A DJ's Experienceby Grey_SymphonyChaptersGoing Clubbing!ChaosLabyrinthGoing Clubbing!Chapter 1 - Going Clubbing *Note* The DJ D0CT0R is not Doctor Whooves /\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\ I heard the last pounding beats, through the wall I might add, of DJ-PON3’s music wrap up and started to gather my own cds out of my duffel bag for my first set. I had some nerves, but nothing I couldn’t handle, after all I was “The DJ Doctor” and for my first gig I had scored big. I was in the one and only Club Canterlot run by DJ-PON3 herself. The backstage door eased open as the mare herself trotted in from her performance, clearly exhausted. “Hey, you’re the new kid aren’t you?” she asked upon seeing me standing there near the big metal door, ready to go party the night away. “Umm, y-yeah. T-Thats me,” I stammered, somewhat surprised that the mare that pretty much summed up the entirety of the nightlife in Manehattan was talking to me. Looking me up and down, she nodded to herself as if confirming something. DJ-PON3 then flashed me a cocky smile as she said reassuringly, “Don’t worry kid, you’re going to do great. After all, we all start somewhere, don’t we?” “Vinyl? Are you coming?” a more refined mare called from the hallway leading to the back exit. “Yeah, be there in a sec Octy, just given this new kid some advice,” she shot back before looking back to me. “That’s Octavia. She’s a friend. Listen, just one piece of advice. Give the audience what they want and don’t let them get the better of you,” she warned in a cool, business-like manner. Vinyl trotted towards the exit of the club and before exiting she turned back once again, flashing me another confident smirk. “Good luck out there kid,” and with that, she departed out the door. Wow, I had just talked to the one and only Vinyl Scratch! Oh my gosh, oh my gosh, oh my gosh, oh my gosh! That mare is my true role model and inspiration. She is the one why I even decided to pursue my musical career. She is even the reason why I’m here right now. “Hey kid, it’s your show. Get out there an' make some noise,” ordered a gruff voice. Broken out of my reverie, I rushed to the stage door, steadied my breathing, and stepped out onto the stage. My eyes adjusted to the darkness in the room and saw easily at least over one hundred ponies occupying the dance floor and surrounding platforms as well as the bar. With my heart nearly beating out of my barrel I picked up one of my more upbeat but slow moving songs and set it on the turntable with my unicorn magic. I adjusted some of the settings and dials on the DJ mixing board and before flashing a cocky grin to the crowd, I let it loose. A smooth electronic melody erupted from the speakers on either side of me and multi- colored beams of light rippled across the riled up crowd of ponies, then a heavy bass could be heard faintly and growing louder until it almost drowned out all other noises. The lights matched the bass as green lasers flashed in sync over the dancing and somewhat drunk ponies. I raised my arms and put my fetlocks to work, lightly scratching the CDs at the right time to fit the music. With slight concentration, I moved three sliders up, almost immediately slightly distorted snare drum sounds, soon to be joined by a slightly high pitched electronic tunes, slammed through the speakers and shot through the room. I realized right then and there that I would be doing this everyday and night for the rest of my life, be it at this club or any other ones. And I absolutely loved it! I loved the wall of excitement coming off of the ponies I was entertaining, the electronic music that I loved mixing and composing some of my own, and fortunately enough for me, I loved partying. Partying and making ponies happy and excited was my job now. I thoroughly enjoyed these thoughts that raced around in circles in my head as the song came to a close. The next song I had ready for them was very fast and heavy on the bass. I set that on, adjusting sliders and dials as I went, and sound immediately bounced around the room, akin to the way a bouncy ball would bounce around the walls if you flung it hard enough. I grinned as if I actually knew what I was doing, which I didn’t. It sure as tartarus felt like it at least. The song abruptly cut out and the sound of a galloping pony ran through the speakers to replace the music. The galloping got louder and louder until finally, I flipped open a glass case case that contained a red button. I looked up and across the crowd as they waited, breathlessly for the bass to come crashing down. A deep mechanical voice echoed slowly through the speakers “5.....4.....3.....2.....1.” When it reached the last number, I threw my hoof down onto the big red button and if the speakers had been of any less strength, they would have exploded by the sudden noise that shattered the silence. The ponies nearest to the speakers were literally knocked down forcefully by the sound waves. I grinned even wider as they shot me angry glares. It had turned into a blur for me as the night wore on and my music was of a varied selection for the rest of it. I think I even saw Vinyl stop by once, on her way back to her house or apartment, I assume, and nod her head in approval as if confirming something. I assumed that the ponies enjoyed my music by the way the didn’t stop dancing the night away but I couldn't really tell since, as I said before, it was all in a haze. As the last part of the closing song echoed throughout the hall, the worn out ponies suddenly exploded into applause. I looked down, shocked beyond belief that my first night would go so well to get all of the ponies applauding and shaking the building with the impact of their hooves on the ground. Realizing this, my face broke out into a wild, optimistic and happy grin. I stepped up to the microphone and yelled with confidence ringing in my voice for all to hear, “I’ll be back soon for the night’s entertainment. You haven’t seen the last of the DJ-D0CT0R for a long time!” I hoped. /\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\ “Hey, new kid,” came a cheerful but gruff sounding voice from behind me. I looked behind me and saw sparkling red. Wait, this isn’t right. I brushed aside my mane and saw that it was one of the bouncers for the club that I’ve hopefully made my home. “Yeah?” I casually replied, trying not to show how exhausted I was. “I just came to see you off and congratulate you on a great night,” he replied. “Also, me and my friends are having a get together at the bar down the road from here and you seem like a cool pony. You want in?” he asked hopefully. I glanced down to my purple and red duffel bags packed with my DJ equipment inside and then back up at him. “Nah, I’m good, thanks. I have some work to do once I get home anyway,” I replied wearily. I really did want to go with this stallion, but I only had three or four new songs set up for tomorrow night and I needed at least five more to be ready for tomorrow and the next day’s set. “Oh, alright then... Well be careful out there,” he replied, somewhat crestfallen. I heeded his warning to be careful, for there was snow on the ground and in some parts of the sidewalk leading to my apartment could be slippery. “You too. See ya tomorrow,” I replied before finishing putting my things into my bag and flinging it over my back. Wincing from the sudden weight stress put onto my back, I slowly began to struggle towards the club exit. /\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\ I heard a sharp gasp of astonishment when I neared the exit of the club. I turned my head and saw a kind looking