The Only Prescription is More Pony

by F.Venka

Directions

"So what are you going to do here, Rail? You haven't got anything to do here, am I right?"

"In a certain way, I don't. I guess I could wait for you two to be done with... Umm, whatever it is you'll do."

"You really shouldn't have," the mare replied, nuzzling the train conductor softly. She gave the stallion a hearty smile, shuffling her hooves to get closer to him.
"Remember why and for whom it is that I do this," the stallion replied, trying to sound as charming as he could.

The two were sitting in the shade that a roof casted, enjoying eachother's company. Railroad tried to give Hoarfrost a hug, or at least to get a hoof around her.

"Hey, step back," said the mare, separating herself from Rail. She shot the stallion a glare before sitting down again, this time at a few steps away from the conductor. "None of that cuddly business now," she said, pointing at him with a hoof.

Silk, by his part, had just regained his conscience and was struggling to get up. He groaned between his teeth as he scorching heat of the sun over him made him feel like his eyes had caught on fire. I keep on dreaming those things...

"Don't be like that, even you will need that sometime," Rail said, barely suppressing a chuckle.

"I know I will, but hey, this is not that time." Hoarfrost stood up, looking at Silk as he fought to stand. "Plus, cheer up: I'm basically counting on you on that," she said, incredulously staring at the stallion's failures to get up.

"I need to forget those things," Silk mumbled beneath his breath, not noticing that he wasn't alone.

"Ah, Silk, you've woken up already," said the mare, at which the stallion replied with a sleepy gaze. "Are you going...? Where are you going to?"

"Yes, I'll... I'll go." Silk jumped down from the cart, landing on his side over the sands. He rapidly jumped back to all fours, nervously moving his eyes from side to side. "I'm fine, really."

"Seems like he's still quite out of it," the mare said to Rail, who was chuckling beneath his breath at Silk's clumsiness. "Try to get him back, will you? I really got to go now, there are a lot of things I need to talk with a certain somepony."

After some seconds of trying to suppress his laughter, the conductor replied: "S-sure, why not...?"

After hearing his answer, Hoarfrost rushed off, with her trademark frenzied grin on her face. She disappeared in an instant as she gave a sharp turn at an intersection.

"Ah, Hoarfrost..." Rail stood up and paced around in a daze, his words imbued with some sort of deep affection for her.

Silk directed towards Railroad, a sly grin on his face. "Hey, what was that? Am I catching some vibes between you two?" he asked as he gave the stallion a nudge.

"I d-don't know what you're talking about," the conductor replied, blushing.

"Sure, I'll believe you; that was so convincing," replied the traveler, leaving out a chortle. "Say, Rail, did you tell her about it?"

"Yes, yes I did."

"And...?"

"She took it surprisingly well." Railroad sat on the cold sands once again, smiling at the clear sky.

"That sounds like success," Silk replied, feeling an odd pride. So this is how it feels when a friend makes an achievement... Feels nice.

"So... Are you going somewhere?" Rail asked, raising an eyebrow. "You said you came here for something."

"I guess I should," replied the travelling stallion, his voice's volume taking a big dip. "But..."

"But what...?" Rail got closer to Silk Thread, trying not to sound too much like he was doing an interrogation. "Is there something wrong again?"

"I don't know, Rail, I..." Silk gazed at the sky, his eyes lacking any light. "I think I might find out that something awful happened in my past, or something to that effect."

"Like what?" Rail asked, his ears perking up. He leaned on his front hooves, ending up in a position that would suggest he was ready to jump at Silk.

"Railroad, I... You know that I—"

"Yes, I do remember what you said."

"Did you tell Frost about that!?" Silk asked, adopting a very defensive position. An almost inaudible growl emanated from his gritted teeth.

"No, I didn't," replied the conductor, trying to sound as reassuring as he could. "I almost did, yes, but I don't believe you."

"W-what?"

"I don't think you've killed anypony," replied Rail, smiling at Silk, who seemed to have been having the biggest shock of his life.

"But I— I told you that I did! You should have believed me!" the traveler shouted, clinging to the train conductor, shaking him.

"Keep it down, there are ponies around," said Rail, still grinning friendly at him.

"No, I really mean it, Rail: I did a horrible thing!"

"Until there is a plausible way to know, I won't believe you," replied the conductor, his tone a tad more serious than usual. "If you really think it'd be a good idea to say something that you don't know for sure is true, go on."

"Rail... You need to learn to stop trusting others so easily," said Silk, shaking his head at the stallion. "What if I were planning to murder you when we met?"

"With what? A bag of oatmeal?" asked Rail, hugging Silk tightly. "There wasn't a thing on your saddlebags that could be used, you know~!"

"Now, you don't know that. You just guessed nothing would happen."

"I just knew it: you looked desperate, but not in a bad way." The train conductor raised his gaze towards the sky, his eyes lost in the clear firmament. With his typical smile, he continued to speak. "I just did the right thing, together with what my job forced me to do. It was nothing but my vocation."

Silk replied with silence, closing his eyes for a long moment. Hoarfrost and he make a great couple, with that of being so different...

"Anyway, weren't you going somewhere?"

Silk maintained his silent stand for a moment, his gaze directed towards the train conductor. I hope they live their lives together, Rail does really have something for her. "I'll just wait for Hoarfrost to come back" replied Silk, slowly drawing a line on the sands with his hooves. "I'm sure she'll be of great help."

