//------------------------------// // Host of the Nightmare // Story: Pinkamena's Awakening: From Malice and Hate // by Kingsley //------------------------------// Chapter 9: Host of The Nightmare "So you've survived have you?" Hermaeus Mora's voice echoed. "Well that's unfortunate... but I have some ways of dealing with that..." "HUH!?" Einna said, sitting up from bed, profusely sweating. "W-What?... Oh... I was only dreaming..." "Not exactly." Hermaeus Mora said, his voice echoing from the brooch. "WHAT!? MORA!?" Einna yelled. "YOU'RE BACK ALREADY?" "No no my dear, I'm still experimenting with Eternal Sleep in that wonderful place of Las Pegasus that we used as your back story." Hermaeus Mora said. "But of course, I created that brooch so naturally it would be connected with me." "W-Wait! You knew I was alive this whole time?" Einna said nervously. "Of course, you think that masking your aura would fool me? I'm afraid I'm smarter than that dear." Hermaeus Mora said. "In any case, you're starting to become an extreme annoyance to me Einna... you seem to be quite fond of that brooch... let me help you with that." The brooch revealed it's black tentacles again, throwing Einna's shawl off as they began to dig into her chest. "WHA! AUGH!" Einna grunted, as she dropped to the ground. "What... What are you doing... to me..." "I'm bringing back what you should've been all this time..." Hermaeus Mora said ominously. The tentacles dug deep into her chest and spread out inside. The tentacles pulsed almost like veins as they could slightly be seen under her skin. The jewel was the only visible part and it was fused with her chest, emitting a pulsing green glow. "What did you do to me!? MORA!" Einna screamed. "WHAT DID YOU DO!?" "Tell me Einna, what do you think is born when a manifestation of negativity... represses her negativity? Does it all just disappear? Or does it curdle into something far worse?" Hermaeus Mora chuckled. "Oh, and have fun trying to make friends with any more ponies out there... I don't think anyone was able to get any sleep last night due to some... unfortunate visions." "Visions? What!? What does that mean!? Mora! Mora answer me!" Einna cried. "Don't leave me! MORA!" Einna stood up quietly as Hermaeus Mora did not respond. She tugged on her brooch but it was no use, it was now permanently attached to her. "What did he mean by that? Ponies weren't able to get any sleep last night because of... visions? I don't understand his riddles..." Einna said, tiredly walking to the bathroom and opening the cupboard. "Where's my comb... I need to start getting ready..." Einna closed the cupboard. Suddenly, in the mirror of the cupboard she saw a black, shadowy figure with no legs floating behind her for a split second with a large grin on it's face and bright green eyes. "AH!" Einna yelled, turning around to see nothing there. "Wha... am I... I could've sworn there was... alright calm down Einna, you're just overreacting... you're a changed pony... you have nothing to be afraid of..." Einna went into the shower and sat under the hot water for longer than usual. The water relaxed her and made her feel drearier and drearier. "If you're going to fall asleep be my gueeest... it'll benefit me more than it will yooou..." The Voice whispered with a silent laugh. "HUH!?" Einna panicked, looking all around her as the shower continued to beat down on her. "Oh my celestia... I'm starting to lose it... I'm hearing voices and I'm seeing things..." Einna stood up and turned off the shower. She dried herself off and went downstairs into the living room. "I guess I'll go see Applejack today... she'll probably make me help around the farm but that's fine... maybe it'll help me wake up..." Einna said, opening her front door and proceeding outside. The second that Einna began walking outside she knew that something was wrong. She saw ponies walking around slower than usual with tired eyes. She saw that some ponies who caught her gaze were struck with sudden terror. "What... What's going on? I thought that everypony was alright with me now..." Einna questioned. She looked at her map and made her way towards Sweet Apple Acres. As she was walking, she saw Cloudchaser from yesterday who also looked exhausted. "H-Hey Cloudchaser!" Einna greeted. "AH!" Cloudchaser yelled, falling to the ground and cowering. "C-Cloudchaser? What's wrong? Are you okay?" Cloudchaser cowered until she slowly lifted her head up to see Einna's face. "O-Oh... it's you... Einna." Cloudchaser