> Night Terrors > by Doc Crowl > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- > Chapter 1 - Aftermath > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- “Well, I’m off to Fluttershy’s cottage!” Twilight Sparkle called out cheerily to Spike as she moved toward the door of the library. “Find me if you need anything, but you have the day to yourself. And I may or may not have left some ruby ice cream in the kitchen for you!” Her horn flaring, Twilight attempted to throw the front door open. Instead, it slammed to a halt barely halfway open and a cry of annoyance could be heard. “I’m so sorry!” Twilight gasped, sticking her head around the half-open door. “Who did- oh my Celestia...” Looking out her front door, the ponies were so thick around the Library that Twilight couldn’t see more than a few paces away. The pony she hit, a mint green unicorn with a musical instrument of some sort on her flank, rubbed her head and looked at Twilight through one squinted eye. “Watch where you’re swinging that thing, it’s heavy!” “I’m so sorry!” Twilight repeated, squeezing herself outside. “But… what is everypony doing out here so early in the morning?” “We’re checking out the rubble that used to be the home of those two musicians,” the mint green pony told her excitedly. “Nopony knows what happened, nopony even heard anything last night, but we trot out this morning and POOF! rubble!” Twilight grimaced, an acrid burning smell hitting her nostrils. “Did something inside burn to make the horrendous smell as well?” “No clue,” the unicorn bounced. “Name’s Lyra, by the way. You’ve got wings, would flap your way over there and tell me what’s going on? I can’t get through this crowd!” Twilight sighed, looking at her wings. “Alright Lyra, I suppose that’s the least I can do for knocking my door into you. Wait here, okay?” As Twilight flapped her wings and rose unsteadily into the air, Lyra beamed her happiness and turned back to the same direction everypony else was focused. Moving up into the air, Twilight gasped at the devastation she beheld. Flying towards the rubble, she could clearly see that nothing remained of what used to be a brightly painted house. A few bricks here and there, a single charred piece of what seemed to be a sofa, and a single record sticking out of the black ash was all that remained of the once happy little home. She spied several Royal Guards standing before the crowd that were forming a barrier to keep everypony about fifteen feet from the scene. Twilight’s eyebrows furrowed, and she glided her way down to the ground to interrogate them. “Excuse me, but what are the Royal Guard doing here?” Twilight asked as she touched down a little heavier than she would have liked. "Princess!" the guard snapped to attention. "We were not told you would be visiting the crime scene as well!" "What are you talking about? What crime?" Twilight asked exasperatedly. "This just looks like a house fire to me." "I... I believe Princess Luna would be more qualified to answer your questions," the guard replied nervously. "She doesn't wish to divulge her opinions on the scene to the Royal Guardsponies." Twilight cocked her head, bewildered. "Princess Luna is here?" "That I am, Twilight Sparkle," replied a soft voice behind her. Turning, Twilight found an uncharacteristically disturbed Luna chewing on her lip while she trotted up and glanced around nervously. "Princess, what's going on? Why is this a ‘crime scene?’" Twilight asked as her newly-fellow royalty approached. "What has you so uncomfortable?" "I... cannot explain. Not here. But if you will follow me, I can show you." Luna turned away with a concerned look on her face, lost deep in thought as she moved her way around the piles of ash and dust. “Princess Luna?” Twilight asked, eying the piles wearily as she followed. “What is so important that you can’t speak in front of the Guardsponies?” Then she stopped, her eyes widening. “As a matter of fact, why do you have the Guardsponies here instead of your personal Batpony guard?” “They are… otherwise occupied on an assignment,” Luna sighed, rounding one fairly large pile of ash that seemed darker than the rest and stopping. Twilight began to respond, but was left slack jawed when she followed the other Princesses’s gaze. A single hoof extended from beneath the pile of cinders. “Princess…” Twilight began to back away unconsciously, starting to breathe faster and faster. “This is why it is a crime scene,” Luna sighed tiredly. “If you look around the hoof, there are scratches. The poor soul was trapped…” Glancing back, Luna’s eyes hardened. “Come here Twilight Sparkle, it is imperative that you understand what is going on. As a Princess, you are being called to higher responsibility.” Twilight looked around, realizing she had backed several feet from the charred hoof. Swallowing, she moved forward until she stood next to her peer. “What… what is going on?” Twilight asked. Her voice cracked on the last syllable, and she swallowed several more times to try to revitalize her ash-dried throat. Luna’s horn flared, and with a sickly cracking noise moved the hoof slightly. Twilight gagged at the sound as her breakfast threatened to taint the already pitiful sight, but she managed to swallow it back down. Biting her lower lip, she squinted her eyes. “Those scratches… wait