Beyond My Grave: Exhumed

by AnnEldest

The Mist Of The Past

The Everfree forest was a dangerous place for anypony to enter for any reason. Nothing there was natural to be found there, and it always showed. Plants grew on their own. Clouds drifted on the winds. And the multitude of vicious, predatory animals and magical anomalies were enough to make even the bravest heart faint.

Luna galloped through the heavy dark of the Everfree, following the screams of the unseen filly. She knew that it was a foolish thing to do, even for an alicorn. But, there was nothing for it. If she did nothing to rescue the filly, how could she ever call herself a Princess of Equestria? Taking into account any possibility that she could think of, Luna rocketed across the trail toward where the screams were coming from.

She came to a crossroads, and the screaming stopped. Through the canopy overhead, the sky began to gray, and the wind began to whistle through the leaves. Luna looked down every path, hoping for some sign of the filly to reveal itself. But, not even another scream came.

“Filly!? Where are you!? I’m here!” Luna called.

Behind her, a thick, rolling fog began to creep up.

“Answer me! Please! I need to find you!”

There was no answer. Using her best judgment, Luna chose the path directly before herself and galloped in that direction, leaving the fog to follow after her.

No matter where she ran, she could see nothing. Whenever she called out, no answer was given. As far as she could tell, the filly simply disappeared. Or worse, was devoured by one of the creatures that lived there. The idea made Luna’s stomach lurch. But even if the filly was no more, she had to at least confirm it for the sake of her surviving family. It was an unpleasant duty, but she had to be the one to do it.

As the fog grew closer, Luna slowed down to a trot. She could almost hear the trees creaking and moaning as she passed by them, as if to tell her not to continue onward. But, there would be no stopping her from her grim task. Finding the lost filly was going to be done, if it was the last thing she did. And then, she heard it.

Luna gasped sharply when she heard the quiet sobs of a filly from nearby. Behind her, the fog crept forth, reaching the tip of her tail. She walked forward, feeling that she should have called out, but fearing that if she did that the sounds would stop once more. With small, cautious steps, Luna followed the sound, and the fog began to overtake her. In moments, the world became a blur of dark shadows and the shapeless gray beyond it.

Steps were heard over her own. Luna stopped and turned to see a shadow walking toward her. On an instinct, she flared her magic, ready to cast the shadow away. Until she saw that it was nothing but a pony. A stallion, who was wearing a simple coat and hat that looked worn and weathered as the trunk of the oldest tree in the forest. Once he was close enough, she saw that he had just finished placing an antiquated coin in his pocket.

The stallion stopped and looked at Luna, silently appraising her. He said nothing, but it was his silence that made Luna feel all the more anxious as the sobs continued beyond him.

“You hear it too, don’t you?” the stallion asked.

“Is there somepony down there? Does she need help?” Luna wondered.

The stallion looked at Luna, then looked back over his shoulder. After a moment of deliberation, he spoke again.

“Go, if you really want to. But, if you don’t find anything, you should never call for it to show itself. And you should only wish it the best,” he said.

Luna nodded and started to go on her way, before the stallion stopped her.

“One more thing,” he said, “If you do find anything down there, offer help only if it wants to be helped. And, heaven forbid, if you find anything evil, you must never turn your back to it.”

“I’ll keep that in mind,” Luna said, before she tried to continue.

“You must promise that you won’t,” the stallion sternly said, “That’s the easiest way for something evil to attach itself to you. When it does…Let’s just hope you have a strong constitution. Or else you’ll join whatever’s down there sooner than later.”

With those last words, the stallion continued on his way, leaving Luna alone with the unseen filly. She looked ahead toward the direction that the sobs were coming from and swallowed hard before she walked through the fog.

She found herself at a lake. One that was half hidden by the mists. And on the shore before her was a fallen log with a young filly sitting on it, crying. As quietly as she could, Luna approached the filly.

“Filly?” she began, “Why are you crying?”

The filly stopped her sobbing and turned to face Luna, who watched as the filly’s tear-streaked eyes widened.

“What?” the filly asked.

“I asked you why you were crying? Are you lost?”

“Y…You can see me?” the filly asked.

“Erm… Yes. I’ve been able to see… Ponies like you for quite some time now. But, they haven’t always answered,” Luna said. She remembered the words of the stallion from just before, and tried to think of what she could say next. “Is there something that you want?”

The filly was silent. She looked at her hooves, which Luna then saw were bleeding. Then, the filly started to choke on her own words as she spoke, “I want… I w– want to go home…”

“Where is your home? Do you know the way back?” Luna asked.

“No… I came here to lose my way… I heard that was why all ponies came here… And now… Now I don’t want it!” the filly cried out.

“Oh, filly. Please don’t cry,” Luna bade her as she approached the log next to her. “I’ll help you to find your way home. But first, we should take care of your hooves. Come along. I’ll take you to my friend beyond the forest. She’ll know what to do.”

Before the filly could answer, Luna saw something moving in the corner of her vision. Something on the surface of the lake, which was moving toward her. It looked like the tops of two black twigs, before they rose up to reveal themselves as a pair of horns. A light appeared beneath the water, and the form of the thing rose up from the shore.

Whatever it was, it was worse than anything Luna could have imagined living in the Everfree Forest. It looked like a wolf, but it wasn’t a wolf. It was twice Luna’s own height and covered in shaggy, red fur that blazed like fire. From its fur hung dozens of chains of varying length, each with a wickedly barbed hook at the end. It walked toward the ponies on powerful, muscular legs that ended in something that looked like a mix between a paw and a hoof. And its eyes were solid orange pools of glowing flame that bored into all it stared upon. However, there was no malice in those eyes. They were instead warm and welcoming, like a crackling fire in a cold room. The thing stopped just as it left the water, and opened its mouth, releasing a wisp of smoke.

“You have come to die?” it said in a low, elderly voice.

“N…No. I’ve come to help this filly,” Luna said, trying to sound bold in the face of the monster.

“That can’t be. All who come here come to die,” the beast said.

“Not us. This place is for ponies who have lost their way and…” she hesitated, trying to think of a reason why she had come, “And I’m here to reclaim it.”

The beast loosed a low, quiet hum, and walked from the water’s edge to the log where the ponies sat and stared down on them both. Luna took the filly in her hoof and pulled her closer to herself. She prepared herself to ready her magic to attack the thing at the sign of any sudden movement.

“This is the first time that anypony has said such a thing to me. Tell me, why do you believe that you can take back what can never be found?” the beast wondered.

“Because, I’ve seen it,” Luna said. “Many times, a pony has come to my sister or myself, and we’ve helped them to find their way when it has been lost.”

“Then you have only seen but a speck of what there is,” the beast answered. “In this world, there are an infinite number of destinies. All creatures walk a different path that takes them a way that is unlike any others. But then, there are those who wander aimlessly. They don’t know where they are going, even if they can clearly see the way ahead of them. And others are the ones who never even started. Those are the ones that you never see. Because they often end before you ever cross them. And there’s nothing you could do to help them. But, I can.”

The filly shuddered in Luna’s hooves. Luna held her more tightly and pulled her further from the beast.

“That’s– What a terrible thing to say! How can you so callously disregard the lives of the ponies who need guidance the most!? Do you think their life was never worthwhile!?” Luna angrily retorted.

The beast blinked its fiery eyes and shook its head slowly. “Everything in life is worthwhile. But, did you not say before that life was made of meetings and partings? That some partings happen sooner than others?”

Luna’s heart froze at those words. Had the thing been at Fluttershy’s house? How long before that? How long afterward? These questions tumbled around in her mind, but the one clear thought she had was to escape that place.

“GO! Go back into whatever depth you crawled from! I’m taking this filly, and I’m leaving!” Luna yelled at the beast.

The beast stared, unfazed by the outburst. And it began to smile.

“Very well,” it said. “You will be leaving. But, the filly is mine.”

The filly began to shudder in Luna’s grip, and tried to sink into her as if she would be saved. It was no good, as the hooks from the beast’s fur lashed out like a striking rattlesnake and dug deep into the filly’s hooves, making her wail in pain. The filly yelled for help as she was dragged across the muddy ground, into the fur of the beast.

Luna tried to flare her magic to save her, but found it again was no good. She could only watch as more creatures appeared, dangling from the hooks that hung from the beast. A symphony of silent screams filled the air around the lake, and the beast turned its back to Luna, before it walked back into the water. The filly looked one last time at the lunar princess, before she disappeared beneath the surface, and the sounds of the screaming ended.

“Princess Luna!?” a quiet, familiar voice called.

The words of the stallion rang to her again, fearing that answering a call from something unseen may be her undoing. In moments, the fog began to thin, and she was greeted by a friendly face.

Fluttershy trotted through the trees toward the lake and stopped in front of the princess.

“Princess Luna, what are you doing out here? It’s dangerous to go into the Everfree without any reason. Especially…here,” she whispered.

“I…I…” Luna stammered. She wanted so badly to tell Fluttershy what she had seen. That the cries of the filly were not just a figment of her imagination. But for fear of frightening her, she decided against it. “I thought I heard somepony calling for help. And, I suppose impulse got the better of me, and I ran off rather foolishly.”

“It’s wonderful that you’re so willing to help. But, you should have asked somepony to come with you.”

The last of the mist faded away. With it came a low moan, as if to mourn its own passing. Fluttershy lowered her head at the noise, and bade Luna to follow her.

“We should go now. We don’t want to stay any longer than we should,” she said.

Luna silently agreed and followed Fluttershy out of that dreadful hollow. The entire time they walked back, neither said anything. Whether out of fear or from something else, neither knew the answer. In time, they were back at Fluttershy’s cottage. Luna summoned her chauffeurs, and she was flown back to Canterlot. Through it all, she felt completely alone, even in the company of others.

Author's Note:

One of the chapters that needed fixing the most. A lot of old ideas in the original got changed or forgotten. So this chapter required a lot of updating. As always:

Till Next Time!!!