The fog rolled thick on the ground and the wind rustled the leaves on the tall, looming trees, the clouds swirling in the sky as if a vortex had opened between dimensions. A small, white filly lay unconscious in a pile of twigs, her eyelashes fluttering as she awakened, her horn aching and her vision slowly returning to her. As she sat up and gazed around, it took a minute for her to realize she was no longer in her bed... in fact she knew not where she was, or how she got there. All she knew was this forest felt dangerous and lonely.
She steadily, and painfully, rose to her hooves. Her neck felt like it had been cracked by impact and her mane and tail were messy, but these were far from her mind. She needed to find a way back. The quiet sound of the wind sent a shiver down her spine, her hoofsteps barely making a sound, her eyes darting around as if she were searching. She tried to speak for a moment, to call out a name, but her throat felt dry and tight.
"H-Hello...? Is anypony there?"
She doubted an answer would be given, however this did not deter the action, and she continued walking where she saw less and less trees. Thick bushes, branches and moss hung over her, distorted in the darkness to resemble faces, limbs and mangled figures. She shut her eyes in a futile attempt to ignore these hideous images before slipping on a loose rock, screaming as she tumbled down a steep hill, a loud crash of leaves and sticks signalling her fall had ended. With a groan and a pant she stood back up and came to face the sky. Only a sliver of the moon was visible over the still waters, so still in fact that i felt she was looking at glass. There was the sound of wind back in the forest, yet not a ripple could be seen as far as her vision would allow. Another shiver traveled up and down her spine at the unnatural nature of it all. One way or another, the entire atmosphere of the forest and lake felt unreal. She stepped forward again, forcing each hoof in front of the other mechanically and carefully, as if simply waiting to detect a trap. No such event unfolded.
It could have been hours, minutes, or simply seconds before she reached that tall dark tree. And deep within that rotting decaying stump, was a faint glow. A glow unlike any she had seen before, in fact it made her feel somewhat safe in this hellish environment, despite the creeping sense of absolute dread now rising in her stomach. Slowly, so slowly she wasn't sure she was moving at all, she reached inside toward the enchanting glow, reaching around for whatever might cause it. When she felt her hoof touch against something hard, she gasped and worked on removing it from the twisted interior, which surely had been eaten by all manner of bugs.
And in that hoof of hers, nestled softly, lay a small, black onyx object. Beyond description. It looked to be a symbol, curved and smooth yet the surface of the object felt jagged and rough, as if disregarding its own appearance. It was stunning to behold for it no longer glowed but instead started to vibrate and float, only an inch above her nose. A shrill hiss cut through the air and she covered her ears, yet they did not stifle it. It rang and rang, on and on through the dark air until with a silent implosion, it vanished. Such a thing she had never seen or heard of before and she immediately took to running away lest whatever it was bore any consequence for touching it. Fear once again replaced the intrigue that had been in her mind and she remembered her goal to escape. She ran and ran faster and faster, as swiftly as her young hoves would let her until it seemed as if she were flying. Twigs and branches whipped her face harshly, leaving red marks all along her cheeks, but the pain was lost under how heavy her body now felt.
She stopped at looked up for the first time in a while and gasped. The lake, silvery and smooth, with low clouds of fog rolling over it like dark boats with a purpose. The wind had stopped and it felt like everything in the world had just died. Sweetie felt as if the cold fingers of an unimaginable monstrosity were closing in on her throat, and she gasped helplessly for oxygen, before something in the corner of her eye stopped her like a statue.
Innumerable long, writhing limbs with grabby, hungry hands, the surface shades of grey and red with the skin splitting down as if strategically cut and whipped, a sickening loud screech coming from its wide, shifting mouth, the body nothing more than a large mound of filth and all things unnatural and terrifying. Puss and black liquid spilled from every pore in its body, turning everything it touched blacker than the Void before crumbling down into ash.
Sweetie ran, as fast as she could, when a branch under her hoof cracked and echoed through the atmosphere. The thing turned and stared at her with five large, empty, red eyes, the pupils dilating as they rested on her. No more hesitation, she ran straight into the thick of the forest, ignoring the second screech. But not a second later, crashes, wails and screams of frustration met her ears. It sounded as if a thousand voices were trapped within that thing, trying to get out to no avail.
She looked back to check if it was still following her, her hoof twisting sharply when she hit a rock, resulting in her flying into a wall of mossy, wet, smelly rock, the ground littered with brown plate-like pieces. The crashes came closer and closer, and sweat coated her from head to hoof as she awaited the inevitable. She saw trees be ripped up from the ground by just one of the hands, and its eyes yet again came into view to stare straight into her soul, its mouth open in a half-scream. Tumbling forward, the arms seemed to wrestle with each other as they tried to grab her, Sweetie's screams becoming muffled in a thick bubble of blackness.
She found herself alive, and seemingly untouched, and raised herself to her hooves. But, though her eyes were open, she could not see; pitch blackness met her everywhere she turned. The floor beneath her trembled and rippled, raising and lowering like veins. Then, she noticed that familiar, nightmarish sight... five red eyes, empty of all emotion and glazed over like they were blind, slowly enlarged until they became each ten times her size. She tried to look away, but when she began to turn she froze on the spot. Each eye appeared to have six more eyes inside of them, but... they weren't eyes. They were shadows and silhouettes of ponies young and old, forever entrapped within the beast. And she soon, now trapped herself, would be forced to be a part of the same nightmare. The nightmare she created.
Author's Note
Supposed to be a cheesy horror this time, feel free to tell me if it worked or not. ^^