Railroad nodded lightly before answering: "She is, actually." He left out a sigh before continuing. "Hey, Silk; don't put so much weight on yourself. If something did happen, it wasn't your fault. Trust me, I'm sure of it."

"You don't know me that well," replied Silk, not really moving his gaze from over the train conductor.

"I know you just enough to know that. You're not really complex, nopony is."

Silk, in response, just described circles with his hoof, dismissively, together with rolling his eyes.

---

"I don't know anything else."

I know you do... "Are you sure of that...?" Hoarfrost shot the stallion a bitter glance, growling beneath her breath. She kicked the wooden floor once or twice as her ears dropped to the sides.

Almost leaving out a confident laugh, the stallion replied: "I'm very, very sure."

There has to be something I can use against him. "Isn't there a way I could get there faster?" the mare asked, her stance still threatening.

"It's a very long trip. There isn't much on the ways of getting around the main road, unless you want to pass through the forest. That could take some time off you, but I don't think it'd be a good idea."

Hoarfrost nodded lightly, her eyes glued to the stallion's face, who adopted an almost insulting stance.

"Especially for somepony like you."

The light-blue mare flicked her tail and said: "Cut that out, Mist. You know very well that I came here looking for answer, not for your opinion."

"Well, since I have given you my final answer, I guess you could use some pointers," the stallion replied, raising a hoof and pointing at Hoarfrost. He smirked before continuing to mock the mare. "For a brittle mare like you, I don't think you'd have much of a chance of getting through the forest unharmed. You always were the weaker one."

Good old Mist. Always such an idiot... The mare stomped at the floor, the wooden plank leaving out a thunderous crash as it was struck. She grimaced before asking: "Do I need to prove the contrary to you?"

"Be my guest," replied Mist softly, sitting down. "I wouldn't be surprised if it flopped."

Hoarfrost's face contorted, her trademark frenzied grin appearing behind her bangs. "Stand back."

Amused, Mist gave a small step back as the mare's horn gathered a rather large aura around itself. In mid-air, a large ice block was materializing, an almost arctic smoke emanating from it. After some seconds, the mare let the block fall down, at which it cracked as it connected with the floor.

"Very scary."

Hoarfrost left out a groan as a zap of her magic was shot off her horn, the ice block receiving the blast, shattering in an infinity of tiny shards, the majority of those going straight for Mist, who barely managed to duck.

The stallion, after staring at the pieces of ice scattered about over the floor, smirked and asked: "Is that the best you've got?"

"It's more than enough," replied the mare, still maintaining her seriousness. "I don't need to show a lot to you: you don't have much to offer, either."

"How's Rain?" asked Mist, his tone shifting back towards a normal, friendly one.

"Dead," replied the mare, the bitterness in her words striking the stallion.

"W-what?"

"He's dead. I found him dead on his home. I couldn't quite get a close look at how he died, but it was really gruesome. The eyes had been ripped off..."

"That's a lie," Mist replied, jumping back. "I know that— that y-you killed him!" he shouted, his eyes glued to the standing, almost immobile mare.

"Why would I?" asked Hoarfrost, offended. "After all, I went there because something else happened."

"Are going to kill me too!? I'd pay to see you try!" Mist, after saying that, receded towards the staircase, ducking behind the railing. "Try me!"

"Mist, calm down," said Hoarfrost, raising her head, still quite angered, but not as much. "Say, Mist, do you remember who Blizzard is?"

"How could I not remember her?" asked the stallion, his gaze now lost in mid-air, his mind flooding with memories of the recently deceased mare. Well, at least to him, she wasn't deceased. Not yet, that is.

"She's dead, as well."

The mare's sheer indifference and distant attitude hit the stallion like a ton of bricks. He struggled to make his words leave his mouth. "But she— she was like your mother! How could you kill her?"

"I didn't kill her!" shouted Hoarfrost, her fury reaching a complete new level. An anger-fueled frigid zap was shot off her horn, flying through the room. Over the wall it touched, a large piece of white ice materialized, the wood creaking beneath it as the wall contracted.

"I won't believe a word you say, Hoar!" shouted Mist, his eyes expressing a deep desire to just show the mare that she shouldn't mess with him. "You killed her. I know you did."

"Mist, a recent acquaintance of mine found her dead," the mare said, trying to reason with the stallion. "I don't even know if it's her, but who else could it be?"

"Wait a minute, that means— are the foals okay?"

"I highly doubt it."

"How can you say that like it's nothing!?" Mist was still behind the railings of the staircase, only his head being visible. His eyes weren't being directed towards Hoarfrost; instead, his eyes were on the windows.

"You tend to get used to it. I've lived through worse," replied the mare, dropping all confidence. She sounded really affected all out of a sudden. "In fact, one of the foals... I know what happened to him."

"What? What happened?"

"He was in a very bad shape. He was right in front of me when he passed away. It was really harsh, really... It was also very sad."

The two stared at eachother in silence for a long while, completely immobile. I bet he won't say a thing about it.

After a long moment of staring at the unicorn, Mist went upstairs. Hoarfrost heard him humming a tune as he walked on the second floor. He, then, returned in an instant, with a notepad between his teeth. He cantered over to the mare and, with the notepad almost falling, said: "Here."

