Astral had spent inside of his cell. Days he hadn't even seen the sunlight and slept under the moans and groans of those in the cells next to him. Their whispers of words that were filled with both insanity and fear, had worn him down greater than the stallion could have ever imagined. His very own lines of sanity and insanity became thinner and thinner by the day, if not hour. But the case he was in wasn't as severe as some of the others were in.
His looks had turned into that of a complete wreck. He hadn't showered or got a good night’s rest in days. It was mostly because of those same moans and groans that he couldn't keep his head straight and sleep in at night. That all just led back to his very own insecurity. There was nothing he could do to even improve his situation. Sure he was looking for an escape route, but that was impossible for the earth pony to find. Unless he could chew through the diamonds or something the like. Escaping just wasn't an option anymore for him.
Even if it still was, even if he managed to get out of his cell, he had to find a way out of the fortress and that meant not getting caught by those black stallions who worked him to the ground the first time. To add the cream on top of the pie, he still had to walk back through the woods of White Tails. Maneuver his body back through that dreaded forest of utter insanity. Which on its own turn meant that he had to encounter that being that brought him there in first place. Not to forget that he had face his fears once more.
All things considered and thought about deeply, there wasn't any way in which the stallion could have escaped and could have made progress with it. The situation in his eyes was just hopeless. Astral had thrown the towel in the ring for the plan. Whoever wanted him there, had the price. Whatever would happen to him would be something of a question rather left unanswered in his mind.
Every time he felt that the warmth of the sun disappearing from the crystals and the cold of night setting in. That way he managed to keep some track of day and night. But dates, hours and minutes were shattered for his weakened mind. Astral Chrome found himself leaning against one of the barred sidewalls and quietly hummed some tunes to himself. They were small pieces from songs he used to listen to in his time off. A thought that made him chuckle for whatever reason.
The calming tunes kept going through the dungeon he was in. Some of the hopelessly lost ponies listened to him. They listened with both ears perked for nothing but him. While he continued on with his eyes closed. Between all of their misery that was placed upon them without real cause, it was good for them all to have at least something to keep them alive.
“N-Not bad,” was one of the many words that were spoken to him while his tunes kept going. Astral didn't appear to be hearing any of their voices though. He had sunken in his thoughts and mostly hummed the songs in order to keep his own mind as straight as possible. Even though the odds to keep that happening were about impossible to say the least.
Out of all of the dozen prisoners had none of them even as much as dared to start to sing a song but when he came to one particular song, a song of the ancient times that was taught at most schools. And there was one unicorn stallion who couldn't hold himself anymore.
He was defeated by his own fears. Constantly shivering and looking over his back had this particular unicorn always laid down on the ground and never spoke even a word. Yet as soon as the first tunes of the song entered his ears, he gently removed the forelegs from his head which then rose up. His dull, gray colored eyes just looked at the back of Astral. His ears realized where the soothing sounds came from.
Before any of the other prisoners could say or do anything, the unicorn started to hum along. His tunes were the first time ever since Astral got captured that somepony else was joining him in the sounds. It was a hopeful moment in a time where no hope was shown to the world.
~~~~
Each of the locked up ponies, for as long as song was hummed by the two of them, forgot all of their troubles and secretly enjoyed the moment. Their fears had fallen into the abyss of darkness where they came from. They quietly tried their best to hum along with the tunes they heard. The entire prison fell in an unnatural but hopeful silence as all the eyes of the captive ponies were focused upon either Astral or the unicorn.
For the first time ever since they were caught and brought down into the hellhole they ended up with and it seemed to be like a little paradise that it had turned into. Their minds felt they were being healed and their conditions cured. It was something that almost felt too good to be true.
That it sadly happened to be though. When the song ended, Astral continued on his own again while the unicorn kept himself quiet once more. His head lowered itself towards the ground and his forelegs were placed upon it while the eyes were closed off from the world.
