Chapter Seventy (Version A)
Chapter Seventy
Night had settled in over Ponyville. It was a very simple, but entirely undeniable fact. Just as it was a very simple, but entirely undeniable fact, that tonight was one of the hotter -and more humid- nights to be experienced this summer.
In very simple terms, it was an uncomfortable, unpleasant night, that didn't lend itself to desirable -or even adequate- sleeping conditions, for anyone who had to suffer through it.
And two such ponies who were stuck suffering through it, were Carrot and Cup Cake.
As wonderful a place as Sugarcube Corner was during the daylight hours, the wonder and magical nature of freshly baked sweets simply didn't extend into the late hours of the night. And especially not on a night such as this, when you were the one that felt like the cookies baking away in the oven. Or a stew left to simmer in the crock pot over the course of the day.
"We should've set up shop closer to gryphon territory," Carrot muttered as he laid stretched out on his back, idly glancing up at the ceiling in a futile effort to make his eyes go shut.
"What?" Cup asked, not understanding what her husband was talking about. Curious from his words, she weakly turned to look over at him. "Why do you say that?"
"Because then we could've opened a butcher shop instead of a bakery. That way we could justify a nice, big, walk-in freezer, that we could go and loiter in on nights like this," Carrot explained. Cup chuckled in response to her husband's words.
"I don't think I could picture you as being a butcher," she replied, before finally sighing. She couldn't see them running a meat shop, not by any stretch of the imagination. But the idea of them having access to a walk-in freezer for hot nights did sound quite appealing right now. But then again so did their dreams of setting up shop in Manehattan. It wasn't something they could've ever afforded to do, but it was still a dream of theirs. At least there in the big city, they would've had access to the mechanical wonder known simply as air conditioning.
But sadly that wasn't the case for them. Ponyville was where they were, and Ponyville was where they'd stay; for the foreseeable future anyway. They'd simply have to suffer through the sweltering temperatures for the time being as best they could.
"This is pointless," Carrot grumbled as he climbed down off the bed, groaning in the process. "Let's go and sleep in the basement, it's got to be cooler than this."
"That's not a bad idea," Cup replied. Granted the basement had gotten cluttered since the last time they cleaned it. And it probably needed a good dusting. But it was below ground, and finished in brick and mortar. It had to be cooler than the upstairs was right now, even if they had to make due on a couple of canvas camping cots. "Just let me check on the twins first, and then we'll get going."
They had a plan for how to proceed on this miserable night. That was more than could be said for some other ponies in their situation.
Unfortunately that plan immediately fell apart when a loud, shrill scream pierced the night, causing them to freeze in place.
"What was that? Was that... was that Pinkie?" Carrot asked, still feeling shaken by the unexpected noise.
"It certainly sounded like her. We'd better check, just to make sure," Cup replied, maternal instincts already kicking in, family relation or not.
The two elder ponies made their way down the hall to where their tenant resided, all the while hearing sounds that weren't readily recognizable to either one of them, coming from the door that stood wide open.
"Out! Out! Out! Get out of here!" they heard Pinkie yell frantically as they drew closer. Suddenly they were greeted by something akin to a roar, a loud rush of air, and a loud bang as something slammed against the far wall just a few feet ahead of them, exploding in a shower of confetti, streamers, and what sounded a lot like a party horn being strangled.
Now they really had reason to be concerned. In an instant, Cup had dashed forward into the room, flipping the lights on in the process, with Carrot not far behind her. As soon as they were in -and once their eyes could properly adjust to the sudden intrusion of bright light- they saw a very frantic Pinkie standing on her hind legs near her bed, her socks falling down and twisted, as she struggled to get something loaded into the back of some large multicolored tubular assembly, that was nearly as long as she was tall. It was compiled of a series of four long tubes, running into some sort of box construction at the front, which held what looked like four multicolored conical party hats. Carrot instantly recognized it as one of her latest party creations; something along the lines of a pony-portable emergency party supply discharger, with a four-shot capacity. Or something along those random, squiggly lines that Pinkie seemed to embody.
"Pinkie, sweetie, what's wrong?" Cup asked as she made her way over to the pink pony. However she was forced to stop in her tracks, as Pinkie turned to aim the launcher directly at her in a hostile manner, lining her up in the cross hairs of the side-mounted sight scope.
It was a tense situation, none of the three daring to move; not even daring to breathe, for fear of the situation going south in a hurry.
And then, just as it'd begun, it seemed to end with the same manner of ease, as realization crept over Pinkie's features.
"M... Mrs. Cake?" Pinkie asked as she lowered the launcher's muzzle towards the floor. "Is... is that really you?"
"Of course it's me, Pinkie," Cup replied. And immediately she was beset by the pink pony, hugging her around her neck, and holding on for dear life, the launcher discarded without a second thought as it clanged against the floor. And all the while she was spouting gibberish; gibberish even by Pinkie Pie standards that they'd learned to be comfortable with. Cup glanced over at Carrot, who glanced back, just as hopelessly lost as she was.
So much for a cool night being spent in the basement.
At the current time of night, and the current temperature, coffee was simply out of the question. So in lieu of such facts, chocolate milk was being used as an expedient substitute, as the three ponies sat around the table in the kitchen.
Much to Carrot and Cup's relief, the twins had managed to sleep through all of the commotion, and didn't seem the least bit disturbed by what had been going on in the building.
How they could do that, and yet be awoken and sent into a bawling frenzy by some random sneeze, neither one of them would ever know. But right now there were more urgent matters to tend to, such as Pinkie and her own disturbances.
"So, Pinkie," Carrot began as Pinkie was in the process of finishing off her glass of milk, "just what had you screaming earlier?"
