Staring....
Days seemed to always turn out perfect for Twilight Sparkle, even in the darkest of times. Any villain she and her friends faced always was seemed to be vanquished. It always turned out....happy. For some reason this never felt strange to any of the six elements. Happy was the norm in Equestria. As we all know, however, bad things happen. Badly enough, strange things began to happen to Twilight Sparkle. Very strange things indeed.
It was a day like almost every other in Ponyville. The sun was shining, ponies were busy, and life was just a grand ole time. Twilight and her friends happened to all be in the town square just chatting away. Nothing unusual about it. Seems normal right? Yes, they were normal, but things were going to change very soon. The girls were talking about the town's latest gossip when a feeling came over the purple mare. A feeling of being watched..... intensely. Twilight looked about her in all directions but saw nopony looking on to her, other than her friends of course. Still, she knew somepony was there, watching.
Then she saw them. A group of ponies in the distance cleared away, revealing a gray unicorn with a black mane. This character in the distance also had very intense red eyes. These eyes were staring straight at Twilight, never blinking at all. There was not a small sign of emotion on the pony's face either, it was simply blank looking. Slight fear rushed through Twilight, but it quickly passed as she re-entered conversation. She still felt creeped out however.
The girls were all still in the same spot for the next few hours. Twilight had completely forgotten about the strange gray pony from earlier. She decided to view her surroundings again, she hadn't in quite some time now. As she looked about again, she saw the same unicorn. This creepy character had changed positions but was still staring intently at her. The unicorn seemed a little closer now (and indeed it was). Twilight could now make out from the facial construction that this unicorn was a colt.
"Hey guys, do you see that unicorn over there..." Twilight sounded a bit nervous as she worded the question.
"Ah see em Twi, but why?" Applejack seemed confused, but very curious as well.
"Well, he's kinda been staring at me for a really long time...."
At this remark, Rainbow Dash jumped to the rescue. "Hey chump, quit creeping and beat it!"
With that, the strange colt trotted away. He looked surprised when Rainbow had yelled at him though, but he still left very calmly. They all watched him leave to make sure he truly had left and wasn't finding another "creeper spot" as Dash had put it. They all stayed at the same spot for another few hours and then finally dispersed to finish off their days. For the first time in a while, a day for Twilight hadn't been so perfect after all.
A few days came and went and nothing weird had happened. Once again Twilight had forgotten about the strange unicorn with the fierce red eyes. Everything was perfect again, for a short time at least. Eventually, the gray nightmare came back into the purple mare's life. This time, she was almost completely alone.
Once again, another sunny day, ponies being busy, life is rolling on like a rock on a slope. Twilight was walking with Fluttershy through the market. They both needed groceries, especially Fluttershy (the animals had broken into her feed supply), so they decided to hang out together while shopping. They were both having quite a good time, laughing, chatting, sometimes humming their favorite little tunes from when they were fillies, yes, great times. Suddenly in the corner of Twilight's eye, she saw a slight glimpse of red.
When she looked to where she thought the red was, there in the distance stood the gray unicorn, black mane and all. Twilight immediately froze in place. He's back?! Fluttershy noticed her change in behavior and saw that Twilight was staring . She looked towards where the purple mare was looking and noticed the gray unicorn as well. Fluttershy remembered that strange character from a few days ago and told Twilight that they had better leave.
They retreated to Twilight's library home. Once inside they began talking to each other, asking if they had seem the same thing and if so was it the same character from a few days ago? They both were pretty sure it was and became a bi concerned. Did Twilight have a stalker? It certainly looked like it. Fluttershy noticed that her dear friend looked very worried. She stayed at Twilight's for a very long time trying to comfort the poor mare. Eventually Fluttershy had to leave (there were animals that needed her care), but before she left she told Twilight that she would inform the others of the incident in the market.
Two times now this strange gray unicorn has been seen staring down Twilight Sparkle. Both times in broad daylight. The strange thing was that only Twilight and her friends noticed that the unicorn was staring at her. Any other standby just simply stood where they were and continued their business or just continued walking, not even questioning the obstacle in their path of travel. The attacks didn't stop either.
The spotting of the gray unicorn became more and more frequent. No matter if Twilight was alone or with friends, he was there. The others knew that this colt was troubling Twilight so they did their best to always be with her. Eventually it got to the point where Twilight refused to leave her house without accompaniment on account of her nerves. She vowed not to get caught alone with this.....stalker.
After six straight days with a sighting of the "gray one", there was a day of peace. The entire day there was not one sighting of even the red eyes. Not even the black mane, nor the gray coat. He never showed up. The girls saw this as a success but Twilight was still very paranoid. She knew he was somewhere, but she didn't know where. Eventually, her paranoia lowered and she calmed down (basically, she wan't constantly looking about her position). Then it came time to turn in for the night.
The first job for the group of friends was to deliver Twilight safely back to her house. Even though they hadn't seen the "gray one" during the day that didn't mean he wouldn't show up at night. They reached the residence of Twilight Sparkle and they all exchanged their god night's and dispersed. Twilight entered her home, closed the door behind her, and sighed. She had gone a full day without seeing her stalker!
"......I've been waiting for you....."
