They Walk Among Us

Hey, everyone. TheHouseholdWarrior here, with a little sneak preview to the sequel to They Walk Among Us. Yes, yes, I know that I said that I would start in two months, but I just decided to start off a little bit early. The sequel will be called 'They Live Among Us', and it should be coming out in the coming week or so. I'm really looking forward to writing it!

I've said this before, and I cannot stress this enough: Thank you all, very much, for your support. I would never have continued the story if, well, there was never anyone reading it in the first place. Thank you again, everyone, for reading, liking, and following this story. Thank you.

Now, without further ado, here is the little preview of 'They Live Among Us'.

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Dark. So dark.

His eyes were now wide open, but he still couldn't see anything at all. He didn't know whether it really was that dark, or if he had lost all ability to see. Or perhaps his eyes just needed a little adjusting to the darkness.

He could hear a faint, continuous thud in the background, followed by some chopping sounds and the soft whistle of boiling water. There was a small, unrecognizable scent in the air- a truly sweet scent that calmed him down and lowered his inhibitions. But that scent alone still could not put to rest the uncomfortable feeling rising to prominence in his chest, one that kept him awake, and wary. And it didn't help that there was someone else in the room.

He was lying down on a hard surface, a stone table, perhaps, with his forehooves dangling to the sides. He daren't move, for fear of what would happen if he did: not only was it too dark for him to see, but there was someone else, he didn't know whom, in the room. Plus, he didn't know if he could even move in the first place.

Lying down on the cold, stone table, he closed his eyes again and tried to calm himself down. Breathing deeply but silently, he began to think about what happened.

As soon as he did so, everything came flooding back to him.

"We'll get you back. We'll get you back."

"Consider it payback for having saved all of our hides before."

"Stay close, guys! We're gonna need to be as close as possible if we want even the smallest chance to survive together."

"No, Twilight! STOP COUNTING!"

"NO!"

"Welcome back to Black Wesa, dear brother."

Steven gasped. He needed to go back. He needed to go back NOW. He quickly tried to sit up straight.

"AAAAAAAAAHHHH!" he screamed as white-hot pain spread throughout his back. He fell back to the cold surface with a loud bang, the impact of the crash making him scream even more. The pain was so intense that tears were dropping uncontrollably from his eyes, and he couldn't help but moan lifelessly as his body froze in place, not daring to move a muscle. The pain had completely numbed his mind, and he now couldn't think anymore. His mind was completely blank as Steven succumbed to the burning pain in his back

He was going to die. He was going to die right there. No one, not even him, could possibly take up that much pain and still be alive. He stayed on top of the table, breathing loud, short gasps as he did so. He couldn't move anymore. He tried to twitch a hoof, but even that wasn't possible. The pain had completely taken control of his mind and body, and he simply wasn't able to do anything anymore.

And then the thudding stopped.

"Finally." said a male, teenage voice. "

Steven could feel a large shadow stand up and begin to walk towards him, his feet heavily crashing on the floor as he walked. But Steven knew that despite the man's build, he couldn't have been older than 15, or maybe 17 years old.

"H-" gasped Steven, not able to say anything without hurting. "H-How long..."

"I can tell you." said the boy. "But I'm not sure you'd like it."

"T-Tell..." said Steven, coughing out blood as his throat burned in his attempt to speak.

"No." said the boy. "You have to rest first. It just won't do for me, and for you, if you get more stressed out than you already are. Besides, I've been treating you all this time already. I wouldn't want it to go to waste.

Steven desperately wanted to protest, but he held his tongue. He was right- any more stress would most probably kill him, considering that his throat now burned along with his back. There was nothing he could do for now.

"I see you tried to sit up." said the boy. "Yeah, you shouldn't have done that."

Steven now wanted to slap the boy across the face, but that would've probably been a bad idea as well.

Just then, Steven heard a loud beeping noise from across the room, right where the boy was sitting before he came over.

"Is it time already?" asked the boy to no one in particular. He quickly walked across the room and back, this time with what looked like a pot in his hands. There was really no making it out in the darkness. The sweet, calming smell grew even stronger. Steven opened his mouth instinctively.

"Oh, that's not going there." said the boy. "Trust me, I've tried that. Couldn't eat or drink anything for weeks."

Steven slowly turned his face towards the boy, giving him his best 'tell me what you want me to do or so help me I'll kill you where you stand' look.

