Sweet to Eat
Sweet to Eat
Tales of Nightmare Night
Tale III
Sweet to Eat
“What do you mean, you’re not going out for candy tonight?”
Diamond Tiara rolled her eyes at Silver Spoon’s outburst. “Puh-lease, Nightmare Night is so boring. It’s not even scary.”
Silver Spoon shifted in her spot across the picnic table. She held her teacup in one hoof as she stared with low ears. “But… but I got a costume and everything.”
“A costume? You?” Diamond eyed her friend with a smirk. “What are you going as, a blank flank?” She blinked and rubbed her chin. “That might not be such a bad idea, come to think of it…”
Silver ducked her head and blushed. “Actually… I’m gonna be Princess Luna.”
“Luna?” Diamond nearly dropped her teacup. “Really? What makes you think you deserve to dress like a princess?”
“I thought we could go as a pair,” Silver suggested, holding her teacup as if to hide behind it. “You could be Celestia.”
Diamond grinned and patted her own mane with a haughty pose. “Well, I am perfect princess material, am I not?” She took a sip of tea.
“Of course!” Silver brightened in an instant. “And the two of us together could—”
Diamond set her cup down with a loud clack. “Then again, it’s not a very frightening costume. Luna can be scary, but Celestia? Nopony’s scared of her. No, I would have to be Luna.”
Silver’s jaw dropped. “What? B-but I thought—”
“You heard me.” Diamond smiled at her faithful accomplice with that dark glint in her eye, the one she’d spent hours practicing in the mirror. “I really don’t care to go out for Nightmare Night, but if you let me be Luna instead…”
Silver fidgeted even as she shook her head. “My mother hired Rarity herself to make my costume! I can’t just—”
“All the more reason I should wear it,” Diamond declared smugly. “After all, shouldn’t I be seen wearing only the finest costume made by Ponyville’s finest fashionista? Such a shame she’s sister to that blank flank.” She shivered as she said the phrase.
She peered over her teacup at Silver, who had her head bowed and was toying with her ponytail. Diamond frowned at the behavior; was she actually considering refusing? Silver had never said ‘no’ before, and Diamond wasn’t about to let her do it now.
“If you want me to go out tonight to that dull event, you’ll be Celestia and I’ll be Luna.”
Silver pouted and wouldn’t meet her eye. “I… I thought you’d be happy being the elder sister.”
“Well, I’m not!”
Diamond slammed her hoof to the table. She leaned heavily against it and glared Silver in the eye. “Nightmare Night is a wimpy festival of games put on for babies. It used to be scary, and if I am going to tag along with you I intend to bring that back. Luna’s the scarier sister, and I want to scare some whiney kids! Not pretend to scare them like the real Luna does – I want to make them cry!”
Silver sank a little behind the table with moist eyes. “But… but my mother really wanted—”
“I don’t care what she wanted,” Diamond snapped. “I am not gonna go out there and look like a ditzy filly dreaming of being a princess. The whole thing is stupid anyway. I either scare the cutie marks off some ponies or I don’t go at all!”
Diamond glared at the cowed Silver Spoon for a few extra second before she sat back on her bench properly and sipped at her tea. She flinched and glowered at it, then flung her hoof up so the teacup’s contents splashed all over her nearby servant. “The tea’s too cold. Make me more.”
The servant took the cup and disappeared towards the schoolhouse without a word.
Diamond grinned and imagined herself prancing about Ponyville scaring the weepy babies of the town. She could just hear them screaming and crying for their mommies as they ran. How delightful! They might even drop their candy, which Diamond would of course have to take for herself as a reward.
“Oooh, this might be fun after all.”
“No.”
Diamond blinked, her ears twitching at the unfamiliar sound. She turned with wide eyes to Silver, who wouldn’t meet her gaze. “What?”
Silver shrank a little. “I’m sorry, Dai. Mom’s put a lot into this. She’s never been so… interested. I can’t disappoint her.”
Trying to wrap her brain around what she’d just heard, Diamond could only stare. Usually when she didn’t get what she wanted her response would be outrage, but this was Silver Spoon. Silver was always on her side. Diamond wasn’t sure how to react.
“I… I guess this means you won’t be coming tonight.” Silver chewed her lip and tugged at her ponytail.
Several seconds of silent mouthing passed before Diamond finally found her voice. “You’re picking your mom… over me? Silver, you can’t stand her.”
Eyes wet, Silver finally met Diamond’s gaze. “I’m sorry, Dai. J-just this once, okay?”
Diamond blinked a few times. Slowly, her lips fell into a frown… then a sneer.
Silver leaned forward a little. “Okay?”
There came a familiar grip on Diamond’s mind, that raging fire that she always reserved for those who got in her way. She stood on her hind legs and pounded her hooves to the table so hard Silver’s teacup rocked.
“No, it’s not okay! Of all the ponies who would even think of refusing my most reasonable request, I never thought it would be you.”
She let out a fierce snarl, prompting Silver to duck beneath the table. “And for your mother? Are you kidding me? You said it yourself that she’s not worth the time! What did you say, that she was stupid? A ditz? That she ignored you all the time? I let you stand by me and this is how you repay me?”
Silver gazed at her, eyes just over the table’s edge, and Diamond was confident she’d give in.
Then something strange happened: Silver’s eyes shifted, her ears lowered. She seemed to go from scared to uncertain, and then to angry.
Tears began to form in Silver’s eyes as she stood up properly once more. Her lip trembled, her cheeks grew red… and then she reared back to copy Diamond’s aggressive pose. “Well maybe standing by you isn’t all it’s cracked up to be. Yeah, I said those things, but I was angry. This might be my chance to turn things around, Dai!”
Diamond hesitated at her longtime companion’s outburst… but only for a moment; she bared her teeth as she pressed her muzzle to that of her friend. “You want to spend time playing with the babies, you be my guest! Go hang out with the losers, it’s where you belong!”
“Maybe it is! Goodbye, Diamond. I hope Nightmare Moon decides to have you for a snack.”
“That’s not even a true story, you moron!” Diamond waved her hoof as Silver stomped off. “You’ll see. When you go out tonight and nopony wants to hang around you because you’re such a loser, you’ll wish you’d listened to me! You’ll make the worst Princess Luna in Equestria, and then you’ll wish you’d seen things my way!”
Silver stormed off, leaving Diamond to glare and huff. It was several seconds before she realized she was still reared up on the table, and she sat down with a scowl.
“Your fresh tea, miss.”
Diamond swatted the cup away, ignoring the sound of it shattering in the grass. She fumed and stared at her shaking hooves, teeth grinding. She still couldn’t comprehend what had just happened. Silver Spoon had disagreed with her. Silver! What in the name of Celestia could drive her to do that? It was ridiculous, it was foolish, it was…
…it was…
Diamond stared at the empty spot across the picnic table, her eyes locked on Silver’s abandoned teacup. What was this pain in her chest, like some icy claw inside her?
She pushed away from the table and stepped down to the grass. “Get my schoolbag. I’m going home.”
“Of course, miss.”
Silver wasn’t a dumb pony. She’d come around. Surely she would recognize that she was making a huge mistake. Diamond knew it; within an hour – tops – Silver would be at her door begging forgiveness and demanding Diamond go as Princess Luna. This was not something to be concerned over.
Diamond forced down that mysterious pain in her chest and pulled out her best smile. Yes…
Silver would come around.
Diamond’s father had his head tilted, lips set in a nonplussed frown. “Are you sure you don’t want to go out for Nightmare Night?”
She stared out the window at the street leading to the front door. “Not this year, Daddy. Nightmare Night’s no fun without Silver around.”
Filthy Rich studied her with concern. She could tell he wanted to encourage her, but after several seconds he sighed and nodded. “Well, if that’s really what you want. In that case, would you like to get up early and go with me to pick up your mother in Canterlot?”
She turned to give him a smile, though it took a lot to manage it. “That’d be wonderful! Thanks, Daddy.”
He smiled and patted her mane. “You’re welcome, sweetheart. Don’t you worry; I’m sure your friend will be feeling better soon.”
She stepped up to press herself to him, genuinely pleased with his effort to cheer her up. “I’m sure she will.”
He rested his leg around her back in a small hug before pulling away. “Well, we should probably get some shut-eye! Don’t want to wake up late and miss our train.”
Diamond nodded with a faked yawn. “Yes, Daddy.” As soon as the door was closed, she turned back to the window and rested her chin to the sill, her smile dropping to a deep frown.
Why didn’t Silver come? Surely she didn’t really decide to go out on Nightmare Night without her? No, that was ridiculous. Something had to have happened. Maybe she really did get sick.
Or maybe Diamond had pushed a little too hard.
She sat up and shook her head so hard her tiara fell off. What was she thinking? She was Diamond Tiara, and she always got what she wanted! This wasn’t her fault – it was Silver’s for being so selfish. She was probably miserable right now, lost without her fearless, intelligent and oh-so-charming leader to guide her.
...so why didn’t she come?
Diamond turned away from the window and picked up her tiara. She held it in her hooves and stared at the ornament for several long seconds.
