Gleaming at Midnight:Forest of Frustration
Chapter 1: Getting things started
“Don’t look back, you’ll never see again if you even glance at it,” -Unknown...
A stallion with orange fur was running through a forest in a panic. His yellow mane bounced as he jumped over a fallen log. He kept glancing back, just barely catching the shine of a metal object in the moonlight. Always behind him, always moving closer.
The shine got closer to him, it was reaching his hind hooves now. He made a sharp left and stopped as he reached the edge of a cliff. He looked down and saw it was at least a hundred foot drop into solid rock.
His back was now illuminated by the shine and he turned around again and screamed as his eyes burned surprise and fear for one last time.
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Vigil yawned as he stretched and slowly awoke to the early morning light. He slowly lifted himself off of the bed before shakily getting off of it. He cursed lightly to himself at the cold of the morning, and risked a glance back at his comfortable and warm bed.
He just sighed and walked to his door before opening it to the hall. From there, he groggily walked to his right and eventually entered a door on his left to a bathroom.
Vigil did his morning routine before looking into the mirror at his reflection. His sky blue eyes looked back at him in a droopy manner. His gray mane and tail hung down and his dark green coat looked darker than usual. “Eat first... then shower,” he muttered as he stepped out of the bathroom. He stepped out into the hallway again and went along down the opposite direction he went.
He started his descent downstairs when he heard shuffling and metal pans clanging and moving in the kitchen. He just shook himself and continued down. Once down, he made a U-turn and groggily dragged himself to the kitchen where Omior was in the midst of preparing breakfast.
“Morning,” Omior heard Vigil muttering but couldn’t decipher it and laughed in response. “Someone is having trouble this morning.”
“Yeah yeah...” Vigil managed out before sitting at the kitchen table. He yawned as he placed his head on the table and half shut his eyes.
“Coffee?”
“Yes,” Vigil said as he began to drift off into slumber. He jolted upright and shot his eyes open at the sound of Omior placing a cup of coffee and a plate of food in front of him.
Omior sat down at his own seat across from Vigil and dug into his eggs and pancakes. The table was silent outside of the two eating and drinking. Vigil finished first and picked up his plate with his magic. Vigil tilted his head up and took one last swig of his coffee before placing it on the plate along with the silverware before moving it to the sink. He yawned again into his hoof as he got up. “I’m gonna grab a shower before I head off to work. What about you?”
Omior put down his fork and knife and took a sip of his coffee before he spoke up. “I’ll be here. I require some training of the mind to keep myself alert. I’ve fallen behind and I need to pick things up.”
“Whatever, either way some time you have to........*yawn*...... teach me how you do some of the stuff you do,” Vigil left the kitchen as he heard Omior’s response.
“Maybe some other time.”
Vigil was more awake now as he climbed back up the stairs. He couldn’t wait to take a warm shower. He just wished he didn’t have to go and work so early today. ‘Stupid job at the stupid shop. How is it Omior has a job he can get away from, from time to time and yet mine’s so demanding? We work practically the same job!’ Vigil shook himself of those thoughts, it wasn’t good to get those thoughts, especially when he was so irritably tired.
He made it back to the bathroom and let the water run as he started drifting off again. ‘Hard to believe we’ve been in town for a half a year. Things are looking up for us.’ Vigil gave a slight smile as the water warmed quickly. ‘Jobs, a fair income with a nice house. Both of us can relax without worrying about things.’ “Yeowch!” Vigil pulled his hoof out of the waters path and waved it frantically up and down as he became very much awake and aware of how fast the water heated up. “Fucking, son of a........urgh!” Vigil used his magic to turn the waters temperature down, not risking putting a hoof anywhere near the path of the flow of water now.
After waiting for about five minutes, Vigil tentatively put a hoof under the water again, gauging the temperature of water. Once the green unicorn was content with his waters temperature, he stepped in and let himself relax under the continuous beat of warm water.
Omior was downstairs, whistling as he washed the dishes. Just as he finished, a knock came to the door.
