Blood Curse Hunters

by Rarity Belle

Chapter 17

Wandering over the rain soaked streets, Sweetie Belle rushed her way back home. The rain was still pouring and the thunder roared through the skies every so often. It was terrible to go through, worse to be stuck in. She wasn’t that big of a fan of it. Haste was given to her legs while the house of her parents came in her view. It felt to her like she had come to a safe haven. Not much longer, and she would have been home, would be able to feel the warmth of the building engulfing her.

Sweetie laid a hoof on the doorknob and charged her magic just a little bit. In an instant was the door unlocked and she opened it in silence. Everypony inside that house had already gone to sleep, no lights were left on for her return. Which meant that Sweetie had to be quiet, or suffer the wrath of her parents. Which was about the last thing that she wanted to do.

The door was closed behind her, before being locked and Sweetie took off her rain gear. Even though she wore a pretty strong coat and boots, she was still soaked. “By Celestia, that’s one massive storm,” she mouthed to herself. Everything was dropped to the ground while her horn was still shining faint. She wouldn’t make a light in the house, but she could carry one with her.

A shiver of cold travelled over her spine before she dared to leave the hallway. First she had to go to the bathroom in order to clean herself a little bit. So with hesitation she made her way over to the stairs, hoping to remain silent as she began to make her way up.

The stairs were notorious for creaking under their weight, especially during the night. Sweetie could have only hoped that she would have been in luck on that very night. Whatever would happen next, she would either make it, or fail in a spectacular fashion.

Step by step she dared to crawl up the stairs, placing each of her hooves in such ways that the wood wasn’t bend that much. Precision was given in the dead of night, a thing Sweetie never thought she was capable of. “Just a few more steps,” she mouthed to herself.

Silence had come, complete and utter silence. Only the storm raging outside was caught in her ears, while she stood at the next floor. Sweetie had done it. She had made her way up the stair, without making a single sound in the process. An accomplishment that she never held possible for herself. One she was in fact proud on.

With a silent haste would she have gone over to the bathroom, doing the things she had to do. Once in there, the towels would be moved with a bit more magic to dry off her entire coat. Sweetie stretched every time she was about to dry herself. It felt marvelous every time the towel began to rub and scratch her. It almost felt like she had taken a shower before and now she was cleaning after herself.

A delighted moan came from her moments prior to finishing the job. When she was dry enough for herself, Sweetie left the bathroom and threw the towels on the stone floor. She closed the door only to leave for the sanctuary of her very own room. The one place where she knew she was safe, the only place where no harm could have come. Yet it was also the place where most of the monsters would have hidden among the darkness.

Once more would a door have been shut behind her, but it was never locked. Sweetie was back in her own room and a smile forged itself across her lips. She was safe again, safe again to do whatever she wanted. But instead of going to bed, she just sat on the bed and opened the curtains. Her green eyes would see the entire world outside, just looking at it while the questions in her mind began to rage and scream and thrash.

