The Things That Lurk
It was a sunny, autumn day, the leaves falling in their droves from the trees. They swirled in the wind, dancing across the fields and high above the obstacles set up around the Show Stable. Lemon Drop galloped across the fenced area, leaping over poles, bushes and water troughs. She ran her show jumping course several times, slowing to a trot at the doors of the Show Stable.
Inside, Moondancer and her daughter, Baby Moondancer, lit up their horns and aimed them at Lemon Drop's trophies. They glowed brightly in the sunlight that shone in through the windows, casting reflections on the floor. Lemon Drop poked her head around the door, her smile turning to a beaming grin when she saw her trophies.
"I didn't think they could glow any brighter," she remarked.
Moondancer dulled the glow from her horn, smiling at Lemon Drop in response. "It was Baby Moondancer that's made them glow."
Baby Moondancer blushed then approached her mother.
"You've made such a good job of them."
"Thank you," she answered.
Lemon Drop trotted over to the table, a jug and glasses sitting atop it. "Now, how about some lemonade? Freshly squeezed this morning."
"Yes, please."
Lemon Drop poured three glasses, handing two of them to Baby Moondancer and her mother. The two unicorns followed her outside to the field. Brandy sprinted around the field, chasing leaves and leaping into piles of them. Baby Moondancer glanced to her mother, Moondancer giving her a slight nod. The smaller unicorn dashed off after the dog, running beside him, her long mane blowing in the wind. The two ran until they were out of breath, Brandy lying down on the ground panting, Baby Moondancer returning to her mother's side and sipped her lemonade.
She glanced around the fields, watching the leaves blow. It almost felt normal, calm. However, she knew it was not. Her cousin was still missing, having disappeared during the night. Rumours were abound about more pale ponies like Applejack, some appearing in Flutter Valley, Pony Land, with other baby ponies going missing too.
Moondancer kept a close eye on her daughter, never letting her out of her sight, and ensured Baby Moondancer was never left alone. Her mother did her best to look after her, while trying to reassure Pearly's mother they would indeed find her, and return her to her mother's care. The longer her disappearance went on, the hope of this happening dwindled.
Moondancer stood up and nudged her daughter. Baby Moondancer finished her lemonade and stood up also. It was time to go home.
When they returned, Moondancer immediately started the bed time routine. She went to the bathroom to run a bath. Baby Moondancer went to her room. She frowned when she entered it. One of her teddy bears lay on the floor, its stuffing pulled out through the front, a large cut running the length of it. She felt her stomach flip flop, it was all too familiar. She went to the rest of her teddy bears and stuffed animals, checking through them for any other casualties. There were none, only the unfortunate bear lying on the floor.
Baby Moondancer gathered the stuffing up, pushing it back into the bear. She sat it on the bedside table, leaving the room when her mother called her. After her bath, Moondancer carried her through to her bedroom, tucking her in. Her gaze fell to the teddy on the bedside table.
"What happened?" she asked, picking it up.
"I found him like that after we got back," Baby Moondancer replied. "Can you fix him?"
Moondancer smiled. "Of course, little one. Try and sleep, I'm just downstairs if you need anything." She nuzzled Baby Moondancer's cheek, switched on the nightlight at the door and left the room.
The next day, Moondancer dropped her daughter off at the Lullaby Nursery. Several of the baby ponies were there, including the First Tooths. They lingered around the edge of the play area, some clearly displeased they had been dropped off. The pink pegasus First Tooth, Baby North Star, sat with Baby Glory rolling a ball back and forth.
Baby Moondancer looked over to them, unsure of whether to approach or not. She decided against it, until Baby North Star spotted her and waved her over. Baby Moondancer blinked then sat with them.
"I Baby North Star, what your name?" she asked, already rolling the ball toward her.
"Baby Moondancer," she answered. She passed the ball to Baby Glory.
"My mama think it bad idea for me to be alone, so I here."
Baby Moondancer nodded. "My mama thinks the same, especially with my cousin missing."
Baby North Star rolled the ball to her. "Baby Bouncy gone too. Don't know where she is."
"I'm sure Pearly will come back soon," Baby Glory said, passing the ball to Baby North Star. "She wouldn't leave you alone for long."
Baby Moondancer didn't reply.
