*THUNK!!*

It came from the living room. She was sure about that. She knew her roommate was home, but the sound was far too loud, and far too heavy to have come from her. She let out an annoyed sigh before pushing back her chair and sliding out of it. She had just gotten to the good part of the new song she was writing. Oh well…it would just have to wait. She trudged down the hallway, towards the living room. She heard dishes and pans clanking against each other from the kitchen. She also heard something else coming from there, driving her to trot at a faster pace. She rounded the corner with a fake, plastic smile upon her face,

“Yo, ‘sup Tavi? Whatcha plan on cooking tonight?”

The cellist was busy breaking dry pasta into halves so that it would fit properly into the pot, “Just making us some spaghetti. Somepony has to do the cooking around here if they don’t want to be eating pizza and Chinese food every single night…”

Vinyl’s ears drooped as she rubbed the back of her head, “Hey, I’m sorry about that…I’m just not as good of a cook as you…”

Vinyl wasn’t lying. She really was a terrible cook. But she wasn’t telling her the full truth either. She didn’t know how to cook, because she didn’t have time to learn. Octavia knew that her shows at various clubs all over Canterlot kept her working well past the time of Celestia raising the Sun, so she grabbed sleep whenever it decided to grace her with it’s presence. But that still wasn’t…completely true either. But she didn’t have the heart to tell her everything. Besides…she knew that Octavia would never believe her if she told her that she could see terrifying beasts from another realm. And speaking of that…

One was in the kitchen right now.

Vinyl couldn’t see what it was yet. It clung to the ceiling in hopes of remaining hidden. But, it’s predator like hunger had made it careless, and the DJ caught sight of the tar like drool appearing from above. She inwardly cringed as she watched a fat drop of drool splat onto the counter right by the pasta. Quite frankly, she was glad that her roommate could not see this disgusting symptom of hunger, and even more pleased that the ethereal saliva could not interact with the things from the world around them.

“You’re not even listening to me!”

Vinyl snapped back to reality and focused on her friend, who was at the moment, extremely displeased with her,

“I was offering to take some of your chores, but you couldn’t even take the time to pay attention!” Tavi snapped at her. She placed the pot full of pasta and water on the stove to boil, “Look, just watch the damn stove. I’ve given you plenty of time to work on your music, so it’s time you let me work on mine.” She stormed past Vinyl and exited the living room. The Unicorn waited for a while longer, until she heard the deep thrums of the cello coming from Octavia’s room. She would make sure to apologize later, but right now she was grateful that her temper had kicked in. She summoned a noise cancelling wall of aura over the door that led to Octavia’s room, and the walls that surrounded it. It would allow her to hear Octavia making new sheet music, and leave the other mare in peace and quiet. She would rather face this abomination than the wrath of the cellist when she was pulled away from her music. She carefully stepped into the kitchen, keeping her eyes focused on the ceiling. She let out another annoyed sigh, as she stared up at a monster that was akin to a creature blended from a pony and a spider. It focused its five eyes on her and began to let out an angry gurgled screech, a fine mist of black spit spewing from it’s mouth.

“What are you angry for? You’re the one that’s in my apartment!”

With that, it leapt from the ceiling and lunged for her, mandibles snapping, and snarling at her. She dodged it with a few light steps, before spinning around and bucking it in the face. Hardened hooves snapped one of the mandibles, and a few of it’s teeth broke off and sunk deep into it’s throat. It let out a pained shriek and lashed out at her with one of it’s legs. She barely dodged it this time, wincing as the leg still managed to tear open the flesh on her shoulder and expose tender muscle. She focused on the legs, noticing that what she thought was hair on it’s legs, was actually thin strands of shrapnel metal. Who did this pathetic little shit think it was, attacking her for no reason? Violet-black steam rose from the wound and it slowly closed as it spat at her, a thick glob of the saliva streaming towards her face. She fired a beam of red magic at it, causing it to vaporize, yet it still left a foul smell in the air that left a horrid taste on Vinyl’s tongue. The creature lunged for her again, and she stumbled over the couch before leaping away to avoid it. It’s otherworldly body slammed into the couch, yet it only moved the comfy furniture a few inches. It used it’s arachnid legs to flip it’s body back over, and rose up, legs flailing as if it were a normal pony that was rearing up. Vinyl pushed her shades up against her nose, her pupils dilating as she focused on it. She layered her body in a weight-alteration spell, her rising mass putting a strain on the floor beneath her. She heard the wood groaning and cracking under her weight, and she took a mental note to make sure she fixed it before Octavia was done practicing for the night. She glanced over at the pot on the stove. It was bubbling with a starchy foam. The pasta would be done soon. She looked back at her enemy, who was crawling over the table and charging at her. She smirked at it, before meeting it in the middle of the living room. They collided with a room trembling thud, throwing their weight against each other in an attempt to overpower each other. Even through the grunts of combat and pain, Vinyl still managed to hear a tiny sound that made her heart bottom out into her stomach.