a minute…” “Red,” Luna read in a voice that spoke of a thousand regrets. “It says ‘red’.” The three letters were etched into the floorboard with force, and a single dried smear of blood seemed to underline the final communication of the poor trapped pony. “Ow ow ow,” Octavia hissed as she sat down on the bench at the Canterlot Train Station. It was well past sunset, and all the sensible ponies were already at home. As such the Canterlot Train Station was practically deserted, its cold blue magical lights seeming beacons in the dark and deserted streets that stretched away into oblivion. “You’re fine, it’s alright,” Vinyl Scratch grunted, helping her friend sit down. “It’s not broken… I think.” “YOU think? That’s a new one!” Octavia mocked tiredly. In a terrible impression of her friend, she continued, “C’mon Tavi, abandoned places are as creepy as it gets! C’mon Tavi, the door opening on its own is wicked cool dude! C’mon Tavi, I fell down this hole into a pit of Tartarus and all you need to do is come down here to get me! Feh.” Vinyl Scratch’s ears laid back to her head as she winced. “Well… yeah… but…” “No buts,” Octavia raised a hoof. “I get to be angry with you for a week. That’s the deal with this situation right now. You dragged me here, you fell through the floor, and you are the one who had to be saved from the only-sometimes-invisible demon thingy that supposedly once possesed an incredibly powerful Alicorn princess.” “So that’s a week?” Vinyl cocked her head. “What would it take to get to a month?” “You don’t want to know,” Octavia glared. “Go see when the next train is, Vinyl. I need to know how long it will be before I can fall into my bed and sleep that 'Nightmare' away.” “Gotcha,” Vinyl agreed, turning and trotting off toward the ticket counter. Octavia, nodded to herself while settling against the backrest of the bench. “Darn right ‘gotcha’. Gonna hold this over your head for a loooong time Ms. Scratch.” She yawned, closing her eyes for a moment. “A looong time…. looong time...” A sharp hoof in the side shocked Octavia’s eyes back open, and she sat up immediately. “... looong time,” Vinyl Scratch was saying. “What’s that?” Octavia asked. “It’s only been a few moments, what are you talking about?” “You were out for a long time, about half an hour,” Vinyl Scratch half smiled. “I stood at the counter waiting for somepony to help me, but nopony came. Finally I came back over here and, tadaa. Here we are.” She spoke with a much more timid tone and less inflection, which Octavia hadn’t seen before except when she knew she had screwed up terribly. Rubbing her head, Octavia scowled. “I could have sworn they were there when we came in… Fine, let’s go see if we can find somepony. And relax, Vinyl. I know you didn’t mean for anything like that to happen.” Vinyl Scratch smiled a bit wider, and her step had a lightness to it as she guided Octavia to the ticket counter. “See? Nopony.” “Hello?” Octavia called out, knocking on the counter loudly with her hoof. “Anypony home?” Silence greeted her, and as she listened Octavia realized she heard absolutely nothing but the sound of the wind. A quick glance in any direction confirmed that there was nopony within sight. “That’s odd, I remember downtown Canterlot being more lively,’ Octavia muttered to herself. “Me too, but I guess it’s just gettin’ kinda cold in the big city,” Vinyl Scratch brushed off the observation. “I’m more worried about the stupid ticket counter attendants who aren’t doing their job!” Octavia heaved herself up to rest a foreleg on the counter, looking into the small booth and spotting a clipboard. “Tuesday at 8 p.m.,” she read off. “What time is it now?” “Ten till,” Vinyl Scratch read off the large clock across the station. “In that case, let’s just go back and wait it out,” Octavia sighed. “Back to the bench!” Clopping over to her still-warm spot, Octavia settled in again while Vinyl Scratch stood next to her. “Plenty of room,” Octavia yawned loudly. “You don’t have to stand.” “I’m comfortable here,” Vinyl Scratch eyed the bench. “I guess after being trapped under that rubble I want to feel as free as possible, y’know?” “Sure, sure,” Octavia nodded with bleary eyes. “In that case will you be alright to take the train tonight?” “Yeah yeah, the train will be fine,” Vinyl Scratch answered quickly. “Don’t worry about me.” Octavia furrowed her brows at Vinyl Scratch, but just as she opened her mouth to remark on how odd her friend was acting the train’s whistle pierced the night from the other end of the station. “Oh, they’re early!” Vinyl Scratch beamed while trotting forward to stand at the edge of the platform. “Guess so,” Octavia said to herself while looking back towards the ticket counter. Still nopony. With a shrug, she turned and trotted up next to Vinyl Scratch. “I think I’m going to fall asleep on the way back, fair warning.” “That’s fine, Tavi,” Vinyl Scratch beamed while bumping a hoof against Octavia’s shoulder. “I think you’ve more than earned a relaxing trip home. Besides, we’ve got at least three hours ahead of us.” “Don’t remind me,” Octavia groaned and hung her head. The train pulled up in front of them, and they could see five or six ponies making the ride out to the country for the night in the two main cars. Stepping aboard, they were much more interested in the private