For a while, Pinkie didn't say a word to either of them. She just looked down at the table, rolling the now empty glass between her front hooves. It was a stark contrast with what had been going on just a few minutes previously, where she couldn't have been shut up even if it'd been tried. It was downright spooky how she could alternate from one extreme to another, with so little warning about doing it.
"Nightmares," Pinkie finally answered in response, her voice weak like a whisper. "Horrible, horrible nightmares..." she added, never looking up from the table.
"Nightmares? What sort of nightmares?" Cup asked. Nightmares were certainly nothing new, and certainly not for Pinkie, but she'd never carried on quite like this before.
"I... I-I don't wanna talk about it. I-it's too terrible to even think about," Pinkie replied shakily, utterly devoid of her usual bounce and enthusiasm. "Even if I really did want to talk about it, I don't even know how to put it into words. It was just... just..." Pinkie groaned as she stopped talking, reaching down to rub her belly. Right now she really wished she hadn't had that chocolate milk to drink.
The Cakes looked at each other, not sure how to proceed from here. Pinkie was just so... unlike her usual self, that neither one of them knew what to do. All of the defining character traits that she possessed, just seemed to be sucked right out of her, leaving behind nothing but a scared, pink husk of sorts; sort of like a deflated balloon really.
"You're sure that you don't want to talk about it?" Cup asked as she stepped closer, before reaching around to rub at Pinkie's withers. "We're your friends. You know you can tell us anything, right?"
"No I can't. I can't tell you about this. I can't tell anypony about this," Pinkie objected. She couldn't bring herself to utter what she'd experienced firsthoof. Nopony deserved to experience what she'd experienced. "Please... please don't ask me to tell you what happened. I... I can't, I just can't!"
Again, the Cakes looked at each other. Usually with Pinkie, it was a matter of wanting to say something, but being unable to, due to invocation of the Pinkie Promise. But in this case it was a real and legitimate desire to not say something. The situation was getting both weirder, and scarier, with each passing minute. And they both needed to figure out what could be done about this whole matter.
"If you don't want to tell us about it, Pinkie, then you don't have to," Carrot stated. Trying to squeeze anything out of Pinkie, when she wasn't willing to give it up, was an endeavor that he really didn't want to engage in right now; the adrenaline rush had long since worn off, leaving behind nothing but the lingering discomfort of the hot, humid night air, coupled with that brought on by Pinkie's night terror.
Cup nodded in agreement. "We won't make you tell us, dearie," she said and hugged the pink mare.
It was a move that was quickly reciprocated, as Pinkie allowed herself to sink into the embrace, closing her eyes as she rested against Mrs. Cake. There was comfort and serenity to be found in the blue mare that served as a surrogate mother to her. And, much as she hated to admit to the fact, it was far more than she'd felt with her own mother. She loved her mother dearly, and would never trade her for anything or anyone... but Mrs. Cake just has a certain passion about her, that was lacking in the other mare.
She suddenly felt another warmth about her, and opened her eyes to see that Mr. Cake had joined them in the hug.
This was what Pinkie needed right now. The Cakes were real, they were here for her, in what she felt certain was her time of greatest need. This was what she needed, to chase away the bad dreams she'd experienced. As long as they were here, she would be alright.
And with that thought in mind...
"Mr. Cake, Mrs. Cake? Could I stay in your room tonight, please? I really don't wanna be alone tonight..." she stated. The thought of going back to her room, left to herself, with no one but Gummy to keep her company, really wasn't setting well with her right now.
"Well... the thing is, Pinkie," Mr. Cake began as he disentangled himself from the hug. "We were sort of planning to sleep in the basement tonight. It's just too hot up here for us," he explained.
"I don't mind sleeping in the basement," Pinkie replied quickly "please?"
"Pinkie, dearie," Cup began as she moved around to the front to look the pink mare in the eyes. She had to exercise tact in this matter, and she knew that fact quite well. "You know that we love you. And if you need us, you know that we'll be there for you. But as it is, we sort of need you right now," she stated. She could see that Pinkie's current fear was starting to lose its hold on her, as she waited to hear just how she could prove herself useful to them. That was one of the unique quirks about Pinkie; some unconscious desire to be needed, coupled with an unconscious desire to fulfill that need. "You know for yourself how hard it is to hear anything when down in the basement. If the twins were to wake up in the middle of the night, we'd never know it from down there, we'd never hear if they started crying. And as dusty as it is down there, I really don't feel comfortable with taking them with us; you know how bad Pumpkin's allergies can be."
"Wait," Pinkie replied in thought, trying to wrap her head around what was being said. "You're asking me to keep an eye on the twins? As in up here?" she asked.
"If you wouldn't mind, dear," Cup replied.
In truth, Pinkie really did mind. The Cakes had just gotten finished telling her, that they would be there for her during her time of need. And the next thing she knew, they were asking her to not come to them, when she really, really felt like she needed them.
But she stopped that train of thought, and started engaging in an entirely different train of thought - ticket be darned.
Technically speaking, she was a big filly, more than adequately competent at taking care of herself, as she'd demonstrated in the past. But the twins... not so much. They were small, and weak, and helpless should something unexpected develop. They couldn't take care of themselves yet. What if Pumpkin absentmindedly started chewing on one of her toys in the middle of the night, and started choking on the stuffing? What if Pound engaged in another bout of sleep flying, and crashed headfirst into the window?
And then she realized something very important. She might need Mr. and Mrs. Cake right now, but there were four Cakes that needed her right now. As in really, really needed her. That drastically changed the dynamic she was currently facing. And that was saying nothing about a new-found sense of confidence she was feeling at the moment, from knowing that she could actually do some good for somepony else. It was that swelling sense of both pride, and value, that was driving away her terrors right now. Slowly, she could feel her smile coming back to her, taking its rightful place across her face again.