mare approaching me with a look of bewilderment sketched on her face. “Hey, you’re the new DJ right?” And upon noticing my bag that was weighing me down, “It looks like y’need some help,” she said, already trying to take the bag from me. I chuckled a little before answering, “Yeah, that’s me. And I definitely could use some help,” she lifted the bag off of my back and onto the floor before looking at me with guarded hostility. “Hey, I just wanted to make sure of something. Just because I’m helping you doesn’t mean I want to settle down. I went out for a night of fun and dancing, not a bouncy bed,” she explained, all the while eyeing me warily. I snickered, which soon turned into all out guffawing, which earned me an odd look from the mare, “I-it’s okay, I didn’t mean anything close to that. In fact, I’ll probably be pulling an all nighter since I have a lot of work to do,” I said in a reassuring manner. I put down my duffel bag and unzipped it. I gave her my saddlebags after I put my headphones and CDs into their respective bags. “Think you can handle this? Without stealing it?” I asked sternly while shooting a glance at my temporary companion. Looking at me funny, she said, “‘Course not. If I wanted your stuff, I would have waited for you outside with a rock or something,” she winked at me, smiling earnestly. “Now, where is your place anyways?” “There’s this apartment complex in the semi-higher bits of town. It’s in there somewhere,” I replied, mapping out the large city of Manehattan in my head. Approximating where my apartment complex should be, I turned to my partner. “Alright, follow me young one,” I beckoned. She just rolled her eyes at me. The warm trip throughout the city in which I occupy was relatively silent. So I tried conversation. “Enjoy the show?” I asked. “Heck yeah, I did. A strange thing that she allowed you to perform at the club though. I haven’t seen anypony besides DJ-PON3 perform at the club,” she answered easily. “Oh, really?” I said, not believing it for a second. “Are you sure nopony else has ever DJed there before?” “Yeah, I think she takes only specific ponies into the club. So specific that she’s the only one who DJs there. To be honest, I’m surprised that you caught her attention,” she explained frankly. My mouth could have hit the floor if pony anatomy allowed it. Confusion was the master emotion over exhaustion and happiness, which were a close second, over the successful set that I played earlier this night. We fell into silence as we trotted on into the cold night. /\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\ When we arrived at my apartment’s entrance, I thanked the mare for the help, gave her one of my newest CDs, and bid her a goodnight. As I walked into the recognizable opulent lobby, I greeted the clerk, grabbed my things, put them into the elevator, and pushed the floor button that put me onto the floor that I currently resided on. All the while wondering if what the mare said was true and why DJ-PON3 had accepted to give me a dry run to see if I would be performing at the club or not. These questions were still buzzing around in my head when I opened the door that led to my apartment. Shaking my head to try to dispel the thoughts, I trotted down the hall into my music room and put my items into their respective places. I sat down in front of my computer, turned it on, and began to run through the motions of checking the various online sites until I opened my email. There was a message waiting for me in my inbox, so I opened it. It was a message from Club Canterlot. “Well, that’s strange,” I remarked, fully knowing that nopony was there to listen to my ramblings. I opened the message up and began to skim through it, trying to determine if it was spam or something actually important. Dear DJ-D0CT0R, You have been invited to a meeting tomorrow at Club Canterlot with DJ-PON3. It is requested of you to be there within the timeframe of 2:00pm - 3:00pm. You may wear casual attire. But if you dismiss this meeting then you will lose your chance of performing at Club Canterlot again. Please do not respond to this message. There wasn’t anypony’s signature at the bottom of the message, but my mind was reeling at what this could mean. Did I do well? Did she accept me into the club? All of these things whipped through my mind before reality kicked in. She probably just wants to chat about or critique my performance. Knowing my luck though, I’m not going to get my hopes up. I decided to give up trying to make music as the last note was pumped through my headphones. It had taken at least seven tries to make one song, which was now finished, but needed to be looked at by a much more awake pony. I tossed my headphones on to the wooden desk, turned the computer off, and awkwardly trudged to my bedroom. I tripped on the last step leading to the bed and flopped onto the springy mattress. I was asleep before my head hit the soft pillow. /\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\ ChaosChapter 2 - Chaos /\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\ I slowly came back to consciousness to see a bright yellow. Wait a second, that’s not right. I opened my eyes some more and almost immediately regretted doing so. “Ugh, why is it so bright in the mornings,” I groaned into my pillow. My certain lifestyle comes with two things that I utterly hate. One is that I wake up every morning feeling like a wreck. Two, I am so sleep deprived it isn’t not funny, but despite these two downsides to it, I still managed to drive through it somehow. Emphasis on somehow. I also realized that there was a second reason, besides the Celestia’s damned sun, I was awake. I had set my alarm clock, which was still blaring very loud drumstep. That’s something I can always look forward to waking up in the morning. My favorite type of music playing right next to my ears. And with that last comment I got up and fell off the bed, still slightly tired. “Agh, remind me to get a carpet,” I said to the hardwood floor that my face was currently greeting. Unfortunately, I landed on the one spot that didn’t have anything on it. My room was the messiest thing I owned. Ever. It was probably even messier than my idol’s room. So with my body complaining, I stood up, turned off my alarm clock, and trotted out of my room and into my apartment’s kitchen. I looked around and saw the only thing that has been keeping me alive the past five weeks. The wonderful miracle meal of toast and butter. Occasionally I treated myself to some jelly but I usually didn’t have enough time considering that I make most of my music and had to stock up for last nights gig. “Today. Today this ends!” I declared to the ever listening air. Dude, you need to stop talking to yourself. “Shut up brain, I can do what I want in my own apartment,” and with that I made myself some toast, with some jelly I might add, and threw myself upon my black, felt, comfortable couch. I swear that right before I bit down into my breakfast a knock came from the door. What now! What could possibly be more important than my breakfast right now. Another knock. “ALRIGHT, ALRIGHT! I’M COMING!” I yelled angrily in the general direction of the door. I grasped my toast with my magic and trotted towards the door. I opened it to see a white mare with purple shades covering her eyes. Wait.... purple shades, purple shades. Oh! “H-hey DJ-Pon3, what’s up, and what are you doing at my apartment?” I asked offering a hoof bump while cocking my head inquisitively. Pounding my hoof with her own, “Hey new kid. After I was done messin’ around with ‘Tavi, I came back to see what you were doing to