cabins at the end of the train. Stepping into the narrow corridors of the back train car, they made way for a concerned looking Conductor. He was an elderly stallion, a faded yellow with a healthy white moustache and wire rim glasses. He bustled past them, moving with more liveliness and stress than his frail frame would appear able to handle. “Dude needs to calm down or he’ll die of a heart attack,” Vinyl Scratch snickered while Octavia opened an occupied cabin. Inside was an apparent family of three, a young couple and their foal. He was sprawled out and snoring while his parents were huddled together speaking in low voices. The stallion poked his head up and gave an apologetic smile, nodding towards his young one. “Sorry,” Octavia mouthed, closing the door again softly before moving on to the next cabin and finding it unoccupied. Vinyl Scratch moved in after her, flopping to one seat while Octavia eyed the other. “I think I’m going to go see if they have any drinks in the meal car real quick, want anything Vinyl?” Octavia asked. “Nah, thanks though. I’ll be here,” Vinyl Scratch smiled comfortably. Octavia nodded, looking out the window briefly to see the bench she had apparently fallen asleep on. Squinting, she realized that Celestia’s sun was emblazoned on it. She glanced at Vinyl Scratch once more as she turned, wondering at how comfortably she was sprawled out on the plain faux leather seat. Shaking her head at her friend’s antics, she made her way back down the car and into the junction to one of the main cars. The old Conductor was there again, nervously tapping one of his hooves before spotting Octavia. “You there!” he said in a squeaky voice. “You just boarded, yes? Yes! Of course you did! I never forget a face or the stops they’re associated with! Where are all the attendees for the Station? I can’t seem to find anypony!” Octavia blinked a few times, the frail stallions sentences a rapid fire that took a few seconds to fully register. “Yeah. Um, I don’t know really? My friend and I couldn’t find anypony either. Excuse me, I’m on my way to the food car.” The Conductor whined wordlessly before stepping aside and allowing Octavia to pass. Stepping around him and opening the door to the first of the main cars, Octavia made her way past row after row of empty seats. There was one stallion on her right engrossed in a newspaper, and as she continued she came upon a nice seeming elderly mare who nodded kindly. The next car was the same story; only with one more pony than the last. A couple of mares who seemed to be traveling together were both asleep, their heads resting against each other while they snored contentedly. A single young stallion was looking out the window wistfully, and only glanced at Octavia to look her up and down before returning to looking out across the station. Before making her way into the food car, Octavia felt the train lurch to a start and heard the shrill whistle echo across the area. She glanced out of the space between the cars as the train began to move, and as she watched she saw a pony come staggering out from behind the ticket counter towards the train. “Little late to talk to the Conductor, friend,” Octavia scoffed, turning to open the door to the food car. She never saw the pony fall, nor did she see the blood seeping out of his side where a horn had pierced him. > Chapter 2 - The Ride Never Ends > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Luna’s chariot lurched to a hard stop, and Twilight stumbled out of it shakily. “Princess Luna, I… I don’t know if I can handle any more sights like this. Not after that train load of ponies.” She sobbed at the last word, her mind filled with the horrifying images beheld at the Ponyville Train Station just an hour earlier. “Please don’t make me look at any more.” Luna stepped calmly yet heavily out of her chariot, seemingly weighed down with more grief than one can put into words. “That was indeed tragic, Twilight Sparkle. But as Princesses, we have to deal with this threat, and that means learning of its patterns first.” Twilight shook her head as Luna moved past her, through blockades the Canterlot Police had set up to keep interested bystanders from entering the Canterlot Train Station. This late in the afternoon most of the interested populace had wandered off, but the reporters that remained hassled the two royal ponies more than the Ponyville crowd. “Princess Sparkle, do you have anything to say about the tragic loss of life here in Canterlot?” “Princess Luna, what has the official body count risen to by now?!” “Princess Twilight, will the Elements of Harmony be called in to deal with the serial killer!” Twilight trembled as they passed out of earshot, and Luna put a wing over her back. “It will be alright, Twilight Sparkle. If my hunch is correct, we only have one more location to visit after this one.” Twilight swallowed as they rounded a corner, and she saw several bodies covered in tarps in a back office. Blood was splattered everywhere, from the walls to the ceiling, and it looked like there were bloody hoofprints leading out onto the platform ahead. “I hope so, Princess,” she teared up. “Because this horror needs to come to an end." Happily sipping on some warm tea, Octavia made her way out of the food car after waving to the overdramatic and fluffy little