"Sure thing! You can count on-" she started to say, but stopped and froze in place, every one of her joints locking up tightly. This was quickly replaced by her left ear and eye twitching out of sync with each other. And her tail swishing about madly, in a manner that forced Cup and Carrot to completely let her go, and move away from her as they watched. And her teeth chattering as if she'd just been exposed to overwhelming coldness. And her right foreleg suddenly flying straight out like she was attempting to throw a haymaker at somepony.
Anyone that lived in Ponyville for any extended period of time, and especially those that had continued interaction with Pinkie, was well aware of what the Pinkie Sense involved. They also had a fairly cataloged understanding of not only the signs involved with her random predictions, but also the order in which the signs came. But neither one of the Cakes had any idea of what all of that had meant.
"What... what exactly was that?" Carrot asked, curiosity overwhelming his uncertainty at the moment.
"S-something bad's getting ready to happen. Something really bad," Pinkie replied, becoming terrified all over again, as her ears began swiveling like mad, desperately seeking out any sort of sound that might give them some clue of the impending disaster. By this point she was shivering in fear, wrapping her forelegs around herself, as horrible scenarios were playing out in her mind, and in graphic detail. She was seeing things that she didn't want to see, and she was helpless to tune them out.
Even with Mrs. Cake hugging her again, it still didn't do any good. Nothing was serving to distract her from her fears right now. She knew with absolute, undeniable certainty, that somepony was going to die on this night, and that all of them were going to be absolutely helpless to stop it from happening. Whatever was going to happen, there was no way to prevent it from happening...
Sweetie Belle sighed as she rolled over in her bed, unable to stay asleep, or even actually get to sleep. It was far too hot to get comfortable. And even if it wasn't hot, her mind was proving to be far too active, to actually let her relax to any meaningful degree. Despite her best efforts, she just couldn't seem to make herself stop thinking about one thing or another. Every time she tried, her mind would invariably find something else to focus on, and walk her concentration right back to where it had been. It was like trying to throw away a boomerang; an exercise in futility.
She didn't want to admit to it, but the whole ordeal with Diamond Tiara had managed to shake her up, and far more than she was comfortable with admitting. Yes, their two groups had been enemies to one another for a majority of their time together. Yes, she and Silver Spoon were antagonists to them, and ridiculed them whenever they got the chance. But none of that really justified what had happened to her. She honestly couldn't think of any of Diamond Tiara's actions, that could possibly serve as adequate justification for what she'd been forced to bear witness to.
With another sigh, she rolled over in her bed again, trying to tune out the thoughts she was being subjected to; like she could turn her back on them, and somehow tune them out.
Unfortunately it didn't work, as her mind just started replaying the events that had occurred after they'd escorted Diamond Tiara to see Twilight, and explain the situation to her, in hopes that she would know what to do. And now, even days later, she still didn't know what was scarier to experience; hearing Diamond Tiara recount seeing the entire town decapitated, or Twilight's reaction to hearing the news. Both situations possessed their own terrifying aspects, but in entirely different categories. In a way it was like comparing apples and oranges; both were fruit, both were delicious, and both were vaguely the same shape -if you squinted hard enough when looking at them- but beyond that, they were totally different.
"Shut up," Sweetie Belle scolded. That was just one of the random thoughts going through her brain right now, that were keeping her from sleeping. She could filter what she said, but sadly there was no way of filtering what she thought. And because of that fact, she was having to pay the consequences for it.
Another sigh, and another rolling over in her bed. This was getting old fast. She knew that Diamond Tiara was in good hooves right now -in good hands, she heard Twilight saying is what Ulquiorra would say- with Twilight being on the matter. But knowing it did nothing to stop her from constantly thinking over the matter.
"I need juice," she grumbled to herself. Just laying around wasn't going to get her anywhere, and she was aware of that fact. So maybe getting up, and getting herself something to drink, would help on the matter; it sure couldn't hurt any.
As she climbed out of bed, and made her way down to the kitchen, Sweetie Belle ran through a mental checklist of what juices Rarity had in the refrigerator from the last time she looked around dinner time.
She absolutely loved grape, but Rarity didn't care for keeping it on hoof, due to how notorious the purple was for staining anything it touched; and if you were a snow-white unicorn, grape juice was your mortal enemy, apparently. And that sorry imitation that had the audacity to call itself "white grape juice" was right out. Not that there was anything wrong with the taste, or anything like that, but to her it simply wasn't real grape juice unless it was a nice, deep shade of purple, with just a tint of redness when the light hit it just right when looking through the glass.
Next up on the list was orange juice. But, as she made her way down the stairs, she concluded that was more of a breakfast item, rather than a late night drink for insomnia.
Apple juice was up for consideration next, as she padded her way into the kitchen. But then she remembered that Rarity hadn't gotten any apple juice for the last few days. And unless she was doing some late-night shopping, it was unlikely that it would've changed.
Opening the refrigerator door to take stock of the situation, and squinting her eyes defensively at the brightness of the illuminated bulb that had snapped to life, she discovered that she was left with only one available option; grapefruit juice. She hated grapefruit juice. She really didn't know what Rarity saw in the sickening concoction, as all she ever got from it was a burned throat whenever she tried to drink it.
With a disappointed sigh, and a return to the darkness that now seemed overwhelming to her eyes, Sweetie Belle closed to refrigerator door. So much for a late night drink helping her make her mind rest. Or even distract her from the sweltering heat. She knew that summers could be hot, but this seemed a bit excessive even for the season. Couldn't the pegasi keep the temperature decent?
"A cold shower."
It was a statement made without any thought whatsoever on her part. But it was a statement that carried utter brilliance with it as far as she was concerned. As hot as it was, a cold shower sounded like the perfect way of cooling down, and getting comfortable right about now. It'd be like running through the sprinkler, only upside down.
