Chapter 2: Something Lurks in the Darkness

Chapter 2: Something Lurks in the Darkness

Two weeks have passed since Sweetie Belle's first encounter with the monstrosity.

Every night the creature would emerge from the shadows to torment her and every night she would scream desperately for help. The creature tormented her differently every night, on some nights it would shriek and yell at her, on others it would simply loom over her with it's unnatural smile. However, for the past two nights, Sweetie Belle had been left in peace.

And as she lay in her bed, the harsh reality that the peace was about to expire truly dawned upon her.

For there in the shadows the creature lurked silently, like a leopard stalking it's prey. Oddly enough, the creature didn't move. Instead, it continued watching her, toying with it's prey before ultimately devouring it. Then something unexpected happened, something new, something sinister and cruel. It appeared that darkness had begun to seep out from underneath the closet. It came like a tidal wave, flowing towards her bed. Soon, the darkness had almost completely covered the floor of her room and had begun to climb up the legs of her bed and onto her mattress.

As the darkness swarmed over her, she found that she could no longer move, nor scream.

The darkness reached her neck. No, not darkness. It felt as though thousands upon thousands of tiny claws were stabbing at her. As the darkness reached her face, she finally discovered what was really surrounding her.

Cockroaches. Hundreds upon thousands of them.

As they finally reached her face, she instinctively closed her mouth and kept it shut with as much power as she could muster. However, her efforts were to no avail, as the creature (who had crept up to her bedside) kept her mouth agape with it's claws. The cockroaches poured in, some being crunched and crushed as the monster forced Sweetie Belle to chew. Nasty cockroach innards splattered inside her mouth and every desperate attempt she made to scream was drowned out as more and more of them swarmed down her throat, causing her to gag and desperately cough.

After what seemed like an eternity, the creature released her from it's grip. Immediately, she shut her mouth, slicing a hopeful cockroach in half, splashing even more juice onto her fur. Sweetie slid off the side of her bed, landing with a soft thump onto the carpeting. It appeared that the cockroaches had returned to the shadows, leaving her and the creature completely alone. She crawled a bit away from her bed shoved a hoof into her mouth. She could still taste their juices in her mouth and even feel them moving around inside of her body.

They had to get out.

She felt her body start to convulse as she gagged, the cockroaches still scraping against her insides. Finally, after what seemed like half an hour, her body finally surrendered, vomit spewing out of her mouth, her body convulsing even more as the insects left her body. Only when her stomach no longer had anything to offer her did Sweetie Belle cease her retching and heaving. She collapsed next to the puddle, her throat burning and her mouth tasting of bile.

After a few minutes, she drifted off into unconsciousness

Sweetie Belle had been fleeing from her assailant for hours now.

Cuts and bruises from the tree branches and bushes covered her body. Adrenaline was the only thing keeping her going, that and her will to survive. Her body plead and begged her to stop this torture. To stop running and simply give in. But she was already beyond the point of no return, she had pushed her body to nearly impossible limits thus far and she would continue to do so until she finally escaped.

Of course, that would've been possible, had a jagged cliff-face not been blocking her path. She could hear the monstrosity heaving and wheezing, it was no more than five meters behind her. As dirt turned to gravel, which turned to hard rock, she realized that she had run out of both time and forest.

She was like a small, insignificant animal, cornered by a ferocious predator awaiting it's next meal eagerly.

Knowing that the chase was over, the creature slowly emerged from the woods, a twisted smile spread onto it's face. It stalked towards her with leisure, taking great enjoyment in her suffering. It approached Sweetie Belle (who had backed up to the edge of the cliff) and swiped at her shoulder with one of it's midnight claws, eliciting a shriek of pain from the young filly. It began cackling again, saliva dripping onto the stone below.

Sweetie raised a hoof to where the monster swiped at her, warm, black blood stained her hoof as she investigated it. The cut was deep and very painful, yet not fatal by any means. The creature wasn't trying to go for a killing blow too early, after all, where's the fun in that?

The creature began to pace in front of her, still cackling away, taking short, strained breaths as it did so. Using one of it's claws, it tugged Sweetie Belle's foreleg, drawing her closer to itself, hold her mere centimeters away from it's face. The abomination took in her fear, it could feel her shivering and it could hear her pathetic whimpering. The creature tightened it's grip as Sweetie Belle desperately tried to tug away. Her efforts were to no avail, the creature simply kept digging deeper into her foreleg, eliciting more cries of pain from the filly.

The creature didn't release it's grip until it's claws drew blood.

It dropped Sweetie Belle, who could no longer walk properly due to the immense pain, so instead she limped away to the best of her ability. With another wicked cackle, the monster tugged at Sweetie Belle's hind leg with immense strength, making her lose her footing and bust her lip on the stone.

Sweetie Belle knew that she couldn't even walk, let alone run away from this creature, so any attempts to do so would be absolutely futile. This was where she would die, the hunt was over. The creature had won. Instead of trying to flee again, Sweetie Belle simply began sobbing, feeding the creature's sadistic nature.

