Eldritch

Chapter Five: That Dead Don't Sleep pt.2

From the moor, she could see the dreaded building in the distance. The source of the dark powers that infested Equestria with its plague and monsters.

Part of her was telling her to stay away from that sleeping evil, but Fluttershy knew in her heart that she was beyond the point of return. If she turned back now, she will doom Equestria until the end times.

Even from where she was, she could feel the dark magic’s pulse from the manor, like a dying pony’s heartbeat.

Fluttershy continued to make her way to the fallen manor as the wind continued to moan and the sparse trees casting sinister shadows as the lightning crashed overhead. Jack O’ Lanterns littered the moor, their eerie lights casting shadows of creepy smiles.

Fluttershy could see no bodies around like she has been seeing on her way here. In fact, she didn't see any creature of supernatural origin on the moor with her.

But she did feel somepony’s presence.

No… not one presence, but two.

Then she heard an ear-splitting scream that was coming behind her.

She whirled around to see the legend itself in the flesh, the Headless Horse. It was making its way towards her like a speeding Pegasi.

Fluttershy was paralyzed by fear. Her new instincts told her to tear out its innards.

Wait… tear out its innards?!

The Headless Horse smacked her aside, Fluttershy flopping to the ground. Her instincts told her to flee, to gallop or fly as fast as she could to get away.

But, the terror that was the spirit of the Headless Horse was coming at her again, laughing like a lunatic, and showed no sign of letting her live.

She has heard the stories of what the Headless Horse did to ponies. Taking their heads, mutilated bodies, vanishings, she’s heard it all.And she wondered what method of death she would suffer at its hooves.

She closed her eyes and prepared herself and her soul to wander this plane of Tartarus for all eternity. She was ready for the pain.

Except that she felt the legend go through her body as easily as water goes through air. Fluttershy opened her eyes in shock as she didn’t feel pain, but felt… empty.

She looked down at herself to examine the damage, but she found none.

She only found mist in place of her body.

Stunned, she recalled the various stories and folklore about the powers of the demons of the night, and was quite shocked about her misty appearance. She looked all over herself, wondering how the fuck she turned into a cloud of mist.

The Headless Horse turned and laughed again.

Fluttershy could feel her body rematerializing, and the horror began to gallop towards her again.

Fluttershy knew that only one thing would stop this horrid ghoul from taking her life.

She drew a deep breath, and closed her eyes.

The insane laughing getting closer and closer.

Fluttershy opened her eyes, giving the incoming supernatural missile the stare of its un-life.

The Headless Horse stopped in its tracks.

Fluttershy’s vampiric instincts kicked in, giving her a smile that would make expectant mares miscarriage. Her eyes glowed a more crimson-tainted gold.

With a blood-chilling shriek, Fluttershy spread her wings and flew at the Headless Horse, ready to see if its neck is still full of blood.

As soon as her fangs touched the neck of the Headless Horse, it vanished with its laugh echoing around the moor.

She crashed into the moor, recieving a mouth full of dirt for her efforts.

Her eyes went back to the normal gold color, and her bloodlust left her.

After sitting face first in the dirt, Fluttershy slowly got up, shaking like a leaf.

“I-I lost control… almost became… a monster.”

She got up, and turned her head to see if the Headless Horse was still around.

She did see a stallion in a suit at the edge of the moor, near the trees.

It had no face.

Fluttershy blinked, and the faceless stallion was gone.

She turned and spied the Blackenhoof manor gates only a couple hundred yards away.

She began to make her way to the gates, trying to forget that she almost lost herself on the moor.

She could feel the darkness growing inside of herself, a foreboding shadow of corrupted instinct and corrupted mind, body, and soul. She could feel the dark energies flowing from the manor, and from the twisted land that has once been a beacon of light in the world.

Passing many Jack o’ Lanterns, Fluttershy was closing in on the gate. She wondered if she would ever make it out alive.

