Heart of Shadows

Heart of Shadows

by

TheDeinonychus

Part 2

To Say The Word

Is To Bring It.

To Take The Word

Is To Become It.

The building storm bore down upon the beach, it's powerful winds whipping the waves into a froth upon the shore. The sound of it's mighty thunder rolling out onto the plains. But ahead of the building tempest, a different kind of thunder made it's way over the grasslands. The thunder of frantic hoof beats. Sweat building up on her midnight hide, Moonlight raced in a panic. She ran as if she could escape the horror of what she had done, of what had happened there on that small hill overlooking the beach. But try as she might, the scene played out over and over in her mind's eye. The heat of her rage. The cries of her friend. The feel of Ember's bones cracking under her hooves. Tears trailed behind her, blown from the corners of her eyes by the wind whipping past, her pitch black mane flying into tangles as she tried to flee the horrible memory. Tried to escape back to her safe, warm home before everything turned insane.

She could see it, in the distance. Her tribe, the small camp they had made on the plain for the season. Oh how she longed to just forget everything that happened, to run right into her family's tent and curl up under her blanket. Her pace quickened, she could hear the sounds now, one of the tribe ponies had seen her and was shouting to her, but she didn't pay any attention to what he was saying. She just wanted to be home, to be safe. Other ponies had stopped what they were doing, some coming out of their own tents to watch the dark blue unicorn race over the gently rolling hills towards them. Soon, soon she could put it all behind her, forget the horrible things her friend had said, the horrible things she had done. Soon she could try to put her life back together from the broken remains left after what had happened. So lost in her thoughts, she didn't even realize the crowd of ponies that was forming around her, not till she almost ran head-long into the lot of them.

Her hooves dug into the packed dirt of the camp, stopping just inches from the now extinguished camp fire as she was forced into an abrupt halt. Her sides heaved as she gasped for breath, her messed mane hanging over her face. Moonlight was just glad to be home, somewhere safe, far away from that hill. It took a few moments for her breathing and racing heart to calm down enough for her to hear over them, hear the sounds of the crowd around her. Hushed gasps and shocked murmurs greeted her. A shake of her head managed to push her mane out of her face enough for her to see. The sight caused an icy feeling to creep up her spine. Every eye was upon her, each one trembling. But no gaze made her worry as much as the stallion in front of her.

Golden Fields, the tawny unicorn stallion, the one she had secretly longed for since she was but a filly. His eyes were filled with shock and terror as they looked her over, his mouth hanging agape. Slowly, as if her legs might snap in two if she rushed, she started to take a step towards him, wishing nothing more but to lay her head on his side and let this all be a dream. He cringed as she moved towards him.

"M-Moonlight? What happened? Is... Is that blood?!" Golden Fields gasped. His eyes shaking as they looked over her form. Oh no! The blood! It covered her, making plain what she had done for all to see. Her raised hoof lost the will to move. It felt as if her heart was refusing to beat as she looked at her love with pleading eyes. Begging for him to forget about it, to just let her forget. "Where's Ember?"

It was just too much. Hearing that name, the weight of what she had done just bore down on her in full. Fresh tears started to flow from her eyes, tainted red as they ran through the sticky mess that was drying on her fur. Her knees shook and she had to lower herself down, afraid she would collapse.

"I.... I didn't... Didn't mean to.. " she sobbed, shaking her head as the scene played out over and over again in her mind. "Sh-she tries... I.. I couldn't... It.. It just happened.." she struggles to say between gasps for breath. Between the sobs that wracked her body and the horrific images that flashed through her mind, the sobbing mare could barely form words. The crowd of ponies around her seemed to grow tighter. By now every member of the tribe had gathered to the spectacle. Their eyes and whispers suddenly accusing. Every stare seemed to drill into her, every whisper seemed to echo the same thing in her ear. She kills her. She killed Ember. She killed another pony.

"Moonlight!" The voice seemed to cut through the crowd and snap her out of her panic if just for a moment. The throng of ponies seemed to part to make way for the voice's owner. The tall gray stallion stepping through the crowd to stand before her. The spiral horn and elaborate head dress told her just who it was. Her father, Dawn Sky, the tribe shaman. Every other pony made way for him, with equal parts respect and fear, for as the shaman, he knew the secrets of magic. His eyes widened as he saw his eldest daughter, covered in what could only be blood. "Moonlight. What did you do?"

