//------------------------------// // 13: Darkness // Story: Scotch Muffin // by TheFoxern //------------------------------// Scotch wasn't afraid of the dark, it was an illogical fear. However, she was terrified of what was in the dark. She had come across all manner of creatures in the last two days and she was fairly certain that this darkness was alive. It was pressing against the light in a manner that shouldn't be possible. It was beyond the absence of light. Something had filled that absence. But the light kept it away. She was using the candle as a sort of defense, regretting ever coming out, but now she couldn't go back because it had filled the gap between her light and the one she'd left. She would have to retrace her steps and hope to find her way back. That being the case, she couldn't figure out why she was still walking forward with this odd sense of determination. Something was driving her forward, or perhaps more so drawing her forward. She came to the conclusion that the city was oddly built, since she had obviously gone up or down, yet seemed to be on street level. The flicker of the candle caused her to stop. Now that she stopped, the darkness seemed to shift around her once again; poking and prodding at the light. The candle went out. There was the immediate sense of panic as suddenly she was in a globe of darkness. She yelped and covered her eyes. There was a few moments of nothing, so she opened her eyes. She was once again in light, a light brighter than the candle. Her brow furrowed and then she looked up. She could feel the heat and immediately knew she had, once again, lit her horn on fire. At first she frowned but quickly realized that it had probably saved her. Apparently she had tried to relight the candle in her panic, a candle that had somehow rolled away in the time she had cowered. The darkness had been driven quite a ways back now, and she could see the light actually touch the nearby buildings before being compressed down towards her by the darkness. Yet it kept a wide distance now; the light of her horn was brighter than that of the candle. As she focused, the flame grew brighter and brighter, and the darkness moved farther and farther back. That was an incredibly satisfying feeling. She took a deep breath, watching as the light shrank as she inhaled and expanded as she exhaled. Usually she panicked when her horn lit on fire, but now that it was actually something that she had to do, she realized it was not that bad. It was not hot like normal fire, just warm. It reminded her of wearing a woolly hat. She had seen unicorns produce light from their horns and she could do the same, but her light was cast by fire. She looked around, trying to find the direction her candle had rolled, but there wasn't so much as a bit of wax on the ground. “Where did you go, little candle?” she muttered as she walked in a large circle. For the first time in a long time, she didn't feel frightened to be alone. Eventually she found it, standing on the other side of a rather large ditch. She paused a moment as she thought it out. Obviously there was no way the candle could have made its way across the gap, it would have fallen. The probability of it also standing straight up was extremely unlikely as well. With a bit of focus she managed to get it to light. There was a loud, “Yipe!” And she saw something sprinting off into the darkness. Then the candled went out. There was no panic this time, as she had not let the flame of her horn go out. “Who's there?” she called out and then shrank down slightly as she remembered that there were things trying to sleep around her. She cleared her throat, a bit embarrassed. She spotted a bridge nearby that lead over the gap and quickly trotted over and across it. There was something moving around in the darkness, aside from the darkness itself. By the time she had gotten to it, the candle was gone. Now she was starting to get frustrated. Something had put out her candle and now it had stolen it. She walked around trying to find it once again. “Where are you?” she said, her voice softer than before. She spun as she heard something skitter behind her, only to find nothing there. Was it toying with her? Was she imagining things? Either way she had had quite enough of it and made her way back over the bridge. “Fine, you can just...have it,” she muttered. She had another candle in her bag, and then there was the one she had left by the glass door. She still did not like the darkness around her, or the thing running around in it. Perhaps it was a mouse, like Sir Antwan? She had not noticed this odd darkness when she was below the city. But then again, it was not inside the buildings, either. The way that it seemed alive was just plain creepy. She would have to ask someone about it and hopefully get some sort of explanation. She stopped suddenly as she came to another ditch. She stared at it a moment. She had been retracing her steps, heading back to her room. “Did I get turned around somewhere?” she muttered as she started to walk around, trying to find some hint of where she had came from. She stopped suddenly as she came across her candle once again. The candle sat straight up, as if waiting to be found. Scotch frowned at it and walked around it in a wide circle. She was not fond of whatever game was being played. Again she was regretting going on her little adventure all by herself. She should have just stayed in her room and gone back to sleep, ignoring the darkness that pressed against the glass. Fear was starting to creep in again. “Who's there?” she said again, trying to be loud and quiet at the same time. Of course she wasn't surprised when she got no response. Experimentally she decided to light the candle. It took her a few tries to get it to light at this distance. She had never realized that she had to aim it so carefully, as little sparks burst on the ground and in the air around the candle. Finally the candle lit, lighting up a small area in comparison to her own little flame. Now the fear was replaced with frustration. She had expected something to happen, but nothing did. Still, she walked cautiously as she approached the lit candle. The biggest surprise was the fact that it did not go out. She stared at it, as if daring it to do anything but sit there and be a candle. She gave it a nudge with her hoof and it fell over, rolling a bit until it caught on the edge of a flagstone. Again she stared at it, but it seemed inclined to remain a candle. “Hmph.” She turned away from the candle and walked away, intent to leave it in the street. Part of her didn't trust it. It was very suspicious and she didn't like it. Besides that, she didn't need it anymore. She sighed softly as she began trying to find her way back once again. She had not thought it would have been this difficult. “I must have lost track of where I was when I was looking for that stupid candle,” she muttered. Usually she was fairly good with retracing her steps and keeping things all in order, but there was something about the darkness that threw off her sense of direction. She sat down in a huff. How could she not find her way back after this much time? There were only so many ways to go, but she just kept running into either dead ends, unfamiliar roads, or ditches. This entire city was built like some sort of maze. She was fairly certain that she wasn't even in the same area as where she had been. The thought occurred to her how calm she felt. Well, calm was not the correct term exactly, more so she was just surprised that she was not worried, or frightened. She was just frustrated and angry. For a moment she wondered if the darkness was flammable. Her face scrunched slightly as she randomly made a spark out in the darkness. She tried again, trying to make a flame, but when nothing caught fire; she had to concede that it couldn't burn. Scotch sighed heavily as she stood up and began walking again, this time she had no destination. This world was frustrating to her and the longer she stayed and the more she learned, the more frustrated she got. “My lady?” She jumped and spun on the spot, trying to spot Sir Antwan, who she could hear but not see. “What are you doing out here?” “I...” She paused as she tried to figure out for herself why she was out here. “I don't know. I woke up and got curious as to what was outside.” “The dark stuff?” He was coming out of a drain at the side of the street. “It's nothing to worry about. Not for someone- are you aware you're on fire?” She stared at him a moment. “Yes.” He returned the stare quite blankly. “Alright. Just making sure. Do you...often light on fire?” “Not really. I try not to, but I dropped my candle and- well, it's not important. Can you help me get back to my room? I got quite lost trying to find my candle.” He gave a wide sweeping bow in which he removed his hat. “It would be an honor.”