//------------------------------//
// Chapter Thirty One: Festering Nightmares 
// Story: Equestria; UNDEAD 
// by runningtoastgirl77 
//------------------------------//

	"Your leaving?!" Rose looked hurt, waiting for me at my room.

"Yeah, tomorrow. Grella and I already talked it out on the way over. We're both going back to Ponyville tomorrow, if her wings are feeling better."

"They will!" Grella said from the bathroom, taking a long bath.

Rose frowned. "Well, then I'll go with you!"

"Rose, no. You can't."

"Well, why not?"

"You could stay here. ponies here seem to like you enough. That, and your friends seem to like it here. I wouldn't want them thinking I took you from them anymore." I felt a tinge of guilt. 

She glared. "I don't care, I want to see you. I..." She looked down. "...I-I..."

"Rose, please." I frowned. "I need to..." With no warning, Rose quickly hugged me, her eyes getting glossy.   I stared at her in shock. 

"Just don't get yourself killed out there. Come back to see me sometime, okay?"

I was still in shock as she let me go, sniffling, but I did manage to say. "I... I'll be at Ponyville, if you ever get going that way..."

She smiled. "Duly noted." Then just like that, she turned out of the door and left.

I sat on the bed and sighed. Grella had grown quiet, probably deep in thought. I leaned back in bed, and picked up the journal with exuberance, an an attempt to forget what just happened.

Wendsday

School here was not what I was expecting. Truly, though, I'm not exactly sure what I expected. The foals my age don't even know how to write yet! It was annoying. And they keep going off about how to get your cutiemark, and how cutiemarks work, but I already have my cutiemark so that's pretty pointless. Zeana said school is important though so I guess I'm going to have to go. 

The kids here are so annoying, too! I told my teacher I didn't need to learn about cutiemarks, and that I already was taught how to write, and that I did write often. She wasn't happy about my constructive criticism when I suggested she put me in an advanced class because I wasn't learning anything. She told me 'if your in the older classes, you won't make any friends your age!' and told me to sit down. Needless to say, I hate school. 

But, when I got home, Zeana already had some carrot pie cooked for me. Dawn was still sulking because she wanted to go to school with me, and I was guessing that Zeana's story lesson wasn't really helping. She was really happy when I got home, though. 

Thrusday

Making friends isn't easy. After yesterday, I had realized at recess that most of the other fillies and colts around here aren't really interested in letting some stranger join their groups, even other foals from hallow shades have their own group. Zeana said I'll make friends here eventually. I hope she's right.

Other than that, today Zeana showed me how to make grilled leek with spicy sauce. I wish she had her own cook book. 

"What cha' reading?"

I looked up and noticed Grella was done, drying off her feathers. "Oh, just a journal I got."

"You have a journal?"

"Well... no. Some weird lady gave me a saddlebag with the book in it... I think someone gave it to me on purpose, but all that was in it was this book."

"Well, why would they do that?"

"I don't know..." I sighed. "I haven't really wanted to think about this, honestly.  Either way, it's still a good book." I sighed. Of course those thoughts would fill my mind, paranoid theories of why somepony would hire somepony to FILLYNAP me, why ponies seemed to instantly dislike me, all of that stuff. "Let's just drop it, okay?"

"Alright, alright. Well, let's go through our supplies then. What do you have?"

"Well... I have some books, some pencils, and... my tree branch?" I blushed. "I think I have some leftovers in the fridge, Rose put some in there last night."

"A tree branch? Seriously?" She laughed slightly. "Alright, what about that food? About a day's flight from here to ponyville, might as well have some lunch to go." She moved over to the fridge and pulled it open. "Surprised we even have electricity in this place, I swear, it's..." She paused, and pulled out a container. "What's this?"

I got up and trotted over. "Oh, um... that's just some grilled meat from the festival."

"Well hot daum, this place has meat? Looks good, too. Shame it's home to a bunch'a assholes." She smiled. "I'm gonna assume that you don't want this?"

I glanced away. "Maybe... maybe not..."

She then realized. "Oh my, so you tried meat? Really, lil' miss muffin?" She smiled.

"Y-yeah..." I felt uneasy admitting that. Just nearly a month ago I'd been criticizing the mere concept of consuming the flesh of a living creature, and now I was going to split leftovers with my griffon companion. "Rose convinced me to try some..."