chef who had helped her by brewing a special cup of certain remedies meant to help with bone weariness. “Thanks Amber Spice, I can feel it working already! And I'm sure someone will want your doughnuts eventually!” Octavia smiled as she shut the door. Turning, she trotted down the two main cars much faster than before, nodding to whatever occupants inside each who actually glanced her way. The elderly Conductor was practically jumping his way down the second car, asking passengers if they had heard anything about the Canterlot Train Station shutting down early that night. The stallion reading the newspaper was especially gruff, and although Octavia couldn’t hear anything that was spoken the Conductor turned an ashen color and hurried away from the passenger’s growl. Octavia was sure to give the both of them a wide berth, and breathed a sigh of relief as she made it back into her own car. The young child seemed to be wailing inside the family’s cabin, but Octavia was assured by the sound of his mother’s cooing that he was being taken care of. She opened the door to find Vinyl Scratch missing, but shrugged and made her way to ease into the comfortable seating. The child had quieted, his sobbing becoming more weak as Octavia assumed he drifted back off to sleep. She sipped absentmindedly at the splendid tea, musing on her adventures that day and letting the warmth of the cabin soothe the dull aches that wracked her body. She turned to the door when she heard it sliding open, and smiled as Vinyl Scratch entered looking apologetic. “Hey Tavi, have you been alone long?” “No, just came in,” Octavia smiled. “Where did you wander off to?” “Oh ya know, just talkin’ to our neighbors about their crying colt. I’m gonna go grab some fresh air at the back, want to join me?” Vinyl Scratch asked hopefully, shifting her weight back and forth with the rocking motion of the train. “I think I may just take a bit of a nap,” Octavia yawned as the tea worked its magic. “You go on ahead, okay?” “Sure thing!” Vinyl Scratch sighed, relaxing visibly. As she turned to leave, her horn flaring to slide the door shut once again, Octavia spied a smear of crimson on her flank. Octavia frowned, biting her lip. “Must have been left over from the hospital,” she mumbled to herself. She drained the rest of the tea, smacking her lips as she mulled over how odd Vinyl Scratch had been acting. “I-I’m being silly,” Octavia stammered, lowering her cup and laying down. “My mind is tired, I’m not thinking straight. Just a quick nap until we get to Ponyville, then I can thinking about such things.” She could have sworn the swaying of the train and the bumps of the tracks would have kept her awake, but within moments her eyelids were fluttering shut of their own accord. The sounds of the rickety train faded away, and Octavia embraced the welcome darkness of an unconscious state away from her terrifying memories. The passengers of the train lined the aisles, clamoring with silent fervor to get a closer look at Vinyl Scratch and Octavia. Octavia smiled and waved to them, glad their moving lips held no sounds to ruin her wedding day. After all, who wanted that kind of tumultuous uproar going on when she had a mare to marry? Glancing at her best friend - no, fiancee! - Octavia couldn’t help but blush a little. While obviously uncomfortable in a suit and having her wild hair tamed in a backwards sweep, Vinyl smiled right back in a warming gesture. She tried to say something, but was cut off by the sound of an organ. Looking forward once more, Octavia saw that the end of the car had been expanded several hundred times into a fully sized cathedral while the train rumbled; complete with a several stories-tall organ that Lyra Heartstrings played solemnly, the cathedral held an altar from which to preside over the events. At the altar was none other than Princess Luna herself, mane flowing majestically with the glow of a million distant stars shining through. She had a sad smile on her tired face, drooping eyes betraying the lack of sleep a wedding had surely caused her. “I’m sorry for taking you away from your duties Princess, I can see it’s affected you,” Octavia whispered apologetically when the couple had reached the altar. “Not your fault in the slightest,” the Princess soothed. “It has simply been a long night, and these wedding dreams tend to always end one of a few ways…” A far away gleam betrayed a thousand abandoned brides and disappointing wedding nights, but Luna blinked a few times to compose herself. “What am I saying? It’s the happy couple’s big day, and on a train no less! That’s new… let them speak their vows of true love to one another!” The Princess’s wings snapped open, and all the ponies in attendance paid rapt attention. Turning inward to face Vinyl Scratch as she did the same, Octavia grew slightly embarrassed. “Vinyl,” she spoke in her soft accent, “ever since the Asylum I’ve been… I don’t know, seeing you in a different light. You opened yourself to me in those dark times, and allowed yourself to fall only to be caught.” Octavia smiled a little at her own pun, and failed to see Luna’s face tighten. “When we ran from that… monster, you stuck with me. When it tried to take you from me, even when it got inside your head, you fought for me. I can never express how much that means, or how much