said, slowly getting up and yawning. "S-Sorry... I thought you were something else at first..." "What's wrong with everypony Cloudchaser? Why is everypony tired and... afraid of me again?" Einna questioned. Just as Cloudchaser was about to respond, she saw the shadowy figure emerge above Einna. It started at her with her deep green eyes as it let out a vibrant breath. "I... I... I GOTTA GO EINNA!" Cloudchaser yelled, speeding past her in fright. "Awww that's a shaaame... I was hoping things would get interesssting..." The Shadow said eerily, receding back into Einna. "What!? Wait! Cloudchaser!" Einna yelled. "What is going on!..." Einna shook her head and continued to Sweet Apple Acres. She arrived at the farm and saw a few ponies working drearily. She walked around and found Applejack struggling to kick the trees. "Applejack!" Einna greeted. "H-Hi there!" "Huh? What?" Applejack said, turning around and seeing the shadowy figure floating above Einna. "NO! Not you again! Please!" Applejack said, backing up to the tree and dropping the apples in the basket. "Applejack! Applejack it's me!" Einna cried, walking closer to her. "What's the matter with you Applejack?" "Yessss? What's the matter Applejaaaack?" The Shadow said menacingly. "NO STOP GET AWAY!" Applejack yelled. "HAVEN'T YOU TORTURED US ENOUGH!?" "APPLEJACK!" Einna yelled, slapping her across the face. "OUCH!" Applejack said, holding her face and looking back up seeing only Einna. "E-Einna? Oh... it's only you." "Applejack what happened? Why is everyone so tired and... afraid of me again!?" Einna asked desperately. "Oh it's hard to explain Einna... all ah know is that last night, pretty much the entire town had nightmares and couldn't sleep..." Applejack said, picking up her apples. "When ah saw you... you looked like the thing that was IN the nightmare..." "M-Me? I was causing the nightmare?" Einna said sadly. "Ah didn't say you were the cause of the nightmare, I'm just sayin you looked like the thing that was in it..." Applejack yawning and starting to snore a little, and then rapidly awakening quite scared. "AGH!" "Are you okay!?" Einna asked. "I'm... I'm fine... it's just that every time ah close my eyes... I see that... thing." Applejack said. "Look Einna, I'm guessing you came over here because you'd wanna hang out or something and I appreciate that. But I'm just too tired right now to do anything else..." "Oh... I see. It's okay... I understand." Einna said. "I hope that this nightmare thing doesn't continue..." "You and me both..." Applejack said, drearily bucking apples. "Why don't you go see Fluttershy or something... she usually doesn't do anything big... and if she's a victim of this nightmare like the rest of us... then she may need a friend right about now..." "Alright! I'll go do that! Please take care Applejack." Einna said, turning around and leaving the farm. Einna made her way through town, seeing ponies trying to fall asleep on tables but then violently waling up with fear. She arrived at Fluttershy's cottage and knocked on her door. "W-Who's there? No one's home! Go away!" Fluttershy said nervously. "Fluttershy? It's me! Einna! I came to see if you're alright!" Einna said. "E-Einna?" Fluttershy said, slowly walking towards the door and opening it, only being greeted by a haunting gaze of deep, green eyes. "WAHHH!" Fluttershy slammed the door and locked it tightly. "F-Fluttershy! Fluttershy please! I want to help you! Fluttershy!" Einna cried, but there was no answer afterwards. "DARN IT!" Einna yelled out of anger and turned away from Fluttershy's cottage. "...Why! Why is this happening when I was FINALLY happy..." Einna said disgruntled. "...Maybe I should go see Lilith! I'm sure she's got an answer for this! She couldn't have succumbed to the nightmares since she doesn't need sleep right? She has to have an answer..." Einna ran through town and arrived at Lilith's house. She banged on the door out of desperation, which Lilith opened shortly after. "Lilith! Are you okay!? The whole town is suffering and... and... everyone is afraid of me again!" Einna cried. "You have to have an idea of what's going on right Lilith!?" Lilith looked above Einna and saw the shadowy figure waving at her with a smile. She proceeded to look down at her chest and saw the throbbing green veins in her skin with the jewel. "...We need to talk." Lilith said, inviting her inside. Einna followed Lilith inside and into the living room. She saw Grimm sound asleep on the couch like usual. "Grimm isn't