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An itch to scratch

(MLP Laboratories the Outbreak Level 20/21)

Rarity had a visitor this night.

It was a little metal sphere with a glowing, red eye. Floating just above her belly.

"Hello, Rarity", it said in an all too familiar voice.

"No", Rarity gasped, paralyzed with fear, not knowing whether she was dreaming or not, "it can't be you!"

"Remember how you murdered me?", the sphere said in the cheerful voice of a young filly, turning Rarity's spine to ice, "I think we both know you are deserving of punishment."

"WHAT DO YOU WANT FROM ME?"

"I need to borrow your twisted, ponycidal brain. Don't worry, it won't hurt. Much. Or maybe it will. Guess we'll find out soon enough."

Rarity wanted to scream, but the sphere had started sending hypnotic beams of red light right into her eyes, and Rarity felt her mind fill with ice-cold darkness.

After a while, the metal sphere just dropped to the floor, lifeless, another piece of junk in this decaying junkyard, leaving Rarity panting and shaking in her bed.

Twilight Sparkle didn't feel like opening her eyes, let alone get out of bed.
But no. She had responsibilities.

She moaned as she crawled out of her sheets.
"Spike."

Spike was still snoring in his little basket.

"Spike. Get up. It's a brand new... day...period... in psychotic nightmare land."

Spike said something unintelligible and put the pillow on his head. Twilight just flipped the basket.

"Uuugh... That was uncalled for."

"Everything is uncalled for... Be a dear and make me a hot chocolate while I go through the morning paperwork- unless you want to switch places."

"I'm on it!"

"That's what I thought."

Twilight went to her little makeshift desk, the rings under her eyes almost dragging on the floor, but stopped on the way to take a look outside her tent.
As far as the eye could see, there were tents and similar shelters, camp fires, nests and above all, creatures. Creatures of all shapes and sizes. Most of them were ponies- Buddhist ponies being their newest addition-, but they also had manticores, griffins, hydras and -of course - diamond dogs. So many diamond dogs, suffering from gem-withdrawal.

And she, Twilight Sparkle, had become supreme ruler of them all. At least until she would finally figure a way to get them all out of this place. They called her "Sparklakus", which was cute, but it didn't quite make up for her daily efforts and sacrifices to keep them from eating each other.

"SPIKE! Where is that chocolate?"

"You seem a little cranky..."

"You don't say. I've been drugged all my life, I'm trapped in a living nightmare with a bunch of imbeciles, I've got a scalp growing on my..."

"EEE-AH!"

"Someone calm down that donkey! Anyhow, I'm afraid all of this is starting to take its toll."

"There there. I bet it's not all that bad. Let's see..."

He took the first document from the pile on Twilight's desk.

"...The griffins want meat, they say our synthetic food is making them sick..."

"Oh, horseapples..."

"Good thing you're bringing this up. That's another problem. You see, all the different creatures in the convoy need to eat, but that also means that at some point everyone needs to..."

"Please, no... Do we need to talk about that right now?"

"Well, this is leading to important sanitary problems, Twilight..."

"URGH. I hate my life."

Like every day before the convoy would start moving again, Twilight was visiting Rarity's tent to check on her newest inventions- even though Rarity herself, in honour of her former career as a dressmaker, still preferred to call them "designs" or "compositions".
But something didn't seem right this morning. Rarity was someone who got up early, so Twilight was surprised to find that it was still dark inside the tent.

"Rarity?"

She found her sitting in a corner, wrapped in a black cloak.

"Don't come near me!"

"Is everything alright? You sound a little under the weather..."

"I think I might have caught a cold."

Twilight was immediately alarmed.
"Is it the body melt? Has it already gotten that bad?"

"No, Twilight, I think I'll just... I had a nightmare, you see. It was exceptionally... unpleasant."

"Nightmares are the least of my worries... Please, let me have a look at you..."

"No!", Rarity hissed, but the purple unicorn pony had already pulled her hood off.

Rarity's eyes were almost black, the same color as the blood dripping from her nose. When her and Twilight's eyes met, she shivered and sneezed.

