“AAAAAAA!! It's so good to see you again Octi!” Pinkie cheerfully screamed, wrapping her hooves around the light gray mare.
“It's good to see you too Sis.” Octavia smiled, returning the hug. It really had been a while since the two of them had last seen each other. With Octavia's tour schedule and Pinkie's duties to Equestria, the last time they'd had a chance to see each other was when Pinkie unexpectedly visited during one of her tours.
“You must be so tired from your trip! Come on, let's go get you set up at my place, then we can get some food!” Pinkie cheerfully beamed and began bouncing her way down the busy street.
It was a sunny day in Ponyville, with only a few scant clouds hovering in the sky. Ponies were cheerfully going about their business, be it to see their friends and family, or simply to pick up things from the market. And even though Octavia was exhausted from the lack of sleep she'd been getting, the town radiated the same happiness she remembered from her own youthful days living there.
“Oh, oh!” Pinkie cheerfully bounced in place, before turning to Octavia with a bright grin. “I know a shortcut to get us there faster! Come on Octi, follow me!” With those words she bounded off into an alleyway on the side of the road, disappearing from sight.
“Pinkie?” Octavia spoke up confused. It wasn’t that unusual for Pinkie to run off on her own, but something about this felt weirder than normal. Unsure of what else to do, she followed her sister down into the alley. A few trash bags were placed against the wall, and a few pipes for infrastructure ran up the walls, but it wasn't anything out of the ordinary.
“Pinkie, wait for me!” Octavia called out, noticing Pinkie's bright pink tail whisking off around the corner at the end of the alleyway. She picked up her pace, trying not to lose track of her sister, and rounded the same corner. To her surprise, the alleyway kept going, making another sharp turn at the end of it.
Her sister was now completely out of sight.
“Pinkie!” While it was true that Pinkie running off on her own was a normal occurrence, it was unusual for her to ignore Octavia like this. Usually if she called out, Pinkie would be right on top of her giving Octavia her full attention. Something wasn't right...
Octavia rounded the next corner and skidded to a stop, a chain link gate was open slightly ajar in the middle of the alleyway. This was getting ridiculous, what kind of alleyway system kept going on like this? It either needed to dead end at some point or exit out onto the next road.
“Pinkie, this isn't funny!” If this was one of her sister's pranks, she wasn’t enjoying it. Pushing the gate open, she continued to run deeper into the never ending hallway. A small enclave suddenly opened up in the middle of the alleyway and Octavia came to a screeching halt inside of it.
On the ground was a pile of gore and viscera, sitting on top of a pool of blood. It looked fresh, as if the organs had just been dumped there a short while ago. Octavia took a step back, fear choking her voice at the sight. She looked around desperately, trying to find her sister and get out of this awful place.
“Pinkie?” Her shaky voice called out. “Pinkie!” She cried again. Her sister wasn't answering, had something happened to her? “Pinkie! Answer me!” Silence returned her. “Oh no... Oh no oh no oh no!”
Octavia ran deeper down into the alley. She had to find Pinkie, she had to know if she was alright. Even while running, the alleyway seemed to stretch farther and farther, as if it never ended. Her breathing grew ragged and panicked, desperately searching for her sister or an exit.
Her ear twitched as she slowed for a moment, looking up at the sky. A distant sound was echoing through the town. The faint cry of a siren warning the town of danger.
She gulped her fears down and continued forward, finding a much taller chain-link fence blocking her path this time. Her sister had run this way and it was only a one-way path, she had to have gone through here. Octavia bashed the gate open with her shoulder and rushed her way down the alley.
She came to an abrupt stop as the light around her began to dim. She looked up at the sky again, unable to see it anymore. It had become pitch black and she was drowned in darkness. The distant siren had finished wailing, and now everything was deathly silent.
“No, no no no no no no no!” Octavia desperately cried, reaching a hoof into the saddlebag she had brought with her. She desperately rummaged around for the tiny object she knew she had with her. Without being able to see it was difficult, but she got lucky and her hoof tapped against it. She quickly pulled it out and put pressure on the handle on the side.
A small flicker of light surrounded her as the flame came to life. It wasn't much, but her lighter had come through for her.
“Pinkie! Where are you!?” Octavia cried out again, still hearing nothing. As she moved forward, splotches of blood began to appear on the ground, staining the brown ground crimson.
Was her sister hurt? Had something attacked her? Octavia had to know if she was alright!
Another turn into another stretch of alley, similar blood stains guiding her way. Another turn, frantic desperation fueled her search, needing to know if Pinkie was okay. The next turn for the alley was different; instead of the normal walls, a large chain link fence led her way. Some of the chains were splattered with blood, and she couldn't see anything through them, not even some semblance of ground.