They continued to roll the ball between them, until they were gathered into the kitchen where lunch awaited them. Baby North Star continued to sit with Baby Moondancer and Baby Glory, while the other First Tooth baby ponies sulked.
"What's wrong with them?" Baby Glory asked, glancing over to them.
"They not like being here, think their mamas are babying them," Baby North Star explained. "With Baby Bouncy gone though, mamas not take chances."
Baby Moondancer swirled the spoon around her soup, taking the odd mouthful, however entirely preoccupied. With worry for Pearly threatening to consume her thoughts, she briefly returned to her disemboweled teddy bear. It seemed so strange for anything like that to be happening again, for all the rumours claimed ponies like Applejack, and worse, were lurking in Dream Valley.
She was shaken back to reality by Baby Glory. "Nap time."
Baby Moondancer nodded, leaving her half finished soup at the table. This did not go unnoticed by Raspberry Jam, and she sighed quietly before clearing away the table.
The baby ponies were led up the stairs and into the bedroom. Once there, they were tucked up tightly, with Raspberry Jam switching the light off as she left. Baby Moondancer turned onto her side, pulling the covers up under her chin. She closed her eyes.
The light switched on.
Baby Moondancer opened her eyes. She hadn't heard the door open or close, nothing to suggest Raspberry Jam had been and gone.
She looked around the room to the rest of the baby ponies. They appeared to be asleep, unbothered by the sudden light.
It switched off again.
Baby Moondancer threw off the covers and went over to the light switch. She flipped it on. The light did not come on, no matter how many times she flicked it from on to off again.
"Baby Glory?" she whispered. "Are you awake?"
"Uh huh," Baby Glory answered. She sat up in bed. "What's wrong?"
"Did you see the lights?"
Baby Glory nodded. "Thought I imagined it."
Baby Moondancer shook her head. To demonstrate, she flicked the switch once more, the lights refusing to switch on. She stepped away from it, back over to Baby Glory.
Baby Glory walked to the door, nudging Baby Moondancer along with her. She followed her friend out of the room. They returned to the play area, finding the First Tooth ponies still there. Baby Tic Tac Toe looked up and was the first to spot them. She prodded Baby North Star with her hoof, the pink pegasus getting up from the floor where she'd been reading a book.
"You okay?" she asked.
Baby Glory shook her head. "Uh uh. Lights are going funny."
Baby North Star cocked her head to the side. "They fine down here." She made her way out of the room and flew up the stairs.
Baby Tic Tac Toe went over to the two baby unicorns. "Me think it might've been your imagination."
Baby Glory frowned at her. "Nuh uh. This happened before, when Applejack was here."
Before an argument could break out, Baby North Star returned. She landed next to Baby Tic Tac Toe, then sat down. "Lights not working up there. Keep flickering on and off."
As if on cue, the lights flickered. The light blinked on, then off, then on once more. The lamps in the room switched on one by one. The rest of the First Tooths moved closer together, Baby Tic Tac Toe taking a few steps closer to Baby North Star. The pegasus frowned, and approached the lamps. She reached out and switched one of them off. A second later it switched on again.
"This not right," Baby North Star muttered. "This happen before?"
"Applejack seemed to target me," Baby Moondancer said, "My cousin tried to protect me from most of it."
"She one who missing?"
Baby Moondancer nodded.
Baby North Star marched over to Baby Moondancer and Baby Glory. "We not let this happen again." She turned to the rest of the First Tooth ponies. "Right?"
"But what can we do?" Baby Tic Tac Toe asked.
"If Baby Bouncy sword fight to save newborns, I stop weird stuff happening."
Briefly, Baby Moondancer smiled, reminded of Pearly, and reassured by Baby North Star's confidence.
"Me think this bad idea. Mama heard all about Applejack when she visit, don't want me or anyone near it."
There was a thump from above, hooves running from room to room. Baby Moondancer felt her stomach lurch, a cold shiver running through her. Baby North Star noticed the look on her face and moved closer to her. She extended a wing, resting it on Baby Moondancer's back.
The hooves went to another room, then another, before silence fell. Baby North Star and Baby Glory headed to the stairs. By now, Raspberry Jam noticed the two errant baby ponies not currently on their nap, and she came into the room.
"Shouldn't you two be sleeping?" she said.
Baby North Star turned back to Raspberry Jam. "You not hear noises from upstairs?"
