Darkness

        There is such darkness in this world that will fully block you from all reality and drive you mad. Such darkness is feared and loathed by most, and most keep a safe distance away from it. Due to the nature of such things (and such times, of course), all darkness is now feared. The High Queen most possibly keeps things in this condition because of the times which darkness takes hold. It is no secret that the night is a time where it thrives.

        The so called High Queen of Equestria--once a simple princess of night--has kept our nation in full darkness for almost a century. Her sister and the Elements of Harmony lost to her and were drove into the deep recesses of Canterlot Castle. It holds a darkness so encompassing that most of Canterlot and the mountain it hangs from feel as if they teeter on the very edge of falling into nothing, into a great void. No one lives on the once majestic castle anymore.

        Princess Luna (Now the ‘High Queen’) wished for the ponies of Equestria to love her night, the thing she worked so hard on to make beautiful. With her sister and the elements out of the way, she partially got her wish and forced everything into the darkest void her power could bring. With that, she was satisfied and sealed herself away in the castle.

        The ponies shunned the outside world and stayed indoors. Even though they were safe, the darkness always threatened to seep in and consume them whole. But, it did not--it kept its distance as the ponies did with it. Eventually, the residents of the scattered towns crept their way out to test the open air and soon found that as long as they kept close to light, they could once again mingle with neighbors and ponies all around.

        Years after the people emerged from their sanctuaries and safe houses, places such as Manehattan were lit well enough that it felt more like day than defeat. Large walls were soon constructed around many of the towns of Equestria by the fear of the unknown, and what (if anything) the dark had concealed within.

        Two-hundred or so years later, the walls finally paid off when the void spawned horrific monstrosities. In some places, they were only shadows, but in others they had what some would call them “zombies”. Ponyville had the most peculiar of them all: normal, pleading once-residents that would call for help outside the walls. A lot of the time, it happened to be a guards loved one, or a great lost friend of theirs. When they would go to aid them and let them back in, they would be lured out into the darkness, never  to be seen again.

        The walls always had guards at the top to survey the outer walls. If something was spotted, everyone was warned and told to keep a watchful eye.

Though it seems to only serve as a distraction for a greater scheme. Disappearances commonly happened and were seldomly noticed with the attention drawn to another source. The ponies usually awoke with stone beneath them and the usual darkness all around. However, it felt--different. Worse.

        Here, the dark was crushing. It pounded down on you and caused headaches that followed “hallucinations” that played on your worst fears. Eventually, you were driven mad and swallowed by the darkness, never to be seen again. Though ponies have found the skeleton of ponies trapped before, possibly meaning that the void they were in wasn’t endless.

And yet none had ever made it out.

        Cinnamon Swirl smiled and nuzzled her cheek against her coltfriends chest. She trailed a lazy hoof up through his fur to rest against his upper foreleg. He smiled and pulled her closer; she responding with rubbing her thigh against his inner-thigh, making him chuckle lightly. They stayed close together with eyes shut, close to drifting back asleep.

        But something caused Cinnamon to stay awake. Something nagged at her from the back of her mind, something telling her that something was wrong. With her half awake mind, she soon realized that something was indeed wrong. The air felt--off. Sickly. Cold.

        She opened her eyes a bit and yawned, then blinked and opened them fully. She blinked again and stared into the distance with a curious look. Cinnamon pulled away from her coltfriend, making him grunt with displeasure, and pushed herself up. She looked around for a moment as her mind processed what she was seeing. The curiosity turned to fear as the cogs began to turn.

Cinnamon’s eyes grew wide and she screamed, making Blitz jump awake and ask, “What’s wrong?” in a worried tone.

“Not me!” She screamed into the darkness. “Why me?!”

She began to sob and fell into Blitz’s arms, nuzzling against his shoulder.

        He placed a gentle hoof against the back of her head and held her tight. Slowly, he looked up into the looming darkness and froze, holding his marefriend as tight as he could. A low chuckle glided in the air, seeming to come from everywhere at once, though with no echo.

        It slowly faded from existence and left a stark silence behind.

“H-hey, lets look for a way out,” Blitz whispered to the mare in his hooves.

“T-there is no way o-out!” She sobbed. “You’ve h-heard the stories!”

“Those are just stories,” he said after a moment. “C’mon, we have to at least try. Just stay close to me.”

Cinnamon slowly looked up at him and looked into her eyes, her own full of fear and tears. She nodded and reluctantly pulled away from him. Blitz gave her a small smile and stood up.

