Don't Lose Your Head...

by Robipony


Afterparty

You sat in a chair, cross legged as you watched your "guest" who lay tied up on the couch. 

While his shadowy limbs had caught you by surprise, you were still able to use your magic to pick up a book off the shelf and slam it into the back of his head. Now you sat, waiting for the stallion to awaken and explain themselves. During your wait you had cooked up a bowl of red, lentil soup, taking an occasional sip with a spoon.

Eventually the shape on the couch, stirred. Multiple eyes slowly blinking before opening wide once they realized their predicament. Feeling their bonds, the stallion began to struggle, though with how weak his body was, it was unlikely that he would be able to escape. 

"Hey, easy!" You spoke up. "I'm not going to hurt you! Though you do have some explaining to do, considering the stunt you pulled! Now sit still!" 

Hearing your command, the stallion went completely still, his only movement being the blinking eyes covering his body and the rise and fall of his chest. 

"Good. Now why don't you tell me your name." 

The stallion remained silent. 

"Look I know you can talk or at least something similar." 

You could recall hearing his voice even though his lips were still. Ventriloquism perhaps? Despite your statement, the stallion remained silent. 

As you examined your soup, an idea popped into your head. 

"How about this, if you answer my questions, I'll give you some of my soup. If you can prove yourself trustworthy, I will untie you and give you the whole bowl. What do you think?" 

All of the stallion's eyes blinked in unison. 

"Alright, let's try this again. What is your name?" 

For a moment it was silent and you wondered if perhaps the stallion was refusing your offer. Then you heard the stallion's voice and it sounded almost as if he was standing right next to you. 

'I... I am Iris.'

As you had promised, you scooped up some of your soup with a spoon and levitated it over to Iris's mouth. Like a parent feeding a sick child, you placed the spoon inside his mouth and he ate. Taking back the clean spoon you proceeded with your questioning. 

"How are you able to communicate this way?" 

'When I look at others, I can talk to them through my eyes,' Iris explained, 'though that scares most ponies so I don't do it often.'

Giving Iris another spoonful you considered what he had said. Could this be some form of telepathy?

"Why did you attack me?"

'I was afraid, that once you knew what I was, that you might talk to somepony who would send me back to that place.'

Another answer, another spoonful.

"Back to what place?"

For a moment Iris was quiet, his eyes looking around the room nervously. Then all but his two main eyes closed shut. 

'The White Rooms.'


Opening your eyes, you beheld nothing but darkness, your body aching all over from your fall. Your surroundings felt cold and gritty. 

"At least I'm not dead." You mumbled to yourself. 

While you were sore, you knew that the pain signaled that your nerves were intact and therefore hadn't suffered any damage to your spinal cord thankfully. 

As you tried to pull yourself up, you allowed your magic to flow through your horn, illuminating your surroundings. Looking around you saw that you were presumably in the Rich family's basement. Trying to step out of the dumbwaiter, a sharp pain shot up your right leg. 

"Crap, I must have broken it!" 

Looking around the room, you saw shelves containing various items. Among them were some metal rods and some fabric. As you observed these items, you recalled reading about a character in a similar situation. 

"I sure hope mister Rich doesn't mind me borrowing these." 

Taking two of the rods and the cloth, you tore the fabric and tied the metal rods to your leg, creating a splint. While it wasn't comfortable, it did seem to support your wait for the meantime. 

"There, that should do until I get proper medical attention."

With a painful step, you picked yourself up and limped your way to the door. As you drew close you heard a noise. Upon noticing it, you stopped to listen, trying to discern if it was one of the headless ghouls. The longer you listened, the more you recognized the sound as weeping. 

Had Irisa found her way down here or perhaps one of the other guests? 

Glancing around the room you saw the entryway to two other rooms, one that was dark and the other that possessed a small yellow light illuminating the inside. From what you could see there were rows of wine barrels within the lit room. Believing that one of your comrades was hiding within, you limped over to the wine cellar. 

