“There are two great weapons against the might of fear. The first is laughter. The moment that one realizes that the only thing he has to fear is fear itself, he has conquered death. Yet I am yet to mention the greatest weapon which is much more powerful against fear: Love. There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear. The one who fears is not made perfect in love.” – The words of Ichigo, goddess of Fear

Fluttershy was skirting around the edges of the Everfree in the quiet of the evening. The giant, unnaturally large trees always made her uneasy and the thick overgrowth of vines and shrubbery blocked her from seeing more than a few feet into the wood; giving it a feeling of eerie mystery. There was always something so foreboding about the forest. It made one want to keep as far away from it as possible; as if just by going near it, one might give the vines the chance to latch onto one’s legs and drag them into inescapable darkness.

Yet she was willing to brave the chilling feeling if it meant that she could take care of her animal friends. She loved caring for the squirrels that came by to visit her and the birds which habituated the trees of the edge. As she walked through the uncut grass, she said her hellos to her friends who happily chirped and chattered at her arrival. Just the look of the cute little animals with their furry bodies and bright colors made her feel warm and bubbly inside. Arriving at her cottage, she took time to feed all of her friends. As they sat, perched, or laid, and happily munched on their food, she watched with satisfaction their precariousness.

Then she remembered that she had forgotten Angel, her bunny. But then, she hadn’t seen him since that morning. Where was Angel? Just as she began to look for him, the rabbit sprang from a bush and started frantically pantomiming something.

“Angel!” Fluttershy gasped. “What were you doing in there? What’s the matter?”

The rabbit continued to rush about and gesture towards the forest.

“Oh, you poor thing, you look frightened. Let’s go have a nice carrot and we can talk all about it.”

The rabbit did not respond but made a motion that looked like a command to follow and sprang into the wood. Fluttershy, gasped again and shouted as loud as she could, which unfortunately for the mare, was not terribly loud. “Angel, wait.”

But there was no response. He had already gone deep inside. Fluttershy, genuinely concerned for her friend, took the plunge and burst through the bushes into the Everfree. The interior was dim enough at midday but it was getting dark now and she couldn’t see too well, but she pressed on; following what she thought was Angel’s path. Passing around trees and side-stepping over their roots, she cantered through the dim setting in pursuit. Eventually, she saw a light and ran towards it. Leaping through a hole in the dense foliage, she came into a circular clearing of trees with the frantic bunny at the center.

“Angel, what’s gotten into you?” The yellow pegasus asked.

He did not even acknowledge Fluttershy’s presence, but was frozen like stone and was staring forward into the trees ahead.

The mare continued her efforts to gain his attention; stepping towards him. “It’s not safe to go this deep in here. There are others animals who won’t be so nice.” She scooped up the rabbit in her hooves and turned around. Although he made no attempt to stop her, he still tried to make her look at the direction that he was so focused on.

“Angel, let’s forget about whatever is scaring you and go home.”

But as she said this, she heard something rustle in the bushes. She spun around and looked straight at the source of the sound: right where Angel was indicating. The sound of the leaves being thrust aside continued and grew louder. Fluttershy began to back away. The disturbance sounded too large to be a creature that she wanted to deal with. Yet no sooner had she taken a few steps did she hear a strange and frightening sound.

It resembled a medley of many different sounds: a hiss, a snarl, a growl, and many other voices of feral beasts. She quickened her pace as fast as she could without taking her eyes off the direction of the sound. She reached the edge of the clearing and was about to turn around. A wave of darkness came from the bushes. In the blackness, she saw many red eyes with black and green slit-like pupils. The sight made her scream and she turned as fast as she could. As much as she didn’t want to, she had to have all four hooves free to run. So, she dropped Angel, and bolted towards the exit; hoping that the rabbit would run.

She raced through the unmarked path again as fast as she could; wanting nothing more than to see the edge. The trees, which were gargantuan, seemed to reach out at her with their claw-like branches, and she dodged past them, galloping on. In spite of everything that told her not to, she looked behind her for just an instant. She loud out a second scream. The cloud of darkness had split into several types of creatures; each looking swift and vicious. One of them was no more than two feet from her. She looked into its eyes for no more than a millisecond but could almost feel the ferocity and malice contained in them.

She started to run even faster; faster than she had ever ran before, or than she believed her legs would carry her. Yet she could still feel the breath of the beast behind her and could hear the sound of its heavy panting. She had to make it to the exit. She had to get away from these horrible things. Soon, to her great surprise, she saw it: the light that signaled the edge of the wood. If she could just make it there, she was so sure they wouldn’t follow her. It was so close. Just a few more seconds and she could make it. She no longer so much galloped as leaped through the air towards safety. Though as fast she was going, she still knew they were dangerously close. The hole in the shrubs was within springing distance.

