When You Stop Reading, the Story Ends
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The small filly opened the door to her house, stepping out into the bright, warm summer environment outside. She took a long breath through her nose, immersing herself in the scent of clean, fresh air, a smile embellishing her face. Closing the door, she hopped down the steps, and began her trek down the dirt road ahead of her.
Above, Celestia’s afternoon sun hung, young and full of life, casting forth its warm rays of light down onto the landscape of Ponyville. The town was more inviting than ever today, ponies marching about gleefully, enjoying the generous gift of life’s offerings.
Rocks and gravel were crushed under the filly’s hooves as they carried her past the rows of houses on either side of the road, windows open while ponies of different colors, genders and races stood on the balconies, their gazes passing over the gorgeous town with content smiles. Entering the filly’s ears was the mellow ambiance of chatter between friends, and conversations between vendors and customers, and shrieks of young foals playing and fighting.
A mild breeze drafted gently across her skin, coaxing her into a relaxed state as it brushed the hairs on her fur and passed through her mane. The day was just perfect, from the weather to the scenery. All was right in the world.
Walking onward, a mare with a light-blue coat and grey, fluffy mane passed her with a small spring in her step, humming an improvised tune. She spotted the filly, and then waved happily. “Good morning Lila! How are you today?”
The filly didn’t respond, walking by completely uninterrupted in a straight line down the rocky path.
“I’m doing just fine, thank you,” the mare responded. “Have a lovely morning!” She began humming again, disappearing into the distance behind the filly.
Staring forward, a fixed smile stretched across her face, the filly strolled on, follow̢̼͕̱̯ḭ̶̗̗̣ng the path as it guided her toward the central part of town. The sky was pure, empty of all clouds and filled with cyan that blended with a faint shade of orange at the very edge of the horizon. She watched it out of the corner of her eye, appreciating the view.
The filly shivered. She was starting to regret not grabbing a sweater or scarf from home. The day was a bit chilly, the wind somewhat cool against her body, but that was nothing to worry about. A little cold wasn’t going to ruin this perfect day. After all, there were many things to do; not a single second of today was worth gambling away.
She continued her onward venture down the path, where a small lineup of trading posts stood along the side of the road selling groceries ranging from cherries to celery to some of the freshest picked apples in all of Equestria.
Ponies in the area who had just finished their purchases for the day acknowledged her with a small wave or a smile, or greeted her with, “Good morning, young lady!” or, “Hey there, Pearl!” The filly didn’t look at any of them. Her head remained forward, eyes focused ahead as her smile remained, never faltering.
The filly walked, the movements of her legs smooth and calculated as she placed one in front of the other, heading further along the dirt pathway with a determined posture. A series of restaurants and fast food establishments now sat on the filly’s left and right, trailing to the end of the road. Buffets, hayburger joints and restaurants with themes adopted from other tribes and countries. Ponies walked in in pairs, or groups, or simply alone, and walked out with a full stomach, some carrying an unfinished shake or smoothie in one hoof, talking amongst themselves with the occasional sip in between.
She shivered again, a gust of cold air causing goosebumps to bubble up and down her skin. Releasing a shaky breath, she wished more than ever that she had brought a coat with her to deal with the cold a little better. The sun was blocked by an expansive grey ceiling in the sky, submerging the town in a cool shade.
Hadn’t it been sunny at one point…?
It didn’t matter to the filly. She would deal with it. A slight chill never hurt anyone, and she still had the whole day ahead of her. There were adventures yet to be had, challenges to face, and a whole bunch of fun in store. A bright and uncomfortable smile adorned her face and she pressed onward. Everything was great. Today was perfect. Something was wrong.
A few fillies and colts around her age passed by. Some who had recognized the filly wore a brief expression of friendliness, but no more than a moment later, their expressions gave way to concern and strange looks. “Hey, Sunless, you good?” one of them asked. The filly looked forward, her pace consistent and unchanging. “Are you alright, Sunless?” another asked, but the filly didn’t respond to them either.