the poor ponies who heard your music.” This is in no way good. I swallowed nervously. “As it turns out, you did a mediocre job while I was watching," she cracked a grin, “Actually, you did an awesome job, well done newbie. As for why I’m here, well I thought I might kick ya outta bed in case last night was a bit much for you.” While she was finishing that sentence, I became very aware of how my matted fur may look. Grime, an unknown liquid, I hope it’s soda, and the amount of sweat to drown the apartment complex had settled into my coat while I was adventuring with Doctor Whooves in time and space, and my mane looking like as if I had actually done so but in a more... much more wild sense. “You know, you might wanna call up those uppity World Record ponies. I always thought that I was the worst at waking up but you might have beaten me on this one.” My cheeks suddenly turned into beets, “Well uhh, I was kinda on my way to the showers when you knocked. Uh,” I struggled to find a way to change the subject, “Hey, wait a sec, how did you find my apartment. You didn’t follow me home last night did you?” It came out as a semi-joke, semi-serious question. Vinyl didn’t laugh. Her toothy grin widening into an even wider smile. I suddenly became aware of the fact that during our conversation, I had stepped back into my apartment, yet we were strangely the same distance apart from where we started talking. Fresh cold sweat broke through the caked old layers. “Nah, nothing like that,” she tilted her head down and winked, breaking the uneasy silence that had descended upon the area. “It’s just a business standard of mine to know where all of the souls I own like to think they live.” I laughed uneasily, she didn’t. “Heh heh, right right. Good one... What do mean by ‘own’?” “Oh you know,” She shrugged, “You did sign the dotted line on ‘the contract’. Fun fact actually, it used to be fresh blood, but nowadays ink works, way better for that sort of stuff. Lets the soul keep the flavor for later when I get hungry y’know?” I think she may have glanced quickly around my apartment, being able to see much more of it now but I couldn’t tell through the trademark purple shades. “‘Tavi was my test case for that. I just keep her around for nostalgia,” The DJ coughed. “Also, if you tell anypony this, I’m going to have your soul for dinner but I actually like classical music, it reminds me of the good old days when I had a cobweb ridden castle.” She smiled evilly my ways, then breathed deeply. When I was little, I had gone to a zoo and saw a manticore. They breathed just like Vinyl was when it was feeding time. I looked around frantically, “I.... what, wait... soul?” I whimpered, heart pounding in my barrel. “Buh-wuh, I didn’t... I...” “You did say that you would do anything to be able to perform at my club, on multiple occasions, am I correct?” She put emphasis on the word ‘anything’. “But, but... I need my soul!” “Not as much as you think really, after all I would know wouldn’t I?” She insisted with a flick of a multi-colored tail. “Oh, by the way, you gonna finish that toast?” I blinked, and blinked again. That question was almost enough to cut through to my common sense. The way she snickered, then broke down laughing definitely was. “Oh man, this is too much. Kid you’re too freakin’ easy!” She giggled, breaking into a wide smile and patting me on the shoulder. “Whoo! Listen, breathe, just relax and breathe. You got me? I just pulled out your file last night, read the contact data you filled out, and here I am,” She stepped backwards. “Oh this is great. Octy’s always so straight-laced. I haven’t gotten anypony with the old ‘soul-collector’ thing in a long time!” I forced out a strained laugh while trying to keep my barrel intact. “There was this one time with a record company exec who kept bothering her, and whoo! I still show up at his house every so often, just walk in and sit down at the dinner table. His wife, oh, the look on her face was a riot!” Still trying to get my heart rate to a normal level, I nodded. “Y-yeah. M-must be pretty funny!” I silently berated myself for falling for her charade. Then again, Vinyl was known for her mind-games, after all, that was what made her such an amazing DJ. Once, she had even got a crowd in Canterlot stadium full of ponies to believe that the moon was made of swiss cheese. /\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\ After my shower, I stepped into the now steam filled bathroom and wiped a bit off a bit of the fogged up mirror. “Looking good as always stallion,” I complemented my reflection and combed my hair into a vaguely controlled version of my bed mane. Trotting out of the bathroom, I glanced at the time. I still had half an hour, if I set out now, I still could make it. So I did just that. After greeting the receptionist with the rent money and a ‘’Good Morning’’, I went out the doors and into the cold afternoon air and pleasantly began trotting down the streets of Manehattan towards my favorite part of the city. The Strip. I had reached the beginnings of The Strip when things began to get strange. At first, I just noticed that I could barely hear a thing, but that went away with time. Then it was the lack of ponies out on the streets, That’s odd, there should be plenty of fillies and colts enjoying the cold weather. And thats another thing, it wasn’t this cold last night either I thought. Then beginning to feel my hearing again, I decided to slow my trot down so I could see more of the normally bustling city. It looked normal except for one thing, the roads were now a soapy mess. I stopped and tried to say, “Wait, what?” When I found that I couldn’t, my hooves reached up to try to feel my mouth. It wasn’t there. I looked up and saying that the buildings were losing their color would be an understatement. The buildings were literally turning gray from the top down. It was like gray rain was being poured onto the city. It then started to rain. It wasn’t normal rain, but chocolate milk coming from pink clouds. This couldn’t be happening, it is physically impossible. “And where’s the fun in making sense?” A voice came from behind me. I whirled around and saw what could only be explained as if somepony’s toybox had exploded and a filly or colt had built it back together horribly misshapen. Even then, that couldn’t explain how it looked like, and the fact that it had some mismatched wings didn’t help it in the least. “What, cat got your tongue? Oh wait, I do.” He pulled out a pink length of flesh from his mouth, making me gag... or at least try to since I didn’t exactly have a mouth. It said, “You know what, you’re not that fun you know. I was expecting more from an aspiring DJ of Manehattan but n-o-o-o-o. You just couldn’t speak at all. You know what, if you don’t want to talk fine,” it leaned its face to be right in front of mine and he tapped my horn with a talon, “Be forever alone,” And with that he was gone. Suddenly it felt like my feelings were being wrenched from me in the most painfully and slowest way possible. First went my hearing, then went my touch and my speech was already gone. The last thing I saw before going blind and presumably passing out were two yellow orbs with red pupils staring at me in the darkness. /\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\ LabyrinthChapter 3 - Labyrinth /\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\ I have woken up in strange places many times in the past, ranging from a damp lawn in Fillydelphia after partying hard in Manehattan to a bathroom stall in the West Manehattan University. But this one? This one beat them all. When