Raspberry Jam sighed. "I did. And I know what made them before. It's not something baby ponies should be investigating alone."
"Then you come too." With that, Baby North Star marched up the stairs once again.
Baby Tic Tac Toe glanced to Raspberry Jam, then Baby Glory and Baby Moondancer. "Me not like this idea."
"No, I don't either," Raspberry Jam answered. She followed Baby North Star, the two unicorns at her heels, then reluctantly, Baby Tic Tac Toe.
The group of ponies went to the room the hooves originated from, the room empty. Baby Glory went in first, checking under beds, behind curtains and in the toy box. Nothing was there, no monster to leap out at them, nothing to drag them under the bed, nothing to sweep them into the curtains. She looked back at Baby Moondancer and shook her head. Raspberry Jam however appeared unnerved. She shifted from hoof to hoof, then went into the room, her mouth a tight line. She went to the shelves, blowing the dust off of them.
"Things are missing," she stated.
Baby North Star flew over to the shelf, hovering beside it. "She right. Clear patches with no dust are on shelf."
They left the room, going to the next and found the same. No monsters, nothing untoward lurking, however more items appeared to be missing.
The last room the group checked was set Baby Moondancer on edge. The missing items were piled in the middle of the room, carefully placed into a tower. The tower was made of teddy bears with their stuffing pulled out and their eyes removed, blankets folded into neat squares, ornaments set on one end, balanced precariously.
Raspberry Jam held out a hoof, then went into the room. She circled the strange tower, nudging the stuffing pulled out from one of the bears. They stayed in place. Baby North Star, ignoring Raspberry Jam's instruction, flew into the room and hovered at the top of the tower. She pulled a corner of one of the blankets and the tower toppled to the floor.
Beside Baby Moondancer's ear, she heard a deep chuckle. She cried out, making both Baby Glory and Baby Tic Tac Toe jump. Raspberry Jam rushed to her side, pulling her close. Baby Moondancer buried her face into Raspberry Jam's leg as she trembled, trying to hold back the tears. Raspberry Jam gathered them together then ushered them back downstairs into the play room.
When Moondancer, North Star and the rest of the First Tooth's mothers arrived to collect their children, Raspberry Jam caught Moondancer and took her to one side.
"Raspberry Jam not look pleased," Baby North Star remarked.
"She'll be telling Auntie Moondancer about what happened," Baby Glory answered.
"I don't want this to happen again," Baby Moondancer muttered with a sigh. Baby Glory nuzzled her neck.
Moondancer appeared once more after a few minutes. She smiled at her daughter and nodded for her to follow. Baby Moondancer did so, waving goodbye to Baby Glory and Baby North Star. They left the Nursery, heading not for their home, but the Satin Slipper Ice Cream parlour. Baby Moondancer knew her mother would want to ask what happened, and the easiest way was over ice cream. She couldn't complain, not really. She loved ice cream, though for the most part it was usually saved for occasions.
Moondancer ordered a large sundae and a cone for herself, nudging the sundae to Baby Moondancer. She grabbed the spoon, taking a large scoop of it.
"You forgot the cherry," Moondancer laughed. She picked it up, then plopped it onto the spoon.
"Thank you, Mama," Baby Moondancer answered.
"Raspberry Jam told me something happened in the Nursery."
Baby Moondancer nodded. "Lights went funny, kept switching on and off when no one was near them. Then stuff went missing. We found it in a big tower in one of the empty rooms."
"Was it different than before, little one?"
Baby Moondancer frowned, scrunching her face up and examined her sundae closely. "Kind of? The stuff missing wasn't tidied away, but the tower was strange."
"No shadows? Ponies that shouldn't be there?"
Baby Moondancer shook her head. "Uh uh."
Her mother said nothing for a moment, then gave a nod. "All right. Eat the rest of your ice cream, and I'll make you a light dinner."
Once they returned home, Moondancer was true to her word and made sandwiches for dinner, with her daughter's favourite filling. When finished, thus began the bedtime routine. Baby Moondancer's bath was prepared, then a story was read to her. Soon she was tucked up in bed, Mr Stuffings with her and her night light on. She curled up, cuddling Mr Stuffings close as she drifted off to sleep.
During the night, she awoke to darkness. Her night light was out, Mr Stuffings had fallen to the floor and Baby Moondancer could feel a definite presence in the room with her.