Hoarfrost grabbed the notepad with her magic aura, shoving it down her saddlebags.

"You can have it since you're going away. It's Blizzard's, I guess you should have it."

If I dare to read that, it'll sure break me... "Thanks, Mist. I'll be going now. It's been a pleasure making business with you."

"Likewise..." The stallion smiled at the mare, still believing she was a killer. "Also, is this ice on the wall going to thaw or something?"

"Give it time and don't touch it. You'll be fine."

"Are you sure you didn't kill Rain...?"

"One more word about that and you'll have a full demonstration about how I can actually kill."

Mist gave a step back and stumbled over his words in nervousness. "I-I'll j-just forget about it, then..."

"I might return to torment you some more in some time, if everything goes according to plan," the mare said jokingly, as she headed towards the door. "If it doesn't go according to plan, then I might not return."

"I'm sure you'll be back around here..."

"I wouldn't be so sure. I might go away with somepony else," said the mare, her eyes losing themselves in the distant sky as she opened the door.

"So a stallion finally managed to thaw the ice queen's heart, eh?" the stallion asked, giggling beneath his breath. "Who is this skillful stallion?"

"It's not really like that," Hoarfrost replied, blushing a little, staring at the ground. "Umm, he's called Railroad; I think that's his full name. He's a train conductor— well, was..."

"Railroad..." Mist smirked, asking: "So we could say he'll—"

"Both yes and no," replied the mare, cutting the stallion off.

"Ah. I thought you two had—"

"Again, both yes and no. It hasn't happened and, given the circumstances, won't happen any soon."

"Poor stallion, being with an ice queen like you," remarked Mist, his sympathy being palpable. "Does he know you, you know, like him?"

"I don't think he interpreted it as that, but he might know." Hoarfrost stared back towards the sky and kicked her hooves together. "Well, time to go. Stay... Umm, stay chilly."

"Stay ice-queen-y!" shouted Mist as the mare ran down the road, away from him.

---

Silk was being patted on the head by Rail, very much like he was comforting a little filly. He glided his hoof over the traveler's mane, giggling to himself. "Don't worry, mate. I'm sure everything will be fine." He raised his head as the mare approached, waving at her with his free hoof. "Oh, welcome back, Hoarfrost!"

"H-Hoarfrost?" Silk blurted out, struggling to be released. "Rail, let me go...!" he shouted as he helplessly shuffled his hooves, to no effect.

"Aww, look at you two! You almost look like a couple"" remarked the mare, an ear-to-ear grin present on her face. She got closer to the two with an apparent heartwarming.

"Hoarfrost, it's not what it looks like..."

Rail just smiled at the mare before saying: "Silky here was having some internal struggles, nothing else. I hope he's fine now."

"Internal struggles?" asked Hoarfrost, raising an eyebrow. She playfully winked at Silk, who was still being patted on the head by the conductor. "Like what, accepting his undying attraction to you, Rail?"

"Umm, no. I don't think he'll say that very soon."

"It's actually something that I don't think it's necessary to discuss," said Silk, still unsure of how serious the two were being.

Hoarfrost giggled and extended a hoof, caressing the traveler's left cheek. "We're living in a modern society, silly silky filly: nopony will be too weirded out if you have something for Rail."

"Hoarfrost, I really mean it," remarked Silk, looking at the mare with a serious gaze.

"Hey, take it easy," replied the mare, giving a step back. "Anyway, are you done? I suppose you already had a talk with that somepony."

"I... I actually haven't. I don't want to do it."

The three shared a short lapse of silence; Rail just kept on smiling, Silk stared at Rail and Hoarfrost was, in turn, staring at the clear sky above their heads.

"Well, if you think about it, it'd be a far better idea if we took this day off and started to take our journey towards Canterlot at night. The heat and all, you know."

"Are we going by hoof or...?" Rail snuggled a reluctant Silk, receiving a "stop that" in response.

"Train is basically the fastest way," the mare pointed out, pointing at the train station. "We won't get tired from it."

"So it's back to Canterlot in a train, huh Silk?" the conductor asked, his amusement seemingly only growing. "It's kinda like how we met."

Silk sighed before saying: "Let's just hope nothing strange happens in the way back..."

"I wonder if we can catch a train going there," said Rail, spacing out for a moment. "For some reason, there hasn't been much traffic towards and from there, and that's only because Silk here left the city. If it weren't for him, there would haven't been any kind of traffic whatsoever." The stallion stared at the sand for a moment, not imagining a plausible reason behind the fact.

Hoarfrost huffed, an expression of disgust appearing on her face. "Maybe they decided they didn't need to leave the city; after all, they're all a bunch of snobs..."

Nervously, Silk said: "Rail, I'm going. Let me go now."

"Oh, of course!" replied the train conductor, loosening his grip around the stallion. "Don't take too long, loverboy," he said as Silk walked away.

"Leave some energy to stay awake!" shouted the mare as the traveler receded, disappearing behind a house.

"I bet she misses him," Rail said, looking at the mare with his forelegs wide open.

"I guess he'll take his time," replied the mare, walking up to Rail. "He maybe hasn't seen her in a long time, and you know how it goes."

"Uh-huh..." The train conductor stared at the sands shyly, kicking up some dirt with his hooves.

