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Day 21/Epilogue1,080 words

13

Day 13:
Two days after I ran away from the cabin, I find myself in a cabin. This cabin does not have strange carvings in the doors, nor a large scorch mark where a fire was burning on the floor. No this cabin is more like a home, with a bed, chairs, a window, a proper fireplace, a desk, and other smaller luxuries. It seems like the finest establishment money can buy to me. I have slept one night in this cabin, and my Host seems to be fine with me staying here as long as I don’t decide to move in permanently. That figures, him being a hermit and all. Host has been gone since I awoke from a deep and dreamless sleep this last night, and I am eager for him to return so we can proceed on finding a way out for me. I know he will want to address that matter as soon as possible. I do not blame him, nor do I criticize him. The sun hangs low in the sky, but it is early in the morning. I do not like to imagine when Host left the cabin, well before sunrise is a good guess though. The day seems to be warm, and there is much less snow here in the Outer Centre than in the Briar Sanctum. I may step outside for a moment to get some fresh air. That seems like a good idea.

Host finally returned after about two or three hours. It is rather difficult to say exactly how long I have been up and how long he has been gone. He informed me that he does not know exactly where the more civilized areas of Equestria are, but he does know a way out of the forest. This route would place me on the edge of a field next to the Everfree, and while it does not sound familiar at the moment, perhaps I will recognize it when I get there. Even if I don’t, I will be glad to see a field. It would be a relief to be surrounded by grass and not trees or shadows. I would be able to see everything, nothing could hide, and nothing could stalk and sneak around silently. I know he’s still out there somewhere, or perhaps he didn’t make it across the crevasse. No, I can sense that he is in the Outer Centre. You have left your hunting grounds Peers, try and get me now. Let’s see you and your shadows here, for I have won! Go carve more Windigos into the door in the cabin. Go eat your bark, and become what you will.

I have asked Host about when we can depart for the field; his response was that the journey to the edge of the forest is very treacherous and long, and that I will need to regain all of what strength I have left to even attempt making the voyage. No matter, I will wait and rest. This decision does not exactly sit well with me, granted, but I will not argue with the pony who took me in. Already my legs and hooves are beginning to heal from the hike over here, and I believe that Host has mended them somehow. He is a lot like old Peers, but a bit more talented at this than old Peers perhaps. So it looks like I will be hanging around this place for a couple of days. Host has been very kind to me, supplying me with food and water. Actual food at that. It is just my hope that he will not discover what hunts me, and that what hunts me discovers him.

Host left for a while again to gather more food. He is not used to having to feed more than himself, thus the constant coming and going. I offered to help, but he says that it takes a very keen eye to pick out the good plants from the bad. Apparently most of the plants around here are harmless, but very few are actually edible. There are, of course, a couple of kinds of leaf that are deadly to ponies, but overall the flora is relatively safe. I took a quick walk around the cabin and the surrounding area, but saw nothing suspicious. If Peers is tracking me then he has not yet found this place. Now that I actually take a moment to look about, it is (in a way) a lot alike the previous cabin. There is a ring of exceptionally tall trees surrounding the cabin, almost like a clearing, and the immediate area around the cabin has a layer of snow around it. That may not be as many similarities as I first believed, but there are similarities, to be sure. Do I take any pleasure in this though? No, I do not.

It is getting quite late now, and our final meal for the day has just ended. To be actually full is a thing that you never quite miss until you have spent a good long while without much food, then have enough to satisfy you. Host and I talked over our meal about the life in the forest and the outside world. Turns out the reason he became a hermit was because he had been part of a convoy that failed to reach its destination. It was attacked by the timber wolves one night, and apparently on he and one of the stronger youth of the group were abandoned in the Outer Centre. They built a small shelter, which eventually became the cabin I now am writing this in. Apparently one day the youth decided he was going to try and find the other members of the convoy, and he never returned. Host and the youth had taught themselves how to find food, water, track various types of wildlife, make fires, and overall survive. Host made all of the furnishing in this cabin from wood found in the forest, no modern tools or materials. Anyway, Host tracked the youth to the edge of what is now the Briar Sanctum, found that many ponies had come out from the Sanctum and into the Outer Centre, and had missed the cabin. He stopped his story there. I pressed on what happened next, but he quickly avoided the question with a general “there’s nothing else, nothing more happened.” This is clearly a lie, but I am, again, at his mercy.

The question about why he doesn’t want any visitors just occurred to me. That should be harmless in asking, and is it very dark out there. There is an unnatural blackness about the darkness in this section of the forest as well. The light from the cabin shines out to the tall trees, but beyond that is total darkness; even the area that is lit up somewhat still retains a great amount of shadow.

I asked Host about why he is reluctant to see other ponies/doesn’t want to see them at all, and he replied it is because of the things that live in the Briar Sanctum and the Inner Centre. If ponies walk into his area after being in those areas, chances are that something will be after them. This does not bode well for me. I was hoping that he meant timber wolves, but they don’t live in either of those areas. He backtracked to comment that it was just the Briar Sanctum he was worried about, and that if you go into the Inner Centre, there is no power that can save you. I have my own demons, which he doesn’t need to know about, but I made it out of the Sanctum alive, so what could exist in the Inner Centre that is so terrible? Of course I asked him, several times. He eventually came around to barely whisper one thing: “The Master of Ceremonies.” Shadows may move, and friends may kill, but I am skeptical about the truth of the name he gave me. Would this “Master of Ceremonies” match up to an Ursa Major? Probably not, this hermit probably has ever witness an Ursa attack. Try that for terror. As for what he is afraid of in the Sanctum, he would not say. He claims that he does not know what it is, but that something does live in there. I am willing to doubt that though, because nothing bothered us besides ourselves while we were in that cabin. If Peers has moved out, then nothing lives there.

It is very late, and I need to get some sleep. I am just writing for the sake of it at this point. The shadows are reaching towards the cabin. I don’t care what they actually are or what they come from, they are reaching. Host is asleep; he can’t help me now. I am dear Celestia what is that? Why doesn’t it move? What is it? It hasn’t moved, and if it is alive it would know that I am looking directly at it. What manner of face is that? It can’t be alive, for nothing bears the looks of that thing. A wide, smiling mouth with jagged teeth and two wide red eyes with white pupils. Who said that if you look into an abyss it will also look into you? Dear Celestia what is that thing? Tomorrow I will go and find out for myself. The shadows and the night terrors of young colts already haunt me along with other living nightmares. What is that thing? Go away. Go away! Stop looking at me!

Is it still there? Tomorrow, tomorrow it won’t look at me.

Cath Wintergreen Amber

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Balancer

Balancer #1 · Jan 31st, 2012 · · ·

That_one_guy

That_one_guy #2 · Jan 31st, 2012 · · ·

You know what?

This is orgasmically chilling, in the best of ways. I was halfway through chapter seven and I reached up and rated you a five. You do the Grimdark tag sweet, sweet justice my friend.

-Hidden Identity-