This was it: the last bound. With all the strength that her tiny body could muster, she took off towards the opening to safety. The fading sunlight touched the tips of her hooves and she smiled a huge smile of triumph. She was going to rush into the light and into the barrier of her cottage now … malicious jaws with jagged teeth clamped around her tail and brought her forcefully to the ground away from the light. Frenziedly, she pulled against the steel jaws to no avail. Her scream was louder than it had ever been. All of Ponyville heard it throughout the night. She screamed and screamed until she lost her voice.

Twilight, Applejack, Rainbow Dash, Pinkie Pie, and Rarity rushed into the hospital room and saw their friend lying in a bed. She was uninjured and completely whole. But though she was asleep, a look of great discomfort was on her face.
Twilight looked to the nurse with them and asked worriedly, “What happened to her? Why does she look like that?”

The five leaned in as the nurse answered calmly as possible. “Someone brought her in not too long ago. When she got here she was still screaming, but we think that she damaged her vocal cords because no sound was coming out. We sedated her but she’s probably still going through a lot of psychological trauma. She must have seen something that gave her quite a fright.”

This didn’t comfort Twilight. “Well is she going to be okay? How long until she wakes up?”

The nurse didn’t have time to answer because unexpectedly and without announcement, Princess Celestia entered. All seven bowed impulsively. “Rise.” She said abruptly.

“Princess, what’s wrong? Why are you here?” asked Twilight.
“Your friend isn’t the only victim tonight. Several other cases in and around the city of Ponyville have arisen: Citizens being frightened out of their minds by some kind of strange creatures.”

Rarity spoke up. “Then other people saw this happen as well?”

“It’s difficult to separate rumor from fact in situations like this, but I can determine as much. More than one of whatever has scared your friend came out of the Everfree Forest at around sunset and have been terrorizing no fewer than ten people tonight.”

Applejack next asked, “Well do ya have any idea about how we can stop this from happenin’ again?”

The Princess closed her eyes and sighed. “That’s why I came to you. This isn’t the first time that this has happened. This very same terror has occurred centennially now over the past millennium. I never witnessed any of it firsthand, so again it is difficult to say what happens. Cases like Fluttershy’s pop up, and then somepony turns up dead, and it stops. No one has been brave enough to try and stop it. But I can’t let this keep happening anymore. I want you all to go into the forest and face whatever has been doing this.”

They were about to say something but Celestia held up a hoof. “I know that I am asking for something unreasonable. I, myself should be the one to do this, but I don’t have control over the Elements of Harmony, which is what I know will be necessary to defeat these creatures. It wouldn’t be right though for me to force you into harm’s way. So, I am asking you, and not commanding you to do this for Ponyville. If you decline, I can always lead a small army into the forest, but I don’t know of the consequences of that.”

Rainbow Dash, the ever loyal, spoke up first without forethought. “Don’t worry Princess; you can count on us.”

Celestia spoke again. “Thank you for your enthusiasm, but I need to stress this again. This is very a dangerous undertaking, and despite it being without preempt, I need you all to think about this carefully.”

The five did not take long to respond. “We will do this.” Twilight said; speaking for them all.

Celestia raised her head and said, “Very well. Captain, please come in.” At her command, a big stallion in bronze armor walked into the room. “Girls,” said the sun-goddess. “This is Captain Thunderhooves, head of the royal guard. I’m sending him with you for protection. You can’t wander into the forest in times like this without a protector.” The stallion bowed and introduced himself.

Applejack spoke up. “But what about Fluttershy? Is she gonna be alright without us?”

The nurse who was still there answered, “She should be awake in a few hours. After that we should be able to deal with her psychological problems. She’s in good hands.” With that, they all immediately set off towards the Everfree.

It was not long before the nature of the forest started to unnerve the five. Every time that one would step on a twig, they would all flinch and turn, only to find that they were scared of nothing. Captain Thunderhooves provided no comfort for them; trying but failing to remain calm. Even at daytime, the canopy made it appear as though it was night. They couldn’t see more than four feet in front of them and what they could see was just creepy: the large trees, the overgrowth, the bugs that crawled by every so often.

Twilight finally broke the deafening silence. “I just don’t understand it. We should have found something by now. We’re probably in a mile deep.”

Applejack tried to reassure her. “Don’t you worry Twilight, I’m sure we’ll find what we’re lookin’ for soon.”