Omior glanced towards the door before shrugging and drying his hands on a small hand towel. He walked over to the door as a second set of knocks came to it. Just as they finished, he opened up to a white furred pony with a steel grey mane and tail. “White Knight. To what do I owe this pleasure?” Omior smiled at the pony. His smile lessened when he saw Knight’s expression. “What’s wrong?”
“Hey, Omior, mind if I come in? I got some questions for you and your friend Eye spy,” Omior nodded and pushed the door the rest of the way open before stepping to the side, allowing the guard captain to enter.
“Make yourself at home captain. Vigil’s in the shower though, so it might be a minute if you really need to talk to him,” White Knight just nodded as Omior led him into the main room next to the kitchen. He took a seat and Omior spoke up again. “Would you like something to drink? Coffee? Water? Tea?”
“Coffee, if you have any,” the captain smiled as he forced himself not to yawn.
Omior nodded and went into the kitchen, grabbing a mug from the shelf he asked without even glancing back. “Cream or no?” The sound of water running through pipes stopped from upstairs.
“Uh cream, if you please.”
Omior handed the cup of coffee to White before nodding and speaking again. “I’ll get Vigil. One moment please,” the ex-warrior made his way over and up the stairs. White Knight took a sip from his cup and waited patiently.
After about a minute and a half, Knight heard mumbles just barely out of his hearing reach from the stairs. It started getting louder and more discernable as Vigil and Omior made their way downstairs.
The two took a seat facing the guard captain. He put his mug down and began. “I’d love to say I’m not here on business but we all know how much of a lie it would be,” he smirked quickly before dropping to a more serious expression. “Have either of you heard any strange noises as of last night? Any shouts or screams or anything at all that sounded odd?”
Omior and Vigil both shook their heads. But Vigil also spoke up. “We haven’t heard anything as far as I’d guess, but what’s this all about Knight?”
“A mare was found murdered near your home. It leads to a long string of murders since this town’s construction,” White Knight sat back down as he continued his questioning. “What were you both doing between the hours of 11pm and 3am?”
“Sleeping,” Vigil answered bluntly. Omior nodded in agreement.
The guard captain sighed as he spoke up. “At least that knocks you both off the suspect list for now, but it’s still unnerving,” White Knight slumped back into his previous seat.
“What do you mean by unnerving?” Omior asked.
White flashed a show of concern and worry before his tired eyes just gave way again. “Whoever this psychopath is, they’re good. And it seems like this murderer is getting bolder by the day, slowly over the last five years the murders have been growing more frequent and the bodies are found closer and closer to town. The mayor has been worried since day one whether or not the town would have to be shut down and the residents forcibly evicted because of this,” White leaned forward and placed his head in his hooves. “This whole thing has every guard on high alert and every investigator confused.” The guard captain chuckled a little bit before moving his head up from his hooves. “I guess I said a little bit too much, huh? Sorry to bother you two. I think I may have overstayed my welcome.”
Omior nodded and Vigil got up from his seat and motioned for White to follow him to the door. Omior followed shortly behind the two.
The three said their goodbyes. White Knight taking his leave and Vigil making his way for work. Omior shut the door behind him and walked towards the back door.
The backyard was unfenced, wildflowers growing this way and that. A small pond could be seen with a few rocks just barely out of the water by their round tops to his right. Omior walked past the pond and sat in the center of a set of long sticks that were placed in a circle shape. He began to close his eyes soon after.
The world around him seemed to silence. He focused on his inner thoughts. Practicing an age old traditional training exercise. He ‘felt’ for the warmth that radiated from his body, and from there he slowly felt as it changed from the flow of cold wind brushing around his body. He watched with closed eyes as the wind chased itself through the grass and leaves. The water in the pond rippled as small waves collided. He heard a rabbit scurrying in the wildflowers. Chewing on one Omior had liked.
A loud snap broke him from his concentration. He opened his eyes and got up.
