~ 03 ~ The Nightmare Tunnel
Pinkie zipped back into place. “Alright, I’m back!”
Apple Bloom raised an eyebrow. “Seriously, Pinkie, what’s with the bathroom trips?”
Pinkie laughed. “Come on, you guys, you’re acting like I was off consorting with an interdimensional demon to get information about the story I’m telling!”
The Crusaders looked at each other, and Scootaloo said, “Uh, we were?”
“Anyway, tell me, what theories do you guys have now?”
Sweetie started, “Well, about that necklace—”
Pinkie closed her eyes and raised her hoof. “I bet you fillies are wondering why they’re using the necklace communication spell, when at this point in the timeline, it should be damaged with Rarity unsure if that’ll still work.”
Scootaloo twisted her face. “Not really, no.”
Pinkie giggled. “Yeah, I guess you already figured this was out of continuity, since there’s no time for this to happen between the first sleepover and Rarity getting cursed, especially with me not there, so things like that don’t really matter.”
Apple Bloom shook her head. “Seriously, what are you even talking about?”
Ignoring the question, Pinkie looked at Sweetie with wide eyes. “Anyway, what were you saying?”
Sweetie paused. “You know what, never mind.”
Pinkie spread her arms. “Then let’s finish things off!”
Rarity walked through the darkness, accompanied by pale blue hornlight. The tunnel walls were mere feet away from her on either side, creating shadows every which way. Under normal circumstances, Rarity would have been breathing quickly and panicking. However, there was another light accompanying her: the pink light of her necklace.
She closed her eyes and felt a warm presence in her mind. Keeping focus on that, she lifted a hoof and lovingly ran it through her mane. She could feel the presence fidget and, in a way, could even tell it was blushing. “Rarity!” it said. “It’s hard enough keeping up this spell while holding those monsters in place.”
Through an enchantment on the necklace, the princess’s mind was cohabiting with Rarity’s. It was an odd sensation, and keeping the connection stable was troublesome at times, but given Rarity and Twilight could normally never make contact, it was a rare opportunity to comfort the poor touch-starved princess.
“You don’t have to put it like that,” said Twilight.
Rarity giggled. Knowing what thoughts she was keeping to herself was tricky.
“So, how long have I been walking?” Rarity asked.
“Just about three minutes,” Twilight replied.
Rarity frowned. Three minutes wasn’t a ton of time, but it was also quite long for a mysterious tunnel that monsters were coming out of.
“I’m still pretty surprised you were so willing to go in here,” said Twilight.
“If I didn’t, then who would?” Rarity replied haughtily. “And you’re with me, aren’t you? Things will work out just fine.”
“Where does your confidence come from?” Twilight asked with some amusement.
“Confidence comes from me being Rarity, of course! Can you imagine if I wasn’t?”
“I guess not.” Twilight’s thoughts moved in such a way that Rarity was sure she was tapping her chin. “Actually, do you mind if I cast a spell through you?”
The unicorn blinked. “A spell? You can do that?”
“In theory, it’s possible. I have to imagine our magics flow in different ways, but I could construct an abstract framework for the spell and your own magic can implement it.”
Rarity shook her head. “Sorry dear, I don’t quite follow.”
Except she did. Through their connection, Rarity could clearly visualize what Twilight meant, and it all seemed quite simple. She was sure that once Twilight left her mind, her understanding would go with her, but for now, her magic flowed easily into the shape required.
“Alright, now this is going to be the tricky part,” said Twilight. “Keep the spell I’m thinking of in your mind, and I’ll focus elsewhere to get the magical signature of the monsters with me. I’ll send that data to you, and you have to put it into the spell. This will allow us to pinpoint the source. Do you understand?”
Rarity smiled. “Somehow I do.”
Their minds interlocking and flowing into each other seamlessly, they cast the spell, launching a pulse of light from Rarity’s horn. Moments later, the spell got its results.
“The source of this magic is ten minutes away at your current pace.” Twilight announced. “It looks like it’s a straight shot down the tunnel, with no change in elevation.”
“Well that’s good, I suppose,” Rarity responded. “Though, what do we do once we get there?”
Twilight faltered. “I… still don’t have a good grasp on what we’re dealing with. There are just so many oddities here.”
Rarity hummed. “Hopefully a horn blast will be enough. Tell me, using the same method we just used, would I be able to fire a big energy blast?”
“Well, that’s just a simple release of energy. I suppose I could help bring down the mental blocks unicorns usually place on their magic, but there’s no quick way to increase your magic reserves, so you’ll be pretty drained after.”
“As a last ditch effort, then.”
Rarity froze.
There was something in front of her.
Two glints of orange bobbed up and down, giving Rarity the distinct impression of predatory eyes approaching.
Fear filled Rarity. There was no way to escape whatever this was, with the tunnel as small as it was. She couldn’t run, could she? That’d put them right back where they started. Was fighting the right move? Could she fight it?
“Rarity,” Twilight said gently, and instantly a wave of calm flowed through her. “Think of what we determined earlier. Monsters aren’t created until they reach the entrance.”
The monster was close enough that she could make out more of its shape. It was bipedal and just taller than a pony, with what appeared to be purple skin, and what was definitely rows of sharp teeth in a lizard-like mouth.
