Act I

A Night at Shadow Station
By Mr Nelg

At the edge of nowhere, beyond the reach of time,
Where the wind no longer blows, and the moon no longer shines,
And the forest is dead, and covered in vines,
Stands a forgotten old train station, where the clocks no longer chime.

When the Moon is high, and the earth will glow,
Then through the tunnel, to station you'll go.
When you finally get there, you will know,
There are places where evil can freely flow.

The owners are gone, no one really knows why?
But something lurks within its halls, giving mournful cries.
Those foolish enough to visit, will behold with their eyes,
That the Station of Shadows, is still very much alive.

Don't go inside, and wonder its halls,
Don't attempt to follow the playful calls,
Don't try to leave through the forest of walls,
And don't go into the bathroom stalls.

So take heed this warning, and tread lightly with care,
Or you will join the others, permanently living there!

- Old Foals Nursery Rhyme.

The train rattled along west through the darkness of the forest, its shrill whistle piercing the otherwise quiet night air. From the rear of the last carriage, Fluttershy stared out the window with an expression that was a combination of boredom and exhaustion. She was finally returning home after visiting a veterinarian's conference in Manehattan. She had always been meaning to build up the courage to visit one of those and now, after her many adventures with her dear friends, she at last had the confidence to go. It was good to meet others who cared for animals and swap techniques, ideas, natural remedies, and even humorous stories. She'd shaken hooves with famous professionals, rank amateurs, and even the downright quirky.

One mare she'd had the misfortune to run into had been a sales pony representing the Fillydelphia Iron Works. She'd tried to convince Fluttershy that she needed an iron fence after overhearing her discussion about how best to care for bears. Oh, she did not want to let her go. That mare drawled on for at least forty-five minutes about all the uses for iron, ranging from mystical to scientific, before she overheard another conversation that could've been a bigger score than Fluttershy, and that was how she managed to escape her.

She gave an amused sigh. It had been a rather hectic, but none the less enjoyable, weekend that was finally all over. Now, she just wanted to get back home to Ponyville and see all her friends again; particularly Angel Bunny.

She yawned broadly, her jaw cracking from the lack of movement as she idly batted at the empty water bottle that lay beside her. She blinked her eyes a few times and looked out at the passing scenery. What little there was to see of it. It was dark outside, with only the tops of the trees illuminated by Luna's moon which hung high in the night sky, shining proudly down upon the earth bellow. Its friendly glow bathed the surrounding countryside in a calming white hue that appeared to make everything it touched, sparkle and dance with a life of its own.

The line she'd chosen to ride wasn't the same line she'd taken to Manehatten. This one was more of an indirect route with stops in the remote parts of Equestria, but it was the only train that night stopping at Ponyville. All others heading in that direction were express. Fluttershy did not mind. With the moon so bright, she'd enjoyed seeing what little there was of the new scenery. As she observed the landscape outside, she noticed that the tracks had split off, curving away into the forest. They ended not far away from the main tracks at a buffer stop. However, the tracks themselves continued on, disappearing into the trees.

Fluttershy yawned again. She wondered if she would ever be able to get some sleep. There had been countless times where she'd nearly dozed off, only to be rudely awoken when the train hissed and screeched to a halt at some tiny prairie town, allowing its passengers to disembark. Looking around, she confirmed yet again that she was still the only pony on the train. She hadn't been when the journey started. The train had contained the few ponies who were making their way home at this hour of the night. As the train rattled further and further west, and made stop after stop, their numbers had dwindled away until she remained the only passenger. The last stop had been a tiny little hamlet, where the station had been nothing more than a raised stone platform with a shelter, time table board, two lights and a sign that was barely visible. The last of the trains passengers, a solitary young stallion, had hurried onto the platform. The train didn't stop long before starting up again. At a middle-of-nowhere place like this, you were lucky if the train stopped at all. No more ponies joined her on the train. According to the map on the carriage wall, this was the last stop. It would be a clear run all the way through to Ponyville.

Fluttershy knew the train wasn't going to reach the little town until sometime early in the morning. She had no idea what time it was now and wished that she'd brought a watch. At first, she had not needed it as there were so many big clocks in Manehattan and all the train stations that it hadn't hindered her in the slightest at all. Now the cloak of boredom was beginning to settle across her and although being alone hadn't bothered her the slightest, she was starting to pine for her friends again. Her eyes floated up to her overnight bag, secured up in the rope net that was the trains light baggage compartment. She had only packed the bare essentials for the trip and had foolishly neglected to bring anything of entertainment value. Like a book.

For what felt like the hundredth time, she wished she had not spent those extra bits so she could've purchased that copy of Better Tree Homes and Gardens, whose cover had so tantalised her back at the Manehattan train station. She had restrained herself from spending all her money because she wanted at least a few bits so she could buy Angel Bunny a treat when she got home for being such a good boy while she was gone. Her eyes turned downwards towards the empty water bottle she been toying with. Maybe she shouldn't have bought that bottle of spring water back at the station: But she had been very thirsty at the time and the label had been so inviting.

She glanced back out the window. Just then the moonlit landscape outside was obscured as the train entered a dark tunnel. With nothing now to look at except the black rocky walls outside, she turned her attention on the interior of the carriage. As her droopy eyes surveyed over the empty seats, she began to wonder if she had bought that magazine, would it be necessary now? Her mind felt sluggish from being awake all night and she was now having trouble focusing on objects at the far end of the carriage. A third yawn escaped her mouth. Laying her head down, she curled up on the train seat.

She closed her eyes yet again, and her ears began to focus on the sounds surrounding her. The train travelled over another joint in the tracks, but this time it did not jolt her eyes open. Her body started to relax as her breathing slowed down. Her mind was now solely devoted to concentrating on the noises of the train. The rhythmic clicking of the trains wheels as they regularly turned under the power of the locomotive. The soft hissing of the pistons as the wheels chugged along. The slight creaking of the light bulbs as they swung with the gentle rocking of the carriage. She sighed contentedly and never paid any attention when the lights flickered out and refused to turn back on. The darkness only made her tired body relax even more. Curled up on the train seat she finally managed to fall into a deep, peaceful sleep.

***

The train doors slid open with a loud bag which reverberated around the entire carriage. Fluttershy awoke with a start, her head shooting up and her eyes darting around in every direction like a panicked animal. The first thing she was aware of was that the train had stopped. The second thing she was aware of was that she was now at a train station.

“Oh my,” she gasped, jumping off the seat and landing on all four hooves with an audible thud. “We're here already?” As she prepared to fly up to the light baggage compartment to fetch her overnight bag, she stopped. The third thing she was aware of was that it was still night outside.

Fluttershy blinked in confused curiosity and walked over to the window, peering out. The train stations lights were beaming brightly outside, but beyond the edges of their yellow glow, she could perfectly see the inky blackness of the night. Her eyes narrowed in confusion. This wasn't right. She knew that the train was to get into Ponyville Station in the early morning, but Celestias sun should at least be showing some of its warming golden rays, peaking over the tips of the mountain ranges.

She pressed her face up against the window to look at the station for any signs of identification. She spied a large, dilapidated white sign with a green border, containing green lettering that arched across an entrance way to a tunnel. Unfortunately, many of the letters were broken beyond recognition or had simply fallen off and had failed to be replaced. What had once been a proud sign, welcoming visitors to the station, now only displayed the incomprehensible, 'Wasuremono.'

Now Fluttershy's brow twisted in confusion. She'd never heard of that town before. Come to think of it, the map made no mention of there being a station between Ponyville and the last one. A quick check of the map confirmed that was true. After a few unsure blinks, she quickly shrugged it aside. Stop over or no stop over, this wasn't her station. She'd just have to wait for the passengers to embark and the train to start moving again.

She was about to sit down when she paused. Another unusual sight, which she'd rather embarrassingly failed to notice until now, was that the platform was devoid of all life. Again, she pressed her face up against the window as her eyes scanned up and down the length of the platform. Not one pony was present. Of course, the logical answer that jumped up and down was that every pony had either boarded or left the station. However, a more thorough examination left Fluttershy with the impression that no pony had even set hoof on this platform in a good many years. Possibly, even before she was born.

Her limbs were slightly trembling as she leaned away from the window to look back at all the seats. She was still alone. She felt her head subconsciously shrinking back into her mane, a habit she always did when frightened. It reminded her of that horrible night she was lost in the Cloudsdale art museum. She'd been so enraptured by the beautiful and colourful pictures of animals, that she'd accidentally wandered away from her parents, just as the museum was closing down for the night. She been locked in, and started to panic once all the lights went out. She could still vividly remember walking through the empty halls of the gallery, her hoof steps echoing loudly on the floor. Once or twice, she heard a distant noise, like some unseen monster was stalking her. She had run away from the sounds, but the sounds kept following her everywhere she ran. Her paniced flight took her into the art wing where she coward under the watchful eyes of the portraits of Pegasi that lined the walls. Rushing through the deserted lenghty halls, she had imagined that they were watching her, waiting till her back was turned so that they could leap out, grab her and drag her into the paintings with them.

It all came to a nerve jarring end when she left the portite gallery and found herself in a room full of sculptures. There, she ran head long into a massive statue of a grotesque looking diamond dog, looming over her ready to strike. She'd screamed louder than she ever remembered in her entire life. Then the lights all came on, revealing the statue as that of a Pharaoh Hound Diamond Dog God from that respective species culture.

Of course, now that she was older and wiser she knew that it had just been her imagination running wild in the dark. The sounds of the unseen monster that was stalking her ended up being a security guard sent to find her by her frantic parents. Now these fears of being alone in the museum were returning, and she felt like that terrified filly all over again. Getting up on shaking legs, she hesitantly walked down the carpeted aisle towards the doors that separated her carriage from the next. She passed through the first door, and walking up to the next one, cautiously peeked in through the window. This carriage was as empty as her own. She pushed open the door and stepped inside. A quick survey confirmed what she'd seen from the window, that it was still empty. She walked down the aisle of the carriage towards the next one, and peeked in through its window. The same empty sight greeted her.

She pushed opened the door and walked all the way to the end. Now she was at the very front of the train. There was nowhere left to go, but either back the way she'd come, or out onto the platform. Casting a look over at one of the doors, she trotted over to it, and tested the handle experimentally. The door slid opened with a loud thump, which echoed into the night. Fluttershy took a frightened step back as it did so. She looked up from the door to stare out at the empty station platform. She really didn't want to go out there. Her limbs were trembling with trepidation at the thought of being out there; Alone. Then an idea appeared before her. Maybe she wouldn't have to. If there were somepony here, she could call out to them from the safety of the train. Swallowing the nervous lump in her throat, she slowly and cautiously stuck her head out.

Just as she'd seen from the window, the platform was as deserted as the train. She tried to call out, but her jaw just worked silently. Taking a deep breath, she tried again. “H-hello?” she nervously squeaked. “Is there any pony here?” Only silence responded. She looked up and down the length of the platform, spying no signs of life. She looked down at the said stone platform just before the carriage door. She wasn't going to find any pony standing here. She turned her head towards the locomotive just next to the carriage door. Surly the engineer or fireman would be able to tell her what’s going on. Once more looked down at the platform. She told herself it would be all right as the Cab was just a few feet away, and she wouldn't be out here very long. She took a cautious step out, testing the platform beneath her hoof. It felt solid and real. It also felt cold. Next came her other hoof, and then she was standing fully on the platform.

She cast one more hopeful look down the length of the station, before turning and trotting over to the Cab. “Excuse me, sirs?” she spoke in her usual diminutive tone. “I was just wondering why...” Her voice trailed off just as she stuck her head into the crew compartment. It was empty. She blinked in a mixture of fear and surprise. Where was the train crew? Surly they wouldn't just abandon their train like this. They had a job to do, schedules to keep, a train to run. This... this just didn't make any logical sense.

Eager to get off the platform, she walked inside and looked around. The cab was cramped and full of all sorts of valves, levers and gauges. Behind her, the coal car was full of coal while the lid of the firebox remained shut. It was as if they simply ceased to exist. Although there were lights within, it was still too dark within the compartment for her liking. Again, Fluttershy swallowed the nervous lump in her throat, which proved a tad bit more difficult this time, and turning around, stuck her head out of the Cab.

This time, as she looked down the platform, she observed the train station as a whole. The actual building was two, two story wooden buildings, with gabled roves, joined in between by another structure with a hip roof which served as a bridge between the back half of the two upper floors. A sloping wooden roof covered the front half. There was a chimney on the left building, and what appeared to be a water tank nestled around the side. The opposite building was identical, save for what looked like an exhaust stack protruding oddly from the buildings side. A sloping wooden overhang protruded from between the first and second floor, under which hung light bulbs that now glowed a golden yellow. The whole building had once been an orange-brown colour, but the paint had flecked away over the years, leaving multiple patches of the dark black wood beneath. The tiles on the roof were old, weathered and amazingly still in place. In the middle of the station buildings, beneath the bridge construction, was an arched tunnel, above which the incomprehensible welcoming sign hung. The platform on which she now stood was raised stone, which had once been a Spanish Grey, but now a dark shade of charcoal. Two flaking green wooden picket fences acted as guard rails at either end of the platform. Fluttershy received a queer sensation from the entire structure as she eased slightly back into the Cab. Something about this place seemed to radiate trouble, for warm and welcoming buildings should not stare at their guests so slyly and hauntingly.

After taking in the decrepit look of the whole place, she glanced up at the glowing station lights. This place could not be abandoned. These lights had to be powered by something, and electricity needs to be monitored and serviced. She looked around at the rest of the station. Then why was it in such neglect? Nothing about this train station makes any sense. She looked back down at the platform just below her. She had to force her nerve wrecked limbs to climb out of the Cab and into the light of the station. Again, she shrank back into her mane before she gradually crept down towards the far end of the platform and making sure to keep within the boundaries of the station lights, took in the surrounding open grassy area. Although overgrown, they appeared to retain some elements of a manicured nature a little too well to warrant complete desertion. As her roving eys fell and then lingered upon the darkened forest beyond the grassy grounds, her flattened ears became aware of the ambient noise. Or rather the lack off. Usually the night would be alive with thousands of sounds. There would be crickets chirping, owls hooting, the rustling of the leaves, the scrapping of branches, the howling of the wind as it blew through the forest.

There was only dead silence.

Her ears automatically flicked into an upright position and standing very still, Fluttershy turned her ears side to side, trying in vain to find even the minutest of sounds. That's when her peripheral vision caught sight of another peculiar oddity and slowly, she tilted her head towards the night sky above. She could only gape in shocked disbelief at the sky above her. It was completely black. No stars and no moon. The sky should've been alive with a swirling jumble of billions of stars, in a continuous spiral of white light and crowned by the ever present moon of Princess Luna. The sky above was just black nothingness that stretched across the heavens and beyond.

Now Fluttershy felt her entire body lock up with fear. Being a Pegasuse, she understood the weather as much as she understood animals. The lack of a sky above her terrified her more than that time she'd been forced to visit that Dargon's cave. For what seemed like an age, she stood there, rooted to the spot and unable to budge an inch. Why was the sky gone? Where was the moon? Had the princesses abandoned Equestria? A million ideas flowed through her mind like out-of-control rapids, crashing into each other and smashing against rocks, leaving her unable to form even a single coherent thought.

Unable to stand the confusing sight any longer, one thought at last flashed all around her mind like a warning light. Run. Without a moments hesitation, Fluttershy bolted for the train, her wings propelling her into the first carriage in under a second. Stopping only to grab the door handle with her teeth, she slammed it shut before diving under the nearest bench. There she huddled, hiding within her mane while her tail lay curled protectively around her as she shivered violently. Her eyes were squeezed shut as she muttered at breakneck speed for the sky to come back. Finally, she was aware that her mutterings had become unintelligible, and she was only spouting gibberish. Ceasing her jumbled speech, she opened one eye and then the other. Nothing had changed.

Still, she remained huddled under the bench, shaking, all the while her rapid breathing and the fierce pounding of her heart being the only sounds she heard. Perspiration mattered the fur upon her brow as her eyes nervously darted all around her. What was going on? Where was every pony? She waited under that bench for what must have been an hour, before eventually sliding her head out to look up and down the length of the carriage. It remained frustratingly empty. Willing herself as hard as she could, Fluttershy eased out one hoof, then the other. Finally, she managed to coax her entire body out from under the bench, and she once more stared out the window at the station.

Her eyes began to scan the nearest building. Was every pony inside? Her roving eyes fell upon the nearest window, which although old and almost opaque with dirt, wasn't broken. The building may still be inhabited despite its general neglect. She angled her head so that she could see the night sky. Like the train carriage, it too remained devoid of life. She turned back to the window. Behind the layer of dust that coated the outside, there was no signs of light beyond, and she chewed at her lower lip in conflicted thought. Should she go out there? No, she couldn't. But what if there were ponies in that building? No, not with all the lights out. But what if they were hiding, just like she was? No, she'd have all the lights on, even if she were hiding.

Dejected, Fluttershy moved away from the window and lay down on the bench, crossing her front legs and resting her head on them. “I just want to go home,” Fluttershy whimpered. She closed her eyes and began whispering “Please, let me go home,” over and over, until obvious that wasn't going to work. Once more, she rose her head to stare out the window at the train station. The darkened windows returned the stare. She angled her head to look once more at the sky. Just like the station, it remained exactly the same as before. Black and empty.

Why was something like this happening? She ruled out Discord, because he wouldn't be so mean as to pull a prank on her of this magnitude. Was there some new threat to Equestria? If so, were the other elements of Harmony searching for her so that they could put a stop to it? She looked back at the train station welcoming sign that was still illegible. Where was she? If she was lost and there was some new danger, it would be a good idea to find out where she was so that she could have some clue in which direction Ponyville lay should she had to head back under her own power. She looked over at the nearest door.

Her whole body began to shiver with anticipation at the thought of entering that big, dark, scary looking building. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath as she remembered the words her father had spoken to her after she'd been rescued from the museum. The dark is nothing to fear, because there is nothing there but our own imagination. She let out a quiet hissing breath, and opened her eyes. Carefully, she climbed down off the bench and opened the door. It slid back with the same loud thump as before, causing her to jump a little. Carefully, she edged out of the carriage and onto the platform. Looking both ways, like a filly about to cross at an intersection, she slowly trotted over to the nearest window.

She cautiously attempted to gaze into the darkened glass, before using her right hoof, wiped away the dust and after muttering in disgust, peered inside. A pair of hazel eyes blinked back at her. Fluttershy let out a startled squeak and reared back from the window. She blinked her own eyes in rapid confusion, before realizing what it was that she had seen. Another pony. She was not alone.

She looked back at the window, but the eyes were gone. She shoved her face up against the glass and looked around inside. She tapped her front hoof on the window. “Hello?” she called out. “Excuse me, but could you tell me what station this is?” There was no reply. “Please,” she called out, raising her voice ever so slightly. “I need to know where I am, and what happened to the train drivers!” Silence. She tapped her hoof on the window once more. “Can you at least tell me where the town is?” she asked. Still nothing.

Backing away from the window, Fluttershy kept a weary eye on it all the same, just in case the eyes owners returned. They did not. This caused Fluttershy's suspicion to deepen. Why would they hide from her? Granted that if the situation were reversed, she'd probably do the same with the sky gone, but she'd still be happy to see any pony. Turning away from the window, she searched the building for any signs of an entrance. There was a small side door located a few feet from the window. She covered the few steps to reach the door, and politely knocked.

“Hello?” she called out. “Please, whoever you are, I need help!” She blinked in slight agitation at the silence that followed. Reaching out her front hoof, she tired the rusty door handle and finding it unfastened, opened it. The door creaked on rusty hinges, creating a loud groaning sound as it protested the years of immobility it had endured. Fluttershy instinctively took a step back as the door swung inwards, banging lightly against the wall. Swallowing down the lump of fear that was building in her throat, she peered cautiously into the darkness. “Hello?” she called out, her voice a noticeable octave lower. The whole inside of the room was in pitch darkness, but the light shining in from the outside did light up enough of the room to make out the basic details.

It was an office, most likely for the staff of the station, and her muzzle wrinkled in disgust at the state of the room. All the tables and chairs were overturned and broken. No doubt about it, something violent had taken place here. Dust, cobwebs, old food packets, littered the floor and walls. There were lockers up against the wall by the window, long rusted shut, while against the back wall was a door to the washroom. On the wall opposite the window was a set of three smaller windows that looked out into a much larger room. Ticket booths. At the far end of that wall, nearest Fluttershy, was another door slightly ajar. Nestled between the door and the ticket booths was a notice board with only one note on it. Oh, if Rarity ever saw this mess. Fluttershy tilted her head slightly as her eyes settled on a wall at the far end of the room. There, some pony had carved out of the wall on the wall (using what could have been a knife or some other sharp object) the phrase, 'Don't go in the Bathroom!'

She cast her eyes towards the washroom right beside it. “Okay,” Fluttershy squeaked in reply. She turned her gaze to settle upon the door next to the warning. If the pony she'd seen through the window had been here, that is the most likely place they could've gone. She hesitated at the threshold, and cast a nervous glance down at it, before once more surveying the empty room. In spite of the light from outside, it was uncomfortably dark and she shivered slightly. She eyed the door at the other end of the room. If she was going to find help, she needed to go through that door. Again, she looked down at the threshold, and closing her eyes, whispered the words her father had told her about the dark and stepped inside. The air within felt stuffy and bitter as she completely entered the room. Once again her eyes roved over the entire room, but just like the station platform, the room was empty. Building up her courage, she tried not to breath through her nose as she carefully tread around the mess that littered the room, making her way over towards the door.

Passing an old chair, which was pinned under an overturned table, Fluttershy let out a startled scream when it suddenly collapsed, allowing the table that it had been supporting to crash to the ground with a resounding bang. Her whole body jumped at least five feet in the air, as the sound reverberated all around the room, assaulting her sensitive ear drums from every direction simultaneously. Her legs spun in the air as her wings instinctively took control and hurtled her back out the door.

