as she pointed upward. “If by ‘okay’, you mean ‘surprised that there’s a giant yellow cloud-witch-face thing in the freaky magenta sky’, then yes, I’m okay.”
“Witch face?” Spike asked in a low voice, following his gaze to where Rainbow’s hoof was pointing. “Maybe a unicorn’s still practicing their Nightmare Night tricks?” He managed a nervous laugh.
“That’d have to be a pretty powerful unicorn in order to do that,” Applejack pointed out.
“In that case, it’s probably just some unicorn playing a prank,” Rarity said, sounding more as if she was trying to convince herself than anypony else.
“I think pranks like that should just be saved for when it’s actually Nightmare Night,” Fluttershy said timidly as a rumble of thunder resounded through the air.
“In any case,” Twilight said, attempting to keep everypony together, let’s go and-“
Twilight halted her speech as her ears perked up to listen. She could dimly hear two voices arguing off in the direction opposite the town – two colts, by the sound of it. She could tell by the looks on everypony else’s faces that they had heard it too.
“I think we’ve found our pranksters,” Twilight said, hoisting Spike onto her back with her magic. “Come on, everypony, let’s go!”
The six ponies began to run in the direction of the pair of voices, when suddenly a loud cawing noise reached Twilight’s ears. She barely had time to stop as a large bird that looked like a raven flew off to her right – or rather, it would have looked like a raven if it weren’t for the fact that it was glowing a faint green.
Twilight swiveled around to look at it, causing Spike to nearly be propelled off her back as she watched the strange green bird fly away into the forest and out of sight.
“That was weird,” Twilight muttered, turning around to see Spike looking at her curiously. “Sorry,” she apologized, “that really weird glowing green bird just nearly hit me.”
“What glowing green bird?” Spike asked with a puzzled glance.
“The one I just saw.”
“We didn’ see any green bird, Twilight,” Applejack said, arching her brow. “Are you okay?”
“I’m fine,” Twilight muttered, turning her attention in the direction of the two voices once more. How strange… She put the unusual occurrence out of her mind for the moment and focused on leading the others in the chase to track down the owners of the two arguing voices.
It was after a few more feet as they began to reach a clearing that she stopped short, signaling for everypony to stop.
”What the-?!” Rainbow exclaimed, nearly crashing into her companions at the velocity she was going.
“Shh!” Twilight shushed, signaling her friends to be silent and stand beside her for a better view. They could see the source of the two feuding voices, a pair of creatures who were surrounded by seven gravestones. And they definitely weren’t colts.
While they had the voices and intelligence of any average pony, Twilight couldn’t help but feel a startled intrigue at the creatures that stood in front of her as she and her friends hid out of sight. They were bipedal and wearing casual clothes, one possessing spiky brown hair, the other sporting a long face, a minimal crop of hair, and unusual black circles that one could assume were earrings.
These creatures definitely weren’t ponies.
“What are they?” Twilight questioned in a hushed whisper, wary and yet fascinated by the creatures.
“Um, do you mean the two things standing,” Rainbow started nervously, pointing a hoof at the gravestones covered in the dry leaves, “or the freaky zombie things rising up out of the ground?!”
The attention of the others was torn away from the standing bipeds to the undead forms rising from the graves. Their skin was rotted, clothes tattered, limbs fragmented and coming apart.
Rarity let out a high-pitched shriek of disgust. “Eeeek! They’re disgusting!”
The two bipedal creatures, previously looking scared out of their wits from the zombies, froze as the long-faced one leaped behind the spiky-haired one. The pair locked eyes with the ponies and dragon.
The groups stared at one another, each knowing it was too late to run. Luckily, neither seemed hostile.
“N-N-Norman?” the long-faced creature stammered nervously, staring in the direction of the ponies. “Are those ponies, or am I seeing things-ah! ” The creature cried out as he darted away from an undead hand that had nearly grasped his ankle.
The one called Norman nodded shakily. “Y-Yeah, Alvin, they’re ponies…”
“Are they-“ Alvin started, about to inquire if they were dead as well.
The low moans from the zombies drew the attention of both groups as they continued their ascent to the world of the living, looking as if the were intent on sucking the brains out of the humans and ponies at any moment.
