Silent V Dusk

They felt the cold breath too... Described every last detail of what transpired mere moments ago. So, was it in your town? Was it just biding its time? Was it stalking you right now? There was no real point in panicking. Predators often react more aggressively to sacred prey; they see them as easy pickings. One good thing that came from the whole damn thing is that you knew how to stun it if needed, how to tell if it was chasing you, and how to avoid it. There are three more disks left, the last two with a real Title was called Manifestation and Costs That Weren't Ready To Be Paid. The other two were disks with the changed titles Hunted and They. Maybe Manifestation will change also? Only one way to find out. You inserted the last disk in the device, and the audio began to play. " Day: 9. Fifteen minutes until exfil. Don't ask me how we survived this long; I have no idea. But that's not to say that the minutes we survived didn't come without a price. We all smell like rotting meat, have multiple lacerations and bite wounds, and we're all becoming more anxious by the minute. It's not made any better that we have to keep moving. The only real hope we had was that we knew where the exfil was going to be. We've confirmed that what we call the Festering is a single entity, no infection risk. It's literally wearing what's left of poppy. We can still hear her calling to kill her, but we aren't sure if it is her or just the Festering imitating her. It's hard to be the reliable one in this situation; I'm just as scared and petrified as everyone else. We're doing what we can to get outta here alive and together. " A low crying filled the air, getting louder and louder every second. " Shit....... everyone, smear yourself in what rotten meat you have left, and play dead. Signing off. " The audio cut, the disk slid out, still with the same title. That was significantly shorter than the others, but the reason was already given. The Festering was closing in. Clearly, they made it out alive. Who else would've continued to make the floppy disks? And exfil was on their way, all you can do is hope that the survivors make it out. And that they didn't take anything with them.

It was 2:30 AM, and your eyes were getting heavy, and breaths soon became yawns. You looked at your bed as if it were made of gold. You crawled into bed and pulled the blanket over you. You lay on your side, facing away from the device and the crate of disks; you really didn't want to think about them. You closed your eyes, fell limp, and just before you fell asleep, you heard something. It sounded like... breathing? And it was right behind you. Whatever was behind you, its breath was icy cold. So cold that you physically shivered each time its breath hit your skin. When you finally built up the courage to turn around, it was gone, and the breathing stopped.  However, something had changed. There was a new message on the wall behind the device, in the same dark red ink. However, you were starting to question if it was just ink. " ₩ⱧɎ гРɎØɄ ₦Ø₮ Ⱡł₴₮Ɇ₦? ł ₲₳VɆ ɎØɄ ₳ ₣₳łⱤ ₩₳Ɽ₦ł₦₲. ł₮ ₮ⱧⱤłVɆ₴ ₮Ø ⱤɆ₥₳ł₦ Ʉ₦₭₦Ø₩₦. ł₮ ⱧɄ₦₮₴ ₩Ⱨ₳₮ɆVɆⱤ ₭₦Ø₩₴ ł₮ ɆӾł₴₮₴. ₳₦Đ ₦Ø₩, ɎØɄ ₭₦Ø₩ ₩ⱧɆⱤɆ ł₮ ₵₳₥Ɇ ₣ⱤØ₥, ₳₦Đ ₮Ⱨ₳₮'₴ Ɇ₦ØɄ₲Ⱨ ₣ØⱤ ł₮. ฿Ɇ₴₮ ₭ɆɆ₱ ɎØɄⱤ ɆɎɆ₴ Ø₱Ɇ₦. T̷̰̞͝h̷̰͍̾e̴̝̔̾ ̴̢͠F̵̘̈ẹ̵̕s̸̢̪̃ţ̴̛e̷̤̓̂r̵̻̗͒i̷̜̒n̵̦̗͒̂ģ̵̢̏͂ ̵̢͈͘P̴͓̖̆l̶̨͋̀a̶̫̯̽ÿ̴̝́́ṡ̸̢͇̆ ̷͔͛͐Ẁ̸̭̤̿i̷̡̡͠t̷̗̾̚ĥ̶͕ ̷͔̀̍I̴͈̓̽t̵̡̚͝'̴̬̼́̚s̶̟̉͜͠ ̶̛͚̈́F̸̖̽̀o̷̧͚̒̐o̸̧͚͗̊d̴̮̊̂. " You didn't know what to say, what to do. Your breathing became sharper and more panicked with every word you read. Your eyes dilating, constantly checking to see if there was anything in the dark. Your chest was in a constant rise and fall motion. And you were basically frozen from fear, apart from your shaking. After you gained control of your hoofs again, you swiftly turned on the lights in the room, making sure that nothing could hide in your room. There was no denying it, you were hunted by something called The Festering. Something you didn't know anything about, the only thing you know from the message is that it likes to play with its prey, and that's it. And not even how it plays. Does it let you live, but not without near-fatal wounds? Or does it emotionally consume you just by looking at it? There's no telling. However, if you had any hope of survival against this thing, you're going to have to learn everything you can about this thing. At the moment, your only source is the disks.  