//------------------------------//
// A Chilling Tale. 
// Story: Creature of the Night: Episode One-The Night Guardian 
// by CreatureofTheNight 
//------------------------------//

Twilight was sitting with her friends in her map room, enjoying (or trying to enjoy) a special brunch that Pinkie had made. However, she was oddly quiet. As she focused on some waffles she seemed to see..  his face... in the syrup. Those piercing red eyes looking right at her, with a magic powerful enough to put an alicorn princess to sleep? Not only that, Twilight had studied magic for years, she should have known every counter-spell known to pony kind, and yet... he had overpowered her. That and Zecora had said he had such a big secret, one that she wouldn't even tell her friends about. Zecora spoke in riddles and rhymes but she always told the truth. What was so bad about this pony that she couldn't know about him? Sure, everypony has a little secret but, what if... what if this secret could put Equestria in danger? Maybe she should write to the other Princesses about him. No, they were probably too busy, this was something she would have to do on her own, it seemed. . 

However, the more she thought about what this guy did, the more it terrified her. This stallion, he had overpowered her defenses, and not only that, he had managed to outsmart her. He had tricked her into looking into his eyes. That was another thing she started to think about while her mind began to race, filling up with a sense of dread the more she thought about the mysterious 'Creature of the Night' - as Zecora had so elegantly put it. He had controlled her mind just by looking at her. It had been like no magic she had ever seen: there had been no magical glow, no wispy waves of luminescent light. the stallion didn't even look like he even had a horn! What kind of pony could do such things? It wasn't possible... was it?

Twilight's demeanor didn't go unnoticed. It took her a while to realize that all her friends were staring at her worriedly, Applejack cocking her head to one side, and Rainbow staring right at her, one eyebrow raised. Twilight gazed right back at them, feighning ignorance and putting on her very best 'what's the matter' face. 

"You all right, Sugarcube?" Applejack asked as she looked at the increasingly nervous princess. "You're acting like you've seen a ghost." 

""Yeah, you haven't even touched your super stack of amazing Pinkie Pancakes," Pinkie added, her usual enthusiasm marred slightly by a hint of concern.

Rainbow Dash, obviously bored with the deliberation, asked the million dollar question everypony was thinking: "Did something happen last night?"

Twilight fell silent as her friends all looked at her, anxiously. Would they believe her? How could they believe her, when she still didn't quite believe it herself? She was starting to consider evading. She was just about ready to put an end to it and claim that nothing was wrong, but then a thought occured to her. A glimmer of hope filled her mind as she started to think that maybe - just maybe - she wasn't the only pony who had seen this mysterious "Creature". After all, from what she'd gathered, he was probably out quite often - and she couldn't be the only one to have noticed him - could she? She looked at her friends, hoping, praying to Celestia, that she was right. "I don't want to concern anypony but... last night I woke up from a nightmare I was having and I couldn't get back to sleep. I thought I saw something outside, so I looked and I saw a thestral, or at least I think he was a thestral, staring right back at me. Something about him didn't feel right." 

"What's all the fuss about?" Rainbow interrupted. "You've dealt with plenty stronger than some random creepy guy spying on you.""That may be true, but what if he was going to do something terrible to any other pony in town" 

"That may be true, but what if he had been going to do something terrible to any other pony in town?" Twilight reminded her. "I came out to see who this pony was, and his eyes looked right back into mine. I felt this... twinge in the back of my head... I can't expain it, but it felt like it was commanding me to go back to sleep."

The assembled ponies stared. Magic was Twilight's field of expertise, and all her friends knew that she had several layers of magical defenses in her mind to protect herself from magical attacks (Twilight had often bored them with explanations of the various safeguards she employed), and yet some random thestral had apparently managed to get in without any difficulty. However, Rainbow brought up something that unnerved even Twilight "I thought you said he was just a thestral, like one of Princess Luna's guards?"  

"That's what I thought, too," Twilight said, the worry visible in her eyes, gripping the map table like she had before. If they weren't already alarmed enough, this was a sure sign that something was wrong, for Twilight was not the type of pony who scares easily. An unsettling chill filled the room as she continued. "Anyway, I closed my eyes and the twinge stopped. I think he had to maintain eye contact with me. He kept talking, saying that he was nothing to be concerned about and that I should go back to bed. I ignored him, because he was clearly some kind of threat. He fled towards the Everfree Forest and I gave chase to stop him, when... I can't explain it, but it was like some incredible force was pushing me downwards, and I was sent spiraling down to the ground." She paused as she started to think about it "Then he... for some reason caught me. I started to think I was wrong about him until...I felt this sharp pain poking my neck"

Rarity looked at her nervously, but had to ask "What kind of pain?" 

"It was like being poked with a needle, horribly sharp, but quick' Twilight said, automatically reaching a hoof up to feel her neck. The bleeding had stopped since last night of course, but there was a scar there, thankfully hidden by her mane; nothing too bad but still there. "Then...he started to tell me I needed to see Zecora right away, that he had made a terrible mistake." 

They looked on, spellbound, as Twilight finished her tale by saying "Then, I realized mine. His eyes and mine were locked for a long time, and then suddenly... I heard his voice echoing in my head, commanding me to sleep." She started shivering "And I did..." 

Her friends had all stood up and approached her at this point, placing their hooves on her back to calm her down. Her fear began to subside. "The next thing I knew, I woke up in Zecora's hut. She said she couldn't tell be much, but she said that this pony's name was 'The Creature of the Night'" She looked hopefully at her friends. "Do any of you know anypony who goes by that name? I haven't gotten this "Creature" out of my head all morning. I woke up with blood coming out of my neck that Zecora was patching up. Something happened last night, and I need to know...if I'm not worried over nothing" 

The other five looked at her a little sheepishly. "I've never heard anything about a 'Creature of the Night' before," Rarity began, "but I have seen a frightful-looking pony jumping from rooftop to rooftop," She admitted. 

"Sometimes when I look out my window I see a thestral flying across the Ponyville sky," Rainbow confessed.  

"I umm, sometimes see this pony walking out pulling up a hood before I go to sleep," Fluttershy said quietly, "But I always thought it was just my imagination."

"Well, you aren't the only one going crazy Sugarcube, I've seen a pony standing on the top of the barn at night once in a while. I go to check, but suddenly he's gone." Applejack said, her turn to confess. 

"Sometimes," Pinkie added, "when I'm out at one of the late night parties I sometimes host in Ponyville, I see this thestral in the corner in a black hood. I don't say anything though - I mean, there are lots of ponies who are shy like that."  

Twilight paused and was about to ask why they never told her, then sighed. "I guess it would be pretty hard to believe. Everypony would just assume you were seeing things, but the fact that we all saw the same pony means that we're not crazy." She got up, looking more than a little relieved. "Now here's my question: Who or what is this Creature of the Night?" 

Rainbow paused and then smirked "I don't know, but I know we're not gonna find out by simply sitting here. Come on everypony, let's go hunt us down a creep!" 

Twilight smiled as her friends nodded in agreement. "I love you girls," she said, as without another word they headed out the door, and set off for the Everfree forest.