As the princess of friendship was reading and organizing her books, her dragon blooded assistant let out a burp as a scroll arrived. Even when reaching the same status as her mentor. That fangirling still hasn't faded away from twilight sparkle. She picked up the note and opened it. What she read made her eyes go wide as dinner plates

Dear my faithful twilight sparkle.

I wish I had any news other than this. I really do, but an evil far worse than you anything you face up until now has arrived in ponyville. Me and luna will be arriving in ponyville soon. I implore to find your friend rainbow dash. Luna hasn't been able to enter her dreams for months. I think it's safe to say she's this evil's first target. I implore you to find her before something awful happens.

Your mentor princess celestia.

Twilight soon ran out of the castle and towards sugar cube corner. She found her pink friend not as hyper as she usually is. Rather she seemed deep in thought. She also noticed the cute bandage on her cheek.

"Pinkie, what happened?" twilight asked. Pinkie then explained what happened yesterday. This was the something awful princess celestia was talking about…one of her friends going insane and killing the other…just what kind of creature would do this? Not even chrysalis or tirek would do something so horrible…maybe. She wasn't sure. "Do you know where this nanashi lives?" twilight asked.

"No…i just sold him sweets. I don't ask for my customers address..that be super creepy!" pinkie pie said in her usual crazy way.

"We'll ask mayor mare, anyone who gets a home in ponyville has to go through her." twilight said.

"I'll finish my chores and join you, i'm really really worried about dashie." pinkie said. Twilight helped her finish quickly part to be a good friend and other to finish it quicker to get moving faster. The two went down into the sugar cube corner basement to grab some supplies. As pinkie grabbed a box of cupcake ingredients. A flash of some horrible creature filled their vision and soon the basement changed into a horrifying party room. The room was decorated with a typical but twisted Pinkie Pie flair. Colorful streamers of dried entrails danced around the ceiling, brightly painted skulls of all sizes were stuck on the walls, and organs done up in pastels filled with helium tied to the backs of chairs. The tables and chairs were made of bones and flesh of past people. A table was made from the heads of four children. their eyes closed like they were sleeping, wearing party hats made from their own skin. They recognized one of them as Apple Bloom's classmate. their eyes darted back and forth and then gazed up at the patchwork banner hanging from the rafters. Made from skin and painted in blood, the words "Life is a party" were scrawled in red.

But what terrified them the most was rainbow dash strapped to a table. Her wings and the cutie mark cut off. Nails in her hands. Eyes filled with tears and looking near dead. Her stomach and chest and stomach cut open allowing them to see every organ. At least the ones that weren't already in a bucket next to the one responsible. It was pinkie and she was wearing a disturbing dress made of skin cutie marks and wings. She was laughing and pulling out dash's organs while making awful jokes.

"I know I can be a real painaceas, but you know I'm just kidney with you. You really got to learn to liver it up. Boy, these jokes are getting bladder. Guess ya gotta develop a stomach for them." the disturbed pinkie said. As she pulled organ after organ and put them in the bucket. Thankfully the illusion soon ended. The two girls soon fell on their rears. Breathing heavily and trying their best not to puke.

"What…was that!?" twilight yelled her eyes filled with horror.

"I don't know…but i do know i never wanna see it again…i would never do that to anyone! Especially dashie!...is this why she did what she did yesterday?" pinkie asked.

Once their stomachs settled down and they caught their breath. They soon went to mayor mare. Who told them where nanashi lived. It was a house in ponyville but close to sweet apple acres. Twilight knocked on the door.

"Back already nanashi?" a familiar tomboyish voice said. It was dash who answered the door. Wearing only a t shirt and rainbow panties. She was wiping the tiredness from her eyes. She looks like she just woke up even if it was 4 in the afternoon. Once she saw who was at the door her eyes went wide as dinner plates.

"Hi dashie…were your boobs always that big?" pinkie asked. Dash slammed the door in a panic.

"Real smooth pinkie…" twilight said with a deadpan look on her face.