Turning around, Omior saw a large set of deep gashes in a tree. The splinters of the tree were nowhere to be seen. It was as if the wood had disappeared rather than had been ripped out.
A rock fell into the pond and Omior shot his eyes over to it. He heard more sounds come around him one after another. A crow cawing, a fox yipping, another gash in the same tree on the opposite side of it.
Then the sounds stopped. Everything just continued as if the strange event never occurred. The birds from the tree with the gashes flew back into it or around it, and the fox that yipped and ran off came back.
Before Omior could question the events that had just happened, a familiar voice trailed into earshot. Omior turned to see a familiar sight walking towards him, not too far. “Greetings Ms. Rose. What brings you here?”
Anabelle Rose, a mare with a cream colored coat. Her mane and tail were both crimson red with a light browning around the edges. She smiled her warm greeting smile. “Well, I was in the area so I thought I’d stop by. I closed up shop today since business was pretty much dead.”
“Would you care for some tea then?”
Anabelle shook her head. “No, I can’t really stay. I was just hoping to catch a glimpse of your ‘training.’”
Omior nodded and walked with Anabelle towards the forest. “So what really brought you through here?”
Rose giggled a little bit. “Well some lucky stallion ordered some special flowers that could be found in the forest. They are rare when you don’t know where to look for them and can only grow in the forest. That’s one of the reasons I had actually closed the shop for today too.”
“Would you like me to accompany you then Ms. Rose? It might be dangerous if you have to go too deep in the forest,” Omior and Rose stopped just on the edge of the forest line.
Rose shrugged off the offer saying, “oh pshaw, don’t worry about me. The forest isn’t exactly a deathtrap, and it’ll only take about an hour to get to the spot where they grow if memory serves right.”
Omior nodded and shook Anabelle’s hoof. “Then i’ll see you at work tomorrow Ms. Rose, do be careful though, you never know what you might stumble across in there.”
“And you have a good day yourself. Good luck with your training,” both parties went their separate ways.
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The construction was going swimmingly, a pony wanted a mansion built at the edge of town and construction was going faster than expected. Among the construction team was Vigil, using his magic to pull at a stray wooden board.
He struggled with the board a little bit before it snapped and he fell back. Vigil tossed it aside and looked to where he pulled it from. “Damnit I thought I was wrong. Stupid.”
“Eye Spy, what’s the hold up now?” Vigil’s boss, Steele Reinforcer asked as he popped his head into the room. The pony in question grunted in reply. “Nothing boss, just some trouble with a stray board or two.”
Steele walked into the room and scrutinized the area Vigil mentioned before coming to a conclusion. “S’not a stray board. That would be the location for the err... Whatchamacallit. The uh.....turn switch yeah, it’s a place marker for where we put that doohickey my boss told us to put there.”
“Oh,” Vigil muttered. “Whoops.”
Steele turned to Vigil and let his strong gaze break into a more compassionate one. “What’s wrong now Spy? You getting enough sleep?”
Vigil raised an eyebrow. “Yeah I’m sleeping just fine, why?” Vigil was about to continue speaking when he hit the wall next to the exit. The one freshly built an hour ago. A few cracks appeared on it as he shook himself of the debri that had flaked onto him.
Steele walked up to where Vigil was standing and scowled at the wall. “Alright that’s it. You’ve got desk duty for the day. Afterwards, I want you to go home and take tomorrow off,” Vigil was about to rebuttal when Steele hardened his features into a scowl-like manner.
“Fine...” Vigil turned and walked slowly towards the mobile office room the boss made them take in case of ‘paperwork emergencies’. Once he got out of earshot he started lightly mumbling to himself. “Crazy to even keep the thing around.” He kicked a stray screwdrive that was on the ground. “I’m not tired so what is it?”
Vigil pushed open the door to the mobile office. Inside was a simple desk, a few cupboards, a mini fridge, and a few cabinets. Along with that was the usual office supply one would expect.
Vigil sighed and let the door close behind him as he prepared for a long day of nothing followed by tomorrows long day of nothing.
