Beyond My Grave: Exhumed

by AnnEldest

Where Shadows Fear to Tread

The terrible scene with the doctor and his plagued patients was far behind them. However, the stench and sickness of the city was ever present, no matter where they went. The shivering black mold was all over, and the creatures all looked as pained and miserable as ever. Even in the sky above, there was no light. No sun, moon or stars. Not even a cloud that they could see. Just a bleak, dark abyss that seemed to go on forever, much like the street they were on.

For as long as they had been traveling, they had seen no sign of a red door. Plenty of buildings, but the ones that even had doors on them were not the color that they were looking for. Misty’s eyes had been gazing around, seeing nothing that Luna could. She saw only the empty stoops in front of buildings and ragged piles of filth that had accumulated in the streets. Stranger still was that she could feel nothing. No emotions were pervading her mind as they were before. A relief, but at once a concern. Her thoughts on the matter were halted when Luna stopped her from walking.

“Look,” Luna said.

Misty had to squint to see anything through the distant smog of the city. However, she could make out a long rectangle of red light that was embedded in a darker shadow.

“Do you think that’s it?” Misty asked.

“I don’t know. But, we must get closer to see.”

Misty was about to walk forward, until Luna stopped her once more.

“No. You mustn’t walk so heedlessly,” Luna said. “The way forward is more dangerous than you can know.”

“What do you mean?” Misty asked.

“There’s something here that you cannot know about. And your power to feel won’t serve you here. If we’re to get through this, you must do as I say. I’ll go first. And only step where I do.”

Flying was no good to them with their magic sapped. Misty could only watch as Luna took a large step forth and placed her hoof next to a half broken manhole cover. The rest of her hooves followed, spreading out into awkward positions as she carefully took another step forward.

“Alright. Now, you,” Luna said.

Misty looked at the bare ground before herself, and wondered what kind of unseen horror was there waiting for her to make a wrong move. Trying her best not to think of it, she raised her front talon and placed it in the exact spot that Luna’s hoof just was. The moment she touched her talon down, she felt as if a hundred ants had started crawling beneath her feathers. She clenched her fist, hoping that somehow she hadn’t disturbed some invisible monstrosity from its rest.

Looking ahead, Luna was already moving slowly onward. Misty almost missed it when her next nearest hoof moved from its spot, allowing her to take another small step forward. Misty’s heart began to race as her talon started to tingle uncomfortably. Something was there, but it had no feelings. No reason or remorse for any of its actions. Something lower than an animal was suddenly all around her, and it wanted her.

“Misty?”

The sudden sound of Luna’s voice snapped the griffin from her thoughts.

“Keep looking at me,” Luna said, as she took another slow, deliberate step forth.

Misty nodded and stepped onward, trying not to allow her back leg to shake as it raised. She walked with complete alertness, aware of every grain of gravel beneath her. The more she followed Luna, the brighter the light beyond seemed. A welcoming beacon in the dark city. If only she could reach it.

There was a sudden, unpleasant tingling feeling behind herself. Misty yelped when she felt something crawling up her tail toward her back. She reached around to remove the invisible aggressor, only to trip over a pothole in the road. Misty landed on her side, the sudden feeling of being overwhelmed by millions of insects covered her body. Against her will, her legs began to thrash, and the only sound that escaped her clenched throat was an airless gasp. She wanted to breathe, but no air could reach her lungs.

Above her, the sky and the rooftops of the city seemed to rotate, and she felt the numb pressure of something else on her body. Little by little, she realized that something was rubbing all over herself. In a moment, the worried face of Luna appeared over her, as she desperately patted out the unseen things from Misty’s body. Gradually, Misty was able to take a breath in, then slowly exhaled, before Luna started gently patting the things off of her neck and chest. When Misty tried to get up, Luna stopped her and started digging her hooves between Misty’s feathers and fur, trying to get every last bit of them off, whatever they were. In time, she was helped up and Misty saw that she was far from where she had fallen over. As much as she looked, she could see no trace of anything.

“Is it still there?” Misty asked.

