//------------------------------// // ... // Story: 2986 Steps // by Verlax //------------------------------// Twilight was marching. It was a dark, frosty night. The blizzard holding the city of Flankfurt in its tight, snowy grasp was raging still, covering the streets with a thick layer of snow. There wasn’t a soul in sight, every living creature opting to stay in the relative warmth their shelters managed to provide. All except for Twilight. She shivered as the cold wind lashed against her face, yet despite the inconvenience she wasn’t showing any signs of stopping. Like if under a spell, she trotted slowly along the snow-covered streets, passing by numerous houses that time seemed to forget. The grey buildings were casting ominous shadows upon her, the wind lashing against them creating a symphony of the northern land, its melody filling the night air. Twilight stopped for a moment to listen to the song of the city. She couldn’t quite place it, but there was something to it, something... unnatural, like if the wind was nothing more than a means of communication for something much grander than a simple pony. After a moment of listening to the the wind she thought she heard something that shouldn’t be there. She heard a soft voice. “Spineless from the start, sucked into the part...” “Blind devotion came, rotting your brain...” The singing was quiet, barely able to hear at all. The voice, nothing more than a whisper just barely above the billowing wind seeme to sing a soft tune to her. “Please, please...” “Spreading his disease, living by his story...” She didn’t know what to make of this. It seemed like if whoever was trying to communicate with her was trying to intimidate her. The whisper, the song, it was so full of hate and loathing that she almost felt physically ill just listening to it. And the more she listened to it, the colder it seemed to get, like if the weather itself was corresponded to the tone of the voice. “Knees, knees...” “Falling to your knees, suffer for his glory...” “You will...” “You will...” “You will...” “You will...” The voice slowly trailed off, fading to nothingness as the whisper blended in with the raging blizzard. The snowstorm, the fury of the North itself however had nothing on the silent song, and Twilight felt a kind of primal dread creeping up her spine, almost paralyzing her in place. It took all her willpower to move even one of her hooves. *crunch* Twilight stopped in her tracks. Her ears were assaulted with the sound of a hoof stepping into deep snow, crunching loudly. It wouldn’t be that surprising, she was trotting along a snow-covered street after all, but there was something definitely odd with it. The sound didn’t come from her hooves, but from behind her. *crunch* *crunch* Twilight slowly turned her head, her heart pounding like mad against her ribcage. The raging blizzard prevented her from seeing too far away, her vision blocked by the snowflakes furiously lashing at her face. Still, she managed to spot him right away. A black figure was slowly approaching her, slightly limping on one hoof. It’s face was covered in shadows cast by its wide leather hat. It’s gait was slow and methodical, the pace almost leisurely. It seemed like if he wasn’t slowed down by the furious icy wind at all. After a few more steps he lifted his head and looked directly at Twilight, his eyes shining in the shadows with untold loathing. Fear overtook Twilight’s mind. Those cold, heartless eyes had nothing but hate and malice in them, and they looked straight into her soul, shaking her to the core. She couldn’t take it, it was too much for her. Her body acting upon instinct and fuelled by adrenalin made the decision for her. She ran as fast as her legs could carry her. *crunch* *crunch* *crunch* Her head was spinning, fear of the kind she had never experienced before clouding her eyesight and warping reality, turning it into a grotesque caricature of the real world. Where once stood historic buildings, kept in perfect condition by the frost of the North, now there were only ruins, some of them nothing more than charred skeletons of erstwhile marvels of Horseatic architecture, others twisted and warped beyond recognition. The moon that shone overhead seemed to abandon its silvery sheen, adopting a dark-red hue. Even the northern lights that painted the night sky blue and green now seemed to change into a blood-red color; it looked almost as if the heavens themselves were bleeding. The few lanterns that illuminated the streets began flickering and one after another died, only to rekindle with a weak, red flame, barely lighting their immediate surroundings. Shadows cast by buildings began growing and twisting, swallowing the road and changing it into a corridor of weak, red light amongst impenetrable darkness. Even the snow itself seemed corrupted and wrong, gaining an ashen hue instead of the pristine white it should have had. Twilight ran as fast as she could, panting and wheezing. Each breath she took sent an icy dagger through her lungs, each gust of wind freezing the sweat on her sides. In her panicked state she couldn’t think straight, all she could do was run in hopes of escaping the unknown creature of hate. She didn’t know how or why, but she instinctively knew that if she got caught by that... thing... that it would be the last she would be heard of ever again. Still running, Twilight turned her head to check if she managed to escape him. To her horror however it appeared that the assailant wasn’t letting her go. Despite his slow and deliberate movements, he was still fast on her heels, now even closer than before. It seemed like if