Shadows Watching

by SaltyJustice

Chapter 9

I woke up with a sudden urgency, my dreams washed into nothingness as reality returned and surrounded me. It was still dark out, pale, soft moonlight streaming through the window and illuminating the wall clock, which read 3:25 am.

I had not awoken with the usual urgency one gets in the early morning, particularly if one had been drinking a lot of water the day previous. I couldn't quite place what it was, but I knew it was important, very important. And I knew it involved Twilight Sparkle.

I hopped out of bed, leaving the covers in a tangle. No time to comb or get anything, just go, get moving. The house was quiet, still. My parents were sleeping in the room next to mine. I could hear Dad softly snoring as I made my way outside. I only carried my keys, no saddlebags this time, I needed to move quickly.

As I made my way towards the Sparkle household, my pace increased of its own accord. At first I had been walking, then trotting, now I was moving at a gallop, and no faster lest I tire myself out. There was no time for questions, no time for anything, I had to get to Twilight's house.

My memory of the house's location was clear and crisp, all others had faded into a blend of colors and shapes from yesterday. I made my way there in record time, stopping at the front yard, finally, to question just how insane this was going to look if anypony saw me. What was I doing here? What would I say? Oh, just came to check on your daughter, Mrs. Sparkle, at 3am! I do it for all the fillies I sit for, you know.

Forget all that. I opened the door quietly with my copy of their key and snuck inside. I couldn't hear anypony else in the house, it was quite still, except, there was a gentle breathing sound coming from the living room.

I leaned my head around the corner, moonlight cast long shadows in the room while leaving me cloaked in darkness. In the middle of the beam of light sat Twilight, looking up at the moon.

"Twilight?" I whispered, trying my best not to alarm her with a sudden noise.

"Cadence!" she said back, standing up and walking over to me.

I wasn't sure what I was supposed to do now, or even what I was doing here. Leave? Maybe.

"Come on, we have to go," I whispered to her. She nodded and we set off back out the door, quietly closing it behind us and leaving only a soft click as we did. A feeling of dread began to well up inside me, whatever it was, it was going to happen very soon.

We made it past the garden and out to the street before I realized what was going on. It was quiet, completely quiet. No sound, no humming, no crickets, absolutely, deathly still. My stomach twisted, I strained to hear anything I could. Twilight stood at attention next to me, perhaps sharing the same feeling I had. We stood in the street and waited.

The gurgling started, much faster than last time, and far closer. There was no time for anything else, it was coming fast, and would appear within seconds. I needed to make them count.

"Twilight, get on my back and hold on. Don't let go whatever you do." I whispered to her in my most authoritative tone. She hopped on without another word and gripped her forelegs around my neck. I could feel them trembling slightly as they held on.

The gurgling stopped as it reached the surface only a few meters away. I didn't look this time, I didn't want to look. I didn't even need to see it to know I wanted to be away from it. An aura of hatred was emanating from it, I could feel it all around, making the air thick and heavy. I turned away, and I could feel Twilight turn her head to look.

"What is that thing?" she asked, almost as a curiosity. No fear, no screaming, just idle disinterest. Maybe she had gone into shock.

I had no time to answer, I took off as fast as I could away from the thing. Twilight tucked her head in close to my neck instinctively, making us as aerodynamic as possible. She was heavy, far heavier than my saddlebags had been last time, and I could not run as fast as before. I would have to try to anyway.

We cleared the first two blocks as I barreled down the empty sidewalks at full tilt. I had started with a lead on it this time, if it was even the same beast as the last one, but it was to no use. The heavy filly weighing me down was too much, I pushed harder.

My legs started to burn, my chest ached, but my resolve would not wane. It was not merely my own life, but Twilight's this time, I wouldn't allow this filthy thing to even touch her, not as long as my heart kept beating.

The street ahead of us ended but there was a walkway between two of the houses leading to a park behind them. I turned slightly to angle into the narrow path, hoping the creature was too large to fit and would have to stop. It was to no avail, it concentrated itself into a smaller frame as the hate emanating behind me became more intense. They could change their shape at will, only speed would keep us ahead. It was gaining on us.

The park was uneven ground, and I could not slow down as I tore over it. I made it halfway to the other side, where another street ran ahead, before the inevitable happened. My leg cramped up, the slight catch caused me to miss my step, and I tumbled.

My chest slammed into the ground first, Twilight's grip around my neck loosened and broke as she flipped over my head, landing neatly on all fours in front of me. My hoof was crushed by my own weight, I thought I heard a snap in it. Pain shot all over. Twilight turned around to look down at me as the beast closed the distance and threatened to overtake me.

"Twilight," I hissed out. I had precious little breath to give. "Run."

She didn't answer, nor did she run. She looked up at something behind me, far up. It was tall, close. It was over top of me now, but I couldn't move. I could only sit and watch the horror on Twilight's face as she stared up at it. Her jaw dropped and stayed down. It would all be over soon.

CRACK

A bright flash shot everywhere, casting the entire world into a white glare with only Twilight's silhouette in front of me. A roar echoed all around us, louder than anything I had ever heard before, like a thousand tons of TNT detonating at once, bouncing and ricocheting off the grass and trees to cast weaker echoes in every direction. The sound was not a sound, it sent its waves though my head and not my ears.

It was gone. The flash, the roar. The creature. They were all gone. I had closed my eyes in preparation for the end, an end which did not come. I felt something nuzzling me gently. I opened them to see Twilight prodding me with her nose.

"Cadence, wake up please, wake up!" she cried. There was a tear in her eye. As she saw me look up at her, relief overtook grief. She hugged me.

The pain was gone, as was the exhaustion. I gently tested my leg to find there had been no breaking of bones. Only my chest had a few scrapes on it, my pink coat covered in green ground-up grass. For any observer, it was as though I had just had a mild trip. The previous two minutes had not happened.

Twilight and I wordlessly made our way back to her house. Questions ran themselves through my brain, but to ask them of her would do us no good. She was every bit as confused as I was, I knew nothing she did not. Except for one thing.

"What did it look like, Twilight?" I asked as we made our way past her house's garden, towards the door.

She didn't answer. She just shook her head. Best to let that one slide then.

I told her to go back to bed, that it was all just a bad dream and that I would see her Wednesday. She didn't want to go to bed, she wanted to stay with me, and it was only by promising to come by tomorrow and check on her that I got her to go. I made my way back to my bed and fell into the covers.

I wanted it to be just a bad dream, but this time the evidence was too much.

I wanted to be insane, that would have been easier than accepting that this was real.

I wanted to know what had happened, and at the same time, to forget it had happened.

Most of all, I wanted to know: Why me? What had I done to have such terrifying occurrences become commonplace?

The next morning, I wasn't scheduled to do any sitting, but I had a brilliant excuse ready if I needed it. Now that I was fully conscious, navigating conversations would be child's play. It's only when you've tried to explain yourself on negative twelve hours of sleep that you realize just how easy it is and how much we take for granted.

The house was just as I remembered it, which was good, as having hallucinated the entire day previous would really have taken the wind out of my sails. If I had been romping around in a dumpster with a bag of shredded lettuce I had thought was a filly, I'd be locked in an institution. At the very least I'd get fired.

I knocked on the door and it opened a few moments later. Standing in front of me was a white colt with a blue mane. He looked to be about my age. He looked at me passively, his jaw slightly agape.

"Oh hello, is Twilight here?" I asked innocently.

No response.

"Hello?" Nothing.

"Uhhh," Nada.

"I'm her foalsitter?" Zip.

Does this run in the family? At least he recognized I was there, his eyes followed my face as I nervously fidgeted in place.

"Oh oh oh! Cadence, hello there," the familiar sound of Twilight's mother's voice came from behind the colt as she emerged from the doorway. The colt stepped to the side but did not take his eyes off me.

"Good to see you Cadence," she continued. "Terribly sorry I don't have time to chat, just on my way out you know. Is something the matter?"

Time for my brilliant cover story.

"What? Oh, am I not supposed to sit for Twilight today?" I asked, as I saw a certain purple filly come out of her room and head towards the commotion. Her face lit up when she saw me and she trotted the rest of the way.

"Oh, no," her mother said, as Twilight pushed past her. "You don't sit on Tuesdays, remember?" she patted Twilight's mane, which was scruffy and unkempt. She must have just woken up.

I made a big show of whacking myself in the side of the head with my hoof. Perhaps too big of a show, the impact stung and left a brisk thwack in the air.

"Ohhh, I'm sorry," I said, winking at Twilight. She winked back. All is well here.

"I was so caught up I forgot what day it was! I'll see you tomorrow then Twilight," I finished. She nodded at me and then went back inside. The colt was still staring at me, his mouth now fully slacked open.

I didn't want to be rude, but I was worried he might be, well, special. There's nothing wrong with that, of course, but it was a shame: he was so cute. His mane curled around his ear and the light blue stripes complimented his eyes. Why do the cute ones always have to be so dumb?

Mrs. Sparkle practically had to drag him back inside after giving me a polite nod. I left the house with no fear for Twilight's safety, perhaps she had taken my advice and concluded it was just a bad dream.

I wished I could take my own advice for once, but it was not to be.

Author's Note:

Mwehehehehehehehehe. That's one mwe and eight he's.

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[Luckyfanisaac]

The sound was not a sound, it sent its waves through my head and not my ears.