She rocketed back inside the train and under the bench, eyes screwed shut and cowering once more. Eventually, her heart rate returned to normal, and slinking out from under the bench, peered out at the open door and the black room beyond. “There's n-nothing but my imagination,” Fluttershy squeaked, as she forced herself out from under the bench and back onto the platform. Walking back over to the open door, she once more called out for the mystery pony. Her own voice echoed within the room, before vanishing altogether. Looking over at the collapsed mess she'd disturbed, she found herself wondering if the reason she wasn't getting a response was that the other pony was even more frightened than she.

Granted, she'd never met such a pony, but there was always a first. If that were the case, maybe she could comfort them and help take her mind off the missing sky. Carefully, she sneaked into the room, cautiously weary of the furniture that lay scattered around the room as she headed over to the other door. As she reached it, she spied the note on the notice board, and delayed exiting the room as she saw there were actually two. One was tacked over the first. She leaned in close to read it.

“The sink is fine. Hickory has taken those pipes apart four times now, and still nothing. Ratchet Gear.” She lifted up the note to read the one underneath.

“Something is still blocking the sink. For the millionth time, I'm a chef not a plumber. Fix it or I quit. Shortcrust.”

Fluttershy sighed as she let the first note fall back down. Nothing useful. She turned and gently pushed open the door. It squeaked loudly on rusty hinges as it swung open to softly bump to a stop against the wall behind it. Hiding behind the door frame until it was completely open, Flutershy peaked the tip of her head out so that she could see what lay beyond in the adjourning room.

This appeared to be a waiting room of sorts. Three rows of benches took up the centre of the room, while a fourth bench was located at the far end, under a long, stained window that stubbornly refused to let any pony see out, although there was the minuscule amount of light shining in. Both the window and the bench were interrupted at the middle by a set of glass double doors. On the far opposite end of the room, there was a square staircase that sloped up, before making a sharp right and disappearing into the darkness. The station clock, a design she recognized as being from the now defunct Bradbury Clock Co., hung from the centre of the ceiling, facing both ways, its hands forever stuck at three am. Along the right side of the room, the wall was covered in a massive chalkboard that displayed departures and arrivals. The board was wiped clean. Discarded newspapers were shoved into a waste paper basket, now over following with junk and spilling its contents onto the floor around it.

Fluttershy's head fully extended into the room as she eyed the newspapers. For the first time since her arrival, she felt hope. She entered the room and eagerly trotted over to waste paper basket to find any form of identification of where she was. Inside the waste paper basket, the newspapers lay scrunched up into balls and yellowing with many years. They dated with age, like the rings of a tree ranging from a springy golden yellow to a crumbling dull brown. Fluttershy shifted around until she found one that looked and felt like it was more recent compared with the rest and fish it out. She unfurled it and held it up close to the window to read. The type was faded with age, much like the welcome sign out the front, and all the letters were incomprehensible.

The headlines were more than understandable. This one showed two twin fillies, their faces were obscured by the headlines, where the ink in their names had been smeared across half the page leaving their name as 'Warai.' Apparently they had been killed in a tragic accident. The rest of the story was beyond recognition. She dropped the paper and sifted around inside for another. The more legible ones told of rock farms drying up and going broke. There were also a number of papers about what she assumed, was this train station. Mysterious accidents, disappearances of night staff, and grizzly deaths.

She sighed with disappointment. They were too old and unreadable to give her any indication of where she was. She lowered the latest paper she picked up and looked around the room before her eyes settled on the stairs leading up. Did that pony go up there? If so, why were they hiding? What did they have to fear from her of all ponies? She cautiously walked over to the bottom of the square staircase and looked up. They proceed half-way up the overall height of the room, before making a sharp right out of her vision.

“Hello?” she called out, her voice echoing off into the darkness. “Is any pony up there?” Only the silence responded. She looked around the waiting room once more. Had she even seen another pony? Had she seen her own reflection in the window? No. She was sure she saw hazel eyes. She blinked in frustration. Was her mind playing tricks on her? The words of her father flowed through her head. Granted the sudden disappearance of the train drivers would cause her imagination to run a muck.

A muffled giggle echoed down from upstairs.

Fluttershy turned her head upwards towards the ceiling. She heard that. Some pony was up there. “Hello!” she cried out, hope in her voice. “You up there, can you help me, please?” Then she paused. The giggle had been a foal's voice: A filly to be more precise. What was she doing here playing in an abandoned building all by herself? She would not be of any help. Her brow furrowed. No. If she were here, that would mean that there had to be a town near by. A town where she could get some help. Plus, a little filly would be nice company in this dark, depressing place.

“Excuse me, little one,” she called out, walking up the first few steps. “Can I please talk to you? I promise I won't let your parents know you're here. I just want to ask you in which direction the town is?” A second fillies giggle answered her, followed by two ponies galloping away upstairs. Had she a friend? Their hoof steps echoed across the ceiling. “Wait!” Fluttershy charged on up the stairs. She rounded the staircase and after climbing up some more stairs, found herself in a large empty room.

No. Not entirely empty. Stools and tables had been stacked neatly up along the edge of the wall that face by the windows. Directly in front of her sat a pair of double-swing doors. A look across to the opposite side of the room revealed a counter with a till and a desk plaque that said 'Closed.' Behind that lay a large rectangular window with wooden shutters drawn, above which were situated advertisements for various sandwiches, and drinks. This was a cafe. She eyed the pretty painted pictures of the sandwiches on the menu board. They did look very yummy. She licked her lips without even realizing it.

She spied a swing door to the kitchen, just in time to catch its movement ceasing. Some pony had just recently gone through there. She wondered over to the counter and peered over. The ancient cobweb covered till beside her ironically displayed the fire-engine-red 'No Sale' sign. “Hello?” she called out again. Her gaze settled back the swing door that lead into the kitchen, which was now still. She rounded the counter and pushed open the door.

It was a small kitchen, with a long wooden table in the centre. To her right lay a counter top where the readied food would be placed, and the shutters behind the counter closed off the view to outside. They would've usually been open in warmer weather to keep the area cool. On the other side of the room, opposite the table, sat a small, and medium sized chest freezers that would have stored bags of ice and other frozen foods. Above that is several shelves containing all sorts of pots, pans, dishes, bowls, cups, and utensils for both cooking and eating. Next to that was a fire place with a large iron pot in the middle. A medium sized wood burning stove, and next to that sat two kettles with a frying pan still atop its surface. There was a large cupboard next to it that was now almost empty, save for a few opened bottles, cans, and salt and pepper shakers. Most likely a pantry. Finally, at the far end was a sink with a hinged ring on a rod attached to a pump for the water, like a hoof-pump if you will.

Nothing in here. She cast her gaze back upon the fireplace. There could be some wood in there that she could use for a make-shift torch. She paused, hesitant to enter the room. Like the rest of the building, it was dark and empty, but unlike the rest of the building, not much light made its way in here. Once again, she looked over at the fireplace, before her eyes circumnavigated the entire room once more. It still remained as empty as the last time she'd seen it. She carefully entered the room, taking care as not to disturb anything that could make a loud noise if it fell. She reached the fireplace and sighed, saddened to see that only ash and lumps of burnt coal littered the bottom of the fireplace. An iron poker lay in its holder to one side. Eying it experimentally, wondering if she could find some cloth, wrap it around the end, and figure out some way to light it, that could suffice as a makeshift torch. Another quick survey of the room revealed no such material was available, but she would take the poker just in case she found some and moved towards the poker with her open mouth.

Her head shot up at the sound that touched her ears. She looked around the empty kitchen. Nothing. She stood very still as her ears slowly swiveled from side to side. She could've sworn she heard something, like a whisper on the wind.

There! Her ears locked on to the sink. She fluttered over, and landing before it, peaked over the rim. The sink was stained from water constantly dripping down the back of it, creating a foul brown mark running up the back of the sink. The wooden hoof-pump before it provided water, and from the looks of the grime and rust around its joints probably wouldn't even work anytime soon let alone provide clean water. She peered down the drain, unable to see much past the grime-covered sink trap. Her brow furrowed as she heard the sound again. Straining her hearing, it sounded like something was scratching the pipes. She leaned in closer.

The sound of loud giggling echoed from behind her. Fluttershy gave a startled cry and spun 180 degrees, save her own, the room was still devoid of life! The giggling foals could be heard scampering away through what sounded like a set of double swing doors, before their hoof steps receded away down a hall. Fluttershy frowned in disapproval. That wasn't very nice. She was now starting to rethink her plan. If these foals were just going to play pranks on her, maybe she was better off not asking for their help. They might even give her directions to the town garbage dump, or sewage plant just for laughs.

Her muzzle wrinkled in disgust from the phantom smell that tickled her nose at that last idea, and paused in deep thought as a new theory about her stranding ran through her mind. What if this actually was a disused train station, and there had been something wrong with the train? The train would've needed to pulled in, and the crew went into town to get help. What about the lights? If this stations had lights, it would have to have a generator somewhere. If they were on, that meant the train crew would have gotten it up and running, to give them the maximum amount of light to see what they were doing. Thus realizing, after a thorough inspection, that they needed help and headed off to town, completely forgetting that she was on board.

Another option that was also logical was with the missing sky, they pulled in to the station and headed for the nearest town to find out what was going on. She looked over at the closed shutters, as if looking past them to the outside. If there really were a nearby town, then there would have to be a path leading there. Those two foals would have had a path to follow. The tunnel she'd seen lead to the other side of the building, where she had not gone yet. What were the odds that there was a road or a path leading away from the station to the town. Ponies would have to travel on something to get to and from here. She dramatically rolled her eyes. Oh, why didn't she think of this before, instead of just charging off into this abandoned building and foolishly scaring herself in the process?

She trotted over to the door, but as she placed a hoof up to push it open, she paused. There was that sound again. She turned and looked back at the sink. It was much more audible now. Her hoof left the door as she walked back to the sink, the sounds from the drain all the more clearer. As she peered over the rim, the noise stopped.

Then she lowered her head down even further. She could've sworn she saw movement down there. A hairy spike abruptly shot out of the sink trap and Fluttershy jerked her head back. It wiggled around violently, before vanishing back into the drain. Flutershy blinked in confusion. What the hay was that? There was a thump. Then another. The sink trap bucked slightly, then catapulted up into the air. Fluttershy watched it peak and fall back to earth, clattering down into the space between the sink and the pantry cupboard. She ignored it as she turned her attention back to the sink.

A large, hairy black spider was heaving its huge body out of the drain. Flutterhsy's whole body locked up as her pupils dilated. The spider wrenched its self free and scuttled up the back end of the sink, climbing up the water pump, before jumped onto the windowsill. It then began to scurry up the walls before reaching the roof, and curling up in a corner of the room. Fluttershy watched it until it moved no more, before shivering violently. She backed away towards the exit, all the while keeping her eyes locked on the nasty little thing. Normally, spiders did not bother her, but there was something about this one that just gave her the creeps.

Another scrapping sound caused her to lower her gaze back to the sink. A second spider was climbing out of the drain. No sooner had it freed its self, then another spider crawled out after that. Then another, and another. There were five spiders in the sink now, and more were coming. Eight, fifteen, twenty-three. Fluttershy took a few trembling steps away from the sink, as the writhing mass of hairy black spiders grew, multiplying their numbers until they spilled out over the rim of the sink and onto the floor, scurrying in every direction.

Fluttershy screamed and jumped up onto the wooden table as they began to spread out like water. She eyed them fearfully, before snapping her gaze over at the door. She had to get out of here. She tore down the length of the table and leapt for the door, but smashed headlong into it as it refused to swing back the other way. She tried to pull it back towards her but something held it fast. She spun around, watching as the spiders, now numbering in the hundreds, began to surge towards her as a living shadow, their little hairy legs skittering the floor boards in a chaotic rhythm.

She spun back to the door and pulled harder. Why wouldn't it open? She pushed again and still nothing. She spun around and saw the spiders were crawling up the walls and along the ceiling, covering every inch of the room, some were even dropping gracefully to the floor on long, thin strands of web. Again she spun around, sweat now matted her fur as she again attempted in vain to open the door. Then she paused, before shooting her gaze up and across to the closed wooden shutters. There was a rope on this side. She leapt for it, grabbing it with her teeth and yanking as hard as she could. The shutters rattled upwards, before jamming against some unseen object within its mechanism. Fluttershy dropped the rope and observed. The shutters were up only half way, but she could still squeeze her body through. Three somethings landed in her mane and began violently struggling. Fluttershy screamed as she launched herself through the window, sliding under the shutters on her belly, out the other side and landing in a tangled heap just in front of the counter.

She immediately jumped to her hooves and began batting at her mane, shrieking all the while. But there was nothing in her hair. She finally calmed down and stood still. The writhing had stopped. She collapsed to the floor, curled up in a tiny ball and whimpering in terror. She had no idea how long she lay like that for. All she remembered was being petrified and unable to move, wishing that she could get up and run back to the train. Still, no matter how much she wished her legs wouldn't work, leaving her curled up on the floor of the cafe, shaking violently. Eventually, one eye did crack open as she peaked over at the kitchen window she'd just dived through. No spiders were coming out. In fact, no spiders could be seen. The other eye opened and she angled her head towards it. Still there were no spiders, and on top of that, no insidious sounds of hundreds of little legs were emitting from the kitchen. Frowning with suspicion, she rose to all four hooves and flapping over, peered inside.

The room was devoid of all spiders. It was as if they never existed. She angled her head so that she could get a good view of as much of the kitchen as possible without having to stick her whole head under the shutters. No spiders. She couldn't comprehend what she was looking at, and her wings nearly locked up with surprised confusion. She was sure there were spiders in there. The feeling of them in her mane was all too fresh to be merely passed off as her wild imagination. Yet there was no sign of them within the kitchen. Although she knew that she'd seen and felt them, she also knew that there was no way that many spiders could vanish so quickly and quietly. Finally, her mind settled on the idea that she'd had enough of this dark, creepy building and it was high time she left. As she backed away, she turned her head as out of the corner of her eye, she saw the obstruction that had jammed the swing door. Some pony had stacked tables and stools up against it. A stool, which was missing its seat, had the broken stump wedged into the swing door and against the counter side, between the door and the frame, preventing it from swinging back the other way.

Her brow knitted into disapproval. Those foals. A double swing door banged open, its flapping doors echoing loudly throughout the long abandoned building, and Fluttershy turned towards the other side of the room, where a set of double swing doors stood. She heard the scampering of hooves, and then silence. Cautiously, she flew over and putting her eye up to the gap in the doors, looked through. Only an empty hallway greeted her. This was the bridge structure that she'd seen earlier, that connected the two building together. Like everything else in this place, dust and cobwebs were a staple of the rooms features. Windows lined both sides of the hall, and although they were covered in grime and dust, they still allowed the outside lights to shine in, giving a basic form of illumination. At the other end of the hallway, an identical set of double doors sat.

The doors at the other end were still swinging from something having recently disturbed them. Fluttershy pushed open the door and leaned her head into the hall. “I hope you two had fun,” she chastised. “Because I'm NOT following you anymore. Good-night.” She turned about, letting the door swing closed behind her. As she trotted back to the stairs, she cast one more nervous glance over at the half opened shutters. Still no spiders. She began to wonder where they had all gone so quickly. Or if they had even existed at all.

She shook her head. She did not want to think about it, she just wanted to leave this creepy old place and find the town, and hopefully the train crew. As she walked down the stairs, she couldn't shake from her mind the spiders. Maybe it really was her imagination but it had just seemed to real. However, that thought was slid off to the side and replaced by a new one, as her bladder started sending her brain an urgent message that told her it needed emptying. Now she wished she had not bought that bottle of spring water. She paused halfway down the stairs as she thought about using the wash room in the staff office. As she did, the warning sign outside it floated across her mind's eye, and she shook her head. She'd just have to wait until she got to town. She headed over to the glass double doors at the front of the waiting room.

They opened when she pushed them and both swung open to bang loudly against the walls behind them. Fluttershy looked over what was the front entrance of the station. There was a fairly large rectangular section of cobblestone, with wild weeds protruding between the cracks, before the building that encompassed the three main accesses to the station, while a cobble stone path trailed off towards the forest. She realized that it was for parking carriages, as she saw the collapsed sign with the picture of a carriage on it, half buried under the creeping grass. Two iron lampposts were situated at opposite ends of the parking area, glowing brightly. One entrance led up a set of low steps to the waiting room where she now stood, with a wooden overhang that had a glowing light underneath it. The other entrance was an identical set of low stairs that led to what had to be the tunnel between the two buildings. A third entrance was that of a proper flight of stairs that led up the side of the building to a small wooden railed platform and a large door on the second floor of the opposite building. Situated above the door was another wooden overhang with a glowing light, that illuminated a picture of a cyder glass. Turning back to the cobblestoned parking lot directly before her, she focused her attention on the path that led off towards the forest in a straight line.

Fluttershy blinked once. Twice. Rubbed her eyes with her hooves and blinked a third time. The cobblestone path just simply ended before the tree line. It was as if the ponies constructing the road had just lost interest. Her eyes scanned the forest. It formed a cordon around the whole station with no breaks in it what so ever. Slowly, she trotted down the path until she reached its end. Ahead of her lay the forest, its leafless twisted trunks covered in choking vines. The thick shrubbery obscured their roots.

She leaned forward, glancing into the chaotically tangled mess. She could barely see anything past five feet in there. Had the train crew gone in there? Did they know where they were? That would be the only logical answer she could think off. It would not be as if they would simply charge on into this unearthly mess without a plan or direction on where to go.

Then she paused, looking very closely at the trees. They appeared to be leaning closer towards her now. Their spindly long branches straining, almost reaching for her. Fluttershy swallowed the lump in her throat and backed away on trembling legs. Was it a trick of the night, or did they return to their upright pose as she retreated from them.

Whatever the answer, Fluttershy did not want to go into the woods. She turned about without a moments hesitation and began trotting back to the station. What ever happened to the train crew they would not just leave their train lying about. They would return for it. She thought about waiting for them in the train cab, but decided against it. Although it was the first place the returning engineers would visit, it was also not as well lit and completely open. She would return to the safety of the carriages, where she could close and lock all the doors and windows and be safe from whatever was going on with the sky, while she tried to get some sleep. They most defiantly would be back in the morning. If not, some pony else would come looking for the train. Trains were very expensive after all.

She reached the station and climbed the steps up into the tunnel. It was darker in here than anywhere else. She cringed slightly as she trotted down the empty passageway towards the platform at the other end, her hoof steps echoed like cannon shot, blasting up and down the wooden halls. As she neared the end of the tunnel, her eyes picked up on something out of place. She stopped dead in her tracks, and then her eyes widened with fear. She gave a short gasp and galloped towards the end of the tunnel. As she exited the tunnel, she came to a screeching halt and frantically looked up and down the length of the station platform.

The train was gone.

Her bottom lip quivered with fear. No. No, this wasn't possible. When? When had the train left? She would've heard it start up. She would've heard them blow the train whistle. This just wasn't possible. Her hind legs subconsciously crossed themselves as her bladder began protesting to be relieved.

“Oh, not now,” she whimpered in futility, her eyes still scanning the tracks, looking for some signs of what had happened to the train. What had happened? How had the train simply upped and vanished like a discarded leaf in an autumn breeze? Once again, she found her mind complaining that nothing about this station made any sense. She looked left, looked right and still no train materialized to ease her fears. She whimpered softly as she remembered her overnight bag, still aboard. It was gone, along with her gear and worst of all, her bits. She needed those bits for Angel Bunny.

Another more pressing problem began to shove its way through the cue towards the front of mind. She needed to use the necessary. She looked over to the woods. Every time she stared into its depths she got a deep foreboding feeling. No way was she going in there. She looked around the building. She could just go around the corner and relieve herself, but that would be undignified of her. Her parents always told her never relive yourself in a public place. Now she turned and cast a worried look towards the building, as if staring past its walls to the wash room with its dire warning sign. She looked down the end of the station building. Well, nobody was around to see her degrade herself. Except for those naughty foals. What if they surprised her with something incredibly nasty while she was doing her business?

Then she stopped.

A faint whisper of wind flowed up the tunnel and tickled the back of her mane. She turned more curious than afraid. She looked back down the long, dark tunnel, towards the station exit at the other end. The exit seemed somewhat more illuminated than previously. She fully turned her body to stare down its length. As she did, her eyes were drawn towards a door at the far end, with a sign above it. She took a step forward. Her eyes widened with comprehension. The sign above the door was a picture of a toilet.

She started down the tunnel towards the door. A place that was isolated like this would not have proper plumbing. It would have the equivalent of a pit toilet, that would be cleaned regularly. She could only hope that it had been cleaned before this building was abandoned. She also made a mental note to keep all the doors propped open, should some pranksters try their luck for the second time.

As she approached the door to the restroom, she felt cold all of a sudden. Fluttershy ignored it as she pushed on the door with her front hoof. It was locked. Her eyes rolled in frustration. She pushed harder and still the door refused to budge. Was this the pranksters at work? She narrowed her eyes in determination, and remembering all those times she'd watched Apple Jack back in the apple orchard, she turned around and rearing up both hind legs, bucked straight out. Her back hooves connected with the wooden door, only Fluttershy had forgotten that she could not muster up much strength to break anything and what resulted was a lite tap that would barely have registered as a polite knock.

She huffed in disappointment as she turned back to face the door, and crossed her back legs as her bladder yet again reminded her that she needed to relieve herself. Not to be deterred, she starting looking around for an alternate route in. She walked all around the building, trying the windows. All were locked tight. Around the back area, she found a small pile of broken bricks unceremoniously shoved in a corner. Picking up a broken half, she attempted to smash a window, but just like the door, her attempts at breaking and entering proved feeble, and the half-brick did not even touch the building before it clattered to the ground and rolled to a stop.

She floated back down to earth and crossed her legs once more. Her bladder was now screaming at her. She looked off towards the tree line. Its dark silence caused her to back away with clenched teeth. She really didn't want to go and relieve herself out in those dark, spooky woods. She walked around the front again. Maybe she should just go relieve herself around the side of the building, and chance being ambushed by the pranksters.