The click of a doorknob turning.

Her attention was directed to the sound for a second, and a second was all the creature needed. It tackled her with another room shaking blow and sending her onto her back. Her shades flew across the floor as Octavia rounded the corner.

“Did you feel that shake? What was that?”

Vinyl attempted to shrug her shoulders, “Yeah, it was probably an earthquake or something.”

“…Why are you on the ground?”

Vinyl let out a quiet squeak. She couldn’t see the thing anymore, but she could still feel one of it’s shrapnel legs burying into her chest, “Um, just, y’know…chillin’.”

“Are you keeping an eye on the pasta like I asked you to?”

Vinyl could feel the wetness of ethereal slobber on her cheek, near her mouth. She snapped her lips shut and gave a quick nod,

“Mhmm!!”

Octavia’s brow rose up. She shook her head and picked up Vinyl’s shades.

“I’m not going to ask how in Equuis they got over here, considering they almost never leave your face…” she gave the alabaster mare a soft smile, “You should keep them off more often though…you have very unique eyes.”

Vinyl allowed a bit of the invisible spit slide against her teeth, as she bared a quick smile towards Octavia

“You’re so kind, Tavi.”

Octavia’s gentle smile turned into a crooked playful one, “And you’re so weird, Vinyl.” She placed the shades back on Vinyl’s face before turning around to head back into her room,

“Don’t forget to take the pasta off the isle in about 10 minutes.”

The beast came back into full view, still hissing and spitting on her, though it was much calmer than before. Vinyl still had her attention diverted to the sound of her friend’s voice,

“Yeah, I won’t. I promise.”

The creature’s sounds of combat and rage died down into soft chittering and clicks. Vinyl looked up at it in confusion, and disgust at the fact that some of it’s spit was in her mouth.

“Dude…you got your nastiness all up in my mouth. Sick…”

The chittering morphed into flawless Equinsh, “This cannot be.” It’s voice was rough and deep, and it’s breath smelled of decay. “You…you bare a trait…a mark of the Darkest Beast…”

Vinyl raised a brow, “Uh…what?”

It got off of her and backed away, “Please, forgive me for my attempt to cause you harm. I…I did not know they would have the gall to send me to come and slay one of you!”

“Yo, what are you talking about?”

It clawed at the floor, tearing open a portal in the fabric of space and time, “No amount of wealth is worth an attempt to assassinate one of the children!”

Vinyl bounded up to the portal and gripped the creature tightly, “What are you talking about?!”

“It is said that the Darkest Beast sent his spawn into the world of the mortals, showing the Gods that he was so powerful, that even the fruit of his loins could spread more chaos than they could peace.” The thing started to rant. “To be graced by a child of the Darkest Beast, I cannot believe I have defiled such a moment of vile pleasure by even trying to kill one of you. Nothing is as strong as his bloodline…”

Vinyl felt herself trembling with anger. This thing was taking way too long to answer her question.

“You better tell me EXACTLY what’s going on, or I’m going to make sure the Darkest Beast does things to you so horrible, and so painful, that you will wish death upon yourself every single waking moment of your miserable, pathetic, parasitic life!”

A little dark…and a bit too mean, but it got her somewhere. And she had to admit, she liked the look of terror on the thing’s face.