Black liquid squirted out of her nostrils and landed right in Twilight's open mouth. The other unicorn was hit by a spasmodic cough and sank to the floor. Rarity too lost consciousness, as black liquid filled her eyes and her throat.

When they came to their senses, coughing and shaking, it seemed only a few moments had passed.

"Uuh... What just happened?"

"I'm not sure... You came to check on me... I think I was feeling a little under the weather... But strangely enough, I feel all better now..."

"We're all going crazy... I guess there is nothing unusual about that. Do you need help with packing your things?"

"No thanks, Twilight, dear. I think I can hoofle it..."

"Twillight!"

Twilight Sparkle looked up. It was Rainbow Dash, who was patrolling from one end of the convoy to the other with her pegasi guard to keep the peace.

"Twilight, I'm afraid we have a bit of a situation back there. It's the griffins again. They have started attacking diamond dogs."

"I told you to keep them separated!"

Twilight's voice sounded unusually sharp. Rainbow twitched.

"We do what we can! But we can't take them all on, and they won't listen to us! Maybe if you talk to them..."

"I'm talking to them ALL THE TIME. I've really had it with these buffoons. Spike, you lead the migration while I go check on these griffins..."

"Eye eye, m'am..."

Several griffins and dogs were fighting, using beaks and claws at their leisure. There were no casualties so far, but plenty injured.

"Alright... WHO STARTED THIS?"

At least those fighting closest to her stopped what they were doing.

"It's them!", the griffins and the dogs cried, pointing at one another.

"He was trying to eat me!", one of the dogs complained.

"It was only a nibble, and I said I was sorry! But he just called his zillions of brothers and they started BEATING me... With PIPES."

"This is unacceptable! We can't migrate with monsters like THEM!"

"You're the ones spreading PARASITES to the entire convoy... And you're stealing our eggs!"

"That's not true! So far, we haven't succeeded even once!"

"ENOUGH!", Twilight yelled, "This is ABSURD. We all need to go on, and we have no time for your petty little quarrels! You will BEHAVE yourselves, or we will just leave you behind..."

"Well, you can't just leave us behind", one dog pointed out, "I mean, we would follow you anyway. And if you wouldn't share your food, we'd just attack you. So there."

"Not if we start cutting off body parts."

"Beg pardon?"

Rainbow Dash gasped.

"Twilight, what..."

"You heard me. I have been shockingly nice so far. But if you won't cooperate, I can adjust my approach any time. We have only limited food supplies, and we're running out of time. We don't NEED you. You're a BURDEN on the entire exodus. So I want you to SHUT UP and be GRATEFUL. Or else."

"Or else WHAT?", a griffin girl hissed, stepping forward.

Twilight's eyes started glowing. The griffin was paralyzed and lifted up into the air.

"What are you doing?"

"Rainbow, go fetch Rarity. Tell her to bring her biggest pair of scissors."

"WHAT ARE YOU DOING?"

Twilight smiled.
"Change your attitude or you'll find out."

"Alright, alright! Geez... You're creepy..."

Twilight put the griffin back on the ground.

"There you go."

In this very moment, five other griffins jumped right at her.

Rainbow couldn't believe her ears: Twilight was laughing. And she sounded downright insane.

All three griffins were stopped in mid-air and thrown against the walls. Again. And again. Blood was raining down on the convoy, making many creatures squeak in terror and disgust.

Finally, she dropped her miserable victims.

"Seconds anyone? I got much more where that came from!"

She stepped forward, laughing.

"Come on! I haven't had this much fun in ages! No one courageous enough to challenge my organizing skills? No? Too bad. Well, here's another suggestion... You there! And you! Follow my lead!"

The unicorn ponies she had pointed at shivered, but did as they were told.

Twilight was levitating griffins and diamond dogs and started to bang their heads together, lending psychic power to the weaker unicorn ponies assisting her.

"Twilight, do you really think..."

"NOT NOW! Can't you see I'm in the middle of something?"

Finally, Twilight and her henchmen stopped.

"There we go. I don't think I'm going to break anyone's legs today, but who knows..."

As she returned to the front of the convoy, she dragged a few unconscious dogs and griffins with her.