She lit up her horn, the glow enabling her to see a short distance ahead of her. She looked around the room, then quickly turned to look at the cupboard when she heard the door close. She pulled the covers up further to her face, staring at the cupboard. She thought of calling her mother. When she opened her mouth to do so, no words nor cry came out.
She watched the cupboard.
The door opened slowly, ever so slowly. Darkness crept out of it, as if it were a living thing. She looked to the cupboard itself and saw a pair of eyes, staring back at her from the darkness. It continued to stare, watching her as she pulled the covers over her head with a whimper.
She risked another look. The eyes were still there, still watching her, still unmoving and unblinking.
Eventually, the door was pulled closed again, the night light switching on once more and Mr Stuffings was returned to her. She shut her eyes and cried for her mother.
The next day, Baby Moondancer found herself deposited at the Nursery once more, along with Baby Glory and the First Tooth babies. They were still displeased with their being there at all, and skulked around the corners of the play area.
Baby North Star did the opposite. On seeing Baby Moondancer and Baby Glory, she dragged Baby Tic Tac Toe over to them and sat down. Baby Moondancer glanced up, then stared at the floor.
"What wrong?" Baby North Star asked, sitting next to her.
"There was something in my room last night," Baby Moondancer replied.
"You sure you not dreaming?" Baby Tic Tac Toe said, one eyebrow raised.
Baby Moondancer frowned at her. "No. It wasn't a dream, I was awake."
"Me think it not real, that you dream it."
"I wasn't dreaming!"
Baby North Star got between them, glaring at Baby Tic Tac Toe. "You see tower of stuff in room yesterday. That dream too?"
Baby Tic Tac Toe didn't reply, instead resting her head on her hooves.
Baby North Star turned back to Baby Moondancer as she stared at the floor, tears brimming in the corners of her eyes. Baby North Star wandered off, returning a moment later with a handkerchief. She reached out, put her hoof under Baby Moondancer's chin, and lifted her head to face her. She dabbed at Baby Moondancer's eyes gently.
"If things happening here again, I protect you," she told Baby Moondancer. She looked around the room. "I protect all of you. I not let anything else happen."
Baby Moondancer smiled, though worry crept into the back of her mind. How many times did Pearly promise this before she went missing?
As if on cue, there was a thud from upstairs.
"You going to protect us? Me think you should start there," Baby Tic Tac Toe said, getting to her feet and looked up to the ceiling. Her ears flattened, eyes wide, and she moved behind Baby North Star.
"What? What you see?" Baby North Star asked.
Baby Tic Tac Toe pointed to the ceiling.
Above them, a shadow slithered across the ceiling from one corner to another. It was long and thin, yet had a head and four legs. There didn't seem to be a mane or tail that they could see, however it was pony-shaped.
Baby North Star scowled at it and flew to the ceiling. The shadow skittered away, creeping down the wall and upstairs. Baby North Star landed, then galloped out of the room to find it.
"Me not staying here," Baby Tic Tac Toe announced, and hurried after her friend.
Baby Moondancer and Baby Glory looked at one another, then shrugged and followed Baby North Star and Baby Tic Tac Toe. They found the two First Tooth ponies walking along the hall, opening room after room. When they found no sign of the shadow, they moved onto the next one.
Outside of the last room, they heard movement. Baby Glory put a hoof to her mouth then opened the door slowly.
The room held the spare beds, ready to be moved into the bedroom should the need for them arise. There were several beds in the room, placed at odd angles, jutting out from the walls. Pillows were placed on them, as were blankets, carefully folded and laid on the mattress. One bed stood out. Its blankets were ruffled, wrinkled and scrunched into a lump. The pillows appeared as if something had been lying on them previously, the shape still visible to the eye.
Other than the beds, there was nothing in the room, despite the shadow having fled here.
The baby ponies turned to leave, until a noise caught their attention.
The blankets moved.
Baby Moondancer moved closer to Baby Glory and Baby North Star, Baby Tic Tac Toe following suit. Baby Tic Tac Toe grabbed her hoof, eyes wide, unable to look away.
The blanket morphed into the shape of the shadow, legs swaying, blanket crumpled in corners but clearly moving. It flapped and flailed, the blanket moving too. It fell off the bed with a thump, blanket still covering it. It began to crawl toward them, slowly, slowly, slowly.
