“I hate you,” Sunset said with venom dripping off each word as she stared at the mangled remains of the satchel that she ’borrowed’, before turning her gaze back to a pool of black water with a black shelled creature floating atop the water. Staring blankly at her with its six black dome-like eyes along with a book impaled on one of its many near blade-like tentacles.
Sunset can’t help but feel like it’s being smug to her.
“I really hate you,” she said again before throwing the mangled bag, and the few ruined books it held within, at the creature. And watch as the creature flails its tentacles about, reducing the mangle bag and books to mere scrapes.
Clutching her left arm as a drop of silvery-white blood dripped through a poorly made bandage. Sunset glares at the creature before turning around huffing.
“You’re not worth my time anyway,” Sunset muttered as she walked away.
After escaping the white room and ending up in a crater with her ingenious but reckless thinking, and then witnessing the horror that resided within the nearby lighthouse. Sunset decided it was best to leave it and the surrounding area as soon as she possibly can.
With no other choice but to travel along the worn-out walkway she found, Sunset eventually stopped when she discovered a small portion of the walkway had collapsed into the black liquid covering most of the cavern floor.
Seeing no other path for her to take, Sunset took several steps back from the edge of the collapsed walkway before running back towards it and jumping high into the air before landing on the other side. A certain rainbow-haired sport-nut would’ve been impressed with Sunset jumping a 13-foot gap if she didn’t have her arms out in front of her like she was doing a superman dive the entire way across.
Lowering her arms, Sunset took a look at her legs then the gap she just jumped then back to her legs then the gap again before saying, “Interesting, either that’s normal for my new species or I’m just that amazing. Either way, I still need to get out of here.”
As Sunset continues her journey across the ruined walkway she kept encountering portions of it that had collapsed into the waters below, however, with her new-found jumping prowess she could get across them with ease. However, Sunset couldn’t help but feel like someone was watching her when she jumped across any the of gaps she came about, but every time she stopped to check her surroundings, she found nothing.
“Maybe I’m just being paranoid or...” Sunset muttered as she stares at the dark waters below. “No, it’s probably just the dark getting to me. As soon as I get somewhere with more light these feelings will go away.”
Eventually, Sunset saw the cavern wall, where she can see a tunnel entrance connected to the path she been walking on. Immediately picking up her pace Sunset jump across the last remaining gap she can see in the walkway when, without warning, several black tentacles shot out of the water and tried to impale her had she not, in her rush to reach the tunnel, jumped higher than she normally would and was just out of reach of the ensuring tentacles.
Hitting the ground with a roll Sunset eagerly took off running, sparing just enough time to glance behind her and sorely wishing she hadn't, as several tentacles were trashing against the ground causing the worn-out stone walkway to crack and crumble under their assault.
Nope nope nope and even more nopes after that! Sunset thought as she ran in a blind panic through the tunnel and jumping over a pool of black liquid, causing more tentacles to surge forth.
"Buck!" yelled Sunset as she ran, jump, and dived through the flooded tunnel, doing her utmost best to avoid the puddles and small pools of water and any tentacles coming at her.
"Okay,-" jumps over low reaching tentacles "- this -" dives off to the right and nearly falls into the water "- is getting -" runs in a zigzag line as tentacles smash the spot she was at just before "- ridiculous!"
After using her poor imitation of parkour to escape the tentacles and to travel through the tunnel itself, Sunset finally made it to the end of it. And all she has to do now was jump across one more pool of black water and she is home free.
Breathing heavily, Sunset stared across the still liquid in front of her.
"Okay Sunset, you've done this before, just run then jump. Run then jump. Simple as saying one, two, three, and jump out of a tree." She took a deep breath and began sprinting towards the edge, leaping with all her might.
This single jump got Sunset across water easily. However, when she was just land on the other side a tentacle shot out of the water hitting Sunset in her side and causing her to scream out in pain. But before it could wrap itself around her Sunset was engulfs in a greenish-cyan light and disappeared for a moment then reappeared a half-dozen or so feet away from the tunnel exit.
Sunset stood, holding her bleeding arm to her side. However, silvery-white blood began to slip past her fingerless hand and fall to the tunnel floor. She slowly removed her hand from the wound to see how bad it was.
Ohh, I'm gonna need stitches for this, Sunset thought, as she stares at the half-inch deep cut in the upper part of her arm. But it could have been worse so-
*Thud*
Startled by the sudden noise, Sunset quickly looks at the tentacles in fear that they might be trying to reach her like ones before.
The tentacles remained near the black liquid, barely moving. Sunset followed the outline of the tentacles to where they were attached. There she saw a long and slender chitin-covered body, with six bowl-like eyes on what she assumed to be the head, though she couldn't see if the creature had a mouth.