When she reached the bathroom entrance, she paused in mid step. The door was open. It was flapping on its hinges in a non-existent breeze, creaking a welcome to her. She blinked in disbelief. At first, she did not care and she rushed for the open door. As she reached the door frame, she came to a screeching halt. The instant she crossed the threshold a cold sensation she'd first noticed upon approaching the door magnified its self. Her mouth opened to emit a cry of shock, but nothing came out. Instead, her lower jaw just quivered wordlessly.

Slowly, methodically, her eyes scanned the room. About five wooden stalls lined the back of the room, opposite a rusty trough sink beneath a rectangular stained mirror. The windows above the stalls were plastered in dust and grime, refusing to let any light shine through. The chequered black and white tiles were cracked and covered in dust. Cobwebs were everywhere, decoratively draped over everything. Oddly enough, Fluttershy could not make out any spiders nesting within them. Not far from the entrance, the tiled floor gave a noticeable sag. Fluttershy eyed it warily. No doubt that the floor beneath had rotted away and collapsed. Towards the far side of the room, the walls seemed to vanish into the darkness, creating the illusion that the room continued on into infinity. A single burnt out light bulb hung from the ceiling on a frayed cord, while somewhere within, water dripped down constantly, creating splashes that echoed throughout the whole room.

She set one hoof inside, and reeled backwards from the shiver that lanced up her skeleton. She danced backwards away from the door, breathing heavily. Dear Sweet Celestia, what was that? She inched backwards even further from the open door keeping her head low to the ground. She had never felt anything like that before. Not even during her numerous trips into the Everfree Forest. All those trips had scared her because the Everfree felt wild, chaotic and random. This... This was unlike anything she had ever experienced before.

This was evil. And it terrified her.

She was then aware of a warm, wet feeling by her hind legs, and looking down, she gave a low whimper. She had accidentally relieved herself right there. She should've been terribly embarrassed, only the vibes from that bathroom kept her mind on track. She turned back to the open and inviting doorway. It was almost as if it were beckoning her to go inside.

“N-no thanks,” she said softly. “I don't need to go anymore.”

Her eyes narrowed. Was that a moan? She strained her ears, not daring to move another inch closer to that open doorway. She could've sworn she heard something. Was it the wind? Her eyes darted left and right, as if attempting to inspect her mane. There was no breeze. She eyed the door. It was no longer moving anymore.

That was the final straw. Missing train or not, she had to leave this place; Now. Not caring the least bit about her lost overnight bag, she sprinted from the tunnel and back to the platform, her hooves beat a rapid staccato that echoed loudly up and down the seemingly cavernous hall. As she reached the exit, she dared one last shaky glance over her shoulder, just in time to witness the sinister bathroom door slowly close its self shut again. There was no doubt about it. Something had tried to lure her in.

Her body went ridged with fear for a second, before she turned and rushed into the station office. She was going to leave, but she had to take those two fillies with her. Pranksters or not, they were foals and definitely should not be left alone in an evil place like this. She was the element of kindness after all. Ignoring her fear of the building, she galloped from the office into the waiting room and paused at the bottom of the steps.

“Hello? Girls!” she called out up the stairs. “I need you to listen to me. We have to leave this place, right now! Something evil is here.” Somewhere upstairs, the girls both giggled in response, their hoof steps running across the ceiling. Fluttershy's mouth wrinkled with suppressed annoyance. “Girls, listen to me!” she cried out, setting one hoof on the first step. “There's something evil in the bathroom of this building. It's not safe here, and you must come with me!”

The giggling was louder now. Fluttershy heaved a sigh of relief, they were coming. Then her brow knitted in confusion. They weren't giggling, they were laughing! She took a step backwards off the staircase as the laughing drew closer. The room was beginning to get colder now as the laughing started to ring with a sinister overtone. Fluttershy backed up towards the exit as she realized it wasn't getting closer, it was getting louder. Oh, sweet Celestia she needed to get out of here! Her mind began turning like slow gears as the realization finally began to dawn like Celestia's sun. Unable to find the fillies, being trapped in a room with spiders. It all began falling into place. What ever was making those sounds, weren't little foals. The laughter abruptly changed into a most hideous cackle as the sound of hoof steps stealthily coming down the stairs made themselves audible.

Fluttershy arched her spine like a cat as her teeth gritted hard. They were coming for her. From around the corner in the stairs, she could make out the ever growing shadows, slowly creeping down towards her. She spun about and fled the room, the taunting laughter ricocheting of all the walls as she spilled out of the building and onto the platform where she landed in a tangled heap. Slowly she climbed to her feet and turned.

Two little fillies stood at the door watching her, their hazel eyes blinking with a curious expression. Both were identical twins, with a charcoal grey coat and long, straight beige manes, much like Pinkie Pie in her younger days. Both of them lacked a cutie mark, and Fluttershy just tilted her head at them in confusion.

“Won't you come in and play?” Fluttershy realized that both of them had spoken in unison. Their voices sounded low, almost afraid, much like her own.

“Umm,” Fluttershy squeaked. “No,” she said, taking a tentative step away from the two fillies, refusing to remove her gaze from them.

“Please,” they pleaded. “We've been alone for such a long time.” Their voices were firmer this time.

“No,” Fluttershy stated. “You're trying to trick me. You're not real.”

At this accusation, the innocence of the two fillies was blown away in a sudden gust of wind that rolled down the length of the platform as a rug unfurling. Their faces grew cold and dark, as their lips literally split apart to form a Glasgow grin, pulling back to show bleeding gums filled with rows of yellow broken and rotting teeth. Their eyes sunk back into their sockets to reveal a blackness as dark as the night sky with only a pinprick of white iris glaring back at her. The hair from their manes grew withered and tangled, while their bodies shrivelled up to skeletons with stretched skin.

“You're a nasty pony.” Their voices echoed in a warped and impossibly deep base tone. “We don't like nasty ponies. You can play with him instead!” The office door slammed shut with a boom that made Fluttershy flatten her ears to her skull.

At the same time, she tumbled over backwards as she screamed. Quickly, she clambered to her feet, and tore off down the platform, vaulting over the rotten wooden guard rail at the end before galloping off down the train tracks in the direction of Ponyville. She did not care if another train came and she missed it. She did not even care about her lost overnight bag and the bits within. She did not even care if the clouds opened up that instant and started raining. All she cared about was getting as far away from that spooky old train station as equinely possible.

Her galloping hooves pounded fiercely on the wooden beams of the tracks as she dashed away, not even daring another glance over her shoulder, lest she should see something else. Her breath came in short, ragged gasps. Her long pink mane billowed out behind her as her eyes stared directly ahead of her. To either side of her the forest lay motionless, the darkness within preventing any glimpse of what lay even five feet beyond the tree line. Ahead of her, the track curved around to her right. She kept up her frantic pace, not even wishing to slow for an instant until she was sure that, that haunted train station was far behind her.

Ahead, the tracks straightened out, before they curved around to the left. Flutteryshy galloped on, concentrating on her own breathing and the tracks before her. As she rounded the corner, the tracks straightened out and she almost screamed with joy. There was another train station ahead of her. Oh, thank Celestia. She nearly wept tears of joy as she quickened her pace towards her salvation. The Station lights were like a beacon of hope.

She blinked back the tears welling up in her eyes, as she focused on the new station: And came to a shuddering halt. Oh no. She gaped in horror at the familiar two story wooden building, with its faded, flaking paint and dirty stone platform, its familiar broken welcome sign. Its dark, forbidding tunnel way. No. Dear sweet Celestia no! This was impossible! She spun around, looking back down the track she'd just came, before turning back to face the station, its silence cruelly mocking her. Slowly, she inched her way down the track, keeping her eyes focused on the train station.

Observing the station building from her position on the tracks, the tunnel in the middle, along with the windows on buildings either side, formed a face of sorts. Was it her imagination or was it laughing at her. She paused in mid step, perhaps a bit too long, as she found herself gazing into its terrifying features. At that moment, a sudden wind blew through the tunnel, howling eerily through the old structure as it gushed down the halls out onto the platform, to ruffle her pink mane. She visibly shivered.

When she looked up, the face appeared to have changed. The grime covered windows appeared darker, staring straight ahead, almost scowling. The tunnel entrance appeared lighter, highlighting the various doors along its length, looking like jagged teeth. The wind howled again, louder this time. Fluttershy screamed as she jumped into the air, before spinning her little legs wildly and zooming off down the track as fast as her beating wings could take her.

As she flew down the tracks, she could've sworn the forest seemed darker than before. If it was she didn't care. She just had to get away. Tears streamed down her cheeks as she flew. Oh why, why was this happening to her? What had she ever done to deserve this? She increased her pace, dangerously taking the corners in a manner that would make even Rainbow Dash frown with disapproval. She did not care.

As she rounded a bend in the tracks, another train station awaited her a little ways ahead. She screeched to a stop in mid-air. It was the same train station. Fluttershy franticly looked back the way she'd come. She briefly entertained the idea of galloping back the way she'd came, but she just as quickly dismissed it. No, most likely she'd just end up back at the station again. No matter which direction she went, she could not escape the station. She turned to look at the forest. The tangled leafless branches almost appeared to bend slightly, almost parting, as if inviting her in. She shivered so violently that her wings locked up and she landed on the tracks below. No way was she going in there.

She turned back to the station, before looking both ways down the tracks. No matter which direction she took, she'd end up back at the station. What could she do? She blinked in sudden realization and face hoofed. Oh, how could she forget what she was? Crouching, she spread her wings out, gave a quick test flap, then launched herself into the air.

Her wings beat just as furiously as when she'd been flying down the tracks. Up she rose, higher and higher towards the starless and moonless night sky. After she'd flown up high enough, she paused to survey the ground below. What she saw almost caused her wings to lock up again in disbelief. Below her lay the train station, surrounded by the forest. However, the tracks heading in both directions just disappeared into the blackness. So did the rest of the forest. She slowly rotated her whole body, taking in the sight below her. Like a thick fog, a wall of inky darkness ringed the forest around the train station. There would be forest, and tracks, but it would abruptly end into nothingness.

When she'd been on running down the tracks, she'd never seen that wall of fog. She followed the wall up into the air, craning her neck even further, but there appeared to be no roof. Like an invisible black bubble encased the whole area. She blinked up at the darkness above her. How high did this extend? Only one way to find out. She beat her wings once more and flew straight up. The scenery below her began to shrink in size, becoming minuscule, until she could not even make out the train station anymore. Higher and higher she flew, unable to reach the blackness that now seemed to encompass her on all sides.

How was this even possible? She could still see the ground below her, but above and to her sides was nothing but darkness. Where was the ceiling? Was there even a ceiling. Higher and higher still. Looking back down, she could not see the ground anymore. It was gone. Now blackness engulfed her completely. She let loose a panicked squeal and continued to rocket up into the sky. It had to end somewhere. She kept darting her eyes around, trying to find something. Anything, but she was lost in the void of darkness. Tears once more welled up in her eyes.

As she blinked back the tears, she screamed. The ground was rushing up to greet her. She had to drop some serious anchors and she felt the impact of the G-Forces kicking her with a vengeance as she tried to defy their will. It did not help her. She crashed to the ground with a mighty thud, sending a mushroom cloud of dust billowing up into the air. For what felt like an age, she lay there groaning in pain. Gingerly, she tested her limbs, and then her wings. They ached, but thank Celestia they weren't broken.

She groaned loudly this time, as she shakily rose to all four feet and looked around. Her heart sank as the first thing she laid eyes upon was the train station. She had landed just in front of the tracks, right before the train station's sadistic grinning face. Now her own face twisted into an expression she hadn't used since she had been a terrified little filly.

“Why won't you let me leave!?” There was no answer. Her eyes narrowed as the tears blurred her vision. “What-,” she blubbered, her words interrupted as she gave a little hiccup. “What is it you want from me!?”

Through the soundless night air, there came a loud creaking sound, as a door opened on rusty, unused hinges. Fluttershy blinked away the tears, before noticing what was now different about the building. Deep inside the tunnel, towards the station exit, the bathroom door was now open wide. A flickering light now blinked from within.

She took a step backwards. The bathroom. Her body shuddered violently at the memory of the sensation that had cork-screwed up her spine that last time she'd tried to go in there. She turned to look in both directions of the train tracks. No matter which way she went, she'd just end up back here. She turned around fully to face the dead looking forest. The trees seemed to bend towards her, reaching out as like fingers as if to grab hold of her and drag her into their dark depths. Her bottom jaw shivered, causing her teeth to chatter noisily.

She bit down hard, silencing the clattering teeth. Then she turned back to the train station. The bathroom door still hung open, inviting her inside. What could she do? The only logical thing she could think off would be to stay right where she was until the sun rose. Would that even work? Looking up at the starless, moonless night sky, she began to wonder if the sun would ever rise. She'd tried to fly away with as much luck as running. She was trapped here, with no way out.

Looking up at the sky, she tilted her head in contemplation. Where was she? Was she even in Equestria? Was she in another dimension? She looked down at the ground she stood upon. If she stayed right here, what would happen to her? The sun may never rise, and she would starve to death. But if she went into the bathroom, what would happen to her? Something was in there, something evil and it wanted her to go inside. Unless she chose to confront it, she was going to be stuck here. Forever.

She wasn't going to be stupid enough to just wander into the bathroom. However, she could not go anywhere else. She wasn't daring to risk the forest, and just staying put would not solve anything. What was she going to do? Her mind flashed back to a comment Applejack once made. Stuck between the devil and the deep blue sea. Applejack. She gave a mournful whimper. Oh, what she wouldn't give to have her friends beside her right now. She paused thoughtfully. What would her friends do in this situation?

“Oh, what would Rainbow Dash do?” Fluttershy moaned. She furrowed one brow. Rainbow would just fly on in there, and smash up whatever looked at her funny. No, that's not something she could do. Rainbow Dash was strong. She was not. “What would Twilight do?” Twilight would just use her smarts and cast a magic shield around her. She gave a sad sigh as she felt around her forehead for a horn that didn't exist. She gave a louder, sadder sigh. She didn't have smarts or alicorn magic. “What would Applejack do?” The Earth Pony was brave. She'd confront whatever was in the bathroom and wing it as best as she could. Her eyes went wide with realization. No. Applejack wouldn't just go in there with nothing but her wits and bravery. She'd construct some form of defense for herself before she did.

She now eyed the two structures on either side with renewed vigour. Surly there would be something in there she could use. The only problem was what would be good against evil spirits? She fluttered up off the tracks and landed before the tunnel entrance. She eyed the bathroom door, before looking left at the entrance to the staff room. Her whole body tensed up. No way was she going back in there. So, she turned right and observed the nearest door on the other building.

Slowly she walked over to this new door, reached out a hoof to it, and hesitated. Were those ghost twins in this building, as well? She turned her head as if looking towards the bathroom before turning her head back to the closed door before her with a determined look in her eyes. She'd just have to chance it. The only way out of this place appeared to be inside the bathroom. There was no way she was going in there without some form of protection, and the only way she'd find it would be to search the building. Besides, those ghost twins had not tried to kill her. Yet.

For the longest time her hoof just stayed against the door, not budging an inch. Finally, she swallowed the fear building up in her throat and mustering all of her courage, pushed.

Act II

View Online

The door swung open to bump against the wall inside. Fluttershy leaned forward into the darkness and looked around. The room was indeed dark, but light from the outside helped illuminate and highlight many of the rooms features.

The centre of the room was taken up by a massive stationary one-cylinder single-acting diesel engine generator which was cordoned off by a small metal fence with gaps on each side to allow for maintenance. The whole piece of machinery was stained a sickly dirty brown rust and shrouded under a layer of cobwebs. She eyed it, before turning to look outside at the station lights. She turned away, suppressing the panic welling within to look back into the room. To her left were stacked numerous barrels, two high, that reeked of diesel. To her right lay a small work desk, with three drawers, a small two layer shelf that held not books, but paper work in old folders. Behind the engine, on the left side, she could make out what looked like a row of three lockers and a bench. Opposite this was a set of stairs that led up to a catwalk which in turn, ran along the edge of the room and out over the generator. Over by the far end of the catwalk, the section that ran along the wall, was a door with a sign on it. There were four ceiling lights and all four of them were smashed.

Curiously, Fluttershy walked over to the desk and chair, to see what the paperwork said. She stepped around a candle holder which lay on the floor next to the desk, the candle long since melted into a hard, glossy puddle all over the floor. The papers on the desk were nothing more than a maintenance schedule for the engine; Its sole purpose was to power the electric lights. On the left side of the desk sat a folder label 'Accident Reports,' and opening it up, she saw that it was full of notes ranging from ponies getting small cuts from broken glass to getting hit by kitchen ware, and even the death of those twins she'd read about in the paper. At the very back, was a newspaper clipping. There was no picture or headline. Some pony had just cut out the story.

A sorrowful day today, as the building of the new train station was marred by the tragic death of the gallant labourer, Pickin Shovel. While digging out the foundation of the stations bathroom, Mr. Shovel accidentally broke through the roof of an underground cave system and plummeted to his untimely death into the caverns below. "It was all so sudden," one co-worker was quoted saying. "One minute he was just digging, the next thing there was... In all my life, I've never heard such a scream." Volunteers have been searching the caverns below for Mr. Shovel's body but have yet to find it. Our hopes and prayers go out to the family he has left behind.

There were indentations showing through from the other side of the clipping, and turning it over, she saw that some pony had scrawled on the back, 'They never did find the body.' Fluttershy put the clipping down and closed the folder. Looking over to the right side of the desk, was a small in-box with more paperwork stacked within. Sitting atop it all, was what appeared to be a hoof written letter. She picked it up and read it.

“Dear Ratchet Gear. It is with no shame in my heart that I write to you this letter of resignation. Too many bizarre, unexplainable events have been occurring around here, and I need to get out before they get me; Just like they got Hickory. I don't care what you say, and you can curse my name to the pits of Tartarus. I've been running this night shift longer than any pony else, and I'm scared out of my mind. There is something seriously wrong with this building, from the foundations to the very rooftop. I cannot stay here any longer, and if you're a smart pony, you won't either. Regards, Sprocket Wheel. Chief Engineer: Night Shift.”

Under the letter was an open envelope. The letter had not even been folded to fit it. Fluttershy immediately left the table to wander over to the lockers, thinking there might be something useful in there. The first locker was rusted shut, but the second locker opened to reveal diddly squat. Opening the third door, she was rewarded with a treasure trove of items. It appeared to belong to a repair pony, for there were numerous tools neatly placed in pouches that hung inside the locker.

On closer inspection, many appeared to be missing. However, there were still nails, screws, a rolled up tape measure, a matchbook, a claw hammer, an oil lantern, a ruler, and even a set square lay pushed away in the back. Fluttershy looked at the oil lantern. Looking around at the dark area's inside the room, this would be mighty handy considering the lights inside weren't on. She leaned inside and carefully picked it up with her mouth. Opening up the tiny glass door, she frowned around the brass handle as she saw that there was no oil within.

With the lantern handle firmly secured between her teeth, Fluttershy looked off to her right. If there were an oil lamp, then surely there would be oil in here somewhere. There was a work bench, hidden in the darkness. There were objects scattered all across the table top, but she wasn't able to make them out. However, she was able to identify one object, nestled up against the side of the table. An oil can.

She trotted over to it, and putting down the lantern, lifted up the can. To her relief, it was heavy with oil. She was careful to remove the cap, and pour the oil into the lantern before heading back over to the locker to fetch the matches. They were old and broke easily as she snapped them off. Finally, she got one and managed to light it, thus lighting up the oil lantern. Closing the door, she picked it up with her mouth and shone it around the back area of the generator room.

The bench that had been cloaked in darkness was revealed to show machine parts and pieces of plumbing pipes strewn all over it. Walking over, she noticed a dust covered clipboard hanging down beside the bench. Putting down the lantern, and picking up the clipboard, she blew the dust off in a great cloud before angling it so that the information could be made legible in the light. The name at the top read H. Dock: Maintenance Engineer. The sheets were a check list of problems that were obviously in need of repair. There were the usual, lights, electrical cords, track switches.

Proceeding down the list, there was a tick next to each problem, followed by a comment by Mr. Dock. The first one was labelled, 'Bar Room: Suspected lights to be faulty.' Mr Dock had ticked it off as completed, and in the comments section wrote, 'Suspect you are right.' A muffled giggle escaped Fluttershy's closed lips. The rest of the comments were professional, but there was still the occasional smart aleck response, as he repaired problem after problem. When she neared the bottom, the ticking and comments stopped, right at the problem marked, 'Bathroom Pipes: Possible Leakage, constant dripping noise heard.' She put the check list back on its hook and retrieving the lantern, moved away from the bench.

She was now behind the massive engine. Its rusting, hulking iron form looming over her like a mountain, engulfing her within its dark shadow. From behind, and in the dark, it looked foreboding. Fluttershy found herself staring at it a lot longer than she should've. She tilted her head slightly. There appeared to be some kind of growth attached to the back of the machine, but in the darkness she could not make any details what so ever. She hoisted the lantern up to bathe it in the light, but the instant she did, the growth disappeared. Fluttershy just gasped, almost dropping the lantern. Experimentally, she turned the lantern away and placed a hoof over it to block out the light. The instant she did, the growth reappeared. Only this time, it appeared to be in a different position.

She quickly removed her hoof and bringing back the light, banished the darkness once more. The growth was gone again. Cowering a little as she bent down to retrieve the lantern, she walked on, moving out into the more lit areas of the room. Darkness in this room was definitely not a place to linger long within.

Ahead of her were the stairs that lead up to the catwalk. Fluttershy followed it with her gaze, the lantern lighting the way. It ran along the upper back wall of the room, before branching out to encompass the engine generator from above. She raised an eyebrow at the realization that it was for ponies to maintain and inspect the top section of the engine. Maybe no Pegasi worked here, or it was constructed for the earth and unicorn ponies.

