The Bookworm
“Now this story I read in a book,” Twilight began as she settled down in her sleeping bag.
“No? Really?” Rainbow Dash said with a roll of her eyes, eliciting a glare from Rarity and Applejack.
“Anyway..” Twilight replied with a sharp look to Dash. “If I recall it was in a collection of short stories by the famed horror author named Sc-”
“Alright already!” Rainbow shouted. “Just tell it!” Her outburst was followed by a pair of hooves pushing Twilight down to shut her up.
Libram stared intently at the blackboard, her horn glowing a pale yellow as she moved her pencil across the notebook in front of her. She listened intently to the droning of the stallion at the head of the classroom as he talked about archeological research techniques of the Post-Paleopony Period. The classroom itself was scarcely occupied, as ponies who appreciated a good history lesson were few and far between. The professor was an earth pony with pale white fur and a black, well-kept mane named Professor Friesian from Stalliongrad. He wore a pair of spectacles and a nice dark blue suit when he lectured at the college that Libram was attending in Manehattan. The pale blue unicorn had a blonde mane and tail, the mane pulled up into a modest bun with a pencil stuck in it to hold it in place. Her cutie mark was a stack of books and every professor on campus knew her by name. She loved books and learning, and usually volunteered to help in the library whenever it was possible. The bell signaling the end of class jarred her out of her ‘zone’ as she shook her head to clear it.
“And that is all for today, youngsters.” The professor said with a warm smile as he started putting away his teaching supplies in the desk. The young mare nodded and started to levitate her own school supplies into her saddlebags. She was sad that the class was over. Libram loved archeology and ancient history classes. She hopped out of the seat and trotted up to where he was still getting ready. The other students had already left; most only took the class to get some easy credit. History wasn’t required learning for a diploma, at least not for their intended professions.
“Hello Mr. Friesian!” she chirped. She tended to act like a filly around the professors. It was something they enjoyed, seeing her youthful enthusiasm, even if she was old enough that most other adults would look down on her for being so childish. Professor Friesian in particular seemed to enjoy talking with her.
“Ah, guten tag, Fraulein Libram.” He said with a warm smile and a small bow of his head. His accent was barely there, given his many years in Equestria, but he still tossed in words from his homeland when he felt it was appropriate.
“I really enjoyed the class today. I loved hearing about primitive Neanderponies and their culture based on the fossil research that was found in dig sites all across Equestria.” Her tail gave a little wag as she talked, showing her excitement.
“Yes, I enjoyed digging up such relics myself back when I worked the field in Stalliongrad.” He said as he removed his spectacles and placed them in the breast pocket of his suit, picking up his saddlebags and sliding them on. Something seemed to draw his attention, and the hint of a frown crossed his face. “I am afraid I must return to my villa. I shall see you tomorrow, Fraulein.” He said with a little bow as he quickly turned and trotted away. Libram pouted slightly, turning her head in the direction of where the professor’s eyes had gone, but she couldn’t see anything. She shrugged to herself and instead started to head out of the campus.
She was no social butterfly, and usually avoided mingling with other ponies. Because she was so smart, she accidentally alienated ponies with the dictionary she kept between her ears. Even the other nerds in the school tended to talk down to her, so she just made friends with the teachers and tried to avoid her peers. She nodded and made some small talk with a few more instructors on her way out as she made her way towards the dorms. On her way to the door, she was stopped by a dark shape leaping out of the bushes. She gave a shrill squeak and quickly dropped down to put her hooves over her head, protecting herself. When nothing happened, after several minutes she rose a hoof and peeked out at whoever was standing there. A tall black stallion pegasus wearing a big red coat and a wide-brimmed hat was staring down at her with sharp golden eyes.
“You should stay away from the professor. He’s not what he seems to be..” he uttered enigmatically before spreading his wings and taking off, leaving a very confused mare blinking up at where he was just standing. She picked herself up, shook herself, then quickly trotted inside and up to her room so she could hide under the covers for several hours as she tried to figure out just -what- the hay all of that was.
“He told you to stay away from the professor?” Asked her math instructor, Miss Cosine. She was having lunch with one of her instructors, and the dark purple unicorn with the light pink mane looked confused by the story.