Ten minutes later, Vigil was near catatonic with boredom. His head lay on the desk as he was left with no other option. “Uhhh, why did I do something so stupid? Why do I have to be on desk duty?”
The sound of water caught Vigil’s attention and he sat his head up straight. He looked around in confusion for where the sound could be coming from. “That’s strange.:” Vigil rubbed the back of his head with his hoof. “There isn’t any running water in this thing. Is there?” He thought aloud as he got up from his seat. He stretched his back out and went looking around the small trailer office for the source of the sound.
After a minute of searching the sound, scratching joined in as well. Vigil became rather irate as time went on and the sounds kept going on a seemingly endless loop.
“Where is it where is it?” A third sound, a sound of a hammer hitting sheet metal over and over. “Urgh!” Vigil slammed his hoof against the wall next to the desk. The hit resulted in the wallpaper caving inwards and Vigil falling into it.
He screamed in surprise and fear as he was swallowed by blackness, the light of the hole he fell from quickly became a dot of color before quickly disappearing, swallowed by the darkness that surrounded him.
A white light, much akin to reflecting light from something, blinded him for a short few seconds.
He rubbed his eyes and tried to make heads or tails of what had happened. He looked around the dimly lit room. The walls were decayed and unkempt. The floor was cold and the tile was rotting. Dust covered everything the green pony could see. It wasn’t much sadly, as it was a single dying lightbulb above him that kept light flowing through the room.
Vigil attempted to cast a spell, perhaps something to illuminate the room better, but all that occurred was a small flash akin to the light a camera would give and then nothing from it. He was about to speak when he realized his mouth was covered by a metal clamp that circled around his entire head. He struggled with it shortly before trying his magic again. The same results came and he sighed inwardly.
Standing to his hooves, he looked to the door of the small room he was in. It was a large metal door, covered with rust, bolts, and a few nameless sharp objects. He carefully walked to it. He tried his magic again and it lit the room in a slight green glow before fizzling out.
Vigil pushed at the door with his hooves and it groaned and scratched at the floor. He kept pushing and it slowly moved inch by inch, resounding off of the walls of the inside of the room.
He was so caught up in pushing the door he failed to realize the sound of dripping had returned and the walls were oozing droplets of something dark red.
The unicorn pushed the door open enough to finally step out of the room. The thin hall he had entered though, was in just as bad condition, if not worse. The floor and walls were worn and damaged, some places covered in a strange dull red that flaked. A door at the end of the left side of the hall and a door at the end of the right side of the hall as well as windows all across the walls with no doors near them greeted the unicorn.
Vigil stepped out and the door slammed shut behind him. He jumped and turned around in reaction. He jerked back in surprise when he saw the door was gone and what replaced it was a clean and freshly built wall with fresh red drips that read the words “Don’t look back. He never stops once you see him.”
Vigil began to panic inwardly, trying in vain to yell something through the shackle around his mouth. “Mmmph?! Mmph ht ooh hen!” (‘What?! what do you mean?!’). He looked at each of the doors down the thin hallway. He began breaking into a heavy sweat as he tried to make heads or tails of what to do.
The windows on the entirety of the hall broke one by one, down to the doors. He heard the long loud sound of moaning and rapidly looked at both doors as he tried to make a decision. From the far right door the windows nearest to it showed both hooves and hands reaching out and pulling on the broken glass. He made his decision. “Hu hi!” (‘Fuck it!’). He turned to the door facing his left and went into full run towards it.
The hands and hooves had varying breaks and ripped open skin with blood dripping from them as they reached out to grab Vigil. It seemed the faster he ran the closer the hands and hooves were to grabbing him.
He was a few feet from the door when the knob turned. He tried stopping as it opened to reveal a large room of torture devices. Blood covered every inch of the room in a permanent red stain. A human with a black bag over his head stood at the door, covered in scars that looked as though he’d been sewn together everywhere.