Or not! Twilight gasped in terror as she heard a unknown voice ripple through her house. It sounded slightly weary and lonesome. It also sounded wanting, but wanting of what?
Twilight dared to respond. "You've been waiting?"
"Oh yes, I have been....waiting.....all day long. I had hoped you would return here tonight. It is quite peaceful, yes?"
Twilight began to panic. Her stalker was in her house! The "gray one" had gotten her alone!
"Where are you?!" Twilight demanded to know where and who this pony was.
"I'm just around the corner, come, sit with me pleeeeeaaaasssseeee!"
Now the voice was begging her, very creepily. She didn't want to go around the corner but her curiosity made her. When she came around, she found what she had expected. The gray unicorn was sitting in a chair near some bookshelves. However he wasn't staring at her, he was staring blankly at the ground with no emotion on his face. He looked like a stuffed dummy. There was also a second chair near him.
"I'd rather stand...." Twilight was now pleading as well, she didn't want near that pony!
"Fine, if that's more comfortable too you, it won't affect me none at all." The gray unicorn expressed confidence here, was he hiding something? "I bet you have....questions about me so ask away...."
"Okay....first, who are you?"
"Who am I?!" At this the unicorn's head shot up and stared at Twilight intensely, a sinister grin grew on his face as he answered. "I am nobody!! I even have proof too!"
"Nobody" stood up and stood to his side. Twilight gasped in awe. This unicorn, who was basically the same age as her, had a blank flank!
"That's my proof! I have NO special talent! It's driven me insane trying to find it...." His grin grew even wider. "But I think I've figured out what I must do to....satisfy myself....hehe!"
Twilight became very scared, there was now not only a stalker in her house, but a maniac as well! She didn't speak a word. Eventually, after he stopped laughing, "Nobody" continued.
"I have skowered Equestria, looking at the cutie marks everypony has, wondering how they got them, why some looked ugly and others so pretty.....I quested for the perfect looking one....then I found you....hehe!" "Nobody" started to creep towards Twilight very slowly, causing Twilight to back up in turn. "You see, I like your mark....I want it!" He started laughing and pulled out a butcher knife with his magic.
Twilight screamed! "Spike! Help me!"
"Oh don't bother, he a little......TIED up right now. Gave him a taste of some powerful sleeping magic. He won't be a bother to our....business, hmmm hmmm!" He still held his menacing grin. "And don't bother running for the doors, I already LOCKED THEM!" He lunged towards Twilight.
She was immediately on her hoofs running throughout her home. Her life was on the line and she new it, her only hope though was speed!
"Slow down now! Don't make me use paralysis magic on you!" Nobody taunted her as he chased after her.
Twilight kept running for life. Nobody kept his promise though. Wham! Twilight was hit with a paralysis spell. She fell to the ground very hard and very fast, slightly bruising her face. She lay sprawled across the floor. Nobody came over and turned Twilight onto her back. He was still grinning madly.
"You're.......insane!" Twilight mustered the remainder of her energy to speak those words.
"I'm insane?! What if I'm the one still gripping reality and the rest of you are insane!? All of you picked on me for being a blank flank, all of you marked ones! I'm just getting my just desserts, and rightfully so! HaHa!!" Nobody leaned in closer and began to whisper. "I'm so glad you can still talk to cause it wouldn't be fun without your bloodied screams!"
He lowered the knife and began a small cut just above her right cutie mark. Tears welled up in her eyes as she tried to hold in a scream a pain. Suddenly a huge crash was heard by the both of them. Sounds of hoofs hitting the ground were heard and around the corner dashed Applejack and Rainbow Dash!
"Who are you?!" Nobody screamed.
"Your just desserts!" screamed Rainbow Dash.
Both Dash and Applejack bucked Nobody in the face and knocked him out stone cold. He fell to the floor with a frown on his face. AJ and Rainbow Dash rushed to help Twilight up. Realizing that at the moment she was a pile of immovable flesh, AJ rushed out to get authorities while Dash guarded. Applejack showed up not too long later with a small brigade of the EPD. They dragged Nobody out of the house and medical staff were rushed to Twilight's side.
Twilight eventually regained control of her body. Her only injuries were some slight bruises and a cut just above her right cutie mark. Nothing serious to worry about. However, Twilight was lucky she was alive. It was pure luck too. Rainbow Dash had decided to go on a midnight flight because she couldn't sleep. When she passed over the library, she swore she had heard a scream. She quickly bolted to AJ's and woke her up. Apparently Applejack wasn't too happy about being woken up so late but immediately woke up after hearing RD's news. They camped a bit outside the library to see if the could hear anything (they wanted to make sure that there was something truly going on). When they heard a voice they didn't recognize they smashed through one of Twilight's lower windows. Spike had eventually woken up as well.
Nobody was deemed insane and put into solitary in Canterlot's dungeon.
Twilight once again has her perfect days again. They don't seem to be ending any time soon either. She no longer suffers from the paranoia caused by the incident and is very glad her friends were there to save her. She only has one reminder of the whole attack on her, the scar just above her right cutie mark. Sometimes when she looks at it she remembers those intense red eyes. Those eyes that just kept on......
Staring....