Maybe she should have accepted being Celestia. Maybe, just this once, she should have given in. She turned to gaze at her bed, at the spot where Silver would lie down during their many sleepovers. They were supposed to have one in a couple days. What if Silver didn’t come to that, too?
“This is not my fault… is it, Silver?”
Diamond perked her ears, half-expecting to hear her friend’s voice. She started to put her tiara on… but hesitated. She held it over her head, her hooves still and unable to move. She closed her eyes and listened to the silence of her room.
With a sigh and a sag of her shoulders, she tossed the tiara onto her bed. She turned back to the window and pressed her cheek to the glass, scanning the darkness. The bright lights in the distance indicated that the festival was in full swing. Silver was probably out there right now, spending time with her mother.
Maybe her words had been too harsh. Maybe Silver really was reconnecting with her mother. That was a good thing, wasn’t it? Better one parent than none at all – not that Diamond would know. Maybe she should be happier for Silver. Obviously she wouldn’t apologize; that would suggest she’d done something wrong, and Diamond Tiara never does anything wrong.
She could, on the other hoof, welcome Silver back. Surely she would realize that Diamond had been trying to act in her best interest? But if that wasn’t the case…
There it was, that clenching in her gut. It had been happening a lot, and Diamond had no idea what it was supposed to be. All she knew was that it came every time she thought about Silver possibly not being her friend anymore. She knew it was a ridiculous thought – who in their right mind wouldn’t want to be friends with her? – but she couldn’t stop thinking about it.
A vision rose in her mind's eye of Silver out there amongst all those losers, playing all the lame games and pretending to be scared of every little thing that jumped out of the shadows. She might even have fun.
What if she did?
Could Silver have fun with other ponies? Without Diamond Tiara?
Very suddenly, all Diamond wanted to do was head out there and see what Silver was up to. She couldn’t be having fun – she just couldn’t be. It was impossible, inconceivable!
Wasn’t it?
How was she to know for sure?
Diamond lingered at the window for several long seconds, her mind playing over the same questions over and over again. With every fresh thought her stomach danced a little more and her heart twisted a little harder.
At last she could take it no more: she had to investigate. But she’d already told her father she was going to sleep, and it was far too early to leave without the servants noticing. She might be the queen when she was out on the town by herself, but when at home her father was god and no servant would listen to her over him. If they spotted her she’d be ratted out in an instant.
So Diamond decided to do something that had never occurred to her before: she would sneak out the window. She took the extra time to turn out the lights in her room and arrange her bed so it would look like somepony was in it, then grabbed her saddle and climbed onto the roof.
The task proved difficult, and more than once Diamond strongly considered abandoning her plan, but every time she came close to going back inside she would think of Silver and steel herself to the task. In the end she was able to climb down a tree, though she grimaced at the twigs and leaves that now covered her coat and mane. At last safely on the ground, she wasted no time rushing for downtown Ponyville.
The town was alive with festivity, foals running about as ghouls and pirates and dragons, collecting candy from similarly-costumed adults. Orange paper lamps decorated homes and trees, accompanied by scarecrows and tombstones and zombie mannequins. Diamond observed it all from her hiding spot in an alley and refused to think of any of it as entertaining.
She kept scouring for Silver, but it took some time to locate her. She couldn’t help but stare, for the Princess Luna costume was a dress suitable for the Grand Galloping Gala, well-designed with stars, a moon brooch and layered skirt. Silver had her body painted just the right shade of blue and had dyed her mane. She even had glitter to make it shimmer like Luna’s did. It wasn’t a perfect illusion, but there could be no doubt who she was trying to be. A pair of fake wings – were those real feathers? – and a horn completed the ensemble.
Diamond had no choice but to admit that she was jealous; Silver looked incredible, and everypony was sure to let her know it. If Rarity had done that good a job with a Luna costume, what would she have managed with a Celestia one? Maybe Diamond should have taken Silver up on the offer after all…
She ducked beneath some bushes and shook her head with force. What was she thinking? No, she shouldn’t have taken Silver’s offer. Silver should have given in and let her wear that awesome costume! Diamond’s ears folded and she ground her teeth as she overheard more ponies praising the little Luna. Those compliments were supposed to be aimed at her.
She took another look and saw Silver’s mother, a white earth pony with a short but fashionable black mane. She wore a costume clearly intended to be Princess Cadance. It wasn’t as grand and well-developed as Silver’s, but it was still pretty good. Clearly not made by Rarity, though.
Diamond had to stop and rub her eyes in case she was seeing things; was Silver… smiling at her mother? Was her mother smiling back? Diamond didn’t know such a thing was possible. After hearing Silver talk about the mare…
She dropped back into the bushes once more, her mind a cloud of uncertainty. On the one hoof, she was still mad. On the other, seeing Silver finally being happy with her mother was… nice. She deserved it, didn’t she? Diamond knew she could be mean sometimes, but she and Silver had always gotten along. Maybe… maybe Diamond should try and be a real friend for once and let this go.
But then Diamond heard something new, something that made her tense; cheering foals. It wasn’t the act of cheering, or the sound itself… it was where she suspected they were directed. Slowly, her lips curling back in a sneer, she looked out.
Sure enough, Silver was surrounded by foals of all ages. They were talking to her, and… and she was talking back. Like they were normal. Like they were worthy. Even the blank flanks.
There was that wretched feeling in Diamond's stomach again, this time with a lot more force. She wanted to rush out and chase them all away; Silver was her friend and she had no interest in sharing! Yet despite her anger, she didn’t dare approach. After all, she had no costume, and that was a social heresy on Nightmare Night.
No, Diamond was too important to let such humiliation take place. She had to find some way of dealing with this, though. Maybe she could find some way to scare the foals off?
No, she might scare Silver, and that wasn’t her goal.
Humiliate them at school later?
No, she needed to solve the problem now.
Steal their candy?
No, she’d be seen without a costume. Humiliating!
…unless she took it after Luna’s arrival.
Diamond glowered at that thought; it wasn’t exactly a devastating blow, now was it? Taking the candy supposedly sacrificed to Nightmare Moon wouldn’t even be noticed, though it would certainly give her a bit of self-satisfaction. Besides, she knew the parents took the candy for later anyway.
Then again, she didn’t really have any options, did she? No costume, ponies all over... nothing at all in her favor.
Diamond’s eyes locked on Silver, and her blood went cold. Silver was being approached by one of them: Sweetie Belle. Diamond glared at the crusader, who appeared to be dressed as a witch. She waited for Silver to fling insults, to send her packing.
Silver didn’t do that at all. As Diamond stared, the two of them… talked. There was no small amount of anxiety, but they seemed to actually be getting along.
If Diamond’s blood had been boiling before, it was probably all steam at this point. She watched her friend walking off with that blank flank and felt a desperate urge to scream her fury. Of all the things that could happen, Silver was collaborating with the enemy! How could this have happened?
Diamond turned away and stomped her hoof a few times, snarling as she realized what was happening. She might lose her friend… to those pathetic crusaders! Worst of all, there was nothing she could do about it. When she saw Silver again she’d… she’d… she didn’t know what she would do, but it wouldn’t be pleasant.
Diamond had no other option, this she now understood. Silver had betrayed her – her! – and would have to be taught a lesson. Maybe not here, most certainly not at this very moment, but soon. Not only Silver Spoon, but those insufferable blank flanks as well! She'd show them what happened to ponies who took her things.
For now? Candy. Stealing it might not raise any hackles, but at least eating some might assuage that strange pain she was feeling in her chest. Besides, if she didn't liberate it then it would go to all the parents, and every filly knew that parents weren't supposed to eat candy. It was poisonous for them.... or something like that.
Diamond skulked from behind the bushes into an alley, which led her to an abandoned street. She looked up at the full moon; she had not quite an hour left before it hit its zenith. She could easily get to the statue before the foals. She turned and walked down the street, keeping to the shadows in case somepony might show up.
She followed the path Zecora normally took the foals on. It wasn't hard to recall, having walked it once a year her entire life. Gradually, the décor of Nightmare's Night began to disappear, or at least the décor Diamond was accustomed to.
As she examined her surroundings, she noticed a distinct change in the air. Gone were the 'cute' orange lamps and the pumpkins grinning pleasantly at her. No longer did she see fake cobwebs and grinning zombies waving to her from porches. Those were decorations designed to amuse and, perhaps, scare the silly foals.
In their place came decorations of a darker tint. Diamond was entering what the foals all dubbed the 'Dark Side' of Ponyville on Nightmare's Night. From their perspective, this area was cursed every year by the presence of Nightmare Moon's statue, and was crawling with dangerous creatures ready to gobble little foals up should they wander too close without Zecora. Diamond had learned the truth a couple years back: this was where those adults not saddled with looking after the big babies went to play for Nightmare Night. The foals walked through only for Zecora's little game, because it helped amplify their fear of Nightmare Moon.
Of course, by that time all the adults and their booths would be long gone, to give the children a sense of abandonment. It was all one big game, and Diamond had originally been insulted at the trickery. Now she was more insulted by the fact that her father still wouldn't let her come to this side of town on Nightmare Night.
A distinct thrill ran through her as she realized that she was doing something the big babies across town didn't dare... and, of course, breaking the rules was always a bit fun.