“I was sent to assassinate you…but I was not given full knowledge of exactly who you were exactly…” it’s eyes became wide and pleading, “Please…all I ask is that you spare me my pathetic life…I know it is nothing to you, and I know you deem me foolish to make a request from the likes of you…but please, I wish to live…”

“I will…but on one condition…” she pull the monstrosity towards her, “I want the name of whoever sent you to kill me.”

“I do not even know the gender of my employer, much less their true identity….” The spider hybrid chittered. "All that I know, is that their pseudonym is 'Seven'...”

“Seven…” Vinyl repeated thoughtfully. She looked down at the creature with angry eyes. What if this thing came back for her again? She should slay the beast before it came to hurt her or cause harm to her friend.

‘You should stomp it’s face in. You haven’t let loose in a long time.’

Vinyl shook her head to rid herself of the thought, “Thanks for the info.” She shoved it away from her. “Go back into whatever hole you crawled out of. If you show your face around here again, I’ll kill you. Do you understand?”

It nodded feverishly, before scampering into the tear it had created. It closed with a sharp, sucking sound, and Vinyl waited until all was quiet before letting down the sound proof wall. She let out a weary sigh before rubbing her temples, her letting herself before sprawling out back onto the floor. Her ears perked when she heard the sound of frothy pasta water hitting the isle with an angry hiss.

“Tavi!...the pasta’s ready…

-MLP-

“I’ve got an order of 10 Chunky Chocolate Cakes, four Pineapple Punch Pound Cakes, and a baker’s dozen of the Chimicherry Changas!!” Pinkie cried out as she pounded on the dinner bell with her usual energetic vigor. A customer quickly bounded up to the counter to pay the fee and take her delicious baked goods. Pinkie gave him her friendliest super-duper smile and waved at her,

“Thank you for stopping by, please come again!”

‘As fat as that whore is, she would make for a very filling meal.'

Pinkie’s ears folded against her head. She wouldn’t be able to stay behind the counter much longer. She rubbed the side of her head and looked over at Pound Cake,

“Hey Pound, can you watch the counter for a little while? I need to take a breather.”

Pound gave her a militaristic salute, “Okie Dokie Lokie!!”

Pinkie flashed him a smile, before she trotted away from the counter and headed out of the quaint little bakery. She trotted down the street, waving and smiling at all the friendly residents of ponies she encountered.

“Hey, Bon Bon!”

‘Come here you little candy coated cunt! I’ll fuckin’ slit your throat and drink your sugary blood!’

“Good afternoon, Lily!”

‘Isn’t that the little twat who screams every time something happens? Let’s kill her!’

“Hey Cranky, turn that frown upside down!”

‘If you want him to smile so much, you should just carve a smile into his face.’

Pinkie trotted faster to get down the road she had taken that led a bit of ways out of town.

‘Watching him give you a big ol’ grin while you lick the blood from your knife.’

Pinkie was galloping now.

‘Fuck it. We could just tear a smile into him with our teeth!!’

She could feel the drool of hunger pooling in her mouth. She quickly swallowed it as she broke the tree line into Whitetail Woods.

‘It has been a while since we ha-’

“Shut up, Twisted!!!”

The voice was silenced as Pinkie stared down into a lake that was within the forest. Her reflection was shown back at her, and yet, it was not her own. Something darker was lurking on the other side of the liquid glass. Something that owned a body just like hers, but with eyes that shone with an unyielding hunger. The entity named Twisted sneered at her, mouth gleaming with long hooked fangs.

“You seem upset…did I strike a nerve?”

“Shut up!” Pinkie repeated. “Stop saying all of those horrible things!!”

“They’re not horrible! They’re wonderful, delightful things!”

“No they aren’t. They’re cruel and terrible!”

Twisted leaned forward, “You’re always so focused and making everypony else happy…but when was the last time YOU’VE been happy?”

“I’m always happy!” Pinkie answered. Her response was light and airy, as if she weren’t conversing with a monster that was identical to her. “My happiness comes from spreading joy to others!”

“You lie…” Twisted hissed through her sneer. “Why do you lie to me?”