“Then what is that?”
Twilight analyzed the figure through Rarity’s eyes, half-seconds ticking away as the unicorn desperately hoped for an answer. “Rarity, it’s transparent. Look, you should be able to see it too, now that you know to look for it.”
Rarity felt Twilight’s certainty, and that was enough to make her really take in the creature. Its gait was lazy, but was also walking quicker than Rarity was before. Its eyes were vacant, showing no acknowledgment of anything in front of it, and indeed, Rarity’s hornlight went right through it.
“So that’s how it is,” Twilight commented. “The monsters don’t take corporeal form until they reach the entrance, but magic shapes them as they travel down.”
“It isn’t dangerous, then?” asked Rarity.
“No. Well, not to you. Applejack and I will have to deal with it here.”
Rarity huffed. “Well, if it’s alright with you, I’m not a fan of when you walk through me, so I’m definitely not going to let that thing do it. I think if I scootch to the side, we shouldn’t touch.”
She pressed against the wall, and moments later, she watched the monster walk right past her.
“Oh huh, an atog,” Twilight said in recognition.
“Is that what that thing is?”
“Yes, it’s a creature that supposedly comes from Old Canterlot… well, old even by my standards, when there were active mines in the area. Despite how it looks, it’s actually pretty docile toward ponies, but it eats gems and machines like nothing else. Most inanimate objects, really.”
“So it shouldn’t be a problem, then?”
“Thankfully, no. It’ll try to eat the books for sure, but it can’t get past the protection spells.”
Rarity resumed walking. “Well that’s a relief.”
Twilight hummed. “And that definitely makes a pattern.”
“What do you mean?”
“The Diamond Dogless Head, the Weeping Mare, and now an atog. All of those are stories I know, and were included in the books I brought for the sleepover.”
Rarity’s eyes widened. “So it was the stories we were telling, like Applejack suggested.”
“That can’t be it. I only told you one of those stories. Maybe it’s taking them from my mind, but I’m sure I’d be able to detect if something was linked to me. You would too, while we’re like this.”
Rarity hummed.
“Actually, hold on a second. It’s here.”
Bringing her mind back to herself, Twilight explained the situation. “So, since I’m keeping up my connection with Rarity, I won’t be able to help much. The atog should just leave you alone though, as long as you don’t bother it.”
Applejack’s head wobbled on her back. “Just let the critter be, got it.”
The fillies hid behind an overturned table with Fluttershy, poking their heads over while Applejack stood in front.
Footsteps came from the bathroom.
“I can hear it coming,” said Fluttershy.
The Crusaders all showed a mix of excitement and unease, covering their eyes with their hooves, yet still peeking around them.
The footsteps came into the library, hidden behind the bookshelf in front of the bathroom. Seconds passed, and then at last, a purple clawed hand reached around the bookshelf. Once the atog’s grinning purple face popped around it, the Crusaders all screamed.
“Woah! That’s a nasty-looking fella,” said Applejack.
“I don’t know,” said Fluttershy. “It seems much nicer than the other two.”
The ponies all watched the creature closely as it stepped into the light. With its large eyes, it looked around with a claw to its mouth, as though out of curiosity, before it eventually turned to the bookshelf behind it. It grabbed a handful of books and shoved them right into its mouth.
Fluttershy put her hooves to her mouth. “Oh no! All those fairy tales. Twilight, should I stop it?”
Though Twilight was cringing, she said, “There’s really no need. Look, the protection spell on them is still working fine.”
True to word, as the atog chewed, a golden aura on the books made them slide right out of its mouth. It picked them up again, repeatedly trying to no effect.
“You see? Shouldn’t be a—” Twilight’s eyes widened. “Wait, Fluttershy, why did you mention fairy tales?”
Fluttershy blinked. “Oh, well, I suppose those books are more like collections of myths, not really fairy tales.”
Twilight looked at the bookshelf. “This section is—of course! That’s the connection! I need to go back to Rarity. Don’t do anything to the atog for now. Be safe, everypony.” With that, the princess’s eyes drifted off.
The remaining ponies continued watching the creature for a few more moments, and once it seemed like the atog wasn’t going to try anything else, Applejack said, “Well, I think it’s safe to come out now, if you girls want.”
Fluttershy, Apple Bloom, and Sweetie Belle all stepped out from behind the table, continuing to watch the monster.
Applejack’s head wobbled. “Wait a minute. Where’s Scootaloo?”
She heard a war cry behind her as the pegasus filly galloped toward the monster. With deft skill, she reached to her neck with one hoof, pulled off her head, and launched it forward.
“Head Cannon Attack!” the head shouted as it spun through the air.
The atog caught Scootaloo’s head with one hand.
“Uh,” Scootaloo’s head said.
Applejack gaped. “What in tarnation?!”
The Diamond Dogless Head’s eyes darted away. “No filly asked me to cut her head off, if that’s what pony is wondering.”
“I really thought this would work!” Scootaloo said as the atog stared at her for a moment, then slowly opened its mouth.
Fluttershy flew up and shouted, “Hey!” The atog, seemingly taken aback, turned to look at her. “No! Put her down!”