“PINKIE!” Octavia shouted, panic filling her core. She ran down the hallway of twisting metal fences, larger and larger piles of blood staining the ground. This hallway was a straight path, leading into a dark abyss as she ran and ran.
She skidded to a halt, reaching a dead end in the hallway. She dropped the lighter, putting a hoof to her mouth as she cried out in horror.
Pinkie's body was strung up with barbed wire, her body bloodied and emaciated. Her front hooves were held up at her sides, while her hind legs were nailed together below. Blood pooled beneath her and various organs lay around the circular dead end. Pinkie had been hung up to be put on display, like her body was some kind of decoration.
There was no mistaking the sight. Pinkie was dead.
“No...” Octavia sobbed, stepping back from the grisly sight, unable to believe what she was seeing. “No... No this can't be happening!” She cried, unable to tear her eyes away from her sister's body. She collapsed to a sitting position, the tears flowing freely down her face as she stared in horror.
A sharp, metal scraping sound echoed in her ears, her eyes widening as she twirled around in fear. From the darkness were the sounds of heavy footsteps on metal and something being dragged behind them. Octavia stepped back, her entire body shaking in fear. Into the dwindling light of her lighter's flame, stepped a pony.
It stood on its hind legs, those legs covered in thick metal. Hanging around her hip and waist was a bloodied and torn white smock, a thick metal collar that was causing profuse bleeding was bolted into her neck, the same thick metal surrounded its front hooves, and its entire face was covered in a metal mask with no holes for the eyes or mouth, only ones for the curly pale-blonde locks that hung out of the sides. A large splotch of blood was where one of her eye should've been, and being dragged behind her was a gigantic inwardly curved scythe that was scraping against the ground.
“S-Stay back!” Octavia cried out, stepping back as far as she could until she bumped into her sister's dead body. That mare had to be the one that had killed her sister, the one that had to of warped and twisted everything to be like this!
The Masked Mare stepped closer, her deadly weapon continuing to scrape along the ground as she walked. She drew closer, and closer, and Octavia couldn't back up anymore. The barbed wire around her sister was digging into her flesh as she tried to escape this mad woman.
The Masked Mare stopped just a few steps away from Octavia, just pausing to stare at her for a moment. Octavia shuddered in fear, not knowing what was about to happen.
Then, the mare reached over and grabbed the scythe with both of her front hooves. Octavia's eyes widened in horror.
“No! NO! NO PLEASE!” Octavia begged for her life, screaming for help. The Masked Mare didn't even hesitate. She turned the blade ever so slightly, and swung with tremendous force.
“NO!” Octavia screamed, sitting up sharply in her seat. She looked around desperately for the Masked Mare and the scythe that she was certain had struck her, but she found nothing of the sort. No mare, no blood, no dark realm, and certainly not her sister's dead body.
She was back on the train, on the Ponyville Express heading towards the town. Even now she could hear the faint rumbling of the wheels as the large vehicle made its way along.
“A... A nightmare?” Octavia muttered in terror, bringing her hoof up to her face. She had been crying in her sleep again, the result of a horrible nightmare.
She quickly rubbed her face down and wrapped her arms around her shaking body. Just like the others, it had felt so real, so horrible. She hadn't even noticed she had fallen asleep, it had just... Happened.
Once her shaking calmed down, she tilted her head to look around. The train car was empty except for her, so no one had heard her pathetic scream from the nightmare. On one hoof she was thankful that no one had seen her pathetic display, but on the other she felt miserable knowing she was completely alone.
She reached a shaky hoof into her saddlebag and pulled out her carton of cigarettes. It was a terrible, filthy habit she had kicked a long time ago, but ever since the nightmares had been terrorizing her, she needed the pick me up. Two weeks of relentless nightmares, two weeks of being unable to properly sleep, two weeks of being unable to do anything but try not to fall asleep.
She took a deep drag on the death stick, letting it out slowly through the train's open window. The smoke helped calm her nerves, leaning back into the chair and resting her head against the window. She looked at the outside world, only seeing a cloud of fog surrounding the train. That was a little unusual, but she was distracted by something else at the moment.
The mare in the window that looked back at her looked awful. Darkened, heavy bags around her eyes, her eyes bloodshot from her crying, her hair was disheveled, and her coat was slightly more pale than usual. If she didn't know any better, she would have thought herself on her deathbed.
“Pinkie will know how to stop these...” Octavia whispered to herself, closing her eyes for a moment. “She has to... She has to be able to help me...”
Another long drag of her cigarette. She'd be in Ponyville soon.