//------------------------------// // A Normal Sleepover // Story: Maze of Darkness // by Pyrotechnic //------------------------------// “Are you girls ready for another sleepover tonight?” Twilight Sparkle grinned at all of her friends, unable to suppress her glee. The first sleepover, of course, had been months ago with Applejack and Rarity. Despite a few shortcomings, that night had turned out to be a very huge success. Pinkie Pie was the first to chime in, “Of all the parties in the world that are super duper, it is the slumber party that’s the best! I wonder if it would count as a party, if there is no actual partying going on? I guess we party in dreamy dreamland, but still, that’s a solo party, and that’s boring!” Twilight rolled her eyes at the pink party pony’s enthusiasm. Did Pinkie ever say no to anything? Both Rarity and Applejack shared a glance when they were sure Twilight wasn’t looking. Sure, they had argued and bickered amongst each other like petty foals at the first sleepover. It had taken a kamikaze tree shattering the library window to break the spell of animosity. Things were different now. “Well, I suppose I don’t have to get anything ready for a client anytime soon. I just finished all my orders for the day and I don’t have any others planned for the rest of the afternoon.” Rarity glanced again at Applejack. “Oh, very well darling, I will join the festivities. Hopefully it won’t be as ‘exciting’ as the last one.” Twilight barely hid a squeal of excitement. Managing to calm herself down to a semblance of normalcy, she glanced at Applejack briefly to confirm her opinion. Once Applejack nodded, Twilight allowed a grin to spread on her muzzle. Fluttershy ducked her head, seeming to avoid the searchlight of Twilight’s enthusiasm. She felt a wing brush against her back and relaxed slightly. “Oh Twilight, that sounds wonderful. We will all be together and not alone.” Twilight grinned at the timid pegasus. Everything was going according to schedule. A perfect schedule made for a happy Twilight. “The party won’t be awesome without me in it! I guess I’ll show up so that it won’t be lame. Just don’t do anything girly and I will have no complaints,” Rainbow Dash relented. The only real way to get her to do anything was to ask repeatedly and wear down her resistance. Rarity sighed, remembering the time she tried to get the tomcoltish pegasus to relax with them at the spa. “Okay, step one on the checklist is now complete.’ Get friends to sleep over at my sleepover’ Check. The second thing to do is...” Twilight paused before reading the second item on the list, realizing something. “Now, as we are no doubt aware, some of us have sisters in the area. Troublesome fillies that might get into trouble. What are we going to do in the likely event that the Crusaders attempt to become ‘Cutie Mark Crusader Sleepover Participants’?” “Ya forgot ta put the ‘yay’ at the end o’ that sentence, Twilight,” explained a confident, high-pitched voice. Everypony except Twilight jumped. Surprisingly, Fluttershy was able to keep all her hooves on the ground this time. Twilight grinned at the filly who just spoke. “Right on schedule! Thanks, Apple Bloom for showing up exactly on time. I knew to document all possible occurrences, no matter how unlikely. Yeah, so the question still stands everypony!” “Rarity, I can watch your Boutique for you. I won’t let you down, sis.” Sweetie smiled disarmingly at her beloved older sister. Rarity stopped to think for a moment, contemplating the potential danger of letting Sweetie spend the night at the Boutique. Rarity’s eyes widened so much that she felt something pop. Her defenseless dresses were in there! She couldn’t risk Sweetie finding them and ruining her work! But how to go about doing this? She would have to be delicate and sensitive to her innocent sister’s plight. She struggled to think of an excuse. “Rarity are you alright?” Sweetie Belle’s grin was slowly leaving her face. However, it wasn’t Rarity who made a decision. Rainbow Dash was eyeing the pegasus member of the trio. Dash would be participating in a girly sleepover with her friends for a good deal of the night. If she was going to be bored and miserable during games like Spin the Bottle and makeovers, she was going to take somepony down with her. Rainbow Dash put on her game face and smiled at her self-proclaimed number one fan. “Hey, Squirt, how would you like to spend the night with the most awesome pegasus around?” Predictably, Scootaloo’s bored demeanor shifted alarmingly quickly. She began bouncing happily in response. Rainbow loved the little tomcolt’s enthusiasm. There were hardly any days that Rainbow never saw her fan. Unless she was sick or grounded, Scootaloo always made sure to find her idol. “Really? I get to spend time with you all night?” she exclaimed in delight. Her grin threatened to split her muzzle in two. “Sure you do! I will even let you sleep next to me.” Scootaloo looked like she was about to explode with delight. If Rainbow pricked her ears, she could have sworn that the filly was whispering the excited words “Oh my gosh” over and over. Dash smirked. Like master, like student. Sweetie glared at Rarity. “Well, that isn’t fair! Scootaloo will be at the sleepover and I won’t.” She puffed out her cheeks and continued to look disarmingly adorable. Rarity began to feel an iron grip around her heart. Truly, such displays of cuteness should be illegal. Soon, Sweetie’s pout turned into puppy-dog eyes. Although it was risky, Rarity was pretty sure that Sweetie’s ability to get into trouble would be