//------------------------------//
// Chapter 8 
// Story: The Terror Below Hayseed Manor 
// by the7Saviors 
//------------------------------//

I was unsure of whether Moon Dancer had made the last train to Dodge City, or if she'd left Manehattan by some other means, but I took no chances in stopping to find out as I left the city. The only stop I made was a brief sojourn in Dodge City to rest my weary wings before taking off once more to the Swamplands. I could see no reason why it shouldn't be, but even if Moon Dancer's destination hadn't been the manor, I still felt there was something there, something I was meant to see, something even more important than Moon Dancer's madness.

I could feel it calling me, and wondered if maybe some deeper part of me had understood some of Moon Dancer insane ramblings. The though scared me deeply, but I was spurred on all the same, and within the next hour after my flight from Dodge City, I was in the Swamplands themselves. Like the Everfree and many other uninhabited areas in Equestria, there were no pegasi to manipulate the weather over the swamp, and thick clouds had cast themselves over the surroundings, throwing the swamplands into a sort of gloom to match my current mood. 

Rather than simply fly over the fetid swampy forest, I took the time to make my way through it. If Moon Dancer's goal was to seek out the rest of her 'truth' then there was a fair chance she might have stopped to question Wispy Willows before heading to the manor.

Even if she chose to skip the cabin altogether, the stallion may have been able to help me in some way. I decided it was worth the risk and with my mind set, I traveled on hoof through the foul smelling marshes that made up the western side of the Swamplands. Thankfully it wasn't long before an old, but well maintained cabin came into view, and I couldn't help but sigh in relief. That relief was short lived however, as when I moved nearer to the cabin, I could see that the front door had been left slightly ajar. 

Worry bubbled back up to the surface, rising higher and higher until I felt sick with it. I'd hoped to reach the Swamplands before Moon Dancer arrived, but I feared I might've been too late. An open front door wasn't necessarily indicative of an invasion, but in this instance I was unconvinced that it could be anything else. Fearing for the safety of the resident within, I hurried to the door and pushed it further open before stepping inside. The interior of the cabin wasn't large and save for a small, active fireplace surrounded by a modest mantlepiece and a few minor furnishings here and there, the main room was relatively austere.

There only seemed to be one other room in the cabin, which I presumed to be the bedroom. A few framed pictures and knick-knacks sat atop the mantlepiece and I spotted some wall mounted portraits as I scanned the room, but what I'd really been looking for, was the old stallion that was said to live here. It took me only a few seconds to find the stallion in question, a low groan of pain drawing my eyes to his location almost immediately. I turned to an isolated corner of the room and in the dim light of the flickering fire I saw the crumpled, but slowly rousing form of a dark brown unicorn stallion.

Beside him lay a large and heavy looking candelabra, and looking at that and the old stallion struggling to his hooves and wincing in pain, it didn't take me long to deduce that the stallion had been attacked. I shuddered to think that Moon Dancer might've been the one to do such a thing. I wasted no time in helping the stallion the rest of the way up, but as I did so, he shoved me away, his expression still pained, but with a healthy amount of wariness in his cold blue eyes.

Without my support he stumbled back to the ground, but despite this, he refused my help. Looking at the large welt across his forehead just above his horn, I worried the stallion may have had a minor concussion, but as he glared at me, I could see his eyes were clear and when he spoke, his gravelly tone was strong and sharp as a knife.

"Who are ya? 'Nother intruder come ta beat an' rob me of mah things? You with the other one? Come ta finish what she started, eh? Might as well. If she's gone where I think she's gone with that blasted journal, we're all finished anyway. Dark an' terrible things that way... no earthly idea what she's getting herself into... blasted fool... madmare is what she is..."

His questions devolved into bitter mumbling before he groaned again in pain. I pleaded with the stallion to calm down and explained that I wasn't here to assault or rob anypony. After he'd relaxed a bit, he introduced himself as Wispy Willows, just the stallion I'd been looking for. I inquired about his connection to the Hayseed Family and he revealed that his family had indeed been close to the Hayseeds. The Willows had resided on the edge of the Swamplands, and had been living in the forest almost as long as the Hayseeds had lived on their own property, though relations had turned somewhat sour after the Hayseed Family had become wealthy and the Willows fell further and further into obscurity.

I realized that once I'd gotten past his gruff exterior, the stallion was all too eager to talk. I found this unsurprising, given how he'd been living alone in the swamplands for so long. In return, I told him who I was and of my intentions before asking about what had happened here and who was responsible. His answer didn't surprise me, and I wouldn't be lying if said I'd hoped for a different response than what I'd received. 