"Why are you here pinkie!? Why would you go anywhere near me when what happened yesterday!?" rainbow dash yelled in utter panic.

"Dashie…be honest with me. Was the reason you did that yesterday was because of something on the lines of me pulling out your guts while your strapped to a table?" pinkie asked.

"Pinkie!" twilight yelled. Utterly angry at her friends lack of tact in this situation. Rainbow slowly opened the door. Her eye filled with fear.

"H-h-how do you know about that!?" rainbow dash asked. Scared and confused.

"We went down into the basement of sugar cube corner…and we got hit by some horrifying illusion…of a party room made from flesh and bones…pinkie wearing that awful dress. And…" twilight said. She wanted to forget what she saw…but knows that horror has been burned into her brain. Dash opened the door. And at the table. Dash explained her nightmare. The one she's been having for the past several months.

"Man…i chose the worst treat to try to cheer you up didn't i?" pinkie asked with a dry chuckle. Dash doing the same.

"Honestly pinkie…a pie would have been better. Sure, I don't like pie. But at least with that. I wouldn't have been consumed by the fear of my nightmare becoming reality." dash said.

"How are you doing now?" twilight asked. Really concerned about her friends well being after hearing this…just seeing a part of that awful nightmare was too much for her. But to constantly relive the whole painful process over and over for the past several months…it was no wonder that her friend was at the breaking point.

"It'll be a while before i'm back to my normal awesome self…but I'm recovering. I think last night will be the last time i have that awful nightmare." she said.

"Good to hear dashie! but…how?" pinkie asked. Rainbow then explained what happened in the last nightmare. About how this time before the painful mutilation could begin. Nanashi came in and punched pinkie. She then explained what happened afterwards of how the world melted and became that rusty metal building with that fleshy tree…and the dark creature that was the source of it.

"Oooh…is dashie in love with nanashi?" pinkie asked with a teasing grin.

"It's not like that pinkie!" rainbow yelled her face red. Pinkie continued to tease her. Twilight was thinking about the monster in that dream…was that the evil princess celestia wrote about? She also noticed that the man of the hour wasn't in the house.

"Speaking of nanashi. Where is he?" twilight asked.

"Rarity asked him for his help…he does odd jobs for her applejack and anyone else really to get by." rainbow said. Pinkie raised an eyebrow at this.

"Uhh…dashie? Rarity is at her canterlot boutique. Helping sassy saddles deal with that conning bitch suri polomare." pinkie said.

"pinkie!" twilight yelled. Chastising her friend for her vulgarity.

"Need i remind you that rarity sweat shopped us because of that? I'm not mad at rarity for that. Wouldn't have happened if that rat didn't steal and copy her designs!" pinkie yelled. Both of them were surprised at pinkie. Their trip to manehattan wasn't pleasant. But neither of them realized that pinkie held a grudge for it.

"But if she's out of town…then who invited him?" dash asked. They all knew something was wrong here. So they left the house. Before dash left she grabbed nanashi's ulaks. Just in case it was something akin to the monster that haunted her dreams.

They arrived at the boutique. They heard a thud inside. The door was unlocked despite rarity being out of town. They opened it and saw rarity with a knife in hand knocked into her model stand. It looked like she tried to stab him in the back. But he kicked her back as she tried. Before they could ask what was going on. Rarity's eyes turned black her iris turning a glowing red as her body twisted and snapped in ways a human body shouldn't. And in a wave of black. The creature that was pretending to be rarity. Revealed it's true form. A horse shaped creature with it's torso covered in a broken mannequin torso, a long giraffe like neck black. It's face have covered in a broken mannequin head. While the other half was it's mouth and right eye black saliva leaking from it's long tongue sticking from a mouth of razor sharp teeth. On the half of it's head not covered in the mannequin head had multiple glowing red eyes. It's limbs were robotic metal the two front legs having knives on the end of them. The two hind looks have blades similar to fire axes on them.

"You will not interfere anymore interloper. Die!" the creature said despite not moving it's mouth it let out a roar similar to a horse that was on fire and the size of an elephant. It charged at nanashi dodging it's knife robot arm.