She took this opportunity to really examine her surroundings. She saw one house that seemed to be smeared with blood... very effectively so. At another she spotted a trio of zombies, but not the goofy, fake zombies like what she'd seen on Bon Bon's porch. Oh no: these had skin hanging loosely, exposed bone, and putrid yellow flesh. Worse, they actually moved, shuffling about the porch and snapping their teeth at her when she tried to get too close.
There was no denying that they put a chill down her spine.
Cobwebs with real spiders, ghostly apparitions that moved through solid objects, red and yellow eyes peering wickedly from the shadows, a fog hovering just above her head with wispy tendrils slowly snaking after her. Diamond Tiara's heart rate rose and she definitely felt the unfamiliar urge to hide. As scared as she felt, there was also an intense thrill, an energy within her that wanted more.
This was what Nightmare Night was supposed to be. Why hadn't she thought of this sooner? She couldn't wait to tell Silver about...
Tell Silver...
That sting in her chest came back. Combined with her surroundings, it filled Diamond with a sudden, horrible dread, and she found herself fleeing into an alley and away from all those terrible things. Unable to get pursuing ghouls and clutching monsters from her mind, she shivered by the wall.
And Silver Spoon. She was thinking about her, too.
Diamond shook her head frantically, fighting to get the hideous fear out of her. This was all Silver's fault! If she hadn't abandoned Diamond, she wouldn't have to go through this scary place alone.
No.
Diamond pushed that thought down. She wanted to be scared! She wanted to show all those babies what a real pony could take, and she was not going to let a few well-designed illusions get the better of her!
She wouldn't let thoughts of Silver get the better of her, either.
Taking a few calming breaths, Diamond forced herself back out into that street. She glared up at the fog and the way it seemed to reach for her, then to the zombies on the porch down the road. Fake, all of it fake. She could do this, because she wasn't a little crying foal. Sure, it was all legitimately creepy, but that just made the bragging rights that much better.
She trotted down the road, a confident grin plastered on her face
Hearing laughter up ahead, Diamond slowed her pace. She slipped behind trees and – when they didn't scare her too much – decorations. She could see ponies: the adults playing their games. Not all of them were in costumes, but those that were had made them very effectively.
One pony sported a hockey mask and had an axe sticking out of the back of his head. Another had the looming presence of a vampire pony, and there was a trio of witches roaming about pretending to fling curses at everypony present. The costumes were all far better than anything Diamond had seen on the foals... except for Silver's Luna costume.
The vampire was particularly ominous in her mind, with the way he always seemed to be creeping up on unsuspecting victims. She studied his mottled brown coat and black mane, certain she'd seen him before. Ponyville was a small town, so she should have easily identified him, but while familiar she simply couldn't place his face.
Regardless, he was clearly a master at sneaking up on ponies. There were times when even Diamond – from her safe hiding place with a good view of the scene – lost track of him, only for him to resurface seemingly from nowhere and pounce on some hapless pony. He always managed to pull off a scream, and Diamond could see why: when on the hunt his eyes gained this piercing, sinister manner that even Diamond – clearly not his target – trembled at.
He could probably give Queen Chrysalis a run for her money in the terrorizing department. The pony dressed as her certainly thought so.
More screams drew Diamond farther along the road. She continued her cautious movements. Soon she discovered something new, something which had never been around on her other visits. It was a large stand, almost like a stage. A short line of stallions stood nearby, waiting their turn.
At the center of the stage was perhaps one of the most beautiful mares Diamond had ever laid eyes on. Though her long, flowing mane had been dyed black and she wore a conservative red dress coated in spider webs – complete with what appeared to be real spiders – there was no mistaking the elite Canterlot model, Fleur de Lis.
Diamond couldn't help gaping; what was she doing in Ponyville?
Putting on a show, apparently.
Thunderlane was next in line, and he strutted up the steps with a confident grin.
Fleur eyed him with a playful, dark smile. "Oh.... so you think you have what it takes to charm Elzibet Batherpony, do you?"
He smirked and gave a flourish of a bow.
"Willing to wage your soul on that?"
Diamond rolled her eyes; was this supposed to be scary? She was tempted to leave and find the source of the screams, but stuck around just for the sake of watching Thunderlane make a fool of himself. He said a few flowery lines and posed a little; he looked so ridiculous that Diamond had to hold her jaw shut to keep from laughing. Fleur merely watched him with that same dark, wry expression.
At last she beckoned, and he moved closer. She tilted her head and considered him, then – to Diamond's shock – leaned forward and puckered.
Thunderlane grinned back at the line of disappointed-looking stallions to wink triumphantly. He turned back to Fleur, moved in...
Fleur opened her mouth, and when she did Diamond's hackles rose; three brown, insectoid mandibles extended from within Fleur’s throat. They splayed out and extended forward as a single thick tentacle burst from between her lips to wrap around Thunderlane's face.The former suitor screamed and tried to pull back, but the tentacle dragged him forward.
Diamond's heart pounded as she watched, jaw agape. Those sharp-looking mandibles bent around Thunderlane's head as if to grasp it, dragging the squirming pony's terrified face closer to Fleur's unnaturally gaping mouth.
Then, with a shout of desperation and a mighty tug, he was free.
Thunderlane collapsed on his side and crawled backwards from Fleur. The tentacle and mandibles withdrew into her and she closed her mouth. She stared down at the stallion with a pretty pout.
"How disappointing," Fleur said. "What's the matter? Afraid to commit?"
As the stallions in line burst into laughter, Diamond's heart slowed. She sat and felt her body relaxing as a cold chill ran down her spine.
Thunderlane climbed up on shaky hooves, a weak smile on his lips. That smile didn't match his eyes, which were wide and still locked on Fleur.
Fleur shot him a smug smile and waved him away, and he stumbled off the stage. One of the stallions in the line whacked his shoulder, eliciting a good-natured chuckle from him, though his legs continued to wobble.
Diamond shivered, then shivered again. Her breath came in small gasps as her fight-or-flight instincts slowly died down. There was a distinct exhilaration in this moment. Diamond slowly smiled with the realization that she felt... good. It was a nervous kind of good, the first real awareness that she was going to be okay, that what she'd seen wasn't real. It made her feel... alive.
Diamond wanted more of this feeling. Forgetting her original purpose, she waited eagerly to see what would happen to the next stallion.
Once again, her jaw dropped as Big McIntosh made his slow, anxious way up the stairs. Diamond had to rub her eyes to make sure she wasn't seeing things, but there was no question: the shyest, quietest stallion in Ponyville intended to speak to the most desirable mare in Canterlot!
Fleur tilted her head at him, blinking as she studied the sturdy Big Mac. She seemed about as surprised as everypony else.
"I didn't expect to see you coming to this."
Big McIntosh's cheeks burned. He sat before her and rubbed his foreleg before glancing at the audience. His head shifted to look away from her and his ears folded, but his eyes stayed on Fleur's face.
"I had to," he muttered, voice so low Diamond almost didn't hear him.
Fleur leaned forward a little with an expression of genuine interest. "Oh? And why is that?"
Diamond lifted her ears and leaned close, struggling to hear Big Mac's mumbled words, but it was useless. Whatever he'd said, it somehow managed to make his cheeks brighten a few shades.
Fleur leaned back to consider him. At first she seemed surprised, but then she regained her smug manner. Was there a touch of pink in her cheeks?
"Well," she told him, stepping a little closer, "I have to admit, Mister Apple, you flatter me." She took another step closer, and this time there was a distinct eagerness in her manner. She reached up to touch his chin, her hungry eyes locked with his.
"Why don't I see what apples taste like?"
Diamond had expected many things. Perhaps the mouth trick again. Instead she saw something that almost knocked the air from her lungs:
Fleur kissed Big Mac right on the lips.
For a moment there was total silence... then the crowd whistled, cheered and teased the pair. Fleur backed out of the kiss, leaving Big Mac with a dopey smile, but within a second she moved in for another, which only made the crowd even livelier.
Fleur's horn emitted a single quick pulse of magic, and Big Mac went limp. Then, as if they'd been hidden within her very body, eight long, thin spider legs burst out from her back.
Diamond couldn't resist a small shout, thankfully muffled by a similar reaction from the crowd. As they watched, Fleur wrapped the unconscious Big Mac in what appeared to be silk, until only his head remained visible. Fleur grinned and wrapped her hooves around him before turning to the crowd.
"I think this one's a keeper."
The crowd began to laugh, and Diamond breathed easy again.
The bell tower began to chime, everypony looking about at the familiar sound. Fleur pouted as she set her victim aside carefully. "Ooh, too bad, no more treats for tonight. Maybe next year, everypony."
Diamond wilted a little, but then her head snapped back up: this meant Zecora would be coming with the foals soon! She needed to get to the statue, now. She cast one last, furtive glance towards the slumbering Big Mac before returning to the task at hoof.
The rest of the trip was a lot trickier, what with all the adults working to get rid of the scariest of the area's decorations and stands before the foals arrived. No doubt Zecora was going through the motions, working to scare the timid foals back in the main square.
Despite much dodging and many close calls, Diamond reached the Nightmare Moon statue at last. She stood before its glaring countenance and stared up into the fiend's menacing eyes. To think, there was a time when this statue scared the cutie mark off of her. Now she stuck her tongue out at it and laughed at her former naivety.