With that thought in mind, she made her way back upstairs to the bathroom, mentally kicking herself for not thinking of it earlier. It was so simple, that she was surprised she hadn't given it any consideration earlier in this unpleasant evening.
Making her way into the bathroom, and once again flinching at the harshness of the light against her eyes, she stepped over to the shower, and hopped inside the tub, before pulling the curtains shut, and turning the cold water knob on full force in between her front hooves.
She immediately let out a shriek of surprise as just how cold the water was, and nearly fell over backwards in surprise. And she also immediately decided that mildly lukewarm was more the ticket than anything. Something that was coolish, but not cold. Cold water was far more fun when the sun was actually beating down on your position, as well as your back, and provided a nice contrast between the two. Right now it was just uncomfortable to experience, and demanded adjustment.
This time it was a pleasant sigh that Sweetie Belle let out, as she felt her coat and mane being soaked through. The steady and rhythmic drumming of water on her head and against her back, felt relaxing to her right now. This was helping her with turning her mind off, if even just a little bit. As she focused on the pattern the water was creating, as it took all the bounce out of her mane, leaving it limp and clingy against her, all of the other concerns didn't seem as pressing right now.
And then there was the sound of the medicine cabinet's mirror breaking.
Sweetie Belle froze in both fear and surprise. Why had the mirror broken? How had it broken? She hadn't done anything to touch it, or even look at it for that matter. Was... was somepony actually in the room with her?
With that nervous thought in mind, she cautiously turned around, and looked out through the semi-clear plastic of the shower curtain, and saw a white and purple blob hunched over on the floor near the sink. Was Rarity in the room? If she was, then how had she gotten in without her hearing anything? Did she come in to clean up the broken pieces of the mirror? And how much of the mirror had fallen onto the ground, instead of the sink?
Before she could think of any other questions, she could hear a strange sound coming from outside of the shower. It sounded like... sawing of some sort, but not the kind of sawing that was done against wood.
"Rarity?" she asked as she poked her head out of the curtain, leaning against the tub wall for support on her forelegs. "What's going on?"
Rarity, in response to the question, slowly turned to face her. As she did, Sweetie Belle noticed the powder-blue aura around her horn, and around a broken shard of the mirror, which was now covered in blood. That in itself could easily be explained away as Rarity cutting herself while trying to clean up the mess. But before Sweetie Belle could even finish telling herself that fact, she saw Rarity's limp mane fall from the side, and reveal just what the source of the sawing noise had been; Rarity's left cheek had been jaggedly cut open from the corner of her mouth, almost all the way back to her ear, and was now bleeding freely as she opened her mutilated mouth to let out an inequine shriek!
Sweetie Belle screamed and slipped in the tub, hitting the back of her head against the porcelain wall in the process as the shower continued to pour down over her. Before she even had time to think of what to do next, Rarity was already at the edge of the tub, carried by jerky and uncoordinated motions, and using the bloody shard to rip her way through the curtain to get to her. It was at this time, that the gruesome details of what had happened to Rarity, were becoming fully apparent to her. The blood seeping from her mouth was serving as a gruesome contrast to the ashen-gray coloring her coat had taken on, dripping down her front and staining her limp mane at the same time. And those eyes! Those awful, demonic, sickly yellow irises, that felt like they were burning holes into her very soul right now.
It was all too much for Sweetie Belle to take, and she did the only thing she could possibly think of doing.
She screamed. She screamed louder, and longer, than she had ever screamed before in her entire life, as the broken shard came down at her in a stabbing motion into her chest.
Rarity bolted straight up in bed, jolted out of a -somewhat- peaceful sleep, by the sudden eruption of a sound not unlike a tea kettle signalling that the water had reached the boiling point.
She looked around frantically, trying to detect the source of the noise in the darkened room, before her tired mind finally came to the realization that she was in her bedroom. And there was no tea kettle present to be issuing that noise. There wasn't even any reason that she could think of, that would justify there being a tea kettle going off at this time of night, whatever it was. What on Equestria was going on here?
Another loud shriek sounded, shaking Rarity out of her confusion, and scaring her in the process. She quickly realized that it was no tea kettle screaming... but rather Sweetie Belle! Immediately she bolted out of bed, nearly stepping on Opal in the process, as she dashed down the hallway to her sister's bedroom.
"Sweetie Belle?" she asked frantically as she looked around, only to discover she was nowhere in sight. Maybe she was hiding under the bed, because of some nightmare she'd had?
But that thought was immediately broken as a third scream sounded, drawing her attention to the bathroom now. And just like before, she charged down the hallway to her destination, slamming full force into the door in the process, without an ounce of consideration for such, as she was desperate to find her sister right now. A task that was immediately achieved as she checked the shower, finding her curled up in the fetal position, shaking and babbling to herself as she cried.
"Sweetie Belle? What's wrong?" Rarity asked her. But no coherent response was given.
Immediately the water was shut off, the knob almost being wrenched right off the valve inside the wall in the process, before a large towel was brought out and wrapped around her, as she was levitated out of the tub.
"Sweetie Belle, please say something. Whatever happened?" Rarity asked, pleading with her little sister as she held her closely. She was starting to grow frantic in the ensuing silence, and clung to her sister all the tighter as a result. She needed to know what was the cause of all this, and she needed to know immediately, if she was going to be able to help her.
Sweetie Belle, ever so slowly, turned her gaze upwards towards Rarity. And slowly, her green eyes welled up with tears, as she started bawling uncontrollably, unable to speak.