"I'm going to keep these for testing new... disciplinary measures. Let that be a lesson to the rest of you."

"Why aren't we advancing anymore?", Twilight said in her new-found, chilly voice.

"We have deactivated all security mechanisms in the sector, but these doors are giving us some trouble. Our explosives don't seem to work... Maybe you could do something with your magic...?"

Spike really didn't like her expression. Twilight's odd behaviour was starting to freak him out.

"Mind you, this is an excellent occasion to implement the new policies I have developed..."

"Policies...?"

She hopped onto the little cart that had all her belongings on it. When the convoy was moving, the cart was usually pulled by Big Macintosh or Applejack.

Twilight was checking a few notes she had written earlier.

"Ah, yes. You see, Spike, when I was taking care of that diamond dog/griffin problem earlier, I figured: Why waste so much time and energy on useless people? We need to find a method to make the exodus slim and energy-efficient."

The general mumble in the crowd grew louder. More and more creatures were wondering why the migration had stopped. And then some started fighting.

"Ah, perfect."

"How is that perfect?", Spike protested.

Twilight levitated a megaphone to her mouth.

"What are you going to do?"

"I'm going to tell them it was the diamond dog's fault, that they were slowing us down."
She chuckled.
"Let's see what's going to happen... This is going to be great..."

"WHAT? Twilight why would you do something like that?"

Spike jumped in an effort to catch the megaphone.

"To teach them a lesson. To show them who is the sole master of their destiny. But most of all..."
She grinned.
"...Because I CAN. I believe that I can divert the chaotic energies within the exodus against one particular minority, effectively calming the situation on their expense. And once they're all used up, we move on to the next minority. That's called putting your ideas to the test."

"NO, that's called toying with other people's lives!"

"With great power comes great privilege."

Spike managed to get hold of the megaphone. He put it behind his back.

"Ohhh, you shouldn't have done that. You should know better than to cross me, Spike."

"Twilight, what's gotten into you? That's not how you think! You want to save them, not torture them..."

"Who are you to tell me what I want? But now you've gotten me another idea..."

She lifted Spike up in the air and threw him into the crowd.

"LISTEN, ONE AN ALL!", she yelled into the megaphone, "WE HAVE A TRAITOR IN OUR MIDST! HE WAS A DOUBLE-AGENT ALL ALONG! WHAT DO YOU THINK THAT CALLS FOR?"

The ponies and other creatures had formed a circle around Spike, who was trembling all over.

"I-I..."

"So you little vermin thought you'd get away with this?"

"We'll show you!"

"Twilight Sparkle said he should be punished..."

"Make him bleed!"

His other pony friends were trying to get him out of the crowd, but even Rainbow Dash couldn't break through, as she was held back by other pegasi. And Twilight? She was laughing, a horrible laugh that was inspiring both fear and anger, a dangerous mixture. And it was all directed against little Spike.

"I say we have him torn apart by two stallions!"

"Forget the stallions! I say GRIFFINS!"

"It's slower and more painful if we do it with ponies..."

"Good point."

"Twilight", Spike whispered.

"That's quite enough of that, thank you..."
Rarity had appeared on the cart behind Twilight. Twilight turned around, but Rarity had already paralyzed her.

"T-treachery..."

"Not really, darling. I'd rather call it an... intervention. I think I know what's wrong with you, my dear friend..."

The white unicorn used a second spell. Twilight coughed. Later, she would describe the feeling as someone trying to pull your brain out of your nostrils while removing your eyeballs with an ice-cream scoop. The process was very slow (the crowd was watching and forgot all about lynching Spike), but finally, something that resembled a horrid, black worm was pulled out of Twilight's nose. Everyone gasped.

Rarity released Twilight from her grip. By doing so, however, she also dropped the worm. It crawled away.

"Should we... squish it or something?"

The black worm uttered a mighty roar that should have been ridiculous considering its size, but proved shocking none the less.
Then, in front of their very eyes, its body inflated to match the volume. In an surreal growth spurt, it turned into a tentacled monstrosity, almost the size of a hydra.

"Wow... that was inside my brain?"

"That explains everything!", someone feeling especially helpful exclaimed.