I love you!” The happy tears were flowing freely, but as Vinyl opened her mouth to speak Princess Luna’s Royal Canterlot Voice suddenly cut her off. “EXPLAIN YOURSELF, BEAST!” she roared fiercely, moving between the two loving ponies. “DID I NOT SEAL YOUR REMNANT AWAY FOR ETERNITY, LEFT TO ROT AS DID YOUR TOMB AROUND YOU?!” Vinyl Scratch’s entire demeanor changed in an instant: her hair began to move in an absent wind, and blood began to seep from around her eyes into the iris. They became bright crimson in color, and an inpony smile stretched across her face. “My old carcass, I did not believe you had actually happened upon this one’s dreams. A shame too, I was so looking forward to…” the distorted Vinyl Scratch fixed on Octavia, “RAVISHING her on the wedding night! Ah well, seems plans must be set in motion earlier than expected.” With a wordless cry Luna lunged forward to pierce the thing, no longer Vinyl Scratch in what was quickly becoming Octavia’s nightmare. She turned to flee as her former fiancee and a Princess of Equestria began to do battle with their horns, but found herself aghast at the sight of thousands of ponies blocking her path. Each dismembered, disemboweled, carved from being recognizable as blood flowed freely. Yet they stared at her, hungrily, unmoving. A yelp of pain came from behind, and Octavia turned in a panic to spy Luna’s chest sliced open. “WAKE! FLY, YOU FOOL!” Luna yelled at her before blasting Octavia with a powerful spell. At the same time, what was once Vinyl Scratch roared in pure frustration. Octavia jumped awake, shocked by the severe cold of the Princess’s spell and the fact that the monster’s bellow seemed to continue into the waking world. In a panic she looked around, trying to get her bearings. Finding herself in unfamiliar surroundings shut her eyes and whimpered a few times, before the shaking of the train reminded her where she had fallen asleep. Relaxing, Octavia opened her eyes to a sight she hadn’t expected: track, lit only by the light on the front of the train. Starting to breathe a little harder, Octavia began to look around wildly; knobs, levers, and dials greeted her. But that makes no sense, I fell asleep in the car before the caboose! Her terrified mind couldn’t accept the fact that she was standing in the cab of the train, alone, as far from her cabin as she could be. Turning, she saw the door to the next car was slightly ajar and moving with the sway of the tracks. There was a noise coming from the other side of the door, a rasping noise that sounded different from the train itself. Momentarily forgetting her own sleep-trotting experience, Octavia cautiously approached the portal with the trepidation of one who’d been burned many times before. She inched closer and closer, with each step making the noise louder to her adjusting ears. Octavia barely dared let herself breathe, let alone move more quickly to the door. The rasping, almost wet noise finally resolved itself into a single utterance. “H-help…” Octavia’s anxiety spiked as she paused mid-step. The plea was so pitiful, so final, that she desperately wanted to come to the speaker’s aid; on the other hoof, it could be another trick. What if we didn’t kill that thing at the asylum? she asked herself desperately. Is that what was in my dream?! What is going ON! Another whimper, more quiet than the last, came from the other side of the door. Octavia steeled herself, figuring she might as well face it head-on once more. Throwing open the door, she leapt through the door and glanced around only to see she was in the back area of the dining car. It was a kitchen area, brushed metal surfaces reflecting around every corner. The cooking utensils were thrown around as if the train had come to a sudden stop, all thrown towards the front area. A multitude of knives had embedded themselves in the wall as well, still quivering as the train continued its journey. The whimper came again, from beneath a pile of the heaviest looking pots. Octavia move towards the shuddering pile with trepidation, reaching a hoof forwards to pull a pot away. Beneath was a lusciously fluffy red coat that Octavia immediately recognized as the chef, Amber Spice. With relief she began to toss the pots and pans away from the train’s chef, slowly revealing a pony in poor shape. Blood matted her once-beautiful hair in many spots, oozing slowly from several large gashes across her flesh. Octavia covered her mouth in horror as Amber Spice shuddered in an attempt to raise her head. “D-don’t try to move, you have to relax!” Octavia gasped, trying to push the fluffy chef back into her reclining position. Amber Spice lifted her head just enough that she could view Octavia with one eye. That eye grew wide with fear, and the weakened Amber Spice tried desperately to crawl away as her terrified sobbing grew hysterical. “Leave me alone!” she cried softly, unable to drag herself any further. “You don’t have to finish the job, please Celestia don’t hurt me any more!” Octavia extended her hoof slowly, mouth wide. “W-what are you talking about? I would never hurt anypony! Just please let me help y-” Amber Spice kicked away the offered hoof, and with a final surge of resilience reached up to take hold of one of the knives embedded in the wall. She pulled it free, and turned it downward to plunge into