All Nighter woke up from his nap, the events from last night and the day before that had taken a toll on him. He got up from his chair trotted out of his cubicle, slowly heading to the office’s coffee machine. He grabbed his mug with his telekinesis, wrapping the small blue container with a sparkling orange aura as it floated beside him.
He levitated the coffee pot with his magic and poured a healthy amount of the black liquid in his cup. A whiff of steam came out from the mug as the coffee started filling it. With his magic, he carried the pot back to the table and placed the mug on his left hoof.
He looked down to see the contents of his cup. He waited for the rippling to stop so that he can use its surface as mirror to gaze at his reflection. Small dark rings can be seen around his orange eyes, several cowlicks were popping out from his uncombed dark green mane, and his lime green coat seemed to look fluffier than usual. His red tie was resting on his shoulders, not fastened around his neck. The sleeves around his white shirt were rolled up on his forelegs, he does this before he takes a nap in his cubicle to avoid soaking the fabric with spit should in case he would unconsciously drool while dozing off. He brought the cup to his mouth to take a swig of the dark brew, hoping that the bitter liquid could prepare him for the day.
A purplish-red hoof tapped All Nighter’s shoulder. He slowly turned around to see who it was, trying not to spill the contents of his cup. It was his co-worker, Puce, complete with her usual tomboy getup. Her short fiery mane, grey jacket with rolled up sleeves, and bright smile was a welcome sight for his hazy day.
Standing next to her was Sharp Eye. All Nighter would sometimes refer him as the ideal office worker, with his neatly combed black mane, smoothly ironed shirt, and a tie that’s always in season. He also wears a thickly framed pair of glasses, which All Nighter thought as ironic considering his name and all.
“Good morning Al-” Puce stopped, and winced when she saw All Nighter’s look. “Rough night, huh?”
“Night? More like a weekend.” All Nighter replied.
“Did someone beat you up? Where is he!? I should congratulate him.” Sharp Eye jeered. Seeing All Nighter looking more stressed than before always cheers him up.
“Haha, very funny.” All Nighter said as he rolled his eyes, he is so not in the mood for one of Sharp Eye’s mockeries right now, it’s still too early, he haven’t even finished his first cup of coffee yet.
“So what happened to you anyway?” Puce asked.
All Nighter was about to explain what happened but he suddenly stopped before saying a single word. He’s not sure if it’s worth telling the story to them.
“Nah, I won’t tell ya. It’s too ridiculous.”
Puce’s ears flattened hers ears and scrunched her nose at All Nighter’s answer.
“You’re no fun.”
Sharp Eye walked behind All Nighter. He grabbed the coffee pot and poured himself a cup. While the black liquid is filling up, his right wing reached for the box containing the packets of sugar and took two of them. He placed his now full cup of coffee on the table to focus on the sugar packets, he tore one up and emptied it all in the cup and did the same with the other one. He opened one of the closets to get a teaspoon, using it to stir the hot beverage, properly mixing the sugar and coffee.
“I’ve read articles about Ponyville’s mishaps, you don’t scare me.” He boasted.
When he was done stirring, he pulled out the teaspoon from the cup and tapped its tip on the cup’s edge three times before settling it down on the table.
“Come on.” He started, taking a whiff of his hot beverage, enjoying the pleasing aroma it gives off.
“It’s better than standing here while drinking coffee in silence.” Sharp Eye said before taking a sip from his cup.
All Nighter took a long sip of his coffee. The hot liquid flowed down his throat and landed on his stomach. He can feel the warmth surging from his belly, it felt good. He continued to guzzle his drink until there’s no more left. Once the cup is empty, he wiped his lips with his hoof. He then lifted the pot of coffee with his magic and poured himself another one. All Nighter took another sip and stared at Sharp Eye.
“Fine.” He sighed, finally giving up. “I’ll humor you, but I gotta start from the beginning in order for it to make sense. You’re fine with that, aren’t you?”
Puce was now the one who walked behind All Nighter, she held the cup of coffee with her wing and poured herself a cup as well.
“I don’t mind.” She said, taking a sip.
“We’ve got nine minutes and thirty seconds left before our break is over.” Sharp Eye added as he took another sip.
“It all started on a Saturday morning, around three I think. I was on my bed, wrapped around my covers, peacefully sleeping. When suddenly, I hit something on the foot of my bed, it was soft, soft and furry. I thought that it was just my pillow, must have kicked it when I was sleeping.”
“I was half-asleep back then, and I felt pretty groggy. So I just ignored it and continued to sleep. I was about to be embraced by the comforts of slumber when that soft thing moved all of a sudden. It was like a dog crawling underneath the covers, trying to cuddle its owner. I can feel its head poking outside the blanket. Unfortunately, I was facing the other way when it did, so I can’t see who or what it was. I really wanted to sleep until noon during that time so I just decided to ignore it and continued back to sleep. I’ll just deal with it later when I wake up, fully energized. Yes, that’s how stupid my mind is when it’s half-asleep.”