“Yes, it was quite confusing. I mean, which one? It’s not like there’s only one teacher at the college who goes by Professor. Did he mean Professor Friesian? Professor Canvas? It could be any of them.” She frowned as she toyed with her salad. “Although, Professor Friesian did act a little strange earlier that day. He acted like he was scared of something. Do you think this strange pegasus might be after him?”
Miss Cosine smiled and shook her head. “Unlikely, Professor Friesian is an excellent instructor and a gentlecolt among stallions. It’s hard to imagine him doing anything to have warranted an enemy. He even tutors students at his villa in his free time.”
Libram’s eyes widened. “He does? I didn’t know that. I wonder if he’d tutor me?”
Miss Cosine laughed lightly, “My dear, tutors are for those who -need- extra lessons. You are already quite the intelligent pony. Probably smarter than most of our instructors to be honest.” She whispered that last part, giving the unicorn a sly wink. Libram’s cheeks flushed with pride as she shifted shyly in her chair.
“Um, be.. be that as it may.” Libram said with a nervous cough to try and get over her shyness, sipping her soda to give herself a pause for thought. “I felt I should tell -somepony- in case this weirdo is lurking around campus. The look in his eyes..” She gave a small shudder. “He seems dangerous.”
Miss Cosine nodded. “I’ll be sure to alert campus security. Don’t worry, dear Libram, everything will work out fine in the end.”
Libram gave a sigh of relief and finally started eating her salad, unaware that said mysterious pony was on top of the cafeteria building, watching her from above anypony’s field of vision.
Libram settled down in the classroom, eagerly waiting for the arrival of the professor. Her supplies were spread out on the desk in front of her as she stared at the clock, watching it tick down. She saw a pair of late students hurry in and sit down. One of them looked to be very drained and tired. She was a young pegasus, wearing a hat, sunglasses and a scarf. Her friend looked at her with concern.
“Are you okay? You seem really out of it.”
“I dunno, ever since I went to the professor’s tutoring session, I just feel really.. tired.” She said as she stifled a yawn with a hoof. The pegasus adjusted the scarf around her neck.
“Are your eyes bothering you?” her friend asked. “You don’t normally wear sunglasses.”
“Yeah, sun’s just a little bright today.” She mumbled, lowering her head as if to take a nap on the desk.
Libram frowned. This wasn’t very polite. The professor took time out of his day to tutor her, and she has the gall to complain about being tired. The unicorn looked back up at the clock. “I wonder what’s keeping him?” she asked with some worry. Did that strange pegasus do something bad to him?
The door opened, startling Libram out of her daze. She looked over expectantly, but instead of the professor, she saw Miss Cosine. The math instructor walked up to the desk and cleared her throat to get everypony’s attention. “Professor Friesian has called in today, so I shall be standing in for this period, and it will be free study.” She said as she sat down at the desk. Many of the students murmured amongst themselves. Libram got out of her desk and trotted up.
“Miss Cosine? Is the Professor sick?” She asked with some concern.
“He didn’t say, he just sent a message saying he would be absent today.” Miss Cosine said with a sad smile. “Don’t worry, I don’t think it’s anything serious.”
“Um, Miss Cosine? May I be excused? I want to go check up on him.” Libram asked as she shuffled around on her hooves nervously.
Miss Cosine’s eyebrows raised in surprise. “You? Skip class? Wow, this must be important to you. Very well.” She said with a nod. “To be honest, I am a little worried too.” She filled out a form. “There, you’re approved for taking off early. I’ll file this when classes end for the day.”
Libram’s smile was huge as she gave the teacher an unexpected hug. “Thank you!” She quickly gathered up her school supplies and galloped out of the classroom, getting a lot of strange looks from her classmates.
She looked up at the gates to the fairly large villa on the outskirts of Manehatten’s wealthy district, her jaw dropping slightly as she took in the towering structure. It was huge, the wood fairly old and well-kept. The building possessed a very Victorian feel. Despite the fence around the perimeter, along with the electronic camera and intercom system, she might almost think she was in the past. After a few minutes of gawking, she raised a hoof and pressed the button on the intercom. Several minutes of silence passed until it finally crackled to life.
“Yes? Who is it?” the professor’s voice issued from the metal box. Libram’s ears perked up as she gave a warm smile, glad to hear he didn’t sound hurt or sick.
“Professor? It’s Libram.” She said quietly. “I heard you called in today, and wanted to know if you were okay.”
“Libram? Oh y-yes, I am quite fine. Just feeling a tad under the weather as it were.” There was a slight nervousness to his voice that Libram picked up.