Vigil began yelling through his clamp in fear as he turned and was grabbed by his tail by the human. He grunted as he dragged Vigil inside, shutting the door behind them.
He struggled and struggled against the human’s grip but by the time he realized how futile it was, he had been chained to a metal table above a tub filled with blood.
Vigil began crying in his delirious state of fear, struggling against the seemingly invincible binds.
“Do quiet down now. You’re only going to make things harder and more painful,” a voice came from behind the table he was strapped to. What came into sight made Vigil stop and listen.
The creature was a jigsaw puzzle of body parts. A human right arm, a pony right hoof, a left foreleg, a right leg, a left arm and a left hand of a different kind. The pony’s head was made of at least five different ponies and two different humans. “I see you’ve chosen my door. So let us get to work now, shall we? Marker, I do believe it’s time,” the human turned to the wall of blood soaked tools and scanned them seemingly endlessly as the pony monstrosity spoke up.
“Oh, you look scared,” he flashed a look of sympathy for a moment. “Well you shouldn’t fear me or my associate. You see, we’re getting sort of bored with things and you and your friend are rather new. I’ve not been able to dissect a human in at least a hundred years...” He looked giddy as he smiled absentmindedly.
Vigil nearly barfed into his mouth at the site of the horridly disfigured mouth covered with scars, blood, and bits of meat stuck in the monstrosities teeth.
“Oh yes, your associate, his name is.......I don’t know something with an “O”, it doesn’t matter. What does matter is what’s going on inside him and you both.”
The human came back with a strange object in his hands. It was like hand cuffs that could fit a pair of hooves, and two large blades were held pointing out the same direction. The human handed the device to the pony who smiled even wider and far more darker. “Ooh.. looks like he’s picked one of my favorites. I like to call it “the digger”, for its innate ability to dig into a ponies hooves and stay there. It can also increase pressure until it completely removes them, though it rather easily cuts through solid bone of a human though so it makes it less fun to use on them,” he chained Vigil’s right hoof as the human undid the latches holding him there.
Vigil took the opportunity to attempt to free himself. He nearly succeeded once he hit the human where he thought the nose was. The human reared back but the pony managed to press a button on the device that caused the blade to slice down from it’s outward position and just before it hit his hoof, he felt a hoof slap him across the face, sending him into darkness again.
Vigil found himself being shaken awake by a pair of strong hooves. His boss Steele was standing over him as well as some of his coworkers. He shot up and looked around in a cold sweat.
“Vigil you okay? You looked like you were out cold,” one of the workers said.
“I.....I don’t..... no what was......I have no idea...” He managed out in between his panting.
“Woah, slowly, breathe deeply,” his boss said as he helped Vigil get to his hooves.
“It just....What happened?” Vigil asked, confusion lining his voice.
“Sounded like somepony was having a fight, came rushing in to find you rolling around in a panic in your sleep,” one of his coworkers explained.
“You seemed really troubled by whatever it was you were dreaming,” another one added.
Vigil just looked at the wall next to the desk in hesitant confusion. “Is that all?”
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Vigil drudged into the house and plopped down face first into the couch. Omior merely glanced over at him before going back to making dinner.
“So how was training?” Vigil muttered through the couch cushion he had his face lodged in.
“It was rather odd, but fine nonetheless. Rose stopped by on her way to pick some rare flowers in the forest,” he mentioned offhandedly, in truth his mind kept replaying the events prior to Anabelle’s visit.
“So your boss decided to drop by? Pfft, you get off so easy with that job of yours.”
He ignored the comment as he pulled the food off the pan. “Dinner’s ready if you want it,” He took a good chunk of the food onto a plate and grabbed a glass of water as he sat down on the table.
Vigil just muttered something unintelligible into the sofa cushion and got up to go grab his share of food. Within a few minutes, Omior had finished his meal, once he placed his plate and cup in the sink, he went upstairs for the night.
Vigil called out through half eaten food. “Night man,” but Omior was already out of earshot.