"I'm afraid I created him", Rarity told the younger unicorn, "But They just used me, because, you know... I do create monsters occasionally. It's a bit complicated. He was really meant for you. He's a parasite... I don't think he can cause all that much harm now... Now that we have exposed him... He's just trying to intimidate us."

"He...?"

And really, the monster made no attempt to attack. Instead, it hissed and retreated into the shadows.

"Let's kill it!"

"Yeah! Grab the pitchforks and torches!"

"No", Twilight said.

Everyone stared at her.

"I have a better use for him. You guys, I think we have advanced far enough for today. Why don't you put up your tents? I have... other things to take care of."

And she followed the monster into the tunnel.

"Shhh", Twilight said, "It's okay..."

The creature was retreating into the shadows, but Twilight managed to catch one of its tentacles between her front hooves.

She placed a kiss on the slimy surface. It made the monster shiver. She smiled. And then she slowly started to sing.

"I was feeling done in... couldn't win
I'd only ever kissed before..."

Rainbow Dash gasped and turned to Applejack. They were watching the scene on a monitor from a dark room, their faces lit by its spooky light.
"You mean she?"
"Mhm."

"...I thought there's no use getting, into heavy petting
It only leads to trouble and... seat wetting..."

The monster growled in fear, but Twilight had started to wrap the tentacle around her right front hoof.

"...Now all I want to know, is how to go
I've tasted blood and I want more..."

"More, more, more...!"
Rainbow Dash and Applejack moaned.

"I'll put up no resistance, I want to stay the distance
I've got an itch to scratch... I need assistance!"

Twilight leaped forward, embracing a bundle of tentacles with her legs.

"Toucha toucha toucha touch me! I wanna be dirty!
Thrill me chill me fulfil me
Creature of the night!"

The monster managed to shake her off once more. But Twilight didn't give up. She chuckled.

"Then if anything grows (hehe) while you pose
I'll oil you up and rub you down..."

Rainbow Dash and Applejack were licking their lips.
"Down, down, down!"

"And that's just one small fraction... of the main attraction
You need a friendly hoof... and I need ACTION...!"

She jumped right into the black, squirming mass, which had finally stopped resisting and started to wrap itself around her, trembling, curious, investigating her skin.

"Toucha toucha toucha touch me, I wanna be dirty!
Thrill me chill me fulfil me
Creature of the night!"

Rainbow Dash chuckled.
"Toucha toucha toucha touch me!", she parroted Twilight.
"I wanna be dirty", Applejack added with a teasing, husky voice, laying down on her back and embracing the pegasus' neck, pulling her down on her belly, away from the screen.

"Thrill me, chill me, fulfil me!", Pinkie Pie said not far away, to a lonely piece of candy she had discovered.

"Creature of the night...", Applejack gasped before Rainbow Dash was covering the earth pony's face with her wings, as if she was closing a curtain.

"Toucha toucha toucha touch ME!", Twilight moaned in pleasure.
"Oh, I wanna be DIRTY!
Thrill me chill me FULFILL me
Creature of the night!"

"Creature of the night...", Fluttershy said, hugging a little owl.

"Creature of the night?", Spike was wondering while checking the MLP-database on a little notebook.

"Creature of the night", Celestia's Discord-core commented with the typical satisfaction of a connaisseur of... unusual romance.

"Creature of the night", Celestia's main core said, in a distant, monotone voice. She was rather shocked by the way her plan had evolved.

"Creature of the night?", the Luna core said with innocent disbelief.

"Creature of the night!", Pinkie Pie exclaimed when she discovered her candy was shaped like a little bat.

"Creature of the night!", a drunken diamond dog howled in his hillbilly-voice.

"Creature of the night...", Twilight whispered as she finally sank down into a nest of exhausted, sweaty tentacles, at peace with herself and the world.

NOTE: The musical number is taken from the Rocky Horror Picture Show (1973). All credits go to that unique (if flawed) piece of art.

As for my text, the last scene and ultimately the whole short story were inspired by a pony music video put up on YouTube by QueenCynder ('My little Pony- Toucha Toucha Touch Me'.

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