"Hey, Rail, don't worry about that," said the mare, reading the stallion's mind. "Everything has a time, and we'll stick together in the end."

"Thanks, Hoarfrost."

"Say, can you do that thing you were doing to Silk to me? It looked... It looked very nice and comfortable." Hoarfrost sat down in front of Rail as she spoke, shaking her head a little.

"S-sure." he replied as he embraced the mare between his legs. He blushed a little as he nuzzled her hair.

"You're cute."

"You too."

"Pat my mane," said Hoarfrost as she raised her head.

"Yes, mistress." Slowly, he passed his hoof over her mane, enjoying the feeling of her soft hairs.

"M-mistress? Oh, my... You're going too far. Remember we're in the middle of a frequented road..."

---

She'll tear me apart... She'll rip me open when I tell her... Ugh, I don't want to do it... Silk was nervously walking down a completely average road, looking for a completely mundane door. Behind it, there would be a mare that he had befriended in a past travel. She was very acknowledgeable on the matter of news, and she was the only one who could have known about the recent events in Canterlot. She'll probably kill me when I tell her... There was fear on his inner voice, his eyes unsurely passing over the walls. There it is. Just got to tell her, nice and slow... He had just found it, and was walking towards the door, before gulping loudly and knocking on it, cowering in fear. I wonder if it'll hurt a lot... Dying must hurt...

The door in front of him opened, a mare appearing behind it. "Hmm? Ah, Silk, we haven't seen eachother a long time!" she exclaimed, opening the door completely. She stared down at the cowering stallion for a moment, quite confused. "Are— are you okay? You look scared." She took Silk's legs on her hooves and mad him stand up, even when he didn't make any kind of visual interaction with her. He stood in silence, visibly shaking. "You know that I won't bite you or anything... Ah, my manners! Welcome back, Silky!"

The stallion, after a long while of breathing heavily, managed to look at the mare in the eyes. "Merry, I need to ask you something..."

The mare cheerfully guided him inside as she said: "Well, come inside, then~! There are a lot of things I've got to tell you as well~!" The mare skipped about once inside.

"Merry, I—"

After a while of staring at the immobile stallion, she pulled him inside. Silk stumbled over his legs and almost fell flat on his face after tripping. "Ah, there's so much to catch up on! Did you know that I managed to buy this place? The owner said he had another place and that I only had to pay him monthly! This place is all mine now!"

"That's called 'rent,' Merry. He's your landlord," remarked the stallion, incredulously. "Don't try to—"

"I did remodelations on here!" exclaimed the mare, pointing her hoof towards a snail staircase. "The staircase, there, had to be trimmed down a little."

"He won't like that," replied the stallion, cringing.

"Well, what do you want to ask me?" the mare asked, sitting down at a table in the center of the main room.

Silk trotted over to the mare, and gazed at her as he said: "You see, Merry, it happened four days ago at Canterlot..."

"Canterlot?" asked the mare, adopting a business-like position. She made like she adjusted her glasses, despite not needing to use them or having them. "I haven't had any news from there since like five or four days ago."

"It's about..."

"About? I haven't had much information about the place, so I can't steer you in the right direction."

"About murder," the stallion blurted out, staring at the floor after saying it.

"Murder? That's a very strong word," replied the mare, asking herself why would he be interested on information of a murder. "Hold on a second, I think I've got something about that— yes, I do. An entire family was killed. Very sad, really."

"Do you know who the culprit is?" asked the stallion, leaning over the table at which Merry was sitting.

"Wait, I think I've got that written down since it happened some days ago..." Merry, showing how well her name reflected her actions, happily trotted back and searched for a file in a cabinet, her teeth almost rupturing a very soft paper as he retrieved it. "Here it is~! Let's see it..." She left the paper down on the table and silently read it.

Sweet Celestia, help me...

"Here it says that the culprit is— no, there has got to be a mistake," said the mare, her voice turning uncertain and gloomy out of a sudden.

"What does it say?" Ah, almost feigned ignorance perfectly. She'll believe me, she'll believe I have no idea about this.

"It says that... well, read it yourself," said the mare, almost shoving the paper in front of Silk's face.
Canterlot. Murder.
Family of four found dead.
Most likely culprit: Silk Thread. Stallion.
Cause: ...

Silk stood in silence for a long while, his eyes fixed to the paper. What if I really did it...?

"The information came from a very shady source, so it might be wrong," said the mare, sounding as if she were apologizing.

Silk, not sure of why, slammed his legs on the table and pleaded: "Merry, please tell you've got more information on this... Please!"

"Hey, take it easy," said the mare, softly shoving the stallion's legs down the table. "You've got to flip the paper and unfold it, because it has more things written in there."

Having done so, the stallion read in his mind:
Unnatural slashes were found on the bodies, together with a pile of papers randomly scattered about all over the house.
Force was very clearly used. Three of the victims had their main veins slashed open and one was drowned.
No one had an idea of who could it have been, up until a stallion that nobody had seen around the area said he was guilty of the crime.
Tomorrow will be the day were things will get official.

"Tomorrow..." Silk cringed at the thought that it all was too familiar for him. "Did your source say anything else?"

"I never heard of her again," replied the mare, her voice sounding devoid of any excitement. It was almost like she didn't want to be merry anymore.