Truth be told, Twilight really didn't mind sleeping on the library's communal sofa. It was clean, it was reasonably comfortable, and it wasn't in any significant state of disrepair either. That last one was an unfortunate side effect of patrons -what there were of them- not making steady use of it, but under these circumstances, she really wouldn't complain. She was all nestled down, nice and comfortable with her favorite pillow, and a lightweight cotton bed sheet shielding her fur from the upholstery material of the sofa. This made for acceptable bedding on a hot night like tonight, when sleep was so hard to get, and equally hard to keep.
Of course there was another good reason that she was sleeping down in the library, while Spike and Applejack made use of her bed up in the loft. And that good -but simple- reason, was that currently the two of them were snoring hard enough to inhale the fucking drapes if they should ever turn and face the window together!
Not that she was complaining! The fact that those two were snoring meant that they were sleeping. Or more specifically, Applejack was sleeping. And that was a fact she was very, very thankful for.
Twilight would admit there was a lot she didn't really understand about any of this. She really didn't have a clue how Applejack was holding up as well as she was. Rainbow Dash had gone to pieces in the wake of her attack, and had to be hospitalized as a result. Based on what scant details she could gather, this was due to a lot more than simply trying to find out the source of the problem. But this didn't seem to apply to Applejack and the others who had come forward to admit to being afflicted. Psychologically, they hadn't gone to pieces; at least not yet anyway. For whatever reason, they were -supposedly- proving better able to hold it together, minus the terror they were put through regarding their experiences. And the obvious existential crisis that went along with not being able to tell with one hundred percent certainty as to what was real, and what wasn't.
But so far, no one was apparently doubting their fellow pony, or accusing them of doing horrible things to one another. What they were experiencing was more manageable; at least for the moment anyway. Or at the very least... that was how it appeared to her. Truth be told she didn't really know. The number of ponies being affected, or at least the number who were willing to come to her with the details of what they were experiencing, was significant.
Whatever they were really experiencing, she didn't really comprehend it. But then again, she really didn't have an extensive understanding of hallucinogenics and opioids either. She could understand how the two compounds might cause others to experience hallucinations -what with it being spelled right out in the name- but that didn't really mean she could understand how so many ponies were afflicted. And not just the adults, but apparently foals as well, if Diamond Tiara was any indication of larger trends going on around them.
The mystery just continued to deepen from her perspective. Even though they had eliminated both mental and physical illnesses as being possibilities, they were still no closer to definitive answers. They'd simply switched from one theory to another when no answers had been found. If they were going to get anywhere, then they'd need to find the source of these foreign substances, and figure out a way to neutralize them. But the only ones who could possibly lead them to the source outright denied their usage. That had been a very difficult conversation to have with Applejack. There had been lots of yelling back and forth, lots of name calling, horrible declarations, hurtful accusations, and eventually a great deal of crying, as tempers finally managed to cool.
There had been much apologizing to do on that night. And even after all was said and done, they were still no closer to any answers. That was assuming their latest theory didn't turn out to be another dead end; a red herring as Ulquiorra had referred to it. But just what fish had to do with anything, was a story for another time.
Back to the original question, of where the hallucinogenics come from? And how were so many ponies being affected by them? Was it... was it possible that their food supplies had become contaminated? Had Applejack's apples been poisoned by whatever nefarious force was responsible for attacking them?
Whatever the answer was, it was putting Ponyville on edge. Word of what was happening to others was starting to spread as ponies talked and gossiped. And where that gossip spread, so did suspicion and fear. Everypony was starting to be afraid that they'd be the next to be targeted for attack. Some were even growing suspicious of those that had already been afflicted, and believing that they might actually be contagious somehow. Distrust and fear was starting to overtake the town, as they were gripped with uncertainty.
And that uncertainty was growing. Back when this all started with Rainbow Dash, it was easy to assume that they were once again being targeted due to their Element of Harmony status. But then there was Ditzy, and then Diamond Tiara, and then all the others as well. That was making their group start to doubt things, and wonder if they were even being targeted anymore. What if this was something new? What if this was a naturally developing, unguided pandemic that they were facing? And what if this undefined disease, was somehow producing hallucinogenic byproducts as it afflicted their bodies?
She really didn't want to, but she couldn't help but wonder if Ulquiorra had been right about this being a case of germ warfare. Simply because they had discounted the notion of some illness being responsible, didn't mean they had ruled it out for being utterly impossible. All the medical tests in the world would only show so much, and be useless for as of yet undiscovered illnesses. And she really, really didn't want to go down that dark alley right now. Even with her scientific mind, the possibilities -no matter how remote- were scaring her.
"Go to sleep, Twilight," she told herself as she rolled over on the couch, getting out of the unnatural position she'd been laying in, with her hind legs sticking straight out, and her forelegs tucked behind her head as she laid there. She honestly didn't get what Lyra saw with such a manner of laying down, as staying there too long made the hind legs cramp up, and the blood flow to the forelegs was reduced, making the hooves all tingly and numb from falling asleep. "You're no use to anyone right now. Just go to sleep, and get back on it tomorrow when you're fresh."
It was good advice as far as she could tell right now. So with that thought in mind, she shut her eyes in an effort to convince her body to simply let go, and just relax to the point of going to sleep.
And then there was a loud, frantic, pounding of a knock against the library door, startling her out of her concentration, and nearly off the sofa. It was the kind of pounding that was rattling the metal portions affixed to the door, and giving rise to the notion that it was about to be splintered and broken down from the continued force of impact.
Getting up off the couch, she made her way over to the door, and undid the latch to open it, in order to confront whoever or whatever was out there. Unfortunately she just barely got the door open a crack, before she was tackled by a pink blur, and unceremoniously knocked to the floor, where she was pinned down by a heavy weight sitting on her chest.
"Twilight!"
It took Twilight a moment to get her senses cleared, and figure out that the pink weight on top of her was actually a very frantic Pinkie. That was simultaneously, and paradoxically comforting, and concerning all at the same time.
