Chapter One

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Cool autumn winds filled the air as the small coffee shop on Ponyville Lane closed for the night. Brewing its last coffee for the day, the hostess, Vanilla Mocha, sat patiently behind the counter. The unicorn was closing her restaurant early today- she wanted everything to be perfect for tomorrow night. In less than twenty four hours she would be back here, dressing the place in party decorations. As the drink finished, she poured it into the cup and gave it to her customer.

"Here's your Vanilla Cappuccino, Mr.Galaxy." Mocha gave him the coffee in her light yellow magical aura. A pegasus stallion by the name of Galaxy Nebula took the coffee with a smile.

"Thank you, Mocha." Galaxy Nebula is a dark blue stallion, Tardis blue for you whovians. His short, almost spiked, black mane rested on his shoulders as he sat at the counter, almost inhaling the drink. As Mocha turned the kitchen appliances off for the night, the bell on the door rang. Looking up, she saw two more ponies trot in.

A mare Vanilla Mocha recognized as Breeze entered, along with their friend Charming Thunder. Charming was a bright red unicorn with a shaggy yellow mane, whereas Breeze was a dark grey batpony, her two toned navy blue hair fitting nicely with her complexion. Galaxy waved his hoof to his friends. "Hey, guys."

Charming Thunder trotted over to his buddy, Breeze following behind. "Hey, Nebula! Saw ya' in the window; thought we'd come over and say 'hi'." Thunder glanced over at Breeze, who smiled sheepishly. "Hi." She said, before her attention turned completely to Vanilla Mocha. "So tomorrow's your party, right?"

Mocha smiled. "Yes! I'm looking forward to seeing all of you there. We're going to have lots of snacks, we're going to watch a movie and-" Charming Thunder raised and eyebrow, and cutting Mocha off he said, "This isn't going to be like last year, is it?" Mocha's smile faded as memories came back from a year ago. She had hosted a Nightmare Night party at her house, and half the guests ended up leaving because it was 'sissy'. Sighing, she looked up at the stallion. "I'll do my best to make it spookier."

"'Spookier'? Sorry Vanilla, but you just can't do that. You're not the most scary pony." Galaxy Nebula replied.

"Yeah. I hate to complain, but, Vanilla... your idea of Nightmare Night is for foals. Last year was ok, I guess, but this year we'd like something... Fun. And fun means scary." Breeze added.

"Not to be rude, but these ponies and I could always go to another party-" Charming began. "We'll be here tonight." Galaxy cut him off quickly. Breeze, glancing at Galaxy, looked puzzled, but decided it would be best to be nice to their hostess. Mocha had put in her effort to make it the best for everypony that was invited, and even though they preferred spending Nightmare Night being scared, they wouldn't mind to at least spend a little bit of time with their friends.

"Wow, thanks! I knew I could count on you guys!" Mocha's face beamed with excitement. The sun was now set, and Galaxy was done with his coffee. As the three ponies left, Mocha quickly wiped the counters, double checked the locks, and closed the shop. As she stepped out of the door, she was confronted by two more of her friends. "Daffodil Spark? Paradise Oasis? What are you two doing up at this time?" Mocha trotted over to them.

"We were about to ask you the same!" Paradise, a white furred Pegasus with a ginger mane replied. "I thought you were closing early."

"Well... I was. But then I had a final order for a vanilla cappuccino, and I couldn't put down a customer and friend."

Daffodil, an orange earth pony mare, asked, "That was a friend? They didn't even want to come to your party! Maybe Galaxy was being nice, but geesh Mocha, they just talked bad about you!"

"What do you mean? Galaxy said they'd come." Vanilla Mocha smiled sheepishly.

"Yeah, after he and his friends talked down your party techniques." Daffodil replied. Vanilla Mocha sighed, realizing this. Paradise sat her hoof on Mocha's shoulder. "Don't worry, they just like to be frightened a lot more than most ponies. I'm sure your party tonight will be great!"

"Aww, thank you Paradise," Mocha smiled, "Speaking of which, I need to finish inviting everypony!"

Daffodil chuckled. "Don't let us stop you. Goodnight, Mocha! We'll see you at the party!" She and Paradise waved as the unicorn waved back before dashing into the night. When Mocha arrived home, she fell onto her bed. "Gahhh..." She had five more letters to send out, and luckily her coltfriend was coming over to help her. Mocha needed to close her eyes. She had a long day at work, and was now worried that everypony wouldn't like her get-together. Minutes later she heard a knock.

Eclipse, she thought to herself. A smile on her face, and slightly blushing, she ran to the door to open it. Outside was the tall batpony stallion she had been waiting on. His dark grey fur against his thick, black mane made his bright red eyes even more appealing than usual. Unlike most batponies, he had the normal characteristics of a regular pony, but had the most obvious bat feature- bat wings. Other batponies, like Breeze, also had thin pupils, large fuzzy ears, and natural fangs.

The white unicorn smiled and kissed his cheek softly. Now it was Eclipse's turn to blush a little. Chuckling, he trotted inside. After getting dinner and catching up on each other's day, they sat down together at Mocha's dining room table and discussed the last few invitations. Mocha wrote them out as Eclipse put them in the envelope and added the addresses.

"Let's see... Hmm, oh! My friend Frosted Shard would like to come, for sure. She loved it last year! Dear Frost, I will be hosting a..." Her voice faded as she began to write.

"And.... Why didn't we do this last night?" Eclipse asked her, questioned as to why they were finishing half the invites tonight when tomorrow would be the party.

"Because, I had run out of envelopes, and all the shops were closed. Besides, mailing them is much more fun than hoof delivering them. Knowing Derpy Mail, that company will get them out there within a few hours." Mocha smiled. "And.... Done! Here ya' go." She gave her coltfriend the letter as he reached for an envelope. Looking at her list, Mocha read off the next names. "Looks like my friends Tacitus and Garfield are next."

"Garfield? You mean the orange cat that eats everything that just recently moved here from 'Jon's House'... Wherever that is?" Eclipse asked as he finished licking the envelope shut.

"Well... Yeah, pretty much. He's really nice and funny when you get to know him." Mocha said as she began writing her letter to Tacitus.

Eclipse shrugged. "Well... Ok." He smiled. Glancing over at the list of names, he read aloud, "Shadow Wing and Quillton Brooks?" Mocha nodded in response. "Those are the last two."

"I remember Shadow Wing from school! He and I are both bats, aren't we?" Mocha looked up at him, and as she opened her mouth, he said, "That was rhetorical."

"Oh..."

"Silly Mocha~" He nuzzled her, "Yeah, we were friends in school. After we graduated, we went our separate ways. It'll be great to catch up with him!"

"I sure hope everypony likes the party... Last year didn't go so well." Mocha said as she started Quillton's letter.

"Why wouldn't they?"

"It was really... 'Sissy', don't you think?"

Memories of apple bobbing and not-so-scary Nightmare Night stories flooded Eclipse's mind. He remembered that the majority of the ponies left the party, making Mocha feel rejected.

Vanilla wasn't going to do that this year. She was determined to make everypony stay, even if that meant making it spookier. "There's just so many ponies to satisfy. I don't want my friends to think I'm favoriting some over the others. But if I don't make it scary it'll seem like that."

Eclipse smiled. "Mocha, calm down. It'll be fine, trust me. We're gonna watch an old horror film and have snacks and drinks for the first part. I know everypony will stay for that."

Mocha looked up into her coltfriend's illuminating red eyes. "You're right." She wrapped her front hooves around him in a hug. "I love you~"

Eclipse hugged back. "I love you too..."

"Hey, guess what?"

"What, Mocha?"

"Here." She hoofed him Tacitus' and Quillton's letters. "These need envelopes." Smiling, she nudged his side, and continued writing the last letter.

"Ugh....fine."

~~~

Morning had come and gone. Afternoon was dawning, and the city of Canterlot was getting its Nightmare Night street decorations put up. Mocha's shop had been closed all day, and she was just now unlocking the front door. With Eclipse by her side, she knew she could get everything ready for the party. Stepping inside, she quickly ran to the back-room, where a pile of boxes lay.

"I got all of this down yesterday-It's Nightmare Night decorations. Also, there's some movies in that box over there," Mocha pointed to a box in the far right corner of the room, "Since you're better with horror than I, would you mind finding the best movie? Just.... Not too scary." Mocha smiled sheepishly.

"Of course, sweetie." The bat stallion smiled.

"Thank you," Mocha's sheepish smile turned into a normal, wide smile, "I'll take this box and start decorating." She lifted a box up with her magic.

"Alright. I'll be back here, and I'll even take out the cute decorations from these boxes. We... Aren't really fillies and colts anymore." He said, holding up a smiling, fuzzy plushy of Nightmare Moon.

"Heh...." Mocha walked out into the foyer, and began hanging up decorations. Minutes later, blue, black, and grey streamers hung above the door and windows. Eclipse walked out with two more boxes not long after. "Thought you'd like more to work with." He sat them down and smiled.

"Oh, thank you! Hey, how does it look so far?" Mocha pointed at the streamers.

"They look great, sweetie." Eclipse replied before heading into the back-room.

Determined to make this the best Nightmare Night party her friends have been to, Mocha continued decorating. The plain wooden walls of the coffee shop were transformed into the night sky- moons and stars decked the walls with their glistening shine, as they reflected any light that rested on them. Fake spider webs haunted the underneath of tables and chairs, and even a little bit covered the bell above the door.

On each table, instead of the little vase with flowers, sat a motley arrangement of bones held together by spiderweb, with artificial black roses woven in between. "Yes... This looks good. Scary, but kinda pretty." Mocha whispered to herself.

"Yes, it does, Vanilla Mocha."

Mocha jerked up. "Huh? Who said that?" The voice Mocha had heard was faint, like a very quiet whisper. The voice itself seemed.... Familiar, but she couldn't recognize it. Looking around, she saw nopony. All that sat behind her were two more boxes of decorations. A tall hoof-held mirror stuck out of one of the boxes, while the other was already half used, obviously not as full. "It was probably just my mind playing tricks on me..." Shrugging it off, she continued decorating.

"Vanilla Mocha..." The voice sounded again, still just as faint. Mocha couldn't tell whether or not it was from a colt or filly- it was too quiet to tell. "Alright... Eclipse, are you pulling a prank on me? I know how you love Nightmare Night." Mocha walked into the back-room to find her coltfriend reading the back of a movie. "Hey, Mocha- does this one look good?"

Vanilla sighed. "Eclipse... Are you calling my name? Please be honest..."

"Calling your name? No... I don't think I did. Why?"

"I keep hearing things. Please don't pull any pranks on me. I know you love doing that on Nightmare Night, but can you please wait until I'm done decorating? I don't want to get distracted and not finish before they get here..."

"Of course, but I wasn't calling you."

Glancing at him, Mocha sighed. "Fine. But I'm still kinda creeped out." She slowly walked back into the foyer of the restaurant, and continued finishing the decorations. Minutes later she heard the mysterious voice again, only a little louder and clearer. Suddenly the voice didn't seem so strange and unidentifiable... It was not only familiar, but Mocha realized that it was... Her own voice.

Looking behind her again, she decided to stop the noise, and to do that, she'd have to find the source. Carefully looking around, the cafe looked the same. The one and a half full boxes, the streamers, bones, webs, roses, stars, moons... The boxes. "Perhaps Eclipse hid something in there? I know he likes to go far with Nightmare Night... But I can't blame him. It's his favorite holiday after all."

Mocha approached the boxes, and as she did, she noticed the small mirror. "I don't remember owning this..."

"Vanilla Mocha...."

Suddenly, she stopped. The voice... Sounded closer. Looking into the mirror, she jumped from fright. Instead of seeing her reflection, she saw a pony similar to her. Also a white furred unicorn, the mare in the mirror had short, straight hair for her mane and tail. Her hair was also ghost white like her body, and it had countless thin streaks of black in it. Her face wore a wicked grin as her glowing green eyes met up with Mocha. She also had no white in her eyes... Instead, they were black like the night, and her green irises illuminated like lanterns. Her cutiemark was identical to Mocha's, except it was the wrong color. Instead of a golden star, it was black.

Mocha screamed from fear, panicking. Eclipse ran into the room, and stood beside Mocha, and calmed her down.

"Th-there was a p-pony in the mirror! I swear!" Mocha exclaimed, clinging onto the stallion.

"Yes, silly. That's your reflection."

"But it wasn't me!"

Nuzzling her, he said, "Mocha... Look. The windows are open, you have decorations everywhere, and you were up a long time last night. You're probably just tired, and mistaking it for something else."

"But it wasn't anything else, I promise!"

Eclipse sighed. "I don't know what it was. But it's gone, yes?"

Mocha nervously looked back at the mirror. "Well... Um, yes."

"Good. Now, go get your costume and change. The guests will be here within twenty minutes. I'll clean up and start the snacks."

"Well... Alright." Mocha forced a smile and used her magic to put the boxes and the mirror behind the counter for the time being. Grabbing her costume, she went into the filly's room to change. Minutes later she came back, wearing black cat ears and paws. Her long brown tail was braided back, and she had put pink paint on her nose, and was wearing whiskers.

Eclipse looked up from what he was doing when he heard her hoofsteps. He smiled at the sight of the mare, and blushed lightly. "Me-ow!~" He exclaimed, trotting over to her. Mocha giggled, nuzzling his neck. "I guess I should get into my costume?"

Mocha looked up at the clock. "Oh, yes! They'll be here in less than ten minutes- I can't believe I lost track of time!"

Eclipse wasted no time in grabbing his costume and changing. Already a batpony, he slipped on a cape and fangs. Brushing his mane back, he began to look more and more like a vampire.

Mocha finished preparing the snacks, and as if on cue, when the last one was done, the bell on her door rang, and the first few ponies entered.

A tall brown unicorn dressed in a long white robe with a long red sash entered first. He was also wearing a small golden crown on his head. "Hello, Ms. Mocha. Thank you for inviting me to your Nightmare Night get-together." The stallion smiled.

"Hi, Tacitus! And it was no problem. Hey, you look pretty good as a roman emperor." She chuckled.

"Thank you, and being a cat suits you, your quirky personality and all." He lifted his muzzle into the air, "Is that... Coffee?"

"Yep! I have that, along with hot coco and apple cider. Would you like some?"

"Yes, please."

"Ok! I'll be there in a minute to pour it. Would you mind waiting by the counter?" Mocha asked him.

"Not at all." Tacitus smiled, and walked in.

As he stepped inside, Vanilla was confronted by Breeze, the batpony mare. She was dressed in a big dark grey spider suit with long, realistic legs. The sides of the costume was covered in big, dark red bulging eyes. Breeze wore a matching cap on her head, and dark makeup.

"Hiya, Breeze!" Mocha welcomed her with a smile, "Happy Nightmare Night!"

"Ya know you don't look very scary?"

"Heh... Come on in. We're watching a horror movie."

"Fine. Oh, and Happy Nightmare Night."

As the batpony walked inside, Vanilla's smile faded. Daffodil, whom was wearing a scary yet pretty black and purple witch costume, approached the unicorn. "Don't listen to her, she should know you wouldn't be dressed as something scary. Besides, you look really cute as a kitty cat."

"Thanks, Daff. You look good too! I... I just don't want to let her down, or any pony else for that matter."

Daffodil Spark trotted inside, and as Mocha watched her, she saw Tacitus at the counter. That's right, the coffee... Looking back outside the door, Mocha saw nopony she recognized. Letting it shut, she trotted back to the stallion.

"Sorry to keep you waiting."

"It's fine, really. What kind of coffees do you have?"

Mocha pulled out her autumn menu. "Anything in here is in stock."

After moments of searching, he found one. "May I have the Pumpkin Spice Latte?"

"Why not?" Mocha took the menu, "And tonight, everything is free of charge, of course." She smiled as she poured some into a cup. "Luckily Eclipse and I had everything ready-"

"Did somepony say 'Eclipse'?" Shadow Wing cut her off, walking into the shop. The stallion, who was a full-blooded batpony like Breeze, looked around. Eclipse flew in and welcomed him.

"It's been forever!" Eclipse said, hoof-bumping his old school buddy.

"Ah, so you're a full bat now, are you?" Shadow asked him.

"Nope. I'm part pony, part dragon, and part bat. I'm just using my wings as apart of my vampony costume."

Shadow chuckled. "I am my costume! I just consider myself a 'fruit bat' to be fair..."

Mocha felt a tap on her back. It was some of her friends- Frosted Shard, Quillton Brooks, Paradise Oasis, and Garfield. "Hey, guys!"

"Hay is for horses," Garfield the cat said, "I prefer lasagna."

Everypony chuckled at him, except for Quillton. "Actually, it is very unnatural and unhealthy for cats to eat lasagna. Most cats need more vitamins, minerals, and proteins to survive, found in such foods as fresh water fish, small inland birds, and garden snakes. Back in 700 BC, cats would also commonly feed on-"

"Woah, Frost- cool costume. What is it?" Paradise cut in.

"Oh, um, this thing? It's just a little something I threw together. I'm supposed to be a Neighponese samurai for Nightmare Night." Frost explained.

"It looks amazing!" Mocha commented.

"Why, thank you! Your cat costume is pretty unique too. What about you, Paradise?" Frost asked.

"I'm a fairy princess." She wore a light pink dress, with a matching tiara and little antennae on her head. She wore little pink slippers with a light green bow on the tip of each one, and her red mane was long and wavy. "Daffodil helped me last night- she and I were walking back from Rarity's Boutique when we met up with you when you were closing shop." She smiled at Mocha.

"I was forced to go as a pink princess by my stupid adopted brother Nermal, so don't make fun of me or else I'll teleport you to a volcano!" Garfield, the orange cat, said. Everypony chuckled at him. "I'm serious!"

"Quillton, that's a very nice, um... Black hoodie and jumper you're wearing. What's your costume again?" Mocha asked the earth pony stallion.

"I am the twelfth Doctor, my favorite doctor. And thank you, though honestly, must I correct you. This isn't a 'black hoodie and jumper', this is a suit made with fine precision created for inter-dimensional traveling purposes only. Normal clothing cannot simply stand the harsh circumstances of such teleportation, so I had the best of the best from Canterlot make me this outfit."

"Oh, that's very... Specific and thoughtful. Heh... Hey, who's ready for the movie?" Mocha called out to everypony.

"I am!" Paradise cheered.

"What exact is the movie?" Galaxy Nebula asked, walking in. His costume was his evil counterpart, his eyebrows down and his smile wide.

"It's about the Headless Horse. It's an old horror film I found in the back-room. It looks frightening just by the small paragraph on the back of the case!" Eclipse replied.

"The... Headless Horse?" Galaxy questioned.

"Yep!" Mocha smiled.

Galaxy facehoofed. "I knew that... I was just thinking out loud."

"I'll go ahead and start it." Eclipse said, getting up. He was sitting at a table talking to Shadow Wing and Charming Thunder, who had also come moments ago. Charming was wearing a grey and brown werewolf costume.

Turning off the lights, Mocha sat down with her friends. She had brought pillows and blankets from her home and had arranged them on the ground beside the couches, where Breeze, Charming Thunder, Quillton and Galaxy Nebula sat on one, and Frost, Tacitus, and Shadow Wing and Daffodil sat on the other. Paradise sat on the soft blankets next to Mocha, and Garfield the cat lay on the end on the blankets, closest to the screen. Eclipse started the film, and then snuggled up against Mocha.

"So, this is an old movie, like thirty years old?" Charming asked, "Because I prefer things in color."

Breeze snickered at Charming's comment.

"Actually, it is in color. It's in grey." Quillton added.

"I thought old movies were in black and white," Daffodil asked.

"No, technically speaking, 'black' and 'white' aren't colors." Quillton replied.

"He's right. They are simply pigments and shades. When you combine all the colors you get white, and when you have the absence of all colors you get black. They're essentially shades and tints." Tacitus explained.

Daffodil was even more puzzled. "Then why do we go to school when we're little and learn that those are colo-"

"Can you be quiet? Some of us want to watch the movie!" Frost exclaimed. After a few more snickers from Breeze and Charming, they quietened down.