Near the top of the stairs was an exit. She climbed up the steps and walked over to the door. The sign she'd seen earlier was a simple one that stated, 'All staff are reminded to make sure you are clean before you enter through here.' Placing a hoof to the door, she pushed. It opened with an eerie creak. Inside, the lantern revealed a narrow corridor that lead down to a door that was situated on her left. On the right side of the corridor, were windows showing only dust. Curiously, she wiped her hoof across one of them and peaked out through it. All she saw was the forest outside, and the blackness beyond.

She turned back and carefully walked down the hall. Reaching the door at the other end, she pushed it open. The room inside was dark with too many shadows and unrecognizable black objects. She hoisted the lantern and shone it into the darkness.

It was a bar room. She remembered seeing those stairs on the outside leading up to a sign with a cyder glass on it. Looking in from the door, she was in the far upper corner of the room. To her right, which was the wall the door opened onto, was a wall with windows along it and a door at its centre. To her left, at the very back, was a bar, with various bottles containing Celestia only knew what on the two shelves. Beneath those were four wooden barrels with taps. The bar counter its self was of rotting black wood, which ran across, not too far from the back wall of the room, with a break on the right side, the bar counter door in an upright position. The whole layout and construction gave Fluttershy the impression that this room had only been set up as an after though. As with the cafe counter, an ancient till sat down the far end of the bench, rusted with time. Numerous square stools were situated along its length, waiting patiently for a customer.

The rest of the room was bare. Much like the cafe in the next building across, tables and stools were stacked up against the opposite end of the room, near the windows, on either side of the door. To her immediate left, stood an ancient gramophone on a small cabinet. From the ceiling above hung four light bulbs, now black with age, while circling the room on the walls, where ever there weren't any windows, doors or shelves, were numerous paintings. Below one of the paintings, a landscape, a tarp had puddled on the floor beside a can with no label. Directly opposite Flutershy was a very familiar set of double swing doors.

Carefully, she shone the lantern around in an arc, making sure that there would be no surprises before trotting into the room. The floor boards creaked and groaned under her hooves, much too loudly for her comfort as she walked. She stopped by the cabinet holding the gramophone and eyed the ancient device, before opening the cabinet door. The inside was filled with nothing but old records, and so she closed the door with a soft click. Nothing in there would help her. She started towards the bar.

She rounded the bar counter and peered down back section, but there was nothing back here except for what she'd seen from the door. Barrels, shelves and bottles, all covered in dust. The underside of the counter did have sliding doors. She wondered down and peered into them. Glasses, bowls, empty bottles, even a bucket.

She looked up from the bar to survey the rest of the room. Her eyes fell upon the paintings that lined the walls. They were mostly portraits, with a few landscapes. Those were also very pretty. They depicted ponies frolicking and playing in parks, the beach, and even gardens. The ponies looked like they were having a great time. Their fun was artistically captured for all eternity in the paint on the canvas.

It was then that Fluttershy could feel the fur on the back of her neck standing on end. Her whole body seized up as her eyes scanned the room. She was not alone. She observed the right side of the room. The door to the generator room still hung open. Her eyes moved to the centre of the room, with the exit door directly opposite her. She looked left, towards the other wall, and the swing door. Only the two grime covered windows stared back at her, like unwavering eyes. Slowly, her gaze slid back the other way. She could not quite put her hoof on it, but the room somehow seemed different.

Her eyes came to a stop at one of the landscapes, putting the lantern down so she could get a better look at it. It was the one with the tarp and can beneath it. Four ponies were in a park. A stallion and mare took up the lower left corner of the painting, affectionately nuzzling each other as they sat atop a red and white chequered picnic blanket. Their basket was overflowing with delicious looking vegetables and hay. Their two children were in the centre, playing a game involving a ball with their dog, who was poised in mid jump. Behind them lay the rest of the park. Its neatly trimmed grass was a healthy shade of green, that was interrupted by a crystal blue river that sparkled under Celestias sun. A wooden bridge painted a light shade of red spanned the river towards the forest in the background.

Fluttershy's expression grew more intense. She moved closer towards the painting. In the background, at the edge of the forest, stood a blurry figure. It was pony shaped and stood on all fours, staring stoically off to the right at something the viewer couldn't see. Fluttershy blinked in confusion. That had not been there before. She turned to look at the other landscapes. Painting after painting revealed that they were still the same. She turned back to the new figure in the painting. It was still there. She scratched her mane in bafflement. She looked down at the tarp that had collected on the floor, and the can beside it. Curiously, she lifted the lid and sniffed at it. The overpowering smell of turpentine greeted her.

She whinnied as she snorted loudly, trying to rid her nostrils of the acrid stench. After a few more snorts, her nasal passages were cleared. Why would some pony leave a can of turpentine near a painting? Then realization struck her like a thunderbolt. Her eyes grew wide with panic as she eyed the tarp. It was just the right size to completely cover the painting. Her gaze shot back to the figure in the background.

It was looking at her.

Fluttershy went ridged. It had moved. 'Get out of here', the little voice in the back of her mind started whispering. She slowly bent down, never taking her eyes of the painting, to retrieve her lantern. Then she rose back up, and started backing away.

She then paused. An idea was starting to prance through her mind, and smiled. It was just a painting. She moved forward, keeping her eyes locked on the figure, as she once again put down the lantern and gripped the tarp with both hooves. She lifted it up off the ground, and unfolding it, threw it over the painting, before hooking it around the edges, covering it from view. She stepped back to admire her handy-work, and nearly knocked over the can of turpentine. Grunting she moved it aside, moving it beneath the landscape painting next to her, before turning back to other one. All she could see now was the dull grey tarp, the outline of the painting lining its edges. Her smiled turned triumphant. She may not be brave, but she was smart.

She turned back to the rest of the bar room. There didn't appear to be anything in the room that she could use for defence. Well, she had the lantern, but that would only work against dark rooms; not ghosts. She turned to the swing doors. They led back to the cafe in the other building, back to those giggling fillies. Did she want to take the chance of going back there? The final image she'd seen of them briefly flickered in her mind, and she had some difficulty swallowing the lump forming in her throat.

However, there could be something useful in that kitchen. Her whole body shivered violently at the memory of her last trip there, and she turned back to the bar counter. There hadn't been anything there, so she turned back to the swing door.

Her gaze snapped back to the trap covered painting. The tarp was back on the floor, exposing the landscape to her gaze once more. Again, she found herself saddled with a lack of movement. How? That was the first thought that bellowed within her mind. She had not even heard the tarp slip off, let alone hit the ground. However all coherent thoughts immediately derailed at seeing the painting.

The figure was closer. It now stood on the opposite side of the river, right behind the two foals playing with their dog. Now that it was closer, Fluttershy could see it more clearly. Its face was obscured by an expressionless white porcelain dolls mask. It wore a neat three piece suit, with a black dinner jacket, white undershirt and black bow tie, and the top of its head was crowned by a black top hat.

It was staring straight at her.

Without even uttering one squeak, Fluttershy grabbed the top of the painting and wrenching it off the wall, slamming it face down on the floor. She then gripped one corner with her mouth, and dragged it towards the door that exited to the outside. This abomination was going into the forest. She placed it down and tested the handle. The door opened. She pushed it all the way and looked out at the forest. It wasn't too far a trip if she flew. Turning back, she trotted back inside.

It was the right way up again.

Now the pony was directly in the foreground, dead centre between the fillies and the couple. It could've been her over-active imagination running wild, but the emotionless mask looked furious. She galloped over and rearing up, slammed the painting face down, hard. She then stomped her left hoof down on it, pinning it there, as she bent down, and taking her hoof of the painting, picked it up with her mouth and carried it outside. Beating her wings, she lifted herself up and gently glided over the forest. Her jaws parted and she watched with satisfaction as the painting plummeted into the dead trees below. She listened to the receding sounds as it crashed and banged until with a dull thump, the night air was once more quite.

She sighed with relief as she circled around and landed at the top of the stairs. Walking inside, she closed the door behind her, before turning her gaze to the rest of the paintings. None of them had changed. She walked up to the nearest landscape and scrutinised its background. No masked pony in a suit could be seen. She trotted over to the next. Again empty. She walked over to the last and froze. Behind her, the door was open. Leaning against the side of the door frame, was the painting, back from the forest. It even still had some vines attached to it.

Fluttershy's entire body went stiff, as her wings locked up. This wasn't possible. This wasn't fair. This painting kept coming back no matter what she did. What could she possibly hope to do against something like that? It was then that she saw it. Her fear melted away like butter in a hot summer's afternoon. Never taking her eyes off the painting, she slowly moved forward towards it and then stopped altogether. The masked pony was gone. She looked in the foreground, the background, even turning the painting around, and flipping it back again. Nothing. She picked it up and holding it upside down, shook it. Still nothing.

Experimentally, she trotted outside and heaved it over the railings, watching as it crashed to the ground below. She stared at it, closed her eyes and then opened them again. The painting was still there. She scratched her mane in confusion, then shrugging, turned about and walk back inside. Only she froze half way across the threshold.

There stood something within the shadows, over by the old gramophone. It stared back at her with black, empty eye holes. It stood still like a statue, not even so much as breathing. Fluttershy could not even move herself, as her own breath caught in her throat. A loud vinyl scratch pierced the air like a knife all of a sudden, followed by the gentle pops and clicks of static.

A pleasant sound began to fill the air. Fluttershy blinked the stupor away to realize that the gramophone was now playing. She had not even seen the needle move. Now the record spun round and round, causing the needle to bob up and down as the music played. She flicked an ear at the sounds coming from the brass tube. It was a relaxing, calming tune. Like the sounds a small music box would make.

The sounds were hypnotic. She felt her mind melting away into a sea of calm as her muscles relaxed. Yet she did not collapse. In spite of the sleep washing over her, she felt compelled to move. One hoof moved forward, followed by the other. She was inside the room without even realizing it. She wanted to stop, to know what was happening to her. The instant she did, she felt the urgency to understand just as quickly vanish. It didn't seem to matter anymore.

She was standing before a painting now. Another landscape. Ironically, it was the painting that had been next to the one she'd been trying to get rid of. This one was of some city street at night. A bar of sorts sat on a street corner with glass windows on both sides, allowing the viewer to see not only the interior, but the street behind, as well. There were ponies in the painting, all sitting at the bar counter. Her eyes went glassy. She wanted to join them, talk to them, drink with them.

She reached out with her front hoof and touched the painting. Although her hoof went right through the canvas, she wasn't surprised. The entire painting rippled like the disturbed surface of a pond as her hoof sunk in deeper. She raised her other hoof to grasp a firm hold when she knocked something over with a metallic clang. Liquid spilled out onto the floor and across her hooves as the overwhelming smell of turpentine bombarded her senses.

She cried out in disgust, stumbling back and shaking her head as the stench stung her sensitive nose. She snorted loudly several times before her passages were free of the horrid smell. Blinking a few times, she became aware of her surroundings. The first sight that greeted her was that of the landscape painting of the city bar. Only now it had changed. The city was destroyed. Its buildings in the background reduced to crumbling, charred husks. The streets were cracked and broken, with sections jutting up into the air. Tongues of flame licked out from within their depths, casting disturbing shadows of desperate hooves, reaching in vain for the surface from deep within. The bar its self was a ruin. The windows were smashed while the ponies inside were horribly disfigured, their fur falling off, their skin rotting away to reveal muscles, eye sockets, exposed grinning teeth, and bone beneath.

Fluttershy screamed as she stumbled backwards, away from the grizzly sight before her. Then her memory of the previous events returned as a flash flood, and her gaze swung over to the gramophone.

The masked pony now stood in front of the ancient device, staring at her. The neutrality of the masks expression was gone, replaced with one of rage. Wrinkles now adorned the mask's brows and cheeks as its eye holes were narrowed to dangerous slits and the mouth was twisted into a perfect upside down crescent moon shape.

The music began to filter back into her ears all of a sudden, and she felt herself start to get hazy. No! She could not let herself be snagged again. The music. She had to stop the music, but how? She couldn't just run over and stop the machine, she was already finding it difficult to move and she doubted she'd even make two steps towards it. Even now, she could feel her mind clouding over once more. What could she do? The spilt can still lay at her hooves. On the spur of the moment, she struck out hard with her front leg, kicking the can and sending it flying towards the gramophone. She missed. The can smacked against the side of the wooden cabinet, and glancing off, struck the masked pony in the face with a dull 'thwacking' sound.

There was a loud warped screech, like some pony harshly dragging a needle along the length of a delicate record with little regard, and Fluttershy's ears flattened back against her head. The can clattered to the floor and she could smell the turpentine. There must have been some still left in the can for she could see a small trial trickling out to puddle on the floor. She look up at the masked pony and shrieked with horror.

Its face was ghastly, twisted and melted. Its mouth and eye holes drooping as the whole face sank heavily to the left. The screeching sound was now a low agonizing groan as it seemed to stagger from some unseen weight.

Before she could even twitch, the creature abruptly exploded into a tornado of swirling jet black paint that twisted and somersaulted through the air, before corkscrewing right into the painting Fluttershy had been about to climb into.

Fluttershy stumbled backwards, before looking back at the painting. Nothing. The horrible fun-house mirror image she'd seen as she was about to step into it was gone. There was nothing different about it from the first time she'd seen it. The masked pony was nowhere to be found. Still, just to be on the safe side, she picked up the can. There was still some turpentine left within. She was about to splash it on the painting when she stopped. Her eyes narrowed.

No. This was wrong. This wasn't her.

She lowered the can. Yes, this thing had tried to imprison her, but she wasn't going to resort to stooping to its level. She was Fluttershy; The Element of Kindness. This place was full of monsters, and there was no way in Tartarus that she was going to become one herself. She tilted her head slightly in deep thought. Still, just because she was kind did not mean she was stupid. She had to take some precaution against this thing should it decide to come back for round two. Looking around, she spied the old tarp, and picking it up, placed it over this painting, covering it up completely.

She briefly wondered if she should not bother trying that. This hadn't worked the last time. However, she had wounded it, forcing it to retreat. Licking her lips, she decided to conduct a little test. She turned her back, closed her eyes, before opening them and spinning around, the can held ready just in case. The tarp was still there. She shrugged. Maybe it was too weak from the turpentine for round two.

She rubbed a hoof to her chin, before looking around at the rest of the paintings in the room. What if it could move between them? There wasn't enough cloth or tarps in the room to cover all of them. Maybe she could take them down and turn them around the other way? No, that would take too long. Whatever the answer, it wouldn't be prudent to linger here any longer.

She stood back and once again surveyed the room. There was nothing else in here. She eyed the tarp covered painting. She didn't want to be in the room one second more, but where could she now go? She swung her gaze over to the set of double swing doors. That way led to the cafe, and the twins. She involuntarily shivered. She looked back to the door that would return her to the generator room. She tilted her head slightly in thought. Maybe there was something else back there that she missed. Something she overlooked? Anything to get out of this creepy room.

After picking up the lantern, she trotted back and pushed open the door to the corridor. The inside seemed somewhat darker than before. She looked out the windows and just like the last time, saw only the forest outside. She looked down the hall towards the door, open and inviting her back into the generator room. She hesitated a little. Something was not right. Slowly, she tip-toed down the hall towards the door at the far end. Each and every hoof step causing the floor boards beneath to creak and groan. As she neared the door to the generator room, she paused. She strained her ears, listening to the sounds of the night. Her left ear flicked. There it was again. A sniffing sound. Her eyes narrowed as she carefully put down the lantern, lowered the light intensity to a dull flicker, before pushing it behind her. She did not want the light to attract whatever was making that noise. Once finished, she stared ahead of her at the open door. All she could see was the tops of the stairs. The sounds came again, much more audible than before, followed by the clatter of cans being knocked over.

Then, like distant thunder, a low rumbling growl echoed up from the room below. Fluttershy's bottom jaw twitched with trepidation. Something metallic crashed onto the floor, ringing loudly throughout the building. The renewed growling reverberated through the narrow corridor, almost causing it to vibrate. Fluttershy took an uneasy step backwards, almost kicking over the lantern. Through the door, she could not make out anything as all light in the room was gone, leaving no shadows to cast. All she could make out were the various outlines of the catwalk, which shook to the sounds of something stomping, intertwined with heavy claws raking on the cement floor. Something large.

The sounds grew closer as the shaking grew more intense. They paused at the bottom of the stairs, plunging the entire night into an eerie calm. Fluttershy held her breath, and her wings started twitching nervously. She tried to sink her head back into her mane and she felt a bead of sweat trickled down the side of her face to land with a loud plop on the floor. It might have well been a cannon shot.

An intense sniffing resounded from the generator room. There was a heavy foot fall, followed by another, and another. Ahead through the door, Fluttershy could see the catwalk beyond, trembling. Another heavy step. Another. The railings were jumping wildly from something. Something heavy was climbing up the steps. Towards her.

A shrill scream shattered the night air, and it took only a few seconds to realize that it was her own. She jumped into the air, wings snapping out, and she flew down the rest of the corridor towards the open door. Reaching it, she did not wait a second longer. Grabbing the door, she slammed it shut with an almighty bang and reached down to secure the lock. Only there was none. It needed a key. Terror froze her entire body, causing her wings to lock up and she fell back to the floor with a thud. The sounds were at the top of the stairs now.

Looking up at the wooden door before her, Fluttershy did the only thing she could think of. She threw her weight against the door and dug her hind legs into the floor boards, determined to hold her ground. Then she listened.

The air was silent. The noises had ceased. Carefully, she placed an ear to the door. Something scraped on the opposite side and she jerked her head back. There was a low insidious growl, before something slammed against the door, hard. The whole frame buckled from the impact and Fluttershy screamed again, pressing her back up against the door even harder. Praying that it would hold. Again the door was struck, jarring the whole frame, bending it under the pressure. She clenched her teeth so hard she feared that they would break.

A frustrated growl slid through the cracks of the door before it was hit hard all of a sudden, breaking it right at the middle. Fluttershy was sent flying backwards from the impact, her scream echoed loudly up and down the corridor. She hit the side of the walls and bounced painfully off, before landing in a tangled heap on the floor. She winced in pain, as she opened her eyes to the sight of a bright white light. The lantern. She shut her eyes again as the light stung them, but quickly pushed it to the background, as she shakily rose to all four hooves and turned towards the now shattered door, ready to face her new tormentor.

There was only an empty door frame.

Fluttershy's face scrunched up in confusion. She blinked a few more times, but the same empty sight was still present before her. Fluttershy stood as still as she could on her trembling legs, listening; But there was only silence. Her muzzle wrinkled with confusion. What, in the name of Celestia, had just happened? She strained to see the generator room beyond the door frame, but all she could see from the light cast by the lantern was the walls the catwalk and a few shattered ceiling lamps.

She paused, her eyes floating back down to the lantern. Or rather, the dull, flickering light she reduced the flame to without having to turn it off completely. Her mind travelled back to when she'd been behind the generator, and she'd seen that obstruction in the shadows and it had vanished the instant she flashed the lantern on it only to return once she'd covered the light. Whatever that thing was, it could not exist in the light. Without taking her eyes of the doorway, she increased the brightness of the lantern, before reaching to grip the handle with her teeth.

Carefully, she took a step backwards. Another, then another. She was halfway down the corridor before it even registered. Quietly, she turned around and exited back into the bar room, closing the door to the corridor behind her. She muttered with frustration around the lantern handle upon finding no lock. Fluttershy quickly glanced over at the landscape painting which, thank Celestia, was still covered with its tarp. Another quick survey revealed no mysterious masked ponies in any other paintings. Still, she didn't stay in this room any longer. She moved the lantern so that it illuminated the swing doors, which led back to the cafe.

She still hadn't found anything useful in this building, and she did not want to spend another second in it. Those fillies haunted the other building. Could she risk running into them again? She cautiously walked over to the swing doors and angling the lantern, shining it through their round windows. The hallway on the other side was empty. She could see the windows lining both sides of the hallway, and the double swing doors at the other end, but that was all. Experimentally, she pushed open one of the doors and stuck her head into the hallway. Shining the lantern this way and that, revealed exactly what she'd seen from the window.

A loud, bellowing roar shattered the quite. Fluttershy spun around, facing the wall at the opposite end of the room. With horror and understanding, she understood that it had come from the door that led back to the generator room. What remained of the destroyed door was shattered as a loud, rhythmic thumping began to work its way down the corridor. She could see the walls shaking from the excessive pounding as something very large crashed and banged towards the still closed door that exited into the bar room. The very bar room she was inside.

Panic seized her mind as she watched with wide eyes, the tremors causing the handle to shake. Then, with a soft clock, the door swung open to bang against the wall behind it and start swinging on its hinges from the vibrations that were shaking the whole room. That thing was back, and it was coming for her. Instinct took over as she swung the lantern and aimed it straight at the open door. Just as before, the crashing and banging stopped. Fluttershy smiled around the handle in her mouth.

A sharp gust of wind flowed past her from behind ruffling her whole body, causing her to shiver from the chill air as it enveloped her whole body like a breeze straight of the icy north. Without warning, the light within the lantern suddenly flickered out, plunging the whole room into darkness.

Fluttershy's whole body stiffened with fear. How had that happened? The glass door was closed. She dropped the lantern, frantically opening the door and attempting to get the light back on.

The roar of triumph that followed rocked Fluttershy to her core. She turned her head towards the open door, as the lumbering sound lurched forwards, causing the whole door frame to shiver as her own body. Panic gripped her. She could not even move as she stood there, half crouched over the lantern, eyes locked on the ever shaking door frame as the growling and snarling grew louder.

The hallway behind it began to grow darker, as if it were being swallowed up by the nothingness in the sky above. A low, guttural sound emitted from just beyond the doorway that caused the whole room to vibrate, rattling the lantern, before heavy foot falls started forward. That seemed to wake her up from her frozen stupor. Not even uttering a sound, she spun and flung open wide the double doors, before pounding down the hallway towards the identical set situated at the opposite end.