distance didn’t apply to her stalker, being of no consequence to him. *crunch* *crunch* *crunch* It was as if the wind itself was against her, blowing furiously in her face and impeding both her sight and movement. Her hooves sank deeply into the now ashen snow, slowly immobilizing her with each passing step. The years she had spent over books left her body easy to exhaust; she was barely able to move forward, her lungs screaming for her to stop with each step she took. It was only thanks to her will that she was still going, her fear propelling her forward. She couldn’t feel her hooves anymore. Was it even possible for them to have been frostbitten so quickly? The wind whipping at her face forced her to squint her eyes almost to the point of closing them, the pain it was dealing almost unbearable. Twilight would do anything for it to end. She kept on running, instinct proving stronger than physical weakness. Twilight didn’t know how long she was trying to flee her stalker, all she knew was exhaustion and pain. Her breath was ragged and uncontrollable, her legs shaking like if they were made out of jelly. The cold seemed to pierce her very soul, thousand of icy needles being repeatedly jabbed into every inch of her body. She wanted nothing more than to collapse then and there, but she couldn’t, not with that thing right behind her. She didn’t even notice when she arrived at the Mareggen district. The houses here seemed even more twisted and destroyed than the ones earlier, some of them nothing more than piles of smoldering wooden remains. As if to contrast the destruction made by fire, the snowstorm picked up even more, wind lashing against her face and howling like a wounded beast. Even though she could barely make anything out in the cacophony the blizzard created, the horrifying sound of nearing hoofsteps was still clear to her. *crunch* *crunch* *crunch* Then, in the distance, she spotted a small light coming from a window of a house. The building itself didn’t look abandoned, and unlike others it wasn’t charred by fire, nor was it a product of a twisted mind. Making a split-second decision Twilight bolted in its direction. She managed to plow her way through the snow and got to the doors. She tried turning the doorknob, but it wouldn’t budge. Desperate, Twilight began rapping at the door with her hooves. “Is anypony home?! Please! Let me in!” she cried, banging on the wooden door furiously. There was no answer. *crunch* *crunch* *crunch* “Sweet Celestia! Please! I’m begging you!” she shouted desperately. She wasn’t sure if her begging made any difference, but she heard a soft click and the doors creaked open. She bolted right inside, not daring to look behind, fearing the shadowy figure wouldn’t be stopped by something as weak as a mere wooden door. However, it was better protection than nothing at all, so the first thing she did once she ran inside was shriek “Close the door, quickly!” before collapsing in a heap. For a moment Twilight just lie there, eyes closed, gulping down mouthfuls of air. She noticed one thing right away -it was significantly warmer in here than it was outside. Her tired mind only after a moment noticed something out of the ordinary. It reeked inside here. The smell was unbearable, making the mare gag and almost vomit on the spot. She couldn’t describe the single smells themselves, but she could tell with relative ease that there was blood in here, mixed with urine and other bodily fluids. Coming to that conclusion she dreaded opening her eyes, but in the end decided that she couldn’t stay with closed eyes forever. Ever so slowly she lifted her eyelids and scanned the house’s interior. She quickly regretted her decision. The room was coated with a layer of blood and pus. Every wall and every inch of the floor was stained red and yellow, the horrible stench emanating from everywhere. The chamber was in total disarray: furniture lie scattered on the ground, smashed to pieces; books with pages missing swimming in puddles of filth; bookcases upturned and cracked. It was with no small shock when she realized at what she was actually looking. It was her home in Ponyville. Her confused mind couldn’t comprehend why she ended up in the Golden Oaks Library, all she could understand was that something terrible happened here. Something horrifyingly terrible. Her home, her place of seclusion and peace was in a state of total disarray, downright corrupted even, and she didn’t know how or why. She looked around again, searching for something, anything that could help her understand what was going on. What she found however... She wished she never went through the door in the first place. Under one of the walls stood five beds, each and every one covered with linen sheets stained with blood and pus. In each of them lie a pony, and it took less then a second for Twilight to realize who was in them. “N-no” Rarity was lying in one of those beds, crying softly to herself. Her pearly tears rolled down her cheeks and fell onto the blood-stained blanket. Her body however... Her body was covered with blisters and rot, her pristine white fur almost nonexistent at this point. Her mane was now only a few locks of hair, barely enough to be called even that. The most gruesome part of her appearance was her face. Her snout and lips seemed to be cracked like old canvas, her cheeks covered with gashes of decomposed flesh, in places to such an extent, that Twilight could see inside her mouth. All that gave the fashionista the appearance of a corpse. In the next bed lie Pinkie Pie. At first glance she seemed ok, though her customary grin was replaced with a sad frown and her mane was straight. Only after a moment did Twilight realize, that her pink friend's face was stuck in that expression, paralyzed, and that the most cheerful mare she knew was silently pleading with her eyes for her to do something about it. The sadness and sorrow in those blue orbs broke Twilight’s heart, and the fact she knew she couldn’t help her made it all the worse. Not far from Pinkie lie Applejack, her frame covered with a blanket. Even so Twilight could see she wasn’t faring too well. She managed to catch a glimpse of her muscular hind legs, now bloodied and covered with blisters, wasting before her very eyes. The ends of her hooves seemed to be protruding from her legs unnaturally, as if something was pushing them out from underneath, and they looked like they were about to fall off if Applejack so much as moved. Rainbow was next in line, gasping desperately for air and wheezing like if she just ran a marathon. It was clear that she couldn’t breathe at all, something preventing her from taking a deep enough breath. While she seemed fine for the most part, at least outwardly, Twilight noticed something that made her gasp in horror. Her wings... They were naked, featherless, only a shadow of their former self. They were corrupted, rotting and smelling of death, fragments of bone peeking through gaps in her flesh. The last bed was occupied by Fluttershy. Twilight, who already saw too much turned towards her with reluctance, fearing what she would see. Swallowing hard, she looked at the meek pegasus, and let out a woeful whimper, beginning to tear up. This was so unfair. Why did she of all ponies had to suffer like this? Why? Fluttershy all the while stared at her unblinking, her eyes rotten and long gone. She was blind. Twilight’s mind was long gone, the horror of seeing her fiends like that taking her over the edge. The world didn’t make sense to her anymore, it could break apart for all she cared. All she wanted to do was curl up in a corner and cry herself unconscious, wishing that this wasn’t really happening. Through misty eyes Twilight noticed a bundle of sheets lying beside one of the beds. It was covered with a gray cloth and bloodied like everything else in here. The bundle was slightly loose and a red hoof covered with blisters was sticking out of it. “Hansen...” she whispered weakly. The door closed. Slowly, Twilight turned in the direction of the door, ready to face whatever was there. It was Dostoyevsky. The blue pegasus looked at her with one eye, the other decomposed and leaking out of his eye socket. His body was covered in blisters and rot, patches of naked, infected skin clearly visible through the gaps of his bloodied clothing. He was bleeding from multiple wounds, forming small puddles on the floor. The old pegasus was holding Primrose with one of his bloodied hooves. Her eyes were shut tightly, her limbs affected by the rot and sagging underneath her own weight. She too had multiple wounds spread across her body, and her own blood was leaking onto the floor, mixing with Dostoyevsky’s. The pegasus tried to smile at Twilight, but he wasn’t able to. His face was partially paralyzed, making it impossible for the stallion to change his expression. “Usually the leprae affects nerves. However, rarely does it strikes inside.” Dostoyevsky said, slowly pointing his free hoof at her. Twilight looked where the stallion was pointing and shocked she realized he was pointing at her. Shakily she raised one of her hooves and looked at it, having to suppress a cry of fear moments later. Her hoof was rotting away before her very eyes, bleeding profusely. She didn’t even feel that. A thought struck her, one that was even more terrifying than the fact her limbs were rotting. She tried to feel her magic, use it to lift something, anything. She couldn’t however, and that could mean only one thing. Her horn was infected too. Adrenalin, shock and primal terror all gripped her at once, making her stumble and fall to the floor. Her heart was pounding and every sound around her became blurred, just as her tear-filled vision. She involuntarily let out a quiet sob, knowing full well what awaited her. Dostoyevsky was struggling to keep Pirmrose’s body from falling out of his hooves. The filly’s body became suddenly limp, and she all but flowed out of his grasp, falling to the ground as the old stallion couldn’t find his grip. He tried raising his head again and managed to cross eyes with Twilight. Once their eyes met, Dostoyevsky let gravity do its thing and slowly closed them, the spark of life slowly leaking out of him. “Vanitas... vanitas vanitatum et omnia vanitas.” Dostoyevsky whispered as he collapsed to the ground, dead. Twilight stared at the corpse of the pegasus, tears of fear and resignation falling freely from her eyes. Dostoyevsky’s last words still echoed in her mind, filling her with a feeling of futility. She didn’t even notice when her lips formed the words for her. “Vanity of vanities; all is in vain.” She whispered softly to herself. She was too far gone to notice much of anything, her surroundings blending into a void of dark and depressing colors. Her tear-filled eyes could not perceive what was happening right before her as the mare cried her heart out, the realization of her fate hitting her like a speeding train. She barely noticed a pair of hate-filled eyes glaring right at hers. Resigned to her sad fate, Twilight didn’t try to run. She faced her limping stalker, tears slowly running down her cheeks. He looked at her, his face still hidden in shadows, and she heard his voice, raspy and full of hate. “Bow to the Leper Messiah.” And bow she did.