The atog looked at her for a second, before returning its attention to Scootaloo.
“No no no,” Fluttershy said sternly. “Down!”
The atog seemed to wince, and then when Fluttershy widened her eyes and glared at it, it finally dropped the head.
Fluttershy smiled. “Good atog.”
Scootaloo raised her hoof to interrupt the story. “Look, if I really did that, I’m pretty sure it would have worked better than that.”
Pinkie smiled and tilted her head with her eyes closed. “Of course, Scootaloo,” she said with complete sincerity. “Anyway, we cut back to Rarity, with Twilight bringing important news.”
“Rarity!” Twilight mentally shouted.
Rarity jumped. “Gah! I don’t know how you startled me with our minds linked, but you did!”
The princess mentally blushed. “Ah, sorry. How aware were you of my conversation a second ago?”
“I got the gist of it. I know you realized something about the books, but what precisely?”
“I have a pretty solid guess of what’s causing all this. It was only ever theoretical, but the components necessary are all in place here. What threw me off was not knowing where the monster ideas were coming from, but now we know they’re coming from the bookshelf that was blocking the bathroom. It was indexed in the 390s, for folklore!”
Rarity hummed. “A monster that makes things found in books, then?”
“Sounds like what happens when a common Equestrian bookworm is empowered by magic. They eat books and then the characters from them appear in the real world.”
“Yes, but nothing’s been eaten, correct? I think you of all ponies would have noticed that happening.”
“Ah, but that’s where the theoretical part comes in. Dark magic powered by negative emotions can have unique effects on creatures, and while it’s never been seen in the wild, I have read and written examinations of what a bookworm charged with a large amount of it could do. There were a couple suggestions, and this matches up with one of them.”
Rarity could feel charts appearing in her mind as Twilight continued.
“Bookworms are drawn to active libraries, so of course there would have been some bookworm eggs in the soil nearby when this place was active. Then a large source of negative emotions—the destruction of Old Ponyville—washed over the eggs until one turned into a, let’s call it, nightmare worm egg. It continued incubating over the years until it finally hatched, triggered both by an increase in activity and an increase in negative emotions. A nightmare worm under this theory is less physical and more phantasmal. We haven’t seen it, but it’s been tunneling through the ground and essentially gripping its mouth onto the bookshelf.”
Rarity took a moment to parse this. “Wait, it created the tunnel and was attached to the bookshelf, and whatever we’re looking for is further down the tunnel. Twilight, are you saying that I’m walking inside a nightmare worm right this very instant?”
“Well, I mean, it isn’t all that different from you walking through me, but…”
Rarity felt herself gagging.
“Rarity! It’s fine, there’s nothing to be concerned about.”
“But I’m inside a worm! How can I not be concerned?”
“It’s feeding off two things: the contents of the books, and negative emotions. None of those are physical things. And we’re far from the point where its monsters become real, so it can’t hurt you that way either. It’s creepy, but it’s harmless.” Twilight thought for a moment. “Ah, like Granny Smith’s Haunted Corn Maze.”
Rarity shook her head. “If I weren’t linked to you, I’d wonder what exactly you think that corn maze is. Anyway, it seems like we have another monster coming up.”
Rarity pointed ahead, and a cloudy wisp approached.
Twilight hummed. “I can’t even tell what this is. It must be too early in its development for a concrete appearance. We’re getting close.”
“Now that we know we’re—hurk—inside a giant magical worm, what exactly are we approaching?”
“My guess is the physical component of the worm.”
Through Twilight’s imagination, Rarity was able to visualize the nightmare worm: its mouth was hooked onto the bookshelf, and far at its backside, there was the physical worm, floating in the air and curled up.
“The worm… is asleep?” asked Rarity.
Twilight nodded. “Nightmare worm isn’t just a fanciful name. Dark magic is forcing it into a nightmare, which is fed by the books it’s absorbing. If I’m right, the key to ending this will be to just wake it up.”
“Well that’s good.” Rarity could sense the princess flowing into another thought, but she interrupted. “Twilight, dear, before we get there, I want you to try something.”
Twilight shifted focus back to her body. “How are things here? I could feel there was a commotion of some kind earlier.”
“Things are fine,” said Fluttershy, who sat with the atog while it continued ineffectually chewing on a book. Her face turned serious. “Though Scootaloo does have something to tell you.”
Twilight turned to the pegasus filly, who was sitting with the others. “What is—” she noticed that Scootaloo’s head was on the ground, held by her front legs “—… oh.”
Scootaloo grimaced. “Yeah, this didn’t turn out to be as cool as I thought.”
Applejack ahemed.
“And I shouldn’t have done it in the first place. I’m sorry, Princess Twilight.”
Twilight looked around the room. “I… we’ll talk about this later.”
The princess found what she was looking for. With her magic, she pulled all the books off of a bookcase, and then all the books off of the folklore shelves, then swapped them. She sighed. Even if it was temporary, and she’d easily be able to swap them back, she didn’t like this violation of the Star Swirl Decimal Classification.
“Why’d you do that?” asked Apple Bloom.
“Long story short, the monsters are being made from the books, so Rarity figured if we replaced them with books without monsters, we would have much less trouble.”