~~~

The small filly wandered aimlessly through the thick forest, her heart beating quickly. Thump... Thump, thump. Thump... Thump, thump. Nervously, carefully, slowly... Step after step the small filly continued through the woods. The moon shined brightly as the darkness of the forest surrounded her. Suddenly, there was a sound. Snap! The filly froze. Crickets chirped, and then they got quiet, like as if they were jumping away. Snap! There it was again.

As the headless horse made its way through the forest, tension rose. The foal's eyes widened, and large tears ran down her cheek. "Oh no..." She looked around her, frightened. "Y-you found me! Nooo! I don't have your horseshoe, I swear!" She began running, but she was too weak. As the headless horse approached, she grew slower and weaker.

Paradise was shaking. "Celestia, this is-"

"Lame? Everypony knows the story of the headless horse!" Charming cut her off.

"Vanilla Mocha, not to interrupt, but may I have a refill on my latte?" Tacitus asked.

Ignoring the others, Mocha sighed and forced a smile. "Of course, Tacitus." She stood up and trotted into the kitchen with the brown unicorn behind her.

"You know, the movie isn't that bad. I think this was a superb idea of a party!" He said, sitting down on one of the stools by the counter.

"Heh... Thanks. It's pretty hard making everypony happy."

"They're happy. I've been around a lot of ponies- being a professor, and now a colt and filly schoolteacher, I've seen ponies act like how those grown mares and stallions are. They just want to act cool on Nightmare Night, and since this is not exactly their style, they just want something to do since they do not particularly like parties in this fashion, that's all."

"Wow, I never thought about it like that," Vanilla smiled, "Thanks, Tacitus."

"No problem." He smiled back.

Vanilla Mocha poured the coffee into his cup and watched him go sit down. Being the clean, tidy mare she is, she wiped down the counter and sat back to watch the movie before she put the rag back. Though she was much farther away from the screen, it was still just as much enjoyable yet scary.

"You will die!" The headless horse screamed.

"Ah-Eeeik!" The filly in the movie shrieked.

Galaxy Nebula raised an eyebrow. "How does the headless horse talk? It doesn't have a mouth."

"More importantly- how does it eat?" Garfield the cat asked.

"Shh!" Eclipse interjected.

Mocha couldn't help but chuckle. It was true, the movie didn't seem as freighting when it was taken too realistically. Sighing, she rang out the damp rag, and began to walk back into the room.

"Vanilla....Mocha..." It was the voice.

"Wha-huh?" Mocha stopped. Looking behind her, she saw the boxes she had sat there earlier. Sticking out of one of the boxes was the mirror.

"Vanilla Mocha..."

Vanilla stepped closer to the mirror, and she saw the same odd reflection as earlier. "Who are you and what do you want?" Mocha whispered.

A wide grin stretched across the new mare's face.

On the other side of the room, the lights seemed to fade. "Um... Guys? The 'Exit' sign up there is dying..." Frost looked up at the dark red sign that used to be bright just a few minutes ago.

"A-and hey, who shut those curtains?" Paradise looked towards the window. "I could see the streetlights out there just a minute ago!"

"And why is the movie fading? It's a tape, it doesn't do this!" Shadow Wing exclaimed as the movie began to fuzz out on the screen. The sound became staticky before it too faded out with the screen, which went black.

"This wasn't planned... Was it?" Quillton asked.

"Who cares? This is awesome!" Breeze exclaimed, flying up into the air.

"Well, I care! I can't see!" Garfield responded.

"Everypony, calm down!" Eclipse shouted. "I'll find a light switch and fix the movie, ok?"

"Aww... The party was just getting good and spooky!" Charming commented.

Eclipse ignored him and stood up. Knowing the cafe by heart, he walked over to the lights. He switched one on... But nothing happened. Perhaps that's the fan? Clicking it off, he hit the other switch in the wall. Still, nothing happened. "Ok... Any unicorns here with bright magic?"

"I'll help you out." Tacitus lit up his horn, it glowing dark blue. The room illuminated in the dark shade, yet everypony could see each other.

"Thanks, Tacitus." Eclipse said with relief.

"My pleasure."

Looking around the cafe, the ponies could see the closed curtains and eerie decorations. The air around them felt cold and dry, and the hardwood floors felt oddly warm and sticky.

Sudden realization hit Eclipse. "Where's Mocha? I don't see-"

The stallion was cut off by a shrilling, bloodcurdling scream.

Garfield jumped. "Gah! It sounded like that dying pig was over here!" He shouted in annoyance as he pointed to the kitchen behind him.

Tacitus moved closer towards the kitchen. The scream, like the movie's audio, was fading quickly.

"This is so spooky! And we underrated Mocha," Breeze said, "I didn't know that a mare could change in a year. Oh well!" Turning to her friends Galaxy and Charming, she smiled. "I totally had faith in her this whole time!"

"Yeah, sure you did... Anyways, I want to investigate a little bit myself. I wanna know where that noise came from!" Charming lit up his horn, which was also blue, and at once the light landed on the mirror. The light reflected off of it, casting a ray of light blue across the room.

"What's that light blue color coming from?" Paradise Oasis asked, noticing the reflected ray. Everypony gathered around behind the counter and saw the boxes... And the small, white hoof-held mirror.

Eclipse gasped when he saw the reflection in the glass. "Mocha?!"

The unicorn was trapped inside, crying. As she heard her name she looked up. Her eyes were already red, and the scared look on her face only became more worried when her eyes met everypony else's.

"Vanilla Mocha? How'd you get in there? Not even I have established time travel, much less inter-objectial travel." Quillton said.

Eclipse glanced at him, then turned his attention back to his marefriend. He opened his mouth to talk, but before he could, Vanilla interjected.

"Beware of The Terror..." She said in a surprisingly calm voice.

"Do... What?" Daffodil asked.

"B-beware of T-the..." Before she could finish, the unicorn faded into the mirror, leaving behind only darkness.

"No! Noooooo! Ok, Mocha, cut it out!" Eclipse yelled furiously. There was no reply.

"The....Terror? What did she mean by that?" Paradise asked.

"What does it matter? Mocha is in the holiday spirit!" Galaxy replied, Breeze and Charming Thunder at his side.

Eclipse faced them angrily. "What. Does. It. Matter?! I know my marefriend better than anypony here! She'd never do that- not even something much less spooky for that matter!"

"Um... Guys?" Garfield the cat asked.

"Dude, calm down. It's true, she could be coming out of her comfort zone." Shadow Wing said.

"Guys?" Garfield asked again.

"Well I for one think that we should find Vanilla Mocha." Frosted Shard declared.

"Guys?!"

"I agree, Frost." Tacitus trotted over to her for extra light.

"But still, Paradise had a point. What was 'The Terror' that Mocha was talking abo-" Daffodil began.

"GUUUUUUYS!!!!!" Garfield yelled. The room became silent and everypony's eyes turned to the fat orange cat. "Thank you." He smiled, appreciating the attention. "Now.... To my point. What is THAT?!" Garfield screamed, pointing behind all the ponies.

Everypony turned around and saw a huge mare behind them. As tall as Celestia, the half transparent ghost-like pony stood behind the counter, where the boxes were. Her fur was as white as Mocha's, and her mane as straight as a ruler. Her mane was pearl white, and it had black streaks in it. She wore a pitch black choker around her neck, and her eyes literally glowed green.

The most interesting features had to be her eyes and cutiemark. Her eyes weren't like anypony else's; were here should have had been white in her eyes it was as black as the night, and the irises glowed like lights. Her cutiemark oddly resembled Vanilla Mocha's star, but instead, it was just a single black star.

"I am The Terror, Vanilla Mocha's worst nightmare! And I shall be yours surely as well!" The ghostly mare bellowed. As she broke into psychotic laughter, everypony screamed from freight.

Chapter Two

View Online

"This is AWESOME!" Charming Thunder exclaimed, everypony else screaming from fear of The Terror. "Alright, Mocha. We get it! Cool joke."

The Terror continued her hysterical laugh as Charming talked to her.

"You are Mocha, aren't you...?" The red unicorn was beginning to doubt himself. Was Vanilla Mocha really gone? But if she was, then where did she go?

Ending her long, boastful laugh the ghostly mare lowered her neck like a prowling wolf. Her glowing green eyes scanned the room as the eleven ponies stared back, frozen by her presence. Finally, Eclipse broke the silence.

"Where is Mocha?" He boldly asked, trying to hide his fear from her.

"Mocha?" The Terror questioned, her voice sounding dumbfounded. Then, a large, powerful smile stretched across her face. Her pupils grew small and her sharp, pearl white teeth glistened like stars in the darkest sky. She raised her neck up a little, tall enough to be above all the ponies. "Mocha..." Her raspy voice repeated.

"Well, where is she?!" Eclipse yelled, furious.

The Terror's eyes shot at him instantly, her face in a frown.

"Eclipse, what did you do?" Shadow Wing asked nervously as The Terror's lips began to curve up into a wide smile.

"Uhm...."

The Terror's eyes glowed red, and her grin grew wider. She chuckled under her breath as she slowly approached Eclipse. At once, her mane transformed into an exact replica of Eclipse's, though it was still white with black streaks. Her eyes turned the same shade of red as his eyes. Her body turned into a stallion's body, and the cutiemark disappeared. The unicorn horn faded, and long bat wings sprouted. The once green eyes faded, and they instead glowed red.

"I am not only Vanilla's worst nightmare..." He whispered, his new voice deep. "For I am The Terror, and I am everypony's worst fear!"

"W-what!?" Charming Thunder mumbled. He definitely knew now that this wasn't Vanilla. But if it really was an evil pony, and not Mocha, then who was The Terror?

"I am Eclipse's nightmare!" The Terror yelled at Thunder, making everypony shiver from fright.

"Hey, Terror!" A perky voice peeped. Breeze jumped into the air with a bag of varied Nightmare Night candies. "What some? I'm only sharing them with one pony... Only one..."

"No!" The Terror replied with a harsh snap, his breathing getting heavy. Breeze landed back on the ground, smiling sheepishly. "W-well... Ok. But if you change your mind-"

Daffodil Spark, the pony in the witch costume, cut in. "What kind of dark magic do you have?!" The angered mare asked.

"I don't possess dark magic, dear. I consider it power..." He slowly made his way over to her, and as he made eye contact with her, his ghost-like body transformed once again, this time into an earth-pony mare's. Her eyes turned green to match Daffodil's, and she kept her black and white color scheme. Since Daffodil had a cutiemark, The Terror also had one, which was identical to Daffodil's- a seed with a sprout coming out of it. Unlike the brown and green one the orange pony had, The Terror's was all black. "I contain the power of your fears!" The Terror, in her female voice, rang.

"We don't have any fears, right guys?!" Breeze shouted nervously. Her friends Charming Thunder and Galaxy Nebula quietly agreed. "Heh... Yeah..." Nebula replied.

"My powers.... I feel it! Yes, yes.... My lovely, long awaited power..." The Terror mumbled, her eyes glowing brighter.

"P-powers?" Paradise Oasis asked quietly. "What do you mean by... 'Powers'?"

"You silly ponies.... Power! You don't know what power is?!" The Terror screamed, her ears bent back and her eyebrows down furiously.

Everypony was quiet. They trembled in fear, and even the tough ponies such as Breeze, Shadow Wing, Galaxy, and Charming remained quiet.

"Perfect answer." The Terror grinned as she spoke. "I feel so... Alive and free!!!"

Finally, Frosted Shard worked up enough courage to ask a question. "Why do you need power...?" She asked quietly, shaking from both fear and nervousness.

"Why must I have my power?" The Terror laughed hysterically again as she turned back into Mocha's body. "Let me explain, for you certainly do not understand such things."

"Actually, dearie, some of us can comprehend higher levels of knowledge." Quillton corrected.

Breeze snickered. "Yeah, dearie!" She nudged Quillton in the side with her wing.

The Terror grunted, then signed. "Once again... Such silly ponies."

She grinned slightly as she looked at Frost. "When you were a little filly, your parents read you stories on Nightmare Night..." Turning to her right, she put her hoof on Charming's shoulder. "You, young colt, still read them alone in the candlelight..."

Teleporting beside Eclipse she continued, "Well I have a fact for you, one's that right, one that no pony can deny..." Looking at Daffodil she declared, "This is Nightmare Night, and I'll use it and get what's mine!"

"What do you want?" Shadow Wing asked. "Maybe it's lasagna." Garfield replied. Quillton gasped, "Maybe she's a ghost haunting us!" Or...Maybe she wants a banya?" Tacitus suggested. Everypony looked at him in confusion. "It's sort of like a sauna-type bath meant to relax nerves..."

Rolling her glowing green eyes, The Terror continued. "As foals you heard stories of ghosts and goblins, ghouls, and horrid nightmares! Now that you're older you want to pull jests on others, making them seem fictional! Well, don't get too comfy because you'll surely be in despair- Vanilla Mocha's nightmare is criminal!"

"Just give her back!" Eclipse shouted. "And leave us alone!" Shadow Wing added.

"I have a little question, just one small question of mine- may I ask you my question, just a little question, is that fine?" The Terror asked.

Breeze sighed. "Just get on with it!" "We're tired of your game!" Frost commented. Tacitus added, "Just ask us what you want!" Charming said, "This party is getting lame..."

Screaming, the ghostly mare replied, "Who will wonder what goes on in the dark of the night?! Who will hear your screams, your pleads, your shouts, you begging me for a way out?! This isn't a dream, my dear friends, and it shall never end! I am The Terror of Nightmare Night!!!"

Galaxy chuckled. "So you're supposed it be scary, that's pretty cute." Eclipse grumbled. "Now tell us where Mocha is!" Garfield asked, "I'm confused, what's the meaning of the question?" Paradise interjected, "Let's all be quiet and listen to what this pony says!"

"This is a place without any mercy! I'll watch you all crumble 'til there's nothing left! I'm lost like a raging desire, furious and alive... you are the prey, and I am the predator! I feel the power flowing through my veins, and it shall last now and forever!" The Terror's wicked smile grew wider as she sang, "I'll carry Tartarus to your homes, and make you descend underneath! I'll become your worst nightmare, yet disguised as your greatest dream! I am here to haunt ponies all night! The warmest things you'll touch will be eternal darkness and sharp rocks; I will be drunk in power! And I won't stop until I have won the fight! I'll make sure I overcome everypony- making them all my vowers!"

Paradise shrieked. "You can't do this to us!" Shadow added, "We'll never let you!" Breeze gasped. "Is that pony serious?" Quillton shivered, "I don't think this is a prank- I think it's TRUE!"