"Pinkie, get off me! What gives?" Twilight asked as she struggled to get loose. Contrary to what some might think, being sat on was not fun. Fortunately for her, Pinkie seemed to comprehend what she was saying, and did as requested, before helping pull her back onto her hooves. "That's better. Now, what happened?" she asked.
"Oh, Twilight, it was terrible!" Pinkie stated, loudly and frantically. What followed next was a frantic, barely cohesive explanation of what had happened up to this point, and what events had lead her here in the dead of night.
To her credit, Twilight was doing her best to follow along -and make sense of- what Pinkie was saying. But it was a task that was far easier said than done. Despite all of her experience with the pink mare, she still hadn't yet learned how to hear -and subsequently comprehend- at the speed of light when her mouth went manic. She wasn't sure if she was picking up every third word, or every thirtieth word as she spoke.
From what she could pick out and make sense of, the jist of Pinkie's statement was that they needed to write Celestia, and inform her that somepony was going to be dying tonight. And while the news was distressing, it was absent a great number of details. There was no accounting for any of the five W's that went with formulating tangible evidence; the who, what, where, when, and why. And that was to say nothing of the how. All in all, Pinkie's statement was no different than saying somepony was going to be taking a breath in the next three seconds; it was entirely factual, but without basis. For all they knew, Pinkie was simply having a premonition about one of the senior citizen ponies in the retirement home, who was nearing the natural end of their life. And if that were the case, then there was literally nothing that could be done about it.
"Pinkie," Twilight finally spoke up in response as she looked at her excited friend. "I can understand why you're upset. I really can. But I can't write a letter to Celestia, warning her that somepony is going to die, when we can't elaborate with the relevant information," she stated.
"But-" Pinkie spoke up, only to be silenced as Twilight held up a hoof.
"Pinkie, I really do understand. But writing Celestia isn't going to help us any. What would I even say anyway? "Dear Celestia, Luna, or Ulquiorra, Pinkie had a premonition that somepony's going to die tonight, but we can't tell you anything else about it?" Think about it for just a minute," Twilight pointed out. Was it really that hard of a concept to understand?
It was as this point, that Twilight became aware of the padding and clopping noises that were coming from the stairs. Turning around, she saw both Applejack and Spike coming downstairs, both tired, yawning, and giving off various other physical signals to indicate that their rest had been unpleasantly interrupted. And it stood to reason that all of the commotion from Pinkie's manic state had been responsible for waking them up.
"Wha's all the commotion?" Applejack asked as she tried unsuccessfully to suppress a yawn.
"A premonition. And a bad one at that," Twilight replied, cutting Pinkie off before she could do a repeat performance. They really didn't need that right now.
Truthfully, however, Pinkie's bad premonition was the least of their problems right now. All of Ponyville was starting to, more or less, come unraveled at the seams. The peace, tranquility, and friendliness that she'd managed to fall in love with, was being replaced by fear, distrust, paranoia, and a slow but steady uptick in hostility from others. And unfortunately, she was responsible for a part of it. She was the one who was teaching unicorn volunteers about the more advanced offensive magical spells, should the time come that they need to help protect the town from another attack. And while she hadn't know about it going in, she should've at least expected that some of the hostility could potentially bleed over into everyday interactions.
As much as she didn't want to admit to it, she'd noticed that even she had been growing more hostile in everyday life. But unlike the others, her development had occurred not long after first meeting Ulquiorra, and everything had started to go to hell after that. Not that she blamed the Espada for such developments, however. It had all been a matter of timing and coincidence.
But it was all just a temporary state of things. Once the crisis at hoof was addressed, they would no longer need to maintain these emergency standards of readiness, and could return to their everyday lives. There would no longer be a need for constant, enhanced vigilance, and distrust, and the paranoid feeling that there were dangers lurking around the corners, and hiding in the shadows, just waiting to jump them.
... That was how things were going to go, right? The measures they were taking right now, wouldn't have to last forever... right?
Such thoughts, however, were interrupted by a strange groaning-type of sound coming from somewhere in the library. And not long after that, before any of them could even ask a single question, there was a low rumble, and an even louder sound, that sent them all crashing to the floor in surprise, and fear from the suddenness of it all.
The next thing any of them knew for sure, Owlowiscious was flying about the library in a frenzy, and smoking chunks of metal were raining down from the loft, crashing into the floor around them.
"What the hell was that!?" Spike finally asked, once all the commotion had settled down.
"I don't know, Spike, but whatever it was, it came from upstairs," Twilight replied. But whatever it was that had happened, she was certain that it wasn't good. "I'm going to check it out, and see what we're dealing with," she said as she climbed back to her hooves.
"Is tha' really a good idea? Wha' if there's somethin' up there waitin' fer us?" Applejack asked her.
"Then it would be better to confront it head on, rather than playing hide and seek with some potentially unknown creature," Twilight reasoned. If something really had gained entry to her library without her knowing, then she wanted to know what it was, and deal with it. And with nothing else to say on the matter, she cautiously made her way upstairs.
She honestly didn't know just what she should be expecting as her head poked up over the flooring. But what she saw when she did, she really hadn't been expecting. The entire upstairs looked like a bomb had gone off.
And she knew what that tended to look like, as not all of her experiments ended positively.
There was a large, gaping hole in the far wall that lead to the outside, the surrounding wood seriously darkened from whatever had made the hole to begin with, and was still in the process of smoking. In front of the hole was the shattered remains of an end table she'd used whenever she got the urge to try growing a plant on her own. The walls -and even the ceiling- were covered in pock marks from what just had to be embedded shrapnel. The window that lead out to her balcony had been shattered. And the mattress and bedding looked to have been torn to ribbons, with white stuffing sticking out in every direction.
