Every time her negative emotions overheat, Vinyl Scratch feels a coldness creep over her...

Why can't it just leave her alone?

Dedicated to Pascal.

Pre-read and edited by Flint Sparks.

Telling scary stories around the campfire is a long camping tradition, but when Applejack gets tired of hearing Rainbow Dash tell the same story with different words, she decides to share one of her own that her mother told to her, a long time ago. It couldn’t possibly be true, of course, no matter what Pear Butter had said all those years before.

It’s not as if anyone has ever seen any proof, after all.

There is no such thing as a gut feeling, not really. If you suddenly start to feel afraid for no apparent reason, it's very unlikely to be anything serious. But it doesn't make it feel any better does it?

Twilight is up burning the midnight oil again, when suddenly every sense she has tells her that something is terribly wrong. There can't be anything really wrong though, not in reality.
Can there?

A short experiment in atmospheric horror.
Featured in the Royal Canterlot Library on 26/04/19
Now featuring readings by ColonialPone here, and by MrSnarky here.