“It just seems like something should have happened at this point. We should have found—”
Twilight froze as there was a rustle in the bushes next to them. Thunderhooves quickly whispered for them to all get behind him. Yet his command was given no heed. A shriek of animalistic ferocity pierced their ears and they all bolted in the opposite direction; desiring to put as much distance between them and whatever it was. As fast as they fled, they picked up their pace when they heard the menacing noise again, not too far behind them.

Rainbow Dash shouted through the wind. “What was that? What’s going on?”

Thunderhooves answered, “Just keep runnin—.” Darkness enveloped the six and they all lost consciousness.

They awoke with a jolt. Twilight looked around. “Is everybody alright?” Everyone except for Applejack and the captain responded in the affirmative. “Oh no, where’s captain Thunderhooves and Applejack?” She asked with shock.

They all looked around them until Pinkie screamed. Rainbow Dash, surprised by her outcry yelled, “What? What?”

Looking away, Pinkie pointed towards the stallion lying on the ground, stripped of his armor. He looked unharmed except that something looked like it had been written on his side, his hair shaved away.

Twilight rushed to him and touched him, but immediately drew back. His body was as cold as ice. “He- He’s dead.” She said, astonished. The other four gasped, and ran to him.

Rarity, asked fearfully with a trembling voice, “What’s this? It looks like somebody left a message on his body. What’s it say?”

Twilight read the words revealed by the exposed flesh of the corpse.

“Six little ponies went frolicking in a wood;
Not expecting, unready, exposed.
From the demon they ran as fast as they could.
Poor dears, they should have left before the door closed.

The ceremony now will start!
The board is set; the pieces to move.
Sad, not for the faint of heart.
Their destiny: death, fate doth behoove.

The trifle begins with one taken
Another sorrowfully found dead.
The first sign that all are forsaken;
Their impending deaths they begin to dread.

On the second hour one falls to a guise,
The third another gobbled by a tree,
The fourth the penultimate by her own hand sees demise,
And on the fifth, the last sacrificed for He.

All before the last will remain alive
Illusions to alarm and scare.
Returning to the light, all yet will thrive
But the last caught in death’s snare.

Stay together little ponies. Unlike Discord, we’ll give you that much.”

All of them were both chilled and appalled. Rarity spoke again. “What is this? Some kind of sick poem? Who would do this? I thought we were going to stop some kind of ruffian beast, not a pack of psychopaths.”

Twilight tried not to faint, and eventually steadied herself. “Well, I think we can establish that whatever these things are, they’re remarkably intelligent to be able to write something like this.”

Rainbow broke in. “And crazy fast too.”

“Right … but this is horrible. It looks like this poem means that we’re all going to be captured one by one until one of us dies.”

Pinkie squealed. “This is bad. We’ve gotta get out of here.”

“As much as we don’t want to stay here though, we have to at least find Applejack. She could be hurt, and we don’t want to leave her in here.”

Dash unfolded her wings quickly. “Twilight’s right. We gotta find her, and then we can get out of here.” They chose a path and began to blindly sprint through the wood in search of their friend. All of them groaned periodically. It was hard enough to see where they were going, much less look for someone in the dark. But after searching for what seemed like an unreasonably long amount of time, they spotted a light in the distance. Then as they traversed towards it, they heard what sounded like Applejack’s voice.

Rainbow Dash, hearing the sound of her friend, shouted after her and took flight in the direction of the light; going faster than anyone else could travel on foot.

Twilight shouted after her. “Rainbow, wait for us. It could be dangerous.”

But the pegasus did not heed her call and sped towards her friend. Piercing the hole, she found herself in a clearing. In the center was Applejack who had been calling out the names of the four. Dash landed in front of her and asked frantically. “Applejack, are you alright?”

Applejack looked at Rainbow for a second and smiled with a glare. Out of her mouth came an awful laugh which was unlike anything that Rainbow had ever heard from her. A cold whisper with a voice that was not hers followed. “We gave you togetherness. You should have kept it.” Before Rainbow could react, Applejack became dark. Her orange mane and blond hair lost their brightness and became grey. Then she morphed; her skin rippling and convulsing. In her place appeared a wave of centipedes and beetles.

Twilight, Pinkie Pie, and Rarity burst from the woods just then and gasped. Rainbow shrieked in horror and turned to flee. But even before should could take flight, the mass of insects caught up to her and enveloped her. She screamed loudly and with great intensity to no avail. Then the writhing form of the mare and the bugs sunk into the earth. Her friends raced to the spot where she had disappeared and gasped again.

