What Lurks In The Dark

It is a dark and stormy night; Twilight Sparkle is lying on the forest floor surrounded by broken branches, leaves, and small fires burning around her. Twilight Sparkle groggily gets up rubbing her head as she does she winces as a sharp pain emanates from her front fore hoof. A loud thunder clap shakes everything around her. A strange glyph is burned into the ground underneath her. Unable to see any further then a couple of feet in front of her; she uses her magic to gather up some of the burning bushes to furnish a torch. With no sense of direction she picks a direction and heads off looking for shelter from the rain.

Twilight Sparkle struggles to walk on the forest floor from: upturned roots, jagged rocks, creeping vines, and low hanging branches snatching her head. After what seemed like hours she finds a narrow pathway she decides to take it. The pathway is just wide enough for her to walk comfortably. The heavy canopy muffles the sound of the rain making it so that the only thing she could hear was the crunching of dead leaves under her hooves. Sounds of hoof steps echoes around her more so then what should be so she stops in her tracks. The sounds stop for a brief moment then it continues from behind her. She calls out into the darkness no response so she continues to walk the path. She occasionally looks behind her every time she stops she could swear something was moving just past the reach of her torch.

She quickens her pace as much as she can with a limp. Every time she stops she sees the same shadowy figure creeping just past her line of sight. Suddenly she breaks out into a run no longer feeling the pain in her leg; only the pounding in her heart. She trips over an overturned root throwing her torch to the ground. Panic soon grips her as she looks at the torch it was quickly going out. She grabs what is left of the torch now barely surrounding her in light.

Twilight's breathing is now heavy with exhaustion as she limps forward. She doesn't dare look back now she could feel whatever it was stalking her; right behind her just outside of the light of her dwindling torch. She tries to use her magic to amplify the flame, but everytime she does the torch nearly dies out; there isn't enough fuel to make the flame bigger.

All she can hear is the sound of her beating heart as she runs. She finally breaks out of the forest looking up she can see the dimly lit edges of a manor ontop of a hill. Her torch flickers nearly gone forcing her to make a beeline towards the manor struggling to climb the steep hill covered in mud. Once she gets to the top she looks back seeing a strange figure at the bottom of the hill. Her eyes become wide as it begins to climb the hill with little effort. In the time it took her to look down at the creature it was already half way up the hill. She uses her magic to force the door open and rushes in slamming the door behind her. She doesn't hesitate when she sees a fireplace in the foyer. She uses her magic to light it casting long decrepit shadows across the empty halls. She holds her breath waiting to see if what ever was chasing her would come barging in. However after several silent moments and nothing happens she decides to warm herself up by the fire.

Remembering that she saw a light coming from a top window Twilight hesitates taking a few moments to asses her situation. Grabbing some dead plants she makes another torch, and heads off into the long dark halls. The echoes of hoof steps on creaking boards fill the dark halls as Twilight tries to find her way around the manor. Disturbing and grotesque pictures of ponies decorate the walls made even more frightening by the shadows dancing across them when Twilight moves the torch; she feels like they are watching her. The smell of decay makes her want to gag as she walks deeper into the manor. She finds a staircase leading to the second floor after a couple of steps one of the floor boards breaks ensnaring her hoof she stifles a scream. Slowly pulling her hoof out she steps over to the side of the wall and continues up the stairs.

Reaching the top of the stairs Twilight looks down the corridor she could left or right. Neither look pleasing but she decides to go right. As she walks she could feel more eyes watching her so she calls out into the darkness...no response. She finds herself at the end of the hallway where a single rotten door lays on the ground. She takes a gulp of air and slowly looks into the darkened room. It was a bedroom of a young mare perhaps. Long flowing drapes flap in the wind as several pieces of decayed paper dance in the air. Twilight's eyes widen as she takes a closer inspection of the door frame. Large claw marks were etched into it. That is when she looked down to the floor. She was so concerned what laid before her in the darkness that she had failed to see the trails of dried bloodied claw marks covering the floor and walls. Whatever was chasing her lives here.

Her heart was now racing faster than it has ever gone before. She turns around a long empty hall mocks her; knowing that she has no choice but to go back. She now creeps as quietly as she can trying to find a safe place to hide until daybreak. She winces as she steps on a creaking board and waits for a response from the dark. Silence answers so she continues; she wishes that she could fly, but she is so scared that her wings remain glued tightly to her sides. Eventually she finds a door it looked like it was brand new not even a scratch or paint peeling this worries her but curiosity wins over logic. She cracks the door open and peers inside the room was dimly lit the candle that was lighting the room was on the windowsill. A decaying pony was laying in the bed a look of horror forever frozen on it's rotting face. She stifles a scream as she drops the torch.