That was all it was doing. Staring at her, and maybe waiting for something else to happen... It was unsettling, to say the least. Having so many dead-like eyes watching your every move, for a chance to drag you under the dark waters to eat you, piece by piece.
Possibly waiting for me to get near it again, she thought bitterly, before noticing a book that has been partly impaled on one of its many tentacles hanging on by what was left of its spine. Huh, that looks like one of my-
The Books!
Quickly, Sunset reaches for her bag only to find empty air, looking downward, Sunset was easily able to find where her bag was. Or
whats was left of it anyway.
The satchel strap had received a large cut that ended in an uneven tear(most likely caused by the combined weight of the books inside of it). The satchel itself was split open from bottom to top, with the tear ending near the flap itself. This caused the inner contents of the bag to spill onto the ground. Further ruining the nearly torn apart books were the silver and black stains caused by Sunset's wounds.
Taking a slow, deep breath before reaching down, Sunset ripped the broken strap free from the rest of the bag. Trying not to wince, she used the ripped strap as a crude attempt to bandage her bleeding arm.
"I hate you."
I can't believe this! I climbed a ridiculous size lighthouse(that was underground for some reason), saw something that could easily pass as nightmare fuel, and finally survived a scene from one of those hentai that Snips and Snails like so much.
And the worse thing about all of this? Is that I don't have anything show for it! The bag and books I stole are gone and I nearly lost my arm too!
Well, it's not a complete loss. I did learn I can use magic in this form. But the pros are going to be outweighed by the cons if this keeps up. I mean,
I want to return to Equestria and all but if it means going through all this, then no thanks, nothing is worth that. Nothing.
...
Well, if it means I can use magic again than-
"..."
"- What is tha-oh sweet Celestia!"
Exiting the tunnel, I found myself on a bridge inside a massive cavern that easily dwarfs the one I originally arrived in. The cavern was obviously artificial, at least to some extent anyway, with how the walls were designed to resemble shells found on some bugs. But this wasn't what caught my attention.
It was the mountains of dead bodies, barely seen with the light of my lantern. The bodies filled me with dread. It wasn't just the amount or the bodies themselves, but the eerie resemblance they all had to each other, and especially me.
Don't think about it.
Oh great, I got turned into one of those species that people hate and want to kill off because they're jealous of them for some reason. I thought annoyingly. But then again, it's only natural for me to get turned into a species that others are jealous of. I mean look at my lif-
*Thud, Clank*
Having my thoughts interrupted, I quickly turned around to see where the sudden noise came from, only to find a corpse and a sword on the bridge when there wasn't one there before.
Slowly, I inched forward and grabbed the sword, noticing that the blade on one side is broken but the other side and very tip of the sword were fine. As I move closer to the body I notice black blood began to pool around it.
I poke the body with the broken blade to see if there was a reaction. But there wasn't. So I slide the blade underneath the body and flipped it over to get a better look at it.
I wish hadn't.
The body, as I suspected, was almost a carbon copy of mine... with a few key differences, of course, there is can only be one Sunset Shimmer, after all. Instead of four horns like mine, it only had two that pointed upward and instead of a whitish-grey cloak like mine, it has a stone-grey one. And finally, while my body is mostly white with black spots here and there, the body was-is black and-and-
- Sweet Celestia I'm gonna be sick! I thought as I hastily turned around and throw up. Trying and failing to not think about the being's black body and how it was missing its lower half and possibly its organs too, seeing how I didn't see anything but black blood pouring out of its torso.
Don't think about it.
How can something so small have so much blood! As I try and fail to throw up for some reason. I began to hear more thuds and thumps from all around me. Taking a look around, as I try not chock on my tongue, I notice little blurs falling all around me. So, despite the dread I was feeling, I choose to look up.
I wish I hadn't.
I could see a light shining high up in the cavern, possibly near the top, and I can just barely make out a platform within the light with several figures standing near its edge tossing things down.
My mind was a whirlwind of thoughts as each one tried to hold my attention as the sounds of thumps and thuds echo around me.
This is a mass grave, like the ones that one human had made-
Don't think about it.
I have my magic so I should be fine, but... I don't know how to use-
Don't think about it.
I need to get out of here. The exit is up there, so if I start now I should make it in an hour or two... But they could be waiting up there to take care of-
Don't think about it.
So engrossed in my thoughts as I was, I didn't notice that something had approached me and started tugging and poking me in the side. Without much thought, I turned towards the poking and saw another one of those creatures that looks like me on the ground bleeding.
And at that moment, the one thought I been trying to ignore, trying to pretend it wasn't there. Came rushing back to the forefront of my mind and before I knew I was saying... no, more like asking the bleeding out creature a question.
"Am I... are we going to die down here?"