Silk loudly gulped and look at the mare in her eyes. She was probably taking the entire situation with far too much seriousness, or at least that's what he thought. "Never heard of her again?"

"Like she... Vanished all out of a sudden." Merry cantered over to a window, the rays of sunlight highlighting the right face of her face. "Maybe something got her."

"Don't even joke about that," said Silk, fearing that he could find something else than silence and inactivity in his return to Canterlot.

"Is there something wrong, Silk? Something that I don't know about this situation?" asked the mare, genuinely interested. "I can't believe someone said you were guilty— no, that you said you were guilty! That's just insane, I just know you're unable to murder somepony else."

"I don't know, Merry, it feels very real..."

"It's just your imagination," replied the mare, trying to comfort the uncertain stallion.

"Merry, can you write something down now?" Silk shook his head, trying to get the words into his mind.

"Sure! Just say it," said the mare, before grabbing a quill between her teeth and lunging over an open scroll.

"Everypony disappeared in Canterlot," the stallion said, much to the mare's surprise.

"Hey, write your stories yourself," she said, dropping the quill. "You know I'm not a good writer."

"Merry, I really mean it: everypony in Canterlot just vanished," said Silk, his voice sounding like he was in deep torment. "I went towards the house of the murders that night, and when dawn came there was absolutely nopony on the streets."

"When did this happen?" asked the mare, reaching down for the quill she had just dropped.

"Yesterday," replied Silk, the past day's events playing in his head in a flash. "At dawn I took a train towards here."

"You arrived here at night, then!" exclaimed the mare, once again missing the point. "You really should have come here sooner. Will you pass the night here?"

"Merry, I beg you, spread the word," said Silk, cutting the mare off. He gazed deep in her eyes and said: "Nopony will believe me, but I know you will. You need to uncover the true culprit of those killings and to tell everypony that Canterlot is now a ghost town. I have nopony else but you..."

"Don't put so much weight over me," replied the mare, with a surprising amount of indifference in her voice. "Will you stay here for the night?"

"I need to go, Merry," replied the stallion, his speech getting faster and faster with every new phrase. "I met a mare and—"

"You met a mare? Congratulations!"

I really should have expected that...

"I always knew you had some space for love in that heart of yours," Merry said, giving the stallion a playful wink.

"She isn't my marefriend, Merry."

"She isn't? Then you're— she's cheating on her special somepony with you!" shouted the mare, squinting her eyes at Silk. "That's low. You should be ashamed."

"Merry, I met a stallion as well, and it seems the two have hooked up or something. I have nothing to do with her."

"Aw, don't worry! I'm sure you'll find your—"

"Merry, please focus!" shouted the stallion, a short moment of silence following. "Will you really tell everypony what happened in Canterlot?"

"Y-yes, sir!" replied the mare, doing her best at holding a leg at her forehead.

"Do you promise?" asked the stallion, giving the mare a hard, cold stare.

"It's a promise, mister!" she replied, before giggling a bit. "Is there anything you'd like to add?"

"Please don't tell anyone about how I supposedly killed some ponies," Silk said, sheepishly leaving out a laugh. "I'm sure I didn't do it and I won't rest until I know who did it."

Merry tilted her head aside for a moment and gave the stallion a confused look. "But maybe the culprit disappeared together with the rest of the Canterlot ponies—"

"I'm totally sure of the fact that they didn't disappear: they are someplace else, hiding, something to that effect," Silk pointed out, giving a circle with his right leg as he said the phrase. "I just don't understand how nopony knows that it happened: I told my companions and they didn't believe me at all..."

"You told them?" asked the mare, swiftly taking notes.

"Yes, I did." I guess that a lie sometimes helps...

"And they didn't believe you, wow." Merry gave a step back, leaving the recently written scroll lying over the table. "It is difficult to believe, but it's you..."

"Don't worry about it," replied the stallion, both talking to her and himself. "I've got to go now, but I guess you'll be all fine. Will you?"

"Of course I will!" Merry replied happily, confidently grinning. "Now, go, but you better return! I still have a lot of things to say to you!"

"You shout a lot," the stallion quietly pointed out. "You should be a preacher or something."

"But there isn't any sense for me to preach anything..."

"You know what I meant." Yup, she'd make a great one. "Well, Merry, until the day we see eachother. Take care," said the stallion, walking towards the door.

"You too!" replied the mare, her excitement returning with surprising speed. "Try not to kill anypony!"

"You really shouldn't joke about that, you know..."

After their conversation was over, Silk stepped outside, hearing the door close behind him. I guess it didn't go that bad. I'm still alive and I'm not missing any body parts...

---

Silk walked back towards his companions, looking around with a nervous gaze. Nothing had changed and nothing would probably change. In the distance, he heard:

"Ah, Rail, s-stop that! It tickles, it tickles!"

Is that Frost shouting...? She's... She's oddly loud.

Accelerating the pace, Silk ran down the road and took a sharp turn as soon as he reached the second-to-outer lane. There, he found Rail and Frost, the mare lying over her back on the sand, with the stallion softly nuzzling her stomach. The mare's mane looked like spilled water all over the sand. Unsure of how to react, Silk stood there, watching as the two got all kinds of affectionate. He, without noticing it much, actually blushed as he stared. The two shared a look and some giggles, as Rail caressed Hoarfrost's left cheek with his hoof. The mare directed her gaze towards the distant sky, noticing how Silk was awkwardly standing there. Rail took notice of him after a short moment, the two ending up staring at the traveling stallion, nervous little smiles on their faces, and blush on their cheeks.