It was almost in a single millisecond that the wonderful and harmonious atmosphere was again replaced by the hard reality of the situation. Something that was truly unbelievable for the mind of the green coated stallion. Yet on the other end – when he opened his eyes and revealed the dulled out rims they had– he could understand almost right away just why it happened.
Hope had gone and left them in the invisible gust of wind. It was being carried away to those who needed it more than they did. Because for them it was the end of the line. At least that was the stallion’s thinking. His humming came to a stop and the less sound he produced, the more prisoners began to hide themselves into the darkest part of their cells.
The stallion himself knew why they scurried away and he knew that all too well. For the guards were coming down to them to either have some sickening fun with the mentally broken or to carry them away to the door at the end of the hallway. He had no idea just what laid behind it but he knew it was bad as the screams of agony were about the only thing that left the place.
Nothing that got in there would have left without having screamed the lungs out of the body. And for what? Astral had not even the slightest of clues and rather didn't found out either. But one could only jump away of the dance with madness so many times. Each time the guards came down and his chances got less that he would be left alone.
There wasn't any pattern in their manner of working either. They literally picked out ponies at random so he couldn't predict when it could be his turn. Some had gone for three times in two days, while others went never. Perhaps it was because of the facts of who they happened to be before they were mentally worn. Because the names and the pasts of all of co-captives was something that remained firmly hidden from Astral Chrome. He knew nothing about them but they knew nothing about him. A thing that was perhaps for the better going of life.
~~~~
Two sets of hoofsteps appeared to be coming down from the spiraling staircase. From his cell had the stallion a rather good view upon the structure. He had quickly figured out that it either went straight up into the tower he saw for seconds, or that they were placed under the surface of the earth. Nothing was certain until he had seen the reality of the dreaded place for himself.
Though one of those realities was the fact that the guards all looked like stallions. But these were black of color and they had smoking or clouded manes and tails. But the worst part had to be their eyes. For those were nonexistent. None of the guards he had ever seen coming down into the place had eyes. All that they had were just two gaping holes in the places where the eyes should be.
That was with the exception of one though. There was one guard who was broader and much more muscular than the others in appearance. One that terrified most of the captives and frightened the stallion. For his sapphire eyes went passed ponies like searchlights. They weren't just sapphire blue in color as they were the actual gem stuffed inside of his eye sockets. Perhaps even more terrifying was the very fact that they could actually move to give him real eyes, except it were gems.
It shuddered Astral every time he thought about it. Before he even knew it, he was looking at them again. That very same shadow stallion stood at the bottom of the staircase and huffed loud towards the ponies that were behind the bars. Then he walked further in and passed some cells.
It was only than that the second set of hooves made it downstairs and the stallion was still carefully moving not to look over to the sapphire eyed shadow, laid his eyes upon the other being. Who was revealed to be more slender build stallion and appeared more like a regular stallion. With the exception of his eyes though. They were emeralds crammed into the socket.
When the eyes of the second, dark colored stallion opened themselves up and revealed their glory to the world, Astral got a shock that raced through his entire body. A shock that caused him to jump back even further from the bars of his cell and reach for his heart in order to calm it down.
The wanted words never left his mouth. Though his mind just yelled them like there was no tomorrow. The second stallion walked over to the sapphire eyed one and they both gave a nod. But as the nod was given, Astral caught a signaling motion from another pony who called him into the darkness. As he was the only pony that was still out in the light. “She’s coming,” was faintly whispered to him,
“Who's coming?” Astral asked the pony. Though the silence between them had fallen already. Without a warning was there a third and much heavier sounding, set of hooves. It appeared to have made its way down the staircase. The terrified stallion had no idea just what was awaiting him when the third individual revealed itself towards them.
All of the prisoners apparently know what was coming their way and they had the best of reasons to be truly terrified. The very master of the horrible experiments was coming down to conduct a new one. An experiment on any unfortunate soul who suited the matter.