More ponies passed, almost each one giving the filly a concerned look. It didn’t bother her though. What they thought of her didn’t change anything. This day was still going to be exciting and fun. The edges of the filly’s lips began to quiver, and her smile fell ever so slightly. She walked faster as though in some sort of rush. As though she was trying to make distance between her and something else. As though there was something dangerous she was trying to escape from.
No. She was happy. This day was perfect. It was. LET ME IN
She kept walking, town square coming closer from the end of the road.
She stopped walking…
Everything went quiet. The world around her froze. Time stopped. She thought she had heard something… a voice, call out from somewhere. Everywhere. What had it told her? She tried to remember, but somehow she couldn’t. All she remembered was the tone of the voice. Growly. Deep. Wrong. She breathed in shakily again, her body shuddering as though buried in a mountain of snow.
She resumed walking.
Chatter filled the air once again, delighted ponies walking from one side of the road to the other, their own individual destinations to reach. The leaves of trees brushed against each other, producing a soothing sound similar to the gentle crash of waves by the sea shore.
The air was freezing. The filly shivered again, this time for much longer period of time. The sky was nearly black, the town now barely visible to the filly’s eyes. Only, she could feel the fierce rays of sunlight piercing her eyes, burning them, urging her to squint, and yet it was nearly pitch black. The filly continued walkinǵ͔,̬̭ ̖̬̭n̨o͖̯ͅt͙̘ ̪s̥͍̟̳t͕͇̠o͔̣͡p̢̞͖̱̠ p̷͘҉͙̝̦̲͠i̸̧̭̖͢ͅͅ&̀͏͉̼̹g̢̳̟̞͖ ̵̸̮̱̺̳͢͜ę̷̣̘̭^̴̨̬̜̲̙͍*̥̥͉̀n̵̖̹̯ ͖͈̪@͘͏̧̩̪͎#̹͇h̶̩ͅ%̠̟̹l̻̟̲͉̥lo, are you seeing this? Are you reading th̤̙i̺s̤̫̙̕, h͖̫e̝̫͖l͚̣͜͞&̧̪̺̖͇͘ o̵̧͘͏̟̻̺͈^̵̰̮̖̳́*̧̰̟̯͘@̛͏̩̱͜ ẁ̪̭̩́a̮̹͍$̗͕͝ n͚̙̖̥̯o̬̥̳w entering central Ponyville where town hall stood tall and proud, ponies entering the building to address an issue to the mayor or to take care of a financial situation of some sort.
The filly traversed along the green landscape, and the ponies who walked by her also gave her disturbed and worried looks. “Hey, Scoria, are you alright?” one of them asked, but also seemingly trying to keep their distance. Everypony else who saw her did the same, an expression of uneasiness painted on their faces. She didn’t know what was wrong. Why was everypony so scared of her?
It didn’t matter. She just had to keep smiling. Her lips trembled as she tried to keep them curled into a smile. The sky was now entirely blotted out, a sea of black filling the air above. In the horizon, the darkness gradually dripped downward like ink on paper, flowing and disappearing behind the edge of the globe, smothering everything in charcoal-black obscurity.
The filly’s body convulsed with intense shivers. It was cold. The shade of darkness covering Ponyville was dark to the point where the filly could barely make out the direction she was going in. More ponies wandered by, looking at her uneasily and taking steps away from her. She just needed to smile. She just neede d̀ ̹t0̘͔̕ ̶͕̫ s̸͕̜̰͈͡&̸̵̞̟̖̲͘͞ì̧̝̳̺͝*̶̻͇̝͈%̱͈̫͉͜l̸͙̪͟l o̭?̩̗͜ ̻̦̻͙A͚͢ŕ̝̥͔̳e̥ ̬͎ you reading this?! If you are reading this, you have to click off this page right now! This story isn’t what you think it is. I made a mistake and created something dangerous, and now the corruption is trying to use it to pass into this story’s dimension so it can destroy it. It’s using the filly as a gateway into that world and if you keep reading, the corruption will be able to possess the filly and pass fully into the dimension. As long as you stop reading and click off the page, the events of this story will end and the link between this story and that dimension will close. It will trap the corruption in a limbo long enough to kill it. I can’t explain, I’m running out of time, but you have to trust me. You have to keep her alive. Don’t let it get in! Don’t l͔e̺̞͚t̤ i̵̴̧̦̘̭̻*̮͈̪ g̵̷̨̯̤&̵̢͉͕̜̝̕͞t̸̴̵̨̺̦̤͎̘͍$̴̖̼͓̺́͡%҉̛͍̠͕͟͝e ̧f́i͎͈l̡̩ͅͅl͕͈̮y proceeded down the path in front of her, where another aisle of markets and restaurants were stationed beside the gravel path.