limited with five of her friends, the other Crusaders, and possibly Spike around. Rarity learned the hard way that she couldn’t keep an eye on the filly at all times, but this wasn’t as much of an issue with other ponies (and a dragon) who could supervise. Rarity sighed and caved. “I guess it wouldn’t be a problem for you to spend the night, Sweetie Belle. Just please don’t get into too much trouble. It isn’t my house or my things that are on the line this time.” Nopony noticed Rarity’s joke. They were too busy covering their ears at the shrill shriek that Sweetie felt necessary to share with them. Apple Bloom turned to her sibling. “Can Ah please come ta the sleepover too, Applejack? Ah’ll be good, honest!” Before Apple Bloom could use her dreaded secret weapon of the most evil eyes imaginable, Applejack decided to forestall the pleading and just say yes. “Sure, Apple Bloom! Jus’ be sure not ta wander off an’ get inta trouble.” Apple Bloom settled for a happy dance instead of a ear-damaging shriek like her unicorn friend. Twilight grinned happily and checked off “Deal with the Crusaders attempting to crash the party,” off her list. “Let’s get this party started, everypony!” +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ The six friends and their four guests (Spike was invited as well) sat in a circle. Spike predictably sat near Rarity, ogling her with devotion in his eyes. Sweetie sat next to Spike and glared at the baby dragon. She kept shifting next to him attempting to start a conversation, but was ignored. Rainbow and Scootaloo quickly became bored and looked miserable. Scootaloo, despite being bored and on the verge of insanity, couldn’t help but revel in the closeness of her idol. On Rainbow’s left was Fluttershy, who huddled next to Rainbow with fear written across her face. She would have sat next to Rarity, but Sweetie and Spike made that option impossible. Applejack sat on Rainbow’s right and made sure to keep Apple Bloom out of trouble. Applejack was not happy at the moment, having just been the victim of Truth or Dare. She expected Rainbow to dominate the game and embarrass everypony, but, surprisingly, the pegasus was quiet. No, it was Pinkie that terrorized her friends. Rainbow just looked on the verge of screaming out her frustrations to the heavens. The game had finished long ago, but the farm-pony was still grumbling, displeased with looking foolish. Twilight checked off “Play Truth or Dare” on her list and was trying to decide what to do next. “We have time for scary stories before bed. Who here has a scary story?” Twilight expected Rainbow Dash or Pinkie (maybe even Rarity) to volunteer. To everypony’s shock, Scootaloo raised a forehoof. She had a look of complete confidence plastered over her face. “I have a story. I heard it not too long ago.” “Why don’t you share with us then, since nopony else is willing to share?” Twilight asked. Scootaloo began to tell a tale about an elderly mare who had some kind of weird ritual before going to bed. Every night, the mare would get into bed and lean her hoof over the side and let her dog lick it. One night after her ritual, she was awakened in the middle of the night by a dripping noise. Scootaloo milked this scene and even had Pinkie Pie on the edge of her seat. Sweetie looked on the verge of tears and attempted to huddle next to Spike. He ignored her, but didn’t move away. The old mare had been confused by the dripping. Fluttershy felt impending doom as Scootaloo continued the story, telling how the old mare shrugged it off and repeated her odd ritual. Feeling her dog’s lick, she went back to sleep. Scootaloo paused in her storytelling and glanced at Rainbow Dash. Dash attempted to pass off being bored, although she was far from it. She was smiling nervously at Scootaloo. Scootaloo continued her tale and told how the old mare was again woken up by the same dripping noise a few hours later. Confused and slightly concerned at the wasting of water, the mare got out of bed and listened for the sound of the dripping. “No, you fool! Don’t you know not to investigate creepy noises in the middle of the night?!” Pinkie interrupted, panicking. Scootaloo smirked at this reaction and continued her tale of dread. Following the steady dripping noise, the mare realized the noise was coming from the bathroom. Sweetie, Rarity, and Spike were eyeing Scootaloo with nervous expressions. Rainbow was sweating and had a coughing fit to cover up how scared she was. The elderly mare realized the dripping noise was loudest in the shower and slowly opened the shower curtain. “The old mare was shocked and horrified to discover the body of her dog nailed to the shower wall. Blood was dripping down the wall! She broke down right there, sobbing over her dog’s death. Hours later, when she finally composed herself somewhat, a persistent thought tugged at her mind. The body didn’t look fresh at all. The mare soon realized that her dog had been dead for quite some time already. “If her dog was killed before she woke up the first time that night, then who licked her hoof?” Scootaloo ended her story there. Each of her friends had their eyes wide open and stared in horror at Scootaloo. Surprisingly, Fluttershy wasn’t crying. Instead, her eyes were glazed over in pure shock. “Oh my Celestia...” she whispered, shivering. “Ah don’t....” Applejack’s words trailed off, chills running down her spine. Scootaloo was highly pleased with herself, smiling smugly. Pinkie had an amused expression on her face and slowly she began clapping her forehooves together. “Not bad Scootaloo, not