The creature looked towards the forest, before releasing a horrid clicking sound, which was responded to by a rustling in a nearby bush.

Sweetie Belle looked up with all her strength as her sister was carried in to the clearing atop the backs of a huge swarm of cockroaches. With another wicked smile, the monstrosity moved towards Rarity, each step was accompanied by a clacking sound as it's claws scraped the stone flooring.

She could only watch in absolute horror as the creature lifted Rarity away from the swarm and tossed her into the clearing. Sweetie Belle tried to move, but she was too weak. The adrenaline had faded and her body was aching terribly. Even moving her right forehoof slightly caused her insurmountable pain.

Rarity had begun to stir, the impact of the creature's throw had brought her back to consciousness. She looked up shakily at Sweetie Belle, "S-Sweetie Belle, is that you?" she whimpered.

"R-R-Rarity..." was all that Sweetie Belle could muster, her busted lip causing every word that leaves her mouth to elicit a sharp sting of pain.

The creature circled Rarity, methodically planning what it was going to do to it's newest playmate.

All Sweetie Belle's strength had left her, so she simply laid there, limply watching as the creature lifted Rarity from the ground by her throat with one of it's black claws and tore her ear off, making Rarity scream in pain. The monster threw Rarity onto the floor and pinned her underneath it's weight, it's spike covered kneecaps digging into her soft flesh. The abomination forced her mouth open, before spewing a torrent of insects down her throat.

Sweetie Belle lost her dinner for the second time that night.

As a final touch, the monstrosity turned back to Sweetie Belle, it's teeth drenched in blood. The abomination lifted Rarity one last time, making her face towards the cowering filly, before eviscerating Rarity's belly, disemboweling her. Sweetie Belle screamed as the beast finally released her deceased sister and lifted her up as well, dangling her over the edge of the cliff face.

The creature smiled once more, before dropping Sweetie Belle into the abyss below.

Sweetie Belle...

She could still hear her sister calling her as she fell into the void of darkness below. She could no longer see the cliff face, nor feel the sensation of falling. It felt like nothing to her. Was this what death felt like?

Sweetie Belle..

Rarity's calls were getting louder, perhaps she was waiting for her?

Sweetie Belle.

Sweetie Belle had never really thought about death before. It was something rarely spoken about, it was almost taboo in some senses. Or perhaps the population simply ignored death, pushed it aside, like a storm looming on the horizon.

"Sweetie Belle!" Rarity screamed from the top of her lungs as she shook her sister, this time she woke up.

Sweetie Belle's eyes widened with shock as she awoke. Had that really been a dream? It all seemed so realistic, she could almost still feel the pain from where the monster hurt her. Indeed, she was lying where she had passed out the previous night, on the floor, next to a now dried puddle of bile. Her back ached from lying on the cold flooring but asides from that, she felt fine. Rarity on the other hand appeared to have been crying. Her eyes were bloodshot and her fur appeared to be wet and moist from where the tears had fallen.

Instinctively, Sweetie Belle looked around the room for any sign of the monstrosity and luckily saw absolutely no sign that the creature had ever been in the room in the first place.

Rarity leaned in and smothered her younger sibling in a fierce hug, "Y-you scared my so much! You were shaking terribly and talking about some kind of monster in your sleep." she cried, fresh tears staining Sweetie Belle's coat.

"I-I'm alright Rarity, I promise." Sweetie Belle replied, she had begun crying too.

Rarity looked at her sister. She was an absolute mess! She smelled of bile and sweat, her mane was messy and disorganized and her eyes had visible rings underneath them. It appeared like she had not slept at all last night. "Sweetie, you're obviously not 'alright'." Rarity gestured, "I'm going to schedule you a doctor's appointment right away!".

Just like Rarity, always worrying about me. Sweetie Belle thought to herself.

"I'm fine Rarity, really, you don't have to spend any bits on me." Sweetie Belle replied, smiling with as much enthusiasm as she could possibly muster.

Rarity smiled, "What kind of a sister would I be if I didn't look after my younger sibling? Now, you've been acting strange for the past two weeks and I can't bear to see you like this any more!". Sweetie Belle attempted to protest, but Rarity quickly silenced her, "Now listen Sweetie Belle, it's for your own good. Now, you can stay home today and I'll try to organize the appointment for tomorrow, alright darling?". Sweetie Belle simply nodded, there was no convincing Rarity otherwise now.

After a few more assurances from Sweetie Belle that she'd be fine by herself, Rarity left to go organize her appointment at the hospital. The bile had been cleaned up and she was completely alone in the boutique, excepting of course Opal who was taking a rather leisurely nap in Rarity's work room.

Almost immediately after Rarity left, Sweetie Belle hopped out of bed and searched the entire boutique, top to bottom for the creature. She had searched almost every room when a thought occurred to her. What if it can only move in the darkness?. After all, the creature only appeared at night and the earliest the monster had ever shown it's face was when the sun had only barely risen. But where could it be staying then?

The basement.

A look of absolute horror crossed her face. There was absolutely no way that she would go into the basement by herself, daytime or not.

At least, she wouldn't go alone.