Then she came to a sudden halt as she realized that she'd forgotten the lantern. However, all that was shelved in favour of another realization. The air was silent once again. There were no crashing sounds, no hideous roaring, no shaking walls. There was nothing. Standing halfway down the hallway, she listened. Rewarded with no other sounds save her rapid and frightened breathing. It was as if it never existed at all. Fluttershy stopped right there as her eyes went wide with the comprehension of that last thought.

Like a whisper, a faint tide of wind flowed up the hallway to ruffle the back of her mane. Behind her, she heard the swing door gently close shut and like a switch, the soft wind was no more. For the fleetest of moments, Fluttershy could not find the means with which to breath as she stood there in the middle of the dark corridor. Slowly, very slowly, her head turned. A shadow moved among shadows. In the dim light, Fluttershy could make out the silhouette of a small pony, a foal, now standing motionless before the door behind her.

“Welcome back,” echoed a fillies voice in the darkness.

“We have missed you,” it repeated.

Fluttershy spun back to face the door to the cafe. The other filly stood before it now. Fluttershy turned from one foal to the other, unsure of how to react.

“We were so hoping that you would come back,” the filly before the bar room door said happily.

“He always takes our new friends away,” the other said. Fluttershy turned from one to the other again. The filly before the cafe door was slowly trotting towards her. She turned to face the other one, who was likewise edging uncomfortably close.

“W-who is he?” Fluttershy squeaked, taking a step away from the nearest filly, trying to keep as far away from them as possible.

“He who has no name,” the filly by the barroom said.

“He has been here for a long time,” the other answered.

“A really long time.” They were much closer now, their little hooves creaking on the wooden floor.

“He was so kind. He let us play here, after our accident.”

“It was sad. Very sad,” they momentarily paused in their advance on Fluttershy. The one by the cafe door suddenly brightened. “But it's okay. He taught us new games.”

“Fun games,” the other was now only a few feet away. “We played with others,”

“But he would not let us finish our games.” Both fillies pouted. “He can be so mean some of the times.”

“You're the first friend we've had to play with in a long time.”

“A very long time.”

The entire hallway was getting darker now. The light from outside appeared to be dimming. Fluttershy could now only discern the outlines of the two fillies, who were now only centimetres away. Fluttershy's breathing was starting to gain more and more speed. Sweat was starting to mat the fur upon her brow as her whole body was now visibly shaking with fear. What could she do? She had no weapons, no defence. Inches away from her, they paused. She turned from one to the other in rapid succession, her paced breathing was now the only sound in the hallway.

Their eyes became luminescent, which in turn highlighted their wicked, stretched smiles full of decaying teeth. Fluttershy was frozen in terror on the spot, caught in mid breath and unable to move, her eyes locked on the horrifying image before her. The things ghastly grin grew wider still.

“You look unhappy,” it said, the voice warped like before.

“You know what would make you happy?” The other one's broken voice appeared right behind her left ear, tickling the fur around its base. “A nice, big, smile.”

Something kicked Fluttershy from behind, hard. She screamed as she sailed through the air, slamming into the set of swing doors to bounced and rolled to a stop against the wall of the cafe. She groaned, shakily raising herself to all four hooves.

Her attention was drawn to the swing doors as both of them were thrown open. The hideous laughter of the twins ricocheted all around the room, at such volumes that caused Fluttershy to cover her ears. However, the twins themselves were nowhere to be seen. Their voices appeared to be coming from every direction simultaneously, mocking her with their baleful cackling. After a foolish few hesitant seconds, she bolted for the stairs.

Something grabbed her hind legs, pulling them out from under her. Fluttershy fell to the ground, banging her jaw painfully. She wasn't given any time to recover. An invisible force grabbed her front legs, pulling them out, stretching her as another pulled from behind. Then, she was lifted into the air and flung once more across the room. She hit the counter top, bounced and rolled, her wings painfully taking the brunt of the throw as she hit something wooden and stopped.

Fluttershy's groan of pain resonated all around, as she opened her eyes to look up at the ceiling. Her whole body stiffened as she slowly rotated her gaze around the room. She was back in the kitchen, laying on top of the wooden kitchen bench. Immediately her eyes locked on the kitchen sink, but no spiders were visible.

Something grabbed her front legs again, and stretched her body flat along the bench while her legs were simultaneously yanked in the opposite direction. She was now pinned down upon the bench, pinned as a moth on a collection board. The insidious giggling filled the room.

“You need to smile.” Fluttershy spun her head to her legs, were one of the grinning fillies stood, pinning them with her front hooves. She tried to yank her legs free, but the filly held them in place with supernatural strength.

“Like all good friends,” Fluttershy turned to look above her, where the other filly stood, pinning her front legs while clutching a large kitchen knife between its rancid teeth. “We will help you.” The filly manoeuvred the knife around in its jaws, and with a wicked grin, lowered it towards her whimpering face.

Fluttershy could only stare up in bewildered horror as the knife drew closer. Slowly, the tip touched her lips, forcing them apart. The metal had a dull and old taste to it, forcing her to widen her lips so that she would not have to feel it. The edge of the knife gently slide along her mouth towards the left side. The blade paused, as above her, the grinning filly leered down at her with morbid anticipation. She stared back, unable to utter a single sound as fear choked off her vocal cords.

Then, her eyes widened with comprehension at what she was doing, and a slight glimmer of hope began to flicker deep within. Stare. Clearing her thoughts, Fluttershy concentrated as hard as she could, and stared directly into the eyes of the filly above her. The nightmarish eyes glared back at her, not even wavering. Was it working? The parageusia of the knife was starting to become overwhelming.

“Are you being naughty?” It took a few frantic seconds to realize that was the other filly speaking to her. Fluttershy did not dare take her eyes of the one above her. It just grinned sadistically back at her, not budging an inch. Carefully, she moved her muzzle so that the knife was no longer pressed up against the sides of her lips. Still the filly atop her did nothing.

Flutterhsy cried out as a sharp, stabbing pain gripped her right hind leg. She almost let her gaze drop, but her fear of what could happen if she did, kept it glued on her target. Summoning all her strength, she yanked her front legs out from the grasp of the filly above her, disturbing her petrified form.

The knife dropped from its mouth and plummeted straight down at Fluttershy's forehead.

With a sharp scream, Fluttershy rolled her head to the left, just as the knife sliced through some of her mane to land with an echoing thunk right next to her ear. The shock of nearly being skewered by the knife was immediately overridden by the throbbing pain on her right hind leg. Turning to look down, she saw that the other filly had bitten her leg. Its sickening teeth, piercing her flesh and drawing blood.

“Nasty pony,” the filly said around a mouthful of her leg. “You need to be punished.” Fluttershy screamed as pain spread up her leg like an electric shock and yanked hard. This did not pull her leg free, but it did jerk the fillies head to the side. She tried the other way with the same result. The filly held on with determination as she pulled her leg backwards, dragging her onto the table with her.
“Naughty,” the filly above her whispered in a low voice. Fluttershy turned, just in time to see the knife wrenched from its position on the kitchen table. She watched as it was raised above her head, the appalling smile positioned it once more above her head. Then it stabbed downwards. Fluttershy screamed as she jerked her head to the other side, just as the knife stabbed down onto the table, embedding its self in the thick wood.

She cried out again in pain as her right leg reminded her of the other problem. The filly above her gave a frisky sigh and pulled the knife out once more. Fluttershy turned her gaze upwards to stare into its eyes, only to pause as she saw they were closed. The knife plunged down again, and she was barely able to dodge it this time, as the blade nicked the side of her left ear. She winced at the stinging pain that ebbed from the injury.

She pulled hard on her leg as she heard the knife retracted for a third time. She could not keep this up. That filly was going to get lucky. She cast her gaze down to her leg, now numb with pain from the constant biting. She yanked her leg to the right, hard. The filly was not dislodged. It held on with almost god-like strength. She saw that her leg was perilously close to the edge. If she could move her leg a little to the side, she could throw the filly off the table. However, it was not to be, as the little monster held her leg in place. Fluttershy turned her gaze back to the one above her, now positioning the knife above her head. There was no way she'd be able to dodge it this time.

She snapped back to the filly on her leg. She was drooling with anticipation for the fatal strike that would come. Fluttershy's widened as she realized that this fillies eyes were open. She had to be quick. She stared directly into her eyes, and without even waiting she yanked her leg hard. The filly tumbled over the side. However, its mouth was still gripping Fluttershy's leg, so as it went over, it pulled her with it.

The knife came down, once more striking wood and slicing through her mane as Fluttershy was dragged over the side of the table to land in a tangled heap on the floor. Her whole body ached. Her wings were sore. Her leg throbbed. She pulled the offended leg up to feel the wound. Tiny little red holes pot-marked her leg, matting the fur. Thankfully, it wasn't bleeding uncontrollably.

Then her eyes widened as she realized that the filly had let go. She then darted her gaze around, before settling on the table side directly above her. The grinning filly with the knife glared down at her. Another sound caused her to divert her gaze towards the floor in front of her. The filly who had bitten her leg was grinning maniacally at her, as it began trotting forwards.

She looked up at the filly with the knife. For the moment, that one was her priority as it was armed. It was now climbing over the table edge towards her. Fluttershy squeaked loudly as she skittered backwards, just as the filly leapt from the table to land on the floor. She angled the knife around so that it was sideways in her mouth. Fluttershy edged backwards as they crept forwards, her injured leg causing her to limp slightly.

“You've been a bad pony,” the nearest one said around the knife in its mouth.

“You must be punished,” the other finished, leering over its twins shoulders. “Let's take away those nasty eyes of yours.” Their hideous giggling vibrated all around the room, causing a few lose items to rattle.

Fluttershy continued backing away. Her injured leg struck something with a metallic feel, and she turned as the iron poker clattered down behind her. She gasped as she realized that she'd taken her gaze of the two fillies. She spun back just in time to see them charging towards her, eyes closed. She tried to scream, but the sound caught in her throat. She couldn't use The Stare on them. The nearest one readied the knife as its position was switched to point straight out towards her, as a lance.

The poker was in Fluttershy's peripheral vision. She lunged for it, grabbing it with her jaws, and swinging her head up, using it to block the downward thrusting of the knife. The utensil bounced off the iron poker with a shower of sparks and an audible clang that rang throughout the room. Fluttershy rolled back up onto all four hooves and stood ready, holding the poker in her mouth as her body took a defensive stance.

Her brow furrowed. The twins were backing away from her, furious scowls now adorning their twisted features. Fluttershy's brow knotted in confusion as she tilted her head slightly.

“...Nasty...” the weapon-less filly hissed.

Fluttershy's gaze lowered to the iron poker clenched in her mouth. She looked back up at the fillies who were keeping their distance from her. It was as if they were afraid of her. No. Her gaze returned to the poker. They were afraid of the iron poker. Iron?
Her eyes went wide with immediate recognition. For the fleetest of moments, a memory wafted through her now clear mind. A memory of her trip in Manehattan, and the mare from the Fillydelphia Iron Works. The useless jargon she'd talked to Fluttershy about returned with a vengeance, particularly the uses of iron; Both scientific and mystical. Her words replayed themselves over in her head.

“Did you know that Iron also repels ghosts? Not just any iron, deary. It has to be Cold Iron. Iron that is forged over a cold anvil can be used to ward off ghosts, witches, and other supernatural creatures.”

She eyed the iron poker in her mouth. Had this been forged over a cold anvil? It must have as the twins would not come anywhere near her. Experimentally, she took a step forward. The twins took a step backwards, emitting a deep menacing growl.

“I don't wish to hurt you,” Fluttershy said around the poker in her mouth, “But leave me alone!” She lowered her voice slightly as she added, “Please.”

The two fillies abruptly let lose a bellowing roar that shook the room, causing Fluttershy to take a frightful step backwards. She inadvertently close her eyes, but quickly opened them, only to be greeted by an empty kitchen; The knife abandoned on the floor. Outside the kitchen, she could hear the swing doors, leading back to the bar room, flapping.

“Nasty pony!” she heard. “He will make you scream!” Silence once more filled the air.

Fluttershy blinked a few times, before looking around the room. She eyes the iron poker in her mouth, and smiled around its handle. She had some form of defense. Ghosts do not like iron. Or rather, cold iron. The shutters were still open, and it was no trouble climbing out and back into the cafe. She briefly eyed the swing doors. She would like to go back and get that lantern, however, the matches needed to light it were back in the generator room. And there was no way she was going back in there without a light.

Besides, she could not exactly hold a lantern and a poker at the same time. It came down to having some light, or defense. She sadly shook her head. The lantern was a lost cause. Not wanting to go back into the bar room, she headed down the stairs and back into the waiting room of the station. She passed through the doors into the staff room, pausing to stare at the ominous message on the wall.

Realizing it was the wrong bathroom, she eyed the wash-room. What was in there? Something useful? More matches? More ghosts? She readied her poker, as she trotted over to the door, and pushed. There was nothing in here. Just a long dead light bulb, a stained mirror and basin sink with an inkwell and a quilled pen perched on its side. Fluttershy frowned at that. She was about to question why this would be here when she spied the note; Folded up in the sink. Carefully, she picked it up and unfolded it. It was a hoof written note that some pony had rushed. Angling it so that she could get some comprehension, she started to read.

“I write this letter as my last confession. To leave behind some form of an explanation as to the actions that I undertake this night. Ever since this wretched train station was built, too many inexplicable events have been taking place. At first, I blamed that tragedy that occurred when the pit toilets were being dug out. No pony knew there were caverns so close to the surface, not even the surveyor. His records clearly showed that. Then the rumours began flying, and when ponies started disappearing on the night shift, I naturally assumed that they were quitting out of fear. I know better now. I've been in the bathroom. Sprocket Wheel was right all along. A curse is on this building, and now it's after me. There is no way to inform the Princess of this nightmare, and I cannot wait it out till morning. Even as I write this, I can hear its minions prowling the halls, searching for me. It's only a matter of time. I have made up my mind. I must burn this unholy structure to the ground, leaving no trace of its horrid existence. Farewell. Ratchet Gear.”

Fluttershy refolded the note and put it back in the sink. She looked around the tiny wash-room, gave a sad sigh, and exited back into the office. A quick search turned up no extra matches. She exited the building and found herself once more on the platform as she slowly walked over to the tunnel. Looking down its dark length, she spied the bathroom door, still ajar with the flickering light, blinking from within. She glared at it, before biting down hard on the handle of the poker.

“All right,” she muttered. “Now I am ready.”

Slowly, she put one hoof forward, then the other. Her hoof steps echoed loudly, rebounding off the walls as she carefully made her way down the darkened tunnel towards the open bathroom door and its ominous flickering light. Reaching the door, she peered inside.

The light-bulb that she'd believed dead was giving off a static flicker of light. The frayed cord that connected it to the ceiling spat loudly, throwing a small shower of sparks. Fluttershy eyed the open door. Doors did have a habit of closing by themselves around here. She'd need to find something with which to prop it open, should it decide to close with her still inside.

She reminisced about her breaking and entering attempts before, her mind flashing over the pile of broken bricks she'd found behind the building that she'd attempted to use to get inside. She trotted around the back and yes, they were still there, shoved up against the building. Searching among the piles, she found three that were still stuck together by mortar. Perfect.

Grabbing it with both front hooves, Fluttershy started dragging it back around. After much grunting and sweating, Fluttershy managed to drag the bricks all the way to the bathroom door. Wiping a hoof across her forehead, she pushed it until the door was fully back against the side of the building. No way was this door going to close on her mysteriously.

Retrieving the iron poker from her wing, Fluttershy walked into the bathroom with renewed confidence. She bit down harder on the handle, doing her best to ignore the cold sensations as she set one hoof, then another inside. Finally, she was standing fully within the bathroom.

Above her, the flickering light bulb cast dancing shadows across the bathroom walls, lighting up the whole room with the occasional spark from the frayed cord. She took a deep breath and walked further inside, mindful of the sagging floor. Her hoof steps tapped loudly on the tiles as she walked, intermixed with the constant, drip, drip, dripping of water somewhere within the impenetrable dark recesses of the bathroom. Fluttershy's legs quivered involuntarily with each step. She could fell the darkness of what ever lay within this cursed place. It was unnerving, unsettling and frightening. Her breathing came in ragged gasps, as her throat threatened to tighten up and choke of her air supply.

She reached the area before the trough and the stalls and she stopped. Slowly she looked over her shoulder. Behind her, the exit still hung open. Quelling her deep agitation, she turned back to the room before her. At the far end of the bathroom, the plaster wall was highlighted every time the light flickered on, revealing a rotten, crumbling hole that exposed wooden support beams and rotten insulation. She turned to look at the long rectangular mirror. Her own scared portrait blinked back at her. She turned to look the stalls beside her. Every door was closed.

Slowly, she walked over to the first door. The consternation within was welling up and threatening to boil over. Still, she did not turn or flee towards the exit, instead reaching out a hoof to place it on the door. Clearing her throat as softly as she could managed, and holding the iron poker up before her, she pushed on the door. It swung open to bang softly against the side of the stall. Nothing greeted her. Well, not entirely nothing. There was an empty rack for the paper, and a pit toilet. Her gaze zeroed in on the open lid and the darkness within. She could feel her teeth clenching down hard on the poker's handle. The foreboding feelings within the recesses of her terrified mind were magnifying themselves to unprecedented levels. Ever so cautiously, she tip-toed over to the rim of the toilet. As she moved forwards, it appeared to her ears that the sounds of her hoof steps with increasing in volume. She did not want to look down into its depths. For two full minutes, she stood there, the front end of the poker was now visibly shaking.

She told herself that if she ever wanted this night to end, she needed to look down into the toilet. She reminded herself that the poker would protect her. It had protected her from those two fillies, so there's no reason it should stop now. One hoof moved forward, followed by the other. Now she had reached the edge of the toilet. Gripping the poker with trembling jaws, she peaked down into its bottomless depths. Nothing but darkness. This gave her the courage to lower her head even further down into the toilet. The cold, evil feeling was still present, but nothing leapt out at her or emitted unsettling sounds from below. She gave a quick sniff and was rewarded with nothing but stale air. No rank smell of raw sewage or other grotesque smells. She wasn't sure how long her head hung there like that, but the chills she was feeling were overridden as she started to feel a twinge in the back of her neck from holding that position for the lenght of time that she did.

She rose back up to her full height and turned around. The stall door was still hanging wide open. She reversed out of the stall and walked over to the second one. Again, holding the iron poker up before her, she pushed open the door. The same empty sight as before. She walked over to the toilet and peered into its depths. Still nothing. She didn't bother looking for long and she left for the third door. She wasn't as hesitant as she had been with the last two, pretty much opening the door straight away. The door started to swing back but she quickly shot out a hoof and held it open. An empty stall greeted her gaze. She did not bother peering into the toilet and instead let go of the door and moved down to the Fourth stall. She anxiously put her hoof to the door, and taking a deep breath around the handle of the poker, pushed it open. The fourth rewarded her with the same empty sight. She left the stall and moved towards the fifth. This was the last one. Readying the poker once again, she reached out a hoof and shoved open the door, aiming it directly in front of her. The door banged against the side of the stall and swung back towards her, much like the third stall door had done. She caught it and pushed it back open. Empty. A slight crest of disappointment rose within her body, only to be submerged under a wave of relief. It had been exactly identical as the other four.

Still nothing. She walked inside and peered down into the toilet. Only the darkness stared back at her. She sniffed more thoroughly this time. Only stale air flowed through her nose. No smell of sewage, no smell of rotting dead bodies, and no sounds of any malicious monsters from below.

She backed out from the stall and looked over at the crumbling wall. It proved to be about as interesting as the stalls. The plaster had rotted away to reveal the wooden skeletal beams behind along with some rotten insulation that appeared to be the only thing imitating any sort of rank smell within the entire room. Slowly, she walked down remainder of bathroom hall towards the hole, the poker protectively guarding her. Reaching the hole, she attempted to peer into the space between the wall but the limited light refused to show anything of interest. Eventually, the foul smell of the insulation forced her to withdraw.

Still cautious, she turned around and walked back towards the exit, the echos of her hoof steps being the most prepredominate sounds in the room. She stopped halfway down the hall and looked at the door. It was reassuringly still open. She strained her ears to listen for the sounds of telltale little hoof steps. Only the dripping of the water from some unseen leaking pipe and the static sparking of the frayed lightbulb cord were the only sounds she heard. As she turned back to the stalls, she took one more look inside those that she could still see from where she stood. Empty. Every one of them was still and silent, their doors now hanging open. The third had swung back and closed. She carefully trod towards it. Putting a wary hoof to the door, she pushed it open. Nothing. She stood there and watched as it gently struck the side of the stall before closing by its self all over again. It had done that the last time she'd opened it. There must have been something wrong with the hinges. She backed away from the stall and turned to the trough, looking into its rusty basin. Nothing interesting here either. She cast a wary eye at the drain and the sink trap. It was rusted on tight. No way was that coming off. Still, she cautiously backed away, keeping a suspicious gaze upon it all the same. She looked up at the blotched and stained mirror. Her own confused reflection returned the stare, the iron poker hanging loosely in her mouth.

Her ears twitched as they picked up on something different. She tilted her head slightly as she contemplated what it was. Her eyes grew very large with sudden realisation. The water was no longer dripping. The constant dripping of water had been a steady background noise, but now had ceased its continuous rhythmic drops.

Fluttershy's wings folded up even tighter against her body as if to comfort her steadily growing fears. Perspiration broke upon her brow as her head shrunk inside her mane. She could feel her limbs trembling, their vibrations growing with every passing second. Her eyes began to dart nervously around the room. Was it her imagination or was the surrounding darkness actually creeping closer. The constant flickering of the overhead light bulb appeared to be dimming in response. She took a hesitant step away from the mirror and started a backwards course for the still open door as she looked around in all directions. The crumbling wall, the empty stalls, the sagging floor. The mirror.

For the first time in her life, Fluttershy understood what if felt like to have one's heart skip a beat. As her eyes fell upon the mirror, a new sound pierced the night air. The sound of the third stall door slowly creaking open. Fluttershy was unable to tear her terrified gaze away from the mirror as in its reflection, she bore witness to the said door slowly opening all the way, until it fully exposed the stall inside to her eyes. The pit toilet was still there, but from within the black hole, darkness began to creep forth, slowly reaching out like a growing spiders web, spreading to encompass the whole stall.