It was all very disturbing to look at. And a lot of disturbing thoughts were going through her mind right now, that were leaving her feeling very unsettled. Just looking at the bed where Spike and Applejack had been sleeping only minutes ago, was enough to fill her with dread over what could've occurred.
But despite all of the fear she was experiencing, one particular observation was impossible to go unnoticed right now; the containment lantern was nowhere to be found.
And then suddenly, and almost with an audible click in the process, all of the pieces fell into place. The containment lantern had blown up! It was the only thing that made any sense to her right now. It was the only thing that could explain all the damage -to say nothing of the commotion- that had happened just a minute ago. But she didn't have a clue just how it'd actually happened. But whatever reason that caused it to happen, it had happened, and in doing so, it had unleashed Ulquiorra's Cero wherever the focusing lens had been positioned. And unfortunately that had included right through her wall in the process.
She couldn't say that this was entirely unexpected. Ulquiorra had speculated that something like this might've happened. And she'd also suspected that it might be a possibility, just as she had the first day it was attempted. But she'd anticipated a containment failure a lot sooner than it had occurred. For the first several days, she'd kept the lantern stored downstairs in the basement, and shielded by a force field, just in case this happened. But when nothing had come of it, she'd felt it was safe to move it upstairs where it would be more readily available, should it ever be needed.
Looking around the loft, however, she realized that such short-sighted thinking had been a mistake, and it could've wound up costing them their lives.
"Wha' the hay happened up here?" she heard Applejack ask from behind. And judging from the other sounds going on, Spike and Pinkie had followed her up the stairs; likely concerned when no other noises had been heard.
"The lantern holding one of Ulquiorra's Ceros, suffering a catastrophic breach in containment. And then this happened," Twilight explained, partially turning her head in order to look back at them as she did, just catching sight of Spike stepping closer to the wall.
"And it looks like it woke up the whole damn town in the process," Spike replied as she stuck his head out of the hole in the wall, and observed the number of windows currently in the process of lighting up. "I don't get it, Twilight," he said as he pulled his head back inside again, "how'd the lantern just fail like that? What went wrong?"
"I don't really know for sure, Spike. The only theory coming to mind right now is... maybe Ulquiorra's Cero is stronger than anything else in this world, that one might reasonably expect a containment lantern to hold for an extended period of time. And, after two weeks, the constant strain of attempting to keep it sealed, finally proved to be too much, and basic physics finally set in," Twilight explained. At the moment it was the only thing that really made sense.
Her mind was already starting to speculate on the possibilities as to why this happened. Maybe her lantern was older than she first thought, and over time the charms used to maintain the stasis field had weakened, as all spells will eventually do over time. But seeing as the lantern had been a gift from Celestia, she doubted that was the actual case. Or maybe the charms had been applied incorrectly; she really hadn't had that much use for the lantern, and dragon's fire didn't really have much in the way of mass and volume to contend with. Or maybe, as she said, Ulquiorra's Cero was simply too powerful to be contained by it.
"But looking around, I'm really glad we didn't try for his Cero Oscuras instead. That probably would've killed all of us, and completely razed the library to the ground in the process," she stated, even though it was something she really didn't want to think about. Now that she saw the scope of the damage, she really wasn't even certain that the force field that had been put in place would've been able to contain all that destructive potential.
Next to her, Pinkie gasped loudly, letting out an excited yell of "That's it!"
"That's what?" Spike asked from where he stood.
"My Pinkie Sense was telling me that somepony was going to die, but I didn't know any of the details, so I had to try and get Twilight's help to try and stop it. Then you and Spike came down because I was being so noisy, and then suddenly BOOM!" Pinkie stated, giving a quick overview from her perspective of what had taken place. "This must've been it, this must've been what I was sensing was gonna happen."
Silence, along with a disturbing sense of dread, settled in over the library in the aftermath of Pinkie's statement. The notion that they could've died just a few minutes ago, had Pinkie not come all the way over here, caused all that commotion, and woken them up in the process of it, wasn't setting well with either Applejack or Spike. The very thought of being just a few paces away from death, was too uncomfortable to give any consideration to. But for Twilight, however, it was just another reminder of how Pinkie's randomness did nothing to make her any less beneficial to their well being. Just like with the parasprites, she'd known what needed to be done, when they had been floundering in a lack of answers.
With such thoughts in mind, hugging the pink mare seemed to be the only reasonable course of action right now. And she did. Vigorously.
"Alright. So what do we do now?" Spike finally asked. Looking all around them, it was just shades of desolation. So many things had been hit by the lantern exploding; even his own basket hadn't escaped unscathed. "Without that Cero at our disposal, if something new comes along, we're pretty much screwed, aren't we?"
"I don't know, Spike," Twilight replied as she finally broke the hug with Pinkie. While it was certainly possible that he did have a point, she couldn't say one way or the other. The manticore had attacked them when Ulquiorra had been at Sweet Apple Acres, along with both Celestia and Luna. Truth be told, she wasn't sure how much of a discouraging effect the Espada's presence had on various dangers and threats. But him being around was sure nice when something actually did happen. The chief purpose for keeping a Cero around had been in case of an emergency. But with the emergency that they were currently facing, she doubted it would do them much good. "But I think that, right now, we've got sufficient reason for writing to Canterlot, and informing Ulquiorra and the others about what's happened," she concluded.
"Well, might as well. Ah doubt we're gonna get anymore sleep tonight after all this," Applejack commented. Being near ground zero for an explosion, and finding out just how close you came to dying, tended to have that sort of effect on a pony.
"So I guess I should start on breakfast then?" Spike asked. Granted it was still some hours before dawn got here, but he really didn't see sleep being an option before then. And if they weren't going to get in another three hours of sleep, having something to eat didn't sound all that bad right about now.