"Crazy mare in glasses... just showed up out o' the blue as ah was preparin' ta fix mahself some breakfast. Seemed a nice enough sort at first... asked me a few questions 'bout the Hayseeds. Apparently ah made a mistake in mentionin' ah'd gotten ahold of Lucerne's old journal, because that barmy mare nabbed it the moment ah showed it to 'er. Had this look in 'er eye, didn't like it one bit so ah tried ta get it back from 'er, but she got the better o' me. Shouldn'ta shown it to 'er... nasty stuff in that journal ah tell ya... dark stuff... things ain't nopony should see..."

The old stallion visibly shivered in disgust and his face grew slightly pale at the thought of the journal. He fell silent for a long moment and winced in pain again before continuing his halting explanation.

"Went ta that old manor mahself many years back... heard there were all kinds o' valuables left jus' sittin' 'round collectin' dust. Pa always told me not ta go down ta that old manor... never told me why, but times had gotten awfully tough back then, and ah figured ah'd make a killin' if ah could get mah hooves on somethin' good... but 'tain't worth it. Ah inherited this here cabin when mah Pa passed, an' part o' the reason ah came back was because it was his last wish fer me ta watch over the place, but there ain't a night goes by that I don't think about what I heard in that manor.

"There's somethin' evil in that fancy old house, filly... ah swear ta Celestia, ah could hear somethin' big an' slimy crawlin' 'round 'neath the floor somewhere... some great beast... don't even wanna think 'bout what it mighta been... an' the stench! Ah've lived in this swamp a good long while, filly, an' ah ain't never smelled somethin' so rancid as what ah smelled in that manor.... couldn't even describe it to ya if ah wanted to..."

His rough countenance began to crack as he spoke, and where there was once a gruff and bitter old stallion, I now saw something in his face more akin to a frightened foal. His breathing grew slightly labored and there was a distant, horrified look in his eye as he spoke. He shook his head slowly, as if to denounce his own troubled thoughts, then returned his attention to me, though his expression never lost that hint of trepidation.   

"Thought I was hearin' things... had to be... but then ah hear this sound... some kinda horrible guttural roar... like no creature ah ever heard before in mah life... darn near shook the whole manor ta pieces. That was it fer me... took the journal ah found inside an' fled... don't know why ah took it... somethin' told me to... felt like ah had to... wish ah hadn't, but ah did. Read it too... really wish I hadn't, but ah felt like ah had no choice... nasty things in that journal believe you me...

"That pony, Lucerne... she did somethin' horrible... that thing down below the manor? That was her work... brought it here from somewhere else and trapped it down in the basement somehow... don't know how she did it... couldn't make head or tails o' that part o' the journal... Celestia save us all, if that madmare releases that thing into the world we're finished... ain't nopony gonna be able ta do nothin'... shoulda chucked the Celestia forsaken thing in the swamp... shoulda burned it ta cinders... don't know why ah didn't... don't know why..."

His words trailed off into shaky half formed murmurs and fearful stutters. My heart went out to the trembling old stallion, and I was loathed to let him suffer such painful memories on his own, but time was running short. After hearing Wispy Willows' tale, I wanted to keep as far from that manor as equinely possible. I want to flee from those Swamplands and never look back, but I knew I couldn't.

If even half of what the old stallion had said was true, then it was imperative that I stop Moon Dancer from accomplishing whatever ghastly task she'd set out to do. I didn't even want to think about the possibility that her plans involved that unspeakable thing supposedly trapped beneath the manor. Still, if worse came to worst, I'd fought my fair share of monsters and villains. Often it was with the help of my friends, but I was a fairly powerful mage in my own right.

I told myself it was something I could handle if need be, that my experience would be enough to see me through whatever dire situation I might find myself in once I reached the manor. Like a fool I built my confidence to dangerous heights, and, after making sure Wispy Willows would be okay on his own, I set out once more toward the manor, the inevitable confrontation with my oldest friend, and the horror that lay beneath. For all my gallantry and puffed up confidence, and try as I might, I couldn't ignore the haunting memory of Moon Dancer's words. As I pressed on, those words constantly floated back to the surface of my mind, viciously trying to crush my convictions back down into unbridled terror of what was to come.

Magic is a wonder... but now I know that there are far more beautiful and terrible things that sit just beyond the bounds of our own reality...