"Hello?"

As you called out, the crying stopped, feeling the area with an eerie silence. 

Peering into the wine cellar, you saw rows of wine barrels as well as rakes holding some fancy wine bottles. As you entered the room, you caught the scent of a slight musty smell. 

Next to the rake was a wooden table, upon which rested a blanket covering two large objects. Taking a deep breath, you reached out with your magic and pulled away the blanket. You gasped as you unveiled two heads underneath. The decapitated heads of the twins. 

Almost out of morbid curiosity, you examined the two heads closely. Both of their eyes were closed, almost as if they were asleep. 

'Such a shame,' you thought to yourself, 'to have died so young.'

You were about to walk away from the sight, when you noticed something on one of the twin's cheeks. The black stain of mascara almost as if the dead twin had been crying. Placing a hoof against the mare's cheek two sensations caught you by surprise. Not only was the flesh still wet but it was warm. 

"ACHOO!" You were startled as the head next to the one you were touching let out a sneeze. 

Both of the heads looked at you, then each other then back to you.

"Wait are you both still alive?" You asked. 

"Ummm..." One of the heads mumbled. 

"Yes?" said the other. 

You looked at them in silence. Finally it was the head that had sneezed that spoke up. "Please don't crush us, sir!"

"I'm not going to crush you," you answered, "but could you please explain to me what's going on?"

The twins' eyes turned back to each other, then back to you.

"Gash Bloom and I, are what you'd call, Dullahans." The head that had been crying answered. 

"Dullahan?"

The word seemed familiar but you couldn't recall where you had heard it from. Perhaps from some research for one of your novels.

"Yeah," Gash Bloom said, "from when we were teenagers both Gash Bloom and I have had to keep track of our bodies." 

"Our parents warned us that if anypony discovered that we were Dullahans that they would crush our heads and we would die." 

Hearing the twin's explanation, you recalled where you had read about Dullahans before. They were said to be ponies, whose heads were separated from their bodies. Other tales said that Dullahans were undead that would drag sinful ponies into the depths of Tartarus. If a pony was being hunted by a Dullahan, the only way they could stop the Dullahan was to destroy its head. 

As you considered this information, you pondered what had been happening prior to this point. 

"So you're not dead?" You asked. 

"No!" Both of the twins said simultaneously. 

You considered what had happened, trying to piece together the mystery that had been puzzling you hours ago. It was then that you remembered the headless bodies that had scattered your party and had caused Irisa to sacrifice herself so you could escape. Panic gripped your heart at this matter.

"Your bodies, you need to stop them before they hurt anypony!"

"Hurt somepony?" Gash Bloom asked quizzically. 

"Why would they do that?" Flash Gloom asked cutely. 

"Well, with the fire and the shrieking!" 

"You mean the fire that comes from our necks?" Gash Bloom inquired, "those flames are completely harmless."

"Yeah, you can put a hoof in it if you wanted." Flash Gloom said happily. 

"But please don't actually do that." Gash blushed slightly.

"I don't mind it." Flash smiled. 

"W-what about the shrieking?" 

"Well, that serves two purposes," Gash answered, "One is a defense mechanism to try and scare off any potential assailants. The other is that it allows us to hear our bodies so we can direct them back to us."

"However, we haven't been able to hear them." Flash said. 

Hearing these words, a few gears in your mind began to clear and process what had happened. Calmly you started to focus on another question you had for the twins. 

"Do either of you remember how you got here?" 

"Well, the power went out," Gash replied, "somepony screamed and I bumped into somepony and my head was dislodged." 

"Me too!" Flash said. 

Finally things were starting to fall into place and you understood that in the end, there was no murder. Just a big misunderstanding, due to the involved parties being unaware of the complete circumstances. Or were they? A thought occurred to you about this matter.

"Does Trixie know that you're both Dullahans?" 

The twins glanced at each other, before looking back to you, simultaneously saying, "Not exactly." 