her own chest. “I… will never… join you demons,” she spat at the now hyperventilating Octavia as her lifeblood pooled under her. “Never…” > Blood is Thicker > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- “Nonononononono, please no,” Octavia hyperventilated, looking around for something - anything - that would stem the bleeding and save this pony’s life. Her eyes lit upon a kitchen towel, which she lunged to grab with her mouth and press against the wound. “Please don’t die, please, I’m not a monster! You didn’t have to do that!” As she begged the stiffening pony, she realized tears were raining down upon the chef from her own eyes. She blinked fast, stepping back slowly and beginning to shake. I must find Vinyl Scratch! she turned, scared for her friend’s safety, and trotted towards the door. But as she reached for the door handle, she paused. The words of the chef echoed in her head: “I… will never… join you demons.” Fear cascaded down Octavia’s chest like a chilling waterfall, and her eyes grew large as she glanced back at the kitchen with a more focused mind. There were claw marks on the walls, and small tracks of blood all over the place. it looked like hundreds of ponies had tracked red mud into the car, yet she was alone. “There’s more than one,” she whispered in absolute dread. The night before Luna sprang from her watch upon the nighttime dreamscape with a start, dropping into a defensive posture with wings flared and horn lowered as she glanced around. When she had ensured she was alone, it was straight to business. Throwing her doors open with a blast of magic, Luna took flight through the castle. Dropping into hairpin turns and diving down staircases at speeds only the greatest of flyers could control, the Princess raced towards the only other being alive who would understand the severity of the situation. When she came screeching around the final corner before Princess Celestia’s chambers, the usual night guards snapped into defensive mode and tried to stop her. Without the time nor patience to deal with them, Luna blew them backwards through her sister’s double doors and skidded to a halt before the large four poster bed. Celestia was bolt upright in her bed, horn beginning to glow with a dangerous aura. “Luna!” she ordered in an authoritative tone. “What is the meaning o-” “The Nightmare is once again active, and is on a train somewhere in the kingdom,” Princess Luna cut her sister off. “You must look after the night while I stop its rampage!” Princess Celestia looked between her groaning guards and her determined sister, and then extinguished her horn. “You have my support, sister,” she responded gravely. “Do whatever you see fit.” Octavia slid the door open so slowly as to be almost imperceptible, until she could see through to the next train car with a single eye. There didn’t seem to be any ponies in the dimly lit cabin, just the light of the moon outside drifting through the windows. It was difficult to tell if anything was moving, due to trees constantly passing and blocking out the moon’s light completely in intermittent moments. Not fully convinced, Octavia watched for at least another minute before gaining the courage to open the door further and slip inside. Without bothering to close the door behind her, Octavia began her slow walk towards the back of the train. Keeping her gaze leveled down the walkway lest anything spring up or make a run at her, Octavia would flick her eyes into each of the seats to make sure nothing was waiting to pop up. Step forward. Glance left. Glance right. Nothing there. Step forward. Octavia counted the steps of the process out as she went, the self imposed regulation helping to ease her nerves. Step, glance glance, step. Glance glance, step. Glance, step. Glance glance step glance. Octavia stopped, sure she had missed a few steps in her routine. That nagging voice at the back of her head was sure something was there, waiting until she was comfortable to strike, and she had to look NOW or she would surely be taken! Taking a deep breath, Octavia took several steps back and glanced at both sides. Nothing. She stepped forward again, still nothing. She shook her head as she took the next step, knowing that she was just being difficult on herself to take her mind off whatever was happ- “Don’t look.” Octavia’s heart seized, and she whipped her head right to see the young stallion sitting on the floor with his legs wrapped around himself. He had blood smeared on one side of his face, and where his eye should have been was a gaping cavity of throbbing flesh. A single tear of blood ran from the socket, and he smiled as he stared back at her. ”I told you not to look… now you must be... punished.” The sound of a door slamming made Octavia glance up quickly, and at the end of the walkway stood the two elderly mares who had inhabited the cabin earlier. Their heads were down, staring at the floor, and they were completely still. Her gaze returning to the young colt, Octavia saw that she was alone at this end of the car. Looking up again, Octavia gasped to see the two mares had moved a few rows closer without making a noise. Their heads had also changed position, and seemed to be looking a bit farther along the floor than just at their hooves. “A-are you two alright?” Octavia asked weakly. She squinted, trying