Everywhere, there was darkness. The meadow, the shores of the ocean, even the Foothills all held a sense of foreboding and drove any and all life away, myself included.

"Leave me, demons!" I cried as I fled south and across the expanse of Helovia, dark eyes wide with whites showing as I searched desperately for somewhere, anywhere that was safe. Pure, cold terror gripped at my heart as I looked to and fro for a sign of life, but it seemed as though all the other inhabitants were quite simply and suddenly gone. The only thing left on this earth was myself, lathered in frothy sweat and heart ready to burst from my chest, and the malicious darkness that nipped at my heels with every stride taken.

But soon, I began to pick up the scent of others, and the smallest sliver of hope began to blossom within me. Yet still not a single soul could be seen, and so I followed the musty aroma of others, uncertain if this was reality or my desperation playing cruel tricks on me. I couldn't take a chance, however, and pressed on until the ground beneath my hooves turned to malleable clay. I didn't even have time to notice how it was much warmer here than anywhere else, my gaze now focused ahead and determined to find what I hoped to be somebody else. Up ahead was a sea of grasses, looming much higher than I could ever dream of being, and I didn't slow as I ran into them.

For one moment, my mind was filled with the horror of what could be lurking just behind my sight in the thick vegetation, but the thought quickly left me when the ground beneath me seemed to give way, and before I knew it, I was falling.

Down and down I went, thankfully on my side, and though my legs thrashed in a struggle to rise from the muddy and rocky decline, I seemed to be relatively unharmed once I came to a stop at the bottom. Terror still lingered at the forefront of my mind, accompanied by the instinct to keep running. But as I stood there and the darkness no longer threatened me from behind, I began to calm, and after a few moments began to look around with a low, uncomfortable snort. Mud speckled the majority of my left side, and there would undoubtedly be a few cuts, but nothing that would kill me.

I didn't know where I was, for I was still so new to Helovia, but I'd managed to fall down into a cave. The scents still lingered, though my eyes failed to spy anyone immediately. From the ceiling hung grand, dagger-like stalactites and from beneath them were stalagmites, most reaching higher than myself. Wherever I was, its beauty was nearly enough to steal away all of my previous fear, and it surely would have done just that if not for the sudden, sharp pain that shot through my leg.

A gasp passed my lips when I looked down; blood slicked the tawny and black hide of my left front leg, dripping from a gash that ran from just below the front of the knee down to the hock. As though the sight of the wound sparked the realization of pain, I lifted the leg with a sharp breath filtered in from between clenched teeth. "H-Hello?" I stammered, tearing my gaze from the sight of my leg and looking around. Oh, dear Gods, I prayed these caves were vacant of the monsters from colthood stories. I did my best to remain calm, but I must admit, it was beyond difficult. "Is anybody else here? Please, I-... I am a part of the Foothills, I mean no harm, a-and... ooh," I groaned, "I'm gonna die!" Because surely I would.

Or maybe I was just a bit of a big baby.


"talk"
F I N N
to coax the darkness into light