Applejack laughed. “Well that’s great! No more monsters, then?”
“Unfortunately, there’s still one more monster coming. They’re less formed the further you go down the tunnel, so I don’t know what it’ll be. Hopefully we’ll have it all sorted out before it arrives.” Twilight thought for a moment. “Actually, at this point, it might be better if you all just hid, to give you time to understand the monster.”
Fluttershy stood to attention. “Yes, of course. Girls, come with me.”
The fillies, clearly shaken by the past minutes, got up without fuss. When Scootaloo struggled with how to move her head, Fluttershy picked it up by the hair, like a mother cat carrying a kitten.
“I’ll keep my distance, but I still want a good view of the bathroom,” said Applejack. “To make sure we know what’s coming. And don’t worry, I’ll protect everypony with my life.”
Twilight nodded. “Well, back to Rarity. Good luck.”
“Wow, way to make it obvious Applejack is going to die,” said Sweetie Belle.
Pinkie’s eyes widened. “What? No, Applejack isn’t going to die! That’d be so sad!”
The fillies blinked at her, and she covered her mouth with both hooves.
“Oops, didn’t mean to say that. Anyway, let’s check back in with Rarity.”
Twilight’s attention shifted back to Rarity’s mind. “I’m back, any upd—” She could tell immediately that there was something amiss with her mood. “Rarity, what is it?”
Rarity resolved to not dance around what was bothering her. “Twilight, you said this nightmare worm was awakened by a surge in activity and also a surge in negative emotions. Care to explain that last part?”
Twilight felt like she was caught in a lie. “D-did I say that? I mean, yes, it couldn’t have just been because of ponies visiting, but the negative emotions, they don’t have to be much.”
“Darling, remember our minds are linked. I can tell you’re misleading me. From what you’ve said, this worm has been here for about as long as you. Why did it only awaken now?”
“Well, it waking up today in particular is definitely because of the sleepover, but it’s more a buildup of everything that happened these past months making it slowly awaken, with today pushing it past the edge.”
“But surely your thousand years of negative emotions at being trapped—”
“Rarity!” Twilight snapped. “There weren’t a thousand years of negative emotions! For the vast majority of that time, I felt nothing. I didn’t feel pain or sorrow, just emptiness. I only started hurting again because of you! And now there are ponies getting their heads cut off, and you go missing for days with me having no clue what’s going on, and I’m scared, and that’s why the nightmare worm woke up! Are you happy now?”
Twilight could feel Rarity’s shame, and immediately regretted saying that.
“Twilight,” Rarity said. “I’m so sorry. I realized I was prodding a bit, but I’ve been so exasperated by tonight that I didn’t think to stop. I knew this was a touchy subject for you, and I was being foolish.”
“No! I mean, yes, it’s true that I didn’t like you asking that, but I shouldn’t have yelled. Our minds being linked makes it hard to have a filter.”
Rarity didn’t speak for a moment, then warmly chuckled. “Well, our minds being linked also means we both know for a fact that the other is sorry.”
Twilight giggled back. “Yeah, it is convenient like that.”
Rarity sighed in relief. “In any case, I see the tunnel opening up ahead. We must have arrived.”
Twilight nodded. “The worm’s core.”
The chamber ahead of them glowed softly, to the point that Rarity no longer needed to light her horn to look around. In terms of area, it was nearly the size of the library itself, but it wasn’t nearly as tall. The glows came from pony-sized objects similar in shape to lava lamps, but stuck to the walls and ceilings by some sticky substance. A quick look suggested to Rarity that there were perhaps a dozen of these lamps, but then the object in the center of the room drew her attention. A large worm—more of a caterpillar really, given its legs—was floating, curled up and glowing white.
“There it is,” Rarity said. “We just have to wake it up, correct?”
“Yes, that’s all we need to do.”
Rarity stood there for a moment. “Twilight, dear, this worm has been sleeping here for a thousand years. Is it really as simple as going up and shaking it?”
Doubt flooded Twilight’s mind. “Uh, maybe? Hopefully?”
The unicorn lit her horn and nudged the worm with her magic. No response. She coated the worm in her magic and shook it. Still nothing.
“Alright, it’s fine,” Twilight said. “We just have to… well, I didn’t want it to come to this, but maybe we should just blast it with magic?”
Rarity mentally glared at the princess.
Twilight mentally swung a hoof back and forth. “Our goal is just to wake it up, and this is more effective than any other options we have. The dark magic should prevent it from actually getting hurt, but it should at least surprise it.”
The unicorn kept glaring, but after a moment, she fluttered her lips. “Well, if this doesn’t work, I swear I’ll haunt you.”
She took a deep breath, lit her horn, then fired an energy blast at the worm.
This got a response.
The worm groaned, and the room shook. Rarity immediately ceased her attack, but the room didn’t stop shaking. She looked around warily as the lamps started ripping open, with mist seeping out. It was then that Rarity realized they weren’t lamps at all, but cocoons. The mist started gathering, forming into distinct figures.
They were forming into monsters.
Applejack waited behind a bookshelf, keeping her distance from the bathroom door but leaving her head out past the edge to keep an eye on it.
She could feel the cold before the monster even appeared.