to see if they were breathing without getting any closer. The two ponies didn’t answer, but as the next clump of trees passed and blocked out the moon the train darkened. It was only a few brief moments, yet when the light once again penetrated the windows the mares had moved closer. Three or four rows in the space of maybe two seconds, their heads had also moved up enough Octavia could start to make out something hanging down from their faces. No ponies could move that fast, and remain so still. Octavia started backing up towards the door into the kitchen, her eyes locked onto the two things that stood ahead of her. As she did, the light was once again blocked and she heard a chattering sound. The light was back within seconds, but now they were only a few seating rows away and she could see large chunks hanging off their faces, though she couldn’t see their faces well. She paused, lowering her head and trying to figure out what it was hanging off of their faces. As her breathing came faster and faster, she focused until she realized the shape was familiar. What was hanging off of the front of their heads was their faces! Things went pitch black once more, and Octavia turned tail to run back into the kitchen. She couldn’t hear a thing, but just as she reached the door she was snatched backwards by her tail and felt some hair ripped away. She cried out, looking back as she strained against the blockage. As the light returned, the moon reflected off the bloody skulls of the two elderly mares who had snatched Octavia’s tail in their mouths. Their eyes remained fixed ahead, but their flesh hung down below their chins. As Octavia gasped in horror, they remained stock still, yet she heard the same breathy words from their mouths: “PUNISHMENT” Crying out, Octavia bucked at them for all she was worth. When her hooves connected with their skulls, she felt and heard the sickly wet thud which sent shivers up her spine. Ignoring them, Octavia bucked once, twice, and a third time, finally ripping her tail from their toothy clutches. Octavia sprang forward, diving for the doorway she’’d left open into the kitchen car. As she tore through the opening and turned to slam it shut, the lights once again vanished from the windows and a pair of legs forced their way into the jamb. Crying desperately, Octavia beat them back with everything she could muster. At first it seemed like she wouldn’t be able to close the door, as they actually started to open it. But with a final punch the legs vanished, and Octavia was able to slam the door shut and flip the latch. Turning and breathing hard, Octavia leaned against the door and let her emotions flow. Starting to sob, she slowly slid to the floor, covering her eyes as the tears flowed freely. “Why can’t I just be left alone,” she cried as she shook on the floor. She felt the need to just curl into a ball and wait out the end of the world there, where nothing could get to her even if they were just on the other side of the door. Then a thought entered her mind, and she lowered her legs slowly. If this is somehow a runaway train… if I’m the only one left alive… how will I stop it? Who will know where to find our bodies? Wiping her eyes even though the tears still fell, Octavia pushed herself back to her hooves and stumbled towards the cabin of the train. If nothing else, she figured that she could figure out the emergency break and hop off the train before anything could follow. Pushing open the door to the cabin, Octavia looked warily around before entering. She didn’t want another scare like whatever in Celestia’s name was in the first passenger car. Thankfully it was empty as before, and the light of the furnace cast a bright enough glow to read all of the dials easily. Octavia began looking around for whatever would work. She expected some sort of red lever or maybe a pulley, but she saw nothing of the sort. She resorted to reading the labels on whatever looked like a switch, making her way across the large panel in the hopes of finding the emergency brake. As she squinted at one promising panel that seemed smudged, she heard the last sound she would ever expect coming from the door into the passenger car. Three knocks, as simple and easy as if you had just knocked on a friend’s front door. Octavia paused, looking back with equal parts apprehension and terror. Nothing so far about her adventures of the past day and a half had been anything so simple, and if anything it made her fear just what new horrors were in store this time. “Hey Tavi, you up here?” came a familiar tomboyish voice from the other side of the door. “Looks like everyone on the train bailed, and you never came back from that second cup o’ tea!” The emergency brake forgotten, Octavia dashed to the door and flung it open. “Hey Ta-” Octavia silenced her friend with a crushing hug, using her earth pony strength to swing Vinyl Scratch around in a circle as her tears renewed themselves upon her cheeks. “You’re alive, you’re alive, you’re alive!” she cried in joy. “GAH. ‘Course I am,” Vinyl Scratch gasped, trying to breathe. “Please… down…” Octavia dropped her roommate apologetically, her eyes turning towards the seemingly empty passenger car through the now open doorway. “Vinyl, I must know. How did you get here?! Those things let you through??” Vinyl Scratch