affected?" Einna asked. "Grimm is weird, she doesn't care but that's besides the point." Lilith said, walking closer to Einna and touching her brooch. She began channeling her energy into it but it responded with the tentacles inside Einna tightening and electrocuting her. "AH! OW! S-STOP!" Einna cried, slapping away Lilith's hoof and dry heaving. "...Interesting, it looks like the brooch has bonded to your vitals..." Lilith said sorrowfully. "Which means it can't be removed without putting your life in extreme danger." "Well why does the brooch matter? What's it doing to my body?" Einna questioned. "The brooch itself isn't doing anything... what it is doing is acting as a medium to you." Lilith explained. "A medium for that thing that's now inhabiting your body." "Thing? What thing!? There's something inside of me!?" Einna panicked. "You haven't noticed? I would have expected it to be easy to notice when you're awake." Lilith said. "What!? I don't... I don't get it what's happening!?" Einna asked frantically. Alright, I'm going to explain everything to you so pay attention... There's another entity inhabiting your body as we speak. My guess is that it's probably the manifestation of what you used to be... only this time even more concentrated than what you were." Lilith explained. "You're probably thinking, how can another entity be born from an entity? Well you were never supposed to exhibit feelings of happiness or joy or bliss, but you did. Now what do you think happened to all those feelings? You think that they all just disappeared? No, they're still there and you're still harboring them. They will NEVER disappear." "But... But if that's the case, then how did they just... awake again!?" Einna asked. "The brooch. Hermaeus Mora must obviously be aware of your presence and used his power to awaken those feelings again inside of you, only this time making it separate from you... sort of." Lilith explained. "Last night while you were sleeping is when I'm guessing it was awakened. It possessed you while you were sleeping and only then can it use it's power. In this case, it seems to be causing havoc by indirectly invading the dreams of ponies and tormenting them since it doesn't have a physical form." "So... you're telling me that when I fall asleep it'll take over again?" Einna asked. "Unfortunately yes, since it can only take you over when you're not conscious. That brooch gives that entity the ability to awaken even while you're awake, but it can't do anything besides observe." Lilith explained. "It's odd though... it doesn't look like it can separate from you... it's like it's stuck to you, it may be that it can't survive without a host. It's like an umbilical cord to a mother, only parasitic." "This is... this is unbelievable..." Einna cried. "Even when I'm not trying to be hurtful... I end up hurting everyone..." "I'm sorry Einna... Mora really thought of everything this time..." Lilith expressed. "You can't really do anything to stop it... even though it's living off of you. Even if you were to end your life in a last ditch effort, that would just give the entity the opportunity to inhabit your now hollow body..." "...I may not be able to do much... but you can Lilith!" Einna expressed. "You can help me protect our friends at the very least!" "Me? What do you want me to do?" Lilith asked. "You can protect their minds! You're a stronger entity than I am by far! Y-You must be able to apply some kind of protection to them somehow!" Einna pleaded. "Please Lilith! I'm begging you!" "...I can probably provide protection for their minds... but ONLY their minds. The rest of the town I can't help sadly..." Lilith said. "It'll take a lot of my power to maintain consistently... so if I do this, it'll be up to you to figure out what to do afterwards." "I already know that Mora is the key... but we can't get to him until he returns..." Einna said. "Which means I have to prep for whenever that day comes..." Lilith closed her eyes and gathered her energy as her horn glew a dark, red color. She opened her eyes and she walked outside and released it into 6 different directions. "There... it's done..." Lilith said tiredly. "I'll keep the barrier up until Mora's return, whenever that may be..." "Will you be okay?" Einna asked. "I don't want this to be a huge burden on you." "It's fine, it's not that it's hard to maintain but rather it takes a lot of my energy to split it in so many different ways." Lilith said. "I'll just be a little more tired is all, other than