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Later that night, Omior shot awake to the sound of banging. He looked around the room quickly before getting up and going towards his door. “What’s happening?” He spoke aloud in his half drowsy, half alert state. He walked down the hall and towards the stairs. The banging sounded frantic, as if somepony or something needed help.
Omior picked his pace up at the thought of somepony needing help and once he got downstairs he turned towards the back door. It was a straight shot right next to the kitchen, which he made a small sprint for once he heard the banging cease.
He opened the door to a rush of cold wind and a surprising sight. He leaned down and picked up a saddlebag, left in a torn ruin on the ground in front of the back door. Omior took one extra step out the door and looked around cautiously, after a moment he decided it was safe. He looked back down at the torn cloth bag in his hands and clutched it.
Just as the warrior was about to turn around and go inside, a small light in the distance caught his eye. It moved frantically around and just when Omior thought he could make it out, it vanished. He blinked and rubbed his eyes before taking another look. This resulted in his temporary and immediate blindness of his surroundings. He fell back into the house and managed to shut the door with a loud slam using his foot.
Vigil came downstairs in a sleepy rush. “What’s with all the noise?”
Omior just rubbed at his eyes and panted as his short burst of adrenaline died down. Once he could see again, he merely responded, “I wish I knew.”
Author's Note
Part 1, working on part 2, hope you guys like this story so far! :)
Forest of Frustration, Picking up the pace
Chapter 2: The conclusion
The next morning rolled around slowly. Omior couldn’t fall back to sleep as his mind reeled with the questions he had. Eventually though, he did manage to fall asleep, though how much he slept nor how easily he slept he’d never deduce.
The next morning was a routine of usual. Omior made his breakfast and was out of the house by nine in the morning. About two hours before Vigil would awaken.
He stepped out into the brisk air and headed down his right towards the bustling early morning shopping district. He passed by a handful of ponies on his way, all drowsy heading one way or another. He couldn’t help picturing the events last night and before it as he walked along.
Omior failed to realize it but he was already in the shopping district. He noticed just where he was eventually and scolded himself inwardly for getting so distracted lately. It was proof enough to him to train to better his focus, but for now he didn’t have to worry. For now he had to go into his place of work. Ms. Rose’s flower shop.
He was surprised to find the shops lights were out and the sign at the door said it was still closed. He scratched the back of his head and raised an eyebrow. ‘Maybe Rose can tell me what’s going on.’ Omior thought to himself as he turned and began a path to her house. ‘This is odd though, she usually never opens late and I’m sure I know what days I work by heart now.’
Five minutes and Omior reached Rose’s house. Her garden was in a neat organization of color and size lining the front of her house. The lawn a bit more chaotic and less pampered. Omior took but a moment to admire it before walking up to the cream colored house. He lightly knocked and the door swung open in response.
He took a step back instinctively before pushing the door open the rest of the way. He peered inside and called out. “Ms Rose? Are you in here? Hello?”
He got no reply and took a tentative step inside. “Hello? Anabelle? Are you in here?”
Omior stepped further in and looked around, nothing seemed out of place. Everything was exactly as he’d expected, minus a few pictures that lined the walls. Some nice art she does in her free time. He was just about to turn the corner into the living room when he heard the sound of a door opening. He went against the wall and looked towards the living room where the noise originated from.
Hoofbeats on the soft carpet in the living room announced that somepony or something was walking towards him and he grabbed Rose’s vase, holding a lovely daffodil. He raised the vase high and just before he brought it down, Anabelle appeared from around the corner.
She fell back with a loud “wah!” as Omior nearly dropped the vase in surprise. He carefully and quickly placed the vase back where he found it and smiled towards his boss. “Thank goodness you’re okay. I saw the door open and when you didn’t respond I thought something might’ve happened.”
Omior helped Anabelle up and she sighed before chuckling to herself lightly. “No it’s okay, I must’ve not shut it correctly coming in last night. I am also terribly sorry about that, I was down in my basement moving some boxes, I just finished up,” Rose walked past Omior and shut the door, it came back at her and she caught it with a hoof as she sighed. “So that’s it, stupid thing,” She pressed her hoof against a niche in the door before forcing the door shut. Once she heard the satisfying click she turned back to Omior. “Tea, sweety?”