"I have a little question, just one small question of mine- may I ask you my question, just a little question, is that fine? Who will wonder what goes on in the dark of the night?! Who will hear your screams, your pleads, your shouts, you begging me for a way out?! This isn't a dream, my dear friends, and it shall never end! I am The Terror of Nightmare Night!!!" Then, the mare vanished in the darkness.

~~~

"Um... Is it just me, or did she just disappear?" Garfield asked after moments of silence.

"I wish I could discover how she did that. Perhaps she went to another dimension? If only I could have such amazing intergalactic powers of teleportation." Quillton Brooks marveled, "I absolutely adore how she just faded into the night like a dying fog, as silent as a mouse. Even though her frightening appearance seemed rather eerie, I still respect her for vanishing like how she did. Only unicorns can do teleportation, but she was a ghost in Mocha's body. I doubt the magic even works."

Garfield gasped. "Wait... Does this mean, she's haunting us?"

"I don't think it's a ghost, guys. Perhaps something just as scary...?" Paradise peeped.

Tacitus looked at her. "I'm not sure what it is, but we shouldn't be focused on that. We need to find Vanilla Mocha, even if it is a game from her on Nightmare Night."

Eclipse nodded in agreement. "She sure is good with magic, and though she might be capable of this, I'm positive this isn't planned. We need to find her."

Daffodil smiled. "Yeah! To find Mocha!"

"But how?" Charming Thunder wondered.

"She was last in the creepy mirror, why don't we check and see if she's still there?" Garfield suggested.

"Garfield, you're a genius!" Frosted Shard exclaimed.

Galaxy Nebula, who was standing closest to the mirror, picked it up. "You in there...?"

There was only silence. Everypony waited for the unicorn, but Mocha didn't reply. The face of the mirror was black; Galaxy couldn't even see his reflection. "Um..." Nebula mumbled, "I don't think she's coming back."

"Alright... Mocha, cut it out! I don't care how fancy your magic is! I just want you back!" Eclipse yelled, frustrated and scared.

"Aww, look at all of you..." The Terror's faint voice teased, "You ponies want your friend back badly, don't you...?" The Terror took her visible form, and used the magic from Vanilla's horn. Unlike her yellow magic, The Terror's was bright green. Picking up the mirror, she grinned. "I know where your friend is, and you can get her back... On one condition."

"What is it?" Eclipse asked, starting to feel hope.

"You find me the Thaumaturgy Gemstone," she ordered, "if you get it to me, I will give you your friend back. But if I don't have it in my hooves by midnight, not only will you never see Mocha ever again, but you will all become my mindless little drones!" Sitting the mirror on the counter, she faded into the darkness once more. "I always keep my promises..."

"'Thaumaturgy Gemstone'? What's that?" Galaxy asked, puzzled.

"I know what it is," Tacitus said, "I remember when studying myths and legends that a magical amulet called the Thaumaturgy Gemstone was, according to the legend, the most dangerous stone to find. It is within the possession of the Guardian of the Dragons, so therefore, anypony that tried to take it never succeeded. Of course, that's only myth."

Paradise Oasis gasped. "Now that you mention it, it sounds rather familiar! As the Dream Valley Historian, I come across things like this. Isn't it over a thousand years old, and has been protected by the same dragon that whole time?"

"Hmm..." Tacitus out his hoof to his chin, "I'm not sure. But I don't see why not. Dragons can live as long as a thousand years."

Eclipse smiled. "Not to mention I'm part dragon. Heck, we can get that amulet, it'll be a piece of cake. Let's go, we need Mocha back!" Picking up the mirror, he trotted to the door. "Who's with me?"

Paradise and Garfield ran up beside him, and soon Galaxy, Tacitus, Quillton, Shadow, Daffodil, Charming and Frost joined.

"Hold on," Charming Thunder said as Eclipse opened the door, "Two things. We've gotta know where we're going. Second, where'd Breeze go?"

"C'mon, Breeze!" Galaxy called, "We don't have much time! What, three hours until midnight?"

Daffodil looked at the clock on the wall, barely able to read the hands. "I think so," she said quietly.

Breeze jumped out in front of them, candy wrappers flying everywhere. "Boo!"

"Um, Breeze...?" Quillton asked, "What are you doing?"

"Terror didn't want candy so somepony had to eat it- Duh!" She giggled, obviously sugar high. "So whatchwe doin'?"

Sighing, Eclipse repeated what he had previously told everypony. "We are going to find the Thaumaturgy Gemstone to get Vanilla Mocha back."

"Oh, that's cool! What're we sticking around here for, huh? C'mon, let's go, let's go, let's go!" The hyper batmare did a flip in the air before flying out of the cafe and into Ponyville.

"Oh Celestia.... This is going to be a long night." Galaxy commented, walking out of the restaurant with the rest of the ponies, whom were following Breeze.

As they walked away, The Terror appeared behind them, watching them walk. Sitting down in the cafe, she grinned wickedly. "Now for me to get what I deserve..."

Chapter Three

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The wind slapped against Breeze's face as she flew through the cold, dark sky. After eating a whole bag of candy in the span of a few minutes, she let her hyperness get the most of her by guiding her though Ponyville like a maze. The other ten ponies followed behind her on the ground, zigging and zagging to keep up with her.

At first they had been walking, but when the mare got out of sight, they had to hurry up and find her. "She's too fast," Frosted Shard sighed, beginning to loose breath.

"And she can't hear us. We've tried calling for her," Garfield added, "See? BREEZE!" He paused for a minute, "Nothing."

"Then I'll stop her!" Paradise grinned, and flew upwards. Flapping as hard as she could, she was getting closer and closer to the pony in the spider costume. The four fake legs loosely hang from the spider body as the sugar-high Breeze flew closer and closer to the edge of Ponyville.

"Just...a little...closer!" Paradise whispered to herself.

"C'mon, Paradise! You can do it!" Her friend Daffodil exclaimed, with a few more cheers from the other ponies following.

Smiling, the pegasus reached forward once more, and caught one of the fake spider legs from Breeze's costume. "Yes!" Paradise Oasis smiled, and then after a moment, she cleared her throat. "Breeze, stop! You can't just fly away-we don't even know where we're going!"

Ignoring the mare, Breeze gasped. Halting, she flew downwards. "Ya' might wanna let go, 'Dise!" She exclaimed before crash landing into the ground.

It was too late for Paradise. Falling on top of Breeze, she sat up. Everypony ran up to them, panting from exhaustion. "Ugh...hmm, where am I...?" Paradise looked around, and after her blurry vision went away, she snapped back into reality.

"Let me help you up," Tacitus offered, and using his magic, he lifted Paradise off of Breeze and set her on her four hooves.

"Thanks," Paradise smiled, "I would've had trouble getting up after being pulled to the ground like that."

Breeze stood up wearily, and smiled sheepishly. "H-hey, guys..."

"Breeze, what were you thinking?" Shadow Wing asked, stepping forward.

She grunted, and rolling her eyes she said, "I was getting us out here to find Mocha because Eclipse said we needed that amulet thingy and it's only in the dragons' cave which the newer one for hibernation is up north but we have to catch a train and go over a bridge to go down south to the historical site in order to get it. There's also a used one on eBay, but I only buy stuff from real stores and such like Amazon. Anyways, the train'll be here in a minute. Get in line and get your tickets!" Breeze said quickly.

Everypony stared at her in confusion. "What's an 'eBay'?" Charming Thunder asked.

"And... An 'Amazon'? What's that supposed to be, dearie?" Quillton added.

"Wait," Galaxy interjected, "I think Breeze is onto something. She did bring us to the edge of Ponyville to let us board the train. If we're getting that gemstone, then we'd better get our tickets to the next train on its way to Dragon's Cove."

"Isn't it Dragon's Cave?" Shadow asked.

"Kinda. Dragon's Cave is in Dragon's Cove," Eclipse explained, "Dragon's Cove is the name of the island they live on. The cave itself is on the island."

"Then what're we waiting on?," Breeze jumped up and began pushing them into the train station, "get your tickets!"

"And you don't need a ticket yourself, dearie?" Quillton asked.

Gasping, Breeze flew in front of them, and got her ticket. Upon receiving it, she waved it around in the air. "C'mon! We need to be the first to board the train!" Smiling, she bounced outside.

"Well... I like trains." Galaxy Nebula trotted up and got his ticket too. Soon his friend Quillton followed, along with Charming, Eclipse, Paradise, and the rest.

Breeze sat outside, rocking back and forth. Galaxy sat down next to her, "So, you like trains too?"

"Eh, I guess. I love adventure!" Throwing her hooves into the air, she smiled widely, "There's so much to explore! I guess I do like trains... They help me get to adventures."

Galaxy chuckled. "Yeah, I like adventure too."

Quillton trotted towards the two ponies. "Adventure?" He shook his head, "'Adventure' is such an overused word. How about 'exploration', 'trek', 'expedition', or 'peregrination'?"

Breeze laughed. "I like the word 'adventure'!"

Galaxy opened his mouth to speak, but before he could say anything, a bright yellow light quickly shined upon them from afar. At first it was a small dot, but within seconds, it was blinding them as it approached. The Ponyville Express screeched as it halted to as stop.

"That's our train!" Galaxy exclaimed, standing up. As the conductor stepped out, the eleven ponies climbed aboard.

"I'm the first one to the snack car!" Breeze flew off through the train.

Sitting down, Paradise shook her head. "She's gonna get lost." Her friend Daffodil took a seat next to her. "Don't worry, I've only seen how she is tonight, and I can tell that she somehow knows where to go."

Paradise shrugged. "I guess that's true." Looking up, she saw Eclipse. Waving over to him, she said, "Hey, Eclipse... Wanna sit over here?"

Sighing, the stallion sat down by the window. "Sure..."

"I miss 'Nilla too... I'm pretty scared for her right now." Paradise told him.

Eclipse only looked out the window at the dark night sky.

Frost took a seat by Eclipse.

Paradise looked over at her friend, and then glanced at Vanilla's colt friend. Daffodil knew she should say something, and putting a smile on her face, she said, "I know this is kinda... Different than most Nightmare Nights we've had, but we'll get it all taken care of, you'll see. Vanilla Mocha will be back with us."

"This is all probably just a prank. Who knows, maybe she wanted to give you a scare, too." Frost added.

Paradise Oasis nodded in agreement. "Daffy and Frost are right. We've just gotta stay on the bright side and she'll be back before midnight."

Eclipse sighed again. "I guess..."

Galaxy Nebula, whom was sitting behind Eclipse, looked over his seat. "Hey, you know I won't let anything bad happen to my sister."

Eclipse perked up. "She never told me you two were siblings.... You don't even look alike."

"Well... Not biologically. We're just close friends, and we consider each other brother and sister." Galaxy smiled.

"Mmm-Hm," Eclipse glanced at him, "Sure..."

"It is. Our non-biological sister is a pegasus named Crimsion Ink," Galaxy continued. Obviously Eclipse wasn't buying it. "Hey, it's true. That's why I supported her not-so-scary party yet offered to make it better." Galaxy added.

Paradise lifted an eyebrow. "When did you offer to make it better?"

"Last year. I told her to start being a lot more.... Dark, you know, like with more real Nightmare Night things. I like how she used the spider webs and bones this year as decorations, along with the stars- they look just like her cutiemark! Oh, I also liked the invitations, they were so spooky looking, and-"

"Can you stop talking about her?!" Eclipse snapped, angered yet saddened at the same time. After realizing he almost yelled, he looked up at Galaxy Nebula. "Sorry... I don't know what just happened... I-I just miss her... A lot..."

Galaxy, who had slumped back in his seat, raised his head up. Looking behind him, he sighed. "It's fine, I miss her too."

Eclipse turned his attention back to the train window, staring into everlasting darkness. There were no stars in the sky, and not even the moon was lit. All there was to see... was nothing.

Paradise put her hoof on Eclipse's shoulder. She opened her mouth to talk, but then Daffodil nudged her, and put her hoof over her own mouth. Paradise nodded in understanding, and agreed it was best to not say anything.

Eclipse looked completely towards the window; nopony could see his face. For minutes, there was only silence. Then, there was sniffling.

Galaxy peeked over his seat again. "I'm sorry... I miss Mocha as much as you do, and I'll do my best to get her back."

Eclipse then turned to face the four ponies, his eyes and nose pink, and a tear trickling down his cheek. "I-I'm so worried right now...." Sniffling, he picked up the mirror. He couldn't see his reflection. All he saw was blackness; empty, dark nothing. Whispering, he asked, "Vanilla Mocha... Where are you...?"

There was no reply.

The stallion sniffled again, then put the mirror against his chest, by his heart. As he clung onto it, tears ran down his face. He closed his eyes and faced the window once more.

~~~

"So, where's the food? It's been, like, forty-five minutes since I've ate. Celestia, I'm starved!" Garfield the cat walked through another passenger car with Charming and Breeze.

"Food car's up here," Charming replied, "And you can't be starving. It's been less than an hour!"

"You don't know me, do you?"

"Apparently not."

"Guys, look!" Breeze opened the door to the next train car to reveal what looked like a mini food court.

Garfield jumped from excitement. "Where's the lasagna?!" He ran into the car, followed by the batmare and unicorn.

Grabbing a plate, the orange cat filled it with lasagna, hayburgers, hayfries, ketchup, spaghetti, breadsticks, waffles, peanut butter, toast, caramel, apples, pears, bananas, pineapple, and even more lasagna. "Mmm!" Licking his lips, he made is way to the ice cream bar.

"I'll take one of each flavor on the same cone, in alphabetical order."

A young unicorn mare behind the counter raised an eyebrow. "Your voice is awfully low to be a kitty princess..."

"I'm a male cat, and I was forced to go as a princess!" Garfield grumbled. "Make fun of me and I'll throw you into a volcano!" The mare only stared at him in puzzlement. Folding his arms, the orange cat smiled. "Good. Now, I'll take one of each flavor."

The yellow furred mare behind the counter sighed. "You know that there's sixty two favors," the red maned unicorn replied.

"Yeah. The more the merrier!"

She sighed again. "No, I meant, it's impossible to layer them all up like that- much less eat it all before everything underneath melts!"

The orange cat chuckled. "You haven't met Garfield- that's me. Now please, my order? C'mon, you're a unicorn! Do some magic on there!"

Grumbling, she did as Garfield wanted. "There you go...."

"Thank you!" He took the cone with a smile and opened his mouth wide. Throwing the ice cream into the air, he made is smile wider, opening his mouth as far as it could go. The tall snack fell into his mouth as he swallowed it whole.

The mare's jaw dropped in awe. "H-how is that possible?!"

The cat rubbed his stomach. "Mmm..." He then proceeded out of the train car, leaving the astonished mare with many unanswered questions. "I know I should've volunteered alongside the conductor instead of here..."

~~~

The train chugged through Griffonstone, wheezing out hot air with every stroke. It was only 9:30, but in order to find the Thaumaturgy Gemstone they needed as much time as possible. The large cat-bird hybrids flew into their nests to prepare for bed as the locomotive passed through their village. Not celebrating the Equestrian holiday Nightmare Night, it was only another night in their kingdom.

"I hope we get to Dragon's Cove soon," Tacitus said with a little bit of worry in his voice, "Even though we're on the express, this could take a while, seeing how far it is from Ponyville anyways."

Quillton and Galaxy sat across from him while he and Shadow sat on the same bench seat.

"We will. I travel all the time on the train- Quillton can tell you." Galaxy looked over at his best friend.

"Yes, Galaxy Nebula rides a lot of trains."

"See?" Nebula smiled.

Shadow sighed. "That's great. But have you ever been to Dragon's Cove?"

Galaxy put his hoof to his chin. "Well.... No, but I have been to places just as far."

"He has." Quillton added.

Tacitus cleared his throat and pointed out the window. "Look, dragons!"

The other three stallions turned their heads towards the glass. In the dark of the night it seemed impossible to see the flying creatures. However, the place was illuminated in lava pools and flaming torches, lighting their island in bright orange flames.

At this time, Charming Thunder, Breeze, and Garfield entered the passenger car and sat down. Eclipse, who had stopped crying, put down the mirror and looked out the window. Paradise, Frost, and Daffodil also looked out the windows, watching the mighty animals. The train pulled into the Dragon Cove station with a screech, and within moments, the ten ponies and cat were walking on foreign, dragon soil.

Chapter Four

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"Woah..." Frost couldn't stop looking around her as the group of friends stepped off the express. Dragons covered the sky as they flew to their nests for the night. Deep red lava pools were a hazard to step in, while tall torches with flaming yellow fire kept the place lit enough to see where to step.

"Hello, travelers, to Dragon's Cove!" A tall, buff stallion exclaimed, trotting towards the group. The earth pony had sand colored fur and short, wavy dark brown- almost black- hair. His light blue eyes stared at the group as he approached them. "Don't you fret, tourists! I'll show you around and find you a nice hotel."

Paradise's jaw dropped. So.... Muscular.... Very.... Handsome....

"No thanks, we know where to go." Shadow Wing declined, stepping forward.

"Oh, hmm? That's quite interesting, not a lot of travelers know where to go. And where would that destination be?" The stallion asked.

"To a cave... Dragon's Cave." Shadow smiled.

The stallion chuckled. He's so cute when he chuckles, Paradise daydreamed. "Y-you're in for a treat! Ha! What, you ponies have death wishes or something?" He laughed. I don't mind dying as long as I'm in your hooves.... Paradise smiled softly as her mind carried her away.

"Look, if you really, truly want to go there, let me accompany you. It is my job, after all."

Shadow looked at the rest of the group, then turned his attention back to the stallion, and sighed. "Fine..."

"Great! You will all have a great time here. I'm Safari, and I'll help you get to Dragon's Cave. Sightseeing the place itself is a dangerous thing to do, but since I'm here to protect you and show you all the right way to approach things.... Why not?"

Eclipse sighed. "We're on a tight time schedule, so please get us up there fast."

"Don't fret, we'll be there quick. Let's go!" Safari began trotting into the dragon village, the group following behind.

Paradise nudged Daffodil. "Look at him.... Isn't he so muscular and buff? So... Handsome!"

Her friend smiled. "Keep on daydreaming, Oasis."

"Hey, at least I have a good eye for stallions! You're not even looking for one yet."

Breeze stepped in. "Did I hear st-aaaaaaaaa-llion?" She winked.

Paradise blushed. "Heh..."

Breeze grinned and flew next to Safari, landing next to him. "Hey~"

"Um... Hi. What's up with the spider costume?"

"Nightmare Night! It's a fun night full of candy and scary, spooky stories and even more candy and costumes and more candy and even more candy and hott stallions and candy and fun and candy!" Breeze replied quickly.

"Oh...? Well, after living here in Dragon's Cove, I've faded away from Equestrian holidays and customs."

Breeze giggled. "Well, I coul-"

Paradise nudged Safari's other side, the opposite side from Breeze. "So, you're Safari?"

Turning his head to Paradise, he smiled. "Yes. And you are?"

Blushing, the pegasus replied nervously, "P-paradise O-oa-Oasis...!"

Safari chuckled. "Nice to meet you. Both of you." He faced Breeze, smiling wider.

"Say...." Breeze began, eyeing Paradise, "There aren't many mares around here, is there?"

Safari picked up the walking pace, going faster. "Well.... Um... No, now that you mention it."

Breeze grinned. "I don't know why more mares wouldn't risk themselves to live here among the dragons to be with you." She winked.

Paradise grumbled. Then, an idea hit her. Smiling, she added, "I volunteer to be that first mare!"

"No, I do!" Breeze snapped back.

"I don't think he wants a spider! He wants a beautiful fairy princess!"

"He wants a daring spider!"

"Pretty princess!"

"Me!"

"No, me!"

"Mares!" Safari yelled. The two mares became quiet. "Please stop arguing. We're almost there; just go to the back of the group and follow behind us!"

"B-b-but Saf-" Breeze began.

Safari shot her an annoyed glance.

She and Paradise slumped to the back of the group. Sighing, Paradise walked alongside Daffodil. Sighing, she whispered, "He was so attractive when he yelled at us..."

~~~

The group trudged up a rugged mountainside, anxious to get to Dragon's Cave. Safari pointed out many landmarks along with various breeds of dragons along the way, making everything even more interesting for the ponies.

"And that one," he pointed to a large navy blue and black dragon, "Is called a Midnight Ocean, because of its dark scale colors and amazing ability to swim."

"Hey, Mr. Safari, is this edible?" Garfield asked, picking a flower from the ground. "It looks like lasagna." It was a short fat flower, its orange stem thick for its height. Its wavy pedals were almost square shaped, colored in light orange. Layered in more pedals in the same way, the flower did begin to look like the pasta. "Mmm, even smells great!" The cat said with a smile, licking his lips.

"No, wait!" Safari turned around to see that the small orange cat had already eaten it. "That's not lasagna, that's poison!"

Garfield smiled. "I don't feel any different." Within seconds, he put his paw over his mouth, as if he was about to puke. "O-oh, Celestia..."