A curious thought came to her: why did this statue even exist in the first place? Nightmare Moon had never been a beloved figure, so why create a statue in her image? And it was so far out of the way; Diamond glanced around at the surrounding forest, then turned about to see the edge of town over a hundred yards beyond. What could have possibly warranted making this thing, and here of all places?
It felt like such an obvious question. She actually thought herself foalish for having not thought of it earlier.
No time to think on that, she needed a place to hide. Fortunately, the statue's weird location made hiding easy; all Diamond had to do was slip behind some bushes and wait.
She didn't have to for very long. Zecora appeared just as a thick fog engulfed the area, no doubt conjured by a nearby unicorn, or maybe Luna herself. The foals following her all appeared as nervous as Diamond used to be, and she could only laugh at them – silently, of course.
But then her hackles rose, for amongst those ponies was her very own Silver Spoon. Worse, Silver was with them: those blasted crusaders. Diamond's blood boiled again, hotter now than ever before. How could Silver be acting so friendly with them? Why had they so readily accepted her? It made no sense whatsoever and Diamond was determined to correct this crime against nature.
Not now. Silver and the blank flanks would get what was coming to them soon. Diamond still had an unsmeared reputation – unlike somepony she knew – and was determined to maintain it.
She ignored the story. She'd heard it a dozen times – though Zecora always switched her rhyme a bit each year – and it held no interest for her. She only kept her eyes set on Silver Spoon and let the fire in her heart burn like a coal just waiting for the right moment to ignite.
Even with her anger, Diamond couldn't ignore the arrival of Princess Luna. She could criticize the other unsatisfying elements of the foals' Nightmare Night all she wanted, but even she had to acknowledge that the real Nightmare Moon could illicit a distinct terror. Diamond watched as she arrived, diving from dark clouds above the fog and declaring her intention to devour all the foals in Equestria amidst cracks of lightning.
On cue, the foals deposited their candy and fled in terror. Diamond was tempted to join them, but she kept her courage and remained hidden in the bushes. Soon the Scourge of Equestria was chasing the fillies and colts away, laughing maniacally as she flew after them. That was something Diamond never understood: if the foals have already deposited their candy, why would the supposedly appeased Nightmare Moon continue to give chase?
Diamond shook her head; such a silly question. There was no need for logic, it was just a bunch of fun. Used to be. No... Diamond had to acknowledge that there was still some fun in it. After all, she was coming out of her own fear, which left her with that distinct chill she’d been chasing. It wasn't anything like what she'd seen while watching Fleur, but it was something.
As Diamond slowly extracted herself from the bushes – with a bit of grumbling about still more twigs in her mane and tail – she realized that she found the whole debacle passé. One can only be scared of the same thing so many times, she theorized. She glanced about to make sure nopony was around before making her way to the statue.
What a hoard! The adults weren't being stingy with the candy this year, that much was clear. Diamond examined the large pile before her, shaking her head at the waste of good sugar. As far as she knew, most foals sacrificed around half of what they'd attained; tonight must have been a good night, indeed, and to think all the adults were going to get it!
Diamond looked up at Nightmare Moon’s statue and stuck her tongue out at that glaring face. How did this silly tradition even get started? Well, she wasn't about to let all this candy go to unappreciative adults; she pulled off her saddlebag and set it down just outside the hoard before grabbing her favorite treats and stuffing them into as many pouches and pockets as she could.
As time went on and she gathered more and more candy, Diamond noticed something odd. She had the distinct impression that there wasn't as much candy as had been there before. Because she'd taken it? No...
She paused to look up at the statue, but it was as still and energetically lifeless as ever. She felt a strange anxiousness at those harsh eyes, though, as if she were being harshly and justly reprimanded for her actions.
Diamond shook her head forcefully and went back to her gathering. She wasn't some whiny-baby foal! She was a teenager, and teenagers didn't have such silly flights of fancy. It was all in her head. The candy she thought was there ten seconds ago had never really been there in the first place.
Slowly, her excitement began to build. Even with what was left behind… Goddess, this stuff could last her months! She might have to do this every year.
Soon she'd crammed as much candy into her saddlebags as they could hold. There was still plenty left, and Diamond took the opportunity to eat some. Chocolate Tootsie Hoofs, the lip-puckering flavor of Sour Apple Hearts, the fruity blast of a Bursting Star! Diamond might not be a foal anymore, but she still definitely had her sweet tooth.
Even so, she kept her greed in check tonight; it wouldn't do to get sick before she even made it home, and she already had plenty of sweets. Besides, there was no telling when the adults would show up to collect their ill-gotten prize, and Diamond wanted to be long gone by then. This in mind, she hefted her saddle onto her back – lamenting the candy that spilled from the overfilled pockets and bags – and made her way home.
Diamond Tiara had a problem, and she cursed her lack of foresight.
She glared at the tree she'd used to climb down from her room, then at the saddlebag on her back. She'd thought on the matter for several minutes, but by now she simply had to accept that there was no way she'd ever get back in with all the extra weight. At least, not without spilling a good amount of her collection and leaving what would have to be the single most obvious evidence trail in Equestrian history.
There was no way she could go in through the front door; somepony would surely hear it and come to investigate. She pondered her situation for some time, urgently wondering what might solve this dilemma.
Then it occurred to her: the Hidey Hole. She and Silver had found it years ago, and it had always proved a perfect place to keep hidden from prying adult eyes and their pointless rules. It would make for a good spot to leave her candy. She could go back in a few days and bring her spoils in through the front door during the day. What she'd tell the staff and her father at that point... she wasn't sure, but she'd figure something out.
Grinning at her own masterful solution, she made her way into the gardens. Yet as she approached the weak area of the hedges, she slowed. She had a strange, sinking sensation in her belly, an inexplicable anxiety. It was like...
...like she was being watched.
She turned around and peered at the gardens. There was nothing: no servants investigating a strange figure on the property, no foals who had caught her in the act and wanted in on the scheme. Even so, there was an unfamiliar darkness to the place, a darkness that didn't sit well with the presence of the moon overhead or the street lights in the distance. This was an oppressive darkness that hung over her like a fog and chilled her insides.
No, that was ridiculous! She scolded herself for acting so foalish; she was far too old to be afraid of the dark. It was a trick of the mind, nothing more. Nodding confidently, she turned and pushed her way through the hedge and into her little hideaway.
The Hidey Hole – she really needed to find a more mature name for this place – was a small circle of bushes and trees growing densely together. These were the product of the garden's design, a wasted circle of tall grass created by the surrounding paths that left enough room for two ponies to lounge and talk in secret.
Diamond set her saddle down here, confident that it would be safe and untouched when she got back. She took a moment to stare up between the branches at the starlit sky. She'd never been out here at night before, and it was interesting to watch the twinkling lights from her sanctuary. She would have to show Silver—
She recoiled, a sneer on her lips. Silver wasn't here, and if she didn't fix things soon Silver would never be here again. Diamond hated the throbbing in her heart, for it was so horribly unfamiliar and she longed to know what it was. No, she didn't want to know – she just wanted it gone!
With a snarl, Diamond turned away from the candy and pushed her way through the exit. She didn't want to think about Silver, and this place was about the best reminder of her there could be.
When Diamond pushed her head through the hedges, she thought she saw something. It made her pause, and she found herself staring at the gardens with wide eyes. She could have sworn she'd spotted a shadow moving near the entrance, just the slightest motion of somepony hiding in the brush. She kept perfectly still, staring intently as her heart thudded in her ears.
No... no, she was only imagining things. She was just tired. The gardens were not unusually dark and she certainly hadn't spotted somepony on her property.
She pulled the rest of herself from the hedge and moved to the exit, absolutely not moving a little faster than normal. The chill came from the autumn wind, that was all.
Getting back to her room was harder than getting out. It took a lot more physical effort than she was accustomed to in order to climb the tree, and by the time she was back in her room she felt sore, exhausted and not just a little dirty. The dirt was the most pressing thing on her mind, though; she wasn't about to ruin her bedsheets with twigs and grit. Besides, she would have to explain to the servants how such unseemly things had gotten into her bed in the first place.
So, dragging her hooves over the carpet, Diamond made her way to her private bathroom and started filling her oversized bathtub. She put in just the right amount of soap, checked the temperature and rested in the comforting warmth. She scrubbed her coat, used a comb to get the twigs out and made sure her luscious body was free of all unpleasantness.
Once properly cleaned, however, she found herself lingering. It was extremely comfortable in the tub, after all. She leaned back and relaxed, letting her mind go over the day's events.
Silver…
As angry as she'd been, Diamond couldn't really cast Silver away. She was her friend – her only friend, really – and the thought of losing her was too much.
Diamond knew she was mean. She understood that. She enjoyed it. Yet she'd never directed that meanness to Silver before... and she now felt guilty. It was such a new sensation, but for once she wasn't complaining. Perhaps she was too tired for anger. Whatever the case, she resolved that she would go easy on her friend the next time she saw her.
She forgave Silver her mistake. After all, even Diamond wasn't perfect.
Those accursed crusaders, though? They would be in trouble. Especially Sweetie Belle. She initiated contact with Silver; she was the one in need of real punishment.