bad.” Sweetie, Rarity, and Spike huddled together, holding each other close. Rainbow Dash recovered and smiled sheepishly at her fan. “So Squirt, are we even for the camping trip now?” Scootaloo nodded, feeling victorious. Nopony was willing to tell an additional story once Scootaloo’s had finished, since they wouldn’t have been able to go to sleep otherwise. After finally checking off the last item on the checklist, Twilight sighed with relief. This sleepover was going very well. Her friends weren’t trying to kill one another, and the scary stories went rather well. She had no idea where Scootaloo had heard that story, but didn’t dwell too much on it. She was just about to suggest that they head to bed when a black scroll materialized in front of them all. Confused, Twilight blinked a few times. The Princess couldn’t have sent her a message this time of night! Luna had yet to send anything to her either. Additionally, Spike hadn’t coughed this one up. Still, better to make sure. “Spike?” Twilight asked. “Y-y-Yes Twilight?” he stuttered, clinging to Rarity. “Was that you who sent me that scroll?” “I-I don’t think so Twilight. I usually can feel them before they happen.” Twilight was afraid of that. She was stunned and a little terrified at that prospect. Nopony made a move to pick up the scroll, as if it were poisonous. Twilight sighed dramatically. Did she have to do everything around here? Twilight reached out with a slightly-shaking forehoof and tried to pick up the scroll. When her fore hoof made contact with the scroll, her world exploded. Her house began to tremble violently. Various objects shook in rhythm with the tremors. Fluttershy shrieked in terror and everypony was knocked to the ground. Voices whispered all around them. Twilight struggled to make them out. She knew they didn’t belong to her friends. “Twists and turns forever more! Work together to get to the center, Or you will be gone forever! What could hurt Fades you away.... Avoid touching them!” Twilight focused on trying to avoid falling objects. Fluttershy was whimpering violently as she struggled to her hooves. Rainbow tried to make her way over to her timid friend, but kept getting knocked over. Rarity shrieked as the floor started to break away next to her. She heard Spike shout in fear, “Rarity!” Rarity turned around and gasped. The floor was now a vacant pit with a piercing darkness stretched out in front of her. She whimpered slightly and felt her hooves start to tremble. Her world tilted and she felt herself lean forward. She felt something struggle to get to her and shrieked as it missed. Spike cried, “Rarity! No!” Rarity heard whimpering as the darkness began to close in around her. She knew nothing after that. Spike saw Rarity fall down the pit of darkness and felt his heart break. He heard Sweetie Belle began to sob. Pinkie was dodging various items as they fell around her. Her tail was twitching violently. Her Pinkie Sense was overloading and it became painful. Although she couldn’t see her friends, she heard their cries for help. She just had to get to her friends! Everything would be fine if she could! Whatever meanie pants was causing the world to shake prevented that course of action. Pinkie dodged a picture frame from above and felt something slimy wrap around her. She stared down. Her eyes widened. Tree branches had grabbed her and refused to let go, like a lover’s grasp. “S-silly tree branch, I don’t date trees! Come back in a few years and we’ll talk!” Pinkie protested. The tree very rudely ignored her. Pinkie felt her body slide backwards, still in the tree’s intimate grip.. She was beginning to wonder if the tree would ever take no for an answer. She struggled in its tight grip, but found that nothing would shake it loose. Pinkie tried to shout out to her friends, but they were too busy trying not to get crushed themselves. They didn’t seem to notice anything was wrong. Pinkie wondered if they cared about her at all. Just before the darkness overtook her, she saw Applejack turn in her direction. Pinkie saw the farm pony’s eyes bulge. Applejack quickly shook her confusion and galloped over to the trapped party pony. “Hang on Pinkie! Ah’ll get ya outta there in a jiffy!” Pinkie forced a giggle, no enthusiasm in it. She felt Applejack trying to free her and was glad that she had a friend just then. Realizing that the tree still held her tight in its grasp, Pinkie knew she was doomed. Pinkie Pie leaned as far forward as she could and whispered in Applejack’s ear, “Giggle at the ghosties, Jackie.” Applejack didn't get the chance to reply. Suddenly, both of them vanished into the growing darkness. A slight giggle escaped from nowhere before the darkness vanished as quickly as it came. Twilight looked around in frantic confusion. In the distance, she saw Sweetie sobbing. Apple Bloom and Scootaloo tried to comfort their traumatized friend. Twilight couldn't see Rarity, Pinkie Pie, or Applejack, and hoped that they were okay. Tree tendrils were growing out of the floor of her library. Nothing whatsoever made sense to her. How was this happening? She noticed Fluttershy laid on the floor, frozen in fear. Rainbow Dash, pinned by a fallen tree branch, laid protectively over her timid friend. Dash whispered something inaudible, tears in her eyes as she protected her friend to the end. The room suddenly shifted beneath Twilight’s hooves. The stairs to her room crumbled. Wood began to melt, and the room started to darken. Soon, Twilight couldn't see at all. There was nothing but darkness. Soon, she fell into a deep, dark sleep...