//------------------------------//
// The Story is Told 
// Story: Nightmares 
// by FanofAwesomeness 
//------------------------------//

	Dear Twilight Sparkle,
A new story is arriving in town. I think you would enjoy the tale. It will be arriving within the week. But please don't share it. Not everypony will think it's fiction. Be careful to keep this story hidden. If you don't, some ponies might just start doing crazy things. It will be arriving in a wooden box.
Your teacher,
Princess Celestia

"A new story?" Spike asked. "What kind of story?"
"I don't know," Twilight said. "But if it can have such a bad effect on ponies who believe it, then we better be careful."
"Maybe it's another one of those horror stories that you've told me about but never let me read," Spike said.
"That is possible," Twilight said, thinking. "But why would the princess warn me about a story? What could be so bad about it?"
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"Run," whispered a voice. "Run."
"Where are you?" I asked. "What do you want with me?"
This whole thing started when I snuck into the library. I just wanted a story. Where did this thing come from? Why was it after me? Why was Twilight hiding this story in a box?
"RUN!" it screamed. I saw the shadows bend around it. I saw the thing take shape. I saw it lunge at me, extending tose black blades. I saw them plunge into me and...
I woke up in a cold sweat. My heart was beating so fast, it felt like it was going to explode out of my chest. This was the twelfth time since I read the story.
Note to self, I thought. No more scary stories.
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"It shows itself as a shadowy creature with no legs, yet it seems to stand upright. It's tail of shadow is the only thing keeping it aloft. It's arms have blades that are as black as himself and as purple as the twilight sky," Twilight read. "The blades have forward barbs made to kill. Its face is a mask of terror. Solid shadow makes up most of the rest of i's body and armor is found on its torso. This is a creature of dreams. A creature of fear. A creature of power. This is the creature known as Nocturne."
That last sentence made shivers run down Twilight's spine. This was definately a creepy story. And some ponies would take this seriously. But why did it sound vaguely familiar?
1 week ago
"It's after me!" screamed the crazy pony. "It's been trying to kill me! It's in the story! Don't read the story!"
This was the third pony that month tha had been found with a crazy hallucination that some creature was trying to kill him.
"It only comes in your sleep!" he continued to scream. "Don't sleep! It could find you! Don't look at the shadows!"
Present
There had been two more incidents just like that after he was locked up in the mental institution.
Right, Twilight thought. But how did they get to it? How did they find it?
"AH!" Spike screamed from upstairs.
"Spike!" Twilight teleported up to theroom where spike was clinging to the ceiling. "Spike, what happened?"
"It was there!" he screamed. "It was right there!"
"What was there?" Twilight asked. "What did you see?"
"That thing," Spike said. "That thing from the new story."
"You read it?"
"Well you didn't say I couldn't," Spike said, slowly climbing down the nearest wall. "And the princess said specifically 'ponies'. I'm not a pony so I thought it would be fine."
"What did you see?" Twilight asked again.
"That," Spike said pointing to the image of Nocturne in the book. "That is what I saw."
"It's just a story, Spike," Twilight said. "It can't hurt you."
"I'm not so sure," Spike said.
"Well I am," Twilight said. "I thought it was a burgler or something."
"Well sorry for being afraid of something that scared five ponies intoinsanity," Spike retorted. "That's the thing they were talking about. It's out there. It's hunting."
"If it were hunting," Twiligt said, "Then there would be five dead ponies. Not five crazy ones."
"Maybe that's how it hunts," Spike said, leaving the room. "Maybe it hunts peoples sanity instead of their lives."
"Maybe your just having imaginative dreams," Twilight said.
"What are the chances of six creatures having the same dreams, Twilight?" Spike asked.
"2%," Twilight replied. "But it is still possible. It's a common coincidence."
"We both know you don't believe in a coincidence," Spike said. "You always told me that there was a logical reason to everything."
"What you're saying isn't logical," Twilight said. "It's crazy."
That night
"Nocturne is a creature of fear. That means that he will feed off of fear. He will drive most to insanity by making them believe that he is real. Once they believe, he's never going to leave. He will literally scare them to death before leaving. He will starve his victims of peace and tranquility. He will feast upon their sanity until there is none left. He will then feast on their emotins, causing drastic mood swings. And finally, he will kill them. All the reportssay that it's heart attacks. But I know the truth." 
Twilight continued to read the story. She wouldn't nave nightmares. It is just a story. But there was something nagging at her that told her otherwise.