In the dirt, where their friend was captured, were written the words, “Stupidity and gullibility are two things. For this one, this was certainly the former.” The three stared aghast for moments. Eventually, Pinkie Pie broke the silence and started digging at the ground where Rainbow had disappeared, “Dashie, please come back.” she said desperately.

Twilight tried to be strong and said. “Girls, we have to keep moving. Considering what we just saw, it’s not safe here. And judging by that first message, we can still get to them.”

Rarity too spoke up after a minute. “Twilight’s right. We have to find them as fast as we can and get out of here.” So the two pulled Pinkie away from her labor and they all walked out of the clearing through the opposite side.

Wandering once more into the forest, with two now down, they continued their search for anything unusual. This went on for long again and they found nothing that concerned them in the darkness. The towering trees were becoming less foreboding and more like every other tree that they passed. Nor was the overgrowth even so much as hindering as they came to what seemed like a dirt-paved pathway.

It was at this time that Rarity asked, “Does this place look familiar to anyone else?”

Twilight looked up alarmed. “Oh no! You don’t think we’ve been going in circles do you?”

“Oh no, it’s nothing like that. It just seems like we have been here before. Not recently, but at one time.”

The increasing boredom of the search and the focus on finding her friends had made Pinkie less gloomy, and she happily said, “What, you mean you don’t see it? This is the spot where we laughed at those scary trees before we took on Nightmare Moon.”

And like that, the two saw it. The trees seemed quite familiar and as it was back then there was a clear path. “Well I guess you would remember that best out of everyone Pinkie.” said Twilight. “Well, it’s good that we know where we are now. Maybe we could go to the old ruins next. There bound to be something—ah!”

As she was speaking, the trees which they were familiar with, suddenly had faces carved into them; faces that were quite alarming. But as they were all about to scream, they realized something peculiar: this exact same thing had happened to the before.

Pinkie immediately began to giggle. “Ha, ha, this just like before.” And she burst into a fit of laughter. The nostalgia and the simplicity of their situation soon affected Twilight and Rarity as well. Soon, the three were laughing at the irony of their circumstances and at the faces at the trees. This went on for Celestia knows how long. The mares had tears rolling out of their eyes before long, and then they weren’t just laughing at this situation, but also at the simple fact that they were laughing.

When they finally calmed themselves down, they looked up, ready to return to their quest. But as they did so, they froze. The faces in the trees had not disappeared even though they had laughed as hard as they could. Still the menacing faces stared with their misconstrued features and grim, malicious smiles. In fact, they seemed even more horrifying than that had before they began. Their eyes were black and hardly visible in the darkness, and though they were inanimate, they looked like they were full of evil. Their grins were wide open mouths full of jagged teeth that looked like they could cause a great deal of pain in the crushing of their victims.

Pinkie’s ears drooped and she lowered her head; looking up fearfully at the trees. “What- What’s going on? All need to do is laugh.”

Then one of the faces that she was staring into came to life and moved across the wood of the tree. It laughed with a cold, powerful voice that caused her to shriek. “What indeed does one do when fear is persistent?” A branch which had the shape of a claw came towards her. Scared as she was, her Pinkie sense told her it was coming and she narrowly avoided it.
Rarity screamed. “Run!” They all ran again. As they took off, the other trees came to life and grabbed at them. Time and time again they dodged and leapt aside to evade the grasp of the terrible living trees. The ground became grassy again and they had to jump over rocks and shrubs and duck under vines, yet somehow they remained safe.

Then Twilight, who had made it to the front, spotted another light. “Look!” She shouted. “There’s another clearing. Aim for that.” Once more, safety was so close. Each escaped twice more in their dash towards their salvation. Yet it was in range finally. But just as Twilight was about to jump into the light, she heard a shrill squeal, and looked back.
What she saw struck her like a train. Somehow, Pinkie had been caught by one of the claw-like branches. Pinkie writhed and squealed more in a desperate attempt to wriggle out of its death hold. But the wood held fast around her and brought it above its mouth. To the absolute horror of all three, the hand released her and let her fall into its jaws; whereupon Pinkie disappeared.

Another branch lunged for Rarity who was now closest to the front, but she was so astonished that she was paralyzed and did not try to move. But Twilight saw this, and though she was deeply demoralized by the loss of Pinkie, she saw that Rarity’s safety was now the higher priority. Using all of her strength, she slammed against the white unicorn and pushed them both through the forest into the light. Looking around, she saw no immediate danger and looked to check on her friend.

Rarity looked devastated. Her face held a mix of disbelief and utter shock, combined with a mask of great sadness. Twilight saw that while she yet had time, she needed to comfort her friend, both because she felt compelled to, and also because if they were going to make it out alive, they both needed to be alert. “Rarity, I—”

“I just lost three of my best friends in one night.”