“But this thing is persistent. When it realized that I was ignoring it, it tapped me in the back. If felt like a hoof. I tried to ignoring the first few taps, hoping that it would get tired and eventually stop. But it didn’t. It just kept on coming and coming and coming. I started to get annoyed at this unceasing demand for attention. So buck it, I thought. And turned to face whatever or whoever this thing is.”
Sharp Eye and Puce inched close to All Nighter, eager to hear what’s going to happen next.
“It was a mare.”
“But she was all covered in blood. Not fresh blood. No. It was all dried up. Some of it was crusting on her fur. Some parts of her coat were already balding, exposing the rotten, putrid flesh underneath. The look on her face is ghastly. Her eyes, those grey empty orbs stared right through me. It feels like they’re staring directly at my soul. Her mouth is moving like she’s muttering something. But no words came out of her. Everything was just eerily silent.”
“The chilly temperature, heavy tension in the air, this ghastly apparition beside me, I tried to put all those things together in my mind with my foggy mind and realized something.”
“I was haunted.”
“Hah!” Sharp Eye snorted. You? Haunted? Ridiculous. He then emptied his cup and went towards the coffee machine to pour himself another cup.
“See!? That’s why I don’t like telling this story.” All Nighter retorted.
“Sharp Eye!” Puce reprimanded him.
“So what happened next?” She asked.
“Ah, yes!”
“So I was haunted, right? And this ghost beside me doing was doing her best to scare the becelestia out of me right? Well if you’re an average pony or a protagonist in a horror movie, you probably would. But not me, so what I did next can be considered stupid, if not insane, or insanely stupid.”
“Uhuh, so what did you do?”Puce asked, even more curious than before.
“I cuddled her.”
Sharp Eye was currently taking another sip of his coffee when he heard All Nighter’s answer. He was so surprised by it that he accidentally breathed through his mouth while drinking his beverage, sending the liquid down the wrong hole.
Puce and All Nighter looked at Sharp Eye in amusement as he goes through a hilarious display of coughing and wheezing.
“You did what?” Sharp Eye asked, still hacking out the few droplets of coffee that went inside his lungs.
All Nighter tried to hide his smile by the taking another sip of his coffee.
“Yes, I cuddled her. I quickly pulled her right towards me, hugged her tightly and cuddled the heck outta her. Sure she’s covered in dried blood and rotting flesh. But if you detract those factors that would make you hurl, she’s just any other mare underneath.”
“Boy, was she surprised at what I did. I could’ve sworn that I heard her yelp when I began hugging her. And when I was finally satisfied with our current position, I nuzzled her neck and said these words: It’s clichés like this that ruins the horror genre.”
All Nighter giggled as he took another sip from his cup, thinking himself to be smooth as buck.
“That was when she popped out off my grasp and began to float in the air. The ghost lying on the bed and the one floating in front of me right now look quite different from each other. Before, she just looked like a rotting corpse. But now, she looks a heck tidier, and she’s glowing too. Her fur’s a vibrant shade of caramel and her blue mane reaches all the way down her hind legs, she was wearing a white dress that completely covered cutie mark, her eyes that previously looked like they belong to a dead fish were now replaced with a pair of furious spheres of sapphire. That must be her true form.”
“And judging from her looks, I can tell that she’s mad at me. And I also recall that she’s blushing as well. But before I could say something, she quickly vanished, leaving nothing but a few fading sparkles and colourful wisps of magic. And that was it.”
All Nighter took a long sip of his coffee as a sign that the story is over. The two followed suit and a brief moment of silence filled the air around the group. Sharp Eye was the first one to finish his emptying his cup. He then trotted back to the coffee machine to get another refill and decided to break the silence while doing it.
“Well, that is quite the story. It’d be great if it’s real.” He mocked.
“But it is real!”
“You’re half-asleep, you’re probably daydreaming.”
Before the two stallions could continue to bicker, Puce decided to intervene.
“That cliché line has gotta be the best part of the story! I forgot that you’re a big horror fan.”
“If you think that’s good, just wait when I tell you about her second haunting.” All Nighter said while ignoring Sharp Eye.
“Wait, there’s more?” Puce asked, enthused.
“Well, I did tell you that it’s a rough weekend, didn’t I?”
“Ah great, more daydreaming.” Sharp Eye said, now opening the second packet of sugar for his cup.
“It’s not daydreaming.” All Nighter countered. “But I was drunk on this one.”
“Oh this going to be interesting.” Sharp Eye remarked, a hint of sarcasm in his voice.