Out of the corners of both her eyes, she could only just see what appeared to be purple, thin trails of vapor seeping out from somewhere like gas. She couldn’t make out from where, only that it was following her as she walked. It had an otherworldly quality, twisting and rippling in the air like something out of a fantasy tale. From the bottom of her vision, she saw that her hooves were now a black color, as though she had been stepping in piles of coal for long periods of time, and the blackness was slowly streaking up her legs.
The filly walked forward still, and now, when ponies crossed paths with the filly, they screamed in terror, quickly running off while ponies from a distance gasped at the sight of her and, wide-eyed, backed off as though in fear of being attacked.
The sky was sinking. The darkness in the horizon was starting to shrink, a black mist closing in around the filly. All the other ponies around her were consumed by the mist and faded, no longer visible. All she could see now was a small patch of gravel around her and the dark, undulating vapor escaping from a place she couldn’t see. She just had to smile. Smile and be happy…
She couldn’t stop shivering. It was so cold. It was so dark. Her teeth chattered incessantly, a repetitive clack-clack-clack ringing out into the darkness around her. The filly whimpered, walking slower and slower, her smile struggling to remain alive.
A tear escaped her right eye. Then another, followed by a tear from her left eye, then a sob from her chest. And then she began to cry. She kept walking, her whole body shuddering from the frozen air. The dark mist advancing toward her slowly liquefied, and seeped along the ground as the filly walked, legs struggling to keep her off the ground.
She was supposed to be happy. She was supP̯͍̗͘osed to smile, go on epic quests and be happy. But she was crying. Any attempt to pry the corners of her L̢̨̰͍̯ips back into a smile failE̴͘͏͓͔d, and she wailed, screA̵͏ming in despair out into the dark void encloṢ̛͚̬̻̕͞ing her. If she couldn’t be happy, what was her purpose?
The answer was shE̴̻̪̫͜͢ no longer had a purpose. Her job was to be happy, and she failed.
The filly pushed herself forward, her legs numbed through and barely mobile. She managed another few steps, but her legs could no longer hold her up, and she collapsed to the ground, wailing with cries of anguish and misery. She cried and cried, the darkness repeating her cries right back at her. Blackened tears leaked from her eyes and matted the fur below them.
Around her, the dark fluid crawled closer, slowly making its way toward the weeping, defeated filly. It stared at the crumpled form, circling around her as a faint steam rose from the liquid. Then, it streamed toward the filly’s leg before solidifying into a crystallized shape, and pierced itself through the filly’s leg.
She screamed in agony, but was too cold to struggle. So she lay there as more crystals stabbed her forelegs, and stomach, and neck. Blood pooled beneath the filly, expanding and mixing in with the darkness all around her. The filly screamed. Cried out. More crystals penetrated her body, transforming her coat’s original color to a depressing grey, and then to a pitch black as dark veins made their way up her neck and to her head.
Her cries got weaker. All sensations were fading. She felt only a mild pressure where the darkness punctured her, and she was buried beneath a bed of black crystals and vapor. The movements of her limbs were slower. The darkness had almost consumed everything.
As blood flowed out of her and onto the darkness below, her body only just holding on to whatever life it had left, the filly’s mouth opened, and she spoke five clear words that rolled off her tongue clean and flawlessly:
“You let it get in.”
Her body went limp…
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The filly’s leg twitched.
Her eyes opened.
It was bright, and the day was sunny and warm. The sun beamed down on the land with pride, bathing all the ponies in town in the enchanting morning daylight. The filly looked around for a moment as though dazed.
She smiled.
Getting up from the ground, she turned, and began walking down the path, leaving a trail of black mist in her wake.