“I know it’s hard, but we have to keep vigilant and find a way to—”

“Do you remember that horrible poem that was on the captain?”

“Yes, but—”

“One falls to a guise. That was Rainbow. Another gobbled by a tree. That was Pinkie. And now one of us will see demise by her own hand.”

“Rarity, I know that it matches up pretty well, but we have to be reasonable here—”

“But this place is without reason. There’s some kind of weird magic that is making all this come true.”

Twilight was trying hard just to voice a complete thought. “We can’t—”

Once more, that cold, chilling, terrible voice that they were beginning to know so well flowed through the air; causing them both to flinch. “That’s right Rarity. We control everything. We control all things in this forest. We control where you are going to run next. We even control your senses.” The voice laughed maniacally. Its malevolence seemed to linger in their air longer than it should have.

Twilight shouted out angrily. “Who are you? What do you want?”

There was no answer, but then there was no time for one. Twilight heard Rarity scream and she looked over to her. The fashionista was backing away from her with a visage of terror and revolt. Her face was half turned away as if she wanted badly not to look at Twilight, but she kept a stern gaze on her as though also she was afraid that Twilight would pounce on her.

“What’s wrong?” she asked with concern.

“Oh my stars, keep away from me, you disgusting creature.”

Twilight recoiled in disbelief. “Rarity, what are you talking about.” She took a step toward her.

The disgusted mare screamed again. “Keep away!”

Twilight couldn’t understand. She looked fine according to herself. Yet the way Rarity saw her, she was shaved from head to flank; her white skin showing. Her mane was in a horrible state of disarray and had lost most of its color. Her eyes were black as night; without white or irises. But that was not nearly the worst of it. All over her body, Rarity saw that she had boils and blotches and large pustules that appeared ready to burst.

The voice returned again inside her head again; icy and sharp. “You must end this atrocity. Kill her.”

Rarity couldn’t believe what she was hearing. “Wait, what?”

“This is the highest crime against fabulosity. Kill her.”

“I can’t do that. I can’t. That would be wrong even for this reason.”

Twilight spoke in confusion. “What? What are you talking about you aren’t making any sense.”

A knife fell to the ground from out of nowhere. The voice spoke again. “Kill her.”

“No, I can’t do it.”

The voice began to chant the command again and again.

“Stop it!” she screamed.

The voice’s chant increased in volume and in speed, drowning out all other sounds. She shook her head repeatedly. Some of the pustules on Twilight’s body burst and the pus covered her. Rarity was revolted beyond all measure. The disgusting smell and feeling caused her to vomit. The voice continued to chant. “Kill her. Kill her. Kill her. Kill her. Kill her.” Rarity finally snapped. Screaming the loudest and most shrill sound that a pony could utter, she grabbed the knife in her mouth and plunged it into her friend.

Twilight was horrified at what happened. In Rarity’s mouth was a stick that had fallen from a tree, and she had thrust it towards her neck. It did not cut her, but Rarity had likely intended for it to do so. She asked with a weak voice, “Why?”
The dressmaker came to her senses. She looked at Twilight and saw her whole and unblemished. She felt also the stick in her mouth. It dropped as she was about to say something, but before she could utter a word, a hole opened up in the ground under her, which was six feet deep. The grave swallowed her as she fell into it and disappeared. A message appeared in the dirt where she was buried: “Those who live by the sword are destined to meet an early grave.”

It was too much for Twilight. She yelped and sprinted blindly in a random direction; entering into the woods. She passed by trees and bumped into a few, barely paying attention to where she was going. She didn’t have a plan. She was just running; running as fast as she could. She tripped on roots and skinned herself more than once, but she got up and kept running.

Then she heard the voice again, which made her run faster than she could under any other circumstances. “A word of mercy: Don’t look back.” Yet despite this advice, when she heard the sound of running footsteps behind her, she looked back. She was never so close to fainting than at that moment. She saw what looked like darkness that had been given form. There were terrible and vicious creatures that were pursuing her like wolves. Their eyes invoked the greatest kind of panic and their howl as they gained upon her made her just short of losing it. They were much bigger than her: at least twice her size.

She was sure that ponies weren’t supposed to be able to sprint as fast as she was then, but she was. Everything around her passed like a blur. Quickly and as nimbly as a rabbit, but with her hooves slamming on the ground like an elephant, she ran. Her heart was pounding and she was tired beyond measure because of all the running she had been doing, but she didn’t care. All that mattered then was running for running’s sake. She was almost certain she couldn’t get away as the creatures were closing in on her. She kept going for no reason that came to mind.