Moonlight winced at the harsh, firm tone of his voice. The same voice that had scolded her in the past for trying to chase fireflies across a crevasse. Only now, it was no foalish play she was being scolded for.

"I.. I didn't mean it!" she cried out, the words tumbling from her mouth between gasps. "I-I couldn't stop! She.. She just.. Just.." her mouth went dry as she saw something move behind her father. Timidly, a pair of wide, purple eyes peeked out from behind Dawn Sky's legs. The little violet filly was trembling at the sight of her. Starlight, her little sister, had eyes as round as apples and as big as melons as they looked at what her sister had become. "N-no.." a whisper was all she could manage when she saw those innocent eyes.

"She killed her" someone in the crowd whispered.

"No.."

"That's Ember's blood!" another gasped.

"No.."

"Murderer.." someone accused.

"No!"

"Monster!"

"NO!"

"M-Moonlight?" a tiny voice whispered.

"No no no NO!" she couldn't take it anymore. Her safe haven had turned into pure torment. Panic gripped her once again as her legs jerked, sending her up onto her hind hooves before she bolted off through the crowd. Everypony jumped back, fear in their eyes. Fear of what she had done. Fear of her. The angry shouts rang in her ears as she tried to flee them. To try to escape to someplace where no pony would ever find her. Screaming her anguish and pain, the angry shouts of her family and friends followed behind her, only to be drowned out as the heavens tore open with a violent crack, and the promised storm brought down it's violence.

-

The rain. It washed away the blood. But it didn't matter. She could still feel it, as if it had soaked down to her bones, down to her very soul. She had no idea how far she had run, but she knew it wasn't far enough. It could never be far enough. She could run to the moon and back, and the feeling would still follow her. As she sat there in the shadow of a small rock outcropping, her hooves shook and jittered. Every tap of a raindrop on them felt like bone breaking under her hoof. Every splatter of rain on her face felt warm like blood. She could of slunk back under the rocks, tried to escape the downpour, but she didn't. Somehow, the rain felt right. Maybe she deserved to be soaking wet. Or maybe it was just that it made it impossible for her to tell if she was still crying or not. She was exhausted, but she dared not sleep. Every time she closed her eyes, the stares of her family and friends would be there to accuse her. Each crack of thunder brought back those words.

She couldn't go back. How could she? She was sure they would find what was left of her friend soon. Then there would be no doubt about what had happened. They already knew anyway. She had done the unthinkable. They would just tie her up like some sort of crazy pony. They'd hunt her down, like some wild beast. A wild animal. A monster. A shiver ran up her spine, and her hooves clamped down over her ears as another crack of thunder shook the ground, and echoed that word again and again. Her whole tribe had called her that, they all knew. Golden Fields, the one stallion she loved knew what she had done. Her own father knew. But even worse, Starlight, her own sister, so innocent and pure, had seen her like that. Seen her covered in the proof of her own deeds.

Mud and rainwater splattered up onto her sides as she just collapsed onto the ground, hooves still held tightly to the sides of her head. She wished it could all be over. That a bolt of lightning would come down and take away all the pain. But as she laid there, release never came. The moonless sky raged around her, but not once did it offer her any pity or mercy. Even that was denied to her now, the shimmering crescent reflected in her Cutie Mark, hidden behind dark, brooding clouds. Just like the clouds that darkened the sky, mud had covered and be-smudged the silver moon and glowing stars that graced her flank. The night had always given her peace, ever since she was a filly, the stars and moon had been like family to her. But tonight, there would be no comfort for her. No bright, inviting moon or dancing, twinkling stars. Only the heavy weight where her heart was and the accusing crack of thunder.

##### Author's Note

First, I'd like to say thank you to anyone who's read this far. Second, I'd like to address to some worries that this story is too 'heavy'. As I mentioned before, this is a very dark, graphic tragedy. Think of it as something like from the early Greek period, or even something biblical, where harsh reality is often presented without care to sensabilities. The story isn't likely to get more cheerful anytime soon. Infact, it's likely to get far more grim before the end. And speaking of the end, I have no idea how long I'm going to carry this on. I do have a list of events I want to go through to lead to the end, but how many parts it will take to get there, I have no idea. Perhaps once it's over, I may try writing something a bit more cheerful. Maybe even some clop. Who knows.