Walking through the dark caverns with her horn as the only source of light, Sunset made her way through the shadowy corridors while keeping her sanity in check. The only sounds that kept her company were squeaking rats and water dripping from the stalactites. She wasn’t completely afraid, but the noises and sounds would startle the unicorn at almost every turn. Not to mention that her demonic self invaded her head constantly without end. But after everything that she has been through up to this point, it has become clear that Sunset has nearly reached the end of her rope. If she were to encounter another creature that was bigger than her or another one of the mutated ponies, she would rather die than become their meal.

But this time, this source of magic was much fouler than any other that Sunset came across. It was murky, bloodthirsty, and worse of all… hungry.

“What in Celestia’s name…?” Sunset murmured as she passed through the shadowy corridors.

Along the way, she encountered dead critters laying on the ground with maggots feasting on their corpses. Blood was splattered everywhere across the walls and all forms of animal skins were nailed everywhere. Specifically those of a goat. Just then, images started appearing in Sunset’s mind. Images of a goat terrorizing Equestria.

“N-No…! This isn’t real!” Sunset shouted trying to shake her head.

But they wouldn’t stop flashing. She could only see various images of that same shadowy goat fighting the Royal Sisters as well as making its acquaintance with the Abyss before bonding itself to the creature.

“Like what you see so far~?” the demon taunted.

“Do you know this goat…?” Sunset asked as her head throbbed.

“That’s for me to know and you to find out, my pathetic host. Now get moving.” the demon mocked before disappearing.

After listening to the demon’s toxic words, Sunset proceeded forward as she continued her spelunking. But along the way, she continued seeing the images of the goat in her mind. She could make out silhouettes of the goat gathering the creatures across Equestria. Then she saw a silhouette of the goat fighting the Six Pillars and Gusty the Great. But just then, Sunset began seeing various zombified ponies crawling towards her as they wailed and moaned for death.

“N-No! Please! Keep away from me!” Sunset begged as she started glowing her horn at the zombies.

Naturally, they didn’t listen to her warning and continued crawling towards the unicorn. Having no other choice, Sunset begins firing lasers from her horn at the zombies. But the more she fired, the more her head began to ache. If she continued like this, her brain would shatter like glass. So Sunset decided to power down her horn and run away from the zombies. She ran a very far distance away to the point where she could no longer make out the moaning and wailing. But as she travelled even deeper, she heard very intense breathing all over her. She looked upwards to see who it was. And to her horror, it was the Human Twilight’s face staring straight at her. Her eyes were moving around in a seizure-like manner and her breathing was very intense.

“Twilight…? Is that you?” Sunset asked, trying to keep herself from panicking.

But instead of saying a word, Twilight just remained silent and continued to stare at the unicorn. Unnerved by her silence and incessant breathing, Sunset continued to walk. But along the way, she began seeing more of her friend’s faces on the walls. And their faces were plastered all over the wall with their seizure-like eyes and their raspy breathing being the only source of noise that broke the noise. Shivers ran up Sunset’s spine as she looked everywhere at the walls and all the human faces were plastered all over the wall, including her enemies from the Human World.

“Keep it together, Sunset…” Sunset muttered to herself.

She continued walking, but she was incredibly unnerved by the faces staring right at her. If there was any theory that Sunset could make right now, it would be that she’s either dead or she has entered a coma at some point. Because none of what she sees here makes any sense. It was like she entered into a horror movie that freaked her out so much that she couldn’t sleep properly for a month. Or if she entered some cheesy haunted house and Rainbow Dash pranked her with one of those scary masks that she kept inside her closet. But this wasn’t a movie nor a haunted house. It was all real… and Sunset couldn’t make any sense of it.

“Pony…” a familiar voice growled.

“I know that growl.” Sunset said as the sweat beads trickled down her head.

The growling grew louder and much more intense while the eyes from the faces started moving even faster. Sunset moved around in a circle at a rapid pace before the ground started turning into liquid. She looked down and saw the Abyss form into a face before it formed an eerie, toothy smile. Suddenly, it opened up its jaw and tried to eat Sunset. With no other choice left, Sunset teleported out of the way before the creature had a chance to close its maw. Immediately after teleporting, she proceeded to run away as the monster gave chase. Sprinting through the vast corridors of the cavern, Sunset faces forward to avoid slowing herself down and to keep at a fast pace to avoid being eaten alive by the Ooze. But while she ran, the goat inside her mind suddenly appeared right beside her. Induced with panic and hysteria, Sunset ran even faster to avoid meeting her bitter fate. But it was all in vain when she was pushed to the right in a very aggressive manner. She proceeds sliding down a vat where stalagmites were in her way. She was able to avoid the obstacles with ease, but this chase came to an everlasting halt when she hit the floor.

Getting off the ground, darkness only surrounded the isolated unicorn. Deciding to glow her horn, Sunset looked around and saw piles of corpses laid on the ground like it was some sort of ritual. And before her… was the mummified corpse of a goat in an agonized state.

“Sweet Celestia…” Sunset whispered in a fearful tone.

“No. Just me.” an unknown, but strangely familiar voice said behind her.

Sunset turned around and saw a tall Ooze-covered dragon in front of her. She couldn’t make out who it was, but she immediately recognized the voice. And it all but confirmed Sunset’s worst fears.

“No… it can’t be you!” Sunset shouted before the Ooze-covered dragon proceeded to swipe its claws at her face.

Author's Note

Small Update: I will be publishing a double-chapter this coming Saturday because I'm gonna be busy at work through most of the week. I have no idea when I will be able to focus on the stories I'm currently working on, but you have my word that my publishing will be unaffected. Anyway, enjoy the chapter.