The green coated stallion gulped loud. Yet found the courage to remain in his position. He wanted to see that what came in the fullest of glories before him. He could only pray that it wouldn't be as bad as his mind made him believe. But little did he knew that all of his believes and hopes were standing at the point of being shattered like a hoofclap.
For at the bottom of the stairs appeared the third being, whose size was matched by only Celestia herself. A slender body that could have been given off by the goddess and a coat that was as dark blue as the night was. The hair of this being, of this mare, was purple of color and had a white streaking going through them. The mane was styled in such a manner that it covered the right side of her face almost completely and then he saw it. The horn she carried. That almost never ending horn.
A horn of a unicorn but lacking of the pegasus wings. This mare, that creature was a normal pony who possibly had created the hell for each of them. A mare whose body was a gift from the world above in the skies, whose sapphire blue and green eyes sparkled a little bit in their corners while the black cat like slits of pupils caught everything that was going on in the dungeon.
Though last but not least, there was the cutie mark. Three gems that looked like stars which stood in their triangular pattern with numerous other sparkles around it. A view worth killing for, was the only thing that went into the mind of the stallion. And that was where the others tried to warn him for. But she couldn't be the cause of it all, or could she?
Astral was mesmerized by the sheer beauty of the unicorn. Her coat looked so perfect, her mane had been styled almost perfect, it almost felt like he had fallen in love with her. But that very feeling suddenly felt just wrong to deep into his guts. The aura she irradiated and the overall pose she stood in, all of it made certain that she was the conjuncture of it all. She was in charge of every single event that was going on there. And yet, he remembered her looks.
Then he realized it and scurried back into the shadows as well. She was the same pony who brought him there in the first place. She was directly responsible for his very capture. Oh no, no, no, no, no, the blue maned stallion thought deeply by himself as their eyes lost contact with one another. He was sailing in the deep at that moment and she was taking another step into the place.
Each hoof that was set back on the ground just roared with power. She was certain of her business and even her steps showed that to those in the cells. They could try to defeat her without a question as the bars weren't protected by any magical forcefields or things the likes. But none of them even dared for the forces that they would receive in return as their plan would be executed.
Fear took the body of Astral over. He didn't wanted to have the least bit to do with her and he just kept going further and further against the wall in the back of his cell. He turned his entire head away from her and closed his eyes with a force unseen before. The prayers were softly whispered for good luck to help and guide him through the dark times, but those prayers were almost good for nothing.
~~~~
The mysterious unicorn herself took another step. Then another one before the souls in the cells realized she was walking towards them. But at which cell she would stop was the question they all had in their twisted mind for the matter. She could be stopping at anypony’s cell and they all knew that. Yet it was Astral who was fearing the worst of the worst. For in all of his time that he sat there as a prisoner, he had never seen the unicorn. And since he was possibly the only pony who hadn't gone through that door, his time could very well be there. A frightening thought indeed.
It was that very thought which frightened him to his very soul. Such a beauty to look at and being such a rotten devil on the inside, that was the earliest conclusion drawn out of her. Prayers were lost while he could feel her mixed eyes of blue and green staring at him. A pair of eyes that didn't just went over his body, but just pierced right through it. They were looking straight into his soul and that burned like mad in his chest.
The eyes of this devious unicorn on the other end just kept themselves focused upon the stallion for a good minute. Her head then turned itself towards the other prisoners and a deep huff was released from the body. All that she saw were the empty cells. It’s guests all had scurried away into the darkness of them. All in the faint attempt of trying to escape her and that deadly gaze. Yet there was little that could escape her.
In silence had she turned her head back towards Astral and kept gazing upon his body. She could feel the sheer mental torment that he had gone through and it was that which caused her to grin like a devil. The eerie silence that had fallen inside the dungeon was almost unbearable to withstand. All that could be heard was the soft breathing of the shadows and the unicorn herself. For the rest it was as silent as a graveyard.