Smiling pleasantly to herself, Diamond settled herself down and let her heavy eyelids drift closed.
Diamond came to with a start, the water splashing lightly with her jerk. She looked around, her mind momentarily confused as to why she was in the bathtub. Slowly she began to relax, remembering the events of the evening. She sat up, shivering as she took in her surroundings.
The water was cold, only a few trace bubbles left to indicate there had ever been any soap. Her mane hung in loose strands over her face as she observed what seemed to be an unusual brightness to the room, the fluorescent bulbs glaring behind their fogged covers. She wanted to turn the light off and bask in the comforting darkness.
She dragged her weary body out of the tub and let it drain, working to dry her moist coat with a large pink towel. She was eager to jump under her covers and escape the chilly air, but not before wrapping her mane up in a towel. Oh, the burdens of perfection.
It was while she was at her vanity wrapping the towel that she noticed it: a shadowy something slipping past the closed door, visible through the lower crack. She paused and considered it. A servant, perhaps, coming to check in on her? Or perhaps her father come to wake her up.
What time was it, anyway?
"I'll be out in a moment," she called, working to finish setting her towel. She glowered at her baggy eyes in the mirror; she was not at all prepared to be out in public. If only she hadn't fallen asleep in the bath...
The shadow passed by the door once more.
Diamond perked her ears, seeking out the hooffalls. She heard nothing. Strange.
Mane set, she walked to the door. She reached up to turn out the lights; darkness rushed into her world with shocking rapidity. She blinked, caught off guard by the dense black. It was a silly sensation, she knew it, but it almost felt to her as though the shadows couldn't wait to engulf and obliterate the brightness.
Shaking off her moment of odd anxiety, Diamond opened the door and stepped out to a dark, empty bedroom. She frowned and glanced about, shivering as she felt a chill wind against her coat. She glanced to the window, but she'd closed it.
Stranger was the discovery that it was still dark outside. Diamond walked over to her bedside clock to find it was only an hour past midnight. Curious... had she only imagined the shadow at the door?
While she tried to piece things together logically, she realized something even weirder: if her room was dark, and the bathroom lit... how could she have seen a shadow under the door at all?
She glanced at her bed; the covers were thrown aside, twisted as if some wild animal had been trapped beneath the sheets. Had she done that? No, she would have remembered. What in the name of Celestia was going on?
A lingering uncertainty crept its way into her mind. Seeking comfort, she tugged and pulled on the sheets until she found her tiara amongst the tangles. She promptly pulled off the towel about her mane and set the tiara to her head, instantly feeling much more confident.
But then, out the corner of her eye, she saw it: a shadow creeping past her bedroom door.
Diamond squared her shoulders, ready to tell off whichever servant was sneaking around her room. She marched to the door and flung it open before stepping into the hall.
Empty.
Diamond's head swiveled about on her shoulders as she took in the familiar hallway.
Or rather, what used to be familiar. The walls seemed bland in the darkness, the pictures of a loving family appeared subdued and faded. The carpeted floor, once so soft and comfortable, now felt thin and stringy under her hooves. The shadows loomed, pressing in around her and clinging at the same time. There was this strange, tense sensation in Diamond's mind, as if she were being watched by the blackness itself.
"Hello?"
Diamond's voice sounded frail in her own mind. She shook herself and stepped out; this was her home, her domain! She couldn't let strange nighttime sensations rule her. This was all a trick of the mind, some lingering side effect of visiting the scarier side of town.
No answer came to her ears. Determined to prove that the fear bubbling within her was only an illusion, she stepped farther out into the hallway. She cast her gaze to the end of the hall – her parents' room. Nothing but that unusual blackness, which seemed to hold the world in a surreal appearance. It was as though she were gazing through a special lens where all colors faded and cheer had been sucked away.
Diamond made her way to the nearby stairs, conscious of her cautious pace. She tried to tell herself that she was not a foal, that she was a brave girl who could handle her worries. Yet the inexplicable fear crept into her skull in the same way the shadows seems to be grasping for her body. No, that tickling sensation on her coat wasn't even real, of that she could be certain. Just like that strange, foreboding presence in her head.
She stood at the top of the stairs and gazed at the ground floor. Or tried to: she could barely see beyond the first half-dozen steps. It had never been like that before, and she couldn't help wondering why. Was it really that dark down there? Had somepony turned out all the little nightlights she knew were supposed to be there? Why?
"Daddy?" Diamond craned her neck towards the stairwell, turning her head and lifting one ear. "Sebastian? Dawn?"
The sound came, raising her hackles and her ears to the ceiling. It sounded like something breathing, slowly and methodically.
In... out.
In... out.
There was a hollow noise that seemed to come from a deep place hidden from the decent things of the world. It filled her with dread, for she thought she could sense a degree of eagerness, of excitement in that odd sound.
It wasn't coming from downstairs.
Diamond's breathing slowed, her heart pounded against her ribs. There was a... a presence in the hallway behind her, like something creeping in the darkness. She felt that terrible clinging sensation at her back and the inexplicable, chill touch of the shade. She stiffened, her throat dried and her pulse thundered in her head as the presence loomed closer and closer.
"D... D-Daddy?"
A lone wind pressed against the nape of her neck, that hollow sound pressing in right at her ears.
Breathing: in… out.
Panic struck Diamond. Before she could consider the consequences, she fled down the stairs. The immediate darkness around her receded at her approach, as if aware of and playfully trying to avoid her. She darted past paintings, once familiar, now cold and strange. Her hooves pounded carpet that clung to her fetlocks, and the world seemed encased in icy air.
Diamond slipped into another hallway and paused to collect her breath. She was being ridiculous! It had probably only been a servant, who was now laughing at her for behaving like a child.
Yet all her logical defenses were failing, and she found herself struggling to fend off her terrors. Slowly, seeking some kind of confirmation that her mind was playing games with her, she forced herself to peer around the corner and up the stairs.
What she saw threatened her tenuous hold on logic.
Was it a shadow? Was it a pony? A blackness hovered at the top of the stairs, smoky tendrils swirling and twisting about in a slow, lazy manner. Upon first inspection it seemed merely shadow. The more Diamond looked, however, the more she thought she could make out something within the dark. It was like a shadow within the shadows that was like a pony in form, but not quite enough to really be called equine. It was so faint within its dark cocoon that Diamond could barely tell where the apparition ended and the shadows began.
The unearthly form shifted. What might have been a head was slowly moving, as if to examine the room below. Diamond watched with bated breath, legs locked for her fear. She wanted to flee, yet she didn't dare do anything that might draw its attention.
Then they appeared: two small white dots in the dark. They turned, they rotated, they were like pupils, pupils for eyes that she could not even see.
They slowed.
They stilled.
Diamond sucked in a sharp breath as that intense, terrible feeling of being watched came to her once more. Her chin trembled as the shape began to float down the stairs.
She could wait no longer: she fled.
The house seemed so unnatural to her fear-stricken mind. Nothing looked the same, not a single skeletal table or dark corner or gaping doorway. Everywhere was that mind-numbing blackness, pressing in on all sides and making the universe a gloomy, unreal facade of its former self. She didn't dare look behind her, but somehow she knew with all certainty that the thing, the... the creature was just behind her.
She reached the door to the servant's quarters, but it was closed and locked. Diamond pounded at it with both hooves and called for somepony to let her in, but the door never opened. When she glanced back she saw nothing, only shadows, yet there was no comfort in that sight. She pressed her hindquarters to the door and raised her ears, seeking out that horrid breathing sound.
In... out.
In... out.
It was just around the corner.
Realizing she'd missed something obvious, she tried the light switch. It would grant her blessed illumination, and perhaps the monster would retreat!
Click.
Darkness.
Click.
Darkness.
A feeble whimper escaped her throat.
Her mind worked frantically as she retreated, looking over her shoulder just in time to see those dark, wispy tendrils floating around the corner. She struggled for some kind of solution, desperately trying to reignite the logical side of her brain.
Light. The bathroom lights still worked. Maybe her bedroom lights would, too.
The idea filled her entire being as she scrambled towards a second flight of stairs and practically flew up them. Down the maze of halls, through her mother's library, back into her overshadowed hallway. Diamond dove into her room, shut the door and locked it. With a sigh, she reached up to her lightswitch.
Click.
Darkness.
Her moment of hope fading, her heartbeat jumping once more, Diamond rushed to her bathroom.
Click.
Darkness.
She stared at the switch for several long seconds, jaw loose and eyes wide. She tried again, and again, and still more. For every moment that the blessed light failed to arrive, she felt her heart sink lower. She began to panic, frantically flicking the switch up and down, but no light would come.
Abandoning the disloyal light switch, Diamond dove under her bed. She moved as close to the center of it as she could, shivering in the darkness and wishing she were anywhere else but this hideous nightmare!
Seconds passed. Then a few more. Nothing happened.
Gradually, Diamond relaxed: her breathing slowed to something just above normal speeds and her heart no longer pounded in her chest. She never totally calmed, but her mind was at least able to work properly.
The first thing to pass through her mind was that the thing must still be around, for the oppressive darkness still lingered in her room. The second was to question why it was after her, for she had been left with the very distinct impression that it wanted her and nopony else.
