The Nightmares
“Hello,” Derpy stared into the darkness trying to make out a blurry shape in the distance. “Is anypony there?” Derpy tried to move but found herself frozen in place. The figure moved towards her bearing small white fangs. Its teal eyes looked down at her as its horn glowed and illuminated the empty space. Derpys eyes shrank to pin points. The creature was indeed a pony, it had a freely flowing mane and tail. The pony was wearing amour on her head and down her neck. “Who are you?” Derpy stuttered. The pony didn’t reply. Derpy opened her wings, she attempted to fly away but her hooves refused to lift from the ground. The pony moved closer bearing a wicked smile, the light coming from the pony’s horn seized from lighting the space and Derpy was once again shrouded in darkness. A bead of sweat rolled down Derpys face. She suddenly felt a striking pain in her right hip. Derpy felt blood seeping through the cut tried, she turn her head to look at it but found her head stuck in place. Her eyes filled with tears “What do you want from me?!” Derpy heard no reply but was met with fangs sinking into her neck. Derpy opened her mouth to scream but as she did so blood began streaming out. She felt her hooves finaly allow her to move. Derpy bolted forward trying to get away from the nightmare. She tripped and landed face down on the floor. Her lungs filled with blood as her vision faded.
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Derpys eyes shot open and she sat up in her bed. She gave a sigh of relief as she got out of her bed and trotted over to a window. Derpy pulled open the curtains. The sun was rising over the horizin, she stared out of the window. The streets of Ponyville were deserted, not a single pony was outside. Derpy looked towards her alarm clock and read the time 6:34am. She rubbed the back of her head, she wasn't supposed to be in work for another hour. She was about to get back into her bed when she heard a loud bang came from downstairs. A shiver ran down Derpys spine. She opend the door to her room and slowly steped out. The stairs made a moan as Derpy walked down down them. Her ears swivelled around. Another crashing sound came from the kitchen. Derpy stood in place for a few seconds, unable to move, before making her way towards the kitchen expceting to see the same pony from her nightmare. She peeped through the door and saw a grey-purple filly looking through the cupboards on a small quest for blueberry muffins. "Dinky! What are you doing?" Derpy shout-wispered.
"Mum, um... I was hungry so.....I came down here to get something to eat." Dinky mumbled.
"Dinky, its six in the moring," Derpy walked towards the filly and sat next to her "you shouldn't be up."
"Nether should you," Dinky grummbled under her vioce.
"What did you say?" Derpy looked the filly in her golden eyes.
"I said nether should you," Dinky suddenly relized what she had just said and placed her hoof over her mouth.
Derpy gave Dinky a strange stare before picking her up and placing her on a wooden chair next to a table. Dinky sat up and looked at her mother. Derpy was looking through her fridge and pulled out a carton of milk, she poured it in a small glass and gave it to Dinky. Dinky looked a the glass for a moment. A golden aroura emitted from her horn and surrounded the glass. Dinky drank the milk in one go and placed the empty glass on the table, she yawned and scratched her eyes with her hoof before walking off towards the living room. She lay down on a tan sofa and shut her eyes. Derpy pulled a blue blanket on top of Dinky and kissed her forhead, she sat next to the young pony and stared at a clock on the wall it was twenty four minutes to seven. Derpy let eyes slide shut and thought about the strange nightmare that had occoured. What was it about? She remembered seeing that pony, Derpy knew she had seen it some where before but where. As Derpy opend her eyes she heard someone comming down the stairs. A purple unicorn trotted down the stairs. "Good morning Sparkler," said Derpy.
"Yhea,"Sparkler completely ignored Derpy and kept walking towards the kitchen.
"Sparkler, are you okay?" Derpy qestioned her ellder daughter.
"I'm fine." Sparkler groaned.
"Sparkler." Derpy walked up to Sparkler and placed a hoof on her back.
"I SAID I'M FINE." Sparkler yelled in her mothers face and stormed of.
