Lunatics

by GottaLovePinkiePie

Hollow Shades

Hollow Shades

Coverart by Pinglee

At the edge of the small town of Hollow Shades, Blaze was taking a nap. He couldn't care less about about the freezing wind or staring by-passers.

That is until a faint, irritating sound reached his ears. First he mistook it for a mosquito buzzing in his ear, but as it only grew louder he perked up his ears. It wasn't a mosquito, but a voice. Someone was screaming their lungs out, and they were coming straight at him. Blaze sat up, curious.

Then, like out of the blue a cream-colored mare tackled him. For only a moment their eyes met, a frightened pair of icy blue ones locked with his fiery eyes. She tumbled off him and landed about five feet from him. Blaze couldn't hide his surprise:

“Uuuh, lady... what?” he stopped short. Her terrified expression and shortness of breath alarmed him. Her hair was all messed up, she had dark circles under her eyes and Blaze could barely make out the creamy color beneath the dirt. The pegasus looked crazy. As if to prove his thoughts, she grabbed him and shook him so hard he thought his head would roll off his shoulders.

“It's those beavers, they've cursed me!” Blaze just stared at the mare in disbelief.

“The... Beavers?” Her piercing eyes made him uncomfortable. She has gone completely bonkers!

“Yes! The beavers, don't you speak pony?” Blaze was a little offended and muttered: “Of course I speak pony...” He leaned back against the tree trunk, trying to get comfortable. The mare was panicking and as she spoke her voice broke.

“What are you doing??? I barely made it out alive, they are coming! You have to run! Flee!” Blaze sighed and closed his eyes. Whatever this pony's problem was, he wasn't the pony to deal with it. The mare was obviously... well, nuts. It was best to let the professionals deal with her.

“Are you taking a nap? Now?!”

Blaze could practically feel the furious stare she shot at him. He shifted awkwardly, but ignored her question.

“Are you deaf or something? HELLOOOoo?? What the...?” The mare gasped. “Maybe I did die after all? Am I a ghost?”

Her endless rambling was getting on his nerves, especially as it didn't make any sense. He was never going to fall asleep if she stayed.

Suddenly the tree shook as if it had been hit by thunder. Blaze jolted up, startled and frustrated. The cream-colored pegasus had crashed by the tree's roots.

“Are you out of your MIND?!” An all too familiar anger bubbled just under the surface as he spoke. What would one have to do to get a well deserved nap?

The mare grimaced, one of her wings looked like it was having a seizure.

“I...I just wanted to know if I could walk through things.”

Blaze face hoofed.

“Darling, you have some serious issues... What's up with your wing anyway?” The pegasus blinked.

“I have wings?”

Blaze felt his jaw drop to the ground. Jeez, she is completely bonkers! The mare sat down, still dizzy, and studied her wings with genuine surprise. She wasn't faking it, she hadn't known she had wings.

“Umm, okay... What's your name, darling?” his tongue felt like sandpaper. The pegasus rose to her feet and quizzically looked at him. Blaze gave her what must have been the most awkward smile ever, which she didn't return.

“I'm Tricky.”

Blaze tried to use the most gentle voice he could, although he knew he sounded absolutely ridiculous.

“Tricky, my name is Blaze. Now Tricky, I think that you are just a tiny teeny bit parano-ouaaaah!” Tricky had suddenly grabbed him and shoved him into a thorn-bush. The spikes scratched his mane and body, but the mare didn't even seem to notice as she joined him.

“Hey, what the...?” Tricky put a hoof on his mouth to stop him from making any sound. It tasted... mouldy.

“Schh...” She sat down next to him in the bush, fully alert. Blaze pushed away her hoof, she gave him a quick insulting glare before looking out between the branches. He irritably sighed and his gaze unknowingly wandered to her flank. His eyes widened in surprise. There was no cutiemark on her flank.

“Why don't you-...” Tricky had to fight a surge to slap him.

“Schhh!!! Listen.” Blaze listened, but couldn't hear or see anything. For maybe half a minute he let her keep him there. It was crystal clear that she was a few apples short of a busher and he was getting tired of her silly games.

Just as he was going to get up and leave her to craze around by herself Blaze heard something.

Somewhere in the forest a wicked giggling approached the two hiding ponies. The sound made his blood freeze in his veins. Beside him Tricky was shaking uncontrollably. Her fear was infectious. His heart was pounding, his throat was closing up. They were both breathing shallowly, listening, scared like two birds stuck in a cage. Tricky looked sick, the terror in her eyes frightened him to death. Are they after her? Why? What could she have done? Other than annoy someone to madness, which, judging by the giggle, didn't seem all that unlikely.

As they sat there, listening to their pounding hearts, the seconds seemed to stretch out into hours. Blaze's heartbeat was slowly slowing down but deep inside he knew. Something was wrong. Tricky looked at him, seeking for comfort of some kind. He felt just as scared as she looked. A drop of sweat trickled into his eye and he blinked.

They sat there, jumping at every sound they heard. Blaze sighed and let his head rest against his chest. Whatever had been there seemed to be gone now.