It was the same movements as Applejack, Baby Moondancer could help but think. The jerky movements of the legs, the odd angle they looked to be in.
It kept moving closer and closer, until a hoof reached out from under the blanket.
Baby Glory's bravery failed her at the sight of it, as did Baby Moondancer's. Baby Tic Tac Toe was close behind when they turned and ran back downstairs, Baby Glory stopping briefly to check on Baby North Star. She still stood at the door, staring at the thing.
Baby Moondancer looked back just in time to see the corner of the blanket edging its way out of the room. Baby Glory reached Baby North Star and dragged her away, back to her friends and downstairs.
Once there, Baby Moondancer flopped to the floor, her hooves covering her face. She felt a hoof on her back, though she kept her face covered.
"Me believe you now," Baby Tic Tac Toe whispered.
Baby Moondancer trembled. She felt sick with fear, and the tears returned swift and unending. Her body shook as she sobbed quietly, her friends surrounding her, while they tried to comfort her.
The group sat together, the First Tooths having now heard accounts from both Baby North Star and Baby Tic Tac Toe. Baby Fifi's jaw dropped and she backed away, as if this would save her from what the four baby ponies described. Knowing something like this happened before, they questioned Baby Moondancer and Baby Glory. Between them, they described the events as best they could with what they could remember and what they knew.
It did nothing to ease their minds.
The final straw came in the form of another thud from upstairs. The baby ponies were on their feet once more, listening to the thuds. It continued across the entirety of the upper floor. It sounded like it was looking for something.
Thud. Drag.
Thud. Drag.
Thud. Drag.
Baby North Star went to the door of the play room. She gasped.
The rest of the baby ponies rushed over to where she stood. On the stairs, dragging itself down them, was the creature from the room, still covered by the blanket. It reached a hoof out, clutching the edge of the step, then pulled itself to the edge.
Thud.
It landed on the first step.
Thud .
It landed on the next one.
The hoof extended once more to grab the next step, then it toppled down the stairs, landing in a heap at the bottom. The baby ponies watched it. It righted itself, hoof extended from under the blanket and it began to drag itself toward them.
Baby Fifi was the first run, and with a cry, the others followed. They rushed to the kitchen where Raspberry Jam was, and after getting her attention, they all spoke at once trying to describe the thing.
"Settle! Settle," she said. "One at a time. What happened?"
"Something was in one of the beds! It dragged itself down the stairs!" Baby Tic Tac Toe answered. "Me don't know what it was, me don't want to find out!"
Raspberry Jam bade them to wait, and she left the kitchen. She returned a short time later, though it felt far longer.
"There was nothing there. No blankets, nothing," she told them. "I believe you, though. Whatever it was has gone for now, but you were right to come to me."
Baby Moondancer looked to the floor.
"Come on, we'll head back to the play room for now. I'll listen out for anything unusual."
Things did not improve for Baby Moondancer when she returned home. She went to her room to hug Mr Stuffings only to find the rest of her teddy bears suffered the same fate as the first. Only Mr Stuffings was spared.
Fluff was scattered to the four winds, empty bears lying limply on the floor. Some had their eyes removed, others were not as unlucky. All however, suffered the same slice to its belly where the fluff was pulled from.
"MAMA!"
Moondancer came rushing up the stairs, and threw the door open. She looked around, surveying the scene before her. She turned to her daughter and gathered her up into a tight hug.
"You'll sleep in with me tonight," she told her, still hugging her.
Baby Moondancer could only nod.
"Come on, I'll make you some hot chocolate. Then I'll make a start on fixing your bears."
Baby Moondancer sat in the living room with her mother and Mr Stuffings. Every so often she would pet his fur, absently stroking it while staring into the distance. She would be shaken from this whenever her mother checked on her, and she would nod, insisting she was indeed fine.
Eventually, Moondancer took her upstairs to the bedroom. She was already dozing on the chair, and Moondancer noticed. She knelt on the floor and let Baby Moondancer climb onto her back. From there they went upstairs, Moondancer tucking her into bed before she too lay down on it, reading her book by her lamp.
Baby Moondancer moved closer to her mother, Mr Stuffings coming too, and closed her eyes, attempting sleep. She hadn't realised how tired she was, falling asleep within minutes.