“Professor? Is this.. about that strange pegasus in the red jacket?” she asked timidly.
A shocked silence followed. “Ah, so you’ve met him then. What did he say to you?” Libram raised her head when the question came out.
“Nothing, he only said to avoid you, that you weren’t what you appeared to be. Professor, what is going on?”
The Professor’s heavy sigh seemed to deepen the mood. “I suppose you should come inside then. If he’s lurking out there, then you are in danger.” There was a buzzing sound as the gates swung open. Libram hesitantly looked at the road leading up to the villa, then glanced around in worry, as if expecting the strange pegasus to leap out of nowhere again. She quickly trotted up to the door and paused, peering behind her. The door opened suddenly, and she gave a startled ‘eep’ as a pale hoof silently rested on her shoulder. She turned to see that the professor was carefully looking around with his dark purple eyes.
“Well I don’t -see- him, but he’s rather good at hiding. Come inside,” he said as he pulled his hoof back and moved to let her into his villa. It was dimly lit, and she could see that heavy curtains covered every window. What light that was available came from faint candles and lanterns hung here and there. Libram had to squint her eyes to let them adjust to the darker interior as the door softly shut behind her. “Welcome to my villa, please step into the reading room.” She didn’t need to be asked twice. Soon enough her excitement overshadowed any apprehension as she was led through a pair of sliding doors into a large room with plenty of candles and lanterns around to read by. The walls were covered in books of various topics. A piano took up a corner of the room and several paintings of ponies in older style outfits littered the far wall. She was far more focused on the books however, eagerly trotting over to skim the spines and the titles. Friesian chuckled as he let her play with the books for a little bit, trotting over to a chair and sitting down. Adjusting the lounge jacket he was wearing, he dug out a book and set it down on the nightstand next to him for when she was finished with her distraction. Soon enough, she realized she was acting rather childish and her cheeks burned with embarrassment .
“I’m sorry, there was something important you wanted to talk about, wasn’t there?” She said as she returned a book to the shelf and trotted over to stand in front of him, feeling like a child who had just been caught with her hoof in the cookie jar.
“Quite.. now as you know, a strange pegasus has been following me around and spying on me and my students.” He began as he produced a pipe and scratched a match to light it. Smoke drifted out of the end, the embers flared to life when he puffed on it. His lips parted as he blew the smoke towards the window, so as not to make Libram choke. “He followed me here from my homeland and has been adamantly stalking me ever since.”
“But Professor, whatever for?” Libram asked, fear gripping her voice at the idea of some strange pony following her beloved professor.
The old stallion chuckled softly, glancing up at the ceiling. “He thinks I’m a Vampony.” He said with a tone that indicated it was a ridiculous idea.
“A Vampony?” Libram said with an incredulous look. “That’s just an old ponies tale.” She shook her head. “That pegasus is crazy. Why would he think that?”
“Well, back in my homeland there -was- a Vampony who was preying on others. And I won’t lie that I do appear similar to one.” He spoke as if it were some commonplace matter. There was an awkward silence as Libram stared at him in quiet shock.
“Wait, they’re REAL?” She said after her brain processed the information she had been told. The professor nodded.
“Oh quite, they’re very rare though, and frankly, the idea that one would even be able to travel this far a distance is laughable. But sadly young Gravetracker isn’t as knowledgeable as he would like to think.”
Libram looked nervously around the room as she tried to get her thoughts together. “So they’re real, huh? I mean, I’ve read stories about them, but I always thought they were just that, stories.”
“Don’t believe everything you read. Most ponies don’t know the full details and just make information up.” Friesian said solemnly.
“Well, how do you know so much about them?” she asked quietly.
The book sitting on the nightstand next to the stallion was lifted with a hoof and held towards her. “My journal; back in the day I used to investigate strange and unusual events. That’s part of what got me into exploring archeology and dig sites. There is quite a lot of information that is kept from the public because we only have conjecture and guesstimating to go off of.”
Shaky hooves took the book as Libram looked at the cover. “Friesian’s Guide to the Supernatural.” Her voice was quiet and subdued as she opened the book. A frown crossed her face. “I can’t read this.” It was in another language.
“Ah yes, I apologize, I did not intend for you to read anything other than the title. Feel free to sate your curiosity about Vamponies by asking me questions. That is what this conversation is about after all.”