"Let's just wait and see how the letter goes first. We'll decide afterward," Twilight replied. As far as she could see, there was no sense getting breakfast ready right now, if they were soon to have more company. Especially not if they'd need to make more than just four helpings. And with that thought in mind, she turned back to face Pinkie. "Will you be staying over for a pre-dawn bite to eat?" she asked.
"As much as I'd like to, I'm really needed back over at Sugarcube Corner. The Cakes are really counting on me right now, and I don't want to disappoint them," Pinkie explained.
"Oh. Alright then, if you say so. I guess we'll see you later then, Pinkie," Twilight replied.
"Yeppers! Goodnight you three, pleasant dreams!" Pinkie replied, far more cheerful than when she'd arrived. With a few more pleasantries exchanged, she took her leave, heading back over to the others that needed her right now.
With the fourth member of their little gathering gone, Twilight turned back to face Spike, as she had something important to tell him.
"Spike-"
"Coffee, right? Already on it, Twilight," Spike stated, before making his way towards the stairs.
Applejack tried not to grimace. She had been, for lack of a better term, living here ever since she'd been attacked in her own orchards, afraid of spending her nights away from her friends, and terrified of waking up to find herself alone. And in that time of living here in the library with Twilight, she'd become accustomed to what she and Spike considered to be coffee. Stoutness didn't even begin to describe what it was. What it lacked in terms of flavor, it made up for in that "wake you right up" quality. But that didn't necessarily make it any good, just effective.
But she was the guest here. Twilight had let her stay over out of the goodness of her heart. It wasn't really her place to be complaining, just because she didn't particularly care for the coffee; even if it could quite possibly eat the rust right off a danged tractor.
"Actually I was going to say to take a letter," Twilight muttered. Coffee was fine and all, but these developments warranted correspondence. Plus she wanted to know if they'd need to make extra, depending on who came for the investigation.
"We'll get ta it," Applejack replied in a reassuring manner as she resting a foreleg on Twilight's withers. And then, once again, she took stock of the situation before them. "Real shame abou' the bed though..."
"Now I'm really glad I didn't bring up the guest bed from the basement," Twilight replied, not wanting to think of all the hassle that would be involved if she'd done such. She already knew from experience how difficult it was to replace a mattress. And that was the say nothing of the bedding; she'd just gotten those sheets broken in too! But it's not like she could really do anything about it right now. Maybe she could salvage them with a fabric mending spell or something. But that would have to come later, after they got everything sorted out.
"... Jus' so ya know, Twi', if ya an' Spike need a place ta stay, ya could always come an' stay wit' me at Sweet Apple Acres," Applejack offered. After everything they'd done for her, it was the very least that she could do in return for them. Truth be told, she was actually starting to miss her own room, and her own bed. She was missing the sounds, and even the smells that went along. In basic, simple terms, she was getting homesick for her actual home. And no matter how hospitable Twilight was being to her, it just wasn't the same. Her heart simply didn't reside in the library, even if her friends did.
But... the thought of spending even one night alone in her room... it just didn't sit right with her; not yet anyway. She wasn't sure if it was the scent of lilacs and lavender that was helping soothe her mind at night, and keep the nightmares at bay, but she really wasn't willing to take the chance right now. But if she could combine the two standards... then maybe it would work. Maybe she could actually address her homesickness, and still get a good night's rest.
And some decent coffee while she was at it.
"Thanks, Applejack, I appreciate that," Twilight replied. The next thing she knew, she was being pulled into a hug by said earth pony.
Naturally she returned the hug, not being one to ever turn down such. Having friends like this helped give her a sense of sanity right now, as everything was going to pieces around them.
"Curses..."
And in the darkness of the night, a low voice hissed angrily at how things had developed. So close... so close, and yet so very far away...
"I'll just have to stop being so nice to them from here on out..."
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Now I'm on edge as to who will bite the big one...
Why not grow a greasy goatee, stroke a black cat, and cackle in front of a thunderstorm? You're not a true villain until you've met ALL the clichés.
Dang Charlie, you really went all out with this double update didn't ya? Sweetie's nightmare was like something out of a classic slasher film eh? I always did prefer them to the creepy ones. I can't remember... has anypony told RD about what's been happening to the others? Can't help but wonder if it would help in her recovery if she knew that others were being hit like she was.
Below are the edits for this chapter.
Now onwards to the next chapter!
*hotter -and humider- nights - hotter -and more humid- nights
*loiter in, on nights - loiter in on nights
*that... what that Pinkie?" - that... was that Pinkie?"
*more fun when she sun - more fun when the sun
*Rarity, were fulling apparent - Rarity, were becoming fully apparent
*kettle going at this - kettle going off at this
*any indication or larger - any indication of larger
*and figure a way to - and figure out a way to
*was another story for another time. - was a story for another time.
*some potentially unknown," Twilight - some potentially unknown creature," Twilight
*hadn't been expected. The - hadn't been expecting. The
*want to think about it. Now - want to think about. Now
*"Curses..." - Well damn, about time the big bad made an appearance. And I gotta say, death by accidental Cero was pretty sneaky.
Before i read what are the differences between version 1&2?
Oh, so it is something consciously doing this to them.
5408360 The question is who/what is it? This has been the question since I think chapter 33.
The villain actually said 'curses'...
Soooooo, we're dealing with what? Grimdark Snidely Whiplash?
maybe... just maybe, I really do look at too much porn.
Sombra. That Is all.
...I just found myself imagining what would happen if a pervy pony fell victim to these hallucinations. I'm guessing they would imagine going through genital torture. Disturbing.
Considering what goes on in pinkie's head, something that would scare HER that much would probably be better off be left unsaid
5407125
Don't forget the monologing!