//------------------------------//
// Night Three: The Red Eyes in the Dark 
// Story: PinkieTail's Curse 
// by A Torn-Up Note 
//------------------------------//


December 22nd, 1998
3 days before Hearth’s Warming


Blake had a hard time going to sleep tonight. His mind was racing with questions and issues about the things that have happened in the past couple nights. “This is just so strange. Why is this even happening to me? And for how long? How long til it’s all over? Til my own mother will actually believe what I am saying?” Blake sighed, rubbing his eyes with his hooves. “Geez, this is too much for one little foal. Though it certainly better than spending the night in the horrible pizzeria restaurant. What was it called again? Pinkie Fazpie’s Pizza Palace?” He rolled over in his bed, laying on his side, and watched the fish in his bowl swim around a miniature castle that looked like the Canterlot Castle. After watching for a few minutes, Blake felt his eyelids grow heavy and shortly after, sleep overtook him. But not for long.

Shortly after having finally falling asleep, Blake was forcibly ripped from his dreams by a strange grinding sound that traveled through the house. “Oh gawd, what is that?” He asked, yawning and rubbing his eyes. Slowly, he got out of his bed and moved towards the door of his room. He grabbed the flashlight that sat in front of the television set in his room, shook it, and began his little investigation of the strange sound that interrupted his sleep.
His investigation took him to the basement were the grinding noise was the loudest. Upon stepping on the hard, concrete floor of the basement, Blake felt a chill that ran up his little spine. His fur stood on edge as his light shined down the hall. The light had gone out and it was beyond dark in the basement, far too dark for Blake. But he had to figure out what that noise is, so he built up all the courage he could, took in a deep breath and began trotting through the darkness. 
When he walked into the big room in the basement, he noticed how different the atmosphere felt in the dark without his little friend. “Oh, how I wish PinkieTail was with me…” He said in a quiet voice, in case that ‘thing’ from last night was still down here with him. Using the light of the flashlight, he navigated himself around the various furniture and other things in the room while moving to the right side of the room, which was where the sound was coming from. 
There he found a door which, if memory served him right, was closed the past few times he was down here. He took a step forward and his hoof came down upon something. He looked down and saw another small, green egg laying on the ground, similar to the one he found the night before. “Huh…” Blake picked it up and opened it. Inside was a tuff of fur… Blue fur. “How did…” He saw another egg. And another. And another. There was an entire trail made of eggs that led into the room. “Who’s leaving these?” He asked aloud, picking up each one and opening them. Each item inside was just as strange as the last, confusing Blake more and more. 
By the time he collected the fifth egg, he was inside the room. His eyes followed the trail of the last few eggs, which led them to the source of the noise, upon seeing it, Blake jumped back in surprise. It was nothing like what he had expected to find. It looked similar to PinkieTail in design, but was much larger than its pink counterpart. Not only that, but it also had a set of wings and a horn on its head, making known that it’s clearly a lavender colored alicorn. “So familiar...” Blake thought out loud as he looked over the giant Tattletail toy. It was clear that the grinding noise was coming from this… ‘thing’. But why? And for what reason?
Blake moved closer to investigate, but as soon as he took a step forward, the noise cut off, as if it knew he was finally there. He didn’t know what to do, but then he noticed the tape that sat inside of the mini fridge next to the alicorn TattleTail. He picked it up with his magic and gave it one quick lookover. On the front was white tape and writing that read: “Hide And Seek With Mama”. He looked back at the Tattletail Toy and noticed that there was a slot in the chest area. Wide enough for the tape he was holding. Not knowing exactly what he needed to do, Blake inserted the tape into the slot. It slid in and there was a ‘click’, then a ‘whir’, as if the tape was being rewinded, then another ‘click’, then the eyes on the Tattletail shot open as the head began to spin around, doing a full 360. The mouth opened and closed as a voice came out, telling a story with music playing in the background.
“The children thought that Mama would never find them, as long as she couldn’t see them. Turn the page… 
But Mama could still hear the children. The pitter-patter of their little hooves led Mama right to them. Turn the page…
Then Mama found them. Every last one. And put them right back to bed…”
The audio died out after that and the sounds had stopped, but the Tattletail’s (Who Blake figured by now was Mama) head and eyes continued to move. In the silence, Blake sat there, watching the big Tattletail move around. He felt scared, too scared to really do anything but watch. His mind was racing with many questions. But all that was interrupted by a familiar laugh. ‘PinkieTail.’ The sound had came from above him, which meant that she was upstairs somewhere. And right now, Blake need the company of his little friend. He turned and quickly left the room, leaving Mama Tattletail behind him. However, as he ran out the room, he didn’t noticed that the head of Mama had stopped moving. Nor did he noticed that her eyes stared at him, unblinking, with a red glow. 

Blake traced the sounds of laughter all the way back upstairs where he found PinkieTail… Sitting on a pile of trash. “Oh, what the heck?” Blake questioned as he approached PinkieTail. Her only response was a giggle. Blake shook his head and picked up PinkieTail with his hoof.
“PinkieTail, that’s me!” She said, wearing the biggest smile. Blake only sighed in response, finally happy to have some company. Then his mood changed when PinkieTail spoke again. “Show me Mama!” 
“What?! You.. You want to see… Mama?” He asked the little doll, who nodded in response. “Are you sure? I mean, we could, like, totally do something else… Something that doesn’t require me to go back into the basement… Or near Mama…” He said. But PinkieTail’s decision stood firm. She wanted nothing else. Sighing in defeat, Blake turned around and walked back towards the basement. He was going to have to deal with Mama one more time, then he’ll come back and clean up the mess. 