And then she tripped over a root. Like a wave the black figures washed over her and grabbed her by the tail and mane. By instinct she screamed once more. Long and loud, it pierced through the darkness of the forest. She struggled to free herself from their grasp but after a few moments of thrashing and being dragged through the dirt and grass, she gave in and faded into unconsciousness.

She awoke with a start and tried to rise, yet she found that she was fastened tightly to a hard surface. Her body, neck, and hooves were held fast onto the ground by chains which were anchored deep into the material under her. The tightness of the bonds around her neck kept her from looking around or turning her head far. She stared then ahead and saw the she was laying upon a large alter of sorts. It felt to be made of some kind of metal; maybe bronze by its color. In front of her she saw the tip of a triangle which she discerned was inscribed in a circle.

She heard the voice again. It was so terrible that she shook when she heard it. “Ah, so awakens the tiny victim; the prized student of the earthly queen of this world! Good evening Twilight Sparkle, and be most welcome to the finale of our grand ritual for which we have been preparing all night. Feel the freedom to pit thyself against the might of your bonds, but heed my words: ‘Were you strong as either of the goddesses of the sun or moon themselves, even then you would not be able to free yourself. Neither, I advise you, take pains to entertain yourself with the thought of using magic to extricate yourself from this place. We have already given thought to every way you could escape; meditating for seven days and nights over every possible outcome. I myself am a master of magic; praised among his peers and chosen for this mission with that prowess in mind.’ Thus, while you lie in wait, do not remain idle, but make peace with yourself. Do this quickly; for hark! Judgment awaits you. Your destiny looms near. It will come swiftly and without warning. None can escape the decree of the fates.”

Twilight tried to look around for the source of the voice but she was completely unsuccessful. It cackled and said. “Well, allow me to bring myself into plain sight that you may at least see the face of thy captor.” From out of Twilight’s peripheral vision came a figure that stood on two legs. She discerned that it was male because of his features. The two-legged being towered at a height of six feet and was clothed in a black robe that flowed as though the air were water and his robe was a dissolving substance. His face was full of hatred. His eyes were like fire, and a smug smile was on his face. His mane, which was silver, flowed down to his back. “My name is Lucian, servant of Deimos. I am pleased to make you acquaintance Twilight Sparkle, student of the ruler of Equestria.” he said.

“What do you want?” She asked fearfully.

He snorted. “For longer than the time your eyes have seen the light of day, I have been carrying out this task, and out of all the victims I have had, none of them begin by saying anything other than what your lips just uttered. Thus, to answer quickly, as I am becoming bored of and aggravated because of the question, we are going to sacrifice you to our master. Oh, and please don’t say ‘What?’ with a horrified expression. You know full well what my words signify. You are a smart mare.”

Twilight nearly gagged as she took in his response. She was having a hard time registering it. But as the moments passed by with nothing happening, the meaning of his words dawned on her. “Please, let me go. Don’t do that.”

Lucian slapped his palm to his face. “I should have asked you not to say that either. Time and time again, that is the other phrase that they are so fond of saying.” The creature stretched out a hand which, unlike Twilight’s hooves, had fingers. He snapped, and another figure like him appeared seemingly from thin air; materialized from a cloud of blackness. The figure dashed out of sight and returned a second later with a chair which he offered to Lucian.

Accepting it, he sat down and said, “Thank you, Tama.” The figure bowed and stepped again out of sight. With this, Lucian stared into Twilight’s eyes and spoke. “Let us talk about this civilly. As I speak to you, fear grips your psyche and invades your mind like a multitudinous army raiding a small town without a wall. The truth is undeniable: so visible in how you fidget about with dilated eyes, large like plates. Such is so easily noticed by even the most unobservant of creatures. This pleases me because my master, Deimos, feeds off of it as we speak; being the reigning god of dread. This, being one of my two objectives, is nearing completion. My second, as has been stated, is your blood and life. Now here you are, bound and defenseless; begging me not to accomplish that objective. Well, in lieu of relating to you all of the reasons for which that request must be denied, which are certainly many, let me ask you a question that our discourse may not become a monologue. ‘Why do you think that you have a right to beg for your life?’”

Twilight tried to say something, but nothing came immediately to mind. Not only was she expected to hear everything that he was saying but now she had to give an apology for her life? The answer seemed obvious, but she couldn’t bring it immediately to mind. She thought the answer was easy, but she couldn’t articulate it.

