*BAM!*
The metal door slammed shut.
"How does it feel to be behind bars, you little brat?" said the royal guard. "Not fun, is it? You'll REALLY enjoy it when we take you to Tartarus tomorrow."
Cozy Glow rolled her eyes at the guard. A few hours ago, the students at Princess Twilight's School of Friendship had foiled her plans to suck the magic out of Equestria. She narrowed her eyes at the guard.
"Listen to me, you big lunk. Everypony in Equestria is blind. Friendship isn't magic! It's power! If Princess Twilight's stupid students had stayed out of my way, I would have been the ruler!" she shouted. "EQUESTRIA WOULD'VE BEEN MINE!!! YOU HEAR ME?! MIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIINE!!!"
*BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG!*
"That's enough out of you already!!!" the guard yelled, banging his spear on the bars. "Somepony needs to teach you how to behave!"
He glanced out the window of one of the cells.
"Might as well get some rest, little brat. You've got a big day tomorrow."
And with that, he walked out of the dungeon, closing, and locking the door behind him. Cozy looked at a clock on the wall. It read 11:45 PM. She walked over and jumped onto the cell bunk, punching the pillow a few times.
"Stupid Princess Twilight," she grumbled. "Stupid students! Friendship is power! If I ever get out of Tartarus, I'll make you all wish that you were never born!!! I WILL get even! And all of Equestria will BOW BEFORE ME, THE EMPRESS OF FRIENDSHIP!!!"
"HEY!!! Shut up over there!!!"
Cozy looked up. In the cell across from her, stood a disheveled brown unicorn mare with an orange mane. Her eyes were bloodshot and her lips were tightly pursed, blatantly showing frustration.
"Is it too much to ask just to get a good night's sleep around here?!"
"Who cares?" Cozy answered, rolling her eyes again. "I'm gonna be in Tartarus tomorrow anyway."
"I CARE, YOU STUPID FILLY!!!" the mare shouted, pounding her hooves on her cell door. "Do you even know what it's like being stuck in here EVERY! SINGLE! DAY?! Guards constantly patrolling up and down the hallways, banging those spears on your cell every time you get a meal, or when morning comes! Seriously! Just for once, I want peace and quiet!"
Cozy shrunk back against her cell wall, a bit petrified. Never once had anypony spoken to her like that. The mare sat back down on her cell bunk.
"What's a filly like you doing here anyway?"
"Trying to suck all the magic out of Equestria," Cozy answered, her heart rate returning to normal. "What are you here for?"
"Nothing that anypony your age would understand," said the mare. "Misbehaving. That's all I'll tell you."
"Whatever." Cozy rolled over in her bunk.
"You know," the mare said, a little smirk crossing her face. "Trying to seize control of Equestria is pretty naughty for a filly like you."
"Golly. You don't say," Cozy said sarcastically. "At least in Tartarus, I won't have to see Princess Twilight, her friends, or her students again. And for that matter, I won't have to see you, either."
"Well, since you've been naughty, I'd be scared if I were you," said the mare, chuckling. Cozy rolled back over on her bunk and turned to face her fellow inmate.
"Really?" she asked, smirking. "Why?" The mare smiled wickedly.
"Has anypony ever told you about the legend of the Boogeymare?" Cozy raised an eyebrow in confusion.
"No," she answered. "Why?"
"Well," said the mare, "I'll tell you why. The legend tells of a young mare who lived many years ago. As a filly, she never got a cutie mark, no matter how hard she tried. As a result, everypony would pick on her, mostly fillies and colts. Every day after school, she would lock herself in her bedroom with the shades drawn and the lights off. The only thing she could do was cry. Even as she grew up, when she went outside, everypony would laugh at her constantly. Her parents would tell her things like 'You'll never amount to anything,' 'You're not special enough to get a cutie mark,' and 'Nopony will ever want to be your friend.' Ultimately, her depression and stress became so bad, it eventually killed her. Whether it was a heart attack or stroke, nopony knows. Why? Because the body was never found. The night of her death, a young colt told his parents about seeing a terrifying, spider-like creature crawling out of his closet. In the moonlight, he could see it was a mare with elongated clawed limbs, white eyes, and razor-sharp teeth.
