A black expanse. A shifting, dark, eery, blackness that seemed to extend in every direction. The black covered all of Lee's senses. Everything was dead silent, until the screaming began. The mad screams, like the black, came from every possible angle. In imperceptible seconds, the screaming evolved into a unified, howl.

Form was begotten in the darkness. Strange, abstract figures and places whirling in and out of view, all of them carrying the dirge call that attacked Lee's overloaded ears. There were some forms that he recognized: a Celestia charging a spell with her sister, Luna. His lost friend. The book that started it all. Beyond these beings were only wails and burning creatures.

Finally, the swirling expanse ceased motion, and took its final stage. A city. A gargantuan metropolis of impossible structures and geometry. A mad city of nonsense with no occupants, the only visible exception of this was Lee. Through the shifting, ridiculous city, Lee's eyes had been glued to one thing. A vault. A massive vault covered in unreadable symbols and pictographs. Behind the continuous howl was the thrum. A reverberating, rhythmic thrum shaking the city, as if the city had a heartbeat.

Lee could not look at the rune-covered vault anymore. It tore at his being, his sanity. Lee shifted his sights to the ground where another strange object lay. A book. A dark, skin-bound tome that brought Lee to this place: the Necronomicon. The book's skull returned his gaze, and began to cackle. The skull promptly ceased laughter.

The skull twisted against the cover, as if it were attempting to rip free from the book's skin-binding, and replied, "YOU WILL WALK TO THE END OF DAYS."

Lee woke with heavy panting and bloodshot eyes. Lee gripped his head, trying to come to terms with what he envisioned. Unfortunately, as most dreams do, the details and events escaped him. Lee attempted to dismiss the nightmare simply as a nightmare. However, this plan did nothing to erase the disturbing mark the dream left on his psyche.

Lee glanced at his phone to see that it was ten A.M. Normally, Lee would have gone back to sleep, but the adrenaline rush he was experiencing from the dream would not allow that. Lee threw off the blankets, and prepared to execute an action jump off of the bed and onto his feet by coiling his knees to his chest like a spring. Of course, this ended with him hitting the floor.

Lee sprang to his feet, wiped the dust off of his body, and checked to make sure his swag in check. Everyswag seemed to be in order, so Lee decided to descend the stairs by sliding down the banister. Lee did not count on Twilight blinking in front of him as he jumps onto the banister.

The split second Lee had to utter any word was used to say, "You dumbass ho—"

*CRAAAAAASSSSHHH*

The two collide, and tumble down the stairs in a flurry of cursing-human and lavender alicorn. The whirlwind hits the library's ground floor, sending a resounding boom through the home. Spike walks by with a cup of what smelled like hot chocolate, and briefly regards the scene. "I give the crash an 8."

"B*tch, for once, it was her fault. How the Hell are you gonna give me an 8?"

"Good point. I'll leave it at a 9.5. Heh heh!"

Twilight Sparkle picks herself up from the crash, and levitates Lee upright with a quick pull of her magic. She gives Spike a less-than-amused grimace. "Very funny."

Lee stretches, and pops the cracks in his neck, "I'll tell you what's funny. Your stupid-ass teleporting. If you're going to do that in this damn house, MAKE SURE YOU CAN SEE WHERE YOU'RE GOING! I mean... damn!"

Twilight blushes at his accusations, "I'm sorry, Lee. You're right, I should make sure I don't get in anyone's way when I blink."

"THAT'S WHAT I F*CKING THOUGHT, you star-assed anal-witch!"

Spike raises an eyebrow, "Anal-witch?"

"DAMN IT! I just woke up, give me a f*cking break! Anyways, did ya cook up breakfast, L'il Nig?"

Spike gestured to the meal-table. "Scrambled eggs and biscuits, just the way you like it!"

Lee rubbed his hands together in delight, "Mmm, gobble-gobble, mother-f*ckers!" and dashed for the plate of eggy-delights coupled with buttery biscuits (something Lee taught Spike to make. It made him feel at home).

As Lee was ravaging the morning victuals with the savagery of a Black Friday shopper, he began to hear a faint call in his ear. It seems that the other residents of Golden Oaks noticed as well.

Spike cupped a hand around his ear holes, "Is... that somepony screaming?"

"Look out belooow!!!!!"

Lee puts the forkful of scrambled deliciousness down. He clasps his hands together, and sighs.