“Oh, okay.” The book was closed and set to the side as she leaned back some, looking up at the ceiling in thought. “Well I guess my first question.. is where do Vamponies come from? I had always heard it was some kind of curse or something.”
Friesian chuckled quietly. “No no, the Vamponies' origin started back during the war between the three tribes of pony. One of Starswirl’s old apprentices was trying to modify some ponies to survive the lean food shortages as well as to try and solidify the three races. The result was the Vamponies, ten ponies who had volunteered for the procedure. They gained the powers of flight, some minor magic, and incredible strength and speed. There were unexpected downsides of course, but this was only the trial run. Sadly the process was halted when Starswirl found out what was happening, and he banished his apprentice into a pocket dimension as punishment. He tried to fix them, but he had to deal with the food shortage and everything else as well. In the long run half of them ran off when he wasn’t paying attention and escaped into the countryside.”
Libram’s eyes were wide and sparkly with wonder, she enjoyed learning new things, and had never heard anything about this before. “So they were just kind of abandoned?”
“No no, Starswirl wasn’t so cruel. He set up an organization to find them, along with his apprentice's notes and research. He still wanted them helped, it’s just.. as time went on, the ponies who ran said organization felt that they should be destroyed as they were viewed as monsters.” A sad look crossed the professor’s face as he looked at one of the thickly curtained windows, his eyes lost in thought.
“So wait, there’s a whole organization of ponies who do this?” She sounded dubious.
“Well not nearly as many now, many of them went much of their lives without ever seeing a Vampony, so there are few believers. Only the most fanatical and zealous ones remain. I should also like to point out that they have killed many would be Vamponies without any remorse.” His tone became more serious and less whimsical. “So he is an actual threat, he wants to literally kill me. The only thing stopping him is his belief that I’m some sort of supernatural entity with magical powers.” He said with a heavy sigh.
“Okay, but WHY does he think that? It can’t be just because you’re pale,” the young mare commented.
“That is simple, because he is prejudiced and not as clever as he thinks he is. Among the many weaknesses the Vamponies have is sensitivity to light.” He gestured to the curtains blocking his windows. “As do old ponies who have a tendency for migraines. He also thinks that my various tutoring students are having their blood drained by me based on how groggy and tired they are when they leave. But that is easy enough to explain. I tutor ponies who aren’t very good at the subject and don’t show much interest. Of course they’re going to be exhausted after sitting in here for hours listening to me teach.”
Libram frowned slightly. “I wouldn’t be.”
“Vamponies have plenty more weaknesses as well. They are allergic to garlic, which is a shame given its health benefits. They cannot abide mirrors. They have sharp teeth, whereas your average pony has normal flat teeth as with most herbivores. The list goes on.” He gave a small shrug. “If he’s talked to you directly then clearly he suspects that I’m going to ‘target’ you next.” He did hoofquotes as he said that, to verify the absurdity of the notion.
“Um, Professor? I need to use the little filly’s room.” She said after he finished talking, blushing slightly.
Friesian blinked slowly. “You don’t need permission, the guest restroom is down the hallway on the left.” He said with a gesture.
She nodded and quickly stood up and trotted into the hallway, heading down a dimly lit corridor as she took in the rustic feel of the house with a happy sigh. It was so beautiful, if a bit oddly designed. The hallways seemed to be strangely built, not really intersecting with other corridors or anything. Libram assumed this was just a design quirk due to how old the house was. The bathroom was eventually found and she did her business. As she was washing up she looked above the sink, frowning as she noticed there was no mirror. She could see a spot where the mirror should be mounted, but it was vacant. Her eyes slowly widened as she thought back to what the professor said about Vamponies hating mirrors. Then she shook her head, “No way, I’m just over-thinking.” She said to reaffirm her own situation as she trotted back to the reading room.
Carefully stepping in, she saw the professor looking at the paintings on the other end of the room. She quietly crept up, looking over his shoulder. Her eyes widened again in shock as she quickly took a step back. The stallion in the paintings looked -just- like him. The dates on the bottom right corner were centuries ago! The professor turned around when he heard her hoofsteps, an eyebrow raised. “Is something wrong, Fraulein Libram?” He asked as he puffed on his pipe curiously. Libram shook her head, smiling nervously.
“Oh no, I just, uh, remembered I have to go do something now. Bye!” She quickly grabbed her saddlebags and ran off, leaving a surprised and confused-looking Friesian behind.