I woke up, I saw that I was in a dark, and depressing small stone corridor. I looked up, attempting to see the state of the ceiling. I was surprised that I couldn’t actually see the ceiling through the darkness. “Okay,” I took a steadying breath, trying to get over the small size of the corridor and started to use the mental checklist that I normally use for situations like these, ‘Surroundings checked out, I’m in some sort of maze. I need to light up my h-’ I cut myself off. I couldn’t feel my horn. No horn means no magic, and no magic means no light. And that is in no way good. Logically speaking, this would be impossible. But, I’ve seen my share of scary movies to recognize that this was a typical starting scenario. And, from the same experience, this is where shit starts to hit the fan. As I assumed, the walls started to move inward slowly but surely making the already cramped space even smaller. My mind began to race, I could feel the blood pulsing through my veins. Fear began to take hold, making me shake almost uncontrollably. Soon it became hard to breathe and I knew that I had to get out of that area as soon as I could to avoid dying. I tried to gallop but the space was so small now that I had to do a panicked fast trot while I moved the only way I could go. Forward. I barely made it to the end of the corridor as the walls closed behind me, catching a small amount of tail hair. I tripped and fell hard onto the stone floor as the hairs ripped themselves out of my skin. I winced in pain and then almost immediately noticed that I had to continue to gallop as the walls of this corridor had started to close in as well. I got back up onto my hooves and made a break for it, fear making my heart pump faster than ever before. The walls were getting closer, but I was only halfway through the trapped hallway. I pushed myself to go faster and started to yell as the walls came ever closer. The exit was right there, but I realized that I wasn’t going to make it. So, gathering myself while still galloping for my life, I lept for the end of the small corridor. Time seemed to slow down, the walls came together just as I made it out of the hallway. I hit the ground hard and rolled to the opposite wall just to have the breath knocked out of me, but I had made it out alive and that was what counted. A few seconds later and I was up, I looked over my body and came up with only a few minor scrapes. Looking around, I noticed that this time, the walls weren’t closing on me and that in fact I had come to a crossroads. I was shaken and a little scraped up yes, but I had gotten out of that hellish experience alive. I didn’t even know if the walls were done with me yet, but for now, I was trying to make my heart not come out of my chest and calm myself down a bit so I didn’t have a panic attack. The two paths leading off from this area were too dark to see anything that wasn’t just mossy walls or stone flooring. There were three options for me to take, just stay here and live out a very short and sad life, take the left path or take the right path. “Well, there is always a sure way to decide these things,” I said as I raised my right hoof and pointed at the right path, “Eeny meenie miny mo!” I alternated pathways four times and my gaze landed on the left corridor. “Ok, left corridor it is,” I said as I went down the right corridor. /\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\ After a good ten minutes and so many twists and turns, I had come to yet another corner, but this one was different. The walls and floor were still the same yes, but I had caught a glimpse of a shadowy figure rounding the corner. With no other way forward, I decided to follow the shadow. Around said corner was a clearing with four other pathways leading off of the circle, in the middle was a rotted building that looked like it was once a hospital. I slowly trotted into the clearing and was about to go around the rotting hospital when the walls surrounding the other four entrances and the ones behind me suddenly closed in and blocked any way out. Feeling very closed in suddenly, I galloped to the where the nearest exit had been. I looked all over the wall for a button of some sort that would make the wall retract but to no avail. I slumped against the wall and looked towards the building in the center slowly slowly mumbling, “No no no no no no, please Celestia no,” I recognized I was clearly on the edge of insanity. Looking to the door, I caught a glimpse of a shadowed… arm? Just entering the hospital. Quickly glancing around to see if I had any other choice of direction, and upon finding none, I felt that familiar sense of dread as I cautiously trotted towards the entrance. I half expected to see a ghostly image of a face in one of the windows just looking at me as I looked up at the forboding structure. It gave off the vibe that I should not be here if I wanted to preserve my sanity and life, unfortunately, since I didn't have any other option, I had to go into this place if I ever wanted to get out of this damn labyrinth. The shadowed figure I had seen earlier disappeared through the door. Giving me even more of an incentive to not go into the rotting building, but alas, I decided to trot towards the hospital. “I am not looking forward to walking into this place,” I mutter to myself. The wooden steps creaked as I applied weight to the steps as I went up to the door. Then something odd happened, I couldn’t smell any of the rot, mold, or general muskyness that came with abandoned buildings, nor could I feel any dust in the air slightly choking my lungs. I pushed my way inside to see that it was pitch black, like everywhere else in this damned maze. Once fully inside, I saw that I was in the hospital’s waiting room which had the generic white rooms and blue carpeted floor. The entire room looked rotted, as if it was a piece of moldy food that’s been in the fridge for far too long. The ceiling had collapsed in, absolutely crushing any sort of admittance desk and making a ramp to the second floor. I glanced around quickly to see if there was any sort of light switch for light, seeing none, I ventured up to the second floor, driven by the urge to explore the building. To my utter bewilderment, the second floor was absolutely enormous, far too big to be held by the building that I saw from the outside. “Damn,” I said, flinching at the sound of my voice echoing throughout the impossibly big room. I heard grinding noises coming from the floor as if gears were turning just below my hooves and I looked behind me. I saw that the ramp that I used to come into this room was closing up behind me. The blackness was suddenly much more foreboding and somewhat terrifying than it was a little bit ago. I heard soft shuffling sounds coming from all around me but I couldn’t see anything. A light suddenly turned on with a clang, illuminating a set of stairs just as the first claw of some sort of… thing was on placed on my back, drawing blood. “Yess… stay heeree and weeee can take you away from the pain,” came a whispering voice from right behind my ear. I bucked but didn’t hit anything, dismissing that fact, I galloped as hard as I could towards the light. The shuffling noises became louder as they too seemed to gain speed, I tried to listen closer over the sound of my own hard breathing and hoof impacts. It seemed as if there was a pack behind me, as if wolves were chasing down prey. I looked behind me, saw nothing and immediately tripped up the stairs. “Damnit, I don’t have time for this,” I said, I was injured, there was no getting around that fact. I didn’t have time to do