As she got closer and closer, she could see the bodies of many a pony that managed to get this far. She recognized the bodies of Colgate, Sunset Shimmer, and… the bodies of the Cutie Mark Crusaders.

Fluttershy choked back a sob and immediately turned away. This proved to be a mistake, as she saw the Wonderbolts in the gore-spattered grass as well. She could make out the bodies of Spitfire, Cloud Chaser, Lightning Dust, Sprinkle Medley and many others. They all died next to Jack O’ Lanterns, the pumpkins becoming makeshift macabre tombstones.

All of this, in front of the manor gates.

Fluttershy got a better look at the manor through the gates. She saw that the manor was easily as big as the Canterlot Castle, and was adorned with gargoyel statues on the edges of the rooftops and dirty marble statues in front of the manor.

But that was only one part of it. A massive graveyard was next to the gates on the other side, coming in between the manor and the gate. Mausoleums and crypts dominated the graveyard scenery, as well as the floating wisps and the occasional scurrying spider or rat.

Then, something manifested in front of the sinister iron gates.

It was a cloud of mist at first, but it then solidified into a mare, dressed in maid attire.

The maid trotted to Fluttershy and stood about three feet away from the pegasus. The maid spoke, “welcome. Are you here to see this glorious manor?”

“N-no. I come to stop the madness.”

The maid tilted her head and smiled, “only those whose souls dwell in darkness may open the manor gates. Souls like yours.”

“My soul does not dwell in darkness.”

The maid scoffed, “Please, don’t deny it. You are one of the many blights the night has to offer. No matter what you think, you are a monster.”

She looked over Fluttershy’s shoulder and said with a creepy smile, “you better open the gates, or she’s gonna get you.”

Fluttershy turned, and once again wished she hadn’t.

Fluttershy saw Roseluck galloping on the moor, with the sword Rosebane in her mouth.

And she was heading straight for her.

Fluttershy turned back to the ghost, “h-how do I open the gate?!”

The ghost smiled again, and said, “use the darkness inside you.” With that, she vanished.

Fluttershy heard Roseluck scream, “You're mine, you stuttering freak! You hear me?! MINE!”

Fluttershy, terrified out of her wits, allowed the corrupted darkness to flow into her soul. She felt something snap inside herself, and a cool, soft, and malevolent power surged inside of her. She began to shrink, her snout sprouting whiskers, her hooves into small claws, and her mane disappearing. Her fur went from pale yellow to black, but her eyes stayed the same.

Fluttershy looked over her new body, and then back at Roseluck, who was just two hundred feet away from the gates.

Fluttershy the rat hopped through the gaps between the iron spokes on the gate and scurried for her life, running into a hole in the ground. She heard the gates open, for the gates sensed Fluttershy’s dark powers when she went through them.

Fluttershy peeked out of her hole and saw Roseluck gallop through the gates in time to see them close with a resounding rattle.

Roseluck whipped her head around, trying to figure out where she went. She growled and made her way to the manor.

Fluttershy turned and decided to explore the tunnel, for she won’t go out in the open since Roseluck is on the prowl.

(*^*)

The tunnel seemed to go on forever as Fluttershy the rat scurried through it. The tunnel was abandoned and hadn’t been used in years, as evidenced by the rat skeletons she passed by. She wondered if this tunnel even led to another tunnel, chamber, or room. She wondered if this was just another rat nest, like the many nests in and outside her home.

She squeaked in sorrow as she remembered her home before all this began. She remembered her animal friends, her only companions before Twilight, her only friends since her fall from Cloudsdale.

She really wanted to go back to the days or sunshine, of warmth and family, of bliss and peace.

She forced herself to push those thoughts out of her mind. After all, if she didn't push forward, she would fail them all.

While she was thinking, she suddenly fell. She landed on a cold stone floor with a small thud. She groggly got up and examined the chamber she fell into.