“Okay, that was just me over-thinking too much.” Libram said to herself as she made her way home. “He can’t possibly be a Vampony. I’m sure he was just having a laugh at my expense. I can take a good joke.” She was busy talking herself out of the crazy notion that a pony she viewed as her mentor was in fact a horrible monstrosity.
“Are you so sure?” Came a familiar rough voice which caused her to freeze up. The sound of wings and hooves hitting the pavement caused her to turn around and stare back into the face of Wilhelm, the Pegasus who was apparently a Vampony hunter.
She frowned as she took a step back. “Oh it’s you, you’re crazy you know that?” Anger was flooding her with bravery as she stood against the pegasus who wanted to hurt -her- professor. “Just leave him be, he’s a sweet, smart, old stallion who wants nothing to do with your twisted fantasy.”
“Can’t do that, I am afraid.” Said Wilhelm with a shake of his head. “You might have been fooled, but I’m not so easy to sway. If you’re so certain of his innocence, then why were you trying to convince yourself that you were just imagining it, hmmm?” He asked as he raised a brow and leaned in close, putting on a threatening demeanor. The young mare shrank back from the expression, nervously gulping.
“Irregardless, I will not believe that he’s a monster like you claim. I’ve seen him and talked to him. If you would only talk to him you’d see that-”
“HE IS A MONSTER!” The pegasus suddenly snapped, leaning in even closer with his eyes open wide, pupils dilated with anger and nostrils breathing heavily as he huffed. “I’ve seen his handiwork back in our homeland. He only ran here when he realized I was hunting him. He didn’t think I’d find a way to track him, ooooh but I did. Didn’t I?” He giggled to himself as he leaned back, his eyes going out of focus as he relapsed into some sort of daze for several long terrifying seconds before he snapped to clarity. “I’m going to get him for sure this time, and you are going to help me.” He spread his wings wide as he advanced on her menacingly. “Whether you want to or not...”
Libram woke up feeling groggy. Her limbs were bound and she couldn’t move very well. Tugging on the bindings revealed she was bound to a chair in an abandoned warehouse somewhere, a single light casting a pool of radiance around her. The rest of the room was thrown into shadows. Her horn sparked to life as she tried to concentrate and untie herself, but she was too groggy to focus enough. She gave up after several minutes of trying, panting softly. The sound of hoofsteps just outside of her sight caused her to turn her head towards the source in a panic.
“Easy now, Miss Libram.” came Wilhelm’s quiet voice from the darkness. “You won’t be harmed, you’re just bait for the Vampony. I’ve sent him a note stating I have you in my thrall, he should be here soon. He wouldn’t give up so easy a food source after all.” There was a crack of humor in his voice as Libram began shaking. Her professor was going to come and get murdered by this psychopath.. she had to think of some way to help him. Her eyes closed as she racked her brain for information. She was far too out of it to use her magic in any effective way, so she’d have to use her other strength, her smarts. A survey of the room told her only that it was completely dark, either it was nighttime or the windows were blocked up. That was strange.
“Why do you have the windows blocked up? If he’s a Vampony shouldn’t you want to fight him where the daylight can weaken him?” Her verbal attack began now. A long silence was her response.
“You certainly know your lore.” He said finally. “The windows were already boarded up. I would rather have them off of course, but as it is I have to make do. I have garlic strands hung just inside the doorways so I should know when he comes in.”
“And if he doesn’t react to the garlic?” Finally calming her nerves had given her strength. She had to succeed or else her professor would be in big trouble. “What then?”
“Don’t try and fool me, I know garlic works on him. Back in Stalliongrad when he wore a different face, I was able to ward him off with garlic easily.”
“Wait, he doesn’t even -look- the same and you’re accusing him? You -are- crazy.” She said with a shake of her head.
“You’ve seen the inside of his house, how those ancient paintings look just like him, how his guest bathroom lacks any mirror. Heck you were trying to talk yourself -out- of thinking he was a Vampony when I abducted you.” He had stepped into the pool of light at this point, the light casting dark shadows about his face and body as he talked. Libram squeaked softly at how scary he looked, but held her ground.
“I know that imagination can play tricks on ponies' minds. Yours seems to have turned into an obsession. The mirror in his bathroom could have been broken, and he just hadn't replaced it yet. Or those paintings, well, everypony tends to resemble their ancestors. Some more so than others.” Her voice had conviction, she truly believed what she was saying.