A multicolored meteor rockets through the library's walls, and annihilates the meal-table, along with Lee's breakfast, upon impact. Rainbow Dash rises from the splintered-remains with a few flaps and a groan. "Whoa... heavy landing."

"Rainbow!" Twilight chastises as she approaches the dazed daredevil, "I would really appreciate it if you wouldn't break entry holes into my home, and you ruined Lee's breakfast!"

Upon hearing that she disrupted the volatile human's meal, Rainbrow flinches. She puts a hoof on Lee's petrified shoulder, "Uh... sorry about that pal."

Lee slowly shakes his head, "I'm too damn hungry and tired to come up with creative insults right now."

Rainbow Dash exhales in relief, and throws an arm around Lee's shoulder in a buddy-buddy manner. "How about this, Lee? I'll treat ya to some Hearth's Warming Eve goodies to make up for your breakfast. That sound good to you?"

Lee crosses his arms and turns away. Then he quietly grumbles, "Grumble, grumble... let's get some finger-f*ckin'-lickin'-good cookies."

Rainbow flies a few feet higher in cheer, "Awesome!" then she pivots to Twilight and Spike, "You guys wanna get in on this too?"

Twilight smiles and nods, "Of course we would, Rainbow. Besides, I was already on my way to help out with the Hearth's Warming activities and events. Spike here actually has a part in the play!"

Spike proceeds to puff his chest out, "Yup! I'm the daring knight, Silver Chivalry!"

A gear ground to a halt in Lee's head upon hearing of this play. "Knight? I don't remember any f*cking knights in the Hearth's Warming Eve program y'all told me you did. I thought it was about three jackasses finding Equestria?"

"We're doing something different this year!" Spike pipes up, "Instead of doing the same play like we always do, Ponyville is gonna be hosting a brand new play called, A Hearth's Warming Rescue!"

Twilight grabs a pamphlet lying on a nearby desk with her magic, and floats it to Lee's hands. It was a playbill of the aforementioned play. It depicted Spike, in typical knight's armor, brandishing a lance towards Snails, who wore some sort of a wizard's cloak. Under Snails, in chains, was Applebloom wearing a tiara and ball gown.

Twilight clears her throat, "The play is about the kidnapped Princess Blossom, and the knight, Silver Chivalry, who tries to rescue her from the evil wizard, Hex Hoof! Through harmony and friendship, not brute force, Silver Chivalry gains companions to help him in his fight against Hex Hoof. And it is through harmony and friendship they win her back! Well, that's the gist of it. I'm not gonna spoil the ending."

Lee shrugs, "Sounds kinda gay, but I'll go for mah L'il Nig." Lee gets up, and walks toward the bathroom. "I'm gonna get funky-fresh, and then we'll go out and show out."

Lee, Rainbow, Twilight, and Spike, exited Golden Oaks to see the falling snow, bright house-lights, and playing ponies. Lee was wearing the thick, orange jacket he bought from Rarity. Rainbow only wore a multicolored beanie, her Pegasus blood giving her ample protection against the cold elements. Twilight wore a navy-blue, fluffy snow vest and earmuffs. Spike had gone commando, because he was a dragon and he did not need anything to keep warm since he had his own internal furnace.

The four crunched through the frosted roads, making a beeline for the town square. The party would have gone in Lee's car, but pony traffic plus icy roads equals a complete disaster. All around, mares and stallions wished them a happy Hearth's Warming Eve, imparting a bit of their holiday cheer to the human. Lee's ears pinpointed a jingling bell to his left. The source was a white stallion with a chestnut-brown mane holding a bell before a candy-cane striped bucket. The bucket bore a sign which read, "Donations for Foals in Need!"

Lee dug into his pockets, procured a handful of bits, and dropped it into the stallion's bucket. The stallion smiled and happily says to Lee, "Have a happy Hearth's Warming Eve!"

Twilight noticed his act of generosity and smiled. It was easy to forget how decent of a person Lee was with his erratic behavior.

"We're here," Lee notes as they enter the bustling town square, "time to smash some f*cking cookies."

Rainbow Dash flies above the crowd to spot a food stand, "There's Applejack! She's gotta be sellin' something awesome!"

Lee nods and motions for the ponies to stand back, "Check it, I'm about to part the waters."

Twilight raises an eyebrow, "Or, you know, we could just walk there?"