"Orange cat?!" Safari ran to him, and laid him down. "Rest, lil' buddy, ok? Rest..."

Garfield choked. "It's too early in my life for me to die..."

Safari rolled his eyes. "You're not dying. You just ate a strange kind of dragon poison... Luckily for you, it's worse on ponies than anything... So you'll be fine. Anypony mind carrying him? We've got a little more to walk."

Paradise smiled. "I'll do it, Safari!" She flew to the cat and picked him up in her hooves.

"Thank you, Breeze." The stallion replied.

Paradise's smile faded. "My name is Paradise..." She grunted.

Safari trotted to the front of the group. "Just a little while longer until we get there!"

The ponies and cat made their way through the rough mountain, climbing over steep rocks and sharp boulders. The soft grass at the bottom of the mountain is what their hooves longed for, but was not growing on the mountain. As they went higher everything around them became darker as the small village below got further and further away. Tacitus lit his horn to reveal a soft blue light to help the ponies see.

Safari stepped on the top of the mountain. "Here we are! The perfect sightseeing view of Dragon's Cave, from its sister mountain next door!"

Eclipse grunted. "We don't want to sightsee, we want to go to the actual cave!"

Charming Thunder gasped. Pointing to the cave, everypony else froze. "The cave... Is under a volcano?!" He finally exclaimed.

Nodding, Safari replied, "Of course! This is an old volcano that erupts every five hundred years. The last time it erupted was around four hundred or so years... That's why it's too dangerous to go by it. Not to mention that the guardian of the dragons lives inside... He protects a very precious jewel, as told by myth."

Quillton grinned. "What is the myth?"

"It's of a jewel that is supposed to give somepony power, like an amulet or some sort. I'm not so sure myself, but dragons love their shiny possessions... And that gem sure is shiny!"

Quillton nodded. "And what would happen if that gemstone was to be taken out?"

"The guardian would go crazy! He hates it when anything of his is taken... The shinier the angrier. Why do you ask?" Safari looked at Quillton suspiciously.

The pony chuckled. "No reason, dearie. I am just curious."

Shadow Wing approached Safari. "We need a better look at that cave, sir- our friend is in danger and the only way we can help her is by that cave."

Safari put his hoof to his chin. "Nope. Sorry, I can't allow it."

Breeze jumped into the air before Shadow could reply. "Says who? C'mon, let's get Mocha back!"

"Says me! Don't move!" Safari shouted.

Breeze flew into his face and smiled. "Sorry, hottie! Now go to the back of the group!" After booping his nose, she flew down the mountain.

Safari grunted, angry. "I'll get you, Paradise!"

Breeze chuckled. "I'm Breeze! You know, the spider!"

By that time, the other ponies were flying and running down with Breeze.

"That was so amazing how you stood up to him," Frost commented, "I thought we came all this way for nothing, for a second!"

Breeze smiled. "I wouldn't ever let my friends down, even if their 'scary' parties are kinda lame. But this is great! Now, to Dragon's Cave!"

Garfield opened his eyes to see that Paradise Oasis was carrying him down the mountain. "Um... Why are you flying so fast? Hey, I just climbed all the way up there! Did you... Rescue me from death? Is that why we're going downhill?"

The Pegasus mare chuckled. "Nope. We're getting away from Safari!"

"Why? Isn't he taking us to... That place?"

"Dragon's Cave? No, he wasn't. We're getting there on our own!"

"Well, ya didn't have to be so shaky! I was in heaven eating casserole and chocolate molten cake!"

Paradise sighed. "Then go back to sleep."

As the ponies reached the bottom of the mountain, they slowed their run. Exhausted, they sat down on the ground.

"Don't stop!," Galaxy warned them, still running towards the cave, "Safari's not far behind!" Just as he had told them, the stallion was briskly running down.

Eclipse, who was panting, began to run again. "We have to save Mocha!"

The only thing that stood between the group of friends and the cave was a long valley... A long valley of lava.

"We have to cross! Let's move!" Shadow Wing yelled.

Lava surrounded the outside of the cave, and was surprisingly not inside the cave. The dark orange substance bubbled slowly; it was almost relaxing to the ponies if it wasn't for their circumstances.

Breeze smiled. "I can fly one of you over with me. Who's riding?" Frosted Shard nodded. "I can take somepony, too!" "I can, too!" Shadow Wing added, with Galaxy and Eclipse agreeing.

"I'm taking Garfield!" Paradise flew above them, carrying the cat to the cave.

"I'm your travel buddy...," Quillton said as he ran towards Galaxy. Putting his hoof on his pegasus friend's shoulder, he said, "...Today, you get to be the blue box that takes me places." Galaxy smiled, and with the earth pony on his back, he flew across the valley.

"Frost! Can you give me a ride?" Daffodil Spark asked, panting hard as her running slowed down. "Of course!" The blue mare in the samurai costume replied.

Shadow, Eclipse, and Breeze stood by the lava, waiting for the last two ponies to catch up. Panting, they arrived.

"Don't worry about us," Tacitus said, his horn still glowing. "We both know teleportation spells."

Charming Thunder nodded in agreement. "We took longer because we were making sure that travel guide couldn't get to us in time."

Shadow lifted an eyebrow. "You set traps?"

"Well... Not exactly traps." Charming smiled, "They're more like... Obstacles."

"No harm. All the adventurous ponies in seven hundred A.D. used to do it in races of all sorts to prevent their opponents from getting ahead just by rearranging sticks and stones." Tacitus explained.

"I bet he's singing that song now!" Breeze commented.

"...what song?" Eclipse asked her.

"Sticks and stones can break my bones but words will never hurt me...!"

~~~

With all ten ponies... And one cat... Across the valley of lava, all that was left was the cave itself.

"Stoooooooooooooop! Don't go in there! It's too dangerous!" Safari yelled from the other side of the pool of lava.

Eclipse pulled out the mirror. Sighing, he gave it to Galaxy. "Take care of her while I go inside."

"Wait... You're going in?! Now?!" Galaxy accepted the mirror.

"What else did we come here for?"

"Wait, Eclipse! It is dangerous to go inside!" Charming Thunder agreed, stepping next to Galaxy.

However, it was too late; the stallion had already darted inside the dark cave.

Chapter Five

View Online

"What's he doing?!" Paradise exclaimed as Eclipse disappeared into the darkness of the cave. Sitting down Garfield, she shivered. "He's crazy! Going in there, with a huge dragon just waiting to tear any intruder apart!"

Garfield shrugged. "Can't blame the poor lizard. Those things must get hungry too. Speaking of which, where's the food around here?"

Frost gasped. "Look!" She pointed across the valley of lava. Swimming in the lava was a huge Midnight Ocean dragon- with Safari on its back.

Paradise grumbled. "I don't want that freak here!" Breeze nodded as she stepped next to the two pegasi. "Mmhmm!"

"Ponies, listen!," Safari smiled, "I am sorry!"

Breeze grunted. "Yeah, right." Facing Paradise she whispered, "Don't let him fool you! Not even I am interested in that stallion anymore."

Paradise smiled back. "Don't worry, I've learned my lesson about him."

"Please listen to me! You can't go in there!" Safari exclaimed as the dragon swam closer.

"Pffffft," Breeze smiled, "Heh."

Frost sighed. "I... Think we should listen to him."

Paradise nodded. "I agree."

Safari jumped off the dragon's back and onto the hard ground. "Don't go inside the cave! It's too dangerous- it's able to erupt at any time!" He trotted closer. "I know you ponies don't think the most high of me, but I seriously need your full attention!"

Tacitus smiled. "We just need to save our friend. According to the legend, there's a gemstone in this cave that we need and-"

"We know that! The real news here is that Eclipse already is inside the volcano cave getting the Thaumaturgy Gemstone." Breeze interrupted.

"He... What?!" Safari yelled. "Oh no... Oh no, oh no, oh no!!!" He ran up to the cave but stopped before entering. "Hello?!" He called into the darkness.

There was no reply.

"This... Is NOT good!" Safari began to panic.

"Actually, dearie, if I may interject, I want to propose my opinion on the fact that you are only stating the obvious. We can clearly see that this is not good, or if I may use better, un-overused words, we could say this is terrible, depressing, unwanted, sad, or even melancho-"

"Blah, blah blah- let's get Eclipse back!" Breeze flew towards the cave quickly.

Daffodil, whom was standing by the entrance, grabbed Breeze by her costume. "Nope. Safari said to not go in. It's too risky." The earth pony pulled the batmare to the ground.

"What are we supposed to do?" Shadow Wing asked. "Shouldn't you go inside, Safari? We need our friend back! We can't loose two tonight!"

Safari jumped. "WHAT?! No way, I can't go in there!"

"Then what are we gonna do about it?" Charming Thunder questioned.

"I-I am not sure..." Safari replied quietly. The stallion sat down. "I don't want to jeopardize any of you ponies, but I don't want to loose that other one that ran inside. This... This is all my fault. I'm so sorry..."

Tacitus sat down by him. "It's not your fault. We're the ones that got everypony else into this big mess."

"I suppose..." Safari sighed. "There's no use in searching for..." He looked up.

"Eclipse." Shadow Wing replied.

"Thank you. There's no use in searching for Eclipse because of how hot it is in there- he's probably dead by now. Even if the heat hasn't devoured him yet, the Guardian must've by now. Sad, but we must face it." He glanced up at the group of friends surrounding him. "I'm so sorry, but it's the truth."

Paradise was the next to sit down. "He... He was so brave," she sniffled, "To risk his own life for his marefriend..."

Charming Thunder sat down, and following him, so did Galaxy, then Daffodil, and then Garfield, Frost, Shadow, Quillton, and Breeze.

"He and Mocha were both taken tonight..." Charming sighed.

Galaxy sniffled. "She was like my sister... And he was like my almost-brother-in-law-to-be."

"Dearie, the proper name is-" Quillton began.

"I don't even know the two ponies and I'm tearing up!" Safari interjected. He had tears in his eyes, and not before long, the whole group was crying.

"Mocha made the best coffee!" Frost cried.

"Eclipse was my best friend in high school!" Shadow Wing whined.

"I'm hungry." Garfield said.

Daffodil shot him a look of anger. "How... How in all of Equestria... Could you be thinking... Of your own stomach... When you just ate an hour ago... Especially when two of our friends... Just... Died...?!" She was breathing heavy, tears running down her cheeks.

Garfield flattened his ears. "That's not true. I ate thirty four minutes ago, and also, death and sadness makes me hungry!"

"Well I think-" Daffodil was cut off by a low rumbling noise. Within seconds the whole ground was shaking, and the rumbling became louder and louder.

"Woah, you sure were hungry!" Breeze laughed, trying to stay positive.

"I-I don't think that was me!" Garfield jumped up, looking panicked.

Charming Thunder also stood up. "I agree! I think it was... That!" He pointed at the volcano that Dragon's Cave was built into.

"It's gonna erupt!" Safari shouted. Standing up as well, he added, "It's definitely not safe now! Quick, we have to get as far away from this beast of an explosion as possible!"

Without hesitation the herd stood up. Safari lead them back to the Midnight Ocean dragon, and as they climbed aboard, the ground got shakier and shakier.

"Eclipse is in there! We can't just leave him, he might not be completely gone yet!" Shadow exclaimed.

Nopony could barely hear him.

"It's too loud!" Galaxy yelled. "I'm not sure that the dragon will be calm enough to know what to do!" His shouting voice was barely audible over the rumbling, too.

As they took their seats, Paradise looked back at the cave. "Goodbye, Mocha... Goodbye, Eclipse..." She sniffled as tears formed in the cracks of her eyes once more.

Without warning, the Midnight Ocean flew at great speed, flying into the dark of the night. Behind the large dragon was a display of reds, oranges, and yellows covering the sky as the volcano above Dragon's Cave erupted. Black ash spread everywhere as the ponies and cat held onto the dragon for their life, more than half of them not being able to fly. The rumbling only grew louder as a terrifying scream came from the volcano.

"That didn't sound pony!" Galaxy shivered.

"Or cat!" Garfield added.

"It's probably the gases, you know, chemical reactions of some sort." Quillton suggested in his calm, British accent.

The large blue dragon landed in a nearby field, only a block away from the train station. Safari jumped off and looked back to see the lava spewing everywhere.

"This is just great! We go to our friend's party, she gets kidnapped. We come to get something to bargain with, and her coltfriend gets murdered in a volcano! Who's next?!" Charming Thunder exclaimed.

"Hey- you in the werewolf costume, please be quiet... We don't want company." Safari whispered.

Charming looked at him. "What?"

"Dragons don't like being awaked, especially by other creatures. It's best we stay quiet while we find a hotel for you to stay in."

"We don't need a hotel. We're either staying here, or we're going back home to remember Mocha and Eclipse." Shadow Wing interjected.

Daffodil smiled. "I'm with Shadow."

Paradise Oasis smiled as well. "Me, too."

Safari sighed again. "Fine. The train should be here in about ten minutes if you're heading home, so it's best if you get tickets now instead of wai-" The sandy colored stallion was cut off by another loud scream-like sound.

Above the group was a large layer of smoke from the volcano. Against the black sky, it was impossible to tell. However, the illuminating red and orange from the volcano made shadows on the fog, making the sky look like it was a piece of paper that was crumbled up, and then flattened out again, leaving ridges and bumps.

As the scream continued to sound, a large wind surrounded them, like a tornado. Manes whipped in the furious air as the terrifying screeching noise got louder and louder. Then, a large red scaly dragon's body emerged through the black smoke. Almost as big as the mighty Midnight Ocean, the dragon swooped down, its large wings expanded widely.

Safari's eyes widened. "It can't be..." He murmured.

The large red animal landed next to the Midnight Ocean, folding its wings. The blue dragon stepped back, as if it were afraid of the new creature. The group stared in awe at the large animal.

The red dragon looked at the Midnight Ocean with curiosity. Reaching over, the dragon sniffed the blue animal. Suddenly, the red creature snorted, and letting out a loud roar, flew back into the air. From above, the flying dragon opened its mouth and began to exhale fire.

"Everypony stay here!" Safari shouted, "I've seen this before... I need to stop it before they tear the place up!!" He leaped onto the Midnight Ocean's back, and at once, the large animal flew into the air after the fire breathing dragon.

"Cool! I wanna join!" Breeze exclaimed. She jumped up too, but Charming, whom was standing beside her, caught her in her magic. "No."

"Aww..."

~~~

All Safari could see was darkness. Air slammed into his face as the dragon flew higher and higher. From behind, a large amount of fire poured out from the red dragon's mouth.

Safari pulled on the large beast, and soon the blue dragon was facing the red one. Roaring loudly, the blue scaled creature blew as much fire as the first one.

"He's so brave," Paradise Oasis sighed, looked upward. "To take on such a big dragon in a battle of flaming fire."

Breeze raised an eyebrow. "I thought you didn't like 'em."

"He's still heroic."

"I can be, too! Lemme get 'em!" Breeze fought against Charming's magic, but it was of no use.

Tacitus gasped. "Look!" He pointed at the battle- the two dragons exposing raging fire, Safari on the Midnight's back guiding the animal through it. But what was not seen until now was a third party.

"That's an awfully small dragon!" Galaxy exclaimed.

Frost nodded in agreement. "Too small to fight with them!"

A small, dark figure flew in and out of the smoke and fire. Volcanic ash still filled the sky as the lava continued to slowly creep from the volcano. Suddenly, the smaller dragon-like creature jumped onto the red dragon's back- and the gigantic dragon fell to the ground.

In the blackness of the night, all the group of friends could see was a large lump on the ground. A small red glowing light began to emerge from the opposite side.

"W-what's going on...?" Tacitus asked, a bit of worry in his voice.

Nopony replied.

The red light suddenly got brighter, and began to move upwards. Suddenly, the smaller figure that had been fly around the two dragons flew from behind the red dragon, with a red gemstone around his neck on a necklace.

He landed, and when his dragon-like wings folded, the group's eyes adjusted to the red light. Looking up, they were astonished.

"Eclipse?!" Shadow Wing exclaimed, surprised and scared at the same time.

Smiling, the stallion stepped forward. "Yep."

"What happened? Safari said the heat alone in the cave would kill you!" Frost exclaimed.

Eclipse chuckled.

"Why are you laughing?" Paradise Oasis asked.

"Heh, I'm part dragon, remember?! I can be around heat and lava and anything else extreme!" Eclipse smiled, "It helps being part dragon, bat, and pegasus!"

Shadow smiled. "Guess they were worried for no reason! I wasn't concerned at all- I knew all of that."

Galaxy looked at him. "What? No, you were freaking out because-"

Shadow Wing smiled sheepishly and put his hoof over the blue pony's mouth. "Heh, heh..."

The Midnight Ocean dragon flew down and out of the sky with Safari holding onto its back. The earth pony got off and looked up at Eclipse. "You.... Survived?"

The stallion smiled. "Part dragon."

Safari smiled back. "Nice. I could use that sometimes." He turned to face the red dragon. "What was this girl doing, getting out of her cave?"

Quillton tilted his head. "I thought the guardian was always a male..."

"The guardian died the last time the volcano erupted. His daughter was left to take his place. But... Why is she out? She usually runs ponies out of the cave and stays inside." Safari explained. "The only thing I can think of is if she really needed that gem! It must be very powerful."

"What's that?" Garfield asked, pointing at the glowing red gem that was attached to Eclipse's neck.

The hybrid stallion looked down, and smiled when he saw the necklace with the illuminating stone. "I'll explain, you all probably are curious anyways."

~~~

"I ran inside, I had to in order to save Mocha. It wasn't right that I had to stay outside; I had to go against the tour guide. Dragon's Cave is a dark place... Cold at the entrance. Being part bat I could see. Sparkling minerals filled the walls, and sharp rocks stuck out of the ground. Dragon's Cave is very tall... There was a large hole in the top, I assume that was the opening of the volcano.

"I needed the Thaumaturgy Gemstone, and I saw it. It was stuck in a rock, but being related to dragons, my DNA allowed me to have enough power to extract it from the boulder. I trusted my instincts on the gem... I didn't know what the gem was supposed to look like. I saw a vine, and wrapped it around my neck. Putting the gem on it securely, I began to leave the cave.

"When I was about to exit, the Guardian awoke. I became quiet, and stopped walking- perhaps she wouldn't have noticed me. I knew it wouldn't be of much help... Dragons have an amazing sense of smell. Angered, she huffed out smoky air. I told her that I wasn't going to be any trouble, and that I was leaving. She instead wanted a fight.

"In order to save the rest of you, I flew up. The Guardian followed me, growling furiously. She screamed and roared, but that wouldn't slow me down. She began to breathe fire- I had to hurry to save the stone. I flew out as the ashes passed by me in a flash; the fire started to consume me. I flew down and hid, but not for long. Her fire was so widely spread and hot it turned the rocks inside the volcano in lava!

"I knew she was looking for me. I had to stop her- she must've confused you guys for me! So when I saw she challenged the blue dragon, I had to stop it. I ran inside her cave, grabbed a ruby that looked similar to my gem, and flew in behind her. I offered it to her, and she immediately gave up."

