Part 8 – Genie
Darkness.
Complete and utter darkness.
That was all that surrounded them.
Bright Eyes and Streaky kept close to each other as they hurried to Paradise Estate. Around them, a howling echoed, each time from a different place to ensure they weren't able to figure out its location. Bright Eyes jumped each time it started, and Streaky quickened her pace, pulling Bright Eyes along with her.
The darkness covered them like a heavy blanket, smothering them. Then, the sounds stopped.
Bright Eyes and Streaky also stopped. They looked around, briefly relieved of the silence.
"Do you think they're gone?" Streaky asked, looking over her shoulder.
Bright Eyes shook her head. "I think they might be hiding." She too turned to look behind her, and when she turned back, she was met with a pair of glowing eyes, inches from her face.
Bright Eyes screamed and backed away. Streaky grabbed her hoof, dragging her and ran.
The noises began once more, this time louder, closer. Shouting, howling and underneath it all, a whisper. Neither pony could make out what it was saying, only that it was there, and the longer it whispered, the more desperate it sounded.
The other sounds quieted, with only the whispering to be heard. It increased in volume, sounding as if it were coming from all around them. Streaky moved closer to Bright Eyes when they stopped again, the shadow creature's eyes having disappeared. The whispers got closer until they were right next to the two ponies.
"…gone."
"No…"
"Get away…"
"GO AWAY!"
Streaky gasped and ran. Bright Eyes was quick to follow. The two ponies ran through the darkness, unsure of where they were going, only that they were getting further away from the shout. A howl resounded from somewhere in the distance, a screech followed, then nothing.
Ahead of them, what looked to be a shack sat underneath a dead tree. Its bare branches reached across to the rooftop like skeletal fingers, the broken windows staring out with their jagged edges. The two ponies headed toward it, leapt through the door almost taking it off its hinges. Streaky slammed it shut behind them and put a chair beneath the door handle.
Even with the jewels in her eyes to allow her to see in the daytime, Bright Eyes, like the rest of the Twinkle Eyed ponies, could see in the dark. She let Streaky sit down after finding her a chair. Once that was done, Bright Eyes explored the shack.
It was little more than a shed. A lamp sat on a table covered with cobwebs, the floor was bare, while dust clung to every surface. It was however safe, no creatures lurked, and nothing that could've made the awful noises from outside was here either.
Bright Eyes returned to Streaky and sat with her.
Streaky looked over to her. "What do we do now?" she asked.
"Keep going towards Paradise Estate, I think," Bright Eyes answered. "If nothing else, we should be safe there and they might have some ideas."
"We don't even know if we're going the right way."
Bright Eyes sighed. "If we wait till morning, we'll be all right." She nudged Streaky. "Try and get some sleep, it's been a long, tiring day."
At some point, Bright Eyes too dozed off.
The darkness remained, thick and oppressive. Though with the darkness, came something else too.
Bright Eyes awoke to Streaky shaking her. It took a moment for her to realise what was going on before she noticed the knocking at the door.
"What is that?" she whispered.
Streaky shook her head and put a hoof to her mouth.
Whatever was on the other side of the door knocked again.
And again.
And again.
Streaky moved closer to Bright Eyes, both ponies now holding onto each other.
It knocked, and knocked, and kept knocking. The same pattern, same amount of force with each knock, nothing changing.
Then it stopped.
Footsteps walked away from the door, around the side of the building, and Bright Eyes saw a shape pass by the window. She stood up, though she stayed low to the floor. She moved toward the chair under the door handle and moved it. The legs of the chair scraped against the floor with a screech.
Bright Eyes froze.
The footsteps stopped.
The shape was at the window now. The glowing eyes had returned.
"Come on!" Bright Eyes shouted. She threw the door open and sprinted from the shack, Streaky close at her heels. The eyes became a figure, and it was also following them.
"…run…"
"Run away…"
"Go…"
"Hurry!"
As well as the glowing eyes, the whispers returned too. The two ponies kept running blindly, unsure if this was the right way or not.
Ahead was a light, dim and glowing. Bright Eyes ran faster, heading toward it. Another figure appeared behind the light, and they realised it was a unicorn. She was white, stars covering her body. Her horn had lit up and a puff of glowing clouds appeared, heading towards the creature that chased them.
The creature halted, tilting its head as the clouds came closer. When the cloud touched it, the creature screeched.
"Away with you!" the white unicorn yelled.
The creature screeched again, then snarled.
The unicorn cast another glowing cloud, this time sending it toward the creature. It growled and stalked away.
Bright Eyes and Streaky stood, trying to catch their breath. The unicorn approached them, checking them over.
"Are the two of you all right?" the unicorn asked.
Bright Eyes nodded. "We're fine. Though I don't like to think what would've happened if you hadn't been there."
"Indeed. There are so many of these things appearing, and just in the last few days."
Streaky stepped forward. "What's your name?"
The white unicorn's eyebrows rose. "Oh! My apologies. My name's Genie."
"This is Bright Eyes, and I'm Streaky," Streaky answered.
"Where are you headed?"
Bright Eyes was the one who answered this time. "Paradise Estate. I don't suppose you know if it's close or not?"
Genie nodded. "Let me take you there. My magic seems to keep these things away."
Streaky and Bright Eyes both nodded, and let Genie lead them towards their destination.