//------------------------------// // ~ 02 ~ The Monster in the Library // Story: The Ghastly Library: Pinkie Pie's Terrifying Tales // by SigmasonicX //------------------------------// The Cutie Mark Crusaders chatted amongst themselves when, as though in a video playing backwards, Pinkie returned to her previous spot. “And I’m back!” she said with a wide smile. “Whatcha talking about?” “Well, we think we figured some things out,” said Apple Bloom. “Ooh, about the mystery of the skeleton and who turned Applejack into a headless horse?” “No, about why Twilight’s a ghost.” “Neat!” said Pinkie. “You see, we’ve been looking at all this the wrong way. It ain’t weird that Twilight’s a ghost, if everypony else is a ghost too.” Apple Bloom wiggled her eyebrows. Sweetie Belle jumped in. “They way they’re talking, Twilight is from a long time ago, but it’d be strange if Twilight was super old and nopony else was, right?” Scootaloo said, “Plus, that’s a classic scary story twist! They don’t realize they’re ghosts, but then there will be a big reveal at the end.” She gasped in realization. “And that’s where Rainbow Dash comes in! You see, she’s cutting off heads to show they’re all ghosts! That’s so like Rainbow Dash.” “And I’m a ghost too?” asked Pinkie. “Uh, sure,” said Apple Bloom. Pinkie giggled in glee. “Wow, I have a totally new perspective on this story! Now then, let’s see how we get there…” The headless body of Applejack reared up, flailing her legs, and the screams of fillies echoed throughout the library. “What in the world?!” exclaimed Twilight. Right out of the story Rarity told, there was a headless horse in front of her. But this was clearly Applejack, not some made-up stallion from ages ago. How could this have happened? Before she could finish processing the sight before her, yet another oddity appeared. “Woah nelly!” shouted the voice of Applejack as a lasso wrapped around her body’s legs. The body fell over, and princess and filly alike gaped as they followed the rope to its source. A round object bounced toward them, spit the rope out of its mouth, and said, “Woo, glad I got that figured out. Any y’all hurt?” Apple Bloom blinked. “Big sis? Y-you’re a head!” Indeed, Applejack’s head was cleanly separated from her body, and more to the point, was still moving and talking. She rocked back and forth in front of her tied up body. “Yeah, no clue how all that happened, but I think I got a handle on it now.” Twilight landed, then just looked back and forth between Applejack’s components. “I… what?!” “Guessing the Spirit’s chaos magic is acting up. Must’ve heard the Headless Horse story and got some ideas.” Twilight emitted a soft beam of purple light, which washed over Applejack and made her blink. The princess sighed and narrowed her eyes. “Of course. This just being chaos magic would have made things too simple.” Applejack’s head jumped up as the Crusaders gaped. “Wait, you’re saying this wasn’t caused by chaos magic?” Twilight lifted the head up with her horn. Applejack’s eyes widened as Twilight rotated her every way, closely examining her. “It’s definitely magic of some kind, but I don’t recognize it. And trust me, I’d recognize chaos magic.” Applejack grinned nervously. “So, uh, does that mean you can’t put me back together?” Twilight hummed. “If I had to classify this magic, I’d call it a curse. In that case, our best bet is finding whatever did this to you, and I should be able to figure something out. What do you remember?” Applejack scrunched up. “Hmm. Last thing I did before all this was that I went over to a bookshelf, ‘cuz I heard something like hoofsteps. I thought y’all returned so I went to check and—uh, Princess, do you mind?” Twilight was prodding the base of Applejack’s neck with her magic. Blushing, she placed the head back on the ground. “Sorry, I got curious.” “Anyway, there was a sort of blur low to the ground, and just like that, my head came tumbling right off my body. Took a bit to figure out moving around as a head, but when I looked around, nothing else was there. I decided to go looking for it, but then I felt my tail being tugged and then I started moving my body.” “You can still move your body?” asked Sweetie. Applejack’s body swished its tail. “Yup, seems that way. But my head wasn’t seeing