"WALKING IS FOR B*TCHES!" Lee shouts, causing nearby ponies to halt in confusion, "YOLO!!!!!!!!"

Lee takes a running start, and leaps onto a colt's sled, belly first. The result was what looked like a sliding penguin. This was naturally hilarious, causing everypony to laugh at his antics. Lee reaches Applejack's stand, and jumps to his feet.

Applejack giggles at his entry and waves, "Happy Hearth's Warming Eve to ya!"

"What up, Breakfast? I'm actually here, because I missed breakfast, because Rain-Fag broke our table, and she's paying for my breakfast now, Breakfast? You got me?"

Applejack blinks a couple times, "Pardon?"

"Whatever he gets is on me!" Rainbow explains as she swoops in with Twilight and Spike in tow. "I sorta wrecked his breakfast... heh heh."

Applejack snorts, "Oh, makes sense. Go ahead, Lee, help yourself!"

"YOU BET YOUR SWEET ASS I WILL!" Lee then proceeds to grab a handful of gingerbread cookies, apple-fritters, and some bottled egg-nog to top it off. He begins to walk off, "Ima check out what sh*t they got set up."

Lee lets the ponies talk about whatever ponies talk about, and treads further into the square. He passed ornament vendors, more food stands, sculpture shops, and carolers. Lee decided on venturing towards the giant stage, that had once again, been set up for a performance. It appears that the stage was set for the play that Spike was starring in.

What Lee saw was complete chaos. Costumed colts and fillies running around, with no apparent direction in mind. Random set pieces were falling apart. Songs were being sung off-key. Diamond Tiara was yelling at Snips and Snails. At the center of it all was Miss Cheerilee attempting to reign it all in.

The frantic teacher spots Lee, and bounds off the stage to meet him. She reaches Lee with a heavy panting and wide eyes, "Lee! Do you know where Spike and Twilight are?!"

Lee gestures to Applejack's stand, where the Twilicorn was still chatting. Twilight and Spike notice the teacher staring at them, and make their way towards her.

Twilight smiles, "Nice to see you, Miss Cheerilee! I believe I was supposed to—"

Cheerilee presses a clipboard into her hands, "—help, me!!!" then she turns to the apprehensive Spike, "Go, act!"

Twilight and Spike quickly grasp the situation, and set off to do their duties. Lee squints at the panicky teacher, "Uh, what the Hell is going on?"

"I don't know!" Cheerilee yells, "Everything is suddenly going wrong! Something is messing with the set pieces, the kids are getting distracted by something, and Apple Bloom is missing! This is the dress rehearsal, we need her!"

Lee curls his lip, "Isn't this something that should've been fixed, like, I don't know, a week before?"

"That's the thing! I don't know what the problem is! Something has been getting in the way the entire time! Scripts getting destroyed, costumes mysteriously disappearing... ugh." the teacher sighs, and rubs her temples.

This was when Lee caught something strange, "You sure no one ain't messin' with the play on purpose?"

Cheerilee cocks her head to the side, "I don't think so, Lee. It's just a foal's Hearth Warming Eve play. I'm sure it's just really... really... bad luck."

"Alright... give me a second."

Lee walks to the stage and grabs a nearby colt. "You know anything about why the f*ck everything is going wrong?"

"Somepony's messing with us!" the colt replies. "We all know it, but Miss Cheerilee says that doesn't make sense."

Lee nods to himself, and asks a followup question, "Who is it?"

The colt's eyes widen, and he turns away. "I, uh... it's Apple Bloom's new friend! That's all I really know."

Lee smirks. The colt knew something, and that meant there was more to this. Normally, Lee wouldn't care too much about some play, but it's Spike's play!

Considering Apple Bloom had, about, two good friends, Lee knew where to turn to next. He finds Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo scurrying off the stage, without costume. He approaches the two, and they look up at him with innocent smiles.

"Hey Lee!" they greet in adorable unison.

"What up?" Lee replies while making fake gang signs with his fingers, "Where Apple Bloom at? I need to ask her something."

Their immediate reaction was the same as the colt from before. Scootaloo broke the silence first, "Oh! She's at home. She got sick, you see? Heh..."

"Really?" Lee asks with an ominous smile, "I think Ima pay her a visit, to see if she's alright."

Lee walks away from the nervous fillies. He was gonna get to the bottom of this, no matter how unimportant a foal's play really was.

