Forget Me Not

The veil of darkness weighing down my head lifts as a sharp, desperate inhale of air is sucked down into my windpipes. My lungs burn in my chest, almost if they're punishing me for the lack of air just moments ago. I jolt upwards from off my back and wince in pain as I sit upright. A fuzzy haze slowly fades from my vision along with the obnoxious ringing in my ears. My surroundings are completely unfamiliar, much like the reasons for my current predicament. Where was I? Why did I find myself suddenly awake on the cold floor in an immense amount of pain? Why did everything hurt so much?

As if on cue, sinister, disquieting laughter fills the room. It sounds... otherworldly. Whatever is laughing- presumably at me- is most certainly not equine. Nothing equine- to my knowledge- could make such a horrible sound without the help of a spell or some kind of special effects device. A sinking feeling in my gut told me that this was, unfortunately, not a prank. That growing feeling told me this was reality, yet I desperately and silently wish it were a nightmare. My ears flatten against my head out of fear as I jerk my head in all directions looking for the source of the laughter, despite the throbbing pain banging in my skull that grew with each jerk. The room around me is eerily dark, save from the slivers of light coming from the ceiling above me. I am, however, able to make out the shape of a piano off to my left and a drum set in front of me, just in the outskirts where the shadows and the slivers of light meet.

The laughter quiets down as I hear something shuffling around deep in the darkness all around me, just out of sight where I have no chance of identifying it. One moment it sounds off to my right, the next it sounds right behind me. It even sounds as if it's coming from above me. The slivers of light flicker and dance in perfect sync with the shuffling. The mysterious giggle box in the shadows must have been up above me, though, and partially blocking the light, as soon as the shuffling began and the slivers flickered, a noticeable amount of light poured in and dimly lit the room, then disappeared and reappeared. Whatever it is seems like it's hurriedly shuffling around, like a shark circling its prey, prepared to pounce at a moment's notice.

I'm rooted to the spot by a dreadful fear that fills my bones. The lights in the room suddenly flicker on, disorienting me and making me flinch my eyes shut. Did... Did that thing turn the lights on? Why would it? To better see its prey? I peek an eye open and look around without moving my head before opening my other eye. I look around and find myself in some sort of musical storage room. I take a very brief moment to take in my surroundings before refocusing on trying to pinpoint the thing clearly stalking me. However, I find nothing but an assortment of ancient looking instruments covered in thick layers of dust haphazardly strewn around along with taped up cardboard boxes.

No matter how quickly I looked around, I couldn't catch a single glimpse of anything evil or dangerous. Was that all in my head, then? Was that feeling in my gut wrong? Was it all just something my brain cooked up to scare me as payback for being careless and getting hurt? With no answers to be found, I rise to my hooves and shakily look around one last time. The very moment my hooves fully connect with the cold hardwood floor do I find myself being tackled to the ground and pinned on my back. I shriek in a mix of fear, surprise and pain as my back hits the floor. I lock eyes with... her? Were it not for the incredibly unnatural angle her neck was bent and twisted at, the uneasy twitches and jerks of her head or the murderous glint in her glowing orange eyes, this... thing could have easily passed for a normal mare.

Oddly enough, the 'mare' looks almost familiar with her mulberry colored mane and pale yellow skin covered in bruises and scrapes. Despite the sense of familiarity, clearly this mare was anything but normal. Another fit of laughter erupts from her as drool practically poured out of her mouth and splattered against my skin. Her mouth is curled into such an unnaturally large and psychotic grin that the skin of her mouth seems to be stretched to its very limit and on the verge of just tearing. The two of us are stuck in what is probably the world's deadliest staring contest as she just... laughs... and laughs... and laughs... and laughs. Though they never stray from mine, her eyes twitch incessantly and her pupils grow and shrink repeatedly. To say I was terrified was an understatement. So was describing my heart beating so fast it felt like it was going to burst out and run far away. There were no amount of words to describe the terror I felt as her psychotic laughter filled the room and her eyes bore holes into my own.

As her laughter dies down and slows to an erratic yet quiet giggle fest, her tongue lolls out of her maw and also exposes more of her sharp, surprisingly white teeth. More drool slowly drips and strings from her mouth as she just... stares, as if savoring the moment or trying to decide where to take her first bite.

"Pl-please... N-n-no..." I can barely manage to choke out my wobbly words through the fear gripping my throat.

She rears her head backwards as if winding up for the first blow as a sob escapes my throat. Her head is thrown back at such a disturbing angle that I could no longer see her face. I'm going to die and it is going to happen without me getting to know where I was or how I got into this situation in the first place. The mare throws her head forward, her maw aimed right for my face, but just as her face is mere inches from my own, she stops. I could feel her hot breath against my skin. Rather strangely, her breath didn't stink like I expected it to and instead smelt pleasantly like cinnamon. Her eyes flicker from murderous to confused as she looks up and tilts her head.

Only then do I get the courage to look away and notice the lights flickering off and on in an erratic pattern. The lights flicker once more before ceasing. In the very corner of my peripheral vision, I see a figure of another pony. I'm unable to make heads or tails of their appearance, but their presence redirects the monstrous mare's attention for the time being. I push through the fear, mustering every ounce of courage I had in me and use the opportunity to try to carefully wiggle myself free. My attempt is an utter failure and the very second I wiggle, the mare snaps her head- quite literally, with a sickening crunch- in my direction. With zero hesitation, she sinks her teeth into my left ear and rips it off in one clean tear.

Pain instantly sears through my head as I scream in pain. It's a sound that surprises me. It's such a primal, blood curdling scream that I even frighten myself with it. A noise I have never- to my knowledge- heard in my life anypony, much less my own self. Through the tears pouring down my cheeks like an endless waterfall, I can see her gnawing on my ear like it was a fucking chew toy. She spits out my thoroughly chewed ear and it flops against my chest. I can feel it there, twitching and wet and still warm to the touch. My limbs suddenly become lighter as I hear a loud thump followed by the bitch screaming in agony. I try to sit up, but find myself unable to move as I sob loudly where I lay.

As quickly as I had come to on the floor of this music storage room, I found my vision growing black once more. In only a few short minutes, my life was going to end right there. As I lay there in the process of fainting, presumably from the pain, I can hear the mare fighting with whatever creature or thing had decided to show up and play hero. Unless, of course, it’s just fighting her to 'steal' her 'meal' away, but I can only pray that it's here to save me. As the darkness takes hold for a second time, the pain seems to momentarily disappear, leaving only the sensation of warm blood oozing from my brand new wound. At least this way, if either of these monstrosities decides to eat me, I won't be able to feel it. Being eaten alive- even if unconscious- was a far worse fate than I could ever imagine for myself. Surely not how I thought I would go, not by a long shot, but I took a bit of solace in the fact- or rather the hope- that my death will be a painless one.

W-wait, what? No! I-I'm not ready to die! This... This isn't fair! I... Why me? What did I do to deserve this? Why was this even happening?? Why?! Why?! Why...? Why...? Wh...y…

And just like that, I was gone…