what my body was doing, so it went all buck wild. That’s why I had to tie it up.” “That’s so cool!” said Apple Bloom. “I want something to cut my head off too!” said Scootaloo. Applejack frowned. “Hey now, this ain’t no fad!” “Did anything happen to Rarity and Fluttershy?” asked Twilight. “Not that I know of,” Applejack replied. “They went off looking for you before I got attacked. Oh right! Fluttershy thought we were being watched, and was afraid it was the Headless Pony!” Twilight’s heart sank. “Rarity!” With a flash of magic, the princess disappeared. Applejack blinked, and the Crusaders sat around awkwardly. “Guess we’ll just wait here, then.” Fluttershy looked around nervously. “Rarity, we need to—” The unicorn waved her hoof as she examined the skeleton before them. “Just a moment. There’s something… Ooh!” She pointed. “The story of the Headless Horse! Think, Fluttershy! How was the body positioned at the end of that story?” “This isn’t the time to—the Headless Horse will—” Rarity turned and touched her friend’s shoulder. “Fluttershy, calm yourself. Twilight is with the girls, and we haven’t seen a sign of real danger. Now think, in the story, was the horse that would become the Headless Horse going out of the bathroom, or going in?” Fluttershy knitted her brows, but she seemed to be less nervous. “He was going in.” “Exactly! He was walking into the bathroom and got his head chopped off. Flooded by the Spirit’s magic, the body came to life again. But that leaves us with a contradiction. The scene before us, doesn’t it imply it was the other way around?” “You mean the stallion was leaving the bathroom? I suppose so, but what does that change? He’s still a dangerous headless horse.” Rarity shook her head. “Yes, he was leaving, but you’re missing the significance of that fact.” “The sig—” Her eyes widened. “Oh, wait, you don’t mean…?” “If the body’s still here, then the head...” A figure watched from behind a bookshelf as its previous victim talked with three young ponies. The filly with a bow in her hair grabbed the mare’s head by her hair, and attempted to place it back on her now-upright body, to little success. “This isn’t so bad,” said the pegasus filly. “Couldn’t you bowl your own head into enemies? That’d really catch them by surprise!” “I ain’t gonna do that,” the mare said simply. The figure observed the pegasus. Wings. That’d be useful on a body, wouldn’t it? He licked his lips. Twilight flew down to Rarity and Fluttershy. “There you are! Quick, we—” Rarity gasped. “Twilight Sparkle! Did you just leave Sweetie and the others alone when there might be a monster here?” Twilight’s face turned red as she suddenly found herself feeling more shame than she had in centuries. “Oh, you, uh, knew about the monster?” As Fluttershy yelped at the question, Rarity narrowed her eyes, unimpressed. “Teleport us, now.” Part of Twilight wanted to protest that that’s already what she was going to do, and that she was concerned for Rarity and Fluttershy’s safety, but knowing now wasn’t the time for that, she nodded and teleported all three of them. With a flash of light, the ponies were back in the lobby. The Crusaders, caught in the middle of placing Applejack’s head on her neck, froze awkwardly, unsure how to explain the situation to the newcomers. Fluttershy, unused to teleporting, looked around groggily. Rarity, however, had other things on her mind. “Sweetie, dear, are you OK?” she asked, dashing over and holding the filly’s cheeks. “There might be a monster here. Have you seen anything?” Sweetie pushed away Rarity and rubbed her cheeks. “I’m fine, Rarity. But about that monster…” At that moment, Applejack’s head fell off her neck onto pillows around her. Fluttershy and Rarity stared for a moment. Applejack cleared her throat. “Well, what happened is—” Fluttershy and Rarity screamed loudly. Nearby, a hidden figure pressed its ears against its head and winced. “Applejack!” Rarity shouted. “You’re a head!” “Yeah, it was some monster,” she responded. “Cut my head off when I wasn’t looking, and now I’m like this.” Fluttershy’s eyes spun. “Talking disembodied head…” “Are you alright? Does it hurt?” asked Rarity. “Well, I mean, I can’t say I’m alright, but considering, it ain’t as bad as you’d think,” replied Applejack. “I can’t