The boy, however, seemed to have paid no heed to his face. Instead, ten, sharp fingers slowly began to push at Steven's side. He couldn't help but yelp in pain as they slowly began to dig under Steven's skin.

"Y-You should..." gasped Steven. "You should... c-cut... your n-nails."

"Whoops." said the boy, who let go of Steven's body immediately, letting his body fall back onto the stony surface. He screamed in pain as he felt his back crack again as it crashed onto the table, the extreme pain shooting up his neck.

"Err... Sorry." said the boy. Steven couldn't believe that he survived so long with this boy taking care of him. The boy quickly got him over to his side with no interruptions this time, his back exposed to whatever the boy was trying to do to him. He cringed in pain as the air kept blowing at his back, hurting him dreadfully.

"I still flinch whenever I see your back." said the boy. "It's, well... in a really bad condition."

You don't say.

Steven then felt an extremely cold sensation at his back. He froze up as he felt the coldness spread even further across his back.

"W-What..." managed Steven, exhaling heavily. "What... is t-this?"

"A special brew." said the boy. "It should be easing the pain for you. As long as you don't try to sit up again, it shouldn't be hurting as much. Now..."

Steven felt his body fall back to the surface of the stone, and to his surprise, it didn't hurt. He slowly turned his head to the source of the boy's voice. He still couldn't see anything.

"What do you know about Twilight Sparkle?"

Steven was shocked. His eyes widened, and he stopped breathing for a while.

"Calm down, dude." said the boy, sounding concerned. "Hey, are you alright?"

"I'm... fine." said Steven. "You are friends with Twilight?"

"Friends?" repeated the boy, chuckling. "You could say that."

"How did... how did you know?"

"Let's just say that I'm not the only one who talks while asleep."

Steven opened his eyes wider, trying desperately to catch a glimpse of his caretaker. Who is this? He was most definitely a human, of course, or fingers wouldn't be explainable. Unless he was a unicorn like him, one that can create fingers with his magic. But Twilight, and even Luna had strongly asserted that he was the only one with that sort of power.

Just then, Steven could hear a faint collection of voices from behind him, growing louder by the second. He could also begin to see light spread into the room as the voices grew louder.

"Dammit." said the boy, getting up hastily.

"What's going on?" asked Steven.

"Whatever you do, do NOT tell them anything." said the boy, standing up hastily. "They're going to make use of your back, so be careful." The boy then quickly walked into the darkness

"W-Wait!" said Steven. "What the-"

Suddenly, there was a loud crash. Light flooded the room, and human figures, many of them, walked towards Steven.

Soldiers.

So he was still in Black Wesa.

"He's awake." said one of them.

"Finally." said another. "The boss's been getting really snappy lately."

"Right." said the first one, who turned to face Steven. "Hey, are you alright?"

Steven didn't answer them. He just glared at them in anger. Not like there's anything he could do to fight them off, seeing as he's near-death and all that.

"Answer him!" said another as they advanced on him.

"Stop it." said the second one, holding the angry one back. "He just woke up. Odds are that he doesn't even remember who he is or where he's at."

"Anyway..." said the first one, turning back to Steven. "The boss's been waiting for you, and he wants to meet you now. Can you stand?"

Steven didn't reply.

"Screw this." said the angry one, who pushed Steven off of the table. Luckily for him, though, Steven landed on his belly, his back only slightly stinging as he crashed on the ground.

"You idiot!" said the first one. "The boss wants him alive and well. You keep your temper problems to yourself."

The angry one grumbled, well, angrily and walked back to the group.

"Open the door." said the first one. One of the soldiers quickly ran up and typed something in the keypad. The immediately swung open.

"Get him back on the table." said the first soldier. "Then press that little red button over there."

The group of soldiers did as instructed, gently carrying him back onto the table and putting him down slowly. Then one of the soldiers walked around to the other side of the table, and the table began to shudder. Next thing he knew, the table was standing up straight on the ground, Steven's hind hooves facing the floor, and he was strapped in by strange ropes made of electricity. He now really couldn't move at all.

"Let's go back up." said the first soldier, turning Steven around as the table began to float up the stairs.

Just as the room began to disappear from sight, Steven finally caught a glimpse of the boy- a large body covered by a black cloak. He could see a handsome, though strangely built face behind the shadow of the cloak. It mouthed three simple words.

Not. One. Word.

Smiling for the first time in what felt like forever, Steven winked and smiled as he closed his eyes and awaited his fate.