Omior nodded, shifting a little uncomfortably. He followed as Anabelle lead them to her kitchen. She started a fire on the stove and poured some water in her teapot before placing it over the stovetop. “So was there a reason why you’re here dear?”
He sat down at the table and nodded as she joined him. “Yes actually. I was wondering why the shop wasn’t open today, I never got anything telling me otherwise.”
Rose’s eyebrows rose for a short time before she responded incredulously. “Didn’t Ratchet come by and tell you?”
“Tell me what?” Omior stated in confusion. “Was the shop not going to be open today?”
“Of course not darling, I told everyone not to come in today. Ratchet opted to tell you since you were the last one to inform about it,” Rose looked at him apologetically. “Oh I’m so sorry, please let me make it up to you somehow.”
Omior lifted a hand signalling her to cease her talking for a moment. The room was silent for a minute before he spoke up. “You don’t have to worry, it’s good that I know now though.”
The teapot hissed as the water finally boiled up enough. Rose got back up and turned the stove top off, she pulled two mugs out as she spoke up. “I’ll be talking to Ratchet about this tomorrow, you can be sure of that. He shouldn’t of lied to me and causing this predicament.” She handed Omior his mug and sat back down. “He’s always had an attitude since he began working at the shop. His heart is in the right place but his attitude needs a check. I may have to fire him soon, especially because of the way he handles the flowers.”
“I haven’t had the pleasure of seeing how he handles them but, what does he do?”
“I caught him once practically shoving the flowers he was to deliver into that green saddlebag of his, the one with an emblem of a sword with a small glare of light on it. He-Omior? What’s wrong?” She asked as she saw surprise hit his face for a split second.
He responded as if nothing had happened. “What do you mean? Nothing’s wrong. Why?”
“It’s just... nevermind. Was there anything else you’d like to talk about?” Anabelle asked before taking a sip of her tea.
“No,” Omior shook his head, “I do believe that’s all I wanted to talk to you about. I have to get going though.”
“So soon? But you haven’t even touched your tea.” Anabelle asked as she stood up from her seat. She gave Omior a worried look. “Are you sure everything is fine darling?”
He nodded once more and the mare lead him to the front door. The two said their goodbyes and Omior was off back to his home.
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Omior returned home and found, much to his displeasure, the saddlebag from the night before. It was green with the emblem Rose had mentioned. Or at least, what was left of it.
In reaction Omior had tossed the bag away from him. Now though, he seemed content with just sitting in his room, considering everything that was going on. He spent hours trying to piece together everything, the strange string of murders, the saddlebag left in tatters at his back door, the strange attitude Vigil’s had.
Omior grunted and gave a tired stretch. He yawned into his left hand as he looked out of his window.
The sun was already descending over the horizon. “How long was I contemplating this?” Omior considered aloud. Whatever seemed to be going on was affecting him more than he had anticipated.
Omior anxiously sighed and turned over in his bed. It was going to be a long night ahead of him.
2:10 AM
Vigil awoke to a loud crash coming from the downstairs. He sat up from his prone position and looked around his room rapidly before getting off of his bed and heading for his door.
He grabbed a metal stick of sorts he had lying in his room and opened the door. He glanced into the hallway, still though, nothing was in sight.
It took a moment, but Vigil did notice that Omior’s door was ajar. He was about to go over to check it further when another loud crash came from downstairs. He turned his attention back there and rushed to the stairs. He ran down the stairs and saw the back door was wide open.
A small vase was shattered on the floor and the glass holding Omior’s sword was broken into. The sword itself was laying in half on the ground in the mess as well.
Vigil went to the back door and just barely caught the sight of Omior entering the forest. ‘What’s he doing going into the forest? Is he chasing after whoever did this?’ Vigil considered as he stepped out into the cold morning air. He shut the door as best he could in its damaged state before following him.