Had the rest of the household been taken by the creature? Perhaps that was why the serving staff had never answered her furious knocking. Maybe they were dead, or had been taken away or... or whatever this shadowpony was trying to do to her.
Goddess, what about her father? The thought sent a fresh wave of dread crashing through her mind, but she pushed down her fear and resisted the urge to bolt to his room. Eager to pull her mind away from horrid possibilities, she pondered some more and soon came upon her next great mystery:
Where had it come from?
Her ears perked to the sound of a shifting latch, and her breathing came to a stop as she realized her door had just been unlocked.
Ears low, heart hammering, she watched from beneath the bed as her door slowly opened. From across a sea of carpet she looked to find an impenetrable darkness on the other side of her door, and she worked to keep her breathing in check lest she be heard. Smokey tendrils flowed about the air as she watched from the poor view of her hiding place. Her room seemed to grow ever darker.
Diamond's body trembled. Unable to hold the air in her lungs forever, she gasped lightly into her hooves and allowed herself shaky, shallow breaths. A chill filled the air and she once again sensed that dark, foreboding presence. Though she saw no legs, though she heard no hoofsteps, she knew it was there, searching for her.
She flinched at the sound of something heavy climbing on top of her bed, the wooden frame groaning from an unaccustomed weight. She watched the mattress sag; it was all she could do not to scream. As she stared wide-eyed and shaking towards her open door and freedom, dark, tentacle-like shadows slowly squirmed at the edge of her bed as if waiting for her to come within their grasp.
Did it know she was down there? Was it toying with her?
Diamond closed her eyes and struggled with the terror clutching at her brain. She needed to think! She thought of her mother, her father, the servants she liked the most, Silver...
Silver Spoon. If Diamond ever saw her again, she'd hug the filly and never let her go! She could wear any Nightmare Night costume she wanted; she could even boss Diamond around for a change. Diamond didn't care, she just wanted to see a friendly face...
Something cold as ice touched her flank, and it required all of her will to avoid shouting. She glanced back and saw one of those black tendrils stretching out from around the side of the bed and lightly brushing up against her cutie mark. Gritting her teeth and struggling for breath, she scrambled forwards to the front edge of her bed... but didn't dare abandon the presumed safety of the claustrophobic location.
She looked back to see the mobile black form motioning gradually towards her. She slipped sideways a little, just barely avoiding its chilly touch. When the tentacle retracted, she sighed her relief.
An icicle seemed to stab into her shoulder. She retreated with a gasp, realizing a new shadowy appendage was on the other side of her bed. She shifted to her left, then her right. She tried to back up deeper into the confines of the bed's depths only to feel a tendril on her back leg. They poked and prodded, but wouldn't grab.
A terrible thought came to mind: she was being herded. Whatever that abominable black thing was, it wanted her to leave the bed. Specifically, from the front of the bed. How long before it ran out of patience?
She looked over the carpet as she inched forward; her door was wide open. If she moved quickly, she might be able to make it. She crawled a little—
—and jerked to a stop. Her heart hit her throat as she looked back and saw one of those shadows wrapped tightly around her tail. Her breath came in shallow whimpers and tears streamed down her cheeks as she clawed at the floor. Diamond pleaded, the tightness in her chest making it impossible to speak above a desperate whisper. She felt herself being pulled deeper under the bed, and she scrambled at the floor. She turned onto her back and grabbed the mattress supports beneath the bed, pushing on them for leverage and gritting her teeth as her tail kept taught.
Then, as suddenly as it had caught her, the shadow released its hold. Diamond let out a small cry and closed her eyes as she slid along the carpet a short way.
Silence. She kept her eyes closed tight and held her breath. Maybe she'd just fallen off the bed. Maybe she was awake and it had all been a nightmare.
Her ears perked to the sound: a hollow, intense breathing.
In... out.
The presence surrounded her, gripping at her mind.
In... out.
The chill of the air intensified.
In... out.
Diamond's heart pounded in her ears. At last she dared to open her eyes.
Shadows hovered above her bed: a black cloud of nothingness in which she could sense a dark, eager presence. It took her fear-addled brain seconds to see it, but there was something else – a darker shape within – just over the edge of the bed. The shape slowly floated over her: round, indistinct and radiating a sickening aura of shadow that pressed Diamond against the floor like a thick, heinous blanket.
Smoke rose from its ears. The face – for she knew it must be a face – held no distinguishable features, appearing as no more than a terrible blot against the darkness. Yet she could see something... hollow. It might have been a pair of eyes, wide and shifty and devoid of any emotion. Perhaps they were only holes, holes in a skull.
Then a white ball appeared at the center of one of those holes, and another. Small round dots, little more than pupils, staring into her soul as she shivered on the floor. Diamond's heart and mind screamed at her to run, but she could only lay there and gape at this horrid entity that hovered above her. Her throat felt more parched than the San Palomino desert. She opened her mouth and closed it like a fish out of water as she fought for some kind of sound.
She had nothing.
Something changed: like bread dough being pulled apart, the blackness beneath those unnatural eyes stretched out to reveal a white substance. Diamond's breathing came to a stop as she realized they were teeth, flat and pearly and perfect. The shadows spread out on the face into a deliberate, horrifying grin that stretched to the very edges of the creature's black, featureless face.
In... out.
In... out.
The teeth moved. They formed words, words that set her blood to pounding and the world to darken. No sound escaped that black form, but they were not needed. Diamond knew exactly what phrase the thing was mouthing:
Sweet.
To.
Eat.
It finished the sentence with a stretched, demented grin.
"Daddy!"
Diamond tore out of her room, her body acting on unfiltered adrenalin before she could even register her intentions. She gasped for breath, tears streaming her cheeks as she galloped for her parents' bedroom. She entered without resistance and leapt onto the bed, where her father lay quietly on his side, legs stretched as if seeking something out.
"Daddy, wake up!" She shoved him by the shoulders and screamed in his ear. He wouldn't budge. She looked to the door and saw the shadows deepening. "Daddy, please!"
Filthy Rich didn't move a muscle save for his deep, rhythmic breathing. Diamond pushed and pushed, pleading for him to react, to move, to protect her. There had been so many occasions in her life where she'd told him she needed him, and he'd always responded. Today, for the first time in her life, she really did need him... yet he slumbered on.
"P-please, Daddy, I'm scared!" She looked to the door; it was engulfed in blackness. "Daddy..."
She looked upon his face and took a horrified step back; his mouth had fallen open, and a shadowy tendril flowed from his lips.
In that moment she understood.
Her father wouldn't wake up.
She looked up and let out a strangled gasp; those hideous white orbs lingered just over Filthy Rich's shoulder. The black head, barely discernible amongst the almighty darkness, gradually rose up to reveal that nightmarish grin.
In… out.
Diamond backed to the edge of the bed, shaking her head slowly and sobbing. She couldn't tear her eyes away from that nightmarish face.
What might have been a hoof reached over her father and touched the sheets between them. Wispy tendrils surrounded Filthy Rich, caressing his cheek as those perfect, gleaming teeth parted. They shook in what could only be described as silent laughter.
"Help me!"
Diamond leapt off the bed and ran through the darkness, noting how the thing slowly turned to pursue. She pushed through the shadows and gasped at the chill of the blackness. She slammed right into the opposite wall of the hallway, but ignored the pain and fled. Down the stairs, through the dining room, past the art gallery, to the entrance hall and straight for the front door! She passed through, slammed it closed behind her and pressed her back to the wood.
She stood that way for several seconds, greedily gulping down air as she stared ahead with wide eyes. She paid no attention to her tears.
It didn't care about her father. It had no interest in the servants.
Whatever it was, it wanted her.
Knowing she couldn't have much time, Diamond galloped around the house and into the gardens. She found her secret place – her special Hidey Hole – and dove inside. Nopony had ever found her there. Maybe it wouldn't, either.
Sitting next to her discarded saddlebags, she struggled to control her crying. She silently swore that she would never, ever make unreasonable demands of her parents again, or argue with Silver Spoon, or bully the other kids. She would even be nice to the crusaders. If only she could survive this horrible, horrible night!
She looked down at her saddlebag, mind still working to regain some semblance of self control. She closed her eyes and sucked in a slow, long breath, then released. And another: long breath, release. She maintained this for a few seconds, ignoring all other considerations. Gradually, she began to calm down.
So when she opened her eyes again, Diamond was aware enough to notice something odd. She bent low over her saddlebag. All the candy was gone, save for only a few unopened treats in the deepest pouches.
Part of her was stunned; who could have found her little hiding place, and how could they have taken all the candy she'd collected? Why not just take the whole saddle? Another part of her thought that this was an unimportant issue. She had demonic shadowponies chasing after her, candy could wait!
But then she closed her eyes and saw that black, leering face.
'Sweet to eat,' that was what the creature had said. At the time she'd thought it intended to eat her, and maybe it did, but...
She looked up to the sky, hoping to get some inspiration from the stars, but the sky was as black as pitch. It was an unnatural darkness, a shadowy blanket that filled Diamond with anxiety. What if all of Ponyville was encased in this...
...this eternal night.