"Is it... Gone?" Tricky had covered her ears with her hooves, her eyes were tightly closed, she reminded him more of a foal that an actual mare.

"I think so... Here, let me help you." He wriggled out of the thorny prison and gave Tricky a helping hoof, she didn't notice, she was too scared of whatever was out there to even open her eyes. She felt her way out and only when she was right next to Blaze, hiding behind him, dared to gently open her eyes.

That's when they heard it, the wicked giggle, making fun of their despair. The sound hit Blaze like a wall, a really, really scary wall. Tricky swung around and cried out.

Behind them a tall figure grinned down at the two unfortunate souls, shaking in its shadow. They couldn't even move a muscle. The creature opened its mouth and laughed. It was the most dreadful sound Blaze had ever heard.

“Scream, scream little ones...” the creature hissed. Blaze unwillingly cried out.

“I am the Lunatic, and it is time for you... to die.” At the last two words the creature revealed a set of lethal-looking teeth, dripping with saliva and another all too familiar dark substance. It dove down with a blinding speed, a deep growl echoed through the forest.

Blaze moved without thinking. He pushed the terrified Tricky towards the village lights, she stumbled and he almost had to drag her to the meadow, from where they would have only a couple of hundreds of meters to the safety of the village.

That was still quite a lot of ground to cover and the giggling creature was chasing them, and it was coming fast. It sounded like Tricky was suffocating in her own fear, but she kept going. In fact, she was faster than him. Just a little bit further... The creature was gaining on them, viciously repeating “Scream, scream...”

They were too slow, the creature was getting closer. Blaze could hear its thundering hooves hit the ground, its mocking laugh. Sweat was running down his face like a waterfall, his heart was pounding so hard that it felt like it would break free from his ribcage. I did NOT sign up for this!

He cursed Tricky and her whole existence. All he'd ever wanted to do was take a nap! He had had nothing to do with such troubles for as long as he could remember... Well, almost, but still!

“Time for you to die!” This was it, he was going to die, with a crazy freak pegasus he barely knew and so close to the safety of the village. He closed his eyes, only for a second, and Blaze saw his whole life flash before his eyes. His father, his mother... and Millie. He could see her face, like it was only yesterday... A familiar sting is his heart made him wince. He would die seeing her face, like he should have. This is it... He opened his eyes and braced himself for the worst.

Something was off. The attack never came. He turned around, Tricky wasn't following him anymore. She had stopped at the first house that they had passed and was staring into the darkness. Blaze turned back, he couldn't see anything out there.

“It's gone Blaze... For now.” She swallowed. Suddenly her eyes widened in surprise and he immediately swirled around to see if the creature had snuck up behind him, but the alley was deserted.

“Blaze, you're on fire!” Blaze froze for a tenth of a second. Not now! I can't lose control in middle of town! The flames quickly disappeared, Tricky blinked. “...Or then... not?”

“Come on, darling. No one stays outside after dusk here.” He gestured for her to follow him, waving away what just happened, Tricky trotted up to his side.

“So, Blaze. Where are we going?” She still sounded pretty shaken up.

“We need somewhere to sleep, there should be an inn somewhere...” He looked at her, suspicious. “Hey, why is... that thing... after you, I mean” he took a deep breath. “ you don't seem like a bad pony.” The lies echoed in his head. Tricky didn't meet his eyes.

“Umm... can we just get inside and talk later?” Blaze raised his eyebrows.

“Right, oh this looks promising.” They had stopped outside a little building. A large neon sign flashed above the door: Bates Inn. Blaze pushed open the door for her.

“Ladies first.” he flashed her a smile, she returned it but he could see that her thoughts were somewhere else.

“Thanks, Blaze was it? I think I'll be good from here though...”

"Nonsense! I insist."

I guess one night in a proper bed wouldn't hurt, for once.

He gave her one of his best reassuring smiles. She returned an odd look, but didn't say anything as they both entered.

---

Tricky sat on the bed, curled up in a ball. Blaze had no idea what to do. No need to say he had never really known much about mares, but he had a nagging feeling that he should say something.

“Well, this is awkward.” Oh my god, I am the biggest idiot ever. Tricky blinked.

“I'm sorry, did you say something?”

“Oh, no... just asking how you're doing?”

“I've been better.” Tricky's eyes were distant, but when he moved he noticed how she twitched and her eyes moved to the door and windows. She calmed down and looked at him. “Blaze, you asked what happened...” She looked down again, took a deep breath and started telling him. “And... I... I don't know.” Blaze gaped.

“What do you mean I don't know?” Tricky gave him another murdering glare.

“I mean I don't know what happened, I woke up in the woods, all alone and I was being chased by that... THING. I can't remember anything before that, nothing, at all!” She looked out of the window. She bit her lip in frustration. “Look, I don't want to go all drama queen on you, so I think I'll just go and finally, finally get some good nights sleep.” She tucked herself in under the blanket, facing him. “I'm sorry, for dragging you into this. And screaming at you... Sorry.” Blaze chuckled.

“Don't worry about it, darling.” He jumped into his own bed, and closed his eyes. Finally, a nap...