"We sort of convinced her it was a magic trick," Gash Bloom explained, "which might have inspired her to do the whole dismemberment tricks." 

"Then she hired us to be her assistants." Flash Gloom said. 

That eliminated the odds that this was some sort of elaborate prank set up by Trixie. Still there was one mystery that remained. who was it that had screamed?

"Well, I guess this is the end." Gash said. 

"What do you mean?" You asked. 

"Even if we were able to find and reunite with our bodies," Gash explained, "everypony thinks we're dead. Our lives as we know it are over." 

"I guess we'll have to go somewhere else," Flash said, "maybe we should move to the town of Hollow Shades, that might be a nice place." 

It was a pity that all of this had happened. Because of this accident, these twins would be forced to leave the lives they had carved out for themselves, all because everypony thought they had perished. IF they found their bodies, their secret would be out in the open and nothing would be the same. They would have to stop working as Trixie's assistants and move on. 

But what if they didn't have to?

Trixie had been working on the dismemberment magic act for a while now and surely some were growing tired of it. What if her act could use a little remarketing. 

"There might be a way to fix this."

"You think so?" Both twins asked. 

You nodded. "Yes, however we need to find a way to escape this basement first." 

"Well, two heads are better than one." Gash stated. 

"And we have three." Flash said cheerfully. 

Gash Bloom gave her sister a bemused glance. 

"So do you have any ideas?" You asked. 

The two heads looked at each other, until suddenly Flash Gloom's eyes lit up. "In the storage room! There is a secret passage to the prop room in the storage room!" 

"A secret passage?" 

"Yeah, apparently Mister Rich's dad had made it to peep on his maids," Flash explained, "which is why they changed the maid's quarters." 

That was... concerning, but you currently had other things you were worried about. 

"So how do I access this passageway?" You asked. 

"There is a lever on the side of an old grandfather's clock," Flash Gloom explained, "pull the lever and the clock should move aside. Also the storage room is just next to this room, so you should be able to access it from here." 

"That room is a little messy," Gash Bloom continued, "so you should be cautious when searching for it." 

You gave the twins a bow. "Thank you." 

"Wait! What happens to us?" Flash asked.

"Don't worry," you answered, "I think I might have an answer that will explain your disappearances and sudden revival."

Stepping out of the wine cellar you walked into the storage room, the light of your horn guiding you.

As you walked through the storage room you noticed something strange sitting on one of the shelves. Something twinkling among the dust. Curious, you lifted the item off of the shelf and after quickly blowing the dust off, you examined it. It was in fact a book with a dark leather cover with a blue gem encrusted in the center. 

Pulling back the cover, you discovered a title page with the words, The Way of the Wondering Worm, written on the page in black ink. Seeing the text, you remembered your encounter with the homeless pony from the other day.

"The Wandering Worm! The Wandering Worm is coming!"

Assuming this book belonged to Filthy Rich's father, then it was very likely that he was also the homeless stallion you encountered. Even as you examined the book a part of you was curious as to it's contents. At the very least it might give you some ideas for one of your novels. 

"Well, I doubt Mister Rich would mind if I borrowed this."

After stowing away the book, you resumed your search for the secret door out of here. 

Tap. Tap. Tap.

You suddenly came to a halt when you heard something tapping. For a brief moment you thought you might be just imagining things when suddenly you heard it again, to your left.

Tap. Tap. Tap. 

You turned your head, to see a mirror standing there, however there was something off about it. On the other side of the glass wasn't your reflection, instead it was a familiar stallion with a tan coat and brown mane. Behind his round glasses were two blue eyes. His right hoof was up against the glass.

Tap. Tap. Tap. 

Horrified you fell back on your hunches, your leg screaming in pain from the sudden movement. 

A chill ran up your spine as you recalled who that stallion was, a pony that had vanished from your life several years ago. The stallion's lips moved as warped words resonated from the glass.

"Hello, brother."

Then in a blink of an eye, the reflection of your brother disappeared, almost as if it had never been there to begin with. 