anything, so I got up and went up the stairs as fast as I could with an injured leg. The shuffling sounds were dangerously close, I picked up some clanging noises coming from the base of the stairway and felt the ground below me shift with each interval of noise. I was steadying myself when a claw wrapped around my back leg and something bit into it, biting a chunk of flesh off. I cried out in pain and desperately tried to kick out with my other leg, it impacted on something soft and what sounded like a foal’s scream could be heard as whatever it was fell of the side. Crying, I finally got through the door at the top of the stairway and slammed it firmly shut behind me. I heard and felt several thumping noises as the things that were chasing me threw their bodies at the door, trying to break it down. I looked around and saw that I was on one the higher floors of this damned hospital because of the remnants of a number on the wall. Tears blurred my vision as I looked to my back leg that was the source of pain and all feeling fell away as I saw what was causing it. The bit leg was entirely black and the black was coming from the gaping wound that was oozing blood. I became suddenly became lightheaded, my mouth went dry and I fainted against the door. /\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\ A while later I woke up. It was extremely difficult to tell time in this place but just by looking at the blackness that had spread to my hip, completely destroying my cutiemark, and my wound looked better than it looked when I pasted out earlier. It seemed that while my entire leg was numb and the blackness had entirely covered the surface of it, it had regenerative powers. I noticed that I was in a medical research room of sorts. I attempted to get up, only to have my leg completely give out when I put pressure on it. I used the handle of the door that I was slumped against to support myself. I supported myself on the wall to one of the counters to look for some sort of brace to put on my leg and something to support myself on. All I found was a crutch, so using that, I made my way out of the room. I looked around to see myself in a perfect looking hallway except for the lights. It seemed as if some of them were bleeding the blood that was supposed to be coming from my unbandaged leg. “You know… that stuff on your leg? It’s going to kill you eventually unless you do something about it,” came a smooth voice from somewhere in my head. I shook my head, trying to dislodge the voice, knowing fully well what was happening. “Oh do you now? Do you actually know what that stuff is?” the voice asked. I sighed, “No, but I think I’m going insane. I have more important things to do than talk to fake voices in my head,” I replied testily. I limped my way to the nearest room, looking for supplies. “You aren’t going to find anything in these rooms,” the voice in my head informed me. “The thing you’re looking for is somewhere on the top floor. And I’d recommend hurrying if I were you. Also, your leg is fine and you don’t need that support anymore, moron,” it added. I looked back at my body to find that both of my legs were covered in the inky blackness but I could now feel them. They felt wrong somehow but I decided to take the voice’s advice and hurry to the top floor. So I galloped to the nearest flight of stairs and started to ascend. Once there was no more stairs to climb, I was out of breath and the blackness was halfway across my barrel. I hurried into the only room on the floor and saw that there was only one desk with two cabinets on each side of the room. The door slammed shut behind me and instantly disappeared only to leave a blank white wall. “Okay, so here’s the deal. The desk holds the thing to get rid of the blackness which is now up to your forelegs by the way. Now here is the choice, one of the cabinets has the key to the desk and the other leads to certain death. You have five minutes… choose wisely,” The voice explained to me. It was right, I could already see the blackness enveloping my chest. It was moving at an alarming pace which suggest that I had five minutes until it engulfs me completely. I trotted quickly to the desk to see that there was no indication of which one to choose. So after inspecting the cabinets for any sign of the right one. I came up with no clue what-so-ever on which to choose. I thought back through my experiences here, and only came up with terrifying and dark. Wait a minute… dark is the opposite of light and there is always light at the end of a tunnel. I looked towards the cabinets and noticed that one of them was glowing ever so slightly. ‘It has to be this one’ I thought. Looking back on it, it probably wasn’t the best of my ideas. I trotted over to the glowing cabinet, took a deep breath, and opened it. When my hoof touched it, the doors slammed open and a wild maniacal laugh echoed in my head, ‘Wrong one, wrong one, wrong one, wrong one…” the words echoed over and over as I plummeted towards the ground. The last thing I ever saw was a glowing white key pointed up and then everything went black.
Going Clubbing!Chapter 1 - Going Clubbing *Note* The DJ D0CT0R is not Doctor Whooves /\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\ I heard the last pounding beats, through the wall I might add, of DJ-PON3’s music wrap up and started to gather my own cds out of my duffel bag for my first set. I had some nerves, but nothing I couldn’t handle, after all I was “The DJ Doctor” and for my first gig I had scored big. I was in the one and only Club Canterlot run by DJ-PON3 herself. The backstage door eased open as the mare herself trotted in from her performance, clearly exhausted. “Hey, you’re the new kid aren’t you?” she asked upon seeing me standing there near the big metal door, ready to go party the night away. “Umm, y-yeah. T-Thats me,” I stammered, somewhat surprised that the mare that pretty much summed up the entirety of the nightlife in Manehattan was talking to me. Looking me up and down, she nodded to herself as if confirming something. DJ-PON3 then flashed me a cocky smile as she said reassuringly, “Don’t worry kid, you’re going to do great. After all, we all start somewhere, don’t we?” “Vinyl? Are you coming?” a more refined mare called from the hallway leading to the back exit. “Yeah, be there in a sec Octy, just given this new kid some advice,” she shot back before looking back to me. “That’s Octavia. She’s a friend. Listen, just one piece of advice. Give the audience what they want and don’t let them get the better of you,” she warned in a cool, business-like manner. Vinyl trotted towards the exit of the club and before exiting she turned back once again, flashing me another confident smirk. “Good luck out there kid,” and with that, she departed out the door. Wow, I had just talked to the one and only Vinyl Scratch! Oh my gosh, oh my gosh, oh my gosh, oh my gosh! That mare is my true role model and inspiration. She is the one why I even decided to pursue my musical career. She is even the reason why I’m here right now. “Hey kid, it’s your show. Get out there an' make some noise,” ordered a gruff voice. Broken out of my reverie, I rushed to the stage door, steadied my breathing, and stepped out onto the stage. My eyes adjusted to the darkness in the room and saw easily at least over one hundred ponies occupying the dance floor and surrounding platforms as well as the bar. With my heart nearly beating out of my barrel I picked up one of my more upbeat but slow moving songs and set it on the turntable with my unicorn magic. I adjusted some of the settings and dials on the DJ mixing board