Fears and horrors plagued them all as Astral got visions of a world long forgotten and his fears once more came after him. Unable to scream or move, he could only kick his legs to the ground and that was what he did. The hind legs of his body began to kick. Almost as if they were running and every so often they were revealed in the light of the cell.
The unicorn herself was very content with that progression and she dared to open up her mouth. What left were the words spoken in an ominous tone that was filled with darkness, but also this high level of ladyness. A polite, warm tone mixed with sinister and dark deeds. “Bring him to the chamber,” she spoke up and then removed herself from the cell.
Both of the shadow stallions nodded to the demand. It would have been the emerald eyed stallion who opened the door. Then the sapphire eyed stallion almost rushed in. Before Astral could even knew what was going on, he was dragged into the light. His eyes blinking heavy from what had happened. The stallion dropped his head to the back and caught the sight he didn’t wanted to see.
The sapphire eyed stallion was dragging him by one of his hooves. Uncertain of what would happen, he could only let it happen and pray that it would be over quickly. But that would make things a little bit too easy.
~~~~
Astral was brought to the end of the hallway and went through the ominous door that was closed most of the time. He could only imagine the horrible torture devices that they had come up with. Devices used in order to restrain the prisoners to the state as they were in their cells.
The green coated stallion was placed upon a table. He could feel that his hooves were being strapped against it. He held his eyes closed. Astral didn't wanted to see what hung above him. His muscles were sent into overdrive as he wanted to keep his eyes firmly shut. Though it was his heart that spoke about opening them and see the horrors above.
Once the hooves were strapped, the stallions appeared to have left the room. Though the heavy and powerful steps of the unicorn entered the place before the door was closed with a loud bang. A bang that was loud enough to make Astral jump up a bit on the tabletop but his eyes were still firmly closed. And that sound alone was more than enough to get him to whisper his final words. “How could I have been so stupid? Why didn't I just listen to her and took the routes around the place? This place, is going to be my tomb for certain…” With his mind tortured by the fog and the time in the prison, there was little he could do for himself in order to save himself.
The words that he spoke were some of true gibberish. Inside of his own mind it made all perfect sense. That made as much sense as he could possibly make into his situation. The world that he could fainted in an out of his ears but he got a major reality check at one moment in time. A check that was done by the devilish unicorn herself.
All of the sudden had she flipped the table from its horizontal position into a near straight, vertical one. That movement alone was powerful enough for his heart to take over and open the eyes he had been given. His dulled out rims caught the hoof that was set back on the ground before he found himself staring right inside of her blue eyes. A sight that frightened him even more as the shivers started to travel all over his body.
Almost as soon as the two made eye contact with one another did the unicorn started to speak words. But with Astral’s hearing ability fading in and out every so often, he could only hear some of the words that were spoken against him. And those tiny fragments weren't enough for him to make anything out of them.
Then he dared to ask a question of his own. A question to which he wanted the answer on ever since he was brought into the hell. “W-Why did you, brought me here?” Astral managed to say through all the mental stress and aching of his body.
Before he was granted an answer, did his eyes began to look around the room. There he found one of the worst things possible. For inside of the chamber they were in, there was absolutely nothing else to be found that could indicate him about what she did to the poor ponies. With the fear concealing itself, the stallion returned his looks back to her and time almost froze for him.
When he looked at her face, his eyes caught the base of the horn. They just begun to follow it up and up until the tip was met. And then he caught it for the first time. That mysterious item on the very tip of the magical horn. A gem. A gem that was almost like those of her cutie mark except in the dimensions they lived in.
Time returned back to its normal speed as he looked her back in the eyes as her mouth started to move. Oddly enough didn't fail his hearing him one bit. “It wasn't myself directly who brought you in here. It were some of my pets, forces of mine who have taken the likes of me to gain the trust of ponies like yourself, and guided them over to here. To a degree dear, you’re responsible for your own doom,” the mare replied to him in a calm tone. She took a couple steps back from him. She would be requiring space for whatever came next.