Silk didn't react right away; instead, he stood in silence a moment before shaking his head and asking: "Oh, a-am I interrupting...? I'm sorry, really—"

"Not at all," replied the mare, turning her head towards Silk. "Say, have you got what you wanted?"

"I think I did," the traveler softly replied, kicking his hooves shyly. "Are you two...? Are you doing something that I shouldn't be seeing?"

"You can look away if you think that affection is icky," replied the mare, turning her head back to Rail.

"I probably will but— are you sure?" Silk asked, his mind pleading him to go away and leave the couple alone. "Nothing serious here?"

Hoarfrost stared at Rail in silence for a moment, who smirked at the mare.

"Seems like he thinks different when it comes to this topic, Hoarfrost," the train conductor whispered to her. "Seems like he's very forward~!"

"Hey, don't get too excited," she said, a stern look on her face. "We're supposed to be in a quest for something, and that something is very serious."

Rail laughed nervously, rubbing his hooves together. "You can always call me if you need to release some tension, you know... I-I truly won't mind!"

"I'll leave now, okay...?" Silk nervously smiled and went away, not sure of where to go. He disappeared behind a house once again, his mind flooding with thoughts of the couple. That was fast...

Rail smiled at Frost, smirking some more, before whispering to her ear: "Well, now that's he gone..."

"You're not supposed to do that," she said, rolling away from the stallion. "Now he thinks that we're a thing," she remarked as she stood up.

"We aren't?" asked the stallion, quite lost. He just looked at the mare, still feeling that his cheeks were on fire.

"Not yet," Hoarfrost replied, trotting over to an intersection, seeing Silk slowly walk away. "Wait, Silk, hold on! Where are you going?"

"He doesn't seem to know where he's going to," said the train conductor, cantering over to the mare.

"Seems like he'll get some salt," she absent-mindedly said, pointing a hoof at the traveling stallion.

"I didn't know he liked those. Do you...?"

"I don't, but it's an amusing place to be," she replied, giggling beneath her breath. "I've had some really strange and funny experiences in those places."

"So you'll go...?"

"You can stay here if you want."

The stallion, seeing a chance present itself, replied: "No, I'll— I'll stick with you, whether I want it or not."

"You've still got a lot to learn, Rail..." Having said that, she cantered down the road, following the stallion.

---

I slowly recovered my senses, feeling everything fade back to me as I rested, motionless. I was lying on the grass, chilliness surrounding me. The sun wasn't in the sky; instead, the dark of the night was present in the scene. There was a complete, perfect silence around the place: a total lack of movement. The grass was comfortably soft and moist, and I truly felt like I could have continued to lay over it for an eternity. I seemed to be alone, as I noted as I moved my eyes around the place, finding nothing but darkness.

A voice spoke up, close to me. It could have been from just about anywhere. It was her voice, once again.

"The sky is far darker here. The moon is further away and the stars are more dispersed throughout the firmament. It feels a little empty, to be honest. You could have done better. It's not very pretty."

The silence followed to reign over the ambient after that. I stood up and looked down from my position, finding, in the distance, a sole street with its streetlights functional. The rest of the city seemed to have been plunged into a blinding darkness. No breeze was present but the air was fresh and pleasant.

I'm here again. After all that Nightmare— my mind has said, I really don't want to be here... It's dark and cold. I need to get home, fast.

I got closer to the edge of the hill, gazing at the only way down: the same way I got up. Steep steps down the cliff, where a single mis-step would be paid quite greatly. Fortunately, the cliff wasn't really that high and I'd be inclined to think a fall from the top might only hurt for some days. Breathing deeply, I set foot at the first step down. It was nothing but a protruding piece of rock, but it was quite solid. Thanks to the darkness of the night, I couldn't quite see the way down unless I really squinted, and eve then it was quite the daunting task.

Time and time again I was reluctant to set foot on a new step, fearing that it could be nothing but my imagination and I'd end up falling down the cliff. On the little time I took on the way down, the air night had gone from fresh towards freezing, and I was starting to shiver.

I was maybe halfway through when her voice spoke up again, breaking my concentration completely.

"Why are you running away?" she asked. "Who are you running from?"

I lost my balance and rolled down the cliff, luckily not hitting any important part of my body except for my legs. My legs were quite struck.

I was lying on the dirt, my eyes fixed in the black night sky. I groaned, trying to get up. My knees hurt quite a lot. The stars over me weren't bright enough, and it seemed like I was about to be consumed by the dark. It seemed to be growing all around me.

The outskirts of town were right in front of me once I actually managed to stand up; I couldn't see half a thing, but I knew they were there. I'll surely crash against the walls a hundred times before I get out of here...