“You have no answer to this question? Neither then will you be able to answer the second: ‘What is your life worth?’” he paused for a moment. “Ah, but that is far too difficult to measure for one you is unfamiliar with such matters. It is unfair. Let us try this one then: ‘If you were to die now, what would it change?’”

“I…”

He smirked when she faltered. “By definition, all who are mortal will die. Sadly, mortals are not in control of the day or hour of their death or even the means by which they will meet that death. Yet what they can control is how they will respond to the obstacles that the fates place in their path until that hour; and when that hour comes, how they will meet their death. Hence, though all mortals will die, this does not mean that immortality does not exist among them. There are several who live on in the hearts and minds of those who remember them, and will live forever. Thus if a mortal is able to do something so great that her name is remembered, she will never truly die.”

He chuckled to himself. Twilight shivered. Why was he telling her this? “But such are few. There will only ever be a few mortals whose names stand the test of time, the great executioner. The universe has been here for a measurement of time which you cannot fathom. I know this because I was here shortly after its creation. Moreover, it will continue to be for an unimaginable amount of time. Your lifespan, in comparison, is so infinitesimally small, that it is link the blink of an eye. The events that occur within your short life have thus been inconsequential. Many before you sought to do great things, and even, unlike you, succeeded in terms of mortal standards. Yet they have been forgotten. Their names crushed mercilessly into oblivion by the ravaging of time. Your existence will be no different. Therefore (Ah! Such a wonderful word), even if you achieved the most earth-shattering success … even if you gained all knowledge, and could fathom all mysteries, and could give an answer to every question of judgment, it would mean absolutely nothing in the grand scope of things.

“On the other hand, if you died right now, some people might mourn you for a while. Your friends would weep for you for a while and when they had children they would tell them about you. Eventually, your friends will finally meet Death as well. Yet their children will not speak of you, and your name will be lost. So you can see that whether you die now or later; whether by the sword or the slower decay of time, it will have no difference in effect. Ultimately, the drum of the world will continue the same beat, to the same monotony that the world was working with while you were alive and before your birth. In light of this, I ask you once more, ‘What meaning the does your life have?’”

Twilight’s tongue had stuck to the roof of her mouth. She was shaking uncontrollably at this point. It was too much for her to take. What she was hearing was incomprehensible.

“Do you know why you will never be able to answer the question? It is simple: you are afraid. You are afraid of death and afraid of me. Fear drives its victims to inaction. That inaction prevents them from doing things which would otherwise cause them to be remembered. That is why until you conquer fear, you will never conquer death. I, for one, can tell you why I would deserve to beg for my life. I have a purpose. I am here to carry out the will of my master. I exist to serve him and will dash to pieces anyone who would seek to thwart his design.

“Hence, I have nothing to lose. If I continue to live, I will continue to carry out my purpose. But if I die (Ha! As if I could die to begin with), they will erect a monument to my glorious death, and my name will last throughout the ages. For this, I will be remembered. In this, I have mastered fear and thus death. Nothing can make me so afraid as to hinder me in my purpose. You, on the other hand, have no such reason to live. You only exist; the same as being dead: being of no use to anyone else.”

After he spoke these words, Twilight drifted into a semiconscious state of stupor. She could not believe what she was hearing. She knew that she was hearing evil, but she could not say why. She thought that it should have been obvious; that simply because she was born, she had the right to live, but she could not produce a warrant for that defense.

The sound of a knife sliding against a stone woke her. She looked up again in alarm. She saw that he had started to sharpen a hunter’s knife that was as red as blood against a smooth wetting stone.

He looked up. “Oh, give no thought to me. Please continue in your hopeless thoughts. Do something other than gape at me in frightened disbelief as though you did not foresee this.”

Twilight felt her already fast heartbeat pick up and pound with incredible force her in chest. She started to sweat and hyperventilate. Her mind began to race. She needed to escape. She needed to start running again. Maybe she could somehow wriggle out of her bonds. Maybe one of her friends was able to escape and would come and save her. She had to think of something. In her desperation, she tried to use magic to free herself, but something made it so she couldn’t do it.

Lucian finished his task and came to her left side. “Well, enough talk. You are not going to make use of any time I give you anyway. Fear has claimed you.” With his left hand, he grasped her hand and forced her onto her right cheek; exposing her neck. “The time has arrived little unicorn. Die well, Twilight Sparkle. You will not be remembered.”

For Twilight, everything was suddenly in slow motion. He drew back the blood colored blade and it began its descent towards her. Her thoughts raced faster than she had ever thought before despite the mind-crippling fear that had taken ahold of her.