The words that were spoken against him, hit Astral like a train against a wall. She actually rubbed the mistake even further into his face. The feelings of regret became only bigger with time.
The horn of the unicorn had begun to coat itself in the light blue magical aura. His eyes caught it coming up from the base. He would have just watched it traveling over the entire length of the horn, but also noticed how it indulging the gem on top. The hums of the charge became almost static to him while some strands of hair rose up. “W-Who are you..?” Astral dared to ask. It was the question of questions, but he wanted to know the name of his attacker.
The reasons of why a mare of her size and caliber was doing something as horrible as he was experiencing at that time left him cold. He wanted a name and nothing more. The charging of the unicorn her magic simply kept going as she did hear the question and chuckled quietly to herself. “I suppose, for a last request I can tell you,” the unicorn spoke up to him. The horn was kept both charged and primed while she walked up once more to him.
Her head was almost in the perfect position when it met up with his ear. She whispered her venomous words right inside of it. She spoke to him in that same tone as before, but the words had a much deeper impact upon his mind and soul. “The name I live under is a name you have heard countless times through the shadows. A name that was banished for over a thousand years mixed with that of generosity. I am, Nightmare Rarity. And you, you should fear me more than anything.”
Those words, that name, spoken in that tone, all caused the stallion to shudder from his ear down. All of it seemed to be just so impossible to him. He knew that Rarity was the element of generosity but he had never even seen her alive. Not to mention the fact that she called herself Nightmare. It only added more fuel to the fires of confusion in his mind. Astral was getting more and more weakened in his mind while the unicorn returned back to her original spot.
~~~~
There was nothing that he could do in order to save his skin. With the information known to him there was only one last thing that he could do and that was to accept the horrible fate that came to him. His end to the life as he knew it. Perhaps we would die by her horn which would be something like a gift from the heavens above. Though in the worst case scenario, he would become like the ponies in the other cells. Braindead and always frightened by things that weren't there. It wasn't a fate he was happy to meet or to see anywhere else outside. He had to stretch time, no matter the cost and figure out what she was planning to do, with him.
“W-What are you, g-going to do, with, m-me?” Astral managed to bring forth towards Nightmare Rarity. Who on her own turn rose an eyebrow to him. It was a question that surprised her with every new victim she had a personal ‘chat’ with. A question of wanting to know the unknown. They wanted to learn the horrible truth behind the deeds to come. Something that interested her more than anything in the world. The minds of ponies were such a fascination for her.
Though it also was a question she was more than happy to answer for him. Because knowing the horrible truth was better than spewing a wonderful lie. Her mouth itself up against and the words left her mouth once more. “There isn't all too much that is going to happen to you. But you will never be able to live your life as you are used to it. For that time, after this wonderful spell has done its job, is over and you shall become just like them. Damned to the pits of Tartarus to rot for eternity. All while looking over your shoulder every second and see that what you fear the most.” Her tone calm was again calm, but filled with sinister intentions in the undertone.
Astral couldn't believe the spoken words. She wanted to make him like those in the other cells. The feeling of him knowing too much rose up inside of him and he allowed his head to rest upon the tabletop as his breathing became more intense. He was waiting for the killing blast to hit him as his chest was shown in the fullest of glories.
“Hit me than. Come on and hit me. Just do it already!” It was just one of the many pleads that he made as she took her sweet time in order to actually fire up the stored spell. Of course was Nightmare Rarity more than ready to fire the blast if she wanted. But she wanted to make him feel the despair and hopelessness that fueled her heart. All the orders shouted, the pleads made to hit him with the charge, were all left unanswered.
It caused the look in her eyes to change from calm to visually angry. Because the fuel in her heart, was carried through her blood and send throughout her entire body. Each vein carried the deadly fuel inside of it and that was more than enough to make it happen. Her eyes looked upon his head as he had closed his and gave it up completely.