All that she had said to both Sooctaloo and Apple Bloom was placed into question, so many more events were brought to questioning. Nothing made sense for her and it gave her a massive headache. Something was wrong, but the detail could never be placed. Sweetie then began to cry. She cried in silence and just let the tears flow down her cheeks. Everything didn’t make any sense to her. Words from the past haunted her, events she remembered differently played out. “No!”

~~~~

The sun would have risen back up behind the horizon to call the morning. Everypony managed to wake up at their own pace, among them both Magnum and Pearl. The two ponies woke up in their regular fashion and did everything they would do on a normal day. But Pearl was downstairs a bit earlier than usual and noticed the raingear just lying there. It gave her a gentle smile before she just nodded to herself. “Sweetie’s back,” she said in a faint whisper to herself, reassuring her thoughts at the same time. She went to the kitchen in order to start breakfast.

A few minutes later had Magnum also come in the kitchen and gave his wife a loving kiss on the lips. “You look great, honey,” he said to her.

Pearl let out a little blush and giggle before she nuzzled his cheek. “Says the one with the better looks.”

They both giggled and chuckled before breakfast would be served. While they were eating, they spoke about the events for the coming day and it was just the normal routine that they all were used to. Yet one thing still bothered them, the whole fact that Sweetie wasn’t there, with them, during breakfast. She never missed breakfast, only when something horrible had happened.

Pearl let out a sigh in the moment before she nodded. “I’ll bring her some, she must be starving, don’t you think?”

“She has to, but while you do that, I’ve got to dash,” he returned moments before giving her another kiss. They both lost themselves in that very same kiss and allowed their eyes to be shut.

For a few seconds did it felt like heaven had landed on earth for them both. It was Pearl who broke the kiss in the end and she grinned to her husband. “You handsome, sly devil,” she said to him. Magnum grinned in return before making a dash for the front door, he knew he was late and he just had to run to be on time.

The door was closed again and it meant that only Pearl was left in the house. A content sigh was released through her nostrils. Her eyes took a gentle glance up, to the room of Sweetie. Almost as if she wanted to see how her daughter was doing through the stone ceiling. Not that it mattered too much. Pearl began to gather some of the leftovers and laid them all on a plate.

Moments later stood she before the door of Sweetie’s bedroom and gave a couple knocks on it. She would have figured out what happened to her daughter, one way or the other. “Sweetie, you in there? And more important, are you hungry? I’ve got your breakfast,” she spoke in a sweet, motherly voice. Only a true mother could have spoken like that.

Inside the room had Sweetie shocked up from the sudden knock, she hadn’t expected her mother to come to her door. She blinked a few times before swiveling her head to the door. “I, I’m here, but, but I’m not hungry, thanks mom,” she stammered out.

For Pearl was that the first sign that trouble had come. She gave a nod before setting the plate on the floor, just out of the door’s reach. “I’ll place it on the hallway, if you’re hungry later.” No more words came from her, nothing else was said. Instead had Pearl just left Sweetie like that. She wasn’t angry or disappointed, instead she granted Sweetie the right to be alone. Her daughter was growing up, who knew what she could have just wandered in to?

It was better for Pearl to respect Sweetie’s privacy, the last thing she needs if a rampaging, teen-aged daughter. A giggle came when she thought about her own puberty, it was without a doubt a strange time to be her parents. She descended down the stairs and would have gone back to either the kitchen to clean or sit for a while in the living room. Pearl hadn’t made up her mind for that yet.

~~~~

In her room had Sweetie crawled off the bed and dried the tears from her coat. She had one glance in the window, staring at her own reflection. She looked like an absolute mess. There was no denying that. Her entire looks had been destroyed with it and she wanted to cry even more.

But she couldn’t. Her tears had been emptied out, she had cried every last one of them during the night. Next to her tear stains, she also noticed the massive bags under her eyes. The lack of sleep would have claimed her later that day, she was almost certain of it. Not that it matter too much in the moment though.

No, Sweetie went over to the door and opened it without a sound, only to drag the plate inside. She was hungry, really, really hungry. Her mother was such a sweet mare, that fact always remained for her. A little sigh came from her nostrils before she shut her eyes a moment. She was grateful to have a mother like that.

The plate was set on the bed before her body followed. She laid down on the blankets and began to eat of her breakfast. But her appetite was little. Hunger wouldn’t have claimed as her stomach was filled with all sorts of feelings that shouldn’t have been there. Thoughts were hurled through her mind that made every single word spoken last night tremble before her.

Would Sweetie really and truly have joined the Night Guard? Would she truly have gone down that path of darkness and allowed herself to be consumed by the hatred for the immortal beings that roamed around? The question haunted her, it haunted her perhaps way more than it should have been.

She was so clear about her decision a night ago, but now, now she was just wondering what was right and what was wrong. Neither Apple Bloom nor Scootaloo had been wrong with their words. It was an idea out of madness, but she knew Rarity. She knew how her sister did things! Sweetie was torn apart by the decision that she had to make.

The young mare wanted to cry more and more tears, but she couldn’t. The tears that she wanted to cry couldn’t and wouldn’t come to her. A deep sigh was released by her before she levitated the pillow to her. It was dropped in front of her and then she burrowed her face in it. Screams ceased, thrashing didn’t happen. She just breathed. She breathed the air through the pillow in the faint hope to calm down from the madness.

Joining the Night Guard would have meant that she was something special, something amazing perhaps. But it also meant that she had to fight every single second for survival. Joining the Night Guard might have been the most stupid idea she ever came up with, but in Sweetie’s mind was it all justified. She wanted to join, so she could find out more about her sister’s death.

Nothing had been helpful to her when it came about that. Nothing had been able to aid her as far as she knew. Sweetie was touching in the dark about everything. The fires of the Carousel Boutique were ferocious, as the place was reduced to ashes. Not even with the rain could the firefighters stop it. At least, that was what she heard from her father, and the ashes confirmed it.

Sweetie turned around on the blankets and just shot her eyes straight to the ceiling. She didn’t even wanted to know what would happen next. But she knew that the next few days would have been crucial for her. Because in the coming days, she would have made the decision of a lifetime. A decision that would make or break her.

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[MasterC0re]

yay more