Gleaming at Midnight:Forest of Frustration
Chapter 1: Getting things started
“Don’t look back, you’ll never see again if you even glance at it,” -Unknown...
A stallion with orange fur was running through a forest in a panic. His yellow mane bounced as he jumped over a fallen log. He kept glancing back, just barely catching the shine of a metal object in the moonlight. Always behind him, always moving closer.
The shine got closer to him, it was reaching his hind hooves now. He made a sharp left and stopped as he reached the edge of a cliff. He looked down and saw it was at least a hundred foot drop into solid rock.
His back was now illuminated by the shine and he turned around again and screamed as his eyes burned surprise and fear for one last time.
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Vigil yawned as he stretched and slowly awoke to the early morning light. He slowly lifted himself off of the bed before shakily getting off of it. He cursed lightly to himself at the cold of the morning, and risked a glance back at his comfortable and warm bed.
He just sighed and walked to his door before opening it to the hall. From there, he groggily walked to his right and eventually entered a door on his left to a bathroom.
Vigil did his morning routine before looking into the mirror at his reflection. His sky blue eyes looked back at him in a droopy manner. His gray mane and tail hung down and his dark green coat looked darker than usual. “Eat first... then shower,” he muttered as he stepped out of the bathroom. He stepped out into the hallway again and went along down the opposite direction he went.
He started his descent downstairs when he heard shuffling and metal pans clanging and moving in the kitchen. He just shook himself and continued down. Once down, he made a U-turn and groggily dragged himself to the kitchen where Omior was in the midst of preparing breakfast.
“Morning,” Omior heard Vigil muttering but couldn’t decipher it and laughed in response. “Someone is having trouble this morning.”
“Yeah yeah...” Vigil managed out before sitting at the kitchen table. He yawned as he placed his head on the table and half shut his eyes.
“Coffee?”
“Yes,” Vigil said as he began to drift off into slumber. He jolted upright and shot his eyes open at the sound of Omior placing a cup of coffee and a plate of food in front of him.
Omior sat down at his own seat across from Vigil and dug into his eggs and pancakes. The table was silent outside of the two eating and drinking. Vigil finished first and picked up his plate with his magic. Vigil tilted his head up and took one last swig of his coffee before placing it on the plate along with the silverware before moving it to the sink. He yawned again into his hoof as he got up. “I’m gonna grab a shower before I head off to work. What about you?”
Omior put down his fork and knife and took a sip of his coffee before he spoke up. “I’ll be here. I require some training of the mind to keep myself alert. I’ve fallen behind and I need to pick things up.”
“Whatever, either way some time you have to........*yawn*...... teach me how you do some of the stuff you do,” Vigil left the kitchen as he heard Omior’s response.
“Maybe some other time.”
Vigil was more awake now as he climbed back up the stairs. He couldn’t wait to take a warm shower. He just wished he didn’t have to go and work so early today. ‘Stupid job at the stupid shop. How is it Omior has a job he can get away from, from time to time and yet mine’s so demanding? We work practically the same job!’ Vigil shook himself of those thoughts, it wasn’t good to get those thoughts, especially when he was so irritably tired.
He made it back to the bathroom and let the water run as he started drifting off again. ‘Hard to believe we’ve been in town for a half a year. Things are looking up for us.’ Vigil gave a slight smile as the water warmed quickly. ‘Jobs, a fair income with a nice house. Both of us can relax without worrying about things.’ “Yeowch!” Vigil pulled his hoof out of the waters path and waved it frantically up and down as he became very much awake and aware of how fast the water heated up. “Fucking, son of a........urgh!” Vigil used his magic to turn the waters temperature down, not risking putting a hoof anywhere near the path of the flow of water now.
After waiting for about five minutes, Vigil tentatively put a hoof under the water again, gauging the temperature of water. Once the green unicorn was content with his waters temperature, he stepped in and let himself relax under the continuous beat of warm water.
Omior was downstairs, whistling as he washed the dishes. Just as he finished, a knock came to the door.
Omior glanced towards the door before shrugging and drying his hands on a small hand towel. He walked over to the door as a second set of knocks came to it. Just as they finished, he opened up to a white furred pony with a steel grey mane and tail. “White Knight. To what do I owe this pleasure?” Omior smiled at the pony. His smile lessened when he saw Knight’s expression. “What’s wrong?”
“Hey, Omior, mind if I come in? I got some questions for you and your friend Eye spy,” Omior nodded and pushed the door the rest of the way open before stepping to the side, allowing the guard captain to enter.
“Make yourself at home captain. Vigil’s in the shower though, so it might be a minute if you really need to talk to him,” White Knight just nodded as Omior led him into the main room next to the kitchen. He took a seat and Omior spoke up again. “Would you like something to drink? Coffee? Water? Tea?”
“Coffee, if you have any,” the captain smiled as he forced himself not to yawn.
Omior nodded and went into the kitchen, grabbing a mug from the shelf he asked without even glancing back. “Cream or no?” The sound of water running through pipes stopped from upstairs.
“Uh cream, if you please.”
Omior handed the cup of coffee to White before nodding and speaking again. “I’ll get Vigil. One moment please,” the ex-warrior made his way over and up the stairs. White Knight took a sip from his cup and waited patiently.
After about a minute and a half, Knight heard mumbles just barely out of his hearing reach from the stairs. It started getting louder and more discernable as Vigil and Omior made their way downstairs.
The two took a seat facing the guard captain. He put his mug down and began. “I’d love to say I’m not here on business but we all know how much of a lie it would be,” he smirked quickly before dropping to a more serious expression. “Have either of you heard any strange noises as of last night? Any shouts or screams or anything at all that sounded odd?”
Omior and Vigil both shook their heads. But Vigil also spoke up. “We haven’t heard anything as far as I’d guess, but what’s this all about Knight?”
“A mare was found murdered near your home. It leads to a long string of murders since this town’s construction,” White Knight sat back down as he continued his questioning. “What were you both doing between the hours of 11pm and 3am?”
“Sleeping,” Vigil answered bluntly. Omior nodded in agreement.
The guard captain sighed as he spoke up. “At least that knocks you both off the suspect list for now, but it’s still unnerving,” White Knight slumped back into his previous seat.
“What do you mean by unnerving?” Omior asked.
White flashed a show of concern and worry before his tired eyes just gave way again. “Whoever this psychopath is, they’re good. And it seems like this murderer is getting bolder by the day, slowly over the last five years the murders have been growing more frequent and the bodies are found closer and closer to town. The mayor has been worried since day one whether or not the town would have to be shut down and the residents forcibly evicted because of this,” White leaned forward and placed his head in his hooves. “This whole thing has every guard on high alert and every investigator confused.” The guard captain chuckled a little bit before moving his head up from his hooves. “I guess I said a little bit too much, huh? Sorry to bother you two. I think I may have overstayed my welcome.”
Omior nodded and Vigil got up from his seat and motioned for White to follow him to the door. Omior followed shortly behind the two.
The three said their goodbyes. White Knight taking his leave and Vigil making his way for work. Omior shut the door behind him and walked towards the back door.
The backyard was unfenced, wildflowers growing this way and that. A small pond could be seen with a few rocks just barely out of the water by their round tops to his right. Omior walked past the pond and sat in the center of a set of long sticks that were placed in a circle shape. He began to close his eyes soon after.
The world around him seemed to silence. He focused on his inner thoughts. Practicing an age old traditional training exercise. He ‘felt’ for the warmth that radiated from his body, and from there he slowly felt as it changed from the flow of cold wind brushing around his body. He watched with closed eyes as the wind chased itself through the grass and leaves. The water in the pond rippled as small waves collided. He heard a rabbit scurrying in the wildflowers. Chewing on one Omior had liked.
A loud snap broke him from his concentration. He opened his eyes and got up.
Turning around, Omior saw a large set of deep gashes in a tree. The splinters of the tree were nowhere to be seen. It was as if the wood had disappeared rather than had been ripped out.
A rock fell into the pond and Omior shot his eyes over to it. He heard more sounds come around him one after another. A crow cawing, a fox yipping, another gash in the same tree on the opposite side of it.
Then the sounds stopped. Everything just continued as if the strange event never occurred. The birds from the tree with the gashes flew back into it or around it, and the fox that yipped and ran off came back.
Before Omior could question the events that had just happened, a familiar voice trailed into earshot. Omior turned to see a familiar sight walking towards him, not too far. “Greetings Ms. Rose. What brings you here?”
Anabelle Rose, a mare with a cream colored coat. Her mane and tail were both crimson red with a light browning around the edges. She smiled her warm greeting smile. “Well, I was in the area so I thought I’d stop by. I closed up shop today since business was pretty much dead.”
“Would you care for some tea then?”
Anabelle shook her head. “No, I can’t really stay. I was just hoping to catch a glimpse of your ‘training.’”
Omior nodded and walked with Anabelle towards the forest. “So what really brought you through here?”
Rose giggled a little bit. “Well some lucky stallion ordered some special flowers that could be found in the forest. They are rare when you don’t know where to look for them and can only grow in the forest. That’s one of the reasons I had actually closed the shop for today too.”
“Would you like me to accompany you then Ms. Rose? It might be dangerous if you have to go too deep in the forest,” Omior and Rose stopped just on the edge of the forest line.
Rose shrugged off the offer saying, “oh pshaw, don’t worry about me. The forest isn’t exactly a deathtrap, and it’ll only take about an hour to get to the spot where they grow if memory serves right.”
Omior nodded and shook Anabelle’s hoof. “Then i’ll see you at work tomorrow Ms. Rose, do be careful though, you never know what you might stumble across in there.”
“And you have a good day yourself. Good luck with your training,” both parties went their separate ways.
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The construction was going swimmingly, a pony wanted a mansion built at the edge of town and construction was going faster than expected. Among the construction team was Vigil, using his magic to pull at a stray wooden board.
He struggled with the board a little bit before it snapped and he fell back. Vigil tossed it aside and looked to where he pulled it from. “Damnit I thought I was wrong. Stupid.”
“Eye Spy, what’s the hold up now?” Vigil’s boss, Steele Reinforcer asked as he popped his head into the room. The pony in question grunted in reply. “Nothing boss, just some trouble with a stray board or two.”
Steele walked into the room and scrutinized the area Vigil mentioned before coming to a conclusion. “S’not a stray board. That would be the location for the err... Whatchamacallit. The uh.....turn switch yeah, it’s a place marker for where we put that doohickey my boss told us to put there.”
“Oh,” Vigil muttered. “Whoops.”
Steele turned to Vigil and let his strong gaze break into a more compassionate one. “What’s wrong now Spy? You getting enough sleep?”
Vigil raised an eyebrow. “Yeah I’m sleeping just fine, why?” Vigil was about to continue speaking when he hit the wall next to the exit. The one freshly built an hour ago. A few cracks appeared on it as he shook himself of the debri that had flaked onto him.
Steele walked up to where Vigil was standing and scowled at the wall. “Alright that’s it. You’ve got desk duty for the day. Afterwards, I want you to go home and take tomorrow off,” Vigil was about to rebuttal when Steele hardened his features into a scowl-like manner.
“Fine...” Vigil turned and walked slowly towards the mobile office room the boss made them take in case of ‘paperwork emergencies’. Once he got out of earshot he started lightly mumbling to himself. “Crazy to even keep the thing around.” He kicked a stray screwdrive that was on the ground. “I’m not tired so what is it?”
Vigil pushed open the door to the mobile office. Inside was a simple desk, a few cupboards, a mini fridge, and a few cabinets. Along with that was the usual office supply one would expect.
Vigil sighed and let the door close behind him as he prepared for a long day of nothing followed by tomorrows long day of nothing.
Ten minutes later, Vigil was near catatonic with boredom. His head lay on the desk as he was left with no other option. “Uhhh, why did I do something so stupid? Why do I have to be on desk duty?”
The sound of water caught Vigil’s attention and he sat his head up straight. He looked around in confusion for where the sound could be coming from. “That’s strange.:” Vigil rubbed the back of his head with his hoof. “There isn’t any running water in this thing. Is there?” He thought aloud as he got up from his seat. He stretched his back out and went looking around the small trailer office for the source of the sound.
After a minute of searching the sound, scratching joined in as well. Vigil became rather irate as time went on and the sounds kept going on a seemingly endless loop.
“Where is it where is it?” A third sound, a sound of a hammer hitting sheet metal over and over. “Urgh!” Vigil slammed his hoof against the wall next to the desk. The hit resulted in the wallpaper caving inwards and Vigil falling into it.
He screamed in surprise and fear as he was swallowed by blackness, the light of the hole he fell from quickly became a dot of color before quickly disappearing, swallowed by the darkness that surrounded him.
A white light, much akin to reflecting light from something, blinded him for a short few seconds.
He rubbed his eyes and tried to make heads or tails of what had happened. He looked around the dimly lit room. The walls were decayed and unkempt. The floor was cold and the tile was rotting. Dust covered everything the green pony could see. It wasn’t much sadly, as it was a single dying lightbulb above him that kept light flowing through the room.
Vigil attempted to cast a spell, perhaps something to illuminate the room better, but all that occurred was a small flash akin to the light a camera would give and then nothing from it. He was about to speak when he realized his mouth was covered by a metal clamp that circled around his entire head. He struggled with it shortly before trying his magic again. The same results came and he sighed inwardly.
Standing to his hooves, he looked to the door of the small room he was in. It was a large metal door, covered with rust, bolts, and a few nameless sharp objects. He carefully walked to it. He tried his magic again and it lit the room in a slight green glow before fizzling out.
Vigil pushed at the door with his hooves and it groaned and scratched at the floor. He kept pushing and it slowly moved inch by inch, resounding off of the walls of the inside of the room.
He was so caught up in pushing the door he failed to realize the sound of dripping had returned and the walls were oozing droplets of something dark red.
The unicorn pushed the door open enough to finally step out of the room. The thin hall he had entered though, was in just as bad condition, if not worse. The floor and walls were worn and damaged, some places covered in a strange dull red that flaked. A door at the end of the left side of the hall and a door at the end of the right side of the hall as well as windows all across the walls with no doors near them greeted the unicorn.
Vigil stepped out and the door slammed shut behind him. He jumped and turned around in reaction. He jerked back in surprise when he saw the door was gone and what replaced it was a clean and freshly built wall with fresh red drips that read the words “Don’t look back. He never stops once you see him.”
Vigil began to panic inwardly, trying in vain to yell something through the shackle around his mouth. “Mmmph?! Mmph ht ooh hen!” (‘What?! what do you mean?!’). He looked at each of the doors down the thin hallway. He began breaking into a heavy sweat as he tried to make heads or tails of what to do.
The windows on the entirety of the hall broke one by one, down to the doors. He heard the long loud sound of moaning and rapidly looked at both doors as he tried to make a decision. From the far right door the windows nearest to it showed both hooves and hands reaching out and pulling on the broken glass. He made his decision. “Hu hi!” (‘Fuck it!’). He turned to the door facing his left and went into full run towards it.
The hands and hooves had varying breaks and ripped open skin with blood dripping from them as they reached out to grab Vigil. It seemed the faster he ran the closer the hands and hooves were to grabbing him.
He was a few feet from the door when the knob turned. He tried stopping as it opened to reveal a large room of torture devices. Blood covered every inch of the room in a permanent red stain. A human with a black bag over his head stood at the door, covered in scars that looked as though he’d been sewn together everywhere.
Vigil began yelling through his clamp in fear as he turned and was grabbed by his tail by the human. He grunted as he dragged Vigil inside, shutting the door behind them.
He struggled and struggled against the human’s grip but by the time he realized how futile it was, he had been chained to a metal table above a tub filled with blood.
Vigil began crying in his delirious state of fear, struggling against the seemingly invincible binds.
“Do quiet down now. You’re only going to make things harder and more painful,” a voice came from behind the table he was strapped to. What came into sight made Vigil stop and listen.
The creature was a jigsaw puzzle of body parts. A human right arm, a pony right hoof, a left foreleg, a right leg, a left arm and a left hand of a different kind. The pony’s head was made of at least five different ponies and two different humans. “I see you’ve chosen my door. So let us get to work now, shall we? Marker, I do believe it’s time,” the human turned to the wall of blood soaked tools and scanned them seemingly endlessly as the pony monstrosity spoke up.
“Oh, you look scared,” he flashed a look of sympathy for a moment. “Well you shouldn’t fear me or my associate. You see, we’re getting sort of bored with things and you and your friend are rather new. I’ve not been able to dissect a human in at least a hundred years...” He looked giddy as he smiled absentmindedly.
Vigil nearly barfed into his mouth at the site of the horridly disfigured mouth covered with scars, blood, and bits of meat stuck in the monstrosities teeth.
“Oh yes, your associate, his name is.......I don’t know something with an “O”, it doesn’t matter. What does matter is what’s going on inside him and you both.”
The human came back with a strange object in his hands. It was like hand cuffs that could fit a pair of hooves, and two large blades were held pointing out the same direction. The human handed the device to the pony who smiled even wider and far more darker. “Ooh.. looks like he’s picked one of my favorites. I like to call it “the digger”, for its innate ability to dig into a ponies hooves and stay there. It can also increase pressure until it completely removes them, though it rather easily cuts through solid bone of a human though so it makes it less fun to use on them,” he chained Vigil’s right hoof as the human undid the latches holding him there.
Vigil took the opportunity to attempt to free himself. He nearly succeeded once he hit the human where he thought the nose was. The human reared back but the pony managed to press a button on the device that caused the blade to slice down from it’s outward position and just before it hit his hoof, he felt a hoof slap him across the face, sending him into darkness again.
Vigil found himself being shaken awake by a pair of strong hooves. His boss Steele was standing over him as well as some of his coworkers. He shot up and looked around in a cold sweat.
“Vigil you okay? You looked like you were out cold,” one of the workers said.
“I.....I don’t..... no what was......I have no idea...” He managed out in between his panting.
“Woah, slowly, breathe deeply,” his boss said as he helped Vigil get to his hooves.
“It just....What happened?” Vigil asked, confusion lining his voice.
“Sounded like somepony was having a fight, came rushing in to find you rolling around in a panic in your sleep,” one of his coworkers explained.
“You seemed really troubled by whatever it was you were dreaming,” another one added.
Vigil just looked at the wall next to the desk in hesitant confusion. “Is that all?”
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Vigil drudged into the house and plopped down face first into the couch. Omior merely glanced over at him before going back to making dinner.
“So how was training?” Vigil muttered through the couch cushion he had his face lodged in.
“It was rather odd, but fine nonetheless. Rose stopped by on her way to pick some rare flowers in the forest,” he mentioned offhandedly, in truth his mind kept replaying the events prior to Anabelle’s visit.
“So your boss decided to drop by? Pfft, you get off so easy with that job of yours.”
He ignored the comment as he pulled the food off the pan. “Dinner’s ready if you want it,” He took a good chunk of the food onto a plate and grabbed a glass of water as he sat down on the table.
Vigil just muttered something unintelligible into the sofa cushion and got up to go grab his share of food. Within a few minutes, Omior had finished his meal, once he placed his plate and cup in the sink, he went upstairs for the night.
Vigil called out through half eaten food. “Night man,” but Omior was already out of earshot.
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Later that night, Omior shot awake to the sound of banging. He looked around the room quickly before getting up and going towards his door. “What’s happening?” He spoke aloud in his half drowsy, half alert state. He walked down the hall and towards the stairs. The banging sounded frantic, as if somepony or something needed help.
Omior picked his pace up at the thought of somepony needing help and once he got downstairs he turned towards the back door. It was a straight shot right next to the kitchen, which he made a small sprint for once he heard the banging cease.
He opened the door to a rush of cold wind and a surprising sight. He leaned down and picked up a saddlebag, left in a torn ruin on the ground in front of the back door. Omior took one extra step out the door and looked around cautiously, after a moment he decided it was safe. He looked back down at the torn cloth bag in his hands and clutched it.
Just as the warrior was about to turn around and go inside, a small light in the distance caught his eye. It moved frantically around and just when Omior thought he could make it out, it vanished. He blinked and rubbed his eyes before taking another look. This resulted in his temporary and immediate blindness of his surroundings. He fell back into the house and managed to shut the door with a loud slam using his foot.
Vigil came downstairs in a sleepy rush. “What’s with all the noise?”
Omior just rubbed at his eyes and panted as his short burst of adrenaline died down. Once he could see again, he merely responded, “I wish I knew.”