Decline
by
The theater was a large, open space. It contained two levels of seats, each of which contained seemingly infinite rows of seats. The decorations embraced the awe-inspiring Victorian architecture that was famous throughout Canterlot, with their expertly carved and painted wood, the red curtains with golden tassels. The white-painted walls each held a few V.I.P levels as well, the miniature balconies with the circular supports containing their own heartily-chuckling nobles.
It was filled with laughter. Each of the seats contained a pony, each of which was dressed as a noble. Tassels, fringes, monocles and the like. This particular theater was showing a comedy, it would appear... Once more, a wave of laughter rolled through the crowd as one of the ponies on screen was tripped by another.
Amid these laughing ponies was a mare. Of course, there were several mares in the theater, but this one was a bit different, if you were to compare her with the coats of dim gray, brown, deep blue...
She, as were the others, was wearing a dress of her own. And, as the others, she was laughing. She was having quiet a good time.
Again, laughter swept through the noble ponies as another pony was bonked on the head. Of course, the laughter was not loud and disruptive, but confined more to hearty chuckles; these were lords and ladies after all.
Twilight Sparkle knew something was wrong. She couldn't really place it. She wasn't exactly sure why she was there. But she followed the crowd, laughing when they did, applauding as they did. But still, something nagging at the back of her mind refused to leave.
Hurt, another pony was, and Twilight laughed. But she stopped when she realized that no one else was following suit. That was odd. She had genuinely found that funny. When she looked around, Twilight jolted in her seat when she saw that everyone was gone.
She found herself alone in the theater, the gag reel above her casting a dim, gray light onto the now-empty seats. They had vanished, it seemed, without a trace. They were gone. As Twilight looked around the dark room, It suddenly felt like a vast, open prison cell of loneliness. Where were her friends? No no the nobles, her real friends. They would be able to help. She began searching for any evidence that would inform her as to what was going on, but, suddenly, the movie froze.
Twilight looked up at the freeze-frame and frowned. Just what was going on? As Twilight pondered this, it surprised her by starting again. But it was slow. Extremely slow. And tinted red. No. That wasn't the movie. That... was the entire room.
A dim, blood-soaked color had settled into everything. The chairs, cloth, curtains, the wood. Finally, Twilight couldn't take anymore. Her entire body, every nerve, every fiber of her being screamed "flee!" Except she couldn't. When she tried to move, she found that her limbs couldn't budge. The purple mare cried out when she suddenly felt sharp pains in each one of her legs.
Twilight looked down and screamed. Her hooves had been tightly bound to the arm-rests of the chair with razor wire. The sharp blades had sunken into her flesh, and warm blood was spilling out, soaking her dress and the seat. Her lower legs had been constrained in a similar fashion, and blood was slowly leaking onto the floor.
The red glow from the theater had increased, and Twilight looked up and screamed once more. The movie had been replaced by a single image: Pinkie Pie. Or what used to be Pinkie. Her eyes were sunken, black, and leaked blood. Her coat was red, and the entire background was black. Her lips twitched in a demented expression, and her dark eyes were unaligned. Her mane was straight rather than its usually happy, poofy state. This wasn't Pinkie Pie.
Twilight heard whispers that came at her all at once. They seemed to drift around her, just barely avoiding intelligibility, dodging in and out of earshot constantly, tormenting her.
"What's going on? Let me out of here!"
Twilight's shouts echoed in the theater, heard by none but herself. Everything was becoming darker, and Twilight heard a giggle from somewhere in the darkness.
The previously vast, open theater had suddenly become a claustrophobic, suffocating prison of fear and darkness, of which there could never be any escape.
"Help!"
The walls were closing in, the whispers were becoming more and more intense, the darkness more constricting. It closed around her like a cage, the bars thick, taking up almost every centimeter of space and denying the light outside any entrance.
And then it stopped. All of it. The whispers stopped, the walls halted, and the darkness halted its advance. Again, Twilight looked around, confused, terrified.
Twilight felt a breath on the nape of her neck, but when she tried to see something held her head in place. The breath became hotter.
"P...please..." Twilight was crying.
""You're in my world now."
The voice was like ice. Just hearing it sent chills down every part of her body.
"Who are you...?"
It chuckled darkly.
"Have you forgotten so easily?I...am what you hide from when you sleep...I am what you cower from every night in bed, under your covers, and away in a dream land...I...am the dark animal that resides in you, just waiting to claw its way to the surface...I...am..."
The silence was deafening, constricting, terrifying, and stagnant. Twilight felt her bladder release during the few moments of absolute, crushing silence; the change was petrifying.
"...you."
Twilight's mane was swept back as a blast of light and energy assaulted her from the front, enveloping everything. Twilight tried to raise her hoof, but was stopped by the wire as it dug into her flesh, cutting skin and muscle as it tore through her leg. She sobbed pathetically, closed her eyes as tight as she could and averted her gaze.
There was maniacal laughter, coming from all sides, loud, invasive. Something was coming, Twilight knew, but she did't know what. Suddenly, all went black.
Twilight's eyes opened, wide, with a start. It was morning. Rays of light shone through the window, landing on the circular rug that lay on the lower part of her bedroom. Twilight could feel the still-lingering adrenaline in her veins, and the stickiness of the sweat in her sheets in pillow. She looker around and saw that everything was in its correct place. Everything was fine... Everything was how it should be. The books, plants, her desk, the telescope.... Spike.
The little baby dragon snored away in his basket at the foot of Twilight's bed. She smiled as she watched him. After sitting and thinking for a while, she finally shook her head and left her covers, using her magic to straighten everything out.
She decided to let Spike sleep in for a bit and went downstairs to make breakfast.
You're in my world now....there's no escape....you're mine.