In a flash, the Nightmare Night traditions came back to her: collect candy, deliver it to the statue, don't get eaten. She'd always thought it was just an old mare's story, something conjured up to ensure the adults got their unfair share of the night's hoard. After all, Nightmare Moon was never historically known to eat foals.
Yet what if...
She pored over the pouches, seeking out every last scrap of candy she could find. It wasn't much, not enough to even half-fill one of the pouches. Still, it was something. She tried not to think on the fact that she'd stolen this candy from the statue, that she'd gone so far as to eat some of it right there at Nightmare Moon's hooves. Surely the monster wouldn't go so far as to want to eat her for those few pieces of candy?
After quickly untying the pouch from the saddlebag, Diamond set it around her neck. She knew she would get only one chance, and she prayed to Celestia her hunch was right. Satisfied with her decision, she turned and pushed her way through the hedge—
Her legs locked, her eyes widened; the creature was at the exit of the gardens, its two white orbs aimed directly at her. It still had that insane grin.
They gazed at one another for several long, intense seconds. Diamond's mind scoured for some sort of response, a reaction that would spare her the icy grip of those shadows.
"I..."
She swallowed, tried again. "I'm s-sorry." She took a tentative step forward, ears low and eyes locked with the creature's. "I'm giving it back. I p-promise, I’ll f-feed you. Please... let me pass?"
The grin widened. The blackness around it shifted, forming those horrible, now-familiar words once more:
Sweet.
To.
Eat.
The shadowpony moved forward, dark tentacles grasping slowly for her, teeth parting to reveal… blackness. Diamond turned and fled with a shout, heart hammering louder than her hooves as she darted into the gardens. Though her hold on reason was tenuous, she was still able to navigate the familiar path to the back exit. The creature was always there, not quite fast enough to catch her but never out of sight. The darkness kept pressing her in, filling her with that claustrophobic sense of dread.
Diamond burst out of the gardens and kept running, making her way to Ponyville. She moved as quickly as her legs could carry her, gasping for breath and functioning on pure adrenalin and terror. She had only one focus: get to the statue, return the candy. It would leave her alone then, it had to!
Ponyville was enshrouded in that same empty blackness as Diamond's home. No stars twinkled in the sky, and even the moon was imperceptible amidst the dark. Once-cheerful homes now seemed dull, grey and hulking. She thought she could see unnatural movements in the windows, beneath the foundations, behind the corners. Though the creature no longer seemed behind her, the sense of being observed, of being scrutinized by hungry eyes wouldn't leave.
Diamond tried a few houses, knocking on doors and calling for help. No assistance ever came. She found the bedroom window of Dinky Doo and saw her blanketed in that same shade as her father had been, verifying that Diamond was alone.
The crunch of her hooves in the grass sounded loud and obnoxious in her ears. Every now and then a chill wind would make her shiver. Sometimes it came suddenly, making her yelp at the thought that she'd been discovered by the monster, but always she found herself alone. Yet at no time did she ever believe that she'd escaped, for that fear-inducing sense of a presence never faded from her mind.
It was out there, hidden amongst the shadows.
Watching.
Nightmare Night decorations still filled the main street of the town. What Diamond had once considered silly and foalish now filled her with uncertainty. The fake bats didn't seem so fake anymore; the smiles of the pumpkins were leering and malevolent; the flapping arms of the bedsheet ghosts seemed to grasp for her. She kept her body low and her eyes forward, determined to ignore what her mind told her was fake. Her hammering heart would not win out.
That conviction barely remained as she reached the side of town where the adults had played. Those zombies were still shambling on the porch. They leaned over the railing for her with clicking teeth and rotting faces; she gave them a wide berth. She nearly bolted when the flight of real bats bombarded her from the great oak tree's limbs, their leathery wings beating at her face and their tiny squeaks assaulting her ears. She was in a constant state of duress and borderline panic, but she didn't run, for she had the horrible fear that fleeing would only attract the creature's attention.
At last Diamond had escaped the town and entered the thin woods. The trees' limbs seemed to grasp for her, like gnarled wooden claws. Trunks hulked over her like ominous sentinels. Leaves shifting in the wind sounded like whispered reprimands, curses and promises of ill deeds to be done. Always there was the darkness, invading every available space with its all-encompassing gloom.
Diamond felt at the pouch on her chest, reminding herself of the importance of her task. She was almost there; she needed only to deposit her candy and let the fiendish thing eat its fill. Surely it would then go back to wherever it came from and free the town of this terrible curse.
Her ears perked to a sound so alien in this blasted environment that it gave her pause: voices. She moved forward at a trot, praying that this wasn't some trick of the nightmare. If there was anypony still awake to help her, she would swear off candy for the rest of her life!
She rounded the crest of the hill and gasped: there, standing before the statue of Nightmare Moon, were three individuals. She recognized two: Zecora and Fleur de Lis, both out of their costumes. The third was the pony who'd been masquerading as a vampire, the one whose name she couldn't recall. All three stared ominously at the statue.
Diamond's heart soared, hope flared in her brain. She opened her mouth to call out—
—and felt the chill envelop her face. Her attempt to scream came out as little more than a terrified, muffled noise as something tightened about her muzzle and held it firmly closed. Even as she reached up to try and free herself, she felt it: that looming, damning presence. Her entire body grew cold as ice and her eyes widened to a sound directly in her ear that nearly stopped her heart and froze her mind:
In... out.
In... out.
The shadow wrapped around her hind legs. Diamond fell to her barrel, pleading sounds leaking through her clamped lips. She squirmed as she was dragged back, across the grass, into the bushes, into the dark of the forest.
"It has to be after one of the foals."
Diamond's wide eyes jerked up; Zecora, Fleur and the stranger were trotting towards town, just barely visible through the leaves.
Zecora's familiar voice reached her ears. "Fear this, I do indeed, it suits the creature’s gluttonous greed."
Diamond tried to shout, clawing at the dirt with her forehooves, but the shadows tightened about her free legs and prevented her thrashing.
"I suggest we check Mr. Rich's house first," the stranger declared in an authoritative tone. "I'm pretty sure I spotted his daughter sneaking about the wrong side of town tonight."
Cold seeped into Diamond's body, as if she were lying in a pool of iced water. Tears streamed down her cheeks as she squirmed. The ponies were walking right by her now, not five feet away.
"Do you think she refused to give up her candy?" Fleur asked.
"I think she stole some candy," the stranger corrected.
They walked past, ignorant of Diamond's muffled screams. Always there was that hideous breathing in her ear:
In... out.
In... out.
Zecora's voice was subdued with worry. "Let us pray she ate none of the spoils, else there is no salvation regardless of toils."
The stranger's head bowed as they crossed the crest of the hill. "Then we’d best hurry."
They were gone. Diamond let her chin hit the leaf-strewn grass and sobbed.
When she opened her eyes again, she saw that pale grin and those beady white eyes. The demonic entity seemed to be mocking her, the face bobbing up and down while the eyes spun in disturbing, unsynchronized ways.
Then it began to drag her through the dirt and twigs and leaves. Diamond struggled, she emitted pleading sounds, she wept. Soon she was out of the woods and in the clearing, and the creature released her forelegs. She promptly began to thrash once more, her hooves digging into the grass as she offered up muffled shrieks. The pouch, still filled with candy, dragged along the ground just before her muzzle.
In her squirming motions and frantic kicks, her tiara was knocked off. It landed sideways in the grass and, for a terrifying moment of clarity, filled her vision and mind. Diamond thought of her father, of how much she loved him. She thought of her mother, always working so hard. Across her brain came so many faces, faces of foals and adults alike who she'd been mean to, whom she'd never respected.
She saw Silver. The one pony who put up with her horrid nature.
The friend she'd cast aside.
There was a pressure in her hind legs. She looked back to the candy-less base of the statue and saw that she was being dragged into the soft, black soil beneath.
The terror returned. Diamond fought to free her lips, but her hooves passed through the black tendril as if it really were only darkness.
She was buried to her hips.
Hooves tore at the grass, tears fell from her cheeks.
The soil reached her chest.
The cold had seeped into her very bones. Her upper legs went stiff as the dirt pressed them to the sides of her head.
The grass tickled her chin.
She shook her head frantically, struggling with all her might to open her lips and scream.
Darkness overtook her as the dirt covered her head. Her hooves wriggled at the air, seeking something to grasp. The rope around her neck snapped.
Diamond couldn't move. She couldn't hear anything save her muffled cries and pounding heart, couldn't breathe for the dirt in her nostrils. She might have shivered at that intense cold were it not for the stifling pressure on all sides.
She remained perfectly still, staring into the black abyss.
A white dot appeared. Another.
The darkness parted to form a disturbing, cheshire grin.
The teeth opened wide.
All around Ponyville, the looming shadows began to fade. Colors regained their brightness, the chill winds abated. High in the sky, the stars shimmered and the moon revealed her glorious face, basking the world in its loving glow.
At the foot of a statue lay two innocuous objects.
A small shadow arose, grasping the pouch around the center and pulling it swiftly beneath the grass.
Only a tiara remained to indicate that anything was amiss.
If one checked the face of the statue, one might notice how those lips, usually snarling, seemed to be holding the slightest of grins.
