//------------------------------// // Scopophobia // Story: That Particular Instance I Performed Metempsychosis As An Equine Named After A Piece Of Silverware // by Yuri Fanatic //------------------------------// I stirred up beneath my covers. My eyelids raised slightly to see the room illuminated by a streak of bluish hue across the ceiling. The diamond-patterned walls were slowly focusing into vision as I roused from my fading fatigue. Rubbing my eyes, I see both fillies sleeping soundly and laying completely still. The cool air filled the room as my breaths exhaled a light mist that dissipated in front of me. It was cold. Too cold. I shifted out of the covers and nudged the small mound right beside me. "Dia?" I prodded her again with rising concern. No response. I pressed my hoof against her, my pads didn't feel any heat emanating from the sheets. "Dia!" I shouted, swiping away at the blanket that was wrapped around her. There she laid bare, a pink filly laying on her side facing away from me. I prodded her shoulder again with no response, in turn, forcing me to turn her facing up. Her eyes were glazed open, an eerie neutral expression taking her gaze. "D-Dia?! Dia are you alright?!" I pleaded as I prodded her shoulder again. Under the clearing moonlight, I could see her as she remained cold and unmoving. Her gaze jolted towards me, causing me to flinch and stagger back. Yet my eyes didn't allow me to look away, for I continued staring into her shimmer-less pupils. Pupils that were once filled with so much life were now filled with null unfeeling darkness. I breathed uneasily in uneven breaths, my hoof now pressing against my chest as I tried to forcefully calm myself down. I felt the icy air flow into my lungs and steadily breathed out. Okay, stay calm. Take a look around, find out what happened, and- Her pupils bulged outwards as if it was expanding directly at me. I staggered back again, my eyes widened in fear as the bulges violently increased in frequency. Her retinas tore open, streaming a flood of black mist, spreading over her body. Her mouth parted slightly, allowing another larger emission of this complete darkness to envelop her and the covers. I staggered back from the mattress and pushed myself against the edge of the bed behind me. The moonlight caused these dark emissions to shimmer slightly, revealing a countless number of black carapaces. Thousands of eyes glinted as this dark living mass spread and envelop the floor towards me. It was an onslaught of spiders. An endless wave of them now rapidly filling up the room, all pouring out from Diamond Tiara. With a loud shriek, I climbed over the bed behind me. My eyes darted across the floor as this wave of spiders rose, stirring around the room like a viscous liquid. I jolted in fright as I heard a rancorous tear from behind me. I slowly craned my neck around and see Sweetie Belle convulsing on the bed, with large scythe-like protrusions erupting from her white coat. There were three, four, now five of these serrated limbs tearing away at the seams. Sweetie Belle's mouth parted unnaturally wide, her cheeks ripping themselves apart as eight red-beady eyes peered out from her throat. "SCREEEEEEEE!!!!" My heart rapidly pumped adrenaline throughout my body, my breathing now incoherent as I immediately leaped from the springy bed and towards the door. Sounds of multiple carapaces crunched beneath my hooves as I darted there, extending my hind legs so I could reach the doorknob above me. The cold winds blew behind me as I slammed the door and pressed my entire weight against it. Sounds of tearing flesh and loud vibrating screeches resounded. Moonlight peered beneath the door crevice as eerie shadows flickered beneath me, spiders now skittering out into the hallway. I closed my eyes tight-shut, my hearing completely focused on the creeks of the floor behind me. I hear small skittering running along the walls as... there was utter silence. Seconds passed, but it felt like hours. The fur on my skin was raised with merciless tension, but even the skittering stopped. I exhaled a drawn-out breath I didn't realize I was holding. Just when I thought to let go of the door, an impact paralyzed my shoulders sending my body to the floor. My coat bristled with crushed carapaces and black foreign substances, my sense of taste was filled with begotten rot. I hurled in response to replace the taste with bitter burning vomit. I couldn't take much more of this. My senses screamed at me to get up. My breathing heaved as I pushed myself off the ground. My eyes were in a slight daze as I tried to focus them. Another impact resounded and my eyes instantly became acute. Spiders stirred once again as they now started to crawl up my legs as if they wanted a taste of the rot that stained my lower body. A loud crack splintered open as my eyes stared at the door in front of me. A black scythe now embedded through the wooden door, missing my pupil a small breath away. A loud shriek enveloped the room, my ears hearing it clearly now. The deadly protrusion retracted back and I heard loud skittering backing from the door. My head pivoted around me as my eyes darted for any salvation in my vicinity. A small wooden-glass case with a vase perched on top stood on the opposite end of the door. I darted forward and pulled my weight behind it and the wall it laid upon. With a heaved breath, the case toppled over and obstructed the wooden door, another black scythe piercing through the both of them. It pulled back but was met with resistance. The serrated edges were getting caught on the bent metal frames. I Immediately trotted towards the end of the hallway where the staircase was located, each desperate step was met with a resounding crunch. My legs stopped at the edge of the stairwell as it loomed ahead of me, darkness obscuring the very bottom. My ears perked to hear another ear-piercing screech followed by sounds of splintering and bent metal, I couldn't afford to look behind me as I proceeded to descend hastily in a panic. Fear and blood were pumping throughout my body as sweat and grime seeped into my barrel and legs. The air had a taste of cold metal and a faint bitterness to it, my legs slowly becoming numb in the process, but I didn't stop. I couldn't stop. God why couldn't it stop? Tears started to swell up, blurring my vision. I felt my legs becoming increasingly numb with every step. Then I felt nothing. I saw my vision blurring up completely as my body was rolling down the staircase. I felt numerous impacts throughout my body until I finally laid still, staring at the ceiling above me. I slowly craned my neck and tried to raise a hoof to rub my eyes, but then I saw red. Looking down I saw that my right foreleg was bent