//------------------------------//
// Mind Games 
// Story: Nothing But The Paranormal 
// by Unidentified 
//------------------------------//

	They both listened to the echoes of footsteps in the distance. It was faint, but Twilight could hear Spike talking to himself.

"This will be fun," Demonshy said. She blinked once and the red eyes disappeared, "Don't do anything stupid or else..."

"Twilight?" Spike called. "Where are you?"

Twilight tried to yell, but when she opened her mouth nothing came out. Demonshy quietly cleared her throat and said in Twilight's voice:

"Over here Spike!"

Soon after, they could hear Spike running towards them.

"H-Hey! That was my voice!" Twilight said in shock. Demonshy smirked at her.

"I can manipulate many other voices as well," Demonshy whispered, this time in Celestia's voice. "More than you expect."

"Twilight? Are you over here?" Spike ran towards the light and stopped once he saw Twilight and Fluttershy. "Oh, hey Fluttershy."

"Hi Spike," Fluttershy responded. She pointed towards Twilight. "Twilight needs some help getting up."

"What?" Spike looked at Twilight, who was clearly standing. "Are you sure? She seems perfectly fine to me."

"Really?" Fluttershy turned around and realized Spike was right, thus, she used her powers to cripple Twilight.

"Gah!" Twilight cried out. A sudden, sharp pain sweeped through her legs, causing her to collapse.

"Twilight!" Spike said in shock. He rushed to Twilight and tried to help her get back up on her hooves. Spike glanced over to Fluttershy who was just staring at them. "Fluttershy, aren't you going to--"

Twilight nudged Spike to get his attention. "She's not the real one," Twilight said in a low voice. "She's been possessed."

Spike's eyes widened at the very mention of the word possessed. Before he could utter a word, 'Fluttershy' struck him down with a book, leaving him unconscious. Demonshy walked over Spike and glared at Twilight.

"Who said you could give him hints?" Demonshy said in a low, but angry tone. "I don't appreciate it when you ponies give hints y'know."

Twilight pushed her back and ran to Spike. She held him in her hooves, keeping the unconscious baby dragon close to her chest. "What are going to do now?" Twilight asked out of fear. "Kill us?"

"Kill you? Oh no, no, no, not yet." Demonshy waved a hoof in front of Twilight's face. "This game was much shorter than I expected, so I'll change it up a bit."

"Wait, you're giving us a second chance?" Hope began to fill Twilight's heart.

"I wouldn't get to hopeful if I were you." A cloud of shadows enveloped Demonshy as she began moving back into the darkness. "Now, the rules are simple."

"That's what they all say..." Twilight thought to herself. "There's probably only one rule."

"There's actually three, mind you," Demonshy spoke.

Surprised that the demon could read her own thoughts, Twilight thought hard to flush all her current thoughts out.

"H-How did you know w-what I was thinking?" Twilight stuttered.

Twilight flinched at the sudden burning sensation coming from her neck.

"Quiet!" Demonshy hissed. "If you weren't such a special pony, I would've snapped your neck back at the cottage!"

Twilight gulped in fear. "What's so special about me?"

Demonshy didn't respond. Shadows began to converge in front of Twilight, creating a huge, black mass. A pair of glowing red eyes appeared in the middle of the black mass.

"You don't know why?" Demonshy said in amusement. "How disappointing. I thought you already knew."

Two shadowy claws began forming right in front of Twilight's face. The tips of one of the claws grazed her chin slightly. In a quick motion, the claws sliced through Twilight.

At first, nothing happened and Twilight gave off a smug expression.

Not that long after, she started to feel the effects of the claws. Her body seemed to feel a lot heavier than before and her energy was completely drained. Her body had started to sweat profusely and she felt like she was going to melt away.

Twilight blacked out.



"Twilight..."

"..."

"Wake up, Twilight."

"..."

"Twilight, please wake up."

"..."

"TWILIGHT!"

"...wha..."

"Yes! That's it! Come on Twilight, you can do it!"

"...who are..."

Twilight opened her eyes in a dazed manner. The first thing she saw was an unfamiliar roof. She lifted her head and looked all around her. It was nothing but darkness and shadows.

"Where did that voice come from...?" Twilight thought to herself. She looked around the dark, empty room once more. "And where am I?"

Twilight struggled to get up from the floor. Her legs were in unimaginable pain and the scratch on her neck was burning like crazy. She rubbed on the scratch with care, hoping the pain would die down.

It worked, somewhat.

After a few tries, Twilight managed to stand on all fours. She began to wander aimlessly around the dark room for a couple of minutes. Walking in the dark started to irritate Twilight the more she went on without light.

Finally, Twilight came to a stop and used an illumination spell. The area of light was miniscule, but it was just enough for her. The light revealed a rather suspiscious trail of books directly in front of her.

"If I remember correctly from one of my books, a trail like this usually leads to trouble," Twilight said to herself. "And only gullible idiots fall for something like this, and I know I'm not one."

Twilight turned herself around and faced the opposite direction. To her surprise, there was also a trail of books behind her.