Blake found himself back downstairs in the large room, staring at the doorway that led into the room where Mama was. The lights still hadn’t come back on, so he had to keep the light up in his flashlight, shaking every once in awhile when it dimmed. He had to, because if he didn’t, PinkieTail would start shaking and whimpering and that’s the last thing he wants right now. Letting out another sigh, he walked into the room, holding onto both the flashlight and PinkieTail. 
When he entered the room and turned to the corner of the room where Mama last was, his eyes shrank and his ears drooped in fear. The corner was empty. No big alicorn tattletail sitting there, waiting to greet him and the smaller tattletail. He opened his mouth to say something, but PinkieTail beat him to it. “Where’s Mama?” She asked, her voice… Shaking? Was she scared? But it wasn’t dark. Not with the flashlight still on. 
But whatever it was, it was gone quickly as PinkieTail let out a yawn. “Me tired. Time for bed.” She said, her eyes halfway closed. Blake sighed, feeling his own exhaustion creeping up on him. He turned and left the room, taking PinkieTail back to where her box was. He wrapped her up inside and placed the present back on the table. Then he turned and left the small room, heading back towards the stairs. He still had one other thing to deal with before he went to bed, or else his mother would be on his back about it for the next week.

As Blake climbed the stairs, he couldn’t stop thinking about Mama, about how she was missing from her spot in the basement room, how PinkieTail seemed startled about her missing, and how the air around his seemed… strange. His trail of thought was broken when he realized that the lights in the house have shut off, leaving him in the dark with the soft glow of his flashlight. He shook it a couple of times to brighten the room, which was the kitchen, and quickly found a nearby lightswitch. He flipped it down, then back up. Nothing happened.
“Hmm…” Blake was pondered, wondering about the lights and what happened, when he heard a noise cut through the silence in the air. It was a grinding noise, one that sound oddly familiar…
Blake moved through the kitchen and into the doorframe that led into the dining room and living room. His flashlight suddenly cut out and he saw them: a pair of red, glowing eyes staring at him through the darkness. He inhaled a deep breath at the sight, too scared to move. The eyes moved back and forth, illuminating part of the carpet in front of it, as if it was searching for something. Then the red glow crawled along the ground towards Blake as the creature’s eyes lifted up, noticing him in the darkness. The grinding sound came again and so did a voice, a very familiar voice. 
“No need to worry… Mama’s here for you…” 
‘Oh gawd…’ Blake’s heart started to race in fear as he knew what the creature was. It was Mama, or, to be more precise, it was the big tattletail toy that was in the basement. The one the had vanished. “Oh please, no…” He said, backing away from the doorway. 
However, he tripped on himself and fell to the ground with a loud ‘CRASH’. Mama immediately got up from where she was sitting and started to move towards Blake, a thud coming from her hooves when they hit the ground. “Mama will look after you…” Her voice said in a cheery tone as her figure moved threatenly through the darkness. Blake quickly gathered himself and, without wasting a second, rushed for the basement door. His hooves clattered against the tile floor as he escaped the gaze of Mama, who continued to follow him. He made it to the doorway of the basement and stopped. He looked down into the pitch-black darkness that engulfed the lower portion of his house, wondering if it really was better place to go to. A thud called from behind him and when he turned around, he saw the red eyes glaring around the corner. Though it was extremely dark and very hard to see the full shape of Mama, Blake could see the faded white color of something.. Sharp. 
This drove Blake’s mind into making a decision. Without another thought, Blake threw himself down the stairs, with Mama on his trail. He tumbled through the dark, smacking against each step, before coming to a full stop at the bottom… Flat on his face. “Note to self: Use flashlight to find steps, BEFORE taking said step.” He said to himself, feeling the cold of the concrete floor thru his fur. He got up, his head feeling very light, when a voice spoke from right behind him.
“Mama’s here… Don’t worry…” Blake’s entire body froze up. The grinding of Mama’s insides was loud and Blake could do nothing but just stand there, waiting for the worst. He closed his eyes and braced himself…
But nothing happened. He waited a little longer, then opened his eyes. He turned around and saw nothing behind him. Not only that, but the lights in the house had turned back on. Doing a quick scope of the area, Blake realized that Mama had vanished. But for what reason? Blake didn’t understand, but he didn’t care. As quick as he could, he, once again, threw himself up the stairs, through the kitchen and into the living room, where PinkieTail’s mess was. Picking up everything and placing it into the trash can that was next to it all, he carried it back into the kitchen with his magic and placed the trash can back where it belonged. Then he turned and started off towards his room. This has been too much of a night for him and he just wanted to get to bed and forget it all. To place himself into the safety of his dream world, which was more than likely corrupted by tonight’s events. 
However, as he was passing it, the phone on the wall rang. Blake knew that the past few times he had picked it up, it was only nightmare fuel on the other side. But, just like the cat that got killed, his curiosity was too much. Lifting it with his magic, he brought the speaker to his ear and listened. It was the same grinding noise from the nights before, which he know assumed belonged to Mama, but behind that was music. A jingle and a familiar one at that. Then, just like the past few times, the phone cut out and there was nothing but silence. Blake sighed and hung the phone back up. “Why? Just why?” He asked to the universe, which only responded in silence. He sighed again and headed to his room, too tired to really care right now. 

“Maybe tomorrow night will be better…”