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with all the promises she made it's a shame she didn't make it.
well done
5223959
Repentance is no guarantee of salvation... but yeah, it is a shame, isn't it? Glad you liked it.
...
Heck, glad you read it.
Heh, I loved these storys. The first has a very Necronomicon/Cthullu vibe going for it. Reads almost like the writings of the Mad Arab. Twists Hoitys mind until he murders and murders and murders. Essentially Created a serial killer I think, one that can infect others.
The second story I thought would be Friday the 13th and it wasn't and it was awesome. Out in the woods and being picked off one by one and forgetting your even being picked off except for a diary. Creepy and you never find out who is even doing it.
The last story well, nice to see Fleur having fun with Big Mac, Fine Crime having fun and still being on the job and apparently Diamond Tiara paying for her crime. Seems its a good thing Spoon found some new friends when she did...
5295171
This series is based predominantly on the concept of 'Weird Fiction,' the basic idea being that strange events happen and the reader is left with more questions than answers. Not all Weird fiction is horror-related, but the opportunity for discomfort, confusion and uncertainty means that the story type lends itself well to the genre. If possible, I'd like to maintain that particular theme every time I update this series.
that story pic... I'd read this just for that alone.
5371584
Yeah, Kvernikovsky did an awesome job, didn't he?
5371597
it is absolutely divine.
5371597
I thought that cover art was familiar. It seems we have a shared cover artist in common!
This last story ended up being a bit of a let down, more so because it's the only one that actually has anything to do with Nightmare Night directly. In a way it reads a bit like a Halloween version of A Christmas Carol, but with only one spirit and no redemption.
The setting is at its best when Diamond Tiara sneaks into town and basically serves as the audiences eyes and ears on all the goings on at Nightmare Night. While I don't think there's anything in the show that supports the adults having a more fiendish Nightmare Night (given everypony that didn't have a child seemed to be at a town outdoor dance) there's nothing that specifically says this can't be the case. Thus the bit with Fleur and the scary goings on in the bad part of town are probably the most enjoyable part of the story.
The rest, I'm not going to lie, is probably less enjoyable for me because I dislike the fanon that Silverspoon is somehow more redeemable than Diamond Tiara. She always seemed more like Smithers to Diamond's Mr. Burns. Oh sure Smithers isn't as evil, but he'd never go against Burns on anything unless it was for Burns own good.
The monster, or spirit of Nightmare, too didn't really do much for me. Sinister as it was, it was hard to tell what threat it really posed until towards the end of the story. If there had been some emphasis on it's incorporeal (yet still able to interact with physical objects) nature earlier on I think it's presence would've been a bit more menacing. Or even if it had been shown 'consuming' somepony else related to Diamond. As it was I didn't understand why Diamond Tiara didn't just run out of the house as soon as she realized something terrible was going on, or why she didn't proceed to run out of town after that, and never come back. I get that she's a child and is likely to make mistakes, bu it felt like she made a lot of dumb decisions for the sake of keeping a tenuous sense of tension afloat.
On the other hand, I liked the Headless Horseman-esque ending where all that's left is her tiara. It almost screams for a shattered pumpkin shell and an afterward by a New Englander that says for his part he can't credit any of the story for having happened.
Overall it's a nice slow burn, but it drags a bit in places and the air of menace the cover art promises never really seems to manifest until right at the end where Diamond Tiara's final fate is a bit of a foregone conclusion.
5988270
It's a shame that you consider any normal character irredeemable, but c'est la vie.
I knew the story had some flaws, particularly in terms of its length and how I drew out certain aspects of it. As far as Diamond's decisions, hindsight is always 20/20; I don't think she did anything particularly dumb, especially considering that she had no real idea of what she was dealing with. How was she – or even you – to know that this apparition hadn't trapped her there, or perhaps covered all of Equestria, or any of a thousand other things? She did what her fear-addled mind demanded as best she could. Just because your first instinct is to run away doesn't mean that's what everyone would do. If anything, DT should be commended for at least trying to fix her mistake, fruitless though the act was.
I do see what you mean by 'the threat the apparition posed,' though. Perhaps if I had shown it interacting with the world in ways other than making everything creepy, cutting off the lights, locking everypony into some kind of coma sleep and actually pushing fear into DT's mind then it would have been a lot scarier to you. Then again, some of us don't need to see how a thing can hurt us to know that it can.
5988483
Redemption, or the lack there of, isn't really the question. It's just how easily the fandom seems to think Silverspoon could be rehabilitated if split away from the bad influence of Diamond Tiara. I think both characters would need to be 'redeemed' or neither, though I readily admit that's my opinion. As it stands, no, I don't want every main character to be redeemed. That cheapens the idea of redemption, and a world without any conflict is a boring one.
As to DT's decisions it's more that I find them confusing if she's supposed to be in a state of severe terror.
I think that if there had been more emphasis on the creatures powers it would've been creepier. The lights simply not working is easily explained away by the power being cut. Her father being unable to wake up could simply mean he's drugged. The apparition itself could be explained away with a little bit of magic, not even uncommon magic, as shown by Fleur earlier in the story. So mundane were the 'frights' I was half expecting the entire thing to be a prank by Luna right up to the end, everything being well within her power set as displayed in Luna Eclipsed. I just think it fell short of the kind of mind numbing dread it felt like you were aiming for.
5988579
I didn't say 'every' main character, I said 'normal characters,' as in a generalization. By the same token, what does 'every character can be redeemed' have to do with getting rid of conflict? Conflict of self i a major element in all fiction, but it's not the only one. Just because a character is redeemed, that doesn't mean all conflict has been removed. Where you see boredom, I see potential for expanding one's boundaries in ways that introduce – wait for it – conflict.
Now, before you go and misinterpret everything I just said again, know that I am not saying that every character is redeemable, but I add the caveat that not every character is redeemable in every story. Where Silver might be redeemed in this one, that doesn't mean she can be redeemed in another. Same for Diamond Tiara. I think it's better to utilize characters in a variety of potential ways than to limit them to a single scope for all stories – that's boring.
5988944
you seem to think I'm talking about you specifically when I'm talking about the fandom at large. I'm not sure what you mean by 'normal character' in the context of your reply, only that I dislike the redemption arc that is popular as it relates to Silverspoon and 'villain' characters in general. I'm sure you can develop any character study to sufficiently introduce conflict even within a redemption story arc. That doesn't make it any less boring when the resolution feels forced and out of character, which is how I feel most Silverspoon redemption stories are handled. Not specifically yours, though I do consider it to be a weak point in this story, that's all I'm saying. You can utilize your characters however you want, but not every reader is going to respond positively to your choices.
5989311
Funny, hearing someone tell me exactly what I've told countless other authors over and over again in the past. I think I'll just accept that you don't see Silver Spoon in the same way I do. Which is a pity, because there's so much more potential in her character that just "Diamond Tiara's yes-mare."
Also, because I slipped up on the explanation bit: by 'normal' I meant any character not considered inherently evil or possessed or some other thing of that nature. 'Normal' as in their path arises from their own choices rather than outside forces. Nightmare Moon comes to mind as a 'not' normal character by this particular definition (assuming you consider Nightmare and Luna to be individuals rather than one character). Or, if we were to go outside the fandom, Sauron.
5989372
Ah, I see what you mean by normal now. Uncorrupted, or more specifically, uncompromised. It's less that I see some 'normal' characters as irredeemable and more that I like it when such characters exist. Just as in the real world there are some people that will never see your point of view no matter how well you explain it, no matter how clear and concise you think you're being, they cannot be made to understand. They just won;t agree with you, not because they are corrupted in any fashion, but because their world view is so different from your own. I see a lot of attempts at redemption on characters as more an attempt to 'normalize' them, to remove any misunderstanding that there has been in the past and enforce an artificial harmony.
I'm not saying that this is what you did in this story, as most of Silverspoon's development in that vein is done 'off screen', so to speak, and isn't developed in detail. (For all I know she was playing nice with Sweetie Belle for her mothers sake and was loathing every moment of it.) It's fine that you think of Silverspoon as more than just Diamond Tiara's yes-pony, I'm sure that is in fact the case despite there being a lack of development to that effect in canon. It's just a common trope in the fandom that irks me. Same goes for Gilda and, before it was done in the show, Trixie and Dsicord. Obviously I can't argue with canon, as much as I'd like to.
5989731
I would recommend you read my "Lightning's Bolt" story to get a better grasp of how I view character redemption arcs, but honestly, I don't know that it's polished enough to pass inspection even if Lightning's development leads to a more unorthodox manner of 'redemption.'
I was halfway expecting this to be something Luna or Discord cooked up to teach her a lesson. I also considered the possibility that the shadow being was something that Fine or Fleur could have done.
Still, this story did have a certain creepy factor to it, maybe not as well articulated as in the story about the lake or some other psychological horror fanfiction I have found.
Sweet to Eat.
The candy mare, except her mere presence isn't an end of the world scenario. i like it.
the mantra i like more than "nightmare night, what a fright, give me something sweet to bite" in some ways.
as for the 2nd story, it was a good read, kept me interested the whole time.
aaand i won't lie i skimmed the first one, it didnt catch my attention all that well