He told the creature to go away, and it did just so, crawling back into his closet. After he ran to tell his parents what he saw, he went back to his room, turned off his bedside lamp and went to sleep knowing he was safe... or so he thought. The next morning, his parents found him dead in his room. It was a truly terrible sight. His eyes were open and had rolled back into his head, an expression of true terror on his face. His limbs were ripped clean off, his chest was ripped open, his insides were stripped clean, and there was blood everywhere. Above his bed, there was a message scratched into the wall. It read: 'You've been very naughty. Now, here's your punishment. -The Boogeymare'. And ever since that day, a naughty filly or colt is killed every now and then."
All Cozy Glow could do was stare. She went her entire life without ever getting a cutie mark? She was taunted every day by other fillies and colts AND her own parents? She died from severe depression on top of tremendous stress?
"Do you know w- what this mare's n- name was?"
"I don't know," said the unicorn. "I've heard many rumors about what ponies think her name was, though. But, nopony knows for sure."
"But- but how do you know about this?" Cozy asked, her voice shaking a bit. "Have you s- seen her?"
"Oh yes," said the mare. "When I was a filly, I was VERY naughty. My brother would always try to scare me with stories about her. I thought he was just being stupid. But one night, I saw her creeping into my room."
The brown mare shuddered.
"It's an image that I'll never get out of my mind," she said. "Those white, soulless eyes. That sadistic smile with those hideous fangs. Those horrifying claws on her front hooves. Makes my skin crawl even to this day."
"When did she stop coming for you?" Cozy asked.
"When I was a teenager," the mare answered. "She only kills naughty fillies and colts. But, as you can see, I'm still here. Why? Because I figured out her weakness."
Cozy slid off her bunk and moved towards her cell door.
"Tell me what it is," she said.
"Flashlights. She's terrified of bright lights. Hence why she's never seen during the day. Here."
The mare lifted up her pillow, revealing a flashlight. Channeling her magic, she teleported it onto Cozy's bunk. She looked back at her inmate.
"It's nearly midnight. Legend says that's usually when she comes out to play," the mare said, chuckling quietly to herself. "Besides, her second favorite place to hide in a foal's bedroom is a closet."
"Well, w- what's the first?" Cozy asked, voice still shaking lightly.
"Under a bed."
Cozy stared at her fellow inmate for a moment, then without warning, began laughing.
"Do you really think I'm that dumb to fall for an old pony's tale like that? I'm just a filly, but I'm smarter than I look. If the Boogeymare is even real and you've actually seen her, where's your proof?"
"Well, I-" the mare began.
"Oh, wait," Cozy cut her off. "You DON'T have proof! I don't believe any of those old legends. They're nothing but nonsense. Now, if you'll excuse me, I'm gonna turn in."
She hopped back onto her cell bunk and laid down.
"Like I said, I'll be in Tartarus tomorrow. Why should I waste my time listening to old pony's tales? On the plus side for me, I won't have to see you ever again." The dungeon door opened and another guard entered.
"Alright, you two. Lights out." He quickly extinguished the candles lining the walls of the dungeon, closing, and locking the door as he left.
About frickin' time. The mare thought to herself as she laid down in her cell bunk, her back facing towards Cozy Glow.
Ha. Boogeymare. Cozy thought. Why even bother trying to scare me? Everypony knows legends like the Windigos and stuff like that aren't true. Ponies just make those stories up to scare one another.
"Boogeymare, Boogeymare. Come and play," she uttered quietly. Silence met her ears. She smirked.
"Fool," she said, glancing at the mare in the other cell.
She quickly shifted herself to find a comfortable position, and slowly drifted off to sleep. As she did, she thought she could almost hear something scratching on the walls.