        The stallion didn’t know what to think. Too many things were running through his mind to do much other than only grab simple fragments of each. In truth, he was both shocked and deeply saddened in more ways than one. He and Cinnamon Swirl had only been together for a couple months, but both knew that they were meant for each other. Both wanted to spend their lives together.

        He had heard the stories and believed a lot of them. They may have only been stories, but the way the world was, he knew anything was possible. And not to mention that the ponies in the stories had indeed disappeared.

        He wanted to hold Cinnamon tight and only lay upon the floor and sob with her. He knew there was no way out! The High Queen was not that kind. But he needed to be strong. He needed to give the one he loved hope in her last hours.

        Blitz turned his head and smiled at her. With an extended hoof, he helped her get onto her hooves. With no more words, he reluctantly moved into the darkness.

“Hey, Cinnamon?” He asked.

“Yes?” She said, looking over at him, only barely able to see him in the dark.

“Could you light the way?”

She said nothing as a light brown arora swirled around her horn and cast a pale light around them. The light only reached mere inches in front of them, but they could at least see each other.

“Thanks,” he said and kissed her nose.

She blushed softly and smiled, suddenly feeling much less scared.

        Each step brought them no closer to the way out, only bringing them closer to their inevitable deaths.

Their situation continued to worsen. Blitz had a growing headache and often felt faint. Cinnamon continued near panic attack with Blitz the only thing keeping her from having one.

It had been hours that they walked. The only sound were their hooves striking the cold stone floor beneath them. Until, that is...

“D-Do you hear that?” Blitz whispered to his mare.

“Hear what?”

“It--it sounds like...crying.” He said, staring off into the distance in front of them.

“Crying? I don’t hear anything...”

They stayed quiet for a moment before he finally muttered, “C’mon, it might be somepony else!”

“But I don’t hear anything! Blitz, come back!”

She whimpered and ran after him, occasionally yelling his name. After a couple minutes, she found him sitting. Cinnamon ran to him and threw her arms around him, nuzzling into his mane.

“Don’t do that again,” she whispered. “I thought I’d lost you..”

“Sorry,” he muttered and placed a hoof against her arm. “Do you hear it now, though?”

“I don’t hear anything,” she said worriedly.

He pulled her closer, “This place does odd things to ponies.”

She nodded slowly and pulled away to stand beside him. He got up, smiled at the mare, and continued forward towards the sound.

Cinnamon stayed behind him as they walked and looked to her sides. Something caught her attention in the darkness--something had looked like it moved.

Her thoughts were cut off as she bumped into Blitz, who had suddenly stopped.

“What happened?” She asked.

“It...It can’t be...” He muttered.

In front of him in the distance a curled up mare lay. He couldn’t help but stare as his eyes filled with tears.

“What’s wrong, hon?” She asked quickly, glancing ahead.

“It...It’s my mother...” he finally was able to say.

Cinnamon looked at him quizzically and looked ahead as well.

Nothing. Only darkness.

        “But there’s nothing there, love,” she whispered to him and hugged him tightly.

Blitz began to walk forward, completely ignoring the mare against him. As he walked, his headache increased in intensity. He grit his teeth and continued on.

Cinnamon was forced to release him as he trotted slowly forward into the darkness.

“There’s nothing there! Blitz! Blitz, please come back!”

Her lip quivered and she ran after him again, though much more time passed before she finally stopped her search.

“P-Please, Blitz! I need you! Please!”

Cinnamon fell to her haunches, the tears began to flow, and her hope vanished. She shakingly curled up into a tight ball and sobbed until she could no more.

        Eventually, a little strength returned to her and she forced herself up. Feeling alone, depressed, and deprived of even her will to live. The brown mare pushed herself forward with the little hope of finding her dear coltfriend and the exit as well.

        Little more than twenty minutes passed before hoofsteps other than her own caught her attention.

“B-Blitz? Is that you?” She said into the darkness.

The hoofsteps stopped and a tingling sensation ran up Cinnamon’s spine. She turned around and her eyes went wide.

A scream pierced the thick, heavy air.

“Did you hear that?” A man next to Applejack asked as he looked to his left quickly.

“Yeah,” Twilight said back, glancing to the others.

Celestia nodded, “I think we’ve found our pony.”

“I think we have indeed,” he said with a smile. “Come on!”

The man ran headlong into the darkness as he pulled something from his pocket.