All Applejack could say was, “Woah nelly!” as a shrieking spirit launched out of the passage and flew to the ceiling. She recognized the transparent blue coloring, horse front half, and wispy back half immediately: it was a windigo. With each whinny from the creature, the room grew a bit colder, and bits of snow fell to the ground.
The mare picked up her head. “Well, not much I can do on my own.”
After confirming that the windigo didn’t seem interested in looking down below, and tying her head up again, Applejack galloped to where the others were hiding. Tipped-over tables formed a sort of fort, blocking off the aisles leading toward the bathroom, and leaving open both a passage to the library’s exit and the spiral staircase leading down. Fluttershy sat with her back against a table, a worried expression on her face, while the Crusaders had wide and curious eyes.
“Sis, what’d the monster turn out to be?” asked Apple Bloom.
“Just look up,” Applejack replied.
The ponies turned their heads and watched the spirit circle around the ceiling. The chandelier itself seemed uncomfortable with its new neighbor, twisting away from it with every approach.
“A windigo?” Scootaloo waved her hoof. “Pff, that’s easy.”
“Yeah,” Sweetie replied. “We just gotta make a Fire of Friendship!”
“Already got an earth pony, unicorn, and pegasus right here.” Apple Bloom raised a hoof. “Almost doubled, matter of fact!”
Sweetie jumped up. “Let’s sing Hearth’s Warming carols!”
Fluttershy shivered from the chill. “If we start singing, won’t it notice us?”
Unheeding, Sweetie Belle took a deep breath. “THE FIRE OF FRIENDSHIP LIVES IN OUR HEARTS—”
The windigo swooped down with a loud and echoing neigh, making all the ponies scream and duck. It then flew back up, circling around the ceiling again.
“Maybe we can just be warm and friendly quietly,” suggested Fluttershy.
Applejack groaned. “Hope the princess and Rarity fix this soon.”
“Well, we’ve learned two things,” Twilight said nervously. “First, those glowing cocoons are where the fictional characters come from. Second, the nightmare worm can speed up the process of generating them when stressed.”
Rarity backed away as figures formed in front of her. “Knowing all that before you told me to attack it would have been helpful.”
“I’m really sorry,” Twilight replied. “This wasn’t covered in any theories.”
The mists from the cocoons formed into pony-sized bodies. Then they formed pony-sized heads. Then a great many of them formed long beards.
Rarity had held a breath in order to scream, but she instead released it in a confused hum. The creatures ahead of her were ponies, and all old fogeys at that. “Twilight, dear, is there some horror story about a bunch of—ahem—older gentlecolts, or…?”
The unicorn could feel Twilight’s elation. “Rarity, your idea worked! I swapped out all the horror stories on the shelves, and now all of the nightmare worm’s creations are based on philosophical works!”
The philosophers all looked at each other quizzically.
“Look! There’s Aristrotle!” the princess said excitedly. “And there’s Fetlocrates!”
Names filled Rarity’s head, and she felt a warm joy at Twilight’s excitement.
“Ooh!” Twilight said, focusing on a philosopher in foreign garb that Rarity didn’t recognize. “And there’s the founder of Yangism, Yang Zoology. We only know of his philosophy through what others have written about him.”
Yang’s eyes glowed red and he hissed, revealing sharp fangs.
Twilight’s elation evaporated. “Granted, all the writings about him are from his critics.”
The other philosophers soon joined suit, with their veins bulging and each becoming more monstrous in their own ways. Among them, Equinas grew ram horns, Coltvin grew a turtle shell, and Confloofius grew a second head.
Rarity backed away. “Twilight, explain!”
“In the end, this is still a nightmare worm we’re dealing with,” Twilight said. “I suppose it’s going to see the negatives in everything it reads.”
“So, what now?”
The monster philosophers started settling their transformations.
Twilight sighed. “Rarity, I’ve messed up a lot today. Even so, do you still trust me?”
“Of course.”
“Remember when I cast that spell through you earlier?”
“Yes, I—oh. I see, so that’s what we’re going to do. Then go right ahead, darling. I’m ready.”
Rarity closed her eyes as her magic formed into the shape she remembered from before. Their thoughts intertwined and synched up. They certainly each had concerns about the other, but if each pony was entirely reliable, there wouldn’t be a need for trust. They trusted each other because even when they were fallible, they had the other’s best interests in heart. That trust is what made the mind link spell possible in the first place, and it also allowed it to take this new form. Twilight’s knowledge of spells combined with Rarity’s magic, until they were a seamless whole.
Rarity’s eyes opened.
“Now, if you’ll indulge me,” Pinkie said as she pulled out a record labeled Anime Fight Music.
She rolled out a record player from behind her, placed the record on, and started the music.
The first to charge toward Rarity was a bewinged Aristrotle, baring his fangs as he took a flying leap. Magic gathered in Rarity’s horn, and with the greatest of ease, she teleported right behind him and he crashed into a wall. Without a moment’s hesitation, she gripped the philosopher with her magic and flung him toward a group of three others. They prepared for this by stabilizing their footings, but Rarity’s ground-softening spell arrived before Aristrotle. With the loose ground, they all toppled over on impact. A delayed second spell activated, making the ground rise up around them and form a hard cage.
Two monsters attacked next, galloping from either side of her. Rarity teleported again, but they quickly made sharp turns and followed her to her new location. The unicorn teleported into the air right above them, leading to a momentary desync as Rarity thought perhaps Twilight forgot about her lack of wings, but she quickly got the gist of the plan. Blue energy formed below the assailants, which then lifted them into the air and formed into a spherical barrier with them inside. Rarity landed on top and, with balance that the princess knew she wouldn’t have achieved after being out of practice for so long, she rolled the ball around the room with her legs. Philosophers leapt out of the way, but eventually most were run over and nailed into the ground. Satisfied, Rarity jumped off and released the barrier, sending the two stuck inside tumbling into a wall.
Last was Fetlocrates, who, in an ancient tongue that Rarity nevertheless understood, asked her to explain eudaimonia. A certain princessy part of her felt the inclination to do so, but the annoyed fashionista side instead magically pulled him toward her, yelling, “Eat the floor, mother[Pinkie chose to censor the rest]!” She then turned and struck him hard with a back-legged kick, taking him out.
“Anypony else want to dance?!” Rarity yelled.
The room shook again. Looking around, they spotted one last cocoon, which was much larger than the others. It tore open, mist pouring out and forming into a large hoof. To Rarity’s horror, the leg it was attached to formed into several ponies, connected to and overlapping with each other, all facing away from her. More of its body formed out of the same substance, pony bodies stacking up until they formed a gigantic pony that pressed against the ceiling. Finally, the head formed. It wasn’t made of smaller ponies, but rather it was a large stallion head with a moustache, a goatee, and a crown.
Rarity stared aghast, but for Twilight, annoyance took precedence. “That’s just a metaphor, and it doesn’t even appear in the text!” the princess shouted through Rarity’s mouth. “It’s literally just the cover! Did you even read Hockes’s book?”
“Twilight,” Rarity said. “I think it’s time we did the thing I suggested earlier.”
She instantly understood. “Are you sure? You’ll be completely drained of magic if we do that.”
“I’m not seeing any other options,” Rarity replied, backing away from the monster as it took a step forward, leaning down and glaring at her.
Twilight nodded then concentrated. “Alright. Lifting the mental blocks on your magic.”
Rarity felt magic rush through her, heating up her body. The new heat then flowed to her horn, starting from her back hooves. It felt like her horn was on fire, and it was only getting hotter. Finally, when it felt like her entire forehead would explode, she released it all.
The leviathan screamed as a humongous beam of blue energy consumed and overtook it. The room filled with light as it shook violently.
Rarity closed her eyes.
A thin layer of snow blanketed the library.
“OK, I got it,” Sweetie said, between her teeth chattering. “We’ll hide under a table, block it on all sides, and then we’ll sing Hearth’s Warming carols.”
“Well, I ain’t ever heard of windigos knocking over tables, so I guess it could work,” replied Apple Bloom.
“It’s coming toward us again!” Scootaloo yelled.
The ponies ducked as the spirit dived, but even as seconds passed, nothing came.
“Huh?” Applejack asked. She looked up. No windigo in sight. She looked around. In fact, there was no more snow on the ground. Then a realization struck her: she was moving her head with her neck. She reached her hoof up and confirmed that indeed, she was back together again. “Well I’ll be! They did it!”
Scootaloo rubbed her neck, confirming the same. “Aw, I didn’t even get to do anything cool with my head.”
Fluttershy looked around warily. “All the monsters are gone, right?”
“C’mon, let’s take a look.” Applejack leapt over their barricade and galloped ahead, reveling in being able to move normally again. The others followed suit.
They approached the bathroom entrance and indeed, all the monsters there were gone. Twilight floated silently alone. Everyone breathed a sigh of relief.
“I’m glad that’s over,” said Fluttershy. “Twilight, is Rarity alright?”
Twilight showed no reaction. Fluttershy tilted her head, and to everyone’s surprise, the alicorn fell to the ground.
They all shouted and gathered around her. Sweetie tried to touch her, only for her leg to pass through.
Applejack looked resolutely at the tunnel. “Something ain’t right. I’m going in!”
Before anyone could say anything to object, she leapt into the bathroom. It was like a different world: while the library was completely still, the tunnel was quaking.
“Applejack, stop!” Fluttershy shouted as, with a burst of speed, she tackled her.
She acted not a moment too soon, as the tunnel collapsed right in front of them.
“Rarity,” Applejack said, drifting off.
“They’ll make it out,” Fluttershy replied. “They have to.”
Rarity…
The unicorn drifted through space. Was she dreaming? How much of everything was a dream?
Rarity!
Twilight appeared before her, shining like a star. Rarity smiled warmly. Twilight really was so lovely. She could tell this would be a nice dream already.
The princess blushed. “Rarity, I can hear you, you know.”
Rarity froze. This wasn’t a dream. “Twilight! What are you—actually wait, where am I?” She spun around, flailing her legs, finding the ground to be nowhere in sight.
“This is new for me too, but best as I can figure, this is your unconscious.” The alicorn looked around. “Actually, this does remind me of Princess Luna’s description of the dream world.”
Rarity stopped spinning. “Well why are we—wait, the nightmare worm! What happened?”
“After we fired that last magical attack, you drained all your energy and you fainted. From there, I discovered that our link will remain as long as one of us has the necessary magic, but it’s taking a lot of focus on my end. I don’t know what’s happening either, and I can’t know unless you open your eyes.”
Rarity blinked. “My eyes? Oh, yes, my eyes.” She looked around, then ashamedly smiled at Twilight. “Sorry, but where do I find my eyes?”
Twilight squinted. “Hmm, you’re conversing with me just fine, but you can’t regain consciousness? Could this be due to having low magic?”
Rarity rubbed her chin. “Twilight, is it possible that you could control my body in my place? Like you were able to in the dragon caves.”
The alicorn reeled back. “I… I mean, sure, I think I could. I can’t imagine it’d be good for your body for me to move it when you can’t, but I suppose we don’t have any other options.”
Twilight closed her eyes, and seconds later, Rarity’s eyes opened.
She was laying on the ground could feel the intense rumbling. The walls sank in around them, and the only source of light left was the curled up worm ahead of them.
“The worm,” Rarity’s consciousness said. “It’s still there. Can we do anything to stop it?”
Twilight stared at it. She really looked at it for the first time, and saw its face. The worm was shaking and shivering, its face twisted in concern and fear.
The princess thought back when she had Rarity attack it. No wonder that didn’t work.
“Rarity,” Twilight said. “I’m going to move your body closer.”
Feeling Twilight’s confidence that she knew the answer, Rarity nodded with a smile.
Twilight got Rarity to stand up after some struggling, then slowly walked to the worm. “Hello,” she said through Rarity. “I’m sorry for what happened earlier. I thought it would be a quick way to wake you up, but I only now realized: you don’t want to wake up, do you?”
Rarity’s hoof touched the worm’s cheek. “Ever since you were an egg, you’ve been feeling nothing but terrible things outside, haven’t you? Even after Old Ponyville was destroyed, there was still a dangerous and chaotic forest above you. And just when you were getting used to that, I had to start getting stressed and worried again. All that can make even the things you should find the most joy in, books, just another source of negativity. It’s hard to find a reason to bother getting up. I can sympathize. I was asleep in a way too, for such a long time.
“But there’s so much more to the world than that. Sure, I was feeling negative thoughts, but there’s so much positivity to go with it. You must have felt our emotions during the sleepover, and the one before that, and all the other times ponies visited. All that friendship, all that—” Twilight hesitated for the briefest moment “—love. I know it’ll be hard, but you can go out there and experience all of it. Unlike me, you don’t have a barrier keeping you here. Anything keeping you here is just in your head, and I think you can overcome it.”
Rarity embraced the nightmare worm. “We’ve been suffering together all this time and I didn’t even realize. I have ponies who are trying to ease my pain, and I think they’d be willing to help you too. So how about it? Do you want to try?”
The worm squirmed for a moment, then let out a cry and shined bright.
Rarity covered her eyes as light filled the room.
Applejack dug into the collapsed tunnel with her hooves. “Ugh. Come on, we gotta make it.”
Fluttershy’s ear lifted. “Applejack, wait. Do you hear that?”
“The rumbling? It’s the same as it ever was.” Her ear lifted. “Wait, no, it sounds like something’s coming closer!”
The mares looked at each other, then jumped out of the bathroom. Soon after, the tunnel blasted open and a large object flew out.
“What is it?” yelled Scootaloo.
“Another monster?” asked Apple Bloom.
The object twirled in the air and spread out its sparkling blue wings. Between them was a green caterpillar-like creature with decorative swirls and shining eyes, and held in four of its legs was Rarity’s unconscious body. It floated to the ground, and gently set Rarity down.
The ponies immediately gathered around her, with Fluttershy examining her face. “She’s breathing. Thank hoof.”
The ponies turned their attention to the creature, looking it up and down. Seeing that it wasn't threatening, Sweetie asked, “Woah, what are you?”
“He’s a bookworm,” Twilight said. Her body lifted up and regained life, though she seemed more wobbly than usual. “This is what a mature bookworm, fully expunged of dark magic, looks like.”
“Twilight, you’re OK!” said Scootaloo.
“I thought you were, like, ghost-dead!” said Sweetie Belle.
Apple Bloom raised an eyebrow. “Wait, how is he a worm? He’s got wings and legs.”
Twilight waved her hoof. “Yes, well, there’s a lot to the etymology. It’s actually quite fascinating, but we can probably save that for later.”
“What happened to Rarity?” asked Applejack. “Will she be alright?”
Twilight nodded. “She’ll be fine. She’s completely out of magic, and she’ll probably be low on magic all this week, but she’ll be able to walk like normal after a good night’s rest.”
“Well that’s good,” Applejack said. She turned to the bookworm. “So, uh, what’s this fella’s deal?”
“He was under the influence of dark magic, which made him make all the monsters. He’s better now.”
The bookworm slowly opened his mouth, speaking out loud for the first time since birth. “I’m… sorry…” he said in an awkward tone.
Applejack smiled. “Well, can’t help it if dark magic was involved. And nopony really got hurt, so no harm, no foul.”
“You can stay here if you’d like,” Twilight said. “You’ve never been able to enjoy the library in p—err, in worm before, after all.”
The worm shook his head. “No. Go… outside…”
Twilight’s eyes widened. “Ah, of course. You’ve never even seen the sky, have you?”
He looked at the library entrance. “Go… now…”
“Well, if you ever need to rest at a library, you can always come back here.” Twilight tilted her head and smiled. “And if you need to talk to somepony.”
The bookworm nodded. His itch for exploration taking over, he took flight as the ponies waved. He circled around then launched out the library, through the entrance tunnel, and out into the night sky.
“That was definitely something,” said Applejack.
“I hope he stays safe,” said Fluttershy.
“Now Princess, it’s definitely too late for any of us to go back home, so, uh—” Applejack raised an eyebrow “—just to make sure, there ain’t any other secret rooms that might have a monster that’ll bother us tonight, right?”
Twilight shook her head. “Definitely not.”
Apple Bloom yawned, and this was soon joined by a chorus of yawns. “Well, that’s good enough for me. I’m plum tuckered out.”
“We can tidy up in the morning,” Fluttershy said. “Let’s head back to the beds.”
With barely open eyes, the Crusaders nodded in agreement and followed behind the adults. Twilight flew after them, lifting Rarity with her magic.
Soon, the ponies all got into their beds, and it didn’t take much for them to fall asleep.
Twilight placed Rarity under covers and carefully placed pillows under her head. The alicorn gently smiled as she watched her.
Rarity fidgeted and, with her eyes closed, said, “Darling, is it alright if I rested my head on your side?”
Twilight giggled. “Rarity, you know you’d just go through me.”
“You can go through the pillows, and it’d be almost the same.”
Twilight theatrically rolled her eyes, not that Rarity could see. “Alright.” She did as instructed, and Rarity gave a content sigh as she buried her head in the pillows.
The princess watched the unicorn drift to sleep. This was oddly pleasant. Maybe one day, she thought to herself, they could do it for real.
“And thus, they never see the bookworm again,” Pinkie said. “Because he was just a filler character! The end!”
Pinkie looked at the Crusaders expectantly, only to receive blank stares.
“Look, I really wanted to like it,” said Apple Bloom, “but I didn’t get it at all. Like what is the entire deal with all this?”
“They keep referencing stuff that you never told us about,” Sweetie Belle said. “Is it worldbuilding? What are we supposed to make of all of this?”
“And you know what the weirdest part was?” Scootaloo’s face twisted in disgust. “All that romance between Rarity and Twilight. What’s that about?”
Apple Bloom jumped up. “Oh yeah! I wanted to mention that! That was super weird.”
Pinkie furrowed her eyebrows. “Why’s that weird? Aren’t they dating?”
Sweetie laughed. “What? No they aren’t!”
Pinkie’s jaw dropped. “Did they break up? No, that’s terrible!”
Scootaloo squinted. “They never dated in the first place! That’d be so weird.”
Pinkie scratched her chin. “Wait, did I go to the wrong reality?” There was a knock at the door, and Pinkie zoomed over to open it.
Rarity stood at the door, her eyes beaming. “Good evening, Pinkie dear! I’m here to pick up Sweetie Belle, since it’s getting rather late.”
Pinkie sighed in relief. “Oh Rarity, perfect timing! Can you clear this up: who exactly are you dating?”
Rarity flipped her hair. “Well, Mudbriar of course.”
“Oh good, exactly what I—” Pinkie’s eyes bugged out. “Wait, what?!”
The stallion in question approached the door, wearing his usual blank expression.
“Oh Briar, my love,” Rarity said, twirling, then leaning in for a quick kiss on the lips. “I was just telling Pinkie ‘good evening’.”
“Technically,” Mudbriar said, raising his hoof. “Since it is after midnight, it’s proper to say ‘good morning’.”
Rarity laughed. “Oh, so true!”
Pinkie got on her knees and screamed to the sky, “NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!”
“M’yes.”
This story ended up far longer than I intended. The original concept was for the only monster to be the Diamond Dogless Head, and there not being another monster that created it, but as I was writing, things just evolved out of there. I enjoyed it, but my plans for NaNoWriMo definitely got sidetracked.
Full disclosure, I hadn't settled on the nightmare worm concept until partway through chapter 2. I don't think I made any inconsistencies, but I have to imagine I didn't set it up as much as I could have.
Now for philosopher identities:
Aristrotle - Aristotle
Fetlocrates - Socrates
Yang Zoology - Yang Zhu
Equinas - Aquinas
Coltvin - Calvin
Confloofius - Confucius
That last monster is a reference to the cover of Hobbes's Leviathan.
As for the song that played during the fight scene, I had several options, but I think the one that fits best is “Fly High” from Gunbusters episode 5.
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Delightful stuff, including an unexpected but welcome reference to the comics. And a multiversal Pinkie is always fun. Thank you for a most entertaining read… and a truly disturbing twist at the end.
Oh! Is that a reference to the comics?
Guess I gotta switch from Dark Academia to Epic Anime OST for this part.
11144923
Indeed it is!
This is an underrated and under-read fic. Super fun, and that twist at the very end? Truly horrific.