Pinkie shook her head, “I’m not lying…”

“Pinkamina…” her reflection pressed a hoof to the lake’s surface, causing it to ripple under her touch, “I am your friend…you don’t have to me.”

“You’re no friend of mine!” Pinkie snapped angrily. “You’re evil, and vicious, and insane! Why do you think I named you ‘Twisted’?!”

“You named me that because you choose to black out my real name. OUR real name. But if you don’t know want to consider me your friend, then fine. Don’t.” her lips pulled back to bare her serrated fangs in anger, “I will continue to do what I need to do until you stop trying to fight who you are.”

“I know who I am!! I’m Pinkie Pie, a friend to everypony, and a Bearer of an Element of Harmony!!”

She was going to continue, but was cut off by the sound of her stomach rumbling. Her face paled with horror, while Twisted arched a brow and clicked her tongue in disappointment.

“Uh oh…somepony’s hungry!” Twisted’s shook her head, “Looks like I’ll have to feed you…”

Pinkie felt the muscles in her left foreleg contract and flex, as it started to bring itself up to her face. She struggled to keep her mouth closed and turn her head away, but Twisted’s will was stronger than her own. Tears quickly build up at the corners of her eyes as she felt the fuzzy short hairs that made up her coat prick at her lips. Pinkie’s mouth opened, and she let out a sharp sob before her foreleg was jammed into it and her teeth clamped down. Twisted’s teeth were serrated and incredibly sharp, designed to shred and tear. They were the teeth of a predator. They dug into flesh, and did so with great ease. Pinkie’s teeth however, were not designed for such a violent lifestyle, but that didn’t stop them from sinking into her skin. She screamed, a muffled one, as she felt her teeth dig deeper and deeper and break the skin. The bottom row soon followed, and she had a chunk of flesh ready to be torn from her leg. Twisted bit harder into her foreleg, and so did Pinkie. The reflection yanked her head back, causing the skin to tear with the same consistency and sound of a thick, wet cloth. Pinkie’s head soon followed, and pain flared through her limb, as she ripped the skin from her muscle. Twisted slurped up the skin into her mouth and chewed on it. Pinkie pulled her piece into her mouth, her herbivore teeth gnashing down the skin in an attempt to chew on it. The metallic zing from the bloodied chunk sunk onto her taste buds, and she was filled with a mixed sense of sheer delight and utter digust.

She tasted pretty good.

“See, this is what makes you happy.” Twisted spoke in between chews. “You fill your belly with unsavory candies and baked goods, when you should be enjoying the delicious taste of pony flesh. Why have taffy when you could have tendons? Instead of licorice, you could eat liver. Or brains instead of bubblegum.” Twisted tapped her chin, “Perhaps you should make some cupcakes out of pony flesh…”

With that, she swallowed her piece with satisfaction and glee. Pinkie struggled greatly through the ordeal. Between her herbivorous teeth, and disgust, she had not been able to properly chew her piece. It went down her throat, slowly and painfully, coating her esophagus with the taste of her own blood. Bile tickled at the back of her throat.

“Swallow it. Don’t you dare waste it.”

Pinkie swallowed with a hard gulp, before letting out a weak whimper of defeat and sorrow.

“Look down at your leg.” Twisted commanded.

Pinkie knew what would be there, but did as she was told.  She looked down at her self-inflicted wound, and saw the black steam rising up in a thick torrent. She could make out the veins interlacing across her muscle, before disappearing underneath the strands of skin that was knitting itself together.

“You’re not a normal pony, Pinkamina. You’re not even sure if you’re a pony. It’s not cannibalism…it’s making yourself truly happy for once. Why do you think it makes you for happy? It’s because you get to be yourself for once.” Twisted licked her lips, “You’re going to realize what you are, whether you want to or not. But when that moment of realization dawns on you…you’re going to embrace everything about it.” She banged on the pond’s surface, causing herself to warp,

“And I can’t wait until that day comes…”

Twisted disappeared amongst the ripples of the water, while Pinkie wrapped her limp tail around her body in a pathetic attempt of self-comfort. She had had to deal with the monster inside of her before…but this time it was different. Twisted was far more active than usual, and it was getting harder and harder to keep the bad thoughts away. She needed something to distract her, somepony to make her feel normal. A true friend that wouldn’t judge her no matter what. Somepony like-

“Pinkie Pie?”