In complete silence, I started to walk towards the houses, my arms extended forward. Couldn't somebody turn up the lights around here...? My advancing was filled with doubt, as I didn't even know if I was going in the right direction at times.
My steps over the dirt road were unsure, to the point I hesitated to give a step forward in fear that there might have not been any surface in front of me. Time and time again I'd hit a wall with my arms, the coldness and emptiness of the ambient making it appear as something far worse than what it actually was. I stomped against the floor with every step, the sound echoing against the walls, silence being interrupted every time it happened. I felt alone and, in a way, helpless. I couldn't even see my hands in front of my face, and my only guides were the distant streetlights. As I walked forwards, I noticed how not even a light was present in any of the houses. Maybe it's really late at night... It feels like it: it's cold and silent...
Even my thoughts echoed in my head against the eerie silence. I almost smashed my face against a window at one moment, and I awkwardly tripped over my own feet at another.

By the end of it, I noticed that my legs were caked with dirt, as I was now standing beneath a streetlight. I noticed, once again, how only one street had its streetlights on; the rest of the city was seemingly engulfed in darkness. Even with the stars and moon over my head, they didn't manage to light the city just enough to appreciate it. After dusting myself off for a while, I continued down my route. I went up the street, my steps now silent. Nothing made a sound, and only my thoughts were able to break the silence's dominance over the night.

I've got an awful feeling about this...

Just as I said that, a heat started to spread all around my body. It seemed to emanate from my fingers, the warmth making its way up my arms. Paradoxically, a very strong shiver made its way down my back, which almost made me jump.

The alleys at the sides of the street were just as ominous and silent as the rest of the city. I wonder if there could be anything following me...

Out of curiosity, I took a look back, not seeing anything; not even light. The streetlights were going off.

I took a step forward, not noticing how a hole was right in front of me. My foot somehow targeted the hole itself and fell right into it. The streetlight over my head died off. How opportune...

I tried to pull my foot out of the hole, but it seemed to be perfectly fitting. Last thing I knew, I'd probably harm myself severely before being able to continue.

"Agh, why won't my foot get unstuck?" I asked the air as I nervously struggled to get my foot out of the hole.
Another streetlight in front of me turned its light off, leaving me in the almost complete dark. I forced my foot out of the hole, and managed to stand up as my foot gave a very loud snap. I ran forward, noticing, soon enough, how there seemed to be puddles on the street. Little splashes plagued the night ambient, as I gave my best at reaching the lighted parts of the street. As soon as I got close enough to one, the streetlight would go off. They were going off faster than I could run.

"Tell me, who are you running from?" It was Nightmare's voice once again. As soon as she spoke, every single streetlight went off, except for the one that lighted my current path. I stopped running abruptly when I heard her voice, almost falling over once again, noticing how I was right in front of my apartment.

I guess I should enter... The night isn't going to be any good out here...

Without thinking too much about it, I entered the building, noticing how dim the light inside was. I silently walked upstairs, towards my residence in the fourth floor. On the way up, I noticed how most of the doors were open, with no lights coming from inside them. The longer I gazed into the dark void that came from them, the more I noticed certain sounds in the background. Almost like something being dragged in the upper floors. Something's up. I know it...

The source of the light was in the third floor: past that, the light was scarce and I thought I wouldn't be able to see where my door was. That would have been a reality if, of course, my door wasn't wide open and with the lights on. Everything seemed to be in order inside, however.

I reached my room in a heartbeat. It was dark inside, so I turned the lights on. My notebooks were scattered over the bed and the window to the balcony was open. Outside, a deep darkness was present. I went towards the window, noticing how not even the only functioning streetlight was working now.

In the middle of the dark, I honestly thought I'd get lost. It was such a never-ending void; I could have stayed there for an eternity.

The stars were fading away slowly, or that's what it looked like, at least.

When I turned back, Nightmare was there, sitting over the bed like everything was completely normal. She gazed directly at my eyes, her little grin expressing an eerily deep amusement.

"It took you very long to get here again."

I stood in silence in front of her, not sure of how to answer. It was happening once again. My head...

"Say, Silk, which part of your life do these chronicle?" she asked, pointing at my notebooks. "They sound like when you were young, at times. At other times, they sound more like you wrote them little ago."

I should sleep... Without thinking about what she said, I tried to get into bed. She, to my surprise, actually got off the bed when I opened the sheets up, levitating the notebooks with her, leaving them all piled up on the floor, next to her.

She grabbed one as I tried to make myself comfortable. "It's interesting, really. Here it says that you've gotten better at imagining things. The way you drew this tree is very well-researched, I'll give you that. Very detailed, even when the leaves look a little strange. Very artistic..."

I wasn't sure if I could feel my legs anymore. It all had started with increasing shivers and an abnormal pain in my fingers. The shivers had started to spread throughout by body and reached my feet. Slowly but steadily, my feet had gone numb. By then, I just couldn't move them. The sensation went all the way to the anterior part of my lower legs, cutting out its blood circulation. My shoulders also started to hurt, and I could feel my hip getting ready to expulse the bones in my legs. That's what it felt like.

My ears went partially deaf maybe only a minute after it. I couldn't understand any sound, and the only ones which were entirely audible were making me feel like I'd end up with a ruptured eardrum.

She spoke up once again. "I've managed to do it: I finally managed to construct a background. It just felt so empty without one, like the sky was endless. Now it looks more like it." Nightmare's voice was more of an ear-rupturing shout for me, and the sheer malice in the undertones of her voice was almost damaging.