Knowing this, you shakily put the next disk in and listened to the device. Static filled the first minute of the recording. " ĐØ ɎØɄ ₴₮łⱠⱠ Ⱨ₳VɆ ₮ⱧɆ ₵ØⱠĐ ₣ɆɆⱠł₦₲ Ø₦ ɎØɄⱤ ฿₳₵₭? ĐØ ɎØɄ ₮Ⱨł₦₭ ł₮ ₩₳₴ JɄ₴₮ ɎØɄⱤ ł₥₳₲ł₦₳₮łØ₦? ł₮ ₩₳₴ ₦Ø₮, ł₮ ₩₳₴ ₥Ɇ. ł ₴₮ⱤłVɆ ₮Ø ₩Ɇ₳Ɽ ɎØɄⱤ ₴₭ł₦ ₮Ø ⱤɆ₥₳ł₦ Ʉ₦₴ɆɆ₦. ĐØ₦'₮ ₣ł₲Ⱨ₮ ł₮. ł ₩łⱠⱠ ₥₳₭Ɇ ₴ɄⱤɆ ł₮'₴ ₱₳ł₦ⱠɆ₴₴. " The static, cut, and the sounds of insects and quiet crying could be heard. You heard Silent attempting to comfort the source of the crying, and it seemed to be working. However, he sounded scared; his breathing wasn't the same as before, it was more shallow and exhausted. And his voice sounded like he was shaking all over, and it sounded like his teeth were chattering, as if he had just gotten out of a cold plunge. " Day: 9 of the expedition. The base is gone, left to it. I now know why Poppy begged me not to take her back. Because I wasn't just taking her back, I took something else. But, I should get to the blow-by-blow details. After two days, Poppy began standing again, her eyes had only grown wider, and barely any white was left in her eyes. And her speech was also off; she sounded like she was quoting herself constantly. When we first arrived, she said to me, ' Why did we have to come here again, Silent Dusk? '. And shortly after she got up, she looked at me right in my eyes and said, ' Why come here, Silent? '. In the same tone as when she said those words. And she walked wrong. Her legs were constantly bending and buckling under her own weight. It was as if something was learning to pilot her muscles. And just an hour before we were going to let Equestria, we were ready for them to pick us up. Poppy twitched, and her skin tore even more. Her stomach seemed to tear itself apart, rib extending out, moving like legs. And her neck extended, her bones snapping and cracking with every movement. And then her face, split in half to reveal a gory maw...... Jasmine and I were slightly injured by whatever was pretending to be Poppy. Jasmine had a gash across her right hoof, and I had a slash across my cheek and over my eye. Thankfully, it didn't render me half-blind. But whenever we sleep..... Oh, Celestia... " Silent lived up to his name for a moment and then started quietly sobbing. As he sobbed, he spoke. " E-every time we sleep.... * sniff* we all feel c...cold breathing on our backs. But, each time we turn around, whatever it is, disappears. We already * sniff * sent out an SOS, and we were notified that we could expect a rescue party sent within an hour. May as well be a Celestia damn year! We have been constantly on the move, listening for signs of whether the thing is close by. One of the major signs of its physical manifestation being within a hundred meters is that it is either static or echoing crying. The louder and more intense the sound, the closer it is. If it does spot you, you'll know because it'll let out an ear-piercing shriek and start chasing you down. One way to hide is to cover yourself in any sort of dead matter and pretend to be dead. But whatever you do, do not have skin or hide in your facade. It collects them, and it will find that you're alive. If that happens, your fate is as good as sealed. However, there is a way to stun it, where the bone legs come out, you can throw a large, blunt object in the exposed organs, stunning it for a maximum of fifteen seconds and a minimum of seven seconds. I'll try and update whoever the hell finds these disks laster, for now... Signing off. " The disk slowly slid out the cartrage, and the title was changed from ' A Loss And A Lie ' to ' They '.