For ten minutes Vigil chased after the fading form of Omior. He was quick for what appeared to be simple walking. Making turns so quick and barely caught by Vigil he considered for a moment that the warrior was attempting to ditch him. But that was crazy, Omior hadn’t even seen him, and he doubted if he called for him the warrior would’ve heard him either.
Vigil had just lost sight of where Omior had gone as he gasped and leaned against a tree. “I-I need to......*gasp* get back into.....better shape. This is ridiculous.”
He turned his head towards the sound of what seemed to be humming. He stood back up fully from his place against the tree and followed the sound. It quickly lead to a wide open area of flat land. In the center of it, Vigil was surprised to see quite familiar faces.
Omior was the first that Vigil had recognized, standing there in his custom pajamas he seemed devoid of any current thought, as if he was just a corpse standing there. To his left Vigil thought he recognized his boss Steele, standing and staring off just as much as Omior. The other two were similarly in expression and attitude, Anabelle Rose, Omior’s boss, and the final pony was the ever familiar guard captain White.
Vigil curiously watched from his place just within the foliage at the base of the small inclining field. He watched the ground beneath them begin to glow, until finally a loud screech tore through the air. Birds squawked and flew from the trees in a panic as Vigil covered his ears as much as he could.
As quickly as it came, the screech left, leaving behind a dense silence pervaded for a short minute before the sound of metal on metal sounded through the forest. After another half a minute, he heard trees crack and move away as whatever it was was coming, and coming fast.
“Omior!” Vigil yelled out to the entranced human. The human seemed to not hear him and continued with the others to stare into the distance emptily.
A light shine started to come over the hill into Vigil’s sight. He called out again in panic. “Omior! Wake up and come on!” The human blinked and looked around in confusion. “Omior!”
The warrior turned to Vigil and was about to respond when the gleam seemed to overcome Rose, who still was in her trance like state.
As soon as she was completely encumbered by the gleam she began to scream. Omior turned and backed away nervously at the sight. From what little of her body that escaped from the shine was covered in horrible lacerations. Blood spilled left and right from her as she was done unspeakable things.
Omior was about to turn around and run when Rose’s head came off, it rolled towards Omior who was speechless to what he just saw. He looked back up at the gleam which had decided to head for him.
He turned around and began running immediately in a panic, but it was too late. The gleam was upon him and as his body was covered by the strange glow he held his hand out towards Vigil.
The pony in question couldn’t believe what he was seeing. Omior was dying and the only thing left he could do was run. And that’s exactly what he did.
Vigil had turned and ran back into the forest in an attempt to escape it and the weird gleam. He exhaled and inhaled rapidly, sweat beginning to be soaked up by his fur as he tried to remember the way he went.
Vigil swore he felt whatever that glow was on his tail but he didn’t dare look back. A small log came up and he jumped over it in an attempt to make a left turn and gain some distance.
The log came up and Vigil jumped, twisting his body he saw the gleam was a bit farther than he thought, but still not that far behind. He prayed with all his might to Celestia he was going to make it out alive.
Vigil landed on his hooves in mud, the surprise of it alone caused him to lose balance as he skidded towards a large root connection two of the trees. He cursed loudly as he felt his right hoof hit it, sending him flying. He hit back first against a thick tree and sat there in a daze as he tried to tell which way was up.
As soon as he did though, he looked around rapidly for the strange light. “Is it gone?” He asked aloud in confusion after noticing it was nowhere in sight.
He sighed and laughed a bit crazily to himself, in relief and in regret for his human companion.
The leaves above him rustled rather loudly causing Vigil to look up. He did so just in time to see the shape of a knife and the blinding gleam before it was upon him.
The last feeling he felt was utter agony as the knife outline found ways to cut him that he hadn’t thought possible.
The end?
Author's Note
And finally after so long after Halloween it is finished. Hope everyone enjoyed reading it, it was real fun to write.
