A snuggle-tastic nightmare

by xombiekilla

The penalty is death by snuggles.

"You're in so much trouble right now!" Luna scowled at the troublesome stallion pinned by her magical grip. "Do you know how much effort went into making my mane perfect for tonight?"

"N-No..." Artcraft replied sheepishly as he visibly winced.

Luna got into his face with hers as she spoke, "I had to make sure that I booked a reservation for the best mane and makeup cosmetologist in all of Manehattan for up to several weeks before this event." Luna continued, "My mane is ruined and smells greatly of stagnant pond water. I am just furious with you right now."

"So, I'm guessing that letting me walk away from this isn't going to be an option for me?"

"What do you think, you whelp?"

"No, I didn't think so." Just then, Twilight, who was still trying to get all the cheese off of her body, had approached Luna and Artcraft with both Cadence, who was still coated in tar and feathers, and Celestia, who was now slightly shaking in anger at seeing who it was that caused all their trouble tonight.

"There's the little weasel!" Twilight said in surprise at seeing Artcraft.

"You are coming with us right now!" Celestia said as she slammed her front left hoof down angrily.

"I-I can't believe you would do this to us. Why?" Cadence was still trying to wipe the tears from her eyes as Celestia then used magic to remove the drying tar off her body safely.

"You're going to be held into the castle dungeons until we're ready to deal with you!" Luna said, not dropping her ire and stern attitude in the slightest.

---

KA-CLINK!

Artcraft heard the cell door slide closed and locked as two guards walked away from the dungeon, leaving him to his thoughts. "Alright then, my current situation could have been better. In hindsight, maybe my pranks did go a trite bit too far. The tar and feather one was an absolute classic. Philistines, that's what they're." Artcraft then lay sprawled onto his back as he continued, "they have no respect for the classics whatsoever."

"Aww, what's the matter? You're upset that you got caught? I'll admit, watching it from a safe distance was incredibly amusing." Then a mismatched chimera had risen from the tile on the ground as he formed into his bipedal form.

"Oh great, it's you again. You know, you could have just knocked onto the bars. Like a normal lord of chaos."

"Oh please, normal and myself would be like trying to mix orange marmalade with peanut butter. That might be something I'll get Celly to try out sometime. The look on her face would be priceless."

"So then, come here to mock me, did you?"

"No, not exactly. I'm here to warn you. Invoking their ire was a terrible move on your end, Artcraft." Discord then snapped his claw, and a glass of what appeared to be a fruit wine appeared in his grasp as he casually sipped onto it. "I've only got one critical piece of advice for you."

"And that would be?"

"Fear the fluff. It's so comfortable that it's agonizing. It's how they solve their problems." Discord then finished his glass of wine as he continued, "it's mostly used as a form of capital punishment and even on some occasions... as a form of execution." Discord finished off his statement darkly.

"Execution as in death, right? You can not be serious right now."

"Though I'm normally never serious. In your case, yes, I am."

"Great. Thanks for helping me to feel better. It means a lot to me."

"They also love to play around with their prey. You'll find out in; I'd say, about a good... five minutes from now. I'll be sure to keep an eye on the Canterlot obituaries." Discord concluded as he stood at attention like a soldier, saluted, and then fell back onto the ground as he melted into the floor and evaporated into dust.

"Yeah. You go and do that, you schmuck!" Artcraft was honestly scared; he didn't think that he deserved death of all things. Then the usual clatter of steel-plated hooves had clanked onto the tile of the dungeon flooring as both guards opened the door to let Artcraft out. "You guys... you're releasing me?"

---

"The castle is closed off, Citizen. You have forfeited your life to the crown, and there's no escape from here. We're here to wish you that Faustia has mercy on your soul. One last bit of advice for you, Citizen."

"W-What would that be?"

"Run."

"Y-Yes, sir, I'm running alright. Eeuaghhh!" Artcraft was running up the stairs to the lower corridor of the castle as the guard chuckled to himself. Artcraft then scanned for any possible way out. "This has got to be just a bad dream. A very, very bad dream. Wake up, Artcraft. Wake up, damn you!"

Artcraft was trying to slap himself with his front hooves to wake himself up... only to realize that he couldn't. "Okay... this is not good. This is not good at all." He then heard some feminine giggling nearby. "O-Oh no... it's one of them."

"Oh, Artcraft... Fair and cuddly stallion. We're waiting for thee to show thyself." That must have been Luna. Oh dear lord, she was the one who was the angriest of them all towards him. He crouched behind one of the walls as he saw her body pass him, and she was looking towards both sides of the corridors.

"I shall find thee... and when I do... I'll snuggle you to death." Artcraft was hiding behind one of the walls that protruded on both sides of the corridor, concealing his body.

She left as he let out a sigh of relief, "phew. That was close. I gotta get out of here." He was searching around until he saw an empty corridor to head down towards. At least he went down the hall that didn't have Luna around. "The Ballroom would be way too open. Just a peek to see if it's safe."

Artcraft opened the Ballroom door slightly and saw Twilight and Cadence looking around. He quickly closed the door and ran as fast as his legs could carry him.

"Holy crap. Okay then, no going into the Ballroom." There was a closet in the hallway that Artcraft had hidden in. He then peeked out of the closet to see the hallways were clear. "Thank Faustia above; the coast is clear." He then raced from the closet to the lavatories of the lower corridor.

