The sun hadn’t even begun to peek over the horizon, but I was wide awake. Rarity was probably awake too in all likelihood. Orders that required enough attention to shove her friends out of he shop typically merited all-nighters… All was still on the way to the cake-layered structure. No sound to distract me. No glances. No faces. Only the early morning darkness. Shadows danced across the cobblestone in perfect serenity. The dark was a place I was too familiar with… The featureless shadows that walked with me were my only company, shoving out all thought of the pleasant things in life… Suddenly, I found myself facing a young filly. Her back was turned to me… Her yellow coat seemed dulled from dirt. Red hair up in a tattered pink bow… Oh my God… Apple Bloom turned to face me. A childish smile played over her split lips.

“Hah there, Sebas-chun.” she drawled out, a black fluid pouring out from her parted jaws. Her eyeless sockets blinked once, causing a hard strain in my chest to seize me. Acting quickly, I covered my eyes with one hand and gasped.

“Go away.” I commanded the shade.
When I opened my eye again, she was gone… After advancing another block or so, a sound off to my left caused me to startle. Slurping sounds….

What the-…!?
Within the sea of darkness emerged a figure. A mare, lying on her belly, slurping down at the pool of water beneath her and giggling madly. A great deal of her mane was missing, it seemed… Torn out in chunks or worn away… The tiny stream that remained hung down and curled in the pool beneath her. Just like the shadow before her, she looked at me, but this one seemed to know I was there beforehand… Her eyeless, beaming face snapped toward me with a loud cracking noise. Around her neck was an enormous iron… Gear…? No… No, it wasn’t around her neck… It was part of her neck…

“Come here!” she ordered happily.
I knew that voice…! Pinkamena!

“I want you!” she cooed, slumping in my direction.
It appeared she couldn’t walk… Still, she was lapping at her chops in much the same manner as a hungry dog, allowing the pink muscle to dangle and sway with her sloppy movement. The closer she came, the more excited her giggles became. My body wouldn’t comply. I couldn’t move…! Why couldn’t I move!?

“I grow tired… Of my own flesh!” the beast lamented as it reached out a hoof and took hold of my ankle.

“Sebastian, let me taste you!!”
That was it. It a flurry of curses, choked sobs, and general panic, I threw my free foot back and launched it forward and Pinkamena’s face. It passed right through her, but I didn’t care. With an earsplitting cry of pure, unadulterated terror, I sprinted off into the darkness, attempting to flee from the nightmare that confronted me. Another block or so later, the voice called out to me again.

“Bonjour!” she greeted, jumping out from behind a wall. From her mouth flowed the same black fluid that oozed from Apple Bloom, but tiny tendrils of swiveling matter accompanied them. It looked like earth worms…

“Just leave me alone!!” I ordered and took off once again. What little vision I had was blurry as I sprinted toward my destination. So blurry in fact, I hadn’t realized I had arrived until a slammed my face directly into the front door. I fell back, gripping my muzzle and cursing beneath my breath. After collecting myself, I got back to my feet. The faint light seeping through the drawn curtains was probably the only thing saving what little was left of my sanity. I threw a quick glance over my shoulder to see if the shadows had disappeared. They had… Good. With a self-assuring roll of my shoulders, I decided to proceed inside. The door slipped open easily, and I closed it behind me.

This air… I know this air… This smell… This cold…
Something awful was about to happen. I had no idea what, but the hair on the back on my neck stood on end and that all-too-familiar tension rack down my back, causing my muscles to stricken themselves. My eye darted this way and that, rifling over the disheveled rolls of fabric and sewing materials. A shuffle sounded somewhere behind me as I reached the center of the mess. I couldn’t turn quick enough. A flash of red steel was the last thing I saw…