"I really need to get home and have a good night's sleep." You grumbled as you resumed your search. 

Looking about you were pleased to see the clock that the twins had described. A tall, wooden clock resting next to the wall. Above the clock's face, was the curving of an elderly stallion's, well... face. 

With a limp you approached the old clock, its wooden frame made of strong oak, the carved face covered with flaking blue paint. Looking at both sides of the clock, you spotted the lever on the right side. Reaching out with your magic, you grasped the oak lever and pulled. 

The sound of old metal gears could be heard moving within the clock. Stepping back you watched as the curved face on the front of the clock began to move, its mouth and wooden eyes opened in an uncannily surprised manner. 

"Ack!" 

You jumped back as you observed a black spider crawl forth from the stallion's mouth. Almost as if one queue, as soon as the spider had crawled out of sight, the clock began to move, revealing a secret staircase. 

Slowly you ascended the dusty steps, wood creaking beneath your hooves. With your injured leg, you ascent felt like it went on for hours, when in truth it was probably only a few minutes. Reaching the top of the steps, you discovered a wooden wall with a matching lever on the side. 

Pulling the lever, the wall pulled back revealing the prop room interior. Stepping into the room, you saw Irisa at the door. 

'Master, are you alright?' Irisa asked as she saw you. Her eyes were open with a few forming shadowy tendrils that barred the door, which shook violently. Even though your maid had secured the door it was clear that it was forcing a strain on her. 

"What's going on?" You inquired. 

'The wraiths,' Irisa answered, 'they followed me here, however I've been able to hold them off.'

So the dullahan twins' bodies were trying to reconnect with their heads. Now it was clear what needed to be done.

"Open the door." 

'What?' Irisa's eyes shot wide open as she looked back over her shoulder at you, her eyes filled with confusion. 'But master, the wraiths...'

"They are not wraiths." 

You could understand her hesitation, considering what little information she had on the situation. 

"Trust me," you answered, "they don't wish us any harm."

For a moment, Irisa seemed to struggle with your instructions, however after giving you one last glance, she relented. 

'Yes, master.'

Stepping off to the side, Irisa closed all her eyes resulting in the shadowy appendages bracing the door to evaporate.

Immediately the door slammed open as two headless bodies charged into the room releasing a horrifying screech. Both of the necks swayed side to side as if searching for something, then focusing on the doorway you had emerged from. Suddenly the lavender flames turned blue as the dullahans' bodies charged forward.  

You barely had time to move aside as the headless bodies ran past you. As the bodies descended to reclaim their heads, you turned back to Irisa and gave her a smile. The maid gave you a bewildered look.

'Master, what just happened?'

"That Irisa, was two bodies heading to an important meeting.” 

While you thought it was a funny joke, Irisa didn’t seem to understand it. It would also seem that the universe didn’t think it was that funny either as suddenly a sharp pain ran up your leg, reminding you of your injury. 

"Ugh!"

'MASTER! ARE YOU OKAY!' Irisa asked, all her eyes opened wide in panic. 

"Nope!" You answered, shaking your head. "But we need to get the others... So I can solve the case and end this once and... For all."

With Irisa's assistance, you were able to vacate the prop room. 


"Thank you all for coming," you said, "I know tonight has been very stressful for all of us." 

With some convincing you and Irisa had managed to encourage the other partygoers to leave Filthy Rich's panic room. Now they all sat around the dining room table, their mannerisms still expressing concern, especially Spoiled Milk whose eyes kept flickering back and forth at anything that moved. 

"So ya sure those things are gone?" Applejack asked. 

"They've been taken care of," you answered, "Now I'm going to fill you all in on what happened this evening." 

"I'll tell you what happened," Spoiled Milk scoffed, "this TRAMP brought a murderer into my house!" 

"Your house!" Trixie barked, "This stopped being your house the day you started cheating on your husband!" 

"Oh, you just had to bring that up, didn't you!" 

"Spoiled Milk." Caramel spoke up. 