~~~

The group looked at the stallion in awe.

"That's amazing!" Breeze exclaimed.

"I'm hungry," Garfield mumbled, "But it was still a cool story."

"Heh, thanks." Eclipse smiled.

Paradise looked at the two dragons. "Uhm... Safari?"

"Yes?" The stallion faced her, and then turned his attention to the dragons.

"D'aww!" Daffodil admired, "They like each other!"

The Midnight Ocean was nuzzling the Guardian, who seemed to be purring. The Guardian stood up, and the Midnight followed. He opened his wings and with the red scaled dragon by his side, they flew back into the night and towards Dragon's Cave.

~~~

The group waved goodbye to Safari. The train was slowly pulling out of the station. Garfield and Breeze had gone back to the food cart, with Quillton and his best friend Galaxy Nebula to supervise.

~~~

"Dearie, no. Do not mix ketchup and chocolate."

"It's delicious!" Garfield whined.

Quillton facehoofed. "No. Just... No."

"I'll even give you a bite!"

"Ew, no!"

Breeze giggled. "Do you think Paradise would like some cake?"

Quillton looked at her. "I don't know her."

"Oh... Well, I'm hungry. Imma eat it!"

Galaxy looked at his watch. "Oh man, my marefriend is going to kill me when we get back. I didn't tell her where I was. She gets worried, you see."

"Wait, you have a marefriend?!" Asked Breeze, her mouth full of yellow cake.

Galaxy blushed. Nodding, he said, "Yeah, her name is Crystal Harmony, a pegasus like me."

"I wish I had a special somepony..." Breeze sighed.

Galaxy sighed. "I don't think you'll need one... As adventurous as you are, the only stallion for you would be Safari!"

"I don't mean him!"

Galaxy sighed again. "Well, Quillton is taken, I'm taken..."

"I don't want somepony adventurous- I want somepony that likes yellow cake!"

Galaxy then slapped Breeze.

"Worth it..." The mare whispered.

~~~

"I'm so glad we're on our way home." Tacitus smiled.

"Yeah! And that we have the Thaumaturgy Gemstone too. I hope your instincts were right," Shadow said.

"I think so. Dragons are pretty keen, even if I'm just a hybrid." Eclipse replied.

Paradise smiled. "I think it'll all be alright. We'll get back, make a deal with that demon, and see what's going on."

A red furred stallion by the name of Redsopine stood up. He had green and blue spiked hair for his mane and tail, and had special eyes- a golden bat eye on his right, and a multi-hued eye on the left. He was on the other side of the train car, but was able to hear their conversation. "Did you say... Demon?"

"Um... Yes. But only to descri-"

Red held up his hoof. "I will make an offer with you. Give me that stone around his neck," he glanced at Eclipse, "And I will give you a twinblade diablo. Not just your average fighting weapon- but a tool to slay demonic forces." He grinned.

Frosted Shard looked uneasy. "Um... Well she didn't literally mean a demon..."

"See... It's kinda personal." Daffodil added. "She calls herself 'The Terror'. Do you know of her?"

Red stopped to think. "No... I've come across all sorts of demons, but none with that name."

"Oh... Then I don't think your sword will do much help." Paradise politely addressed.

"Eh, if you change your mind... I'll be getting off at Canterlot."

"Well, we're the next stop- Ponyville." Tacitus smiled.

Red smiled then walked back to his seat.

"Who was that?" Charming asked.

"I'm not exactly sure, but he looks like a member of an organization called 'Wolfpack'." Tacitus replied.

"So... A demon fighter?" Daffodil questioned.

"That's so cool!" Eclipse commented.

"We need Mocha back. Should we have gotten a sword?" Charming Thunder asked nervously.

"I don't think so. The Terror asked for the Thaumaturgy Gemstone- we'll stick to her wishes and hope she keeps her end of the deal." Tacitus replied.

The others agreed, and as they rode the train, Ponyville was getting closer to them... And so was The Terror.

Chapter Six

View Online

The doors to the coffee shop swung open and the shiny golden bell rang above them. "Alright, Terror! Where's Vani-llllllla Mocha...?!" Shadow stopped yelling when his bat eyes saw the mare sitting at the counter.

Her back facing them, she sat in a tall barstool. Her posture was stiff, she appeared to have a perfectly straight neck, back, and legs. Her back legs didn't cross over, instead, they hung down like vertical lines. Her forelegs were different; her right hoof sat flat against the cushion of the seat, while her left foreleg wrapped around the right foreleg, hugging it tightly. Her slick brown mane and tail seemed lifeless as well: they were very stiff... Too stiff.

She was no longer in her cat costume for Nightmare Night. Her yellow star on her side looked faded, but perhaps that was from the lack of light in the restaurant. Her light green eyes seemed to be piercing the wall across from her, she stared at it so hard for so long. Her face was blank: her mouth neither smiled nor frowned, just a straight line, showing no expression at all. Her eyes were opened wide, and her eyebrows sitting above her eyes neatly. Breathing softly, she sat in the seat, watching the wall. She didn't even care to notice her friends had just walked in.

Eclipse's heart began to beat hard. He slowly approached her, the Thaumaturgy Gemstone still hanging around his neck on the vine. "M-Mocha?" He stuttered, nervous. Why was she like this? What happened? Was this just a party prank that she didn't expect to go so far? Did she not want them to leave? His mind flooded with questions every millisecond that he spent in the coffee shop. Did I let down my marefriend?

Vanilla Mocha continued to stare at the wall. Her body sat there, almost lifeless. Even though her fur was naturally white, she seemed even more pale.

The stallion looked back at the group with a worried expression, as if asking for advice.

Paradise motioned for Eclipse to say something, and the stallion nodded in agreement. "H-hey, sweetie. Are you... Alright?"

As quick as a flash of a ray of light, Vanilla's head turned to face Eclipse. She looked him in the eye, staring into him. Slowly, her mouth began to curve into a long, wicked grin. Her eyebrows also began to push down, making her facial expression become more sinister by the second.

Eclipse was frozen. Somehow locked in her stare, he only seemed to look back at her, never blinking.

Vanilla's eyes grew brighter- and so did the gemstone's luster. "Look at me..." She demanded. Eclipse, whom was already looking at her, nodded. Not taking his eyes off of her, his irises began to glow red.

Galaxy Nebula gasped. Whispering, he said, "That's not Mocha... It's still The Terror!"

"What do we do?" Charming Thunder whispered back.

"We kill it!" Breeze suggested, her voice surprisingly quiet.

"No dearie, we don't 'kill it'. We need to overpower it... But how?" Quillton asked.

"Like this!" Galaxy Nebula said a little bit louder than a whisper. The Terror didn't look at him, almost as if she couldn't hear him. Galaxy ran up to Eclipse and ripped the necklace off of his neck. The hybrid stallion now had a red mark across his neck, but he didn't move. His eyes stayed on Mocha's, and he sat there perfectly still, like as if he was in deep concentration.

The Terror didn't take her eyes off Eclipse. Out of her peripheral vision she saw the dark blue pegasus. "Stop." She demanded, rather calmly.

Charming Thunder took the gemstone in his magic. "Sorry! Give us back our friends!" He then passed the gem on to Paradise.

"Ponies... Give me my gemstone."

Paradise smiled. "I don't have it." She quickly gave it to Tacitus.

Tacitus then teleported it to Quillton using his magic. Quillton took the Thaumaturgy Gemstone and passed it to Shadow. Shadow flew to the back of the room and hoofed it to Frost, whom gave it to Breeze. Breeze giggled and then gave it to Garfield.

As the magical amulet got further and further away from The Terror, Eclipse's eyes seemed to go back to normal.

"No... Ponies, bring it back... I need it..." The Terror said, a little more louder. "Now..." Her voice had also become more stern.

"Why...?" Paradise Oasis asked her, "Why exactly do you need it?"

The Terror closed her eyes, letting Eclipse go. He snapped out of it, and shook his head. "H-huh? Mocha? A-and... Ouch... My neck..."

"Heh, sorry about that." Galaxy apologized quietly.

Eclipse turned to him and smiled sheepishly, accepting his apology. He then looked back at whom he thought was Vanilla Mocha.

The mare before him grinned wider. A green glow appeared around her body, and her mane and tail went flat just like how a balloon deflates. She went back to her white and black striped color scheme, and the green light faded. "I was close... But you still haven't won yet."

"What do you mean?!" Eclipse was angered, "Where is Mocha?! Tell us, now!"

The Terror snickered. "I have a little question, just a little question of mine. May I ask you my question, just a little question, is that fine?"

The group became silent. Quillton sighed, and with that, The Terror continued.

"Who's gonna wonder what goes on in the dark of the night? Where's your friends when you need 'em when you're stuck somewhere tight, what'll happen if you just lie a little to make everything right? This is what happened to me, can't you see- I had a little question... And I still don't know the answer..."

Garfield tilted his head. "What was your question?"

The Terror perked up. "Nothing! I don't care about you, you're completely different- you're not even a horse! You have fur and paws, not hair yet claws, and all you are is different- compared to my nest, you're worse!"

Paradise looked at Garfield. "I don't care any less about him," she flew over to him and hugged him. "Sure, he's not like us. But he's a friend."

The Terror glanced at the pegasus, and then back at the group. "Look at the spider, then look at the fruit bat."

Everypony looked at Breeze and Shadow.

"You two are both bat ponies. So why haven't I seen you two talk very much? Why aren't you best friends? You two are one in the same, you two are very similar! Why are you both not best friends?"

Shadow looked at Breeze, then back at The Terror. "I guess we don't have to be the same species to be best friends. Heck, Eclipse is one of my great friends, and he's only one third bat."

Eclipse nodded.

"Then what about you? Who are your friends?" The Terror glanced at Breeze.

"Hmm... I have lotsa friends! I'm friends with Mocha and Eclipse, of course, but then there's also Charming, Tacitus, Paradise, Galaxy, Daffo-"

"You're friends with them?! Those are unicorns- a-and pegasi- and earth ponies! Most of them can't fly! They aren't like you! How are they your friends?!"

"What we are doesn't define who our friends are. Who we are does," Quillton cut in, "And though we all have our differences it doesn't mean we can't have our similarities, dearie."

"I like eating." Garfield said causally.

Breeze stepped beside him. "Me too! Do you like yellow cake?"

"As long as it's not healthy!" Garfield smiled.

"I enjoy going on adventures." Galaxy Nebula stated.

Quillton smiled. "That's why you're my travel buddy."

"I find studying history very entertaining and enjoyable." Said Tacitus.

"Me too!" Paradise Oasis replied.

"I am fascinated by the history of the Neighponese samurai. That's why I chose this costume." Frost smiled.

"That's so cool!" Paradise commented.

"I think cider is the best Nightmare Night beverage." Charming Thunder said.

"I like drinking that, too!" Daffodil Spark agreed.

"Stop!! This is insane! How are you not sad? How do you not feel overpowered? How do you not feel unbalanced... O-or threatened?!" The Terror yelled.

"Uhm... Why should we?" Charming asked.

Daffodil lifted an eyebrow. "Also... From earlier... What did you mean by... 'My nest'?"

"Never mind!" The Terror exclaimed.

Galaxy looked at The Terror. "Mind telling us? We just want Mocha back, then you can leav-"

"I wasn't done talking." The Terror shot Galaxy an angry look.

The room was silent once more. "That's better. Now, as I was saying... Why are you all friends? There's no possible way you are all together here- there's too many variables, too many differences... I don't understand you ponies!"

"It's simple," Frost smiled, "We aren't all exactly alike, but we aren't enemies either. We might have our disagreements and bad days, but we always see through the negative things and-"

"Quiet!" The Terror yelled. Calming herself, she sighed. "There's nothing you ponies can do to undo the past. Nothing! It is done, and my fate is sealed. Just give me the gemstone and you shall have your friend back."

The group stared at The Terror. They pondered what she meant about the past and her fate; perhaps she wasn't a ghost? Ghosts don't have a fate, do they? But if she was not a ghost... Then what was she?

"Who... No, What... Are you?" Galaxy asked after several minutes of silence.

"I already told you- I am The Terror! I am your worst nightmare, your deepest fears! You shall be afraid of me, you shall run from fright! That's what everyone else did to me- that's what I am, I am a pure monster! I will crush your skulls beneath my hooves and squeeze your fragile lungs dry! All I am is a hideous creature worthy of nothing! I am transparent like a ghost, a mistake that will never be more than what I was when I was born!

"I am a misfit, can't you see? I was born for others to see my imperfections and flaws! I was meant for others to be afraid of me! I am hungry, thirsty, dying for others' fear! I crave your insecurities! I don't know why... Why I don't want any love in this world... Maybe because I never had any. Maybe because... All I have known is fear. I had a question... Just one, small question... And it was never answered..."

Everyone sat in silence.

"Why don't you tell us what happened?," Garfield asked, "We can help."

"We're not afraid of you anymore..." Breeze added, "...mostly..."

"All we want is Mocha back, that's all." Galaxy said.

The Terror sighed. "Fine... Since you now posses my precious Thaumaturgy Gemstone, I see no reason why I cannot tell you..." She sat down. Looking at the ten ponies and cat before her, she sighed again. "You might want to get comfortable... For this will take some telling. Also, it might just be the last time you get such luxury!"

The group stared at her, and then as the half transparent pony saw they were no longer scared of her, she began to tell them what they have been wanting to know since the beginning of the party.

Chapter Seven

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"My old name was 849372, and I was born into the nest of the almighty Queen Chrysalis. Unlike my many brothers and sisters, I was not grey, and I did not have blue bug eyes. Yes, I'm a changeling- don't look at me like that, spider! How else did you think I could change appearance, change gender, change my voice?!"

Breeze sighed, and so The Terror continued. "My queen did not dislike my half transparent, half white body. Unlike the others, I also had a mane and tail, like the majesty herself. Of course, mine wasn't blue like hers. Mine was white and black, obviously. I had no cutiemark, but perhaps that was a good thing. Like my siblings, I had a form of wings and a horn. Luckily for me, mine was the same as theirs.

"Queen Chrysalis adored me. I was her prized daughter, her favorite changeling. I was different, but she liked it. She didn't care that I had normal eyes. She did not seem to notice my body was not dark like the rest. She liked how I was similar to a ghost; she loved my transparency. Sometimes I wish she hadn't.

"Years passed on, and I lived in solitude from my brothers and sisters. Only on my third day of school did it begin. As a young changeling, I had to go onto the training grounds. The queen felt it necessary that I learn like the others, so I attended it like a regular changeling. My siblings did not know who I was, for they had no access to see me because I lived with my good mother, the queen, in the castle of the hive.

"They did not see me like my mother did, or so I thought. They looked at me with fear, they seemed afraid. I had always been told by the queen that I was still a changeling... That I should still thirst for love. 'That is the one main thing that unites all changelings', she said to me, 'we all hunger for others' love.'

"My brothers and sisters from the hive were afraid, and I liked it. Some that were daring enough called me names. Pony-Face, because of my eyes, Hairy Mary, due to my mane and tail, and Ghost, because of my half white- half transparent body. But the most known one was named after my whole complexion- 'The Terror', so I adopted it as my own. I was no longer 849372; I was The Terror. Like my name, I knew then that I was to be destined to put fear in the hearts of others. I liked... No... I loved it. I began to crave their insecurities.

"On my fourth day of school, I entered with a grin. My many siblings that didn't decide to run from me started their name calling, hoof pointing, face making... And I began my skill that I learned I had a talent for when I was in the royal room. I trotted in and began to shout, 'Greetings, my brothers and sisters! I have a surprise for you in store, yes I do! You will learn to fear me evermore after this day!' The instructor of the school had me sent to my mother, whom gave me a hard stare.

"I asked her why I was sent to her. The queen only shook her head. 'I knew this would happen. You cannot stay here, my daughter. You must leave!' I took a step back. 'Why?!' I asked her, '...why?' All I wanted was for my longing crave to be satisfied. Every time somepony was scared, I felt more powerful. However, I was never satisfied. I wanted to reach my high... And I couldn't wait any longer.

"'Leave!' She yelled. 'Go, and fulfill your destiny! You are my favorite daughter, you have power! Conquer a kingdom, and bring the inhabitants to me for your siblings and I to feed on!' I looked at her. Then, sudden realization hit me as hard as an anvil does when dropped from the sky onto somepony's head. I almost fell, my heart stopped beating for a minute. My eyes widened and my jaw dropped. My legs became weak, and my stomach felt sick. My mother, Queen Chrysalis, only favorited me because I was better. She was using me.

"Everything from the beginning of my life up until that moment to me was a lie. I was never loved, never truly accepted as who I was. My mother only favored me because I was different. Somehow, I appeared more magical than the others. Who was I, to even think about being loved? My mother, the ruler of the nest, did not care about me. She only trapped me into using me for my strong power.

"Perhaps that is why I hated myself. Those years I spent in solitude, all those lonely years that I only saw her, the guard, and sometimes a king, (I never met my father) was something I thought was going good in my life. Why me? Aren't I picked on enough? Perhaps I do not crave love like the other changelings because I do not know what it feels like. But I don't care... The past is gone! I cannot go back and change things, my fate is sealed!

"I lowered my eyebrows. 'No!' I rebelled, thinking not about what I was doing. 'No! I am not your slave! I thought you loved me!' The queen only laughed. 'Why, I do love you, and your siblings will too. Look here, 849372,' she wrapped her left foreleg around my neck, and with her mouth close to my right ear, she whispered, 'they will adore you if you bring them food.'

"The words rang in my head. 'They will adore you... They... Will... Adore... You... They... Will... Adore... You...' My head felt light, and my lungs felt heavy. I wanted to fall down, pass out... I did not want to stay here. I felt embarrassed, I felt... Mindless. I was being used. I knew deep down that those changelings would never accept me, love me, adore me... no matter how much food I brought them. I gritted my teeth at this.

"I was raised as a changeling... Changelings are only loyal to changelings. So how are ponies friends with different races, different types? Pegasi and unicorns, unicorns and earth, earth and pegasi... Alicorns, too! I never understood it. My mother told my I was always a Changeling, but my siblings never treated me like it. They didn't act like I was one of them. So who am I but a mistaken slave among those that I thought loved me?

"My mother let go, and stepping away she turned her back and said, 'I shall't wait any longer. Go conquer a kingdom, and bring back the food. You are like me, my daughter. You are special'... I wanted to fight back, but I knew I was defeated." The Terror was sitting, her back haunched down and her neck low. Her muzzle was aimed straight at the ground. The group of friends surrounding her only looked at her in bewilderment, puzzled and wanting to know more. Quietly they waited.

"It was then that I ran away. Everyone that I knew thought I was going to bring them food... But I do not think I will ever return. I flew away as far as I could until I was too hungry and tired to go anymore. I smelt something delicious... That thing, you call 'coffee'... I stopped here in this shop, completely invisible. I hid, and watched your friend Vanilla Mocha give that blue stallion coffee. I watched her, and her friends... Then after she closed up, I decided to stay here for the night. The next day she and that stallion came back," she pointed at Eclipse, "and I learned even more about her. Then, I trapped her."

"Why'd you do that?!" Paradise exclaimed.

"I was hungry! I cannot feed off coffee and pastries! I'm a changeling!" The Terror's voice sounded... Different. Not demanding as usual, not loud, not boasting... She was yelling, but it was soft in a way. Her throat sounded stuffed... Like as if she was hiding something.

"I feed off fear... Didn't I say that? Every time I feel insecurities in others... I... I just feel more powerful! B-but... When it's gone... I feel even less than what I had started with..." The Terror sniffled. Her glowing eyes closing, she clenched her teeth and began to cry quietly. Long watery tears fell onto the floor of the coffee shop.

Minutes of silence passed. The only sounds heard were the sniffles of the ghostly changeling and the slow ticking of the wall clock.

Tick... Tick... Tick... Tick... Tick... Tick... Tick... Tick...

The Terror lifted her head. "W-when I was in... S-school... I learned about the Thaumaturgy Gemstone..." She sniffled, "I would like it... Now..."

Eclipse held it tightly in his hoof. He looked down at it, then glanced back up. He opened his mouth to speak, but he had nothing to say. What could he say?

Frost sat up taller. "Perhaps-"

"Dearie, I hate to interrupt, but, if I may address a question to our... Visitor, this evening..." He looked at The Terror, "Why do you need the gem, anyways? You feed off fear. It's just an amulet, what could it do? Make you scarier?" Upon hearing this, the corners of The Terror's eyes turned red, identical to when somepony is crying.

"What are you saying? That she isn't already scary? I almost had a heart attack earlier!" Galaxy added.

"Um, guys...?" Frost asked quietly.

"I think what Quillton was trying to ask was why she needed the gem." Tacitus explained.

"That makes a lot more sense!" Daffodil agreed with the unicorn.

"Back to his question, why the amulet? What can it do? I mean, he did bring up a good point." Charming Thunder asked.

"Well, for one thing, The Terror could have had just tried to kill us." Shadow Wing added, "It was a dangerous journey, even for me." At this, The Terror's eyes stopped glowing.

"She isn't nice at all. And, who doesn't drink coffee and eat pastries? Food is amazing! Who wouldn't eat it?" Garfield asked.

"She is mysterious, and evil! She took our friend away from us just so that she could get food for herself!" Paradise Oasis agreed.

"She was more than just a friend..." Eclipse sadly sighed, remembering his marefriend.

"Yeah! She's a changeling, duh! All they are is evil!" Breeze exclaimed. The Terror's ears flattened down. She began to scoot back, her hooves moving frantically. She fell onto her back, the back of her head hitting the hard wood of the café hard. She had tears running down her face. Her forelegs were covering the top of her head, as if she did not want to be noticed. Her whole body was slowly turning completely invisible, showing she wanted to hide.

Frost stepped forward. "I have an idea..." She said quietly.

The group looked at her, and with their attention, the pegasus continued. "Um... What if, we didn't give her hate, but gave her love? What if she became our friend?"

The Terror smiled a little, but forced it away. "N-no!" She snapped. Her crying and stuffed nose was audible through her voice. "I don't want love, or friendship! I just want my magic! If I hadn't kept Mocha scared in that mirror this whole time, I'm not sure how I'd still be here. Please... Give me my gemstone... I'm a changeling, I'm not your friend, I'm a natural enemy, just like the spider said!"

Breeze waved. "That's me!"

The group looked at her, then back at The Terror.

"Just give it to me! We'll never be able to be friends, what difference will it make?! I am a no one, my life is a script that was written by fate. I am The Terror... An evil being with no heart. Changelings have no hearts, no conscious! We're hungry creatures that don't care what gets in our way. All we think of is ourselves, and we put others in danger in order to get what we desire! And when we finally do get it... When it wears off... We go lower than we started with!

"It leads to sadness, it leads to hurting... It lead me down a road I wish that I never walked down! I don't know why I'm different, I don't know why the queen thought I was better. I feel sick inside, weak... I don't know what or why I'm doing anything anymore. After learning about the amulet I knew that in order to get my desire, I'd have to find it!

"Because I crave fear I knew that I'd scare ponies into doing it for me! I'd feed off their insecurities, and now that you are mine, there is no escaping! So what if I'm down on the floor, so what if I'm different?! We are natural enemies, and I will live up to that! There's no denying it... My mother told me. She said once a changeling, always a changeling, and it's not my fault that I didn't want to be one... It's not my fault that I wanted to be something else! I wanted friends! I wanted love! But I will never have it!"

"Just... Give it... To me..." She extended her hoof and was breathing heavily.

Eclipse glanced at the mirror. Vanilla Mocha was trapped inside the darkness that hid beneath the glass. Turning his attention back to The Terror, he extended his hoof towards her. The amulet was almost in reach to the changeling when he swung around and threw it at the mirror. The gem shattered into pieces, cracking the small mirror as well.

Chapter Eight

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The group of friends stared at Eclipse in awe, wondering why he threw the Thaumaturgy Gemstone at the mirror Vanilla Mocha was trapped inside of.

The red stone lay on the ground, shattered. The mirror, which was underneath the broken amulet, had a long crack running all the way across it, with broken shards of glass sitting beside it.

The Terror sat up, and her jaw dropped when she saw what had happened.

Minutes of silence passed. "Uhm... Eclipse? What in Tartarus did you do?!" Shadow Wing asked, doing his best to keep in his anger.

"Frost was right."

"What?" Shadow asked again.

Paradise trotted over to The Terror. "I think I know what he's doing," she said as she stuck her hoof out. Smiling, she extended it even closer to The Terror. The Terror looked up at Paradise Oasis. Taking hold of her hoof, she stood up. As The Terror stood up, Paradise said, "He's befriending The Terror. The mirror is a dark, dank prison. Nothing that should be kept."

The Terror was completely standing, but she appeared different than before. Instead of being Celestia-alicorn height, she was the size of a normal pony. Her dark green eyes did not glow at all. She seemed powerless... She seemed normal.

Galaxy trotted over, Charming Thunder behind him. Breeze flew beside Thunder, and the three ponies looked down at the mirror. "How do we get Vanilla back?" Quillton asked, trotting up beside them.

"I don't know..." Thunder replied.

"I do." The Terror's quiet voice said. Everypony turned to face her. Glancing at the ground, and then back up at the group, she said, "The only way t-to get her back is to retrieve her from the mirror... And... Well, the Thuamaturgy Gemstone contained the magic allowing time-space transportation. See, my plan... It was so perfect..." She sighed and hung her head low.

"Well, if we're going through space and time, count me in!" Galaxy smiled.

"But, how's that possible?" Tacitus asked.

The Terror looked up. Sighing again, she replied, "I was building my own... World, if you would. An alternate place of existence, that I'd send all my desired subjects. The scariest place, saddest place... A place of hopelessness and fear. Maybe then the hole in me would be filled and I would reach my high... And stay there. Vanilla Mocha is in there, and if you are truly willing to go... Then fine."

"Whoa! Totally awesome! Finally, more epic-ness!" Breeze exclaimed.

"I've waited my whole life for intergalactic travel, dearie." Quillton grinned.

"When are we going?" Paradise asked.

"Wait! There is not enough magic for you all to travel at once. Trust me, if it was stable enough I would have sent all of you there to begin with. But, then again, scaring you here was just as fun. Ahem... Only five can go at a time. That means, the other... One, two..." She stopped to count, "The other six of you will have no choice but to stay here."

"I cannot miss this opportunity, it's been my lifelong dream!" Quillton said.

"And not only do we both have the same dream, but that's my 'sister' in there! I've gotta save her!" Galaxy added.

"Forget sister, that's my marefriend!" Eclipse exclaimed.

"I've known her ever since I moved to Ponyville. She was one of my very first friends here, and best of all, did not even get mad when I ate all her food!" Garfield said.

"She's also a very loyal member of the library I run," Paradise said, "I will help my friend, no matter what it takes. After all, somepony's gotta carry Garfield if he eats something poisonous again!" Paradise Oasis winked to the cat, whom smiled sheepishly.

"That leaves Charming Thunder, Daffodil Spark, Breeze, Frosted Shard, Shadow Wing and I to stay here. Oh, and The Terror." Tacitus said.

"We'll do our best in keeping things running. I'll make sure that The Terror doesn't get up to no good." Daffodil smiled.

"We'll throw a totally awesome party!" Breeze exclaimed.

"Without getting things out of hoof." Charming Thunder glanced at Breeze.

"Brilliant! We can use the party to better befriend The Terror," Tacitus whispered amongst the group, "Maybe then things go back to normal sooner than later."

"Frost, will you keep everypony in order?" Eclipse asked the pegasus.

"W-what? Me?" A shy Frost asked.

Nodding, the stallion replied, "Yes, you. You gave us the inspiration to be friends with The Terror. Keep it up, and make sure everypony listens to your advice. Life Charming and Daff said, we don't want things out of hoof."

"Well... Ok!" Frost smiled softly.

Picking up the mirror, Shadow whispered, "I'll keep the mirror in my reach at all times. I don't think any more damage needs to be done, and I don't want... You know who," he tilted his had towards The Terror, "to turn her back on you when you're gone."

"Alright, we seem ready to go!" Galaxy smiled.

"Please, stay safe!" Daffodil begged. Hugging her friend Paradise, she backed away to leave room for the ponies to enter the magical portal.

"Tell us all about it when you return!" Breeze waved.

"Don't worry about us, just keep everything under control here until we return." Eclispe smiled.

"Will do!" Frost replied.

The four ponies, and one cat, slowly stepped towards the mirror. The Terror lit her horn, and a light green aura filled the room with light. The mirror began to glow, and red magic, identical to the magic used with the Thaumaturgy Gemstone, was getting brighter and brighter from the inside. The five friends froze as the red light abducted them into the mirror.