and before flashing a cocky grin to the crowd, I let it loose. A smooth electronic melody erupted from the speakers on either side of me and multi- colored beams of light rippled across the riled up crowd of ponies, then a heavy bass could be heard faintly and growing louder until it almost drowned out all other noises. The lights matched the bass as green lasers flashed in sync over the dancing and somewhat drunk ponies. I raised my arms and put my fetlocks to work, lightly scratching the CDs at the right time to fit the music. With slight concentration, I moved three sliders up, almost immediately slightly distorted snare drum sounds, soon to be joined by a slightly high pitched electronic tunes, slammed through the speakers and shot through the room. I realized right then and there that I would be doing this everyday and night for the rest of my life, be it at this club or any other ones. And I absolutely loved it! I loved the wall of excitement coming off of the ponies I was entertaining, the electronic music that I loved mixing and composing some of my own, and fortunately enough for me, I loved partying. Partying and making ponies happy and excited was my job now. I thoroughly enjoyed these thoughts that raced around in circles in my head as the song came to a close. The next song I had ready for them was very fast and heavy on the bass. I set that on, adjusting sliders and dials as I went, and sound immediately bounced around the room, akin to the way a bouncy ball would bounce around the walls if you flung it hard enough. I grinned as if I actually knew what I was doing, which I didn’t. It sure as tartarus felt like it at least. The song abruptly cut out and the sound of a galloping pony ran through the speakers to replace the music. The galloping got louder and louder until finally, I flipped open a glass case case that contained a red button. I looked up and across the crowd as they waited, breathlessly for the bass to come crashing down. A deep mechanical voice echoed slowly through the speakers “5.....4.....3.....2.....1.” When it reached the last number, I threw my hoof down onto the big red button and if the speakers had been of any less strength, they would have exploded by the sudden noise that shattered the silence. The ponies nearest to the speakers were literally knocked down forcefully by the sound waves. I grinned even wider as they shot me angry glares. It had turned into a blur for me as the night wore on and my music was of a varied selection for the rest of it. I think I even saw Vinyl stop by once, on her way back to her house or apartment, I assume, and nod her head in approval as if confirming something. I assumed that the ponies enjoyed my music by the way the didn’t stop dancing the night away but I couldn't really tell since, as I said before, it was all in a haze. As the last part of the closing song echoed throughout the hall, the worn out ponies suddenly exploded into applause. I looked down, shocked beyond belief that my first night would go so well to get all of the ponies applauding and shaking the building with the impact of their hooves on the ground. Realizing this, my face broke out into a wild, optimistic and happy grin. I stepped up to the microphone and yelled with confidence ringing in my voice for all to hear, “I’ll be back soon for the night’s entertainment. You haven’t seen the last of the DJ-D0CT0R for a long time!” I hoped. /\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\ “Hey, new kid,” came a cheerful but gruff sounding voice from behind me. I looked behind me and saw sparkling red. Wait, this isn’t right. I brushed aside my mane and saw that it was one of the bouncers for the club that I’ve hopefully made my home. “Yeah?” I casually replied, trying not to show how exhausted I was. “I just came to see you off and congratulate you on a great night,” he replied. “Also, me and my friends are having a get together at the bar down the road from here and you seem like a cool pony. You want in?” he asked hopefully. I glanced down to my purple and red duffel bags packed with my DJ equipment inside and then back up at him. “Nah, I’m good, thanks. I have some work to do once I get home anyway,” I replied wearily. I really did want to go with this stallion, but I only had three or four new songs set up for tomorrow night and I needed at least five more to be ready for tomorrow and the next day’s set. “Oh, alright then... Well be careful out there,” he replied, somewhat crestfallen. I heeded his warning to be careful, for there was snow on the ground and in some parts of the sidewalk leading to my apartment could be slippery. “You too. See ya tomorrow,” I replied before finishing putting my things into my bag and flinging it over my back. Wincing from the sudden weight stress put onto my back, I slowly began to struggle towards the club exit. /\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\ I heard a sharp gasp of astonishment when I neared the exit of the club. I turned my head and saw a kind looking mare approaching me with a look of bewilderment sketched on her face. “Hey, you’re the new DJ right?” And upon noticing my bag that was weighing me down, “It looks like y’need some help,” she said, already trying to take the bag from me. I chuckled a little before answering, “Yeah, that’s me. And I definitely could use some help,” she lifted the bag off of my back and onto the floor before looking at me with guarded hostility. “Hey, I just wanted to make sure of something. Just because I’m helping you doesn’t mean I want to settle down. I went out for a night of fun and dancing, not a bouncy bed,” she explained, all the while eyeing me warily. I snickered, which soon turned into all out guffawing, which earned me an odd look from the mare, “I-it’s okay, I didn’t mean anything close to that. In fact, I’ll probably be pulling an all nighter since I have a lot of work to do,” I said in a reassuring manner. I put down my duffel bag and unzipped it. I gave her my saddlebags after I put my headphones and CDs into their respective bags. “Think you can handle this? Without stealing it?” I asked sternly while shooting a glance at my temporary companion. Looking at me funny, she said, “‘Course not. If I wanted your stuff, I would have waited for you outside with a rock or something,” she winked at me, smiling earnestly. “Now, where is your place anyways?” “There’s this apartment complex in the semi-higher bits of town. It’s in there somewhere,” I replied, mapping out the large city of Manehattan in my head. Approximating where my apartment complex should be, I turned to my partner. “Alright, follow me young one,” I beckoned. She just rolled her eyes at me. The warm trip throughout the city in which I occupy was relatively silent. So I tried conversation. “Enjoy the show?” I asked. “Heck yeah, I did. A strange thing that she allowed you to perform at the club though. I haven’t seen anypony besides DJ-PON3 perform at the club,” she answered easily. “Oh, really?” I said, not believing it for a second. “Are you sure nopony else has ever DJed there before?” “Yeah, I think she takes only specific ponies into the club. So specific that she’s the only one who DJs there. To be honest, I’m surprised that you caught her attention,” she explained frankly. My mouth could have hit the floor if pony anatomy allowed it. Confusion was the master emotion over exhaustion and happiness, which were a close second, over the successful set that I played earlier this night. We fell into silence as we trotted on into the cold night. /\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\ When we arrived at my