"I don't remember writing that..." I groaned, feeling my state worsening with every new second. A sickening sensation began at my stomach, as I felt it constantly rumble and press against itself. My breathing slowly accelerated as I began to lose control of my eyeballs. Slowly at first, they were making little uncontrollable twitches. They also started to hurt, as if they were being pressed with some kind of hot metal bar. The veins in my feet started to swell up, and I felt like my legs were unusually large.

"But you did," she replied, her voice as loud as it could be possible. "Are you alright?" she asked me when she noticed I was visibly cringing.

"I... I don't know... Give me that thing..."

She flung a notebook towards me. "Here you go. I hadn't taken a look at that one yet. Tell me if you find anything."

She's acting strange... This is not like she would be...

"Your handwriting is very well-emulated, as well."

Not feeling well at all, I opened up a random page. "I can't believe I did it. My entire life lying to myself, but today I know I did it. I just know it. It'll continue to haunt me for all eternity." Not even these things are normal...

She spoke up once again, almost laughing as she said: "I saw her laying there, a hoof extended out. She had tried to fight it, but it was clear that she hadn't been lucky. Huh, who could that be, Silk? S-Silk...?"

The night was punishingly cold, and I felt like I was going to pass out. I couldn't stop shivering and I coughed very often. I could feel an unusual amount of saliva starting to flood my mouth. Horrible night... I groaned in a deep exasperation, the rusty growl that came out of my mouth making me spit out all the saliva and bile that was pooling in my mouth.

"My father was there, too. He was in the main room. I ran to tell my brothers, to see if there was something we could do the three, together. A red substance appeared in front of me as soon as I opened one door. I couldn't bring myself to continue." She chuckled coldly before saying: "You make this sound so amusing."

I turned by head towards her, and noticed immediately that I was seeing double. I felt myself becoming numb, like I had been sedated. "They didn't believe me at first. I had to show them."

"Take a look at this," she said, shoving a page in front of my face. I could tell that the page's content consisted of the word "murderer" being repeated over and over with no pattern whatsoever.

The lightbulb burned like staring at the sun, and I couldn't move my legs to stand up and turn it off. Tinnitus appeared on my ears, at which I honestly felt like my eardrums were about to rupture. This is not good...

"It seems like you know what you did, Silk," Nightmare said, darkly chuckling beneath her breath. "Or at least you think you know what you did." She continued to flip through pages of the notebooks, but didn't read anything out loud.

I gulped loudly again and again as I set my head right beneath the sheets. I wasn't sure of what to think or do. Nothing would help.

"He wasn't alive. He was floating in a pool of his own blood, and his eyes were missing. I only saw them when I looked in the mirror. They were looking at me; they knew what had happened. They knew the truth and wouldn't leave until I told everypony what had really happened."

The moment was imminent. I could already feel it grating through my throat. I felt a completely irrational fear in that moment; fear that somebody else apart from Nightmare was in the same room as me.

"His legs had been torn off, that was clear: I could see his ligaments poking right out of his shoulders. His throat had been cut right off, a little pile of puke expelling a nauseating smell." She got extremely close to me, almost throwing herself over me, and whispered to my ear: "I ripped the eyes out of the mirror and stomped on them in a blind panic. If only they'd leave me alone. But they wouldn't, they would never let that happen."

I coughed nervously, a pool of bile landing in front of my face. The nauseating smell of half-digested matter flared in my nostrils, making my stomach churn even more.

"You're feeling that once again, aren't you?" she whispered, the sheer amount of malice and mischievousness in her voice being almost shocking. "How does it feel like..?"

I, unable to take it any longer, peeked my head through a hole in the sheets before feeling the bloody push that would unleash nothing but more suffering.

My eyes opened wide as I tried to ignore the event happening to me. How could I, anyway? My bowels and stomach were almost completely empty, and yet a disgusting, vile waterfall of puke came out.

After some tortuous seconds, I was left panting again, begging for the little chunks of the putrid mass to leave my body for once.

Little figures started to appear in my vision for an instant and then disappeared.

My eyelids felt heavy. My eyes closed on their own, and my arms were starting to go numb.

I hung my head over the edge of the bed, feeling blood rushing towards my head, I sighed.

"My entire family was gone, and I had no name to stain but mine. I'll let the rest know of my crimes by tomorrow's morning. I'll have my last dream tonight, before probably being killed by the Canterlot folk..." She stopped for a moment and left out a laugh. "It sounds like you had given up by then, didn't you? You were accepting part of your past: you really had killed them, Silk, you know it's true. After suffering for a while, you decided to take complete action and direct your attention towards this dream world, where you could imagine whatever you could come up with, and it'd be true."

With my conscience not working entirely well, I said: "You really need to stop."

"Why stop?" she asked, laughing. "Why hide the truth?"

"Nightmare, I..."

"Don't worry about that. I know you'll be back."

"I don't want to be gone," I said, not knowing the reason behind that last phrase. "Don't make me go."

"You don't know what you're talking about," she replied, a notorious disgust present on her voice. "Soon enough you'll understand."

My body went numb shortly after that. I could only feel the tears around my eyes. I was mercifully starting to fade away. I stopped hearing and I stopped to smell the noxious stench of my half-digested who-knows-what.

Comments

[I Am Known As Sketchpad]

noticing how I was right in from of my apartment.

Front, not from.

Otherwise, great chapter!

Excuse me while I empty my guts after that last few paragraphs. *HURBLURLUBULBGRLBGULBRUGB*