~~~

Wind slapped their faces as they were pulled through time and space. The world around the five began to get darker and darker as they were pulled rapidly through the mirror and through what seemed to be a never ending tunnel in space and time. Not even realizing they were screaming, they landed in the other universe. To their surprise, it was not what they had expected.

~~~

A bright light blinded the four ponies and cat as they fell onto the new, foreign ground. Sitting up, the friends began to take in the world around them. They could barely see; everything was dark. The floor was hard and cold, but they could tell they were not inside any buildings. The dark, cold area made the place less inviting.

"What... Is this?" Quillton asked, sitting up taller. The air was dry, and there were no scents at all.

"A place of terror..." Paradise Oasis answered quietly, "She was right, this is a bit creepy... There' nothing here, we're alone..." She shivered.

"How are we supposed to stay alive?" Garfield asked. "I don't know where the fridge is."

Galaxy Nebula sighed. "Garfield, don't just think about food. We have to find-"

"Mocha..." Eclipse whispered to himself.

Everypony looked at him. "Mocha!?" Eclipse shouted. He looked around.

"The light is so dim," Paradise said, "How can you see?"

"I'm part bat, remember? I can see in the dark a lot easier than regular ponies." Eclipse said back, smiling a little. His smile faded when he looked back out. "Mocha... Where are you?" He mumbled.

Garfield put his nose into the air. "I can't see, but I can hear. And smell." He smiled. "I can hear a faint dripping noise in the background, huh. Kinda like a sewer, isn't this?"

"Nevermind that, everypony here hears that. But, wait? What'd ya smelling, Garfield?" Galaxy asked.

"Mmm! Food!" Garfield exclaimed before running off, following his nose.

"Garfield, wait!" Paradise shouted.

The orange cat did not wait. He ran into the darkness, leaving the ponies behind.

"After him! We can't loose two of our friends in this mess!" Quillton said, running after Garfield.

Galaxy ran beside Quillton. "Buddy, wait! We can't even see! I can't see!"

"I don't care! I'm not getting lost, you know we're going to have to follow him."

By this time, Eclipse and Paradise were also beside them. "I can see," Eclipse said, "Just stay by me."

The ponies continued running. Not too far ahead of them, the ponies heard Garfield exclaim: "Ouch! Hey, what gives? You're not food!"

Eclipse smiled widely as he got closer. He ran as fast as he could to where Garfield had lead them. "Vanilla Mocha!" The stallion exclaimed.

Vanilla Mocha sat, her deep eyes looking forward into the darkness. Not moving her eyes, but instead turning her head to look at Garfield, she asked in a dry voice, "Who are you?"

"I'm Garfield!" The orange cat said, smiling.

"How'd you find her?" Paradise asked.

"I followed the smell of coffee," Garfield explained, "She smells like pumpkin latte. Makes sense, I mean, she was helping Tacitus back in the shop before she was taken here."

"Mocha...?" Eclipse asked quietly. He stepped forward, and Mocha's head lifted up, looking at him. Her eyes seemed dull; a far away look made her seem bored and tired. Turning her head to look at the other ponies, Vanilla slowly turned back to Eclipse. "Who are all of you?" Her monotone voice asked again.

"We're your friends, you know us!" Paradise Oasis smiled, trotting forward. "Hey, 'Nilla, remember the time that you and I, and Daffodil, and Surprise- remember when we went to Saddle Arabia?" She chuckled, "That was so crazy! Seems like just yesterday we got back from that voyage."

Vanilla slightly tilted her head. "Huh?"

"Dearie, do you really not remember us?" Quillton asked.

"...Dearie?" Vanilla frowned her face into a confused look.

"No, 'dearie' is my word." Quillton stood up taller.

"Your word?"

"Yes, dearie."

Vanilla tilted her head even further.

Galaxy stepped forward and cleared his throat. "Let me try to get her memory to work," he said. "Hey, sis. You know us, don't you?" Before Mocha could reply, he interjected, "Yes, of course you do. You are my younger sister. No, not really. But that's just how great our friendship is! If you did not know us, Paradise wouldn't have had that adventure with you. In fact, I bet the one here that knows you best is Eclipse because he's your coltfrie-"

"Paradise? Eclipse?" She asked.

Galaxy sighed. "Yes, that one is Paradise," he pointed to the pegasus mare, "And that's Eclipse," he pointed to the stallion hybird.

"And that one is Dearie?" Mocha looked at Quillton.

"No, dea- Mocha, I'm Quillton Brooks. I call everyone 'dearie', but not myself. That is weird."

"Oh..." Mocha said.

"And I'm Galaxy Nebula, you know, your brother-like friend." Galaxy smiled.

"Hey, you forgot me!" Garfield said.

"Um, you already told her your name," Paradise Oasis said.

"Oh, yeah! But still, the name's Garfield."

Mocha lowered her head. "This is... A lot of information... I don't think I can memorize all of that..."

Galaxy chuckled. "Memorize? No, you already know it... Right?"

"Uhm..." Mocha paused to think.

"Why can't she remember anything? What's going on? Did The Terror wipe her memory?! Was this a trap, so that she can do that to us, too?!" Eclipse began to panic, "What if this isn't even her? What if it's another Changeling?!"

"Woah, calm down!" Paradise said, "Just... Woah..."

Eclipse didn't seem to hear Paradise. "How can she not remember us, she's only been in here for a few hours! What... What if she never remembers us?"

"Dearie, I assure you that she wi-" Quillton began.

"What if she gets her memory back, but doesn't love me anymore?!" Eclipse formed tears in his eyes. "What if I never see the real Mocha again?"

"I'm sure everything is fine, Eclipse." Galaxy sighed.

Eclipse reached over and hugged Vanilla Mocha. Mocha looked around and felt awkward... She didn't remember what a hug was.

"You're squeezing me..."

"Too bad..." Eclipse hugged her tighter, then suddenly let go. "Mocha... Your fur... It's c-cold, and damp!"

Vanilla turned her head down to look at herself. "Oh."

"Now that I notice it, her eyes look red around the edges." Garfield observed.

Gasping, Paradise added, "You're right! And they're a little puffy, too."

"Mocha... Were you crying?" Eclipse asked softly, wrapping his hooves around her again.

"I... Don't remember..."

Gasping, Galaxy said, "Wait! What if... What if there's an unbalance in this universe? Mocha needs to go back to her shop to regain her memory as soon as possible!"

"That does sound rather accurate." Quillton agreed.

"Alright, this is enough! Let's go back. Mocha, you're coming!" He picked up his marefriend and held her close. Flapping his wings, he began to take air. Hovering above the group, he said, "We're leaving! I-I can't stand this place!"

"Me neither; but... Where do we go to get out?" Garfield asked.

"I've been on plenty of journeys, but none as confusing as this." Quillton said. Galaxy nodded in agreement.

"I think we came from... That way." Paradise said, pointing her hoof into a patch of vast darkness.

"How can you tell?"

"All of our backs are turned to that direction. Plus, there was a dripping noise where we started- as Garfield said, 'like a sewer'. If we don't hear it, we'll keep on walking until we do. That's the best I've got."

Everyoony looked at her, then at each other, then at Mocha who was looking into the deep darkness once more. They turned their attention back to Paradise.

"Ok," Galaxy said, "I'm ok with that."

"Seems to be the only thing that'll work." Garfield added.

"Paradise, you lead us." Quillton nominated.

"Oh- um, alright!" Paradise stood up tall, and she proudfully trotted through the darkness, the stallions, Mocha, and cat behind her.

After more trotting, the group found the dripping area.

"Here we are! Time to go back!" Paradise smiled.

"Um... Just one question. The Terror let us in... But who'll let us back out?!" Galaxy exclaimed.

Chapter Nine

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Her dull green eyes looked around calmly. She didn't understand why these random ponies were acting so frustrated. "What is going on?" Her dry, monotone voice asked.

"Mocha, we... We're just trying to get out, that's all." Galaxy reminded her.

Vanilla didn't get it. Why were they trying to get out? As her eyes scanned the room once more, she noticed Paradise had sat down, looking at the ground. Eclipse was panicking, constantly moving around, trying anything to trigger some sort of magic. Quillton had also stopped, and like Paradise, was looking to the floor for an answer. Galaxy sat by his side, also saddened. The strange, furry, short pony, that called himself Garfield, also took a seat on the dark, cold floor.

Mocha stood up and trotted beside them. She bowed before Paradise. "Your majesty."

Paradise looked up. "What do you mea- ohhh," she began to chuckle, "This is just a Nightmare Night costume."

Vanilla looked at her in confusion, as she had also forgotten what Nightmare Night was. Then, she looked at Garfield, and did the same.

"I'm sorry I didn't bow before, Princess," she told the cat.

"I'm not a princess!" He crossed his arms.

"Oh... Then," she turned back to Paradise, "I am also sorry to you, Queen."

Paradise smiled, knowing Mocha didn't seem to know what was happening, but yet she had an idea of what was to be done.

"I've been waiting for my Queen," Mocha continued, "Ever since I arrived I had this small voice inside telling me that a ruler was coming."

"Wait, what?!" Paradise exclaimed. Everypony looked to Mocha for a deeper explanation.

Her monotone continued as she spoke. "The Queen is supposed to come, and take over. We are her subjects," glancing at Paradise, she said, "I welcome you to your rightful land."

"Must've been what The Terror did to her," Quillton whispered to Galaxy. However, Mocha still heard him.

"The Terror?" Her eyes widened.

"Do you know of her, dearie?" Quillton asked.

"That's The Terror," Mocha pointed at Paradise, "She's the queen."

The winged mare gasped. "What? No I'm n-"

Eclipse cut her off. "Of course she is, Mocha! Who else?"

Surprised, the group looked up at Eclipse. "Speaking of which, we must talk with her. In private." Turning around, the group walked off a little, but not too far away from Mocha. As they got out of hearing range, Eclipse said, "Sorry about that, Paradise. But I think that if we just let her think you're the ruler, then she might listen to us, and then maybe we can get out faster."

"That... Actually is a pretty good idea. But how will we get out?" Paradise replied.

"I don't know... Galaxy, Quillton- you guys are the time travelers. How do we get out?" Eclipse asked.

"Well, since the only source of getting in is not here with us... It'll be hard to find a source out..." Galaxy sighed.

"Not to be negative, but... If there is any way out." Quillton added.

The group slowly walked back to Vanilla, who looked at them sadly. She knew something was not right when everypony sat down again- including Eclipse. She trotted over to him, and awkwardly wrapped her hooves around his neck, trying to hug him. Of course, after forgetting what a hug was, she felt weird and out of place doing it, making it awkward.

"What are you doing?" Eclipse asked, half smiling.

Though the question was rhetorical, she answered anyways. "I am giving you a squeeze." However, Mocha did not hug tightly. She lightly hugged him, acting as if it was weird to make physical contact.

Eclipse chuckled quietly. "Okay." His voice quietened and the six friends sat in the darkness in silence.

"Will we ever get out of here?" Garfield finally asked.

"Why would you want to get out?" Mocha asked, letting go of Eclipse. Sitting herself beside him, she continued, "I don't know why any living being would want to leave here. I personally find it nice."

Garfield's eyes widened, and his pupils shrunk. "You- You think that this dark, drippy, lonely place created by a monster to hold her subjects in is nice?! You like it?! What kind of demon did this to you?!"

"Demon...?" Redsopine asked. He sat in the middle of the group.

"Who are you?!" Paradise exclaimed. Red only glanced at her.

"You're from the train, right?" Quillton asked the stallion.

"Yes..." He lowered his eyebrows as he turned his attention to the earth pony, "Yes, I am."

"How'd you get here?!" Eclipse questioned him.

"I fight demons in every dimension," he said as he pulled out his sword, "I wouldn't be a demon fighter if I let them loose into other worlds."

"Great!" Eclipse looked at his friends with a smile. They all looked at him, smiling back, "Can you tell us how to get... Out?" Looking behind him, he noticed Red had vanished. "W-where'd he go?!"

Galaxy shrugged. "I guess Tacitus was right when he said that we was apart of... What was it?"

"Wolfpack," Paradise replied, "I, too, study history- but not the same as Tacitus. I study more ancestral topics, while Tacitus studies science and society."

"Ohhh..." Galaxy absorbed the information.

Eclipse looked back at his marefriend. "I'm so sorry, Mocha... It looks like we won't be going home."

"Home?" Her eyes brightened.

"Yeah..." Eclipse looked down, and sighed, saddened.

"Home?" She repeated.

"I miss Dream Valley," Paradise said,"That was my home. That's where I met Surprise, and Daffodil... And Mocha, when she came to our library. She always enjoyed reading the books there."

"I sometimes miss Jon... He cooked really good lasagna. And sometimes that dog, Odie. Nermal... No one could ever miss him. But yeah, I guess I miss my family. It's hard living alone among ponies all of a sudden." Garfield added.

"I have never moved, but I travel a lot with Galaxy Nebula." Quillton said.

"We both get homesick, though." Galaxy finished Quillton's thoughts.

Vanilla Mocha gasped. "Home... Home..? Home!" She stood up, and within seconds, her eyes were glowing white. The shining light blinded the group of friends; going from everlasting darkness to the illuminating light was painful. Closing her eyes tightly, she rubbed her head, and looked up at her friends. Opening her eyes all the way, she smiled widely. "E-Eclipse?!" She ran forward and hugged him tightly.

"Squeeze," Eclipse whispered. Clearing his throat, he said, "I'm glad you're back, Mocha..."

Looking around, Vanilla noticed Paradise, Quillton, Garfield, and Galaxy. Smiling even wider, she picked them up using her magic, and let them join in on the hug.

Letting go, she looked around again. "Where... Are we?" She asked nervously.

Her friends explained, and Mocha's eyes widened in fear and anger.

"...And now we're here, but we can't see very well to get back. Even if there was any light, we don't know how to get out of here to begin with." Galaxy finished.

"Wait... Then who let you in? Who let me it?" Mocha asked.

"The Terror summoned us to get you after she trapped you here in the first place, dearie." Quillton replied.

"She used dark magic, or normal magic?"

"Mocha, she's a changeling, it wasn't either-" Eclipse began.

"What did it look like?" Vanilla asked again. "What did the magic look like?"

"It was just... Normal green magic. But I couldn't tell if it was just green, or if it was evil." Eclipse said, Paradise and Galaxy nodding in agreement.

Putting her hoof to her chin, Mocha thought for a moment. "I might know a way out..."