creased her brow in confusion. “What things? Octavia, you came up here like an hour ago to get another cup of tea. It was a lil weirdo, how ya just kinda stumbled out the door from being crashed out mumbling about tea, but I didn’t figure you were going to take so much time!” “No, no, no,” Octavia mumbled, looking past Vinyl Scratch and biting her lip nervously. “W-we have to go Vinyl, we must to get out of this train! I believe the Nightmare has followed us, and now the passengers have… change…” “I didn’t even see anypony on my way up here,” Vinyl Scratch rolled her eyes. “I think you were just sleeptrotting and had a nightmare. We beat that freak, remember? You beat that freak.” “But but the chef!” Octavia’s eyes lit up. “Yes! The chef killed herself right in front of me, saying she ‘wouldn’t join you things’!” Turning, Octavia felt her heart sink for the second time on that train when the pile of pots and pans which once held a suicidal Amber Spice had disappeared. “What chef?” Vinyl Scratch asked, poking her head around Octavia. “Honestly Tavi, you’re all shook up. Let’s get you back to our room, and you can rest.” She laid a helping hoof on Octavia’s back, guiding the stunned mare out of the kitchen and into the passenger car. She kept trying to slow down and check behind the seats, but Vinyl Scratch dutifully kept up the pressure out of the first passenger car. The second one was the same story, deserted except for the frail elderly mare and newspaper reading stallion. The mare was asleep and turned towards the windows, whereas the stallion had his nose so far into the newspaper Octavia couldn’t really tell whether or not he was actually asleep. Exiting the second passenger car and turning into their own cabin, Octavia still heard the low tones of a pony speaking next door. But there was also the quiet, almost feeble crying of the young foal, who had probably woken up to a bad dream. I suppose we’re all having those tonight, Octavia contemplated as she sat quietly next to her friend. Vinyl Scratch had a comforting smile, and rubbed Octavia’s back soothingly. “Look Tavi, we been through some tough stuff. It’s only natural you’d, I don’t know, freak out a bit? Just get some more sleep, and when we get to Ponyville I’ll wake ya.” Nodding her head shakily, Octavia let her heavily eyelids close slowly. It really was crazy, how tired she was all of a sudden. All that adrenaline must have left her more exhausted than she thought, her muscles were more sore than she could remember before… but the quiet crying of the foal next door prevented her from truly getting comfortable. “Be right back, Vinyl,” she murmured, sliding off the seat and opening the door. “W-where ya going?” Vinyl Scratch asked, getting up as well. “You need to rest!” “I’m fine, I just need to see to this,” Octavia smiled in thanks, closing the door behind her. Taking the few steps to the next private cabin, Octavia put on her best pleasant face and knocked. The sounds from within didn’t change, and no one made a move to open the door, so Octavia tried the handle and found it open. Sliding the door open, Octavia’s friendly greeting died at the base of her throat as the paralyzing terror of what she had unveiled gripped her soul. The mumbling came from the mother of the trio, who sat on the ground covered in blood. She was mumbling into the ear of her husband, whom she was repeatedly sliding a knife into. Above, the source of the whimpering, was their son. He shouldn’t be alive, was the only tangible thought Octavia could form. Hooves spread wide, the young colt who couldn’t have been older than a few years was staked around the window and backlit by the moon. Each limb driven through with a knife from the kitchen at a corner of the window, his abdomen was cut down the middle and ripped open. Blood leaked out of his little body where his intestines used to be, which now spread out and attached to various points of the ceiling with more knives. His rib cage was even broken apart, with his lungs dangling forward as his heart trembled and he sobbed. As he made eye contact with Octavia, who was frozen with fear, another knife flew from his mother’s grip to embed itself in his forehead. His heart seized, and his head dropped to his now unmoving gaping body cavity. Slamming the door shut, Octavia fled. She had no idea where she was going, she only knew she had to get away. She raced to her left, towards the caboose. Tearing through the compartment, she broke through to the rear deck and gripped the railing, evacuating her own bowels onto the tracks as they raced out from beneath her and into the darkness. She couldn’t breathe, she was lightheaded, and she knew then that she wouldn’t survive the night. “Unfortunate you had to see that before your time,” came a soft voice from behind as a familiar hoof stroked Octavia’s back. Turning her head, Octavia saw a smiling Vinyl Scratch whose eyes glowed in the shadows under the eaves. “It was meant to be a surprise Tavi, and you ruined it. Ah well. The stupid bitch wouldn’t follow instructions well enough, and that colt was too innocent to take over… they really gave me no choice.” “Wha…. what are you?” Octavia sobbed, almost resigned to her fate. “I am become Death, the destroyer of worlds,” the thing cooed, stroking Octavia’s cheek. “And I have only begun.”