During the night, she awoke. Her mother was asleep next to her, Mr Stuffings having made his way further down the bed. Her throat was dry, and she tried to clear her throat. It was no use, she needed to go for water.
She threw the blankets back, careful not to disturb neither her mother nor Mr Stuffings, though he was returned to his original place. She crept out of the room, down the stairs and to the kitchen. She retrieved a glass, filled it with water from the sink, then turned to head back up the stairs.
Halfway up, she noticed a shadow. Baby Moondancer frowned at it. It shouldn't have been there, despite it being very clearly pony-shaped. Instead of mimicking her movements, the shadow tilted its head to the side. She lifted a hoof to wave. Once more the shadow did not do the same.
Baby Moondancer ran up the rest of the stairs, back to her mother's room, and dove into bed. She pulled the blankets over her head, moving next to her mother. Through the thin material of the blanket, she could see the shadow. It entered the room after her, skulking across the wall as if it were trying to sneak. Its head turned to and fro, then it turned around and left the room.
The next morning, in the early hours as the sun was just peeking over the hill, the shadow returned. Moondancer was up with the birds, singing along to their songs and chirps, unaware of the horror Baby Moondancer was preoccupied with.
She didn't dare move, the shadow was at the door. The blankets were over her head once more, this seeming to confuse the shadow. It looked around, she could see it through the blanket. Eventually, long after her mother called her for breakfast, the shadow moved and Baby Moondancer moved from under the blanket and back downstairs.
She glanced over her shoulder, and saw the shadow appear on the staircase.
Despite the previous occurrences, Baby Moondancer found herself at the Lullaby Nursery once more. Her stomach did backflips, turning over itself and made her feel sick. Despite Baby Glory and the First Tooth baby ponies being there, it did nothing to settle Baby Moondancer's nerves.
She didn't dare look around her, for fear the shadow or whatever was pulling the fluff out of her teddy bears lurked in the shadows or crept along the walls.
There was a stain on the wall of the Nursery, something none of them had noticed before. Nonetheless, it put Baby Moondancer on edge, and she focused her attention on a ball in front of her.
She bounced it against the wall, catching it before it could roll too far.
Baby Glory joined her game, as did Baby North Star and the other First Tooth baby ponies. It bounced seven ways before the ball returned to her.
Between them, they said nothing, content to pass the ball back and forth. No one asked Baby Moondancer if there were any more hauntings, and she was more than content not to speak of it. She didn't want to, in case it involved others too.
When it came to lunch, Baby Moondancer kept glancing over her shoulder. She checked the walls, behind her and through the doorway. There was no sign of the shadow, and for the moment, she seemed to be safe.
She ate her lunch, before they were deposited back in the playroom. The stain on the wall had grown bigger. The First Tooths noticed this too, and both Baby Fifi and Baby Tic Tac Toe could not take their eyes away from it.
Baby North Star grabbed them both, put books in front of them, then sat them down. "You read these instead of stare at wall," she told them.
The afternoon went on, the younger baby ponies being sent for their nap. This time, the First Tooths followed them, taking up one of the spare rooms.
Baby Moondancer lay in bed, her eyes closed. She tried not to think of the shadow, tried not to imagine it creeping along the walls. She opened one eye to glance at the wall, in case it was there. It wasn't. She closed her eyes once more.
Thud . Drag .
Her eyes snapped open, gaze going to the walls. No shadow.
The door creaked open, Baby Moondancer pulled the blankets over her head.
"Baby Moondancer? Something wrong downstairs," Baby North Star said.
Thud . Thud .
"Baby ponies! Stay up the stairs!" Raspberry Jam shouted to them.
"I not stay up here."
Baby Moondancer threw the blankets off, following Baby North Star, the rest of the baby ponies also following. They ran downstairs to where it sounded as if Raspberry Jam's voice came from. They reached the doorway of the play area in time to see something long, and bony, dragging itself through the wall where the stain was.
It landed on the floor with a thump, getting to its feet, legs at odd angles. Each step it took, something cracked and clicked, hooves bent out of shape. It turned its head, blank eyes staring at them.
From nowhere, Raspberry Jam rushed forward. She pushed the baby ponies out of the way, then toward the door. They did not argue and ran from the nursery. Raspberry Jam followed them, slamming the door shut. She led them to Paradise Estate, where she gathered the other ponies together and explained what happened.
There they stayed as the darkness and the pale ponies returned.