Two, luminescent blood red eyes situated within an inky black skinny and narrowed shaped head, that was angular and pointed at its ends, gradually emerged from the surface of the darkness, followed closely by a ghastly set of pearly white teeth, inside a narrow, hanging muzzle which stretched unbelievably long. Tall, pointed triangular ears flicked with morbid anticipation, as a long, thin neck stretched like a small giraffe, allowing the head to rise further into the air. The darkness surrounding the creature writhed and twisted, revealing that it was not shadow, but a multitude of little bipedal rat-like creatures with glowing white eyes and razor sharp teeth. Some were deformed, with no bottom jaws, or their mouths in the centre of the body, or where just nothing more than two large eyes atop a wriggling stalk. Their tiny arms waved about with a fluid motion, like tentacles as they all scrambled and tumbled over one another in a desperate attempt to fill the whole stall.

Fluttershy turned her whole body around to face the monstrosity within, the iron poker lancing out definitely before her. The stall was empty. She nearly dropped the poker in horror. She spun her head back to the mirror.

The horrid apparition blinked back at her, now grinning wickedly. She turned back to the stall. Still empty. She looked back at the mirror. It was closer now. Her entire body froze with fear. It had half climbed out of the toilet revealing inky black skin, wrapped around a slightly skinny, skeletal type body that was angular and pointed on the edges, like armour. Fluttershy spun back to the stall. Still nothing. She did not linger too long as she snapped her gaze back to the mirror.

The creature was now at the stall entrance, mocking her with its leering smile. The hundreds of rat demons were jumping at the bit, snarling and gnashing their tiny teeth at her, but kept at bay by some unseen force. Slowly, with careful and deliberate steps, she backed away towards the exit. She kept her eyes glued to the mirror and the twisted figure within. She made sure to angle the iron poker, keeping its pointed end aimed directly at the creature. Her confidence was starting to ebb and now she wasn't too sure if cold iron would do anything against something like that. But she had it, and it was her only means of defence.

A sound like a gun shot exploded behind her, making Fluttershy jump with fright, again almost losing her grip on the poker. Her gaze swivelled around behind her and her eyes widened with shock. The exit door was closed. The bricks! What happened to the bricks? Did something move them?

The breath froze in her lungs and she spun back to face the mirror.

The creature was peering around the side of the stall. Long spindly claw like fingers gripped the sides of the stall as its head leaned out, tilted horizontally as it continued to mock her with its malevolent smile. Behind it, the flowing wave of scurrying darkness was spilling out onto the tiled bathroom floor, scrambling, trying to break free from invisible leashes.

The light blinked above her, casting flickering shadows all around the room in a kaleidoscope of warped patterns as Fluttershy continued to back away. Every time the light went out, even for a split second, the creature eased its self free from the stall towards her. She had to get that door open. Carefully, ever so carefully, one hoof step at a time she backed away, keeping her eyes locked on the mirror and the poker held high.

The light bulb blinked again, causing the frayed cord to spark, showering Fluttershy below. She gave a muffled squeal around the poker, almost dropping it, but fear held her jaw shut. The bulb stuttered in pseudo morse code and went out.

Fluttershy's whole body stiffened as the entire room was plunged into darkness. The mirror. She could not see the mirror any more. She screamed around the iron poker and violently swung it in every possible direction as she skittered backwards. Left, right, up, down. She swung it hard, as she back peddled as fast as she could towards the closed exit door.

Her left rear hoof came down on the floor and went straight through it with a sickening crunch. She gasped in shock and this time, the poker fell from her mouth. She screamed again, as her leg continued its downward momentum, taking her rear with it. Within a split second, horrid realisation flooded her mind as she understood that she'd stepped on the sagging section of the tiled floor. Her wings. Her wings shot out to try and lift her off the ground but too late, as her front half followed close behind. Flapping her wings vigorously, they accidentally snagged against some unseen object with sharp edges and she screamed again, in pain this time, as broken and splintered wood tore through flesh and feathers. Her head and front legs were pulled through and Fluttershy fell sickeningly into darkness. She made one last attempt at flapping her wings but pain speared her nerves when she tried to move them and they just fluttered pathetically. She flailed her legs uselessly in the air, and the world went black, silent and slow.

Act III

View Online

It seemed to her that the fall was taking forever. Time slowed down, giving Fluttershy the opportunity to observe all that was happening. She saw the gaping hole which she'd fallen through, along with the rotten floorboards underneath, some of these were falling with her. She saw the hole grow more distant with every passing second as she pin wheeled down, down, down.

The left side of her body connected with something extremely hard, allowing time to return to its normal pace as her fall morphed into a tumble and she found herself rolling down the side of a rocky embankment. Head over hooves she went, tumbling like a boulder falling down a mountain, its path changing whenever it hit something. Each side of her body was slammed against the rock face and flipped like a chef would flip breakfast pancakes, until with a final and bone-jarring crash, she stopped rolling and landed with an audible ‘oof’ against soild ground.

Fluttershy's weak and pained moans reverberated throughout the darkness as she lay there. There was continuous thudding, smashing sounds as debris from above followed, landing all around her as the dust settled. She took her time getting up, making sure nothing was broken or dislocated. Steadily she rose to her hooves as she flexed her abused limbs, they responded with twinges of pain where the various cuts, scrapes, and bruises had manifested. Only her left wing refused to cooperate. Her right could just extend out half way before pain would shoot through the wing, causing her to pull it back in quickly. Wincing one last time, she folded it back, before looking up at the hole she'd fallen through. It was easy to see against the rest of the ceiling as the large dark black hole contrasted against the dark grey granite from above.

It was obvious to her that the hole she was now looking at had once been the floor of the pit toilet.

Rotted away from above, or destroyed by something from below?

Blinking, she lowered her gaze and looked around. Fluttershy’s eyes were starting to adjust to the darkness, and she was able to make out the basic details of her surroundings. Her bloodshot eyes widened all of a sudden as her memory from earlier returned with a vengeance. He gaze darted around the room she now resided within, barley lingering on any precise detail for more than a second. That creature. Where was it? WHAT what is? Was it down here with her? Was it still up there in the bathroom?

Although she saw no sign of the monstrous apparition, she was able to decipher her surroundings. She was in an enormous underground cavern of sorts. Stalagmites protruded down from a vaulted ceiling like melting candles. At some points, they touched the stalactites growing from below and dissolved into the ground. The ground itself curved upwards, giving the entire tunnel the illusion of a warped gaping mouth with horribly long teeth that sloped downwards on a 15-degree angle towards inky, pitch blackness.

Looking in that direction, Fluttershy felt that all too familiar, repulsive chill. She hadn't felt this cold since she visited the Crystal Empire for the first time. The ever present frigid sensation was by-passing her fur to dance across the skin beneath. It was noticeably worse than when she'd first tried to enter the bathroom. She had forgotten about her need to hide from the creature above as she stood there, her gaze frozen with fear she couldn't understand, looking in the direction that the tunnel travelled down.

A sudden breeze wafted up from the darkness to grip at her mane. As it did, she felt it pull at her, almost tugging her downwards towards the darkness. It grasped her mane, her fur, her tail and even her injured wings, both gently ruffling at them and chilling her body like a sudden winter breeze as if some unseen force were trying to coax her onwards.

And then, just as abruptly as it came, it was gone. Her whole body went stiff as a board and she found herself unable to move. For what felt like an eternity, she stared ahead of her, down, down into the gaping mouth of the cavern, staring at the unseen origin of that demonic wind. Her eyes froze, locked facing forward, directly ahead into that gaping maw of darkness, unable to tear her vision away. She wanted to run in the opposite direction, but the terror that gripped her was slowly gaining control over her body. Her limbs refused to obey her commands as they rooted themselves to the spot.

All attempts to achieve locomotion was met with violent shaking as they were locked in position. The wind picked up again, and was it her imagination or was it more forceful this time. There was now no doubt in her terrified mind that whatever evil haunted the train station lay down there, somewhere within the blackness of the cavern. Staring in vain into the darkness, Fluttershy's thoughts ticked over the inevitable questions. How long was that tunnel? Where did it lead? And most importantly, what lay and its end? An echoing silence had prevailed in answer to her questions as the darkness before her refused to give up its secrets. A silence almost identical to the one that resonated throughout the underground cavern.

It wanted her to venture forward, there was no doubt about it. It had been trying to coerce her into visiting since she first arrived. Her attempts at escape had proven rather horrifying and almost fatal. The wind picked up again, groaning as it flowed past her. The sounds it made as it streamed around her caused Fluttershy to collapse to the ground in fear, covering her eyes with her hooves. She was unaware of how long she lay there, whimpering. Now and then the wind would pick up, blowing at her, almost pulling at her. It wanted her to move. The wind shot through the tunnel like a passing train, almost roaring. Fluttershy screamed and buried her face into the ground, as the memory of that monster from the bathroom returned.

“Go away!” she cried, her words muffled by the rocky floor. Then to her surprise, it stopped. Fluttershy still lay there, trembling as she wished for some miracle to simply magic all her problems away.

Slowly, she lifted her head and peeked out from behind her mane to find the cavern still empty. Nothing was approaching her with malicious intent. Carefully, she climbed to all four hooves, wincing as pain reminded her of her wounds. Once she was fully standing, she tested her injured wings again before turning to look back up at the hole in the ceiling. Even if the creature from the bathroom were still up there, there was no way she was getting out through that hole without the power of flight. She had no choice but to journey on down through the cavern. She shot the hole a suspicious look. Where was that monster? Why wasn't it down here with her? She turned to look down the cavern. Was it forbidden to follow? Or was it something else? She turned back to the hole and briefly entertained the idea of calling out to the monster, to ask if it were still up there. She decided against it. That would've no doubt would've scored her a reprimand, or even an accusation of stupidity from one of her braver friends, particularly Rainbow Dash, but that was her nature: Kindness. She honestly felt the need to ask if she were still being followed, even if the gesture were not reciprocated.

Staring at the hole, Fluttershy lost track of time until it was clear to her that nothing was coming down to join her. In that instance, the words of her father returned to her yet again. The dark is nothing to fear, because there is nothing there but our imagination, and nothing is in the darkness that wasn’t there in the light. It was likely that wasn't the case, but the thought that nothing was there was a pleasant idea to entertain. She wasn't sure how long she kept her gaze glued to that empty black hole, but eventually she turned away and started walking down the cavern. It was clear to Fluttershy, that whatever ruled this hellish place wanted an audience with her. A sudden wind swept up from behind her, causing Fluttershy to stumble in the direction of the darkened cavern.

That message needed no translation. It didn't like to be kept waiting.

Fluttershy wasn’t even conscious to the fact that she was walking through the impenetrable darkness. Her legs continued to steadily carry her forwards. It was as if she had forgotten about all the dangers that had threatened her from before, that she was unarmed and knew nothing about either this tunnel or the dangers that lay in wait for her at its conclusion. Her conviction was that nothing posed a threat to her as long as she was following the path the wind wanted her to. At that moment, she had forgotten about her inescapable fear of the monsters. She had lost connection with the pain receptors of her body that had previously reminded her with every step that she was seriously injured.

The echo spoiled everything. Because this cavern was so empty, the sound of her steps carried both above and beyond. They reflected from the walls; they rumbled and gradually receded and passed. Then the echoes returned to her shortly after so that it seemed Fluttershy was not walking in the cavern alone. After some time, this perception become so acute, that Fluttershy's whole body was shaking like a jackhammer out of fear as her imagination conjured up the idea that the echo of her steps had a life of its own. She wanted to stop, to listen and discover the truth behind her wild fantasy. She struggled with the temptation for Celestia only knew how long as her walking pace became slower and quieter, listening to hear if this affected the loudness of the echo. Finally, Fluttershy came to a complete stop.

She stood like that in the impenetrable darkness and waited, afraid to take a deep breath, lest the sound of air entering her lungs interfered with the perceptiveness of the slightest murmurs in the distance.

Silence.

Now that she had stopped moving, her perception of the reality of space again vanished. While she was walking, it was as if she was grasping reality by the bottom of her hooves. When she stopped in the middle of the darkness of the cavern, Fluttershy suddenly no longer understood where she was.

It seemed to her, when she again began to move that the barely perceptible echo of her steps reached her ears before her hooves managed to step down onto the rocky floor. Her heart began to beat more acutely, and she tried to convince herself that paying attention to every rustle in the caverns was silly and served no purpose. For some time, Fluttershy tried not to listen to the echo at all. Then, when it seemed to her that the most recent of the fading echoes were drawing closer, she flattened her ears against her skull and continued to move forward. But even this didn’t work for long.

All four limbs were now trembling with trepidation as she walked. She wanted to stop, to curl up and pray that whatever was following her would just pass her, or preferably leave. But she was too terrified to stop, least what ever was following her would catch up. Was it that thing from the bathroom? Fear drove her forward, and away from the ghostly presence.

The echo of her hoof steps began to grow in volume. Then to her horror, she found that the sounds were getting louder in front of her, as if they were approaching. She stopped dead in her tracks, and before her the encroaching sounds did as well: Although there was a slight delay. She peered ahead of her into the darkness, hoping to see nothing in order to calm her dangerously shot nerves. Several minutes passed in which she stood there on shaking limbs, staring intently into the dark cavern ahead.

The shadows stayed motionless.

It was just her imagination. Fluttershy swallowed the fear building in her throat. She told herself that she had already been through way too much to be scared by darkness and an echo. Was it an echo? She put one hoof in front of the other as she slowly started up again, heaving a sigh of confidence as she strode forward. The echo was getting closer, there was no doubt about that. Fluttershy stopped one last time when the phantom steps could be heard about twenty metres ahead of her. This was so inexplicable and weird that she couldn’t stand it. She wiped the cold perspiration from her matted brow and with her voice cracking, shouted into the emptiness: “Is anypony there?”

The echo reverberated frighteningly close, and Fluttershy didn’t recognise her own voice. The rolling echoes chased each other into the depths of the caverns, shedding syllables: “Any pony there . . . pony there . . . there.. ..” And no pony answered. Slowly, she raised her ears from their position against the back of her head and listened. The silence was deafening. Almost imminently, the echo started to come back, repeating her question, her voice recomposing itself in an impossibly loud and warped garble of voewls that became louder, as though some pony about thirty paces away had repeated her question in a mockery of her sweet and soft voice.

Fluttershy could not endure this. Turning around, she went back, trying not to walk too fast at first, but then she started to run, having completely forgotten about not encouraging her fears. She stumbled as the pain in her limbs reminded her of her own limitations. She didn't care about going to meet the master of this place. She didn't care that she couldn't get back out the way she'd come in. All she cared about was getting away as fast as possible from whatever it was that lay before her. After a minute of running, she understood that the reverberating hoof steps continued to be heard at a distance of twenty metres. Her invisible pursuer didn’t want to let her go. Gasping, Fluttershy ran without understanding in what direction, and tripped over a large stone to crash face first into the ground. The echo immediately abated.

She lay there shaking, unsure of time its self as she listened to the sounds around her. No hoof steps could be heard. She had no idea how long it was before she could gather up the will power, get up and take a step forward. It was down the slopping cavern, the direction the mysterious wind wanted her to go. She had managed to gather some semblance of rational thought and she remembered that if she wanted any hope of seeing the dawn rise again, she had to go where the wind wanted her to. With each passing metre, the sound of steps shuffling against the rocky floor became closer, moving towards her. Only the blood pounding in her ears slightly suppressed the ominous rustling. Every time Fluttershy stopped, her pursuer stopped in the darkness as well. Now she was now sure it was no echo.

This continued until the steps sounded as close as one’s outstretched foreleg. Yelling, she blindly swung around to face where she reckoned the source of the steps had to be. Her eyes saw only the empty blackness of the cavern. Nothing stood before her scrutinising gaze. She turned back the other way and was rewarded with exactly the same vision as behind her. Time lost all meaning as she stood there in the cavern, turning back and forth, trying to penetrate the darkness with her eyes, hoping to catch a glimpse of what it was that was following her.

As soon as she caught her breath and made one more step towards her intended destination, she heard a heavy shuffling sound right in front of her. She screamed and flailed the air uselessly with her front hooves, yelling, jumping back, and moving her forelegs out to either side in an effort to seize an enemy she could not see in the darkness. All she found was emptiness.

There simply was nothing there. Fluttershy felt she was losing her mind.

Straining her eyes until they hurt, she tried in vain to see something, anything at all, and her ears tried to catch the nearby breathing of some other creature, but there simply wasn’t anything there. Having stood immobile for several long seconds, she reflected that maybe what she was experiencing wasn't some ghastly apparition of the night but that the explanation for this strange phenomenon might be something else entirely. She remembered Twilight once explaining to her the mechanics of acoustics, of how in long tunnels, sounds can be warped and twisted into something completely different.

Looking off into the darkness in both directions, Fluttershy sighed with relief. No doubt about it, she had been running not from some unseen monster, but her own shadow. A smile crossed her lips, and a low giggled escaped them. She suddenly felt embarrassed, and she could feel her skin reddening beneath her fur. “Nothing but my imagination,” she muttered.

As she brought her front hoof up to take another step towards her destination, some pony quietly whispered directly in her ear: “Remember what you are.”

“Who’s that? Who’s here?” yelled Fluttershy, breathing heavily. But no pony answered. She was again surrounded by a deep emptiness. She stood there, half crouched, ready to sprint off at a given notice. Nothing. Slowly, rising back to a standing position, wiping the sweat from her matted brow with the back of her hoof, she hurried off in the direction that she was being asked to go as fast as her bruised limbs allowed her. The phantom steps of her pursuer matched her pace as she moved in the opposite direction, gradually fading in the distance until they fell silent, and only then did Fluttershy stop.

She did not and could not know what it had been. Twilight had never told her of any phenomenon like that before, but whoever it was who whispered into her ear and told her to remember what she was. What did that mean? She was a Pegasus. She couldn't fly out of here, her wings were too badly injured from the fall. She turned back in the direction she came, no longer fearing her mysterious stalker. Curiosity now replaced her terror. Did she have a friend down here? An ally she could count on?

For an unknown lenght of time, she stared off into the darkness before finally turning away and heading off down into the cavern. From that point on, she simply walked forward, trying not to think of anything, stumbling at times over loose stones lying on the floor, but nothing more terrible happened to her.

Eventually, off in the darkness, she saw a faint glow. Fluttershy hurried her pace a little as the glow intensified. It was light! Something was lit up down here. She spurred on, in spite of the protests coming from her sore limbs. Light was safe, Fluttershy told herself. She felt a slight trepidation at the thought of what might lie up ahead, but she didn't care. She wanted out of these dark caverns.

The light eventually grew so bright that she had to shield her eyes. She squinted as she passed through the doorway and into an open room. It took some time for her eyes to adjust to the brightness after being in darkness for so long, but she was able to blink the room into focus. Then she blinked her eyes in disbelief, before rubbing them with both hooves, and blinking again. Fear was replaced by disbelief as the scene she beheld was utter madness. What she was looking at was clearly intended to be an ancient temple of sorts, but the architecture was wrong. No. It was impossible.

It appeared as if gravity the room just simply ceased to exist. Well, 'ceased to be' would be an exaggeration. It was rather broken up into three different sources, each being orthogonal to the other two. Stairs not only led up and down, but sideways. Level platforms held the illusion of imitating walls and ceilings, while grotesque statues and other arcane ornaments were upside down and horizontal, holding their position in defiance of the laws of physics. Fluttershy's gaze slowly arced across the whole room, trying in vain to grasp any logic to this nonsensical place. Here and there, granting her a better picture, sprouted flaming torches like toadstools in a forest, their flickering light casting wavering shadows all around her that held the illusion of disembodied ponies engaged in some macabre and never ending dance. Her eyes searched high and low, left and right, but the room remained the same. Slowly, with trembling hooves, she moved forwards and into the bizarre room. The path she travelled abruptly ended at a protruding platform, not too far from the entrance. With ever shaking limbs, she stepped up to the lip and cautiously peered over the edge.

The room continued downwards in an ever confusing spiral, disappearing into a jumble of walkways and doors. Tilting her head up revealed the same uncanny pattern stretching above and beyond. To both the right and left, the room corkscrewed off into an even more perplexing mess. She struggled to quell the fear within her as she observed the flaming torches, burning perfectly in an upside down position.

The explanation behind everything lay somewhere within this maze, and as much as she hated the idea, she once again reminded herself that finding it was going to be the only way she'd ever get out of this wretched place. She sounded like a broken record, constaly reminding her self of this, but it was the only motivator to keep her moving. She tried to move her wings, but they still afflicted her body with sharp pains if she so much as budged them an inch. She sneaked a peak over the edge of the platform once more. How in Celestia's name was she supposed to get anywhere in this place without her wings?

She wasn't even aware of her legs slowly moving her backwards towards the entrance to this crazy temple until the view below the platform was gone. Her ears focused on the sounds of her hooves on the stone floor as they moved her away from the unbelievable sight of the temple and back into the cave tunnel. As she approached the threshold, a new sound reached her ears. A low rumbling began to fill the air before it became a shuddering roar, rooting Fluttershy to the spot. Frozen with fear, she was unable to move, until she realised that the sounds weren't coming from the temple, but from behind her.

Her head spun, just in time to see a large stone door sliding closed, blocking her only exit from the cursed place. She raced for the door, reaching it as it shuddered to a stop, completely sealing her within.

“No!” Fluttershy screamed. “No, please, open! Open up! Let me out! Let me out!” She pounded her hoof uselessly on the door until she had to cease due to the pain that crippled it. Nursing it gingerly, she slowly retreated back to all fours, wincing at the pain as she planted her hoof back on the ground before slowly, turning back to face the temple.

The horrible conclusion which had been gradually intruding itself upon Fluttershy's confused and reluctant mind was now an awful certainty. She was completely trapped, completely, hopelessly trapped in the vast labyrinthine of this mammoth temple. Back in the caverns, there had been the hole that led back up into the bathroom, and no matter how difficult or impossible it would've been to use that exit, it had still been an exit of sorts. Now... now there really was no avenue of retreat. The air was still and quiet as the yellow Pegasus turned back to confusing vision before her. She understood that what ever resided within these illogical walls had done that as a display. It wanted her to understand there was no escape.

But where else was she supposed to go? Turn as she might, in no direction could her straining vision seize on any object capable of serving as a guidepost to set her on the right path. Nervously, she tip-toed back to the edge of the platform and beheld the maze of confusing and twisting passageways and stairs that gave the illusion of leading everywhere, and yet nowhere at the same time.

All at once, the wind picked up. It was queer in its operation, as it seemed to come from somewhere up ahead, while pulling at her mane and fur from behind. To her left, it grasped at her with invisible claws, dragging her. Fluttershy squeaked in fear as she felt her body being dragged towards the edge of the platform. The grasp wasn't strong enough to take hold of her, but it did force her towards the edge and empty air.

Her pitiful squeaks became a terrified whinnying as her front hooves began scrabbling at the lip of the platform, dislodging crumbling stone to plummet straight down. “No don't!” Fluttershy begged. “Please, don't!” Her words trailed off in a fearful scream as her front legs slipped off the platform and over the edge, pulling the front half of her body with them. Everything shot past in a blur as her vision caught a whirlwind glimpse of the entire temple as she fell over the edge.

Her jaw banged painfully against stone, cutting off her scream and transforming it into a painful yelp. Slowly, her eyelids cracked open, only to spring open completely at the vision she now beheld. She was on level ground. She blinked with scepticism before raising her head up. The world, along with herself was upside down, but her tail and mane acted as though they were the right way up. In a slightly comforting way, it reminded her of her youth in Cloudsdale, the way other Pegasi would hover upside down in the air. Many of the Unicorn and Earth Pony tribes found the sight unsettling and most Pegasi chose not to do this in front of their earth bound cousins. She hadn't given much thought to this effect until now because her Pegasus mind hadn't thought it unnatural behaviour. Only the realisation that this temple was made of stone and not clouds brought it to the forefront of her mind.

Cautiously, she rose to all four hooves and looked around. She now stood at the bottom of a flight of stone steps proceeding upwards. Following them, she saw that the stairs terminated at a narrow archway that proceeded into an even narrower corridor. Curiosity squashed her fear as turning around, she peeked over the lip of the new platform she was standing on. To her amazement, it was the underside of the other platform where she'd previously been. Beyond, the closed stone door that had been the entrance stared back at her with mocking silence. The wind pulled at her with impatience, forcing her to return her gaze to the stairs leading upwards. Or was that downwards? The phantom win pulled at her again, and she stumbled towards the steps, before finally forcing herself up on quaking limbs.

Upon reaching the top of the stairs, she peered through the archway into the narrow corridor. It travelled forward a few feet, before ending at what appeared to be a wall. Carefully, placing one hoof in front of the other, Fluttershy crept down the corridor towards the end. As she reached it, she realised that it wasn't a wall, but rather that it was another platform to yet another set of stairs leading downwards towards a ledge like catwalk that had an opening to another corridor.

Staring at it made her stomach churn as from her angle the corridor and the wall it was situated in looked like a hole in the floor. She hesitated at the first step, but the demonic wind pushed at her, more forcefully this time, giving her no other option but to proceed. Reaching the wall, Fluttershy cried out in a mixture of surprise and fear as her whole body reacted to the switching of angles. Much like when she'd first gone over the edge of the starting platform, her whole body tilted as her hooves moved from the floor to the wall-like platform as if gravity remembered it had a job to do. Her view was one of the world from a sideways perspective, but just like before, she felt no shift in weight or gravity and all four hooves remained on the stone beneath them.

Suppressing wild emotions, she forced her limbs forward, down the stairs, towards the catwalk, and she nearly tripped as she switched angles from the stairs to the wall-like catwalk. Creaping along it towards the new corridor, and with tremendous effort, she forced her shaking head to peer around the side of the archway. A flight of stairs lead down into darkness in an endless spiral pattern. In spite of the numerous flickering torches that flanked its sides, the bottom of the stairs could not be seen. The wind pushed with intensity and her whole body staggered into the new room.

Fluttershy peered over the edge and looked down through the centre of the spiral staircase. She could feel her limbs trembling as her eyes attempted to penetrate the inky blackness below. When this proved impossible, she turned to look at stairs. Like the rest of the stairs, she'd encountered in this place; they were made of stone that looked like it had been around since the dawn of civilisation. Old, and yet well looked after in appearance. She crept over to it and peered intensely at the first step.

Without even realising it, she reached out one hoof and placed it down on the first step. It felt sturdy as she tested it, before moving her other hoof forward onto the second. Nothing happened. Then she was on the third, fourth, fifth.

Fluttershy paused as she looked down into the darkness. Its secrets still remained hidden from her scrutinising gaze. As much as she did not want to go down there, the wind that flowed through these halls left with little option. Working her bottom jaw in remembrance of being forced over the entrance platform reminded her that attempting any form of resistance would most probably end in pain or worse. There was no way back, and even if she tried, that strange wind that flowed through these passages would force her down. As if on cue, she felt the wind pick up, and she turned away from the sight and continued descending the stairs.

Step after step, Fluttershy edged her way down the staircase, not bothering to look behind her to see how far she'd travelled or down to see her intended destination. Instead, she kept her eyes locked on each step before her, trying to block out everything around her.

She wasn't aware that she'd stoped, standing under the flickering orange, yellow glow of a torch and waited, afraid to take a deep breath, lest the sound of air entering her lungs interfered with the perception of the slightest murmurs in the distance. Silence reigned supreme. Now that she had stopped moving, her understanding of the reality of where she was returned to the forefront of her mind. With slow, deliberate movements, Fluttershy gradually peaked over the edge towards the ground. Nothing. The stairs vanished down into darkness; the bottom still could not be seen. She looked back up, and realised that the top of the stairwell was now obscured from her view. Like the bottom, it too vanished into the darkness.

A terrified squeak passed her lips as the shaking began anew. Her trembling body backed up against the cold, stone wall of the stairwell as she closed her eyes and wished to be home once again. She couldn't help it. That was her nature. Fear just incapacitated her at the most inconvenient times. There was a sudden roar that that echoed up and down the stairwell. It built up from below, before bellowing up past her to vanish high above. Then it returned, roaring down to return from whence it came. Fluttershy couldn't help herself. Curiosity over-road her fear and she peaked over the edge of the stairs and down into the darkness. The same empty sight from before greeted her.

Something tickled at the back of her neck, and she turned her head to look behind her. The stairwell remained quiet and devoid of life. Something persisted in her mind, and Fluttershy began to scrutinise every inch of the stone steps, walls, support structures and torches.

All at once, however, her attention was fixed with a start as from the darkness above, she heard the sound of soft approaching steps on the stone staircase. In the unearthly stillness of this subterranean stairwell, the sounds of whatever was out there were soft, and stealthy, as if they were the padded paws of some fleet-footed predator.

Instantly, her eyes shot to the darkness directly below her, only to be rewarded with the same, black empty void as above, but thankfully no sounds issued from below. She turned back, looking up the spiralling stairs, her ears straining as the steady, rhythmic sounds, increasing in volume, methodically made their way down through the darkness towards her.

High above, one of the distant torches winked out all of a sudden and Fluttershy stiffened. Another torch died and another. One by one, the torches were shutting off in a systematic pattern that descended the stairs towards her. Her legs were racing down the stairs before she was even aware of it. Running as fast as she could, Fluttershy kept her eyes locked on the stairs directly in front of her, not daring to look back.

The perusing steps were louder now, running as if to catch up with her. Fluttershy's whole body ached with pain as she increased her speed. Behind her, she could make out in her peripheral vision the torch lights winking off closer and closer towards her with the errily audible ‘woof’ of each torch as the mysterious source extinguished it. Her heart pounded fiercely against her chest, and the blood pumped ferociously throughout her body.

The torch lights above her disappeared, and she felt something grasp at her tail. She screamed as loudly as she could, as her front left hoof caught on a step, and she tripped. Fluttershy banged her face against the stone step and flipped over to land on her back before repeating her unintentional sumasalt. She kept her downward momentum going as she rolled all the way down the stairs, before finally crashing into solid ground.

She didn't even moan with pain as she lay there, shaking with fear. What had chased her? Was it that thing from the bathroom? Her mystrious ally who pursued her through the cavern? Time seemed meaningless as she lay there, unable to move. Finally, she opened one eye, and a long corridor greeted her.

She opened the other eye. She was at the bottom of the stairwell, laying before a large open door that led into another long corridor. Lifting her head, she saw that at the other end was a bright light. Light was good. She turned to look back up the stairwell, and gasped in disbelief to see tiny lights spiralling up into the darkness. It was as if her panicked flight down the stairs from her unseen stalker had never happened.

“Nothing but my imagination,” she muttered with dubiety. She wasn't even sure what was real and what wasn't anymore. This crazy temple, being perused by something that ended up being nothing. Was this the doing of the temples owner? Everything that ended up being nothing had just seemed so real. Was she losing her mind? She shook her head as she extinguish the thought.

Slowly climbing to her hooves, she turned and looked down the corridor. It was tall, long and narrow, just big enough for a pony of her size to walk down by herself. She didn't like the idea of doing that. Then again, she didn't like the idea of being down here to begin with. Hesitantly, she walked up to the threshold and placed one hoof over it. Nothing. She walked fully inside. Nothing. She was walking down the corridor before she even knew it. Nothing within jumped out to scare her. The walls were as blank and empty as the rest of the temple.

As Fluttershy crept along the corridor towards the bright light, she could feel her whole body trembling with a combination of both fear and anticipation. Again, she wanted to turn and flee, but there was no other alternative but to go forth. Each step she made with a trembling hoof was stilled as it was planted firmly on the stone ground beneath her, only to continue its tremors as it was lifted once again in sync with her body's forward locomotion.

With trembling hooves, Fluttershy edged closer and closer towards the archway. The closer she drew, the intensity of her fear was magnified. The source of everything sinister about this wretched train station lay just beyond, and she had no choice but to greet it face to face. She squeezed her eyes shut as tightly as she could, while she carefully place one hoof in front of the other when she passed directly beneath the arch.

Now she was inside the room. She stood very still as she listened to the sounds around her. The ambient background noise was identical to the one that resided outside the train station: Silence. The harsh, rapid-fire breathing emitting from her throat was the only sounds that filled her ears. Deep within her chest, her heart pounded furiously, as for what must have been the millionth time that night, her legs were unable to move.

Instead, she collapsed to the floor, covering her face with her front hooves as she shook uncontrollably at the thought of facing the final nightmare. What could it be? Some deformed monstrosity from the deepest, darkest bowels of tartarus? Was it an invisible entity with psychic powers? Or, was it already hovering over her, leering at her through glowing eyes and wicked teeth? Readying talon like claws to tear her asunder? She screamed and inadvertently opened her eyes.

There was nothing.

She blinked with uncertainty and looked directly ahead of her. A low, primitive stone altar in the shape of a rectangular table stood before her, corralled by a circle of flickering candles. Atop it, sat a battleship grey chunk of rock and nothing else. She looked to her left, only to be greeted by a stone wall. No inscriptions, no doorways leading elsewhere, nothing. She turned her head to the right only to be greeted by an identical sight. A sudden deep rumbling sound caused her to turn and look behind her just in time to see a large stone slab slide down, blocking the exit, leaving her trapped. She emitted a high pitched squeak as it slammed down with a mighty thud that resounded all around the empty chamber. She stared at the sealed door for a few moments, before turning around to face the centerpiece of the whole room: the rock.

In spite of the terror coursing through her veins, she couldn't help but admit feeling a little disappointed at the result. A rock? This was the reason behind all her fears, all her pain, all her torture? A rock? A bland, uninteresting piece of granite no different from the billions of bland, uninteresting pieces of granite she saw nearly every hour of the day?

She rose to all four hooves as her eyes furrowed every so slightly.

“Alright,” she whispered in defiance. “Here I am.”

The room began to darken. The candles began to dim and even sputter, but they did not go out completely. From within the centre of the large rock, a dark shadow began to spread forth and it began to vanish into the darkness that was engulfing it. From its base, a low, black mist began to steadily seep forth and fold out across the floor, enveloping it. Fluttershy watched with anxiety as the mist unfolded out towards her. The fog seemed deliberate in its slowness as if to erode what little remained of her calm. She took a hesitant step backwards, but the darkness reached her before she could retreat further. It flowed around her hooves, and passed her, as though she were nothing but an annoying obstruction. It continued its expansion, reaching the walls, before surging up them to crawl across the ceiling, obscuring the whole room and leaving her trapped within an endless void of black space. All that remained was the alter, the candles and the rock. Everything else had been concealed beneath a shorud of darkness.

Fluttershy made a trembling withdraw from the alter. From behind her, the fog that covered the floor reared up with tendril like fingers, wrapping and curling around her hind quarters. Fluttershy gave a sharp scream at its touch and tried to flee, but the tendrils pushed, pulled and herded her forwards.

Forwards, towards the alter.

Fluttershy was too terrified to even utter a minute squeak as she was dragged within the circle of the candles. Her hooves scrabbled at the obscured floor, trying desperately to find any sort of traction that would at least slow, or even stop her unwanted momentum. It didn't even slow her down the least bit.

Once she was inside the circle of candles, the light that they produced began to dim. All around her, the darkness that obscured the walls and floor began to creep closer and closer. The creeping fog was deliberate in its slowness as if to erode her nerves and grated what ever calm still resided within.

She could feel the sweat upon her brow as the darkness closed in on her from every direction. Turning her head left, right, and up revealed the same unwelcoming sight of the fog gently rolling towards her. The darkness pulled at her again, and she was dragged towards the large rock before her. As it was now inches away from her, Fluttershy finally managed to squeak out a pitiful, “No.” Her request was ignored.

The shadows rolled past the candles, reducing the flickering lights to a dull orange glow, that faded and vanished as the fog crept towards her. Now the room was encased within total darkness.

Fear was now coursing through her veins. Her eyes were wide as saucers while sweat completely mattered her brow. She looked left. Nothing. She looked right. Nothing. Above, below and behind. Nothing. All that remained was the rock that now glowed with an insidious deep purple light that appeared to be emanating from within.

The shadows swirled up, wrapped around her front right leg and lifted it up into the air. Fluttershy opened her mouth to scream, but all that came out was air as her vocal cords refused to function. She could only watch with impending dread as her hoof reached out and touched the rock. As it connected, she screwed up her face, her eyes lids slamming down like shutters and every muscle within her body tensed as it awaited what ever sensation would come.

Nothing happened.

Still, she dared not open her eyes. She scrunched up her face even tighter as her limbs started to shake in anticipation of what ever would follow. Would it be painful? Would it be quick? Would she not even feel it?

Nothing happened.

Slowly, very slowly, one eye cracked open. The rock was the first thing that greeted her vision. The strange violet light from beneath its granite surface pulsed like a steady heart beat. Her own heart thumped heavily within her chest as she could feel the terror well up within her entire body, spreading like a cold sensation throughout her limbs.

The other eye gradually opened, and she was now staring at the glowing rock, her hoof still connected to its surface. Carefully, she looked towards the heavens. Nothing appeared to menace or taunt her.

Cold, spindly claw-like fingers slowly worked their way up her left shoulder like spider legs. Fluttershy felt her whole body stiffen as the wind gently blew from behind her left ear. The master of this temple was now behind her. She could feel its presence, touching her with a cold evilness that was indescribable. She was now trembling like a leaf in a strong breeze; her heart was thudding against her ribcage like some demented animal who was determined to escape its cage. Her breath came in ragged gasps as she attempted to from at least one comprehensible syllable.

Then, like a passing wind, a single word flowed through her mind.

...Remember...

For the briefest of moments, the fear fled her mind as she attempted to remember what it was she was required to. Remember? Remember what? Her eyes widened as a memory dawned like Celestia's rising sun. She blinked in shock, before feeling the rocky surface more thoroughly. Then, her hoof stopped feeling the surface, and the fear returned like a sudden gale. She knew. She knew what it was she had to remember. She remembered where she had seen, and what this rock was.

It was a piece of the moon.

Memories passed through her jumbled mind like slideshow stills. Memories of nightmares and Rarity being kidnapped, having to journey to the moon to rescue her from…

Her bottom lip quivered as her eyes widened ever larger. Rescue from the entity of Nightmare Moon.

Fluttershy finally found her voice and screamed, as she jerked her hoof away from the rock. Her back hoof didn't move as fast as her front half, and she tumbled backwards like a bowling ball and landing in a pathetic heap not too far from the moon shard.

The silence that filled the room was deafening, leaving only those she made. Laying there on the ground in a heap, Fluttershy's mind began to relive those moments up in the station. Those monstrosities she encountered. The masked creature in the bar, the invisible monster in the engine room, and that creature in the bathroom stall. All of them had been from her nightmares, the ones she had envisioned all those years ago in the Cloudsdale Museum. She understood now. It had not been a coincidence that she had brought those horrible memories up.

This nightmare creature had deliberately dredged them up from the hidden recesses of her mind, looking for something which to terrify her with. That time when Rarity had been kidnapped, she had suffered the exact same thing, being snatched off the train. Deep within the recesses of her mind, it showed her that countless ponies had been lured down here for the sake of tormenting them, toying with them as a predator would with its prey. But this was only a trickle. Like a spoiled child, it wanted more. Only recently had its psychotic mind finally realised that it needed to leave. She understood now. It wanted her. It was trapped down here. It wanted to escape. It needed a pony, a living pony in order to leave this place and experience all the nightmares from the inhabitants of Equestria. And she had just delivered it a means to leave.

Fluttershy's entire body went rigid with fear. It was going to turn her into a monster like Nightmare moon had done to both Luna and Rarity. However, in spite of the fear within her, she felt rage building up as well. How dare this creature torment her. What gave it the right to torture her with her own fears, to toy with her. To use her for purposes of evil. All her rage built up and erupted in the loudest shout she'd ever managed.

“Go away!” she screamed at it. It wasn't exactly the most clever line, but it was all her mind could conjure up. She wanted it gone, to leave her alone. She wanted it to go away. Black fog began to roll forth to circle and intertwine amidst her legs. She shivered violently at their touch. It was identical to the feeling she'd experienced in the bathroom, causing her bottom jaw to quiver as she inhaled a shuddering breath.

“G-go aw-way,” she stuttered as the black fog slowly spiralled up her legs. She wanted to vomit from the sensation. Most importantly, she wanted to run. Unfortunately, her legs refused to cooperate. She was too petrified with fear and unable to budge an inch. Her breath caught in her throat as she felt the darkness snake its way up to her torso.

She could feel the darkness creep up her neck, slowly and deliberate, just like before. She squeezed her eyes shut as she felt it inch up past her muzzle. A few teardrops sneaked out from her clenched eyelids and rolled down her cheek before they were swallowed up by the creeping darkness as it completely covered her entire body. Silence ruled as she stood there, not daring to open her eyes out of fear of what she might see.

“Fluttershy?” The voice was familiar.

Her eyes shot open to see Twilight Sparkle, standing not too far away with a look of concern in her eyes. The darkness was gone, and instead was back in the altar room. The candles still flickered around the moon shard, but the fog was gone. Fluttershy's heart filled with joy at the sight of her best friend and she leapt up and began limping all the way over to her.

“Twilight!” she shouted. “You're here! You found me!”

“Of course,” Twilight said as Fluttershy embraced her friend in a loving hug. “But it's not just me.” Fluttershy leaned back to see that Twilight was pointing behind her. Following her indication, her heart soared as she spied the rest of the mane six, all clustered around her.

“My friends!” Fluttershy cried out. Her expression turned serious. “We need to get out of here; this place is dangerous!”

“We know,” Rainbow Dash said. “We couldn't leave without saying goodbye.” Fluttershy's jaw dropped. She tried to ask why her fellow Pegasus had said that, but all that transpired was her bottom jaw soundlessly working.

“Its absolutely true, darling,” Rarity chimed in. “We just felt it necessary for closure's sake.”

“Why?” Fluttershy finally managed to cry, as she turned from one familiar face to the next.

“Why not,” Pinkie Pie chimed in. “You're always so timid and afraid that you end up slowing us down whenever we go on adventures.”

“Yeah,” Applejack added. “You aint what we need when the goin' gets tough.”

"No!" Fluttershy protested. "That's not true!" Twilight ignored her.

“So we figured that the best solution is to find a new friend,” she finished off. Fluttershy turned from one pony to the other, horrified. Their expressions all mirrored each others. Cruel and tormenting smiles glared balefully back at her. She felt the tears once more welling up within her eyes.

“No.” It took her a few second to realise she had uttered that.

“Yes,” Pinkie Pie chirped. “We're going to leave you behind, you scaredy cat, so we can find us a new bestest friend in the whole widest world.”

“One who isn't a complete and utterly useless chicken,” Rainbow Dash spat.

“Ta-ta!” Rarity chimed as she waved her hoof dismissively.

“NO!” Fluttershy screamed. She reached out to grab hold of her friends, but her strength abandoned her and instead ended up collapsing to the ground. A few pathetic sobs escaped her lips as some tears rolled down her already matted cheek fur. “No.” Her voice was a hoarse whisper.

“See ya round, Klutzershy,” Rainbow Dash jeered. Then she paused dramatically, before adding, “Oh wait, no we won't!” All five ponies burst out laughing as though it was the funniest joke in the world. Their mocking laughter echoed and reverberated around the whole room. Fluttershy covered her ears in an attempt to block it out, but it made its way inside, tormenting her hearing no matter how hard she tried to ignore it.

“Who should we get to replace Fluttershy, girls,” Twilight called back over her shoulder more to taunt the yellow Pegasus than to ask the others.

“How about Dizty Doo,” Rainbow Dash offered. “She maybe a few feathers short of a duck, but you can rely on her not to chicken out when the going gets tough.”

No.

It was just like the last time. These weren't her friends. That statement wasn't true when Applejack had said it, and it wasn't true when Rainbow said it. Fluttershy rose to all four hooves. “No!” she said defiantly.

“Excuse me?” Rainbow Dash said. All five of them had stopped.

“I said no,” Fluttershy snapped. “You five are NOT my friends. I know my friends. My friends know that they can count on me when the going gets tough, because, in spite of my faults, I would never abandon them. And my friends wouldn't just abandon me in such a horrid place like this.” She pointed a hoof at them. “You are not them! You aren't even real!” she cried. Her voice echoed up and down the entire room.

As her echo faded off into the distance, the five ponies before her began to smile. Not a warm, welcoming smile given from one friend to another, but one of cruel, malicious intent. “Oh, we're real,” Twilight said as the five of them started casually trotting back towards her. “Just not in the sense you're used to.” She sighed with disappointment. "We were hoping that this would all go smoothly. I guess we're going to have to do this the hard way."

Fluttershy felt her courage begin to drain away from her. She lowered her hoof and tried to back away from them, but after taking one step, she found that once more, her legs were immobilised. As the five drew near, they spread out to surround her. Fluttershy turned with trepidation from one familiar face to the next.

“W-what are you?” Fluttershy finally squeaked.

“We are those who came before,” Twilight answered. “Before we were sealed up by that idiot.”

“Huh?” Fluttershy turned to face Twilight. What did she mean by 'That Idiot.'

“We were all trapped here; that is until you fell into our grasp. He took you and brought you here.” She grunted with irritation. “Sadly, he couldn't bring you all the way here, his power isn't as great as it used to be. We tried to 'encourage' you down here, but you had to go wandering off on your own.” She smiled. “So we just pushed you a little.” She smirked. "And... well, let's just say that he and those two fillies arn't the only ones who like to play games."

Fluttershy understood that. They used her nightmares against her. “But... what about those fillies?”

“He likes them,” Twilight said with an air of annoyance. “He lets them play all by themselves. They remind him of himself: The way he likes to play. He usually steps in to stop them from going... too far, but thankfully, you proved to be more resourceful than we gave you credit for.” She looked thoughtful for a moment. "I suppose looking back on it, I guess that its not a shock were going to do this the hard way."

“He?” Fluttershy asked. “Don't you mean, they? I thought Nightmare Moon was a collective?” All five ponies laughed. It was a low, insidious chuckle that reverberated all the way up the yellow pegasus’ spine.

“Not this one,” Twilight said.

“But how...?” Fluttershy asked when Twilight held up a hoof to silence her.

“He's been alone for so long,” she said. “He wasn't meant to be alone. A thousand years is such a really long time. All he wants is company. Lots and lots of company. That's why were all down here.”

"Where is he?" Fluttershy dared asked as she looked over at the moon shard.

"He is everywhere, and everything," Twilight answered. "He is this world. The station, the forest, the caverns and this temple. But he is weak, and growing weaker. He can only perform small feats. He needs us for most of the hard work... and talking. Only recently, while there has been no more ponies coming to this station, has he finally understood the need to leave." She followed Fluttershy's gaze over to the moon shard. "That is only his heart. With you, he will have a new heart. You can find out the rest of the answers once you have surrendered to him."

“I won't!” Fluttershy cried out. “You can't destroy my resolve anymore. I won't give my self over to him, or whatever he is.” The sinister chuckling resumed.

“And just what are you planning to do. Use the stare? That cold iron poker?” Twilight paused as the smile grew wider. “Or perhaps you would like to quote the holy scripture from the book of the Great Maker in a childish attempt to scare him into retreat?” She looked bored. “Its all been done. Literature is nothing more than words on a page. Threats of physical, magical and theological violence... They just don't work. All of it, it only makes him stronger.” Listening to everything, it only now dawned on Fluttershy why the world above and around her didn't make sense. This was his world. His rules. He could simply cheat when ever he wanted to, just as he'd done those countless times in the station above. She could feel her blood pumping furiously within her veins. Her heart thudding like the echoes of the cavern, the veins throughout her body throbbing with all the intensity that they could.

"You won't break me!" Fluttershy said quickly, more to reassure herself.

“Oh, you'll break,” Twilight hissed, her voice now lower in tone. “Have you forgotten what he is?” There was a horrible wet crunching sound from behind, and Fluttershy turned to look just in time to see Applejack's body break in two. From beneath the fur, came out not quite a changeling, but a hybrid between a reptile and an insect. It shed off her former skin and turning towards Fluttershy, hissing menacingly.

She screamed as she turned from one pony to the next. Rarity appeared to be stuck in a half melted phase, her body looking more like a warped mannequin with no eyes and a huge circular sharp toothed worm like mouth covering her whole face. Pinkie had morphed into a giant spider creature, her eight spindly pink legs ended in spiked daggers, her normally poofy hair was sticking out in all directions and blown back while her face was dotted with numerous eyes and her mouth warped into a hydious vertical toothy maw that was lined with four sharp pincers. Rainbow dash was enormous. A cross between a bat and a dragon, she clung upside down to the ceiling, her muzzle full of jutting teeth while her rat like tail swished impatiently back and forth.

“Have you forgotten what his weapon of choice is?” Fluttershy turned to see Twilight standing before her. Although her voice was still unrecognisable, she was still normal unlike the rest of the group. “Terror!” At that word, her face split apart from her mouth in four different directions like a flower bud, revealing rows of razor sharp teeth and an elongated tentacle like tongue that was reaching towards her. “And in that realm, he has no equal!”

And yet, they did not advance her. Turning from one twisted apparition to the next, Fluttershy didn't understand why they weren't attacking her. They were just teasing her, standing beyond their reach. That's when she noticed it.

The flame that lit the torches were now dancing wildly. Twisting and turning, weaving and dodging, reaching higher and higher into the still air. Now their bright, shining lights were casting shadows that danced and flickered in sync to some silent rhythm. Then they took on the appearance of ponies, distorted and warped into cruel mockeries of their real life counterparts. They appeared to rear up on their hind legs, before falling back down to all fours. Fluttershy watched with horrified fascination, which quickly turned to dread as all their leering heads turned as one towards her.

Materialising from the walls, the floor and even the ceiling above. They streched out from their confines, like pushing through an invisible silk curtain, before breaking the fourth wall and raising up to stand before her like ghosts. Deep within the recesses of her mind, she knew what these things were. Those Who Came Before. The souls of all the victims who had befallen to the Nightmare Creature. There came not one, not a hundred, but a thousand souls. They then moved with no sounds, imitating no vocal noise as they stealthily crept towards her. There appeared to be no end to their demented conga line as they moved in step with each other.

She took a step backwards, only for terror to once more grip her muscles with paralysis as the mockery of Applejack hissed at her. The strange shadows steadily surged towards her. A small whimper escaped her lips as she willed her body; any part of her body to return to functional status. It did not. Struck down with uncontrollable fear, she could only shake violently in her attempt to get her legs to move. Sweat was now dripping off her cheeks as the shadows drew closer, and closer.

Her bottom lip began to tremble with fear. Fear at the thought that nevermore should she behold the blessed light of day, or scan the pleasant hills and forests of the beautiful world outside. Hope had departed. Her eyes widened to impossible widths as the first of the shadow creatures reached her. The first of the shadows raised a transparent hoof towards her, and began to slowly merge into her body.

Fluttershy squeezed her eyes shut. She couldn't imagine what it would be like, taken away from your friends and family, never to see them again. So many ponies. So many families who will never see their loved ones again. Being forced to do the bidding of some cruel and malevolent non-entity. She looked up into the shadow faces. Did they know what they were doing? Did it fill them with sorrow that they would forever doom another pony to this life of servitude?

Laying there on the ground, feeling her strength fading like the last rays of sunlight, Fluttershy felt no ill-will to any of them. She felt... Pity.

The shadow demon that had been morphing into her body pulled back the merest of an inch, as if stung by some unseen menace. Fluttershy did not see this slight retreat, but she sensed it. The shadows then flung themselves upon her, increasing their fever. Fluttershy could feel their anxiety, and it only fuelled her compassion for them. Anxiety changed to anger. She didn't understand why her feelings seemed to make them incensed. As the shadows swirled around her like a hurricane, she felt one of the shadows briefly break off from the pack, to float past her ear. As it did so, it quietly whispered directly in her ear: “Remember what you are.”

Now she understood. Before, back in the caverns, she hadn't known what that meant. What she was. Now, it was as clear as a sunny blue sky. Threats of physical, magical and theological violence never worked against the Nightmare Creature. It did not even phase it. But she was the element of kindness: An element of harmony. What had she learnt from being an element? From all the scary, dangerous and frightful adventures she'd been on? Violence never solves anything. The power of friendship was the key needed to save the day. Friendship was the element of harmony. Kindness was an element of friendship. Kindness was not only WHO she was, but WHAT she was.

The instinct of self-preservation was finally stirred within the yellow Pegasus, and the thought of escape from the oncoming peril rapidly began to override the fear that kept her body rooted and ridged to the floor. Slowly, she stood up, the swirling shadows growing further apart from her.

She would not fight terror with violence. She would not even fight it. She would be herself. She would be kind.

Standing defiantly before the nightmares in the room, Fluttershy concentrated on all the suffering she had endured that night, all caused for the sake of terrifying her. Weakening her, so that the nightmare creature could escape. With that feeling coursing through her veins, she spoke truthfully and from her heart. “I forgive you.”

The shadows swooned away.

“No!” It took her a second to realise that was Twilight. “Stop!” Fluttershy instead hung her head, blocking out all attempts to reach her as she concentrated on the sorrow that all those who came before must have felt. To have their lives cut short, and their families weep over their loss. To never know what their fate was, and spend years searching for an answer that would never be revealed. Tears began to well up in her eyes, not from fear, but from sorrow.

She then raised her head to the heavens and said, “I love all of you.” The shadows dissipated like water on a hot summers days. All that remained were the mockeries of her friends, now staggering under some unseen weight. “I can't hate you anymore,” Fluttershy spoke truthfully. “Not after what I've seen. Not after understanding why you've done what you've done. I can't.” One by one, her friends screamed and melted into the ground. Applejack, Rarity, Pinkie Pie, Rainbow Dash. All gone save for one. Twilight.

“You're a creature that knows only terror. How miserable you must be to exist like that. Never knowing love or laughter, or generosity,” she paused. “Or kindness.”

“S-stop!” Twilight had reverted back to her normal self, her normal voice. It was losing its power. Then again, had she not said that its power was weak to begin with? That would explain her helpful friend who reminded her of what she was, and gave her a method of fighting back. Fluttershy lowered her head. That kind pony, who ever they were, deserved a fate better than the one they received. Still, she did not hate the creature. Terror was all it knew. If she could teach it the meaning of kindness, of forgiveness, of love, then maybe there was hope for this creature. She had conquered Discord that way. She could do the same. She slowly walked over to Twilight.

“Stay back!” she hissed. “Stay back you witch, you're killing him!”

That made the yellow Pegasus pause. Killing him? The phrase, killing with kindness floated past her mind. Was she really proving to be fatal for the poor creature? There was good in every pony, so why would…

This creature wasn't just terror. It was was also evil. Twisted and insane, it was a combination of both. All the dangers she had fought had in the past had been simply chaotic, not evil: Discord was proof of that. The elements had only defeated them. She realised that she had never truly used the power of kindness against pure evil before. Evil was vastly different from Chaos. Her element, kindness, wasn't defeating him. It was killing him.

“P-please stop.” She looked over at the cowering form of Twilight. She was now a blank-flank filly, cowering in the corner of the room. Her eyes were wet with tears. Fluttershy took a step towards her and the little filly screamed. Not in terror, but in pain. “Please! Don't kill me.” A trick. It was trying to stop her from getting closer. In one hesitant second, she foolishly let her focus fade, and she felt a twinge of fear out of what she was doing to the little filly. That was all it needed.

The filly roared with anger as it exploded into a giant hideously deformed pony. Its features were a mockery of filly Twilight, with an impossibly long ghastly grin with razor sharp teeth. The bone white eyes glared down at her as its skinny, skeletal body began to lumber towards her. Fluttershy baulked and took a step backwards. The floor around her suddenly crumbled away as tongues of flame licked up from the newly formed holes around her. She looked up to see horrid faces of deformed ponies, melting down like wax from a candle. They all were screaming in agony. Turning back to the ginormous monster filly, she found herself caught by its eyes. Looking into its depths, she saw the true form of the nightmare creature along fear at its purest form. Unbridled terror along with horrors of unimaginable scale. It was throwing everything at her. Fear rooted her to the spot as the nightmare creature grew in strength once more.

She tried to feel sorry for it, to feel kindness, but she couldn't. She was afraid of what would happen to it should she do so. She couldn't kill it, no matter what it had done, and no matter how many lives it had taken. If she could, then she wouldn't be the element of kindness. It wasn't within her to do so.

The monster drew closer, its hooves now shattering the stone floor with every step as it filled Fluttershy with terrors from the very bowels of Tartarus. She still couldn't find the will to kill him. It was a living, breathing creature. She couldn't. It was then that she finally felt herself give up. No. She couldn't cross the line, no matter what was at stake. The creature was right. When push came to shove, she couldn't be counted on. She wasn't going to kill this creature to save her own life.

Her eyes flew open. But what about the lives of her friends? If she let this creature win, it would torment them too: Possibly even kill them. That's what all this was about. Destroying her will so that it could take over her body and spread terror throughout Equestria. No. Not just terror. She had seen and experienced the difference of this creature from the Nightmare Moon she had twice encountered. It was warped, deranged. Evil. She could not let something like that out and into the world. Then a thought hit her. Could she control this creature? If she willingly let it take control of her, she could keep it down here, away from her friends. She knew she could. After all she had witnessed this night and right now, staring into the most hellish nightmares imaginable, nothing could scare her anymore. Being the element of kindness, she could control fear. Slowly, she rose to all four hooves and stared definitely into the nightmares before her.

In a sick, twisted way, the nightmare creature was right. She would abandon her friends when the going got tough. No. She wasn't abandoning them: She was saving them by sacrificing herself.

“I will give you what you want,” she said sternly to it. Her eyes blazed with determination as she spoke. “I will let you take control of my body. To save my friends, I will become one with you.”

A loud painful scream pierced the air, causing Fluttershy to cover her ears. It vibrated throughout the room like a sonic boom, knocking Fluttershy to the ground. She lay there, trying to block out the most horrid noise she ever heard when just as suddenly as it appeared, it ceased. She lay there on the ground, breathing harshly, feeling the blood pumping throughout her body. Finally opening one eye, Fluttershy looked up at where the nightmare creature had been. All she saw was blank empty air.

She opened both eyes and lifted her head so that she could survey the room. Nothing. It, along with all the damage it had wrought was gone. Slowly she clambered to her hooves and looked over at the rock atop the altar. The pulsing purple light was gone, leaving nothing but a bland shard of moon rock. Hesitantly, she walked over to the rock and touched it. Nothing. She felt no fear. It was gone.

Her eyes went wide as she realised what she'd done. She had agreed to a selfless sacrifice. The ultimate act of kindness. And in the end, that had proved fatal to the nightmare creature. It was no more. At first, she felt horror, shame at what she'd done. She had destroyed the creature; she'd killed it. That was against everything she had stood for.

The feeling of snuffing out another life gave way as a low rumble made its way through the room. It sounded like heavy stones tumbling in some distant quarry, muffled and distorted as if the vibrations had to traverse miles of solid rock just to make itself herd. Standing where she was, Fluttershy could feel a cold vibration surging up her limbs and through her body as though she were part of the rock itself. The feeling was almost soothing and left her with a slight dizziness.

That sensation was quickly squashed as the rumbling grew louder, breaking her out of her trance. It surged through the room more emphatically now. Fluttershy cast a nervous glance to the ceiling as dust, and tiny bits of stone began to rain down from above and she started to whimper with fear. The rumbling was now like a passing train, shaking the whole room violently. Fluttershy had to steady herself as the floor beneath her hooves threatened to knock her to the ground. The shuddering was unbearable.

Whole stones were now falling from above as huge cracks began to zig-zag their way around the walls. Another shuddering jolt knocked Fluttershy off her hooves, and she hit the ground hard, crying out in pain. The whole room was shaking violently, and the sounds of the vibrations were deafening as Fluttershy crawled her way into the nearest corner. The tremors intensified as from above, came the ominous sound of cracking. Looking up, she saw a dark fissure snake across the ceiling. It ran from wall to wall and then spidered in every direction. She just found the time to cover her face as the centre of the ceiling gave way and a thousand tons of rock and stone came crashing down, smashing the shard of moon rock and the altar it rested upon.

She understood what was happening. With its master dead, the temple was dying. From the collapsed ceiling came a slither of light. Fluttershy locked her eyes on it, even though her vision was blurred from the tremors. Light. Natural light. That meant an exit. Fluttershy crawled along the floor towards the destroyed centre of the room, where the collapsed ceiling had formed a pyramid of debris that disappeared up into the newly created hole in the ceiling. A section of the wall collapsed behind her, and the force of the impact threw Fluttershy the rest of the way across the room.

She banged painfully into the debris in the room centre and rolled all the way down to the bottom of the heap of rubble. Raising her aching head, she looked up. The light was now above her and blinding. Shutting her eyes, she reached out a hoof and to her delight, found solid footing.

Through the rock and stone, she could feel the whole temple caving in on itself. She could feel the vibrations growing in strength as they prepared one last blow to finish off the wretched temple once and for all.

Finding the strength, she reached out with her other hoof and pulled her battered and bruised body up. The light grew brighter. It was like an aphrodisiac, and she found the will to reached up even further. Her grip loosened a few stones, and they bounced and rolled down and into her face. She winced from the pain but ignored it. She had to keep moving. Reaching out with her other hoof, she gripped and pulled. Her body climbed higher and the light grew brighter.

A smile formed across her lips as she reached out again and pulled. She could feel the loose stones and rocks, sliding under her belly, stabbing her with their sharp corners as she climbed. She ignored it. She ignored the increasing sounds behind her. She ignored the aching in her limbs. She ignored the light, now stabbing past her close eyes lids and stinging her sensitive eyes. She ignored the multiple stones and rocks that bombarded her face from above. She ignored everything, but the will to escape. She reached out with her hoof and pulled.

Fresh air hit her nostrils, and she inhaled sharply. She reached out and felt not rock or stone, but fresh dirt. She reached out with her other hoof and pulled. Now the cool earth was sliding under her belly as she climbed. The light was growing brighter and brighter, almost painful. Still, she did not relax the slightness even as the rumbling below her began to build in strength for one last time. With the ground she clung to shaking so badly, Fluttershy had to struggle to hold on.

Then, it struck.

Like a ferocious dragon, the cavern below gave one last tremendous roar, as shards of stone and clouds of dust blasted her from below, and Fluttershy was thrown. She screamed in fear more than pain as she was hurtled skywards. Her body tumbled head over heel as she spun endlessly through the air, screaming all the while, until with one painful crash, she landed in a heap, rolled over and over, before finally coming to a stop.

She lay there how long, she wasn't quite sure. Her form was motionless, save for the rapid rising and falling of her chest, courtesy of the hard climb. Gradually, her breathing slowed, giving her poor beating heart a chance to decrease its rapid pounding against her rib cage. She was aware of the warm sensations flowing throughout her body, lulling her into an almost peaceful slumber. Curiously, she opened her eyes.

She had to shut them again as the bright light stung her sensitive eyes. She whimpered in pain as she raised a hoof to shield her vision, before opening her lids yet again.

Sunlight.

Her mouth opened in a soundless gasp as she gently eased herself upright. It was Celestia's sun, beaming down from just over the tops of the trees. Judging by its position, it must have been early morning. Slowly and steadily, Fluttershy rose on shaky hooves and to her credit, didn't collapse. She once again looked directly up into the sun using a hoof to protect her eyes. It was real.

Fluttershy wanted to jump for joy. To scream out her triumph to the whole of Equestria, but her injuries were still restraining of her actions. She had survived, but more importantly, she had escaped. The nightmare was at last over, and she was free. Free to finally go home.

Turning away from the sun, she looked back at the large hole that she'd escaped from. The collapsing debris had completely sealed up the temple. All that remained was a large sink hole that funnelled down into nothing but dirt and rock. Turning away from that, she laid eyes upon the station.

And gasped.

It was nothing but a charred husk of a ruin. Where there should've been a train station, stood instead rotten and burnt out skeletal structure that lay broken, collapsed and covered in vines. The train tracks were rusted and barely visible through the grass that sprouted up through the gravel and wood. The surrounding forest was lush full of greenery and alive with ambient sounds.

It was all over. The nightmare creature would never bother any pony ever again. No more would it lure unsuspecting victims to their doom. No more would this graveyard of macabre memories be a house of horrors. It, along with the souls of all those before her could finally rest in peace. These facts helped her somewhat overcome the horrid feeling that plagued her mind about killing the creature.

She knew she would never be the same again. In its own way, the nightmare creature won. It had forever scared her, taking a piece of its influence with her as she left: Exactly as it had wanted. She had hypocritically claimed that she would never abandon her friends, even though she had been willing to sacrifice herself in order to keep them safe. She had done the one thing she had sworn she'd never do: Kill a living creature. However, she also understood that sometimes you won't have answers to situations that are always ethically pleasing. It had been a warped version of fear, boarding on evil, and there was no way she could let something like that out into the world. She was glad it hadn't escaped. It would take time to heal her mental scars. Still, in spite of what she had done to win, she understood that, just like with all the others, she had put its tormented soul to rest also.

Surveying the charred ruins, she finally understood who was 'That Idiot' who had trapped the nighmare creature below. The one who had saved her. Who had whispered to her the words she needed to hear. A single tear welled up in her eye as she whispered, “Thank you, Ratchet Gear.”

Turning away from the ancient burnt out building one last time, Fluttershy slowly limped down the train tracks, back towards Ponyville, her friends and home.

THE END.