When the tip was no more than a foot away from her, she gave in to fear. She stopped thinking and waited for the end. Maybe she would get lucky. It might be over quickly enough so that she wouldn’t feel any pain. These fancies drifted through her soul aimlessly.

But the she heard a voice deep inside her head. It was odd. It sounded so familiar. Then she recognized it as her own. It called out to her. “Don’t give up!”

She responded weakly; her voice echoing inside her head. “Why bother? There isn’t any time.”

The voice that she was hearing was full of passion and meaning. “There is always time. You can still answer his question.”

“But I don’t know the answer. What would it matter if I lived or died now?”

“Don’t give up.” the voice repeated. You know the answer. Think back to when you fought Nightmare Moon and Discord. You knew then. So you know now.”

Twilight thought about those times. She thought about what she said when she summoned the Elements of Harmony for the first time and after she read the letters that she had been sending to Princess Celestia. Then, just as before, something sparked inside of her. There was a light in the darkness, and all she had to do was reach out and take hold of it. The knife was an inch from her throat when she said, “I love.”

Her soon-to-be-killer stopped. “You love?” he questioned.

“I can defeat fear through love.”

“Congratulations, little mortal. You have accepted death.”

“No, I have an answer for you.”

“Ha, there is no answer that you can give that will stop me.”

Twilight ignored his statement. “I know that if I died now, my friends would be so hurt inside. If I allowed myself to die, then that would not be loving. I love my friends with all my heart, and for that reason, I can’t allow myself to die now. But that’s not it. If I live, then you stop killing. If you fail once, your purpose is void and you die. I love Ponyville and all of its inhabitants so much, that I can’t let them continue suffering repeatedly like this. My life is the difference between joy and pain, so in that sense, it has a lot of value.”

He smirked. “Touching logic, but not good enough.” He drew back the blade again and once more the weapon of her demise began its morbid descent.

A flame ignited inside of her when she knew he had no right to take her life. The heat of it welled up and extended to all regions of her body. She shouted and her eyes became white with light.

Her assailant was thrown back and screamed as though he were in pain. Then out of the darkness in front of her, she saw her friends. Each of them was wearing the jewelry that symbolized the Elements of Harmony. With this, she smiled in triumph; for she knew what was coming now. From out of the center between Twilight and her friends came a rainbow which trailed upwards and then descended upon Lucian. He cried out a long and loud yell and fell down; encased in stone. The exhaustion from recent events and the realization that her adversary had been vanquished caused Twilight to faint.
Rays of light hurt her eyes. She jumped up in the bed that she was in; remembering immediately the events of the forest. She found that she was in a hospital room. Crowded around her were all of her friends. Celestia stood at the foot of her bed with a radiant smile.

Pinkie Pie shouted, “Look girls! She’s waking up.”
Immediately a torrent of indiscernible speech came from the five mares.

Celestia, though speaking quietly, could be heard through their unintelligible questions. “My little ponies, I don’t think that your friend is so ready for all your questions.”

They all quieted down and blushed. “Heh, I think we better give her a second.” said Rainbow Dash.

Twilight smiled and excitedly said, “No, that’s alright. I’m so glad to see you all again.” Once more they began to ask questions, but one at a time. As Twilight answered them, the princess stepped out. The day passed, and they all talked about what they had undergone. And Twilight was never as happy as in those moments.

The next day, Celestia summoned Twilight to Canterlot. Twilight found the alicorn in a garden behind the palace. The sun was streaming down rays of light which illuminated the beautiful colors of the plants. Celestia’s voice was serene as Twilight approached. “Well, my faithful student, did you learn anything from your ordeal?”

Not even having to think, Twilight answered, “Yes, Princess, I learned a great deal about love and fear.”

“Oh,” the sun-queen asked. “Please tell me. I wish to hear.”

“I learned that fear is a stronger weapon than I thought. It is a great force that makes anyone affected by it feel inadequate, unwanted, and worthless. It makes one believe that they can’t make a difference and that there isn’t anything that they can do that will really matter.”

“That is indeed a strong power. How can we hope to stand against such a formidable enemy?”

“When I was about to die, I realized that the only way to defeat it was with love. Before, I thought that love was only something that a husband and wife shared, but in that forest I found that it means so much more. Love isn’t a touchy feeling that makes you want to be around somepony. Love is an active choice to put someone’s best interests in mind before yours; even if it’s hard to do so. Fear causes one to care only for oneself. It puts our needs first and others’ second. But if we have love, fear can’t make us afraid because we have others in mind.”

“Really?” said the princess in a glad tone. “Come then. Let us speak more about this love which you have found.”