~~~

"C'mon..." Breeze mumbled, stuffing a DVD into the player on Mocha's TV in the coffee shop.

"Breeze... That's the VHS player," Shadow said, "It isn't going to go in there, it'll get stuck."

"Oh... I knew that!" Breeze took it out and put the new movie into the other box. Starting the show, she flopped onto the couch. "A colored, modern movie- with real horror! What we should've been watching to start with." She smiled.

The group sat down in the room and began to watch the movie.

"I love you, Shining Armor..." Princess Cadence said on-screen.

"I lov-" Shining Armor began to say. Twilight Sparkle, as an alicorn, ran onto the scene. "Stop, Shining! She doesn't really love you, she's an impostor!"

Tacitus tilted his head. "I thought the royal wedding was before the coronation of Princess Twilight Sparkle."

"Applewood can't do anything right, you know that." Daffodil replied.

"Pffft, who cares? It's an action and horror movie... In color!" Breeze said.

"I kinda have to agree with Breeze, here. It's better than the headless horse film we were watching earlier." Thunder added.

"Shh, let's just watch it." Frost whispered. Everypony quieted down, and their eyes glued to the screen.

"This is day going to be perrrrfect~" Princess Cadence, on the movie, began to sing.

The Terror, whom was sitting beside the sofa, looked up. "What is this movie based on, um... Tacitus?"

"I already said the royal wedding," He turned to face The Terror, "It was a big thing that happened about a year ago in Canterlot." Tacitus answered, taking another sip of his latte.

"Yeah! It had this epic battle in it between the ponies of Canterlot and the evil Changelings!" Breeze pounded her right hoof into her other hoof. "The Wonderbolts were there, and so were the Princess's soldiers! It was so cool, I wish I would've been right there to help fight off those buggy monsters!"

"Um..." The Terror sighed.

"Oh... Sorry..." Breeze apologized.

"Let's just have fun. Within a few minutes all of our friends will be back, and everything will be back to normal. Let's just chill." Thunder said as he lowered the lights in the room, making it darker.

Daffodil sat up and trotted to the back of the room. Frost followed her. "Anything wrong?"

"Oh? What, no. I am just bored of that movie. It's hard for me to watch things that aren't accurate... But what can you expect from Applewood?" Daffodil Spark replied.

"Ah, I see. Well, wanna talk? Thunder did say to have fun. Besides, being lonely back here would not be very nice."

Daffodil smiled. "Sure. So, you're into the Neighponese Samari?" She noted Frost's costume.

"Yeah, it's interesting to me."

"That's really cool."

"Yeah, I really like how-" Frosted Shard was cut off when a roaring noise came from the TV. On the screen, the changelings were flying into the castle, taking Celestia hostage. The bug-like ponies flew in and out of the castle. Even though they were actors, the special effects and costumes made it seem very realistic, like as if they had real Changelings as the actors. But, of course, it was just unicorns and pegasi. Chrysalis panned into the camera and began to smile wickedly. "Just as planned!"

"Hey, where'd The Terror go? She was just here." Tacitus asked, looking up from his coffee.

Shadow held up the mirror. "She hasn't messed with this, at least, not that I know of. I've been holding it the whole time, so..."

Frost gasped. "Turn the movie off!" Turning towards the TV, she pointed to the screen.

"Why?" Charming Thunder asked.

Daffodil's jaw dropped. She realized what Frosted meant. The earth pony exclaimed, "Do you know how offensive that is?!"

Suddenly it snapped. "Do... You think she hid?" Charming Thunder asked as he turned off the movie.

"Perhaps," Frost said, "We just need to look for her. We don't know what she could be doing."

"Um... Hey there, Terror... Terror...!" Breeze called. There was no reply. Breeze looked around nervously. "Heh... Sorry..."

"It's not your fault, Breeze. But, it's like watching a vampire movie about the batponies being bad, and us not comforting you by telling you it's just a movie- especially if it was based off a real event that you couldn't help." Daffodil Spark said. Breeze smiled.

"I guess we should've had more explanation for her," Tacitus added, "It's also nice to know about history the way it really happened, not by movies."

Shadow Wing nodded in agreement.

"Let's just focus on finding her," Daffodil said, "Like Frost told us, we don't know where she is or what she is doing."

The group wasted no time in looking for the odd changeling. However, she was hiding in plain sight- The Terror was invisible, sitting right in front of them.

Chapter Ten

View Online

"Please come out, please...!" Frost asked shyly as the six ponies continued looking for The Terror.

"She couldn't have run off. It just doesn't feel right... This is too random." Tacitus concluded.

"Then, what did happen?" Thunder asked the other unicorn.

"I'm not entirely sure, but I do theorize that she might've done something with our friends that went into the mirror." He sighed.

"But, I already said- nothing's happened to the mirror since they went in. Wouldn't she need to, eh, I dunno... Get inside of it, or at least have it in her hooves or magic to at least control it?" Shadow stated.

"You do bring up a rather interesting point." Tacitus replied.

The windows were still hidden by the dark curtains Mocha had placed for Nightmare Night. Daffodil took a curtain in one of her hooves, and pulled it open on one side. The sky was black, and the Nightmare Nighters had gone to sleep. The moon was high in the sky, and stars shined. Daffodil turned back to the group. Her eyes looked up at the wall clock, and she said, "It just occurred to me, that we have been up... All night. Look, even though it's dim in here, we can see- our eyes have adjusted. And, not to mention- it's a little past three a.m. already."

"Whoa, cool! I didn't realize it either!" Charming Thunder exclaimed, smiling.

"Yeeeeeah! Nightmare-Night-All-Nighter!" Breeze shouted, flying into the air with her hooves above her head. Grabbing two blue Pompoms from out of nowhere, she began to wave them around.

Rolling his eyes, Thunder grabbed her tail with his magic and pulled her down.

"This is bad... The sun is going to rise at, what- six? That gives us three hours!" Tacitus said.

"Let's all just-" Frost began.

"Our friends are gone, The Terror is missing- what's next? Eternal night? Did Nightmare Moon come back, even after her reformation?!" Tacitus panicked.

"Calm down there, professor- Let's just take this one step at a time, ok? One small trot after the other." Daffodil smiled, "That first trot is to stay calm. We could all use that one."

Looking around her, Daffodil noticed everypony was following her idea. She continued, "The next little trot, little step- it's to listen to our leader. Eclipse put Frost in charge, so let's listen to her. In a way, we're all leaders. But for right now, let's get organized and listen to Frost."

"Well... I was going to suggest earlier, that we all just focus on finding The Terror. That's all we can do- we can't go in the mirror, and we can't get our friends out of it. The only way to fix things right is if we find the one that put them in there." With that, the group of friends began searching again.

The Terror peeked up from behind the sofa. Sitting in the middle of the room, she hadn't moved. Her whole body was transparent, and she altered herself to not be physical, therefore causing her to become a complete ghost; the ponies walked through her unknowingly. She looked down at the ground sadly. She looked back up, and glanced over to the mirror. "What did I do...?" She thought.

Suddenly, the mirror began to glow green. "W-whoa!" Shadow exclaimed. Out of fright and surprise, he dropped it onto the ground. His five friends gathered around and looked at the mirror. Scurrying to pick it back up, Shadow held it in his grasp tightly. A blinding white light began to emerge out of the mirror, and was quickly filling the room.

However, seconds later, the room was dark again. Everypony was quiet. Then, in the center of the room, a dim yellow light began to shine. The yellow light came from Vanilla Mocha's horn. As her magic got brighter, Tacitus and Thunder began to glow their blue lights as well.

Surrounding Mocha was Paradise, Galaxy, Garfield, Eclipse, and Quillton. Daffodil ran to turn on the lights, and the magical light calmed down. Everypony smiled widely, glad that they were reunited. "Thunder!" Galaxy exclaimed, running over to the unicorn.

"Hey there, Paradise!" Tacitus smiled softly.

"Hello, Frost, and Daffodil, and Breeze- dearies." Quillton said.

"Welcome back, Eclipse!" Shadow greeted.

"Hello, food!" Garfield exclaimed, running into the kitchen.

"Mocha!" Daffodil shouted, smiling. Vanilla smiled back, and trotted up to hug her. Before the group knew it, they were all hugging.

"This is weird." Breeze said after a few moments of hugs.

"Agreed." Quillton added.

The friends let go, and stepped back. "Mocha... How exactly did you manage to get us out?" Galaxy asked his 'sister'.

"I took lessons at Magic School. I learned one about overriding dark magic, and another about teleporting home. I used both at the same time... But, it... Feels weird right now." She sat down, putting her hoof to her head.

"That was a lot of magic, sweetie. You probably just have a headache now." Eclipse said as he sat down next to her.

"Maybe..." Vanilla replied.

The Terror couldn't take it any longer. She turned back into a physical, visible pony. Hiding behind the sofa, she peeked over to continue to spy on the twelve friends.

Paradise Oasis glanced over, and noticed The Terror. Trotting up to her, The Terror ducked... As if she was scared. Paradise forced a small smile, and extended her hoof. The Terror sat up, and then Paradise wrapped her hooves around her in a hug. "Thanks for letting us get Mocha back." She whispered.

The Terror stood there awkwardly. She had never been hugged in her life. "Um... You're welcome?"

Paradise let go and began to walk back to the ground when she stopped and turned back around. Looking back, she noticed that The Terror had sat back down. "Come on, join in the fun. It's all ok now." Oasis smiled.

The Terror looked back up at the pegasus. "Well... Alright." Sighing, she stood up. The two creatures walked back into the center of the room.

The Terror caught sight of Vanilla Mocha, and froze. Gulping, she stepped forward nervously. She tapped Mocha on the shoulder from behind.

Vanilla turned her head to face The Terror. She jumped back a little, scared.

"It's ok, 'Nilla." Paradise said.

"She's changed. And... She's back!" Frost smiled.

"I'm sorry...for doing that... That thing..." The Terror mumbled.

"It's alright, no harm done." Mocha forced a smile. She honestly had no idea what she just said.

"Wait a minute!" Breeze exclaimed. "The Terror- The Terror! Terror tried to trap Mocha into being her slave, she sent us on a journey into a volcano with a hot- I mean crazy tour guide- for a gem that served nopony any purpose at all-"

"Eclipse broke the mirror with it," Garfield interjected.

"Yeah, that- and then she throws half of our friends into the mirror- then disappears, and wants to come back and be redeemed?!" The bat mare continued.

"You... Do have a few points." Frost said quietly.

"She's a Changeling! I don't care how sad her story is- who knows if it's even real?!" Breeze finished.

"I'll prove it to you!" The Terror replied. At once, tears fell from her eyes as she took on the heavy dark magic. The green mist filled the coffee shop. Within moments, she was in her original body- a half white, half transparent holed skin, black buggy wings, green pony-like eyes, a black and white striped mane and tail, and no cutiemark. Long, watery tears ran down her face.

"This... Is who I am. Breeze, you were right... I am an evil Changeling. I have no heart... All I am is an enemy that shouldn't be here, asking for redemption." She said, closing her eyes shut.

"Yes..." Vanilla said. Everypony looked at her. "Yes, you're a Changeling. Yes, your species is our enemy. Yes, Breeze was right about that. But not about those other things. No, you're not evil, no, you have a heart, and no- If you ask for forgiveness... You'll get it."

The Terror looked up at Mocha. "...what?" She asked in puzzlement.

"I don't know everything that my friends went through tonight. But I do remember being sent to that dark, drippy place. My heart sank, and I felt like I was a slave to my own fears. Every thought I had related to my home, my friends- and only after about an hour my memory had been gone because I had forgotten so early on what my home was. But it's not the blueprint that makes the house stand up, you see. That's only the plan. It's the walls you make it with that determine whether or not it'll stand against the rain, the snow- are they strong walls, or weak, moldy walls? Are they clean and filled with insulation, or are they dirty and infested with bugs?"

"I still don't get it." The Terror said.

"Yeah... Mocha, what are you trying to get to?" Eclipse asked.

