Kirkyard Rest Halloween Event

“So, Screech.”

The pale unicorn mare looked up from her charcoal sketch, her nose smudged with dust. She raised an inquiring eyebrow at the cobalt stallion sipping a mug by the fireside.

“Tell me a story from the north.”

Screech tilted her head, reaching for her chalkboard. She was a mute, and it was never far from her hoof. Wiping it clean, she scrawled her response.

“Why?”

“Why not? The night is young, you are beautiful and I am bored.” He took a sip from his mug, grimacing at the taste of gritty tea. Screech flushed at his complement, even if she knew he didn't really mean it. Blaze was a total flirt, he had been to every mare and stallion who’d cross the path of the waystation she lived at. She’d come down from her stable high in the crystal mountains to experience some of the trading that happened at the station, but so far it had been pretty slow. She’d spent the days filling her sketchbook, staring across the desolate wasteland. Compared to the crystal white snow capped mountains surrounding their stable, the bleak brown dust and dead trees were downright hideous.

“What kind of story?” Truthfully, living a sheltered life in a secure stable far from the misery of the wastes had led to a very boring life for her. She didn't think she had anything interesting to say.

“I dunno.” Blaze stretched out in front of the flames, warming his hooves. “Something spooky. Or fun. A memory. Whatever you want.”

Screech frowned thoughtfully, wiping her slate clean again. She didn't really know many stories outside of the ones her grandmother used to tell, passed down from her grandmother in the before time.

“Do you know about the Wendigos?”

“Wen-di-goes?” Blaze spelled her word out slowly. “Nah, what’re they?”

“Monsters. They live outside our stable, dancing in the storms. My grandmother said they used to feed off hatred and fighting, which was rare in Equestria, but the war changed them. I think they were affected by a balefire blast. Now they feed off the life force inside you. Get caught in the snow, and they’ll turn you into one of them. Demented, frightful things. I pity them. Though, they aren't the worst that the mountains have to offer.” The chalk stopped, her magic glittering out. Blaze finished reading her slate, his eyes wide in the firelight.

“Sweet Celestia. What could be worse than demonic beings living in the snow?” He reached out with a hoof, hoofing another log into the flames. The fire cracked and popped, sending sparks spiralling into the night sky. A tin clattered, Screech looked up to see the gloomy Sweet Nothings heading to his cabin with a towel wrapped around his mane. He glanced over at them before looking away and scampering off. She was glad to see him settling in, however reluctantly.

Turning back to Blaze, she began writing again. “My great great grandmother saw them. She wasn't from Equestria, not like you think. Something happened to the Crystal Empire where she lived, something that made it vanish for an eon. When it returned, the zebra blasted it to kingdom come, destroying everything. She always said it was the best thing the zebra ever did, on account of the Umbrum.”

“What are Umbrum?”

“I'm not entirely sure. They are the living embodiment of fear and suffering, spreading it wherever they go. The Wendigo feed off hatred and fighting, but the Umbrum take everything. Ponies are left husks, unable to feel anything except pain and emptiness. They were sealed by the crystal heart long ago.”

“What's a crystal heart?”

Screech paused, gathering her thoughts. She couldn't reveal too much about the heart, it and its location was one of her family’s most closely guarded secrets. But she also didn't want to outright lie.

“It's a kind of spell, one that gets renewed every year. I guess you could call it a form of sealing spell.” Technically the truth, but it was also a physical crystal heart and one of the most powerful artifacts in the entire world. The energy it could generate was almost infinite. It was the only thing standing between their stable and its total destruction by the necromantic monsters waiting in the icy storms.

Blaze shifted uncomfortably. “So these, these Umbrum. They like suck out your soul?”

Screech’s horn glowed as she lifted her chalk. “The Umbrum aren't like you or me. They are beings made of smoke and gossamer, not bound to the physical plane. Some say they were the creation of Nightmare Moon or Discord, but we crystal ponies know they were remnants from an ancient evil older than Equestria itself. Either way, there is no escape from them. Walls and doors mean nothing to them, they can slip into even the sanctity of your dreams to feed. Your soul is laid bare, your worst fears and nightmares their playthings to enjoy. Once the Umbrum invade, you can't escape. They can't be killed by any method known to ponykind, even setting them ablaze is meaningless. My people tried to fight back, for years they waged a great war that devastated our people and the land surrounding our home, until eventually the last survivors succumbed to the overwhelming power of the Umbrum.”

Blaze was looking decidedly pale, his mug of tea forgotten. “But you said they were sealed, so something must have worked once.”

“Yes, but the cost was great.” Screech chose her words carefully. “A pony, a great princess, carved out her heart and offered it to the Umbrum in a desperate plea for them to leave. They laughed, rejoicing in her suffering and pain, but the act had stirred something in her citizens. It wasn't joy, or even hope, but defiance. Crystal ponies have always had a strange magic when we all come together, but this time it manifested in a great spell. The defiance and pain of all my people created a-” Screech paused, tapping her chalk. “A spell. It wasn’t forged from joy or friendship, like the Hearth’s Warming spell, but from exhaustion, emptiness and witnessing their beautiful leader tear out her own heart for them. It welled up inside of them, spewing forth over the Umbrum. You see, ponies need water to survive, but too much will kill us. It's the same for the Umbrum, the sudden influx of desolation was too much and it sealed them away. Our greatest fear is that the spell will fail, releasing them back into the world. Equestria would never survive.”

Blaze looked uneasily at the dark silhouettes of the mountains, looming over them in the night. He’d never suspected such an evil lay dormant, hidden away from the wasteland. It was bad enough here, imagining a world where even hope was stolen from them was almost too much to bear. Where once the mountain range had been a welcome sight, a comfort from the emptiness of the rest of the blighted land, now he felt they oozed malice.

Screech watched him for a time before turning back to her sketch. The Umbrum terrified her, and she knew better than most that the prison holding them was weakening.

The heart was cracked, and she was powerless to stop it.