open at irregular angles, bones now protruding out of numerous gashes and wounds. Blood seeped out in short disgusting bursts as spiders crawled out of my wounds. "Fuck. God fucking damn it!" Yet despite my cursing, I didn't feel any pain, only the cold air against my bare flesh. A loud vibrating screech echoed from the staircase above me, causing my senses to scream at me again to get up. Slowly, one leg after the other, it appears that the rest of my body was still functional. Pulling the rest of myself up I could see that I was in Rarity's dressing room, the front door laying across from me. I limped across the floor, to reach it. Eventually, I reached out my left foreleg for the doorknob, but when I turned I felt a pitiless click as it refused to open. "Damn it! Fuck! Open damn it!" My ears perked up to hear a loud thunderous crash above me, the shattering of glass could be distinctly heard as thunderous skittering could be heard. "Shit shit shit. Think Sil, think!" Hope rekindled as my eyes darted towards the kitchen. "The window!" Immediately I rushed to the room adjacent to me and entered the kitchen where Rarity served us supper. I glanced around the room before my gaze landed directly on the windowsill. The skittering of spiders filled my ears as I desperately pushed a chair against the edge of the sink, hopping on top of it before trying to ram my body against the glass. A loud smack vibrated in the air as the window didn't budge. "No, nononono!" I rammed into it again, but still nothing. I heard skittering going down from the stairwell now, my heart racing as my rapid breaths painfully took the cold air into my lungs. "Oh fuck, fuck fuck!" My eyes darted to the table, the unlit candle placed on it, the shelf, the stove, the lighter, the knife rack, and to the floor. "Shit, there has to be something, a crowbar I can use, a key, I need something! I need an idea, some idea!" My eyes eventually landed squarely on the fridge, "A... any idea..." The pit in my stomach became increasingly noticeable, but I swallowed hard. "...I need a lighter." I jumped out of the sink and ran across the edge, reaching the lighter. Grasping it in my mouth as I leaped from the counter and towards the table. Jumping on a spare chair, I held the lighter in my hoof, my pad grasping against it as I flexed my hoof. A click could be heard as the lighter alit with flame. I lit the candle on the table before dropping the lighter and darting towards the chair next to the sink. "The stove!" Pushing the chair near the said stove, I turned every knob on max and proceeded towards the fridge. I pulled the fridge door, the cold air rushed towards me with an unfathomable numbness on my coat. "Everything about this is a horrible idea and I'm going to die." I reached for the food trays with my only foreleg and pulled it out, spilling all the random assortments of food and milk products. I pulled one tray after another as I heard the loud thunderous skittering getting closer and closer. I finally emptied the fridge and proceeded to hoist myself up in it, the spiders across my coat dying to the cold and falling off me. After getting my entire small frame inside, I pulled the door shut. Silence. I couldn't see anything, and I could feel everything standing still for a moment. Yet then I heard small stabs piercing the stone tiles, slowly but getting ever so closer. I could hear breathing behind the door, then more skittering as furniture could be heard being toppled over. I held my breath tightly as cold ice overtook me. "SCREEEEEEEEEE!" BOOOOOOOOOOOM! .......... .................................... ................................................................ ....................................................................................................... My ears were ringing non-stop. I felt cold sweat dripping off of my head as I exhaled another breath. I opened my eyes to see nothing, but my foreleg felt the edge of the fridge bent slightly open. With a heave, I pushed the door with it not budging. I twisted my body so that my back was laying against the fridge wall and placed both my hindlegs against the door. With another heave I eventually popped the door hinges off, revealing a flood of water spilling over some pipes and the floor around me. The entire kitchen was scattered wreckage of debris and dead carapaces, the sink and windowsill completely blasted open. Moonlight shined downwards through the opening as I gently stepped forth out of the fridge. My eyes revealed an ever-expanse of the unfettered void with dark mists overbearing the skies. Water rushed past my legs as it spilled over the edge of the void, creating an endless misty waterfall. The moonlight shone brightly overhead as I craned my neck upwards, seeing the iridescent full moon. I was entranced, my gaze completely overtaken by the sight of the shining sphere above me. Smaller details soon revealed themselves, as I saw a small black dot staining the surface of this moon. My eyes peered forwards as I squinted my eyes, focusing on the image. Then the black dot started to extend across the moon's surface, forming a small vertical slit. It then widened to reveal a cyan iris, the dot expanding into a cat-like pupil. I felt it's gaze staring back at me. As if it were peering into my soul, the essence of my very being. "SCREEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!" I jumped up beneath my covers. My eyes wrenched open as a streak of orange hue laid across the ceiling. The diamond-patterned walls were clear as I pulled myself up. Turning my head, I see both fillies sleeping and laying soundly in their beds. The air was warm as I realized I was hyperventilating. Pressing a hoof against my chest, I breathed in and out. My rapid irregular breathing and heart rate slowly steadied itself as I pressed my left hoof against my forehead. My foreleg was still intact, I felt cold sweat dripping from my forehead. I exhaled and inhaled deeply. "Another nightmare..." I sigh deeply into both my hooves. Seconds passed as I heard chirping from outside the window. But... this was different, I told myself. I never fought back in my dreams, and I never once successfully escaped. But this time I did... sorta. I lost a limb and I didn't manage to completely kill whatever that was sure, but I fought back at least. That was good. I breathed in before letting out another sigh. This was going to take some time to get used to, but- I had to fight back an incoming hurl as I covered the edge of my mouth, the fresh memories of bitter vomit and rot from my dreams resurfaced. I begrudgingly swallowed hard as I forced myself up from the mattress, my legs were noticeably still shaken from that encounter. "I-I'm going to need some coffee..."