Coffins were tucked into stone pockets that adorned the walls. Various depictions of Death were carved into the walls and doorways. A stone coffin was In the middle of the cold room.

Fluttershy focused on her form and the darkness within herself. She felt a familiar snap, and she grew back into the pony of kindness.

The stone coffin seemed to beckon Fluttershy to open it.

Normally, Fluttershy would shy away from such things, but the dark energies that radiated from the coffin were… different.

She crept towards the stone coffin, her enhanced senses on high alert. She put her shoulder against the lid, and used all the might that was stored in her legs and pushed. The stone lid began to slide off with a gritty noises coming from the stone coffin. The lid came off and hit the floor with a resounding slam that seemed to echo from everywhere in the chamber, also causing the stone lid to shatter into pieces.

Taking a deep breath, Fluttershy peered into the coffin.

She saw a corpse that was dressed like an aristocrat, with a fancy coat like the one Roseluck has. The corpse still had its pink mane that was cut short, and its bony and disheveled face was complete with missing eye sockets that seemed to stare at her. At the right side of the corpse was a stuffed and decaying teddy bear, and on the left was an amulet with a decorative white rose in the middle of it.

Seeing nothing else, Fluttershy headed for the door of the chamber located on the far side.

But, as soon as she touched the doorknob with her hoof, she felt two presences in the room.

She turned around in time to see the corpse of the stone coffin crawl out of its resting place on its rotted hooves, an eerie pale-blue light in its eye sockets.

Then the door turned into a door of stone. She was trapped.

Fluttershy faced the creature, her wings poised. She was shaking like a leaf, but wanted to show the monster that she was a threat.

The corpse shambled on its four hooves towards Fluttershy, and stopped about five feet away from the mare.

“G-go away! Leave me alone!” Fluttershy said in the loudest squeak she could muster.

The corpse sat there, a maggot falling out of its ribs.

“Flesh of my flesh… Blood of my blood…”

Fluttershy shook her head in bewilderment as the voice entered her head.

“W-what? Who said that?!” Fluttershy said. The corpse stared at her, “I did.”

“wait...huh?”

“I have waited for you for a long time, Flesh of my flesh. I yearned for the day I could once again see my legacy. And here it is, before me.”

“Wait, that would mean…”

Fluttershy’s eyes widened.

“Exactly. I am your ancestor,” the corpse said.

“That's impossible! My family comes from Cloudsdale! We never came to this… place,” Fluttershy said.

The corpse shook its rotting head, little strands bit of pink mane fell out as he said, “it would make sense. After all, who would tell their offspring and their offspring’s offspring the tale of their fallen house, corrupted by the very evils that they sought to destroy and heal? No, Flesh of my flesh. It starts on the fateful day.”

Suddenly, Fluttershy’s mind was assaulted by various images coming at her in rapid fire. One showed a proud stallion with an ornate sword that was dripping green liquids. Another showed the same stallion with numerous stab wounds, shaking with the knowledge of inevitable death. Another image showed the stallion grasping the teddy bear with his teeth, before he could hold on no longer.

“I knew my wife cheated on me. I knew she had a bastard foal with another stallion. Instead of punishing her, I forgave her and raised the bastard like It was my own, alongside my other offspring.”

“But, that would mean your Lord Whitehoof,”

Fluttershy shook her head, “but this doesn't make any sense. The book said-”

“The book only comprises of legends and architecture. Legends are twists in reality. Remember that.”

The coffins on the walls began to shake violently, with rotten hooves punching their way out of the stone prison.

“We need to go, lest you become the first lunch they tasted in a hundred years.”

The corpse collapsed and a blue orb emerged. The orb said, “and you will need my help.”

(<{}>)

Fluttershy trotted among the coffins and dead bodies of many ponies as she and the spirit of Lord Whitehoof explored the catacombs.