Luna looked at the spot where Misty had fallen, and nodded.

“Let’s keep going. Our destination is only a few doors away,” she said.

The moment they turned around, they were surprised to find themselves staring at a garish, red door that dripped as if it were freshly painted. On the awning over the door, there perched a creature that almost looked like a two-headed dragon. One that was horrifically underfed and viciously mutilated with lipless smiles and unblinking eyes. Each head swiveled from side to side, eyeing the living among them.

“We…We only seek entry,” Luna said to the creature.

“Princess!” Misty said, clutching Luna’s arm, “What did you just do?!”

For a second, Luna thought she knew what Misty was talking about. The thing over the door appeared to smile even more broadly, then craned both necks down to the door, where each set of jaws grasped a black, metallic ring. They pulled, and the doors were opened with a whoosh of dark fog. Once the doors were open, Luna took one step forward.

“Wait!” Misty said. “I don’t think we should go in there. This feels like one of those places that makes you join and never lets you leave.”

“Well, we have those back home, don’t we?” Luna said, trying to sound lighthearted. “After all, many a book club seems desperate to make sure you never leave.”

“Heh…” Misty managed to chuckle, knowing precisely what Luna was talking about.

She joined Luna’s side and walked in with her.

Inside, the first thing that they noticed was how dark it was, even compared to the outside. All around, the place was filled with moving shadows. Ones that were tall, with only vague outlines like a cloak had been wrapped around them. Most horrible of all was the song they sang. That low, droning chant that haunted Luna’s nights in the castle. It shivered the very marrow in her bones as she watched the shadows shuffle about, chanting their mournful song to one another. Trying her best to not look at them, she walked onward, feeling them all around herself.

Misty felt something different. To her, something was desperate to be noticed. Begging to be seen and released. She could only see the shadows, but not the form or shape of them. For her, it was nothing but a storm of sorrows and want. A terrible place that no creature should have to be.

“Princess,” Misty said, pointing to the side.

Luna looked, and froze when she saw a shadow gliding across the floor toward her. She watched as it loomed over her, watching with its shapeless face, its voice silent from the droning of the others.

“Say something,” Misty said.

Luna swallowed and moved her jaw, but only stammered. On her next try, she found her voice. “We–We seek a-answers…”

“...Shredder…”

The voice was one to chill the soul. The shadow drifted onward into the darkness, leaving the living behind.

“I think we should go this way,” Misty said, as she started after the shadow.

Luna followed after, and had to wait for Misty to place her wing on her back before they headed onward into the darkness. In moments, Luna lost sight of their shadowy guide. But Misty had no problem guiding them, as if the way were as brightly lit as the castle halls at dusk. She almost tripped when she felt her hoof bump into something.

“Watch your step. Just follow me up,” Misty said.

There was something there that Luna couldn’t comprehend, but was perfectly evident to the griffin. As if by magic, Misty began ascending upward, as if some unseen staircase were in her way. Luna placed her hoof on where she thought the step would be. Even though she felt nothing beneath her hoof, she was unable to put it on the ground as if it were already set atop something. She followed with her next hoof. And the next, and soon she was climbing upward, just as Misty had done.

The darkness faded, and the ground leveled. Luna found herself by Misty’s side in a dimly lit room, where all manner of antiquities were laid out on stands and pedestals. Some were in cases, while others were out in the open. At the end of the room was an enormous metal bust that was mounted on the wall. Like the thing at the door, it almost looked like a dragon, but at once like a bat, if not for its metal skin, crooked horns, and the hands of the thing that jutted from either side of it, armed with dagger claws that looked like they wanted to reach out and grab all that was in the room.

Misty looked in awe at a sword on a pedestal, marveling at the pictures that had been etched into the blade and the story that it told of the warrior who may have once wielded it. The shape of it too was something to note. Like it was once the fang of an evil beast.

“Do you see anypony in here?” she asked as she moved on to the next treasure.

Luna looked all around the room, seeing only the marvelous, horrible things that were displayed there. But, not anypony who could help them.

“No. Do you sense anything in here?” Luna asked.

“Oh, yeah. I’m feeling something in here. Something big,” Misty gravely said. She looked around the room, wondering why whatever was there hadn’t shown itself. That terrible feeling of being watched by a predator was becoming unbearable. She could barely stand as she looked all around the room, feeling a tightness in her chest that threatened to never let go of her. Suddenly, an urge came over her. Something that she knew would only end badly, but she couldn’t help it. “S…So, come on out. Here we are. Where are you?”

Luna looked gravely at Misty, her eyes wide in horror and disappointment both. In an instant, a wind blew through the room, threatening to blow over the two. With it came a guttural howl that shook the room. Both Luna and Misty took cover on the floor as the different treasures started sliding across the floor against the wind. Misty yelped as the sword she had been looking at earlier slid past her, cutting off just the tips of her feathers as it went. The sword cut its way across the floor, and set itself into the mouth of the vicious bust on the wall in the place of a missing fang.

The mouth of the thing started to move, its jaw cracking from side to side. Where one of the eyes once was, an orb that crackled with red lightning inserted itself into the hollow socket, matching the bloodshot eye on the other side. More of the treasures assembled themselves onto the thing, which slammed its mismatched claws to the floor, digging them deep into the wooden boards.

“Why have you awakened me?” it demanded to know.

“Sh…Sh-Sh-Shredder…?” Luna said.

“I am. Why have you awakened me?”

“I see it…I can see it, Princess…” Misty shuddered, cowering on the floor at the sight of the thing.

“Don’t turn away from it,” Luna whispered. Having broken one rule, she couldn’t risk Misty breaking another. She then stood up as best she could keeping her head as high as it would allow her to raise it. “I’ve…I’ve come for the truth…”

“You and so many others. None of them have been able to face it, and have been driven mad. Many have become shadows of their former selves, unable to move on from what they came to know. What makes you any different from them?” Shredder asked.

“Be–Because I know what I want to know.”

The eyes of the thing glittered curiously as its draconic teeth bared all at once.

“That is different. But, it is not the same as being prepared to hear it. Come closer,” Shredder bade, motioning with one of his enormous claws.

Misty laid on the floor, trembling as a single tear rolled out of her eye. Isolation washed over her as Luna started walking toward the beast on the wall. Now, she was alone with it. She tried to decipher the intention of the beast, but her mind couldn’t focus on the feelings Shredder exuded. Whether it was too powerful, or if it simply felt nothing, she couldn’t tell. She could simply watch as Luna moved between the enormous claws, looking almost like a bird in a cage as she passed between them.

Luna’s mind felt as if it had gone blank, shivering at the sight of Shredder’s monstrous visage. On either side of herself, his claws moved up and down, surrounding her no matter where she tried to look.

“Yes…” Shredder whispered. “There is much anger in you, little pony. And dilemma. But, it is fear that consumes you.”

Luna shuddered, feeling as if she had become suddenly transparent.

“You fear what others think of you constantly. How they will see you, having known what mistakes you have made in the past. Especially if they found out about your gift.”

“G-Gift…?” Luna asked.

“The gift of sight. One that many consider a curse. And drives them to seek a way out.”

The sound of clinking chains rattled from somewhere in the room, and Luna saw the image of a hook in the eyes of Shredder. She gasped, but kept her eyes on the beast. Even as Shredder lowered his face to Luna, staring directly at her.

“Most of all, it is loss that you fear. To be alone. When you are at your most vulnerable. It’s when you feel you have been abandoned. Just as it was back then.”

“Back then…” Luna exhaled.

“Yes…Back then. The first time you noticed. When you saw…”

Luna stared into the maw of Shredder, and the darkness within seemed to spread beyond. Her mind grew hazy, and the room around her began to change into something else. Something familiar and domestic that she knew from before. Long, long ago.

Comments

[Starlight Nova]

Is this also going to be part of a series?

[AnnEldest]

11567618
Well yes. This is the re-mastered version of the first one which is much better.