"Yes?" The way Spoiled spoke to Caramel reminded you of a filly trying to charm her new coltfriend. Had something happened between the two of them this evening? Come to think of it, where did his costume go? 

"Please let our friend finish what he was going to say," Caramel said. 

"Very well dear." Spoiled Milk said, before turning and motioning with a hoof for you to proceed. "Please continue."

Yes, it would seem that Caramel and Spoiled Milk might have hooked up. You had to shake your head as a few... disturbing images involving the two of them ran through your head. A shiver went down your spine. 

With a cough you continued your speech. "Earlier this evening the power went out causing some panic among us. During this time, somepony screamed and when light was brought into the room it was discovered that Trixie's assistants were found seemingly dead, their heads separated from their bodies." 

You looked around the room, most of the ponies were nodding their heads in agreement, with the exception being Rarity who looked at you in a puzzled manner. 

"It was later discovered that Mister Rich's axe, a family heirloom was missing and it was deemed to be a potential murder weapon," you continued, "since Randolph and I were not in the room at the time, we were deemed innocent and I proceeded to interview you all. It was shortly after that that the bodies of the victims began to haunt these halls." 

"Yes, but who is the murderer?" Sunny Smiles asked. 

A smile stretched across your face as you looked back to Rarity. "Is something on your mind Rarity?" 

"Well, you said that the twins were seemingly dead," Rarity said, "what did you mean by that?" 

Applejack blinked a couple times. "Yeah, that's an odd thing fer you to say. They were dead, we saw their bodies."

"Did you?" You said, giving them all a mischievous grin.

It was then that the other ponies began to share both Rarity and Applejack's expression. Even Irisa cocked her head to the side in a quizzical manner. 

"Uh, yeah we did," Spoiled Milk grumbled, "we saw them lying dead on the floor."

You raised a hoof and tapped your brow. "Yes, we saw them there lying on the floor, but they weren't dead. Not only that but I can prove it." 

Clapping your hooves together, you signaled for Flash Gloom and Gash Bloom to enter the room. The door creaked open and the dullahans entered the room and immediately you could feel all the other ponies in the room going into shock. The twins stood on either side of you, both looking around the room nervously. 

"Wait... how?" Trixie asked, looking very confused. 

"How are they not dead," you answered, "like you the twins here have some talent with magic. A trick that inspired your recent set of magic tricks. They can… remove their limbs or more specifically their heads."

The rest of the partygoers looked at Trixie, some in shock and others with anger.

"You knew about this?" Spoiled Milk growled.

Trixie looked at you intently, a pleading expression on her face.

"Actually no," you said, "while Trixie was aware of their trick, she didn't know how it worked. Sure she worked with the twins to create more creative acts involving dismemberment for her show, however Trixie had no idea that this was going to happen. When the lights went out, somepony screamed, causing many of the ponies in the room to panic." 

You paced between Flash and Gash. Both of the twins looked nervous. Of course, you had no intention of revealing their dullahan natures and instead you were weaving a logical and convincing lie to cover their tracks. 

"The twins here we're among those ponies and when they collided with each other, they accidentally activated their trick, causing their heads to topple to the floor, causing both of them to fall unconscious."

"But what about the flames and the shrieking?" Sunny asked. 

"That my friends is a bit of a security measure the two of them set up when formulating this magic trick," you explained, "just in case their bodies are separated from their heads for too long and are far away. The sound and illusionary flame serves as a way for the twins to relocate their bodies."

A partial truth for sure, but a convincing one nonetheless. You couldn't help but smile slightly as the other guests seemed to be buying all the information you were giving them.

"But why?" Rarity asked. 

"Yeah, why did they have the trick set up to begin with?" Applejack asked. 

"Why indeed," you replied, "well my guess is that it was supposed to be part of a surprise. Both of them were aware of an announcement that both Mister and Misses Rich were going to make this evening. No doubt they intended it to be an amusing joke to go along with good news, unfortunately the presence of an unwanted visitor and a power outage delayed the matter."