explain it myself,” said Twilight. “But something is spreading a headlessness curse of some kind.” “It’s gotta be the Headless Horse!” said Apple Bloom. Fluttershy perked up at this. “Oh, Rarity, that thing we were talking about.” Rarity nodded. “Twilight, we were looking in your bathroom earlier and discovered something very strange and definitely relevant. There’s a skeleton in there!” The Crusaders’ eyes widened with excitement, but Twilight’s showed confusion instead. “A skeleton? What? There can’t be a skeleton in there!” Rarity sighed. “This would be easier if you could go look, but I’d rather you didn’t leave us here for even a moment. Twilight, I’m going to describe the skeleton, and you’ll have to trust me that it’s accurate. Can you?” Twilight blinked. “Yes. Of course.” Rarity nodded. “Splendid. Right in the corner near the entrance, there’s a skeleton on the ground, missing its head. At first blush, this seems similar to the Headless Horse story, but it’s backwards, since the body is still there and the head is gone. But more importantly, as I was just starting to examine, it isn’t a pony body at all.” Fluttershy jumped in. “It isn’t?” “This skeleton had strangely sized limbs, and didn’t have any hooves, instead having spread-out toes. You might have been able to tell what creature it was if you looked, Fluttershy, but I didn’t have time to ask you.” Twilight rubbed her chin. “I know for a fact that I would have seen a skeleton there, so there can’t be any relevance to the moment I was sealed in here. But how did that get there? No, that can wait. Tell me, Rarity, what’s your best guess as to what the skeleton’s species is?” Rarity blinked. “Well, I can’t really say. If I had to guess, it did remind me of a dog, but much larger.” Twilight put her front hooves together. “That’s it! It’s impossible and it’s absurd, but if it’s what I think it is…” She spun around, then said, as though quoting a story, “It will hide around the corner.” Her magic lashed out around every nearby shelf simultaneously, and one stream of magic managed to grab hold of it. “Urgh!” cried a toadlike voice. “Let go, pony!” “The Headless Horse can talk?” asked Scootaloo. Twilight grinned. “This is no Headless Horse.” She pulled her horn back, as though there were a fishing line attached, and a round gray object flew from behind a shelf. It had canine ears and snout, and it’s open mouth held sharp teeth. And there was absolutely nothing below its chin. “Girls… meet the Diamond Dogless Head!” “The Diamond what now?” asked Apple Bloom. “The Diamond Dogless Head!” Pinkie Pie said with glee. “So, like, a diamond dog’s head by itself?” asked Sweetie Belle. “Is that really what they’d call it?” “You know, you girls are asking questions that the story itself brings up. Twilight actually gives some technical term for it, but I don’t remember what it is. We’ll see what she says!” “Wait, hold on,” said Apple Bloom. “You said you don’t remember what she said, so how can we see what she says?” Pinkie patted the filly’s head. “Oh Apple Bloom, storytelling is a mysterious and magical process. Sometimes you end up saying things you don’t know!” “I think this is just Pinkie being Pinkie,” said Sweetie Belle. “Best not to think about it.” “By the way,” said Scootaloo, “just throwing this out there: spot on characterization for me so far.” “Thanks!” said Pinkie. “Though you’re really just congratulating you for acting like you. Anyway, Twilight goes on to clarify…” Twilight closed her eyes as the monstrous head struggled in her magic. “Well, another less awkward name for this is the Pomermine Biter, where Pomermine is a famous abandoned mine from a thousand years ago, which I have to imagine is still abandoned, and—” “I think we get it,” said Applejack. “So, Mr. Biter, you did this to me, then?” The diamond dog head turned its eyes away. “... Maybe.” “Maybe nothing! Turn me back!” The Biter grunted. “Doesn’t work that way, pony. Doesn’t work.” “From what I recall of the tales,” said Twilight, “they offer no solution to having your head cut off other than to keep it tied onto your neck. They have several knot recommendations, but nothing to undo the curse. It represents stubbornness in the face of massive inconvenience.” Applejack’s face fell. “You’re telling me I’m