"Well then, I guess I'll take the side route."

Twilight turned to her right and saw yet another trail of books. She quickly spun in the opposite direction, hoping that there wasn't a trail on that side either. And to her dismay, there was.

"Twilight..." A voice whispered from the darkness.

Chills began running down Twilight's spine. It was that voice again. She kept her mouth shut and dimmed her light, hoping whoever it was would go away.

"I still see you..." The voice whispered once more, this time much closer.

Scared and paranoid, Twilight made sure the light had completely died down. She waited for her eyes to readjust to the darkness. Just as her eyes had finally got used to the darkness, she could feel a hoof running through her mane.

"Such a pretty mane you have..."

Twilight jerked her head around and used her illumination spell once more. The light revealed a grayish earth pony with the body of a foal, but the face of an elder. The pony cracked a toothless smile and stared at Twilight with crazed eyes.

Twilight screamed in horror and swiped at the entity. Instead of making physical contact however, her hoof went straight through it. The pony cackled and swiftly moved back into the darkness.

Now on her guard, Twilight shined her light all around her. The entity was nowhere to be seen, but she could still hear the sounds of scampering deep within the darkness.

"If you want any chance of escaping this nightmare, you better find the door!" The voice, which Twilight assumed belonged to the entity, said menacingly.

Twilight pivoted around in a panicked state, completely lost in the dark abyss. She looked back down at the four trails of books and suddenly got an idea.

"Perhaps one of these trails will lead me to the door!" Twilight thought to herself.

Twilight chose a random trail and sprinted through the semi-illuminated darkness. She could hear hoofsteps closing in behind her as she ran. Twilight whispered to herself over and over to not turn around, no matter how tempting it was.

The sound of sniffing nearly caused Twilight to trip. "Oh how amazing your mane smells! I want it! I NEED IT!"

Twilight knew if she didn't turn around, she'd be dragged into the darkness by the entity. She used as much magic as she could to increase the brightness of the illumination spell. Twilight swung her head around and shone the light at the entity.

It hissed and backed away from the bright light. Twilight further provoked the entity by charging at it, causing it to flee back into the darkness.

Twilight dropped the brightness of the spell immensely and continued running down the trail of books. She had to be somewhat close to the door by now.

After running for what felt like hours, Twilight finally reached the end-- or so she thought. To her shock, she had somehow ended up back where she started. But how? She never ran back, only forward. Did she teleport without knowing?

"Oh no, it seems you went in a circle! Such a waste of time." The entity spoke from the darkness. "Give up now and I'll make your death quick and painless."


"As if!" Twilight shouted into the darkness. "I'll find it! Just you watch!"

"So much pep in you! I like it! But alas, you must perish."

There was a sound of cackling followed by a sudden rush of cold air. Twilight went back to full brightness and spun in a 360. The entity was nowhere to be found.

"What the...?"

Twilight suddenly felt the cold touch of a hoof on her forelegs.

"Gotcha!" The entity remarked. It began to pull Twilight down into the ground.

"N-No!" Twilight shined the light onto the entity, but it had no effect. The entity grinned in a devilish manner.

"You actually think light can scare me away?" The entity scoffed. "You idiotic unicorns need to learn the difference between demons and vamponies."

The entity tugged once more, bringing Twilight further into the ground. Twilight cried out in despair and desperately pulled to escape, but to no avail. The entity dropped her forelegs and grabbed her by the cheeks. In a swift, yet violent motion, the entity snapped Twilight's neck.



Twilight woke up, gasping for air. She raised her hooves to her neck in a frantic manner, making sure she wasn't actually dead. After thoroughly checking her neck, Twilight eventually managed to calm down. She got up slowly and looked at her surroundings.

She was back in her home. But, where was Fluttershy and Spike? Twilight got up from the floor and walked to a nearby window. It was daylight outside.

"How long have I been out cold?" Twilight thought to herself.

The sounds of rattling from upstairs spooked Twilight a bit.

"She's still here..." Twilight murmured to herself.

She cautiously went up the stairs, keeping an eye out for any traps that could cause harm. Twilight prepared herself for an attack, raising a hoof in advance. Then, seemingly out of nowhere, an unfamiliar pony tumbled down the stairs. Twilight jumped over the pony just in time to avoid falling as well.

"Ah geez, I'm such a klutz," said the pony. The pony stood up and brushed off the dust and dirt. Twilight stared at the pony in a shocked manner, wondering how they got in and why they were even upstairs in the first place.

"Uh, excuse me? Who are you?" Twilight asked.

The pony looked straight at Twilight with a confused look on their face.

"What was that...?" The pony said in a low voice.

"Are you going to answer me?" Twilight asked in annoyance. A scared expression appeared on the pony's face.

"It's haunted! My home is haunted!" The pony screamed.

Twilight stood there, stunned by their comment. "Haunted?! What's going on here?!"

"You've been erased from history," said a voice.

Twilight turned her head and saw another pony, slightly older than her, standing at the top of the stairs. "E-Erased...?"