“Or, and here’s a better answer, I went to one of those novelty shops that make paintings of you in different time periods for humor.” Came the professor’s voice as he stepped out of the darkness on the other side of Libram, wearing a garlic string around his neck with an eyebrow raised. Wilhelm’s jaw dropped as he -stared- at the earth pony in surprise. Libram’s heart leapt into her throat as she gave a squee of joy. “Settle down now, my dear.” Friesian said as he picked up the strand and munched on one of the garlic cloves. “They’re good for my health, I am fairly old you know.” He said with a calm smile, facing Wilhelm directly. “Cease this foolishness. The police are outside, give yourself up and seek help, please, Wilhelm.” He said quietly, his voice rich and charismatic as he tried to sway the crazed pegasus with words.
“No. No it can’t be. I-I saw you standing over my mentor’s body!” He said with a shake of his head and a harsh whisper. “I saw blood dripping from your mouth!”
Friesian’s expression became more serious. “You know, there was a time when ponies didn’t use spears or swords or other weapons. In the old days ponies used their teeth for combat. The Vampony -had- killed your mentor, and I injured him while fighting him off. It was -his- blood on my mouth, not your mentor’s. You ran off before I could explain and never bothered to try and listen every other time I’ve talked to you. In fact, the myth that Vamponies -drink- blood was started when somepony saw a Vampony standing over a dead pony with their blood in his mouth. They don’t actually drink blood.” He said in his instructor’s tone as he slowly walked towards Libram, quietly untying her while Wilhelm was distracted in shock. Wilhelm started pacing back and forth now, his eyes still wide and his pupils dilated somewhat. A crazed look was slowly creeping across his face.
“Years, I spent years hunting you, thinking you were the Vampony. Years wasted when I could have been hunting that Monster!” He whirled on the professor just as he untied the young mare. Hooves rose up as he spread his wings wide. “I’LL KILL YOU!” His voice rang out, echoing in the empty room as foam actually started to form in the corners of his mouth. A bright flash of magical light interrupted the pegasus and knocked him tumbling as a policecolt quickly trotted into view, his horn still glowing from the spell he had used to paralyze the pegasus.
“Whew, good thing you kept him talking, Professor.” He said with a relieved smile as several more policeponies shuffled about to properly restrain the criminal.
“Yes, sadly I had to feed his delusions in order to get him off guard.” He said with a sad frown. “Poor colt, thinking Vamponies are real.” This got a startled look from Libram, after which he just winked at her and patted her shoulder.
“You’ve been through a lot, my dear. Why don’t we go back to my manor so you can calm down with some nice tea?” She nodded eagerly as she was escorted out by the earth pony.
Back at the manor, the smell of tea was heavy in the air as Libram eagerly drank from the cup set in front of her.
“You’ve had a hectic day, my dear.” Friesian said as he sipped his own cup of tea.
“Oh yes, but why did you lie to the policepony? I thought Vamponies were real?”
“Oh they are, but most ponies don’t believe that. If I had said that they would have thought I was crazy too.” He said with a heavy sigh. Then he seemed to brighten up, standing up and trotting towards the door to his den. “What say I give you a special history lesson on Vamponies?” He said as he put a hoof to the handle of the door.
“Oh!” She perked up, eyes sparkling. “I would greatly enjoy that. I love history!”
A small smirk crossed the stallion’s face as his eyes glowed a pale green, emerald flames erupting along his body as the door slid shut. “Oh I know.”
After the story was told, the ponies were silent. Then Rainbow Dash spoke up, scratching her head.
“I don’t get it, was he a vampony or?” This got a groan from many of the other sleepover party goers.
“That sure was a might scary thar, Twi.” AJ said as she adjusted her hat.
“Oh my yes, I did not see that ending coming at all.” Fluttershy said quietly from behind her blanket.
“I thought it was super duper scary!” Pinkie exclaimed as she bounced in place.
“Indeed, darling, it was quite a good story.” Rarity offered as she fluffed her mane.
“I still don’t get it.” Dash said under her breath.
“Well in any case, that’s the end of the scary story part, now for the makeover part!” Twilight said with a happy smile.
“Nnnnnnnnnnnnnooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo” Wailed Dash as she looked to the ceiling imploringly.