“What is there, too still lose for… me?” Astral questioned himself.
“There is always something to lose!” Nightmare Rarity suddenly bellowed towards him.
Though that shout was more than enough for the stallion to shock up and look her right back in the eyes. He had started to pant deep as that shout was about the last thing he had expected from her but quickly turned his gaze over to the tip of the horn. Only to realize that the moment was too late. Whatever she was planning to do with him, it was becoming a severe reality for him. All that he could do in the moment, was to keep himself strong in his mentally deluded state of mind and soul.
The blue magic that had been collecting itself around her horn was released in the fullest of glories. A massive flash if lightning was released from the horn. It zapped its way right over to the stallion’s head. The moment the flash met his skull, the screams of pure agony did their turn through the room. The pain was simply unbearable for him and he started to cry out for his family and friends back home. But no matter what he did, nothing relieved that hellish pain that was aching through his body. Astral Chrome closed his eyes as he wanted to get out of the contraption but never found the way of doing it. So instead he could only take it like the stallion he was.
Nightmare Rarity on the other end, she was grinning like a devil as she kept releasing the charge into the mind of the poor stallion. But what truly happened was that the spell she performed was one of the many she had learned into the old library. A spell that would break a pony from reality, literally.
~~~~
For what the spell did was something that many thought to have been just impossible to do. A spell powerful that was enough to make the pony it was cast on live in an alternative dimension. It was known that when somepony didn't had enough sleep that the lines between the mind and the reality became fainter and fainter as more time progressed.
What she had managed to cast was a spell that had the same effect. Except for the fact that it could be done by perfectly healthy ponies. It didn't just slowly tore it down, it obliterated it. The fine line between the mind and the real world would be shattered. Which in return caused the two to mix together and become a pulp unseen before and unimaginable.
Sadly enough, that wasn't all of it. For she also added the same spell to the mix that caused the fog to turn so spooky. The very spell that caused the fears to come to life. With the mind unable to separate fact from fiction, all of it would seem like honest facts. That was exactly what had happened to all the other ponies in the dungeon and Astral Chrome was just another addition to the subjects it had been tested upon.
For a few minutes had Nightmare Rarity kept casting the deadly and dangerous spell before all of the energy was lost in the air. In the eyes of Astral did his worst possible fears come to life. They seemed to have come for him from behind the unicorn and he could feel them stroking his cheek. That was just before he lost his conscience and went into a state of shock.
The unicorn just nodded to the events and she opened the door with another charge of magic. She took a couple of steps out of it and looked over to the sapphire and emerald eyed shadow stallions. “Commanders Fright and Blood, make sure that our little guest is ready to travel back the way he came. He knows what he needs to do once he is inside that inn again. The message given would be clear enough if I think so myself.”
The two stallions nodded to the words that were spoken and they walked back into the chamber. Whereas the mare begun to head back over to the staircase and disappeared from the dungeon by going upwards. She was done with her testing for the day. The supplemental message she wanted to spread was given to him through that spell. The nightmarish unicorn continued to walk up the stairs while she sunk deep into her thoughts of madness.
~~~~
It was only after she had descend another set of steps, that the mare entered her throne room and took place upon her selfmade throne of dark crystal. Its style was having an odd resemblance to that of Sombra’s and Celestia’s. In the faintly lit room she looked at the banner. One that was slightly modified from the ancient unicorn flag, to suit her liking. With only two torches that lit up the room couldn't the light even reach the throne itself. Though it did reach the wall to show the banner in a faint manner. It was the way that she preferred the place to be.
Once she had taken her position back upon the throne as a whole, the unicorn began to mumble to herself. Plans were forged inside of her head and by herself. As well as the results of various tests being compared to one another. One of the perhaps most striking results that she found was the simple fact that if she placed more power into her fear indulging spell, the indoctrination time would be a lot less but also a lot more painful.