---

Tricky was turning and twisting in her bed. It probably sounded suspicious in the room under, but it didn't wake up Blaze. He was drewling and snoring in the bed next to hers.

In Tricky's dream, she was in a dark room, filled with creatures just like the Lunatic. They turned and twisted their heads to her, some bared their teeth as she passed. Their breaths hit Tricky's nose as a rotten stench of dying flesh. Right in front of her, a unicorn sat in a large satin chair. The dim light shaded his features, his coat glittered like gold in sunlight. He was playing Solitaire. Firmly he snapped the cards around, one by one, he arranged them as he pleased.

“I'm glad you could make it, Tricky.” His voice was sickly-sweet and even though he was whispering she could clearly hear every word he said. “Why don't you come join me?” Tricky walked towards him, past the shadows of those horrible creatures. They hissed and reached after her, corrupted by greed.

“Father sent me. He suspects you no longer have the same goals as we do. There was no need to kill Fancy-Pants and his family, he was no longer a threat to our plans.” The stallion chuckled.

“Tricky, Tricky! Why so serious all the time? You should learn to chill as the young folks say nowadays. Have some fun! And all this talk about Father... ugh! So... faithful to your boring father. Have you already forgotten what he did to you?” The stallion sighed and smacked his tognue.

“It's business you know! It's all business..” he started chuckling at his own words. “It's all about business, dear Tricky. You know uncle Ace will take care of things...” Ace started laughing, the same laugh as in the woods, the same laugh that had chased her, taunted her... Suddenly his eyes looked at her, they were white, with no pupils or irises. He smiled.

“Something wrong?” Suddenly a large set of teeth sprung out of his mouth, dripping with fresh blood. As one, the unleashed shadows grabbed her, holding her against the wall. She couldn't move, or breathe, her heart was pounding, the claws and teeth of the creatures tearing her skin into shreds. Ace approached her, dark flames licking his golden body.

"Never take life too seriously, nopony gets out alive anyways... Well, almost." A joyless, confident grin flashed across his face, before he sunk his teeth into her flank, tearing the flesh with his canine fangs.

---

Tricky woke up, covered in cold sweat and heart breaking through her ribs. The room was dark and felt unfamiliar, outside the sun was rising. Another normal day in the village of Hollow Shades was beginning.

Tricky lay in her bed, the wet mattress was getting cold, she was practically swimming in her own fear. The walls were dirty, the rays of early morning lit up the small dust particles swirling around in the air. The room was small, asphyxiating, the furniture was crammed together by the window, shedding as much light over the room from the tiny window as possible.

Her hooves shook under her weight as she carefully put them on the rickety floorboards. She tried taking a few deep breaths, but was uncomfortably aware of all the dust she was breathing in. Her breaths became shallow, quicker and more desperate by the minute. The walls were pressing the room together, squeezing out the only air left. Tricky clumsily rose to her feet. She had to get out, right now.

She made her way towards the door, it seemed like it was at least a mile away from her already outstretched hoof.
The door slammed open and both Tricky and hinges landed on the kitschy carpet in the hallway. The old receptionist looked up from her work.

"You're supposed to push the door gently sweetie. This isn't griffon-ball you know."

Tricky barely remembered some ball game she'd seen long ago, the players were all huge pegasi or griffins knocking each other over for a tiny ball. Tricky stared up at the receptionist from the dusty floor, but she had disappeared behind the mountains of paperwork overflowing the mahogany desk.

---

Ten minutes later she was in the outskirts of Hollow Shades, gazing up into the sky, jaw hanging open and eyes wide with astonishment. As it turned out, Hollow Shades lay in the great shadow of Foal Mountain, which despite the name, was humongous. The snow covered mountain tops beamed like huge diamonds in the sunlight, almost blinding her.

The fresh air watered her eyes. A passerby stared at her suspiciously, hesitating whether to ask if she was alright, or leave her alone. She wouldn't have known what to answer anyway, she didn't know how she felt. Just empty. Some time alone was what she needed the most right now.

With a skeptic look on her face, she lifted her wings. Tentatively she flapped them, a startled gasp escaped her mouth. In spite of their small size, the powerful beats had already lifted her high up to the second story windows.

Thank Celestia for muscle memory. She thought. The gleaming peaks caught her eyes, she put her tongue between her teeth and, still shaking, rose over the village and into the clouds.

---

After 30 minutes of unstable, wobbly "flying", she landed in the snow. As soon as her hooves touched the ground Tricky fell to the ground, she couldn't take it any longer.

She burst out crying. She hated crying, it made her seem weak. Tricky didn't want to be weak. But how could she expect that from herself after what had just happened? After being chased by some sort of lunatic? The word made her sick.

Why?Why would... her uncle have all those creatures? Why were they after her? What did they want? Tricky felt a tear on her cheek. Why? Why?? WHY ME??? The whole valley echoed, she hadn't realized she was screaming. She covered her mouth. Oops... She awkwardly listened to the echoing sound of her own furious voice. Do I really sound like that? Tricky jumped off the cliff and gild down towards Hollow Shades.

It was just like any other day in the village of Hollow Shades.