Derpy had never seen Sparkler so upset. Sparkler was a moody mare but she had never shouted at Derpy like that before. Sparker never really had any respect for her mother, she didn't think she had anything left to loose. She had watched both of her pearents being ripped apart by a maticore while visiting Zecora to get a herbal cure for the pony pox. Dinky was Sparklers gentic sister but Sparkler never really acknowleged her, it seemed that she didn't even care about her. Sparkler had never actually told Dinky what had happend to their perants and she didn't have any intentions to. When Derpy adopted the two, they seemed to keep to themselves a lot but after spending a few months together the girls seemed to have grown attached to the mare, Dinky showed it more than Sparkler. Derpy still worried about Sparkler, she was almost a grown mare but she seemed to have so many problems that isolated her from the rest of the world. Derpy looked towards the clock on the wall and read the time. Ten minutes to seven. Derpy walked towards the front door and grabbed a blue mail hat she placed it on top of her blonde hair, she strapped her saddel bag onto her back "Sparkler, tell Tuner I've gone to work and wake up Dinky," Derpy told her.
"Whatever," she shouted from the kitchen.
Derpy rolled her eyes and walked out the door.
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The sun was at its higest point in the sky as Derpy delivered her last letter. She wiped the sweat from her brow and began walking towards Dinkys school. Derpy had only been walking for a few sconds when a orange earth pony approched her. "Hi Derpy how have things been going?" Carrot Top asked.
"Fine," Derpy gave her friend a small smile.
"What about Time Tuner?" Carrot Top nuged Derpy with her elbow.
"Hes been doing fine," Derpy looked towards the sun avoiding eye contact.
"Fine means?" Carrot Top gave Derpy a sly smile.
Derpys cheeks flushed pink "I already told you, were just friends."
"Come on Derpy almost everypony knows you like him?"
Derpy look at her friend "Look I know you think I like him but its not like that I swear.
"Come on Derpy you live with him."
"So what, you know he's only taking care of me."
"Derpy you're so boring." Carrot Top humped.
Derpy giggeled "Well I'm sorry I'm not colt crazy like you,"
"Hey am not 'colt crazy'."
"Carrot you go out with almost every stallion you meet."
"Well sorry. I don't want to be old and alone."
As the two mares approched the school they heard the bell ring. A short while after a clutter of young ponies exited the biulding, Dinky ran up towards Derpy, her eyes were red and her cheeks were stained with dry tears . Derpy looked at the filly. Derpy waved goodbye to Carrot Top and walked down the path. Dinky remained silent the whole way back to the house. She was looking at the ground with sorry eyes as if she had done something wrong. When they approched the small house a Dinky let out a sniffle. Derpy looked at her but Dink returned her confused gaze with a small fake smile. Derpy pushed open the door and walked in. Dinky ran right past the brown stallion sitting on the sofa and up the stairs. Derpy frowned. "Is Sparkler home yet?"
"No" Time Tuner replied "why?"
Derpy walked over and sat next to him "She finished school half an hour ago."
"Mabey she's with her friends, I'm sure she's okay," he place a hoof on her shoulder.
"Shes been ignoring me lately. I don't know what I did but she acts like she wants nothing to do with me." Derpy looked at her hooves.
"Derpy, Sparkler has been through a lot. Maybe she needs some time alone," he looked a Derpy with sorrowful eyes.
" I just want her to be happy." Derpy leaned onto Tunners chest.
He pulled her closer "Don't worry, I'm sure she's fine."
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"Are you guys sure about this?" Sparkler looked towards her friends Colgate and Thunderlane.
"Turst me we've done this like, a thousand." Tunderlane put a hoof around Sparkler.
"Yhea, its just for a little fun we're not hurting anypony." said Colgate
The three ponies walked up to the Apple Farm. A small wooden board nailed onto the gates read 'PRIVATE PROPETY, NO TRESSPASING' Sparkler read the words and looked at Colgate."Don't worry these ponies are too nice to do anything bad, trust us. You won't get in any sort of trouble." Thunderlane opend the gate and gestured to the mares to walk in. Sparkler resisted for a moment before joing her friends in there little raid. They snuck round to the apple orchard. Colgate used her magic to pick an apple from one of the trees and handed it over to Sparkler "I'm not hungry,"
"Come on Sparkler think of it as borrowing it and not returning it." Colgate shoved the apple in her face.
"NO, I'm not stealing anything!" Sparkler yelled.
"Hey Sparky shut the buck up. You're gonna blow our cover." Thunderland said before give a tree a lage kick with his hind legs.