Lord Whitehoof was fine, but Fluttershy was worse for wear. Her thirst was reaching unbearable heights. For the first time, she was craving blood. She longed to feel the crimson liquid enter her mouth, flow over her tongue, fill her cheeks, slide down her throat…. Anything to quench the bonfire inside her throat.

But she was aware of these thoughts, and these thoughts terrified and shook her to the core. In fact, she was talking to herself, telling herself that everything was gointg to be fine, and this is all a bad dream.

Unfortunately, the truth was that everypony she knew was either dead, or on the brink if death. It it wasn't no dream.

She managed to break free from her tormented psyche to take notice of the new chamber they entered after going through Celestia knows how many tunnels.

The chamber had a single altar in the middle of a platform, in the middle of a chasm. Chandeliers made of deceaced pony bones hung from the chamber’s roofs. Pillars of bone were around the altar, and the bridge that connected the entrance were made of bones as well.

“On that altar, flesh of my flesh, is the resting place of my firstborn. He was indeed poisoned, but he bled to death from every crevice his body instead of the legend’s claim of him frothing at the mouth. There you will find the last heirloom of my legacy. With it, you must defeat the scion of the bastard. Only then will this mansion sleep.”

Fluttershy turned and began to creep across the bridge, she looked back to see the orb floating in the entrance.

The message was clear, she was to do this alone.

The bone bridge creaked and groaned as Fluttershy crept along. She made it to the other side and got a good look at the altar. The altar was (of course), made of bones. It had an idol of a demonic pony, and a sacrificial knife with blood caked on the blade and handle. Next to the altar, was a coffin.

Fluttershy opened the coffin lid slowly, and peered inside of it. Inside was the same sword she saw in the visons of Lord Whitehoof. She went to pick it up when she heard a filly crying.

Fluttershy turned to see a filly behind her, one leg over its eyes, its tears dripping from its face.

“Are you okay, little one?”

The filly sniffed, “No… my dad, he, he…”

Fluttershy trotted over to the filly and put one hoof over its neck in a form of hug. She pulled away and said, “tell me what happened.”

The filly sniffed and said, “you're so nice.” Then, the filly removed its fore leg from its eyes, revealing their golden-crimson color.

Fluttershy stepped back, fear written all over her face.

The filly cackled and said, “and your blood… it smells so good.”

The filly hissed, revealing its sharp teeth that were covered in gore.

It tackled Fluttershy, its jaws snapping at Fluttershy’s neck. Fluttershy held the filly at bay with all four legs, straining to not become a Flutter-smoothie. She transformed into mist and reappeared behind the filly, her teeth bared.

At this point, she had enough. All the lives taken, all the death and destruction she had witnessed was caused by monsters like this filly. She decided that she would have no more of it.

She linged at the filly and sank her teeth into its snout, causing a scream of agony to erupt from the filly’s mouth. Fluttershy bit down harder, and tore of the snout.

The filly reared back in pain, screaming like a terrified colt. Fluttershy sank her teeth into the filly’s right hind leg, taking the filly down. Fluttershy then held down the squirming filly as she tore off the filly’s right leg in a shower of blood. She tore open the filly’s belly and shoved her snout in its chest, bit down on the heart, and ripped it clean out of the body. She crushed the heart in her jaws, causing crimson to leak out of her mouth, dripping like liquid ribbons unto the stone floor. She felt the scarlet liquid down her throat and realized something.

She wanted more!

She plunged her head into the body of the filly, drinking and slurping the blood like she was downing a sundae sold at the Sugarcube Corner. She gulped greedily as rivulets of blood slid down her cheeks and the outside of her throat, dripping and forming puddles.

Fluttershy raised her head and breathed deeply as she felt the newly acquired blood fill her stomach. She wiped her mouth and bucked the body of the filly off the ledge, its flopping corpse disappearing into the darkness below.

That was when she saw her own reflection in one of the puddles of blood. She didn’t see herself in the puddle, only a monster.

A monster that looked exactly like her.

Fluttershy collapsed on the stone floor and began to cry.