You could feel Spoiled Milk's angry gaze fixed on you and if looks could kill, they would. Fortunately the spoiled mare lacked the abilities that Irisa had. 

"Yes, so unfortunately all of the events of the evening have been the result of a complete mishap."

Feeling your sore leg, you walked over to a chair and sat down.

"However nopony can leave this place," you continued, "without saying that they had a Nightmare Night to remember."

A few of the ponies after pondering this statement, nodded in agreement. The only pony who seemed to still be annoyed was Spoiled Milk. 

"So what was the announcement?" Caramel asked. 

Filthy Rich stood up. "The announcement was that Mayor Mare has been looking for ways to increase tourism here in Ponyville and has commissioned me to create a theme park on the outskirts of the town."

Trixie stepped forward next. "And that my show will be one of the park's attractions."

"Which means that my wife and I will be able to spend more time together." Rich said, placing his hoof around Trixie's shoulder in a loving manner.

Scrunching her nose, it was clear the Spoiled Milk wasn't too fond about this arrangement but currently wasn't in the mood to argue.

"Can we leave now?" Spoiled Milk growled.

One of the twins pulled a key from within her outfit. "Yes, I believe you can."

Judging from the twin's demeanor it was probably Gash Bloom that had answered. While the twin gave the key to Randolph, the other twin drew closer to you.

"Thank you." She whispered.

"No problem," you replied softly, "however I strongly suggest you tell Trixie the truth to avoid any further misunderstanding."

The twin that you believed was Flash Gloom nodded, though it was clear that she was nervous about the idea. Still if Trixie didn't know then what would occur if something like this happened again? Plus as showy was Trixie was, you were pretty certain that she would keep a secret if it added in the illusion for her show. Then again it was also possible that she might use it and everypony would just think that the twins being dullahans was all a part of the show.

"And thus the mystery comes to it's conclusion," Sunny said, "it's not much of an ending but I'm sure my sister would find it intriguing."

"Wait so who was the pony that screamed?" Applejack asked.

You shrugged. "I guess we may never know."

"Well, if we're done, then I would like to leave," Spoiled Milk grumbled, "Caramel was going to show me some of his paintings."

"I was?" Caramel asked, seeming confused. 

"Yes, back at your place, remember?" Spoiled said, raising her eyebrows. 

It wasn't hard to tell what she was implying. It was perfectly clear that it wasn't paintings that she was interested in. You coughed as you tried to distract yourself from a few unwholesome images that popped into your head. 

"Oh yeah. In that case let us be off my dear." Caramel said, right before smacking Spoiled playfully on her hindquarters.

Immediately Spoiled Milk let out a cry of shock with a hunt of arousal. A cry that was very similar to a certain scream that had been heard earlier that evening. Everypony's eyes were wide with surprise. 

With an embarrassed cough, both Caramel and Spoiled Milk left, leaving the rest of the room wide eyed and a few blushing. In fact, you could even feel your own cheeks heating up. 

Irisa looked at you, her cheeks a slight tinge of red. 'Master, I think it is time for us to head home.'

You coughed. "Uh, yes. I think so too." 

As Irisa and you approached the main entrance, you were shocked to see that the front door was left wide open. The wind that blew through the door and had blown out the candles, leaving the room in pitch blackness save for the occasional lightning that flashed through the windows.

Even as you surveyed the scene, you could tell that something was off. While both Caramel and Spoiled Milk might have been a bit too eager to leave the scene, you didn't think they would be the kind of ponies to just leave the doors wide open.

'What's wrong, master?' Irisa asked.

You pondered why the doors might have been left this way. Had Caramel and Spoiled been frightened off? If so by who?

"I'm not su-"

There was a flash of lightning through the windows, illuminating the room as well as a shape off to your right. As you turned toward the intruder and another flash revealed the intruder's form. 

It seemed to be a green mare with a fluffy, curly green mane, her mouth opened wide with a strange almost sparkly substance leaking from her mouth. Her body was covered in ragged dirty clothes and in her hooves was a knife. 

The intruder lunged toward you, their dagger aimed right for your throat. 

'MASTER LOOK OUT!!!'

Out of the corner of your eye, you watched as a shadowy appendage reached out from Irisa and pushed you out of the way.

As you fell to the floor, you could only look on with horror as the intruder's blade came in contact with Irisa's body, cutting into her flesh…

Or it would have if the knife were real. Instead the rubber blade bent off to the side, leaving Irisa unharmed. The intruder stepped backwards, seemingly confused by what had just happened. 

"WITCH!" The intruder yelled.

Suddenly the sound of numerous hooves and lights filled the room as a group of ponies in medical attire jumped through the door and grappled the intruder, causing their mask to fall off. Upon closer inspection you realized that it was the plastic mask of a crazed looking mare, with pink paint and sparkly confetti around its mouth.

"No! How dear the great pen in the sky, hide its secret words under Nightmare Moon's gaze and with the cursed arrow of the tyrant sun!" 

As the intruder struggled with the medical ponies, you realized that you recognized the intruder's voice. It was the homeless stallion from the other day. Slowly you pulled yourself off the floor.

It was about then that Randolph along with Mister and Misses Rich entered the room.

"What is going on here?" Filthy Rich called out. 

The homeless stallion looked up, a crooked smile on his face. "Ignorant child, do you not recognize the vessel whose seed brought you into this inky world?"

Trixie squinted. "Wait is he?"

Filthy Rich let out a sad sigh. "Yes, this is… was my father."

Slowly the medical staff began to drag out Rich's father, however that didn't prevent him from bellowing out some sinister words in his wake.

"You're all fools! The portal will open and the Vermillion Hourglass will return! None shall escape! You will all be taken into the plastered bones of the great work! Mark my syllables!"

Everypony just stared as the mad Rich senior was dragged away. Once the crazy stallion was gone, Irisa turned giving you an ashamed look.

‘I’m sorry, master.’

Walking over to Irisa, you gave her a hug. “No, thank you, Irisa.” 

Indeed, this was going to be a very memorable Nightmare Night.


With a limp you walked into the living room, a special package resting on your back. Inside the living room, Irisa was moving about excitedly as she set things up so that the two of you could watch the series premiere of Dusting Doubt. 

'I'm so excited!' Irisa said happily. 

You chuckled. "I can see that."

A dull pain ran through your injured leg. Fortunately you hadn’t broken your leg, however you had sprained it badly and so the doctor had advised you to keep it wrapped and to put as little weight as possible on it. 

Upon learning of this, Irisa had been so upset that she blamed herself, since she had been the one to push you into the dumbwaiter. However after some convincing your maid had calmed down. 

As Irisa's many eyes looked around the room, one of them caught sight of the package you were carrying. 'What's that?'

"Take a look for yourself," you said, showing the present to her. 

Irisa blushed at the gesture. 'Master, are you sure?'

"Yes, I wanted to thank you for helping me."

'Oh, master you didn't have to do that. I am more than happy to serve you.'

Using your magic, you levitated the package over to her. "Please take it." 

Her cheeks still red, Irisa smiled and opened the present. Her eyes widening pleasantly as she pulled forth a penguin onesie. 'Thank you, master.'

"Do you like it?"

'It's wonderful master,' Irisa answered, 'thank you so much.'

As you smiled at Irisa's joy, you remembered that there was something important that you needed to do.

"Hey Irisa, why don't you go try that on?"

'But master, shouldn't I grab some popcorn for the show?'

"I'll fetch the popcorn," you replied, "go try on the outfit. I am curious to see how it looks on you." 

With a blush, Irisa smiled and ran off to her room to change into the onesie. Once your maid was gone, you stood up and limped your way to the kitchen. 

On the counter was a popcorn maker with a shiny metal bowl holding a sizable amount of popcorn. You were pretty sure there would be more than enough popcorn for the two of you. 

However what had drawn your attention was the faint noise of something breathing. 

After seasoning the popcorn with some garlic salt and butter, you took a small bowl and put in some popcorn. With a limp you walked over to the breadbox and after looking around, making sure that nopony was present, you pulled the breadbox aside, revealing a small horizontal slit in the wall. The sound of some creature breathing became more apparent with the slots unveiling. 

Using your magic, you poured the popcorn you were carrying into the slot. Once all the kernels were dispensed, the breathing stopped. Satisfied for the time being. As much as you hated it, you knew this needed to be done. It was the last thing he instructed you to do after all. 

Placing the breadbox back where it belonged, concealing the feeding hole in the wall. Once you were certain that it was secure you fetched another bowl, filled them both with popcorn and returned to the living room. 

It was about then that Irisa had returned, wearing the penguin onesie you have bought her. Her body was covered in black fabric with a white, circular pattern on her belly, attached to the outfit was a black hood with a small, orange triangular piece to represent a beak. 

'What do you think?' Irisa asked smiling. 

You returned the smile. "I think you look really cute in that outfit." 

Irisa blushed. 'Thank you, master.'

With that concluded, both of you sat down on the couch with your popcorn. The television flickered on as you turned it on with the remote, the series premiere of Dusting Doubt was about to begin.

As it reached time for a commercial break, you stretched your hooves. With your magic you picked up the bowls.

"I'm going to fetch us some more popcorn, okay."

'Master… there is something I need to talk to you about.'

The look of concern on Irisa's face told you that she was a little nervous. 

"What is it?"

What few of her eyes you could see on Irisa's body looked around as if trying to help her find the words to speak. 

'You were wondering who, "they" were, right?'

For a moment the room fell silent. Even though a commercial for some overpriced item was running on the television, your attention was completely focused on Irisa. 

"If you don't want to talk about it, I understand." You said.

'It's not that,' Irisa answered, 'it's just that I don't remember much about it. All and can recall are the ponies in those white suits and that white maze.'

As Irisa spoke of a white maze, you remembered what Jagged Nibble had said during your trip to Haywaii, of white rooms. The feeling that there could be such a connection.

'I'm sorry I couldn't tell you before master,' Irisa continued, 'I was just afraid. Thanks to you bringing me into your home, I have not felt so happy before in my life. I just don't want those old memories ruining it is all.'

That was understandable, if Irisa had experienced the same things that Jagged Nibble had gone through, then you could understand why she would want to avoid bringing it up, or that she might be afraid of returning to such a place. 

You smiled and gave Irisa a hug. "If you don't want to talk about it, then you don't have to."

'Thank you.'

After you grabbed some more popcorn, the two of you resumed watching the show. At some point during the show, Irisa must have fallen asleep, her head resting on your shoulder. 

It was nice to know that she trusted this way. Even so, you still couldn't help but feel uneasy about what she had told you.


'How’s your tea, ma'am?'

Iris stood across the table from you wearing a butler uniform. Despite your efforts, the strange stallion had insisted on wearing it. 

Taking a sip of the green tea, you were pleased by its flavor. "It's delicious, thank you Iris."

'You're very welcome my lady."

"You really don't have to refer to me by that if you don't want to."

Iris bowed his head in a subservient manner. 'Madam, it is the least I can do considering how you've treated me in spite of my actions. It will be a pleasure for me to serve you.'

You let out a sigh. It seemed that Iris was going to continue his role as your butler a little while longer. Not that you were going to complain, it would be great to have some help around the house. Also he looked kind of cute in that butler outfit.

"The pleasure is all mine, Iris." You said as you took another sip of your tea. 

"In order to escape the belly of the ivory beast we must follow the moth, it will save us from this fate. However it must first grow. Grow from a worm into a great fuzzy moth. Only its wings can take us to safety. Praise the moth with many eyes."
-Scribbles on a White Wall