One of them, a taller male with what appeared to be white hair atop his head, stared straight past the two bipeds and directly into Twilight's eyes. From Twilight's perspective, it looked as though he was "speaking" to her. "Who...who are you...?" He lurched closer, his hand seeming to stretch out.
“I-I think we better run!” Rarity exclaimed as the zombies stepped closer to them.
Alvin nearly fell over in shock. “W-W-Wait, you can talk?!”
“We’ll have to explain later!” Twilight insisted.
“Come with us!” Norman offered, looking just as stunned as Alvin did. “I-I don’t know who you are, but I’m not going to let any of you get attacked by zombies or hurt by this curse!”
“Yeah,” Twilight agreed, hurrying after the two creatures with her friends in tow, glancing nervously at the zombies tailing them. “I think that following you is our best bet for now.”
“It's preferable to getting eaten by zombies, anyway!” Spike exclaimed, feeling his heart pound as the group left the zombies behind, running for their lives.
"We need to find Mr. Prenderghast's house!" Norman called out, trying not to look back at the zombies they were leaving behind.
Rainbow Dash glanced questioningly at the human. "Mr. Whoderghast?"
"Mr. Prenderghast's," Norman clarified. "He's a relative of mine who told me I need to find a book in his house to stop the witch's curse! Or...he was. I need to find out why the book didn't work!"
"Book?" Twilight asked, "What book?"
"I'll tell you later!" Norman panted.
As they ran, the bipeds, ponies, and dragon finally approached a shabby-looking house. It was made of delapidated wood and unhinged shutters, looking quite eerie in its abandoned state.
"That's the house!" Norman exclaimed, breathing heavily from the exertion of running to their destination.
Fluttershy and Rarity instantly shrank back at the sight - Fluttershy primarily from fear while Rarity's reaction was one of disgust.
"Ugh, that house is disgusting!" Rarity said, cringing slightly. "It looks like it's been abandoned for years with no one to take care of it!"
"Please tell me we're not going in there..." Fluttershy whispered, wings folded tightly at her sides.
"Actually," Twilight contradicted, "we are going in there."
Fluttershy squeaked, eyes wide as she looked like she wanted to fly out of there any second. "Why?!"
Twilight looked at her friend with a purposeful air. "Because I think that Applejack, Rainbow Dash, and Pinkie Pie should go to the town and warn everypony about the... witch."
"Beg pardon?" Applejack asked, slightly surprised.
"You and Rainbow Dash are pretty fast and could reach the town faster, and Pinkie Pie is..."
There was a pause as the earth pony in question grinned eagerly at her unicorn friend.
"Well, Pinkie Pie," Twilight finished.
"Can't we just stay outside?" Rarity questioned, still understandably uncertain about entering the creepy old building.
"I think that it would be safer to guard these two from the zombies. And half of us should go down the hill to the town and warn everyone else about the zombies."
Alvin looked flabbergasted. "But how are they gonna react, well, to a bunch of talking ponies?!"
"We need to take that risk, Alvin," Norman insisted. "It's our best chance of being able to stop this before it gets worse."
Rainbow Dash's eyes narrowed, eyes flashing with determination as she rose up into the air. "Alright everypony, you heard Twilight, let's go!"
The three ponies in question began to hurry down the hill before they heard a voice behind them.
"Hey, w-wait for me!"
The trio of equines turned around, seeing Alvin scrabbling to catch up.
"You're staying with them!" Rainbow pointed at Norman and the other ponies.
"Can't I just ride you? I won't pull at your hair!" Alvin insisted, trying to get over the shock of being seeing the rainbow-maned pegasus several feet in the air.
"No!" Rainbow exclaimed. "Let's just hurry before those zombies catch up!"
With that, the ponies hurried down the mountain to warn the town's inhabitants. Alvin kicked the soot in frustration, but returned to Norman, Twilight and a scared and apalled Fluttershy and Rarity.
Taking a deep breath, Twilight looked ahead at the house before them. It certainly didn't look like the safest spot in the woods, but at this point it seemed to be their best bet.
Spike swallowed. "I guess we're going in now, huh?"
Twilight nodded affirmatively, looking determined yet a little uneasy. "Yes, Spike. We're going in."