"Wait!" Sweetie Belle squeaks from behind, "Just... uh... she might act a little weird... just warning you."

Lee grimaces at the thought. Ponies acting weird? That, he had to see.

Lee arrived at Sweet Apple Acres fifteen minutes later. The legions of apple trees were covered with powdered bits of snow, as if they were a sugary breakfast cereal. Lee trudged past it all to meet the front door. He sharply rapped the door, knocking bits of snow off of the wood.

The door was opened by the large stallion known as Big Mac. "Howdy?"

Lee gives him a wave, "Miss Cheerilee asked me to check on Apple Bloom. Can I come inside?" This was not a complete lie. Cheerilee did mention that she needed Apple Bloom, so it would not hurt to check on her. Plus, Lee was getting more and more curious about this play business.

Big Mac simply replies, "Eeyup. Come in."

Once Lee entered the domicile, Big Mac shut the door, and whispered strange words to him. "Something's wrong with Apple Bloom."

Lee furrows his brow, "What do you mean?"

"Whatever's wrong," Big Mac rasps, "it ain't natural."

Big Mac leads Lee through the house, past the snoring Granny Smith on the armchair, and up the stairs. Big Mac quietly and slowly opens the door to a nearby bedroom. Apple Bloom was here. She was sitting on the bed staring at the wall, and laughing.

Big Mac beckons Lee to go forward. He nods, and apprehensively steps closer. Something was terribly wrong. He could feel it in the air. The room actually seemed ten degrees cooler than the rest of the house. There was also this sinister, suffocating feeling all around him, oppressing him.

"Apple Bloom?" Lee slowly asks, so not to startle her.

The yellow filly's head eerily pivots toward Lee with the blankest of expression. A smile breaks the face, "Howdy, Lee! You need to meet mah new best friend, Bob!" she gestures towards the empty air in front of her.

Lee raises an eyebrow, and Big Mac shakes his head. "Bob?"

Apple Bloom giggles, "Well, duh! Bob's great! He thinks Ah'm great too, even though I don't got a cutie mark yet. He don't like it when people make fun of me neither! Like with the play! Diamond Tiara said mah princess dress looked bad on a blank-flank, so Bob set her dress on fire! He wanted to set her on fire, but Ah'm told him that he couldn't do that! Heheh!"

Lee nods in understanding, and turns to Big Mac, "Oh, ok. She's a psycho-b*tch, she's got an imaginary friend, and she wants to burn the Diamond-Studded-B*tch. She's just f*ck up is all! I'll just go—"

"BOB ISN'T IMAGINARY! BOB DOESN'T LIKE IT WHEN YOU CALL HIM IMAGINARY!" howled an otherworldly voice from Apple Bloom's figure. "BOB DOESN'T LIKE IT WHEN YOU CALL ME PSYCHO!!!!!!!!"

Before Lee could jump out the window from what-the-f*ckery, Apple Bloom blasted his entire body with a stomach-rocket of black vomit. Lee wiped his eyes off and screams, "Oh, WHAT THE F*CK!"

Apple Bloom cackles madly, and begins to ululate as if she were a primal native, "LULULULU! SURPRISE, UNCLE-F*CKER!" Apple Bloom launches herself onto Lee's cringing figure. She bites and tears and punches as Lee unsuccessfully attempts to rip her off of him.

"THAT'S ENOUGH!" Big Mac commands. The massive stallion rips her off with one hoof, and chucks Apple Bloom to the other end of the room. Big Mac grabs Lee, and drags him out of the bedroom before slamming the door shut on the savage filly. He proceeds to lock it, bolt, padlock it, and chainlock it.

Lee strips off the upchuck covered jacket and cries to Big Mac, "YOU DIDN'T TELL ME SHE WAS GONNA FIRE A F*CKING GAG-ROCKET!"

Big Mac grunts, "All o' that was pretty new, actually."

Lee shakes his head in disbelief. "We better get everyone over here."

"Know what's wrong...?

Lee grimly nods, "Really cold room, talking to imaginary friends, strange behaviour, vomit-missiles, strength of a champion wrestler. You got a demon. And that means you need an exorcism."

Author's Notes:

Wow, chapter released so close to the one before!
Anyways, this will be the Hearth's Warming arc. A possesion. I'll expand more on the backstory of the possession in the next chapter, which will be released tomorrow, on Christmas.

Merry Christmas Eve!