apartment’s entrance, I thanked the mare for the help, gave her one of my newest CDs, and bid her a goodnight. As I walked into the recognizable opulent lobby, I greeted the clerk, grabbed my things, put them into the elevator, and pushed the floor button that put me onto the floor that I currently resided on. All the while wondering if what the mare said was true and why DJ-PON3 had accepted to give me a dry run to see if I would be performing at the club or not. These questions were still buzzing around in my head when I opened the door that led to my apartment. Shaking my head to try to dispel the thoughts, I trotted down the hall into my music room and put my items into their respective places. I sat down in front of my computer, turned it on, and began to run through the motions of checking the various online sites until I opened my email. There was a message waiting for me in my inbox, so I opened it. It was a message from Club Canterlot. “Well, that’s strange,” I remarked, fully knowing that nopony was there to listen to my ramblings. I opened the message up and began to skim through it, trying to determine if it was spam or something actually important. Dear DJ-D0CT0R, You have been invited to a meeting tomorrow at Club Canterlot with DJ-PON3. It is requested of you to be there within the timeframe of 2:00pm - 3:00pm. You may wear casual attire. But if you dismiss this meeting then you will lose your chance of performing at Club Canterlot again. Please do not respond to this message. There wasn’t anypony’s signature at the bottom of the message, but my mind was reeling at what this could mean. Did I do well? Did she accept me into the club? All of these things whipped through my mind before reality kicked in. She probably just wants to chat about or critique my performance. Knowing my luck though, I’m not going to get my hopes up. I decided to give up trying to make music as the last note was pumped through my headphones. It had taken at least seven tries to make one song, which was now finished, but needed to be looked at by a much more awake pony. I tossed my headphones on to the wooden desk, turned the computer off, and awkwardly trudged to my bedroom. I tripped on the last step leading to the bed and flopped onto the springy mattress. I was asleep before my head hit the soft pillow. /\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\
ChaosChapter 2 - Chaos /\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\ I slowly came back to consciousness to see a bright yellow. Wait a second, that’s not right. I opened my eyes some more and almost immediately regretted doing so. “Ugh, why is it so bright in the mornings,” I groaned into my pillow. My certain lifestyle comes with two things that I utterly hate. One is that I wake up every morning feeling like a wreck. Two, I am so sleep deprived it isn’t not funny, but despite these two downsides to it, I still managed to drive through it somehow. Emphasis on somehow. I also realized that there was a second reason, besides the Celestia’s damned sun, I was awake. I had set my alarm clock, which was still blaring very loud drumstep. That’s something I can always look forward to waking up in the morning. My favorite type of music playing right next to my ears. And with that last comment I got up and fell off the bed, still slightly tired. “Agh, remind me to get a carpet,” I said to the hardwood floor that my face was currently greeting. Unfortunately, I landed on the one spot that didn’t have anything on it. My room was the messiest thing I owned. Ever. It was probably even messier than my idol’s room. So with my body complaining, I stood up, turned off my alarm clock, and trotted out of my room and into my apartment’s kitchen. I looked around and saw the only thing that has been keeping me alive the past five weeks. The wonderful miracle meal of toast and butter. Occasionally I treated myself to some jelly but I usually didn’t have enough time considering that I make most of my music and had to stock up for last nights gig. “Today. Today this ends!” I declared to the ever listening air. Dude, you need to stop talking to yourself. “Shut up brain, I can do what I want in my own apartment,” and with that I made myself some toast, with some jelly I might add, and threw myself upon my black, felt, comfortable couch. I swear that right before I bit down into my breakfast a knock came from the door. What now! What could possibly be more important than my breakfast right now. Another knock. “ALRIGHT, ALRIGHT! I’M COMING!” I yelled angrily in the general direction of the door. I grasped my toast with my magic and trotted towards the door. I opened it to see a white mare with purple shades covering her eyes. Wait.... purple shades, purple shades. Oh! “H-hey DJ-Pon3, what’s up, and what are you doing at my apartment?” I asked offering a hoof bump while cocking my head inquisitively. Pounding my hoof with her own, “Hey new kid. After I was done messin’ around with ‘Tavi, I came back to see what you were doing to the poor ponies who heard your music.” This is in no way good. I swallowed nervously. “As it turns out, you did a mediocre job while I was watching," she cracked a grin, “Actually, you did an awesome job, well done newbie. As for why I’m here, well I thought I might kick ya outta bed in case last night was a bit much for you.” While she was finishing that sentence, I became very aware of how my matted fur may look. Grime, an unknown liquid, I hope it’s soda, and the amount of sweat to drown the apartment complex had settled into my coat while I was adventuring with Doctor Whooves in time and space, and my mane looking like as if I had actually done so but in a more... much more wild sense. “You know, you might wanna call up those uppity World Record ponies. I always thought that I was the worst at waking up but you might have beaten me on this one.” My cheeks suddenly turned into beets, “Well uhh, I was kinda on my way to the showers when you knocked. Uh,” I struggled to find a way to change the subject, “Hey, wait a sec, how did you find my apartment. You didn’t follow me home last night did you?” It came out as a semi-joke, semi-serious question. Vinyl didn’t laugh. Her toothy grin widening into an even wider smile. I suddenly became aware of the fact that during our conversation, I had stepped back into my apartment, yet we were strangely the same distance apart from where we started talking. Fresh cold sweat broke through the caked old layers. “Nah, nothing like that,” she tilted her head down and winked, breaking the uneasy silence that had descended upon the area. “It’s just a business standard of mine to know where all of the souls I own like to think they live.” I laughed uneasily, she didn’t. “Heh heh, right right. Good one... What do mean by ‘own’?” “Oh you know,” She shrugged, “You did sign the dotted line on ‘the contract’. Fun fact actually, it used to be fresh blood, but nowadays ink works, way better for that sort of stuff. Lets the soul keep the flavor for later when I get hungry y’know?” I think she may have glanced quickly around my apartment, being able to see much more of it now but I couldn’t tell through the trademark purple shades. “‘Tavi was my test case for that. I just keep her around for nostalgia,” The DJ coughed. “Also, if you tell anypony this, I’m going to have your soul for dinner but I actually like classical music, it reminds me of the good old days when I had a cobweb ridden castle.” She smiled evilly my ways, then breathed deeply. When I was little, I had gone to a zoo and saw a manticore. They breathed just like Vinyl was when it was