"Dearie... You're not making any sense." Quillton added.

"I think I understand," Paradise said, "'Nilla's saying that the walls of a house are like the friends of a group. If you don't have good friends, the walls won't stay up- and vice versa. Right...?"

Mocha nodded in response.

"But, Vanilla... I thought we were all good friends." Galaxy looked at her sadly.

"Hmm? We all are..." She glanced up at The Terror, "Say, why don't you move? Pack up your things, and find a new house, with a new blueprint. Build up some new walls." Mocha smiled.

The Terror looked around at the crowd of ponies... And Garfield. She looked down at the orange cat, who looked back up at her. The Terror's green eyes scanned the room. She looked at Garfield, then Galaxy, Quillton, Eclipse, Daffodil, Shadow, Tacitus, Paradise, Thunder, Breeze, and Frosted. Sighing, she turned her attention back to Mocha.

"Mind if I ask you something...?" The Terror asked.

"Not at all, go ahead." Vanilla Mocha replied. The rest of the friends looked to The Terror in interest.

Looking around at all of Mocha's friends, whom were all friends with each other, her face beamed with happiness. Smiling, she sang, "I had a little question, just a small question at the time...

This 'little' thing got to me and- it wasn't right.

How was I so mistaken to not see it right away?

The light was shining on me, as bright as dayyyy-

I've seen you go through many things tonight,

And the answer to my question was clear-

You don't have to be the same to be a friend,

you don't have to be alike to like-

I grew up believing that all I could give was nervousness and strife,

All my life I was kept in solitude, and I thought I was better-

When they made me feel low, I thrived to be high!

And now I see there's no such thing

As long as there's true friends by your side!

I'll forget my past, make my new name known,

Make everything how it should be!

I won't be The Terror, I'll be fresh and new,

Full of clar-rity!

Though... I have yet another question, but this time it's not small.

I want to ask you this, ask you all..." She looked around the room once more, "W-Would you forgive me, and accept my f-friendship?"

The twelve friends looked at her in awe. She was asking to be forgiven? She wanted friends? She was sorry?

Daffodil smiled. "I'm okay with it."

"Me too." Frost agreed.

"I am too, two!" Thunder added.

"I guess that makes me, 'I am three'." Galaxy replied.

The group looked at Breeze. "Welcome to the herd, Terror!" The bat mare smiled.

"You... You mean it?" The Terror asked.

"Heck, I walked in these doors last night thinking that I was going to have to tolerate one of Mocha's lame parties again... Watch a cheesy Nightmare Night movie, keep it all G-rated fun... But naw, you threw us on an epic adventure into an exploding volcano, we rode a dragon's back, we explored a train at night-not to mention we met a super cool demon fighter- and you also sent half of us into an alternate dimension! This was, like, the best Nightmare Night party ever!" Breeze flew into the air and did a backflip. "Yeeeah!"

"Dearie, you were just complaining about it minutes ago." Quillton raised an eyebrow.

"I was just surprised at her wanting to change so fast." Breeze replied.

"But... Those things weren't meant to be good things." The Terror said quietly.

"That might have been the original intention- but I think things have turned around." Daffodil smiled.

"Like she said," Tacitus glanced at Vanilla, "Just get a new blueprint, and you'll have newer, better, stronger walls up in no time."

"Hey, a word of advice: make the walls out a gingerbread, and put candy and icing on the outside of the house..." Garfield said.

The Terror chuckled. Shadow tapped on her shoulder. The changeling turned towards him. "Yes?"

"What happens with the mirror?" He asked as he held it up in his bat wing.

"Oh, hmm... I don't need it anymore. Sure, I used the magic from the Thaumaturgy Gemstone to create a portal to the other world I created..." The Terror looked at the room once more. Her eyes met the eyes of the others, and right then she knew what was going to happen. Smiling, she took it in her magic. Putting it on the ground, The Terror lay it upside down- the backside facing up. She smashed it from the back, and glass could be heard shattering against the floor.

"That... That wasn't my home." The Terror said softly. Another blinding white light filled the room as her changeling skin began to glow. It was also beginning to transform- the holes along her legs were beginning to slowly close, and the opacity in her fur was getting thicker and thicker. She became whiter- as white as snow. The light made it impossible for the group of various friends to see what was going on.

"What's... Happening?" Frost asked quietly.

"L-look!" Thunder exclaimed with a smile. Everyone of the friends looked at The Terror.

The light was dying down, and now they could see that her coat had zero transparency: it had no holes, no clearness... It was full. Her mane and tail grew longer, and was white with a few thick black stripes. Her wings and horn had shed off; she had transformed into an earth pony. Her newly colored hazel eyes softly twinkled as she smiled warmly.

"I think you just got your cutiemark," Paradise gasped, "You discovered your talent!"

"But... Changelings don't have cutiemarks..." The Terror replied quietly.

"I don't think you're a Changeling anymore." Eclipse smiled.

The Terror looked down. It was true: a small symbol seemed to be embedded into her fur. It was a heart-shaped icon. The left side was colored black, and the right side was outlined in black, to represent the color white. "I think... I think it's because I learned that difference doesn't mean inequality..." She smiled, "And that anypony can be friends with anyone, no matter how different on the outside they are!" She picked up Garfield with her new hooves and hugged him.

"Oof..." Garfield mumbled.

Sitting the cat down, she looked at the rest of the ponies. "I feel so... Good."

"That's great, Terror!" Breeze exclaimed.

The Terror sighed. "That's the only thing... My name..."

"Hmm... Why don't you get a new name?" Galaxy suggested.

"Great idea, Nebula! But... What will it be?" Tacitus asked.

"What about 'Streak'?" Frost replied, "Because of your mane."

"I personally like 'Hazel'- like her eyes." Charming Thunder said.

"No, no... She looks more like a 'Crystal'." Daffodil suggested.

"Those names all sound good, really... But I don't know." The Terror said.

"What kind of name do you want, dearie?" Quillton Brooks asked.

"Something kind of like my old name. I was terrible, I created insecurities and fear. But now I am different... I have happiness, and joy-"

"Joy! That's it! That'll be your name!" Paradise Oasis exclaimed.

"Joy- I like that name." Shadow smiled.

"You know what? Me too." Joy smiled back.

~~~

The sun pierced in through the windows of the coffee shop. The thirteen friends just finished watching the Headless Horse film, and were tired from staying up all night long. Mocha stood behind the counter serving coffee and other beverages to the few of her friends that were determined to stay awake.

"I'm gonna need this today until I can nap," Paradise Oasis said tiredly as Vanilla hoofed her a Hot Chocolate. Looking into the cup, she smiled. "Jacked with cinnamon, hmm? Thanks!"

Mocha smiled back. "Thought it'd help you like coffee helps me- knowing you like cinnamon and all."

Breeze, whom sat beside Paradise, sat down her mug. "More Coco, please."

"Hot chocolate? You... Just had cider." Vanilla questioned.

"There's actually some still in here. I wanna mix 'em." Breeze grinned.

"Ew..." Mocha didn't want to let her friend down. She hesitated, and yet poured in a little bit of chocolate drink into the half full mug of cider. Breeze gulped it down.

"Don't batponies have the ability to stay awake at night without getting tired?" Tacitus asked. He, too, sat across from Mocha on the other side of the counter.

"Yeah... But who doesn't like cider and chocolate?" Breeze exhaled sitting down her empty cup.

Tacitus opened his mouth to speak, but closed it, deciding it was best to just let Breeze be Breeze.

Only a few hoofsteps away in the shop sat Eclipse, Thunder, and Shadow. They sat at one of the haunted-looking tables in the café part of the building.

Vanilla never wanted her shop to look like... A shop. She wanted everypony that stepped hoof inside to feel at home. The left side from the door was covered in tables and kitchen. The right side was set like a house- large windows on the walls, a TV mounted between the windows, and a large sectional sofa separating the two sides. On the back wall between the couch and television was the door to the back room, which was normally locked due to employee access only.

"I haven't had this much fun in what seems like years," Thunder told his new friends, "But I hate that I'm tired. How can you bats go all day awake, then all night? Wouldn't you need to sleep during the day?"

Eclipse chuckled. "Yeah, we get tired. Speaking of which, I'm going to nap later."

"I slept yesterday, I actually feel fine." Shadow added.

Across the room at another table, the two time travelers shared their thoughts on the universe that they had traveled to. "I don't quite understand how she made it... I mean, how could she have gotten ahold of such power to create another world?" Nebula questioned.

"I wonder if the Thaumaturgy Gemstone has more magic than we thought..." Quillton pondered.

Galaxy Nebula looked up at him.

Quillton Brooks smiled. "Allow me to rephrase that. I wonder if the amulet has more magic than we thought it did, dearie."

"You and that word!" Galaxy laughed.

On the other side of the cafe, Daffodil Spark, Frost, Garfield, and Joy sat on the sofa.

"Is... This how I do it?" Joy asked nervously as she stood up. She extended her hoof towards Daffodil. "H-hello, nice to meet you. I'm Joy..."

Daffodil smiled softly and reached out to proceed shaking Joy's hoof. "I'm Daffodil Spark. Pleasure to meet you."

"Um... Not to be picky, but... You stuttered." Frost pointed out quietly.

"Oh... Let me retry. Hello, nice to meet you... My name is Joy..."

Garfield tapped Joy's shoulder. "Here's some friend advice. Make friends that are vegan, vegetarian, picky, on diets, and people that tend to skip meals."

"Why?" Joy asked the orange cat.

"Because, whatever food they don't eat, you can get for yourself." The cat smiled sheepishly.

Joy giggled at his reply.

"Woah, the sun- it's rising already?" Frost asked as the rays of yellow light made its way into the building.

"We've been in here for hours. How about we all take a walk outside? That'd really wake us up." Tacitus suggested.

"Eh... I don't care much for sunlight. But, what's to lose? I don't want to stay in here all alone." Shadow Wing smiled. Joy trotted up beside him with a smile on her face.

Vanilla Mocha opened the door to her cafe and watched her friends gallop outside. She followed behind them, watching. The sun was high, the birds were singing, and the sky was clear. In the distance young fillies and colts played a game, and not too far down the street a couple walked slowly. Animals scurried, and autumn leaves covered the ground. Mocha smiled and let out a sigh of relief. Today was going to be a good day. She trotted up beside her friends.

Joy smiled widely. She was surrounded by friends of all different sizes, races, species, colors, genders, and personalities. She glanced back at the coffee shop where everything had started. Then, Joy's newly colored hazel eyes illuminated bright green, and glowed once more.

Bloopers

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Chap 10
By: Galaxy Nebula

After most of the friends had departed from the events of the night before, a few stayed behind to talk to each other. Joy, Thunder, Eclipse, Mocha, Quillton and Galaxy, to be exact. As the five ponies began walking back inside, Quillton noticed somepony trotting up behind them: specifically Galaxy.

"Galaxy, who is that coming up behind you?" Quillton asked as he saw a purple pegasus trot up quietly behind Galaxy, giggling.

"Hmm?" Galaxy asked as a pair of hooves went over his eyes. "Hey! What the?! Mocha is that you?" He asked. Mocha looked over and giggled, shaking her head.

"Surprise." The pegasus behind Galaxy said. He relaxed and smiled.

"Hey, you." Galaxy said as he turned around. The others were looking at him. "Oh, that's right, guys, this is my marefriend, Crystal Harmony. Crystal, this is everyone." Quillton took Crystal's hoof.

"Pleasure to meet you, Ms. Harmony." He said. Crystal smiled.

"Crystal." Mocha said. Crystal looked at her. "How long have you known Galaxy?" She asked.

"Oh, long time." Crystal said. "Ever since foalhood. He was my first crush." Crystal giggled. Galaxy's cheeks turned a light shade of red.

"That's so cute!" Joy smiled.

"Thanks." Crystal said. She lifted an eyebrow. "Galaxy never introduced me to you... Who are you?" She smiled.

"My name is Joy. I am new here, I met everypony last night." Joy replied.

"Cool! Hey, want to go to the Hayburger?" Crystal asked.

"I'm up for it." Galaxy smiled, still blushing.

"Let me get my marefriend Sunset Shimmer." Quillton said trotting off.

"We'll come." Eclipse said, looking at Mocha. Joy and Thunder nodded.

"Great! Hey, Galaxy, why don't you tell me all about what happened last night?" Harmony smiled.

Galaxy glanced over at Joy. "Um... Heh... We watched the Headless Horse."

"That's all you did?"

"We also... Went to an island and stole a magical amulet out of a volcano and got thrown into an alternate dimension and Mocha lost her memory and then reformed a Changeling who later became our friend and yeah..."

Crystal looked at him, her eyes blinking. "What?"

"From a video game! Yeah. One that Eclipse found online." Galaxy smiled sheepishly.

Crystal Harmony giggled softly. "My silly Galaxy~" She nuzzled him.

"Now, who's ready for the Hayburger?" Galaxy asked.

Quillton and Sunset trotted up beside them. "We are!" Sunset smiled.

"Then let's go!" Thunder cheered.

Chapter Four
By: Paradise Oasis

Once, There was a lovely princess named Paradise. She went to explore a big dark and scary cave, high in the mountains near the distant Kingdom of Griffonstone. Monsters and traps, scary ruins and foreboding forests; they faced all sorts of fiendih foes and frightening forces. Taking the journey with her friends, they braved the dangers and perils of the journey, until they arrived at their destination at the cave's entrance.

The cave seemed like a mysterious place, it seemed to dark and perilous to enter. That is, until the noble and handsome stallion, Prince Safari, came to their aid. Princess Paradise was immediately stuck by his handsome face and kind and gentle nature.

Emboldened by the great stallions presence, she proceeded to follow him into the cave, heading out on another daring and noble adventure.

As the walked through the torch lit gloom, the two ponies had time to talk to one another, and found that they had much in common, including Paradise's love of magical and romantic fairy tales. They felt strongly drawn to each other, but before they could act upon their newfound but strong feelings, a grotesque and monstrous spider suddenly lowered itself from the ceiling, and attacked the now happy couple.

Blood-red eyes, gross and icky drool; Paradise let out a scream as the beast got the drop on them, and wrapped the two ponies up in it's sticky webs. Ignoring Paradise, the horrible monster sought to take the handsome stallion away from the beautiful Paradise, to devour him with her wicked spidery wiles. But the brave Pegasus princess would not be deterred, and managed to wiggle free, and lunge at the eight legged horror with all her might!

Long and hard the two foes battled, each nearly gaining the advantage over the other. The spider bit the poor mare, injecting it's twisted poison into her bloodstream, seemingly sealing doom for the Noble Paradise.

But the setermined mare fought on with the last of her strength, grabbing a sword from the webs that must have belonged to one of the spider's previous victims with her teeth, Princess Paradise lunged forward with the blade, burying it in the horrible monster's chest, and killing the arachnid horror once and for all.

Prince Safari managed to wiggle himself free from the webbing during this whole battle, but it appeared to be to late. As the poison slowly took it's affect on the still and silent form of the Pegasus maiden, Safari tenderly kissed her ruby red lips and the last breaths of life slowly escaped from her body.

But what's this? True love's kiss has restored her to life! Carrying the still weakened Princess out of the dark and slimy cave, Prince Safari carried the heroic paradise back to his fancy pink castle, where they had the biggest wedding Equestria had ever seen, and had many many children and lived very happy for the rest of their long and prosperous lives.

And as to the icky icky cute boy-stealing spider, it lay decomposing in the cave for years and years and was slowly eaten away too by rats who were so desperate to eat they didn't mind the nasty taste of the dead decomposing spider. The end!

Chapter Five
By: Redsopine

"Um... Yes. But only to descri-"

Red held up his hoof. "I will make an offer with you. Give me that stone around his neck i know what it can do it amplifies the magicle energies of anyone who use it but its locathion is only know to 4 beings before tonight me and 3 changelings there queen and her two daughters zero who works with my team as a medic and her sister called the terror a rare hybrid instead of love she feeds on fear and is more deadly then you know but also rymes like zacora which gives me a headace anyway im rambling but the fact is if she gets that she will be able to make a living nightmare to rule over let me take it and i will free your friend from her prison what do you say?"

*Later*

*red cafully climbed out the trains window once the others left and pulled out a stange device he put over hes head with a microphone attached * zero come in tell luna im gonna be late your sisters here shes after the amulet and has kidnapped a mare to get her friends to get it il keep you updated.

"She is a demon! A changeling but a demon. She is a rare breed, and it's not natural or right. I have to stop her before we all freak out." Red said.

*Much later that night*

Red sighs and facehoofs while sitting in a tree thinking *great just great they went into her realm without her at least they didant give her the amulet * he puts on a pair of blue and green glasses * hrmmm simple enough to get into * in a flash of flame he dissaperas to the others * did somepony say demon * red reappears in the tree * what the damn tough secruity magic i hopethey get back * after a while they leave the coffe shop with a new mare who he gussed was the cangeling but she was diffrent * hrmmm looks like shes a full pony but her eyes they still have the fire * he puts on hes glases and takes a photo and sends it back to base with a note * zero contact me soon we need to talk.

Chapter One
By: Eclipse

Determined to make this the best Nightmare Night party her friends had been to, Mocha continued decorating. The plain wooden walls of the coffee shop were transformed into the night sky- moons and stars decked the walls and chairs, and even a little bit covered the bell above the door.

"Yes it does, Vanilla Mocha."

Mocha jerked up. "Eclipse... Was that you? I'm hearing my name."

Eclipse trotted in from the back room. "No, I didn't call your name. Hmm... Hearing things. Come back here."

Vanilla tilted her head, and then followed her coltfriend into the back room. "What's going on?"

"Before they get here, we're gonna play a game of doctor. Trust me, it'll work like a therapy session."

Vanilla chuckled. "Doctor?"

"Yep." Eclipse nodded. "I'll be the doctor. I can see you're nervous about tonight, yes?"

"Yeah..."

Eclipse patted one of the extra booths that was in storage, motioning for Mocha to lay down on it.

She did.

"Now, tell me what's wrong." He asked.

"I heard my name. I think I'm just nervous, like you said. Though... My ears kinda do hurt."

Eclipse grinned. "I'll get you some medicine." He trotted to the door to the back room and shut it.

Mocha leaned forwards. "Um... Eclipse?"

"Shh, lay back down." He said. "We're still playing doctor."

"Oh... Alright." Mocha half smiled and laid down.

Eclipse trotted up to her, grinning. "Open your legs."

"But it's my ears that hurt," Mocha said quietly as she did what her coltfriend ordered.

Eclipse chuckled. "I'm not THAT kind of doctor."