Pinkie recognized the gentle voice that called out to her, but it was in that moment that she realized her wound had not completely healed yet. So she did what she thought was the most reasonable thing to do at the moment.

She jumped into the lake.

The cool water felt great, save for the part of her leg where her skin hadn’t healed yet. She quickly washed the blood from her muzzle, before breaking the surface of the lake. She climbed out of the lake, shaking like a wet dog to get rid of the water, and then greeted the pony who found her with a big grin,

“Hey Fluttershy!” she wiped the remaining water droplets from her eyes, “What are you doing out here?”

“Oh! Um…I was going to see the newest member of the deer family that lives out here.” She brushed some of her flowing mane from her face. “What are you doing out here? You're pretty deep in the woods...”

“Uh...swimming! Just for swimming! Nothing else!” she chuckled nervously. “Hey, you know what, we’ve been so busy lately, that we haven’t seen each other in forever! Or the others, as a matter of fact!”

“It’s only been two days, Pinkie…”

“And two days is too long!” she nudged Fluttershy, “C’mon, let’s go see Rarity or something!”

Fluttershy started to protest, but couldn’t fight off the strength of an Earth Pony. She gave up and trotted to avoid the persistent bumping. When she got a bit in front of her, Pinkie’s eyes immediately honed in on her flank. The shimmering coat, the supple curves…

The succulent flesh.

Pinkie’s eyes pinpricked, and there was a sinking feeling deep in the pit of her stomach as a sickening thought dug its way into her mind.

Fluttershy was looking good enough to eat.

-MLP-

Twilight let out a sigh of blissful content, as she lay comfortably snugged in her bed with a copy of “Dragonian Magic Theories’ opened in her hooves. Her victory over Tirek was legendary, and drew citizens from all over the planet to live near her and be under her protection. Ponyville was no longer a tiny little village, and while it didn’t rival in size with Canterlot, or even with metropolises like Trottingham or Manehattan, it was large enough to draw the attention of the other kingdoms. Due to the sudden surge of the population, it required more things to be done. Building permits for new locations and the expansion of old ones, making various changes to the tax laws in order to accommodate the massive fluctuation of the economy, taking care of situations that the still growing court system could not. Not to mention that she had dealings with other kingdoms, and she had to be more careful while she had such a diverse variety of creatures living under her rule. Yes conducting all of her princess duties required her to work throughout the day, and well into the night, and it was times like these when she enjoyed the ability to turn in early for once and have a moment to herself. Her bed felt even comfier than before, and even enjoyed the slight tremble that accompanied Spike’s snoring. She looked over at the slumbering dragon, who was sprawled out on a mountain of blankets and comforters he had thrown on the floor next to her bed, despite the fact that he had his own chambers to sleep in. Adolescence had hit him, and hard. He had grown quite a bit, towering over all ponies he knew, standing as tall as four stallions. He had also become quite a bit of a hot head, with a temper as firey as the flames he spewed. And even though this wasn’t greed-driven growth, he still showed some traits of selfishness and pack-rat mentality here or there. Deep down though, beneath the intimidating build and a personality that rubbed some ponies the wrong way, he was still the sweet, lovable dragon that Twilight was proud to call her Number One Assistant. She let out a tiny giggle as another snore tore through the room. He was getting a well-deserved rest from not only being her assistant, but being the Head Ambassador of her kingdom. She turned back to her book and began to magically flip the pages until she got to where she had last left off. She was in a few pages deep into her book, before she felt a pulsating warmth on her thighs. She let out an annoyed huff, knowing what it meant. She pulled off the sheets, and looked down at her thigh. Sure enough, her cutie mark was glowing with a warm light, and Twilight’s expression went sour. She started to slide out of bed, but froze when Spike let out a sharp snort. She glanced over, noticing that Spike’s spinal plates were glowing with a soft, lime colored hue. He let out another snort, before rubbing his eyes,

“Is something wrong, Twilight?” he grumbled out, his rugged and growly voice still thick with sleep. He glanced at his plates, then did a double take when he noticed the glow.