feeding time. I looked around frantically, “I.... what, wait... soul?” I whimpered, heart pounding in my barrel. “Buh-wuh, I didn’t... I...” “You did say that you would do anything to be able to perform at my club, on multiple occasions, am I correct?” She put emphasis on the word ‘anything’. “But, but... I need my soul!” “Not as much as you think really, after all I would know wouldn’t I?” She insisted with a flick of a multi-colored tail. “Oh, by the way, you gonna finish that toast?” I blinked, and blinked again. That question was almost enough to cut through to my common sense. The way she snickered, then broke down laughing definitely was. “Oh man, this is too much. Kid you’re too freakin’ easy!” She giggled, breaking into a wide smile and patting me on the shoulder. “Whoo! Listen, breathe, just relax and breathe. You got me? I just pulled out your file last night, read the contact data you filled out, and here I am,” She stepped backwards. “Oh this is great. Octy’s always so straight-laced. I haven’t gotten anypony with the old ‘soul-collector’ thing in a long time!” I forced out a strained laugh while trying to keep my barrel intact. “There was this one time with a record company exec who kept bothering her, and whoo! I still show up at his house every so often, just walk in and sit down at the dinner table. His wife, oh, the look on her face was a riot!” Still trying to get my heart rate to a normal level, I nodded. “Y-yeah. M-must be pretty funny!” I silently berated myself for falling for her charade. Then again, Vinyl was known for her mind-games, after all, that was what made her such an amazing DJ. Once, she had even got a crowd in Canterlot stadium full of ponies to believe that the moon was made of swiss cheese. /\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\ After my shower, I stepped into the now steam filled bathroom and wiped a bit off a bit of the fogged up mirror. “Looking good as always stallion,” I complemented my reflection and combed my hair into a vaguely controlled version of my bed mane. Trotting out of the bathroom, I glanced at the time. I still had half an hour, if I set out now, I still could make it. So I did just that. After greeting the receptionist with the rent money and a ‘’Good Morning’’, I went out the doors and into the cold afternoon air and pleasantly began trotting down the streets of Manehattan towards my favorite part of the city. The Strip. I had reached the beginnings of The Strip when things began to get strange. At first, I just noticed that I could barely hear a thing, but that went away with time. Then it was the lack of ponies out on the streets, That’s odd, there should be plenty of fillies and colts enjoying the cold weather. And thats another thing, it wasn’t this cold last night either I thought. Then beginning to feel my hearing again, I decided to slow my trot down so I could see more of the normally bustling city. It looked normal except for one thing, the roads were now a soapy mess. I stopped and tried to say, “Wait, what?” When I found that I couldn’t, my hooves reached up to try to feel my mouth. It wasn’t there. I looked up and saying that the buildings were losing their color would be an understatement. The buildings were literally turning gray from the top down. It was like gray rain was being poured onto the city. It then started to rain. It wasn’t normal rain, but chocolate milk coming from pink clouds. This couldn’t be happening, it is physically impossible. “And where’s the fun in making sense?” A voice came from behind me. I whirled around and saw what could only be explained as if somepony’s toybox had exploded and a filly or colt had built it back together horribly misshapen. Even then, that couldn’t explain how it looked like, and the fact that it had some mismatched wings didn’t help it in the least. “What, cat got your tongue? Oh wait, I do.” He pulled out a pink length of flesh from his mouth, making me gag... or at least try to since I didn’t exactly have a mouth. It said, “You know what, you’re not that fun you know. I was expecting more from an aspiring DJ of Manehattan but n-o-o-o-o. You just couldn’t speak at all. You know what, if you don’t want to talk fine,” it leaned its face to be right in front of mine and he tapped my horn with a talon, “Be forever alone,” And with that he was gone. Suddenly it felt like my feelings were being wrenched from me in the most painfully and slowest way possible. First went my hearing, then went my touch and my speech was already gone. The last thing I saw before going blind and presumably passing out were two yellow orbs with red pupils staring at me in the darkness. /\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\
LabyrinthChapter 3 - Labyrinth /\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\ I have woken up in strange places many times in the past, ranging from a damp lawn in Fillydelphia after partying hard in Manehattan to a bathroom stall in the West Manehattan University. But this one? This one beat them all. When I woke up, I saw that I was in a dark, and depressing small stone corridor. I looked up, attempting to see the state of the ceiling. I was surprised that I couldn’t actually see the ceiling through the darkness. “Okay,” I took a steadying breath, trying to get over the small size of the corridor and started to use the mental checklist that I normally use for situations like these, ‘Surroundings checked out, I’m in some sort of maze. I need to light up my h-’ I cut myself off. I couldn’t feel my horn. No horn means no magic, and no magic means no light. And that is in no way good. Logically speaking, this would be impossible. But, I’ve seen my share of scary movies to recognize that this was a typical starting scenario. And, from the same experience, this is where shit starts to hit the fan. As I assumed, the walls started to move inward slowly but surely making the already cramped space even smaller. My mind began to race, I could feel the blood pulsing through my veins. Fear began to take hold, making me shake almost uncontrollably. Soon it became hard to breathe and I knew that I had to get out of that area as soon as I could to avoid dying. I tried to gallop but the space was so small now that I had to do a panicked fast trot while I moved the only way I could go. Forward. I barely made it to the end of the corridor as the walls closed behind me, catching a small amount of tail hair. I tripped and fell hard onto the stone floor as the hairs ripped themselves out of my skin. I winced in pain and then almost immediately noticed that I had to continue to gallop as the walls of this corridor had started to close in as well. I got back up onto my hooves and made a break for it, fear making my heart pump faster than ever before. The walls were getting closer, but I was only halfway through the trapped hallway. I pushed myself to go faster and started to yell as the walls came ever closer. The exit was right there, but I realized that I wasn’t going to make it. So, gathering myself while still galloping for my life, I lept for the end of the small corridor. Time seemed to slow down, the walls came together just as I made it out of the hallway. I hit the ground hard and rolled to the opposite wall just to have the breath knocked out of me, but I had made it out alive and that was what counted. A few seconds later and I was up, I looked over my body and came up with only a few minor scrapes. Looking around, I noticed that this time, the walls weren’t closing on me and that in fact I had come to a crossroads. I was shaken and a little scraped up yes, but I had gotten out of that hