Preview: Tomorrow's Holiday Special Story! · 11:06pm Dec 24th, 2019
Every year since I joined FiMfiction, I've posted a new holiday special on Christmas Day. This year, I've got an early gift for my readers: a preview of the story to come! Check it out after the break!
The colt turned over in his bed, the sheets and blanket wrapped tightly around him as he tried to get to sleep. The creaking of the wooden house and the howl of wind outside set his nerves on edge, and through the window he spied the twitching of the clawlike branch of the three outside his window.
He sat up to get a better look outside, the pale glow of moonlight the only thing illuminating his otherwise pitch-black room. Outside the house, the yard was covered with freshly fallen snow that seemed to glow under the moon’s light, but went a bluish gray color as dark clouds intermittently covered the pale orb.
Beyond the yard were the deep woods surrounding his family’s farm. The trees, bare and skeletal, went on for miles, and he shuddered as he peered out into the deep shadows.
On cold, windy nights like these, when the world was quiet and dark, his imagination started to play tricks on him. The tree scratching on the roof or side of the house became the claws of a hungry monster seeking entry. The creak of the house became the oncoming hoofsteps of some intruder. And the howl of the wind was the cry of either a wild beast or some pony unfortunate enough to encounter one.
He gulped as he got up from his bed and went to the window, placing his forehooves on the sill. He stared out into the darkness, watching the trees for any sign of movement. Logically, he knew it was fine, that his imagination was just getting the better of him, and that he should quit trying to scare himself and go back to bed, but for some reason he always had to look.
It’s fine, he told himself. It’s fine. There’s nothing out there. I should just go back to bed. Tomorrow’s Hearth’s Warming, after all. I should be excited and think of all the presents I’ll get… I was pretty good this year, after all.
I mean, sure, I did get in trouble for pulling Whistling Dixie’s pigtails… and I did eat those cookies and blame my sister… and sure, maybe I stole Grandma’s purse so I could buy that candy I wanted, but it wasn’t that much! I’ve done lots of good things too… like… um…
The colt bit his lip as he tried to remember anything particularly good that he’d done this year. He sighed when nothing came to mind, his breath fogging up the frigid glass pane.
Okay, fine, I haven’t been that good. But there are worse foals than me out there, and I’ve never heard of anypony actually getting coal in their stocking or something like that. And nobody but Grandma has ever heard of that stupid monster she’s always going on about. The… what was it called?
He tried to remember as he idly wiped the fog from the window with his foreleg.
Then he froze. In the deep shadows of the woods at the edge of his family’s yard he’d seen something. Just for a split second he could have sworn that something had moved.
He blinked and then narrowed his eyes. Had it really been there? He could have sworn that it had… some hulking shadow that swiftly moved among the shadows in the gaps between the trees.
He swallowed. It could be a wolf or even a bear, he supposed. He turned his head and called “Mom? Dad?” over his shoulder. Then he turned back.
Hoofprints. Hoofprints in the snow leading from the woods toward the house.
But they only went part way through the snow before abruptly stopping, leaving the snow unbroken. And then he noticed that the branch of the try nearby was bouncing up and down in the same way it did when a bird landed on it or took off from it.
Could something have run out of the woods and… and jumped to the tree? That’s nearly fifty feet! No way could any wolf or bear—
He froze again. Between the creaking of the house, he thought he heard more noises. Were his parents coming now that he’d called them? But those sounds seemed to come not from the hall… but from the roof.
He shivered, his eyes going wide.
“Mom! Dad!” he called again. There was no reply, so he backed into the center of the room. A cloud passed in front of the moon again and the shadows all around him deepened.
What’s out there? he wondered. Those hoofprints… they weren’t from a pony… they were cloven! But they were huge… way too big for a goat or anything like that!
He nearly jumped out of his skin as he heard a knock on the door.
“Son?” came his mother’s voice. “Sweetie, it’s late… what’s the matter?”
With a heavy sigh of relief he ran to the door. “Mom! Mom! I saw something outside!” he turned the doorknob and threw wide the door. “I think it—”
Red eyes. Red eyes that glowed in the darkness stared down at him.
A scream rose in his throat as the thing standing there snatched him up. The next thing he knew, he saw a huge bag open up like a cavernous maw. In the dim light he saw the terrified faces of more foals before he was shoved inside with them and the mouth was drawn tight, leaving him in absolute darkness.
Bon Bon awoke with a start.
She couldn’t imagine why she’d suddenly had a nightmare about one of the old stories she’d heard as a filly. She supposed that it was because it was nearly Hearth’s Warming, which was when that ridiculous legend took place.
Ridiculous… what sort of idiot would make up something so horrifying at Hearth’s Warming of all times.
She felt a foreleg drape over her and a nuzzle on her cheek, and a soft voice whispered in her ear, “Good morning, Bon Bon…”
She let out a sigh, letting her apprehension fade. “Good morning, Lyra,” she replied closing her eyes contentedly.
...And that's it for now! See you all tomorrow! O really hope you like the final result! 
I deliberately haven't read much of the preview, to avoid spoiling myself, but I look forward to the story (and hope that the people who like this sort of preview liked this one). :)
Thanks!
(Also:
"tomorrow! O really hope you like"
"tomorrow! I really hope you like"?)
Merry Christmas! I know I'm a bit late
5174411
Yeah, I posted this via my phone and got reckless amid holiday events.
Thanks for checking it out and see you tomorrow! Merry Christmas!
5174497
Merry Christmas, and I hope those events are going well. :)