When done in quantities as it had been done inside the fog, it would slow her progression down to get her targets but it would be nearly untraceable back to her. It was something that only an evil genius could possibly predict and come up with. Yet Nightmare Rarity was neither of them in her own eyes. For she was a deadly beauty and the world needed to know that. The rumors were a good start to kick everything off, but over time she would be more feared that Nightmare Moon herself.
~~~~
Both of the commanders had untied the stallion from the contraption and dragged him out of the dungeon. Astral Chrome was brought over to the front gate of the place and just thrown to the world outside like a piece of garbage or a broken toy. No value for pony life did those shadow creatures had whatsoever. Though when the stallion was dropped to the ground, there was a small magical orb that came to his assistance. An orb that was of an unknown origin. In his mentally shattered state of mind, Astral was just glad that nothing would attack him.
After minutes of having laid down on the ground, had the stallion managed to stand back upon all four of his legs. He had no idea what had happened to him at all. But he knew that his fears would be lurking around every corner, behind every tree. Something inside of his guts told him that.
Then he spotted the dancing orb and tilted his head towards it. “Oh, hello there,” he carefully brought out towards it. The orb on the other end didn't gave a response to it and started to dart into the woods. Something that Astral also started to do and the plan came together. He was being lured away from the place with his shattered mind and instructions clear as crystal.
~~~~
Back inside of the inn that stood at the north end of the woods, the pegasus mare was looking how the evening progressed. She noticed how the last rays of sunlight disappearing behind the hills. The darkness had taken over and the night had begun for them all. “Another night, another problem,” she mumbled up to herself. Once again had she leaned against the wall. With her forelegs crossed over one another did she just glance over the guests.
The barkeeper came standing next to her and gave her a faint smile while he caught those little words of her. “Personally, I would word it differently, but it would come down to the same problem. You really think something bad is going to happen tonight?” he replied.
“After what I did to that respectless earth pony? I have been waiting all that time for his return, really. All that time I have kept my eyes on that single door to fly open and see him standing before me, begging for forgiveness,” she said to him. She tried to remain calm, but her anger and hatred still hadn't laid down. She had of course all of her reasons to do and be so. But the barkeeper had to admit one fact: she held the grudge a little bit too long in his eyes.
Nonetheless, the evening itself walked like smooth silk and closing time was just around the corner. “Would you lock the door for the night? Everypony is inside and this wind is getting on my nerves,” the barkeeper spoke up to the mare. “Bad news is coming tonight and you know it.”
The inn-keeper gave a simple nod in response to it and walked over to the door. She had to agree with him as the night had turned spooky and she wasn't liking it one bit at all. Something was still giving her the shivers that something terrible had to happen that night but she couldn't place her thoughts on what.
But the reality of the situation was getting closer to the both of them. The pegasus mare didn’t lock the door to start with. Instead she opened it. She had heard a faint sound that came from the other side. A sound that seemed to have been a terrified breathing.
With the fear that ran through her veins, the pegasus opened the door and was almost attacked by a green and blue blob. Two forelegs were locked around her neck as her face was brought over with her screaming for her life. “Get away from me, you dangling freak!” the mare screamed against the thing that had her and struggled to get loose.
“You can’t run away from your fears,” was suddenly spoken in a voice she knew all too well. “She’ll come around to strike it in the hearts of every living pony. She isn't out for anything that can be paid with, she simply is going to be…” Even though the voice was well known, there was still that ever so haunting undertone into it. A tone that was filled with fear of almost every living creature.
All of the sudden was the hold lost. The head of the mysterious pony thudded against the doorway, knocking it out. It was only than that the mare was given her first look at the pony. In an instant had she gasped for air. With a couple of small steps did she spoke the only word that she could even come up with in absolute fright. “You!” In the opening of the door he had fallen and laid nopony else than the mentally tormented Astral Chrome. Much to the scare of the inn-keeper herself.