"What are ya'll doin'." A small yellow filly the age of Dinky walked up to the older ponies "Stop that."
"Awww, look how cute she is." Colgate walked up to Apple Bloom and patted her head.
"I'm tellin' AJ on you." the filly shook her head and ran off toward the barn.
"Come on you guys we need to leave." Sparkler began walking towards the gates when she felt a hoof grab her.
"Come on Sparky stay. They can't do anything to us." Thunderlane told her.
"Let go of me I don't want to get into trouble."
"With who, your mum? Sparky come on she's a huge retard."
"NO SHE IS NOT!" Sparkler slaped Thunderlane on his right cheek and galloped off leaving her friends behind.
Sparkler ran towards Poniville. "How can I have been so stupid." she told herself out loud "Flitter warned me about those two now look what I've done." Sparkler ran for what seemed like forever, the sun was still in the sky but there wasn't a single pony in sight. She swore she saw somthing. She slowed her strides to an uneven trot, the shadows seemed to follow her every move. Sparklers ears were pinned to the back of her head as she continued down the path. The young mare scanned the space around her. It was getting darker and darker. She felt a rush of air brush past her. "Just the wind." Sparkler thought out loud. A dark figure rushed past her. Sparklers ears perked up. "Who's there? she came to a halt in the center of Ponyville. She turned her head to see a pony, this pony was wearing a white gown that covered almost all of her body. Her mane was loose and fell over her shoulders, a horn grew from her forhead and her eyes were a pale yellow. "Do you need something?" Sparkler slowly walked towards the ghostly figure.
The pony spoke softly "Run Sparkler and don't look back."
"W-what?" Sparkler took a few steps back as the pony moved forward.
"Please don't be afraid I wish to help you."
"What's your name?"
"No time to speak," the pony placed her soft hoof on Sparklers lips. " Now run."
Sparkler shook her head and when she looked back the pony had dissapered, she turned and ran for her life. The ponies words rang in her mind, Sparkler wasn't a pony to take chances. The strange pony was giving her a warning not to be taken lightly. Sparklers hooves made a familliar sound as they hit the stone path under her. She heard another set of hooves behind her only these hooves steps were calm and seemed to be following her every step. Sparkler pushed all her aching muscles trying to gain more speed. As her house came into view her legs started to give away. "NO, just a little further." Sparklers breathing increaced. She pushed herself foward with the little energy she had left. The hooves behind her kept following her. Sparkler threw herself towards the door of her house and smashed her hoof against the door. "LET ME IN!" the door opened and Sparkler pushed past the chestnut stallion in her way and ran into the house. Time Tuner stuck his head out the door to check what Sparkler was running from. All he saw was the sun setting over the horizon as the sky turned beautiful shade of orange.
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"Sparkler wanna play a game?" Dinky ran around her sister.
"No." Sparklers eyes were focussed on the streets of Ponyville.
"But you've been staring out that window for hours." Dinky sat down beside the older unicorn.
"Go bother Tuner, I'm busy."
"Fine you're no fun anyway." Dinky trotted up the stairs towards her room.
Dinky threw herself on her bed and stared at the ceiling her golden eyes shone with tears. Why didn't Sparkler like her? Did she do something wrong? She just wanted her old life back where Sparkler would play with her and her parents were still alive. Her friends rejected her and teased her. Dinky tried her hardest to fit in with the other foals in her school but no matter how hard she tried she would say something stupid or would never make a good first impression. Tears ran down her cheeks as she grabbed a pillow an sobbed silently into it. She felt a cold hoof stroke her mane as she looked up to see a ghostly figure standing over her. Her eyes widened as she saw a soft orange unicorn looked at her. The unicorns eyes were a pale yellow. A gown covered the mare and her long hair fell onto Dinkys face. "M-mother?" Dinky stuttered
"Hush now, no more crying." the mare pulled Dinky in to give the filly a hug.
"But you're dead how are you here?" Dinky cried in her mothers chest.
"Don't worry Dinky, everything will be okay."
Dinky closed her eyes and her mother rocked her to sleep singing a soft lullaby. Dinky fell asleep in the soft embrace of the ghost pony. The unicorn rested Dinkys head on her pillows and covered her with a purple blanket. She kissed her forhead and slowly disappeared and her daughters soft snores filled the emptyness of the room.