"Because you lost the game, you were erased from existence," the pony stated. "Don't panic however, there are plently of us who were also erased."

"N-No! This isn't possible! It's probably just--"

"The demon killed you in your own mind like the rest of us," the pony interrupted. "Face it, you've been wiped off the face of the planet."

"I can't! I won't! I refuse to accept this!"

The sound of hoofsteps behind Twilight caused her to turn. It was that pony. Twilight tried to stop the pony by blocking their path, but the pony simply ran through her.

Twilight's stood there for a second, trying to process what had just happened. It took her a while before finally realizing she was indeed, dead. A surge of emotions began to overcome Twilight and she broke out in tears.

"N-No..." Twilight sobbed. "I can't be dead..."

"I'm sorry, but it's the truth."

Twilight sulked on the stairs, then remembered something as thoughts flooded her brain. "Perhaps there's a way to return?"

"Unfortunately, there isn't."

"Are you sure? Have you--"

"I've tried all of the possible ways, I'm sorry."

Twilight sighed in disappointment. "Alright then..."

Twilight walked down the stairs and left the library. She walked aimlessly through the streets, strolling past ponies that had no clue she was there.

Then, out of the corner of her eye, she saw her closest friends huddled up in a circle. She couldn't hear what they were discussing, but she assumed it had to do something with friendship. Twilight specifically looked for Fluttershy in the circle, but she saw no signs of her.

"Fluttershy probably got erased as well..." Twilight mumbled to herself.

Twilight looked to see if Spike was apart of the group. And to her surprise, he was. Spike seemed to have been doing fine without her.

The group then dispersed and went their own separate ways.

Except for Spike.

He looked up at the sky and smiled, pulling out a gem with Twilight's cutie mark on it.

"Twilight... If you can hear me... Just know... that I haven't forgotten you," Spike said, nearly choking on his words. "I've made it my duty to make sure everypony remembers who you were."

Spike clenched the gem tightly in his fist and walked off. Twilight could only standby and watch as he walked further and further away from her.

Suddenly, Spike stopped in his tracks and turned. Twilight took a step back in surprise as their eyes met. She looked behind her but saw no pony there. Spike started walking back, still maintaining eye contact.

"He can see me...?" Twilight thought to herself.

Spike stopped directly in front of her and smiled. "I know you're there Twilight. Come on, follow me."

Twilight was now in a bewildered state. He could sense her! But how? Was it that gem?

Spike began walking back in his original direction. Twilight snapped out her confusion and followed closely behind. They walked together, staying silent for most of the trip. Twilight had absolutely no idea where they were going. The path they were taking was extremely unfamiliar.

Spike eventually led her into meadow, showing her all of the thriving plants and animals. Twilight smiled, but only wanted to know why he had brought her here.

"I'm sure that you're standing next to me right now, right? I hope so..." Spike chuckled nervously. "Look down there, at the other end of the meadow. Do you see it?"

Twilight squinted but saw nothing unusual.

"It's hard to spot, but Fluttershy is at the end of the meadow," Spike stated. Twilight's eyes widened at the mention of Fluttershy. "On the night that you vanished, the demon was still inside of Fluttershy. It wasn't physically showing it, but I could feel it."

Spike turned and pointed at an odd section of the meadow. Burn marks streaked the flattened flowers. "After I had told everypony about the demon, we all agreed on liberating Fluttershy the best we could. That spot is where we did it." Spike walked over to the spot, pointing out certain features. "With a bit of help from Zecora, we managed to get the demon out. But it took some time for Fluttershy to recover."

"Some time?" Twilight said to herself.

An awkward silence filled the air, making both of them uncomfortable. The wind blew past them as the silence continued to linger.

"...It's been a year since I last saw you Twilight," Spike said out of the blue. "I miss you, Fluttershy misses you, everypony does." Tears started to form in Spike's eyes. "Please, come back."

Emotions began piling up in Twilight's mind. She didn't know how to react to Spike's comment. She didn't know how to come back. It was a frustating situation she was left in.

"I can't... I don't know..." Twilight said quietly. "Please, don't cry Spike... I'm here to comfort you." Twilight did the best that she could to hug Spike, even in her current state.

Spike froze, tears still rolling. Twilight paid no attention and continued to embrace him, not realizing what was happening to her. It was only when Twilight felt Spike's claw that raised several alarms in her head. Spike gasped in shock.

"T-Twilight! Is it really you?!" Spike nearly screamed.

"What?" Twilight looked down at Spike and saw him staring right at her.

"You're back! You actually came back!" Spike rejoiced.

Fluttershy, who was still down at the other side of the meadow, turned at the mention of Twilight's return. She spread her wings and flew over to the joyous duo.

"Twilight! You're okay!" Fluttershy cheered.

Twilight turned to Fluttershy and smiled brightly. They hugged tightly, telling each other how terrifying their ordeals were and asking each other questions.

After their short celebration, they rushed back to Ponyville to notify everypony of Twilight's return.