Unspoken Lands

by Nanrite

Chapter 9: At The Bottom

Ebony had finally made it to a village, the village. She sat, perched low on one of the roofs. A few masked ponies roamed the court yard and chatted. She hadn't arrived late but decided it best to wait for nightfall to make her move. Right as the sun began to set, she heard a stallion speak loudly down below. Slowly, she peeked over the roof.

The town had crowded to an old looking church at the base of a mountain, no doubt the same church from the outcast's story. Some ponies had brought torches.

The source of the voice was an old stallion and behind him stood two much bigger stallions. The old stallion stood out, he wore the cloak everypony else wore, but lacked a mask, and his horn seemed to be missing too.

"Tonight," the stallion began. There were gasps from the audience.

"Tonight is the night that God graces us with His glory," the stallion stated, which granted him applause from the crowd. "I'm an honest stallion, and I would be lying if I said the transition had been easy. But we're close now."

As the words left the stallion's mouth, he slowly turned his gaze up to Ebony’s. It was impossible, he couldn't see her up here with as dark as it was. Plus she'd made sure to be completely silent-

The stallion smiled at her.

Quickly, she ducked down, no longer wanting to see his empty grey eyes.

"Sleep well tonight, for tomorrow, we meet with God."

Ebony heard the church doors close, then silence.

"Lily!"

"Lily, please! Wake up!"

Tears rolled down Velvet's face. She was the last one. Lily was lying unresponsive on the ground. Silver had lost consciousness from... what they had done to him. All she could do was stare into the hole—the deep blackness in front of her. Her mind tried desperately to imagine what was down there. Perhaps the cult was wrong, maybe it was just a long hole, yeah. Velvet began to smile, and it grew ‘till it was nearly ear to ear.

"It's just a hole. It's just a hole. It's just a hole!"

She started giggling but it quickly devolved into frantic laughter.

"It's just a hole! It's just a hole! It's just a hole!"

Velvet's vision started to blur but her laughter only got louder.

"IT'S JUST A HOLE"

*Click*

Velvet's laughter quickly died as her right forehoof restraint came loose, her hoof falling limply to her side. Her mind was blank. Had the room became foggy too? Slowly, she reached up and unhooked the latches on her left forehoof, then proceeded to the ones on her hind legs.

Velvet rolled off the slab and stood on the cold cave floor. She brought a hoof up to her head and rubbed it slightly. A dull pain arose but not one all that bad. Soon her head became numb and her vision even more obscured. She felt herself turn away from the door and back to the hole. She took a step forward towards the blackness, the wet cave floor splashing a bit underhoof.

Before she knew what was happening, she was there, at the edge of the hole. She peered down, not really sure what was down there. She began to feel warm. Like being curled up next to a fire on a cold winter day. It felt... good. As she stood there, looking down into the darkness, she felt more like it was where she belonged. Everything would make sense. Everything would be okay. Velvet held a hoof over the hole. All she had to do was put weight forward.

"Mom?"

Velvet's eyes shot open. It came from the hole!

"It's time to wake up, Mom. You're late for breakfast. Come on down."

Velvet stood there for a moment, barely maintaining balance at the edge of the darkness.

"Twilight?" The voice came from behind her this time.

Velvet turned, her gaze meeting an awake Lily Spring. Lily gasped at her friend. Velvet's colorful blue eyes had been replaced with a soulless, empty grey.

Lily sprang up as fast as she could. It happened so quickly. Lily put all of her strength into getting to Velvet, but Velvet took the final step.

"TWILIGHT!!"

There was no sound; Twilight Velvet never hit the bottom.