"Well, you sure have come a long way, haven't ya?"

"I guess so..."

"We can warm this up in the morning so It'll be all set for a mid-morning snack." She put the container back and closed the door, then turned to me. "So, how many bits do we have?"

I blushed, remembering the only money I had was what Rose gave me, minus what I had to use to pay for Grella's drinks. "I have ten bits."

"Hmm..." she frowned. "That reminds me, I've been meaning to say... what the hell ARE you doing out here with her anyway? And what did you mean by 'forced'?"

I shrugged. "Well... um... remember when I was telling you guys about rose and her boss?"

She glared. "No..."

"Well..."

"No, I remember. What happened?"

"Her old boss, Champagne... well... someone hired her to have someone fillynap me, for some reason. Rose broke out and took me with her, with her little group. the details are still a little fuzzy for me." I smiled.

"Your not serious, are you?" She glared. "Did she... did anything happen to you?"

"No... well, she did give me some serious tranquilizers or something like that. I was out for most off it."

"I see." I could tell it was making her a bit more angry the more I talked about it. 

"Let's just drop it. We have a big trip tomorrow after all." I yawned and climbed back in bed. "I don't wanna think about that anyway. Whatever happened, happened." 

"Okay, we won't." She seemed a little disappointed, yet understanding. "Besides, you should get to sleep."

"What about you? I don't have any extra blankets or anything..."

"It's fine, and besides your probably paranoid just sitting here, right? No worries, no one gets past this griffon."

"Don't you need some sleep?"

"Neh, I got plenty of rest yesterday. I'll be fine." She sighed. "As well as resting in a fuckin' shack can be. Still, I've had enough rest." She took a seat on the couch, and put out one of the lights. I wasn't sure how I was able to get to sleep, but eventually I did.



I woke up in a strange, small room. It seemed at first like a Doctor's office, lying on a a cot. But no, it felt wrong, everything felt wrong. The dark was overwhelming, creeping over the corners of the  walls. It was unnerving, and on top of that, my limbs felt sticky and restrained, crushed against the coarse prodding fabric of the chair. There was a smell I couldn't quite pinpoint that reached my muzzle. It was horrible. Eventually, I was able to recognize the substance. Blood. Blood was everywhere.

The blood festered and caked the walls, a small amount of light creeping in from the window. Window? I tried to move my head and failed. How did I know there was a window? In the distance, I could hear a low quiet click of whooves on a tile floor. Click... Click... Click. Slowly getting louder and louder and closer to the door. Then, slowly, the door creaked open. In the doorway, nearly blurred put by the light, was... I quickly shut my eyes. Don't look... I thought to myself. Don't look... don't look, don't look, DON'T LOOK!

I felt a hoof reach forward and hold my head still, then placed a device around my face keeping it in place. I could feel a cold, metal device hovering over my eye lid of my right eye, prying it open. I was met with a bright light being flashed directly into my cornea, a light similar to what dentists use. "Let's see what the problem is, Ms. Darling."

"NO!" I screamed. "Where am I? Let... Let me go! Stop!"

The Pony was a unicorn, simple, in a doctor's garb complete with what seemed like goggles and a surgical mask. He floated out a syringe, and I felt a sting in my body. I felt like squirming, but yet I was horrified to. Any sudden movements could cause my eyelids to tear on the cold, metal contraption. A numbness overwhelmed me, even more than before.

"Now now," the unicorn said, "you wouldn't want to struggle now, will you? Or maybe we could see how long you would last if I saw off your last leg and give you no treatment? I wonder how long it will take a mare your size to bleed out..." I couldn't do anything, both paralyzed from the drug and the fear. Last leg? Was I missing limbs? The uncertainty was the scariest thing of them all. But what... what was he going to do with my eyes?

"I await your input. I want to know every agonizing detail. Of course, because of your little outburst, this paralysis potion might hinder the experiment's results. Well, no matter. I'll make sure to keep you conscious during the surgery." I could hear the clank of metal instruments on a tray. "My, you do have such pretty eyes, Ms. Darling. I'll be sure to try my best to preserve this one as good as I can. Maybe I'll even let you see it, I wonder what your reaction will be..."

My eyes shot open. Needless to say, I was in no rush to go back to sleep that night.