Wielder of the Orb: Third Time's the Charm

by TheMajorTechie

Into the Abyss

Author's Note:

Ay, guess what, we're gonna start an actual story arc for once!

Black. Darkness all around. Nightshade blinked, standing back up. The fall didn't appear to be too far, yet...

She gazed upward. There was no sky.

Nightshade lowered her head, craning her neck to see something-- anything. She could still feel it-- the Orb was still nearby, though its presence was fleeting, to say the least. Those two colts... or whatever the actual buck they really were, were probably taking the Orb away somewhere.

She blinked. Some vision finally began to return to her as her eyes adjusted to the dark. A dimly-lit path stretched before her, lined by eerie glowing mushrooms and grasses that seemed to consist of spider-silk. She took a tentative step forward, watching the ground light softly beneath her hooves. Another step. Another, and another. Nightshade looked over her shoulder, watching her glowing hoofsteps fade one-by-one.

Branches hung low overhead; twisted, spindly limbs seemed to almost reach for her every time she passed another trunk. She lit her horn, readying a charge of mana just in case.

The path continued on, wandering through the mutated forest without any end in sight. The Orb's presence had stopped moving any further from her, so she was at least now matching the pace of those two colts.

A disembodied howl tore through the air.

"Who's there?" Nightshade spun around. "A-anypony?"

Only the echoes of the howl came in response. She continued following the path.

---

How much time had passed since she fell down here? Half an hour? An hour? Two? She couldn't tell anymore. The dimly-lit path seemed to stretch on to infinity, and at times she swore she was passing by the same withered trees that she'd seen before. Another howl came and went, its echo fading again to nothingness.

Crunch.

Nightshade winced, lifting her hoof. Some sort of pasty-white fluid now coated it, complemented by specks of whatever it was that she'd just stepped on.

She shook her head, wiping her hoof on the ground and continuing. She could feel the Orb's presence growing closer again, so she was finally catching up, much to her relief.

Crunch.

Nightshade made a face, wiping her hooves again.

Crunch.

Crunch.

Crunch.

"Kssssshhhhh..." the mare seethed, stopping in her tracks. Whatever it was that she kept stepping on, she couldn't see them. It seemed that they only became visible when she touched them... and inevitably crushed them under her hoof.

She reached a hoof forward, tapping around on the path. Nothing in particular seemed to be there, save for the usual clumps of dirt and trampled mushrooms.

Plink.

Nightshade raised her hoof. A creamy, almost metallic-looking shell emerged from the ground under her hoof, skittering off into the field of spider-silk grass surrounding the road.

Her stomach grumbled. At any rate, if she was going to be stuck down here for any longer, she'd have to start eating whatever those creatures were. Just from their looks, the mushrooms and grass were out of the question.

She raised her hoof up again, squinting at the crusty remains of the liquid in the dim lighting. This was blood of some sort-- the blood of the creatures she kept stumbling over. A cautious whiff didn't set off any alarms in her head, and it... looked like it'd be alright to consume.

A tremor ran up her spine as yet another howl echoed overhead.

This time, it was closer.

Comments

[Starlight Nova]

If the main OCs in this story were voiced, what would they sound like?

[TheMajorTechie]

10070726
Idk.