"Okay, I should be safe in here. They couldn't possibly know where I am, right?" Just then, from the wooden door, two blue forelegs have burst forth from the door itself, making holes in the door, scaring the crap out of Artcraft, who yelped in shock, "Aiieee."

Smash!

Then came the head of Luna smashing its way through. She giggled. "Huzzah! I hath found thee. Prepare for thine fatal snuggles!"

"AAAaahhhh!! S-Sweet hideous mother of Cthulhu. Aaughhh!" Artcraft panicked as he ran around in circles in the smaller bathroom.

"It's time for a very snuggly afterlife for thee. Resistance is futile, Little one."

"That's what you think." Artcraft saw the rest of the door torn from its hinges as Luna smashed it open. With a predatory glint in her eyes, she had a thirst for blood. Artcraft then looked to the corner and saw a vent he could pry the grate off and run into for a quick getaway.

"Sorry to run, but I gotta run!" Artcraft then used his magic to tear off the grate as he jumped right on in and pulled himself away as Luna reached out and almost snagged him. Artcraft then crawled out of their bathroom, hearing Luna shout out.

"If I do not find thee, then my sister shall..." This sent cold chills down his spine.

"Y-Yep, nope, I am out of here." Artcraft then crawled through the vents into its network as he found an open vent that was under maintenance. He wasn't about to look a gift horse in the mouth.

"Please, I do not deserve death. I know I'm not perfect; I get that. But is death the only way for me?" Artcraft made it to the other side of the open vent as he snuck into what appeared to be a storage room.

---

"He must be around here, ladies," Celestia said casually to all three other princesses as they regrouped together in the corridor connecting to the storage room that Artcraft was hiding in.

"He shall not get too far; I nearly had him." Luna said to Celestia.

"Not to worry, Luna. He's bound to make a mistake eventually. Once he does, then we'll have him." Celestia stated as everyone there agreed and then separated to spread out to find Artcraft. This was going to get more challenging as the night dragged on. They were toying with him to make him paranoid. Then, once they corner him, it'll all be over.

"Y-Yeah. We'll see about that, princesses." Artcraft said under his breath as they all left to search for their prankster turned prey. Artcraft then waited for them to leave the lower corridor in front of the storage room door so he could make his move.

"W-Why does it feel like I'm totally and completely lost? Well, this is a big castle, I guess." Then a sign pointed towards the exit chiseled with gold lettering on a marble slab hung onto the wall, "No. That's way too easy. There's no way that this isn't an elaborate trap."

Seeing nothing else to lose, Artcraft decided to check it out against his better judgment. Low and behold, there it was; Sweet freedom. It probably would have been easier to open the double doors if they weren't locked down with the castle's magic. "Damn. Why... why must you taunt me so? My life is on the line here, and this door has to be locked, right?"

Artcraft whispered to himself as he tried everything to search for a way to open it. No method thus far is successful. Then, four shadows slowly approached his position from behind as he felt the inevitable premonition of looming dread hanging over him.

"We wonder if he might be here? If this is so, you have picked a most unwise path." The voice of Luna is calm, smooth, and so terrifyingly gentle in Artcraft's delirious mental state. Oh god, no.

"I told you ladies that he would make a mistake. Isn't that right, Artcraft?" There they were, all four princesses blocking and corralling Artcraft against the sealed front door. "A bit of some sage advice for you; If the trap looks obvious, don't fall for it." Celestia grinned as they were ready to claim their prize.

"I guess we got the jump on him now, huh? I'm going to snuggle him for every minute it took to get all that dried cheese off my fur." Twilight then glared at him with a mix of anger and smugness.

"This is for your own good, Artcraft. I'm afraid that there's no other option for you now. Suppose you have any last words. Now's your time to say them." Cadence concluded as they were right up on him, reaching out to grab him.

"I-I'm.. s-sorry. I-I surrender... this is it... t-this is how I go out." Artcraft then closed his eyes tight and braced for the end. They came in at that moment. There was nothing but warm and comfy softness at literally every corner around him.

They were giving him some passionate cuddles that, in all honestly, weren't that bad at all. This wouldn't have been so bad if it had not been that Artcraft was about to die. After the first five minutes, he was still... alive? But they said that this was a death sentence, right?

"Now, I hope you have learned a precious lesson on being a bully, Artcraft," Celestia said as they opened their soft embrace for Artcraft to speak.

"B-But I thought... that I was... w-what?!"

"You seriously thought that we were going to murder thee? Oh, heavens, no. But thine look on your face was indeed priceless." Luna said to Artcraft.

"B-But.. you made it sound like it was an execution."

"It was all staged. We just wanted to terrify you. And we succeeded. You cannot argue with those results." Twilight giggles, "sure, we were mad, and I'm still a bit miffed at you. But we'd never kill anypony for any reason."

"S-So... all this was... was just.. a-"

"Yup. A prank. So then, how did it feel to be the one who was hunted down, huh?" Cadence asked with a giggle.

"I-I. I.. Uughh." Artcraft fainted in their embrace as they all giggled as if they all heard the funniest joke of all time.

"Artcraft shall be released from royal custody to go home in the morning," Celestia said with her usual motherly smile and angelic demeanor.

Comments

[xombiekilla]

Well, that first dislike came by fast. Usually, it takes longer than that with these kinds of stories. What was wrong with this one? It was deliberately made to be funny and satirical.

He's probably the same guy that was disliking all of my comments in my profile. Just an educated guess is all. I have no idea who this dude even is or why he hates me so much. I haven't done anything to this guy.