A long billowing roar resonates through the halls it sounds like a thousand wailing souls; sending a chill down her spine. Quickly thinking she rushes into the room, and hides under the bed. No sooner than she gets her tail under the bed does a large shadow come into view. The creature slowly walks into the room sniffing the air as it walks right up to the bed. Twilight silently screams as she sees two very large clawed feet just inches away from her face. It's skin is a greyish black and smells putrid like freshly rotting flesh. The bed caves in as the creature puts it's upper body ontop of it. Twilight gasps a little as the weight crushes her. She can hear snarling then a crunch as if bone was being broken. The bed springs back up as the creature walks back into the hallway carrying the corpse in it's maw.

She waits there daring not to move a muscle. When she believes that it is safe she slowly creeps out from under the bed. She looks at the covers; the sheets were now shredded and in the center was a black pool of mysterious liquid making her eyes grow wider. Only the lower half of the pony corpse was left with rancid organs spewing out. She forces herself not to throw up. She finds a small mirror in the room. Using it to pear into the hallway she sees only darkness.

Not liking her chances of stepping out into a small corridor Twilight looks back at the window and the dim candle. She takes a step past the bed towards the window a small crack fills the air then a creak. Twilight looks down at her footing the floor was beginning to buckle where she was standing. She flinches as another board cracks as she tries to move back then a gurgling chortle comes from the entrance. She looks over her shoulder the creature was there in the doorway with the corpse still in it's maw. It takes a step towards her and she takes a step back. The creature then lunges for her making her duck. It's claws just scratch her back as it misses crashing into the floor. It frantically tries to get up but everytime it moves more and more cracks form on the floor eventually. Crash! The creature is sent falling down into the abyss.

Twilight doesn't hesitate she runs down the hallway jumps the stairs and bursts through the front doors. She slips in the mud outside sending her sprawling down the steep hill. She lands rib first into a small tree breaking it in half. A loud angry howl pierces the night air. Twilight runs back into the forest no longer caring if she finds shelter or not all she wants is to get out alive. She uses her magic to blast a clear path for her to run. Unable to see in the rain without light she just runs straight; if a tree is in her way she just amps up the power of her spell and blast it to pieces.

Her breathing becomes labored as she runs; everytime she looks in any direction she could swear she saw the creature in pursuit. Soon enough she is forced to stop as she finds herself at the edge of a cliff overlooking a bay. A dreadful howl comes from the darkness the creature was close. With no other recourse Twilight jumps into the bay the wind forcing her wings to open just before she hits the water. Gliding over the glossy surface she sees the creature on the cliff. The cool air helps to calm her down as she floats over the water that is when she hears it. Splash! Looking over her shoulder she can see ripples in the water near the cliff making her double her speed.

Once she reaches the shore she doesn't stop she is now able to fly; she uses it to her advantage and continues to fly through the woods. She is now flying like a bat through the canopy. After a few moments of frantic flying she breaks free of the canopy and finds herself back at the manor. She curses to herself for running in circles. A howl is heard in the distance she breathes a sigh of relief the creature was nowhere near her. Then another howl answers the previous one this one however was coming from the manor. Her heart clenches there are more than one of these strange monsters in these woods.

Not knowing what to do Twilight ducks back into the woods. Frantically searching for a place to hide she finds a tiny hole under a tree. She crawls into the crevice forcing herself into the hole. She sobs uncontrollably feeling the cold brace of air as her only comfort. A pair of clawed feet scurry in front of her making her hold her breath. A creaking noise could be heard throughout the woods as the creatures had found her and were now tearing apart her refuge. A sudden snap then the tree falls over revealing the scared and huddling alicorn. A pair of vicious toothy smiles smile down on her. One of the creatures raises it's foreclaw to the air then.

A loud thunderclap shakes the palace as Twilight Sparkle jumps off of the couch clenching her racing heart. She looks over her surroundings looking for danger she saw only darkness and shadows dancing across the room. A crackle erupts from the fireplace making her jump again. She looks over to the couch where an old book was laid open. Tales of The Unknown a reference guide to frightening beasts of legend. A picture of a blackened creature was depicted next to a description.

Known only as the black beast this creature was known for hunting lost ponies in woodened areas .Particularly young mares were thought to be hunted by the creatures. It is thought that if one survived an attack that they themselves would turn into one as well. Surviving victims were believed to be marked with a strange glyph on their bodies. This rumor caused great havoc in the dark age of Equestria's early development. Many innocent mares were burned at the steak when believed to be one. None have been found nor has any reports of sightings been recorded in recent history. It is believed to be nothing more then an old mares tell to keep children in doors after dark.

Twilight takes a deep collective sigh of relief when she realizes that it was nothing more then a bad dream. She puts the book up and goes to bed. As she turns over in her sleep a small bloodied mark under one of her wings glistens in the moonlight.