"Nanashi! Here!" dash yelled as she threw the ulaks towards him. Nanashi caught them and fought the creature. The creature managed to slash nanashi a few times during the fight. But nanashi did more by slicing off one of it's robot knife arms and stabbing through the torso and ending it with an ulak through the head. It screamed one last time before falling apart like a mannequin that was knocked over would and melting into black goo…similar to the monster from dashes dream. It was safe to say. That that creature and this one were from the same hell.

"What the hell was that!?" pinkie asked. Nanashi grabbed a bucket and mop and started cleaning up. Which wouldn't make sense for anyone who didn't know rarity.. All three of them knew that rarity would scream like a banshee seeing this unknown black substance all over her floor. And nanashi knew this too. He's done several jobs for her before. So she had an idea of what she was like. After cleaning up the mess and locking the boutique up. Nanashi turned to the three girls.

"So…i assume dash mustered up the courage to tell you the truth." nanashi said.

"Yes…as the princess of friendship. I would like to say thank you for helping dash when none of us could." twilight said with a grateful bow.

"Don't sweat it…it was an honor helping the heroes of equestria…but there's the lingering question of what's been going on…first that creature that got into dashes head and now this? What are these things?" nanashi asked. The three were unsure how to answer that. As that was something they'd like to know. And the ones who could answer that question had arrived. The four approached the two princesses though the guard pointed their spears at nanashi. He was unknown to them and the fact he had black covered ulaks didn't help them trust him anywhere near the two princesses. Though the ulaks didn't go unnoticed by the two sisters. Celestia used magic to levitate the ulaks closer to her. It was blood…corruptus blood.

"Young man…have you fought the corruptus?" celestia asked.

"Is that what those things are called?...yeah. Two of them. I did more than fight…i killed them." nanashi said.

"You…are nanashi, aren't you?" celestia asked.

"Yeah why?" he asked. He was soon put into a headlock by the general of the royal guard. Melissa nashi. His mother.

"Hey kiddo. I knew one day my genes in you would come in handy…but to think you'd be facing the corruptus." melissa said giving her son a playful noogie.

"Mom stop…" nanashi said annoyed at his mom antics. Celestia and luna giggled at their generals motherly antics. The three girls were surprised that nanashi's mother was the general of the royal guard.

At the castle of friendship. Celestia explains what's been going on. Despite how equestria is nowadays. It was a work in progress. There were days when the those with unicorn blood where on the top of the pecking order. This meant they could get away with a lot so long as it was does to pegasus bloods or earth bloods. This led to those with twisted hearts doing unspeakable evil against others. Even nowadays with how things are. There is always some psycho killer or campfire story about some terrifying beast. All this evil and horror doesn't disappear when the story or criminal dies. Instead it arrives in a different dimension. The grimdark dimension. And it's denizens. The evil and horror given bodies by this dimension. The corruptus. Pure evil horrors who's only goal is to spread death and insanity to this dimension. She also explains what the tree of sacrifice purpose is. If all six of the elements of harmony die or go insane. The tree of sacrifice will activate and open a rift between dimensions. Allowing the corruptus to wreck havoc on their world. Including unleashing the one trapped in their dimension. The most power and evil of them all….the sun god.

Celestia wasn't going to leave ponyville anytime soon. She would stay in twilight's castle for a bit. She gave nanashi and the three girls their vision rings. Magical tools that were used by corruptus hunters to scan and sniff out corruptus. Which made the three girls there feel better. After all not being able to trust their closest friends out of fear of them being corruptus in disguises.

Also nanashi's mother would stick around as well. She give her son the guns he ordered from the pyrus gun shop. Apparently melissa's husband and nanashi's dad. Lightning strider. Tried to cancel the order. Melissa was one of the greatest warriors equestria had. But he didn't want their son to follow her follow path. None of the family did. Not even nanashi's reckless dumbass of a sister. But this is an enemy even worse than what came before…and nanashi is one of the few that can combat this terrifying threat…and so he must pick up arms to defend his home and the world…