that I'll be fine... I think you should start heading back now and confront that... thing in the comfort of your own home... it's almost nightfall after all." "You're right... but before I go... do you have anything to eat? I haven't eaten anything all day and I'm starved heh heh..." Einna blushed. Lilith rolled her eyes. "Come with me..." Lilith said, going into her kitchen and warming up some leftovers from the night before. Einna munched on them and quickly devoured the plate. "Better?" Lilith asked. "Better." Einna laughed nervously. "Alright, I'll head back now. I'll try my best Lilith!" "I wouldn't expect any less." Lilith said, waving Einna goodbye. Einna walked through the barren streets of the town. It seems everyone went home early for sole purpose of catching up on sleep. "I'm so sorry everypony... I promise I'll save all of you!" Einna said, running back home as fast as she could. When she arrived at her house she quickly opened her door and slammed it shut, locking it tightly behind her. She then sat on her couch in front of the fireplace and took a deep breath. "HEY! SPIRIT THING WHATEVER YOU ARE! ANSWER ME!" Einna yelled. "I KNOW YOU'RE THERE!" "You don't haaave to yell you knooow... I am a part of yooou..." The Shadow said, emerging from Einna. The Shadow had no visible appearance except it's shape was a mirror image of Einna. The Shadow was completely black and only it's eyes and mouth had a glowing green color. It seemed to speak in an echoing, whispered tone that dragged out some of the words it spoke. She was emerging from the back of Einna's neck and only had her 2 front hooves since the bottom half of her body was merely a shadowy amalgamation. Einna turned around and looked at the entity with it's haunting gaze. "Who are you!? Why are you doing this to everyone!?" Einna asked. "Those are quite odd quessstions to start wittth... why am I doing this to everyonnnne?... Because I can obviooously... why would I neeeed any other reasooon?..." The Shadow explained. "You should already knooow the answer to that firssst question... but I suppose it would be easssier to address me if I had a naaame... you may call meeee... Annie." "Well... Annie... I still don't understand why you're doing this! What do you have to gain from torturing innocent ponies!?" Einna asked. "Are you being seeerious right now? Honessstly? I'm the reborn evil that was insssside you... I exissst for one reason and one reasson alooone..." Annie explained. "That's to cause paaain and sorrrrow to everyone arooound me... you had the same reasons for when yooou awoke for the verrry firssst timmme..." "I... you're..." Einna said angrily. "...You're right, that was my reason... WAS MY REASON! But I've changed since then! I've turned into something I was never supposed to be! You can do the same! I can hel-" "I have nooo interest in anything else Einnna... besidesss, even if you were to somehow channnge me... the cycle would jussst repeat... over and over againnn..." Annie said. "I don't have annny intention of changinnng though howevvver... and I don't intend to ssstop with my tormennnnt..." "...Fine, if that's the way you're going to be! Then I'll stop you! I will find a way to stop you and I will save everypony from your torment!" Einna yelled. "I've already protected my friends! So you can't hurt them anymore!" Yesss yesss... I'm quite aware of the barrrrier you erected for your friennnds... Howeverrrr, not being able to torturrre 6 minds when I can stilll torturrre an entirrre town... doesn't exactly bother meee..." Annie expressed. "Just you wait! I will... stop you!" Einna said, rubbing her eyes. "I'm not going to let you-" "Shouldn't you be heeeading to bed? You loook quite tireeed..." Annie said, silently laughing. "Ugh... If only I didn't have to sleep like Lilith..." Einna said, slowly walking upstairs to her bedroom. "I'm sorry everypony... I swear I'll make up for everything..." Einna got under the covers and reluctantly started to fall asleep. As she was closing her eyes, she could see and feel Annie dragging her shadowy hoof across her side and onto her head. She hovered above Einna's head and began to sing an eerie song. "Mommmy... daddddy why am I crying?... Everyone I looove is dying... Lay my head dooown on the bed... Everyone I knooow is dead... Reeeaper, reeeaper go away... No one heeere wants to play... Someone saaave me, someone pleeease... Stuck here in my memorieees... Toys will make the reeeaper dead... Now I've become the killer insteeead....."