“They…uh…they’ve never done that before.”

“As much as I want to study that, The Cutie Map calls out to me.” Twilight replied. “It’s going to have to wait for a little while until I figure out what it wants with me…” she trotted past him, “Meet me in the Conference Chamber.”

He snorted, letting out a small puff of blackened smoke, before rising to his feet. He lumbered out of the bed chambers and down the stairs, the crystalline floors clinking and clanking with each step he took. He finally landed on the first step and looked around. Twilight was nowhere to be found, so he could only assume that she had teleported to the Conference Chamber already. He began to walk down the hallway, his heavy feet sinking into the long, lush rug. As he finally came up on the Conference Chamber, he saw Twilight standing at the door frame with a look of utter horror on her face. He slunk over to stand by her side, rounding the corner and mimicking the look on her face,

“What is this?!”

The Cutie Map was glowing with a strange blaze engulfing it. Black flames outlined with a reddish hue swallowed everything. The black flames ate away at Griffinstone, tore through Canterlot, and annihilated the Crystal Empire. The flames destroyed most of the holographic topography that lay on the table. Twilight galloped up to the table and swiped at the flames, attempting to stamp them out with her hooves. Her efforts proved fruitless, though she soon discovered that the fire didn’t hurt her. They should have at least singed the hair on her legs, yet they did no such thing. It was as if the flames themselves were a hologram, only interacting with the Cutie Map.

“S-Spike, I can’t do anything to stop this!”

Spike darted towards the table, his claws enveloped in a glowing hue. He slapped his hand on the table,

“That’s ENOUGH!!”

The fire vanished, as did the map, but not before the two of them saw the hologram of their world turning to ashes. Spike wrapped his tail and arms protectively around Twilight,

“It’s okay…it’s just a map…None of that was real.”

There was the soft clop of hoof steps, they stopped just beyond the edge of the darkness that took over the room. Spike shielded Twilight and fired a stream of emerald lava at the source of the sound. It hit the crystalline walls and floor with a loud thwack, and caused them to glow from the temperature. There was nothing to be seen, though Spike was alert and listening. There was the sound of hoof steps again, though they sounded as if they were coming from all around them. Twilight horn blazed with bright, hot magic, as she illuminated the room. As much magic as she was pouring into the illumination spell, she still couldn’t seem to light up the entire room. It was as if something else was fighting her magic.

“Certamen esse tenebras lucem…” a mare’s voice replied with a sensual tone. “Et quid futurum map…”

“What did you say?” Twilight questioned the voice. “I don’t understand you!”

There was no answer, but only the sounds of hoof steps fading into silence. Spike said nothing, and studied the edges of the darkness for the source of the voice. His spinal plates were glowing angrily with an emerald light. Twilight tapped him,

“You’re kind of crushing me…”

Spike immediately dropped the young Princess, “Sorry…”

“It’s okay…” she looked over at the table, unable to unsee their world burning. She looked at him with uncertainty in her eyes, “Have the guards search the premises for anypony that doesn’t belong. After that, I need you to send a letter to the girls. I need them here immediately.”

Spike nodded in understanding, “I’m on it.”

He stepped out of the room, his steps thundering down the hall to go and wake up the castle guards. He got further down the hall, searching for guards to task out. It was in these few minutes that another round of hoofsteps sounded off in the darkness.

“Celerius venerit, puer dracone.” The same sultry voice from before spoke out to him.

Spike looked at a particular spot in the darkness. Even though he could not see her, he knew the source of the voice was standing there.

“Do not speak to me in that foul tongue." he hissed. "And, it is all the more reason for me to go and get the guards.”

“You know that fetching the guards will do you no good.” the voice responded, this time in Enquish.

“I still must do so, as it is what my Princess has asked of me.”

“She will not be able to do anything to stop him on her own, and you know this.”

His eyes narrowed at the particular point of darkness,

“Then I will find her the help that she needs when the time comes...”