stuck like this?!” The diamond dog head cackled. “Yes, yes, pony stuck!” After receiving a glare from the princess, he quickly added, “Not that I know who did this.” Rarity pointed her hoof. “Don’t lie, you brute! Change her back, now!” “Don’t worry,” said Twilight. “Even if our friend doesn’t cooperate, we have a couple of leads. First of all, diamond dogs in the region these stories come from aren’t known for their magic, so it’s quite likely there’s a magical solution they weren’t aware of. Second of all, this shouldn’t exist—” she shook the monster, then turned him to face her “—you shouldn’t exist. How do you exist?” The Biter again turned his eyes away. “Well, if pony going to ask personal questions…” “Twilight,” said Fluttershy. “You said before that there definitely wasn’t a skeleton in your bathroom before, right? Couldn’t that mean something?” Twilight’s eyes brightened. “Of course, the bathroom!” Her horn glowed, but then Fluttershy called out, “No, wait! Can’t we just walk there, please?” Twilight looked at the wriggling monster in her magic. “Sure, I guess. The threat has been neutralized, after all. So, let’s walk to the bathroom.” The Crusaders didn’t need to be told twice. They ran off, yelling about getting to see a skeleton, while the mares followed behind them. Applejack’s body walked too, with her head having somehow formed a harness out of her rope, tying it to her body. “I could lift you too if you want, Applejack,” Twilight offered. “Thank you kindly, but if this actually is permanent, I better get used to being like this,” she replied. “Sounds like what Twilight mentioned about the stories,” said Rarity. “Stubbornness in the face of massive inconvenience. Perhaps you were a diamond dog all along.” Applejack laughed. “If anything, that sounds like you. I bet you’d make a fashionable collar to keep your head on and turn it into the talk of the town.” Twilight joined in, lightly grinning. “Knowing you, you’d still find a way to run your shop and find all the books even under the curse.” Rarity hummed. “Touché, but I’d rather not be compared to, ugh, that thing.” Twilight tilted her head. “I’ve actually met several diamond dogs that would be considered quite affable by ponies, though I can’t imagine diplomatic relations survived enough for ponies to be able to see their large cities.” “Another thing for us to see once you get out of here, then,” Rarity said with a wink. Twilight scratched her cheek, blushing lightly. “Yeah.” The diamond dog head gagged, and Twilight shook him in response. They soon arrived at the bathroom. The Crusaders gaped into the entrance, though thankfully kept their distance. The princess peeked inside and winced. “The skeleton was quite a shock to me too,” said Rarity. Twilight blinked. “Oh, no. I mean, the skeleton isn’t good, but I know about that already. I’m just not a fan of how my bathroom looks now. I kept it very clean when I was corporeal! Anyway, I can definitely confirm that that skeleton wasn’t there before.” She lifted the diamond dog head up. “Is this your body?” The Biter twisted his lips. “Could be anydoggy’s body.” “He really does like to tell pointless lies, doesn’t he?” commented Rarity. Twilight reached into the door, only to press up against an invisible barrier. “There’s no way for me to investigate further, unless somepony goes in there, and I can’t ask that of you.” As she said this, the skeleton lifted up and floated into the library proper, surrounded by blue magic. “Or we could do this,” said Rarity with a smirk. Twilight blinked. “Yes, that would work.” They set it on the floor and Twilight immediately got to scanning it with her magic while the Crusaders gawked. Deciding she was better off not watching, Fluttershy looked elsewhere. Her eyes fell on the bookshelf they moved, and she decided she may as well look at the titles. “Myths and Legends Endemic to Caninia”. “An Examination of Southern Equestria Folk Tales”. And one even just called “Frightening Tales”. Fluttershy sighed and looked down. Of course there’d just be more scary stories here. Something on the ground caught her eye. Snagged on the corner of the bookshelf was a bit of tattered off-white cloth. This struck her as odd for several reasons. Firstly, Twilight would have kept the floor clean, so there shouldn’t have been anything there. Secondly, even if Twilight hadn’t, none of them would have brought something like that, least of all Rarity. Lastly, she was pretty sure it wasn’t there before. A thought occurred to her and she froze up. If there was already one unexpected monster here, then… “Aha!” declared Twilight. “This skeleton was magically-constructed, which makes it simple to date. It came into existence a mere twenty minutes ago! And the Biter here matches its magical signature, so the same applies to him.” “Well that’s good,” said Applejack. “That means this fella’s head wasn’t cut off a thousand years ago, he was just born now!” Twilight winced. “Well, no, I wouldn’t say that’s good. Heads and skeletons don’t just form out of nowhere, so someone or something made them.” Rarity’s eyes widened. “What? Someone else is responsible for this? Who, and to what end?” The dogless head started whistling innocently, and Rarity then grabbed him with her front hooves squeezing his cheeks. “What’s your game?” Sweating, the Biter responded, “No game, pony! Just twenty minutes old, just a baby, can’t be responsible for anything!” Fluttershy softly raised her hoof. “Err, if Mr. Biter was just created recently, isn’t it possible that some other monsters got created?” The other ponies looked at her silently, and she traced her hoof on the ground. “Because I just saw this cloth, and it reminded me of that story Twilight told earlier, about…” She drifted off, as though saying the name would summon it. Sobs could be heard in the distance. Immediately, all the ponies huddled together, looking outwards in all directions with shrunken pupils. Twilight was in the center of the group, her incorporeal limbs passing through many of them. “I didn’t say her name and she still appeared!” said Fluttershy, simultaneously whispering and yelling. The crying grew closer and closer, echoing throughout the room. “The Weeping Mare’s going to get us!” said Sweetie Bell. “Not if I have anything to say about it,” said Rarity. She and the others looked around, and then she saw her. Far down the aisle was a white-furred mare with a long black mane that shrouded most of her body. She sat on the ground, with her face in her forelegs. “There she is!” The Weeping Mare shook, her upper body heaving from her sobs. She took in a deep breath, and then shrieked. Despite her posture not changing at all, she launched toward them. Everyone screamed. “Twilight, blast her!” yelled Rarity. Twilight, in a panic, fired off a huge blast of purple energy toward the monster, taking up the entirety of the aisle. There was no opportunity for her to dodge. The attack scorched the ground and scattered books into the air, creating a deep boom that reverberated around them. As the dust cleared, the Weeping Mare laid amongst the books. While Twilight’s collection was protected by a powerful spell cast by Celestia herself, the Mare wasn’t. She was on her back, her limbs spread and her eyes spinning. Wasting no time, Twilight took her in her magic. Applejack pulled out her rope and, with uncanny skill, wrapped it all around the Mare, then tied her in a strong knot. They dropped her on the ground, and everyone breathed a sigh of relief. Fluttershy shot up. “Wait, we can’t relax! There could be other monsters around!” The ponies all jumped into a tight group again, all except the princess, who looked over the trapped Weeping Mare. The monster had recovered and wore a rather perturbed expression. “Excuse me,” asked Twilight, “could you answer a few—” The monster wailed loudly, making everyone wince. Twilight placed a barrier around the Mare’s head, muting the sound. “Well, I don’t think we’ll get answers out of her. But from my analysis, she’s similar to the Biter: completely made of magic, and only created a few minutes ago.” “It’s gotta be the Spirit,” said Applejack. “Even if it ain’t chaos magic, it can’t be anyone else.” “No, it’s the bathroom,” said Apple Bloom. “The skeleton was in there, so the bathroom must be haunted—like, really haunted—and now it’s haunting us.” “Both of those are preposterous,” said Rarity. “Twilight knows chaos magic better than anyone here, and the bathroom’s a, well, bathroom. Why would it suddenly become haunted now?” “Maybe something tunneled in,” said Fluttershy. “The back of the bathroom did look awfully dark.” Twilight’s eyes widened and she looked into the bathroom. She lit up her horn, and while her magic couldn’t pierce the barrier, the light she generated shined in like a flashlight. There, in the back of the room, was rubble that had fallen toward them, and a large hole in the wall leading into shadows. “Everyone,” said Twilight. “I’m going to block off the entrance. There’s nothing else I can do while I’m stuck in the library, so we’ll have to keep the monsters in there.” Fluttershy shook. “But the first monster was a head, and the second monster was a mare. Won’t they keep getting bigger and more complicated? There’s no way just some bookshelves could hold them forever.” “It doesn’t have to be forever,” said Twilight. “Just until I’m free, then I can go down the tunnel and deal with whatever’s there.” “But Twilight, that could take years!” Rarity said. “And even if you seal them out of the library, what’s stopping them from tunneling to the surface and haunting the entire Everfree Forest?” Twilight thought. “That’s true. Maybe, just until you get all the books, it’s better if none of you come back to the Library, and—” Rarity’s hoof swished through Twilight’s head, making her freeze mid-speech. The unicorn frowned and narrowed her eyes. “Are you honestly asking us to stay away from you for that long, Twilight? You know we can’t possibly do that! Our best bet is to stop the threat now, before the monsters get stronger.” Twilight blinked, rubbing her cheek as though she was really slapped. “But Rarity, only someone who can leave the barrier can go down the tunnel. Applejack is in no condition to fight, I can’t ask Fluttershy to do this, and the fillies are fillies. That just leaves you.” Rarity nodded. “Exactly. I admit, I’d quite prefer this didn’t fall to me, but if I must, then so be it.” “But there will be monsters.” Rarity laughed. “Like that ever stopped me! And besides, let’s consider the results of your own analyses. The Weeping Mare was only created a few minutes ago, and the Biter and his skeleton were created at the same time. The skeleton was right at the bathroom entrance, so we can assume the monsters are created at the entrance, rather than further down the tunnel.” Twilight looked away. “I… do agree, that’s what the results show.” Rarity’s horn glowed and encased a crystal tied around her neck. “And besides, with our necklaces, I won’t truly be alone, right?” She winked. The princess stared at her for endless moments, before she finally sighed. “Alright, you win. You would have run in even if I said no.” Rarity smiled. “You really do know me well.” “Besides,” said Applejack, “we don’t know that there ain’t already a tunnel leading outside. If we left, there could be monsters out there.” Twilight hummed. “Alright, here’s what we’ll do. Rarity, I’m going to be in constant contact with the necklace. You aren’t going to be alone for even a second. If my theory is correct, you shouldn’t encounter any resistance in the tunnel itself until you get to the source, but I’ll protect you the entire time regardless.” Rarity played with her necklace, blushing lightly. “That… will be interesting. Quite gallant of you, dear.” “Wait,” said Sweetie Belle, “if you’re going to be connecting to Rarity’s mind, then what if any monsters come in here?” “I’ll deal with that,” said Applejack. “My head may be off, but I can still buck just fine.” “It’s far from the perfect solution,” said Twilight, “but I’ll believe in all of you.” Rarity looked through the bathroom door and gulped. She looked down at her necklace. “There’s no time to lose.” She turned back to the others with an uneasy smile. “I’ll be back shortly.” Rarity stepped through the barrier and immediately felt a change in the air. Her horn cast a blue glow over her surroundings, with it all absorbed by the darkness in front of her. Her necklace glowed, and she looked back to her dearest. Though concerned, the princess smiled and waved. Rarity smiled back, then walked forward. “And… bathroom break!” said Pinkie as she dashed off. “Again?” said Sweetie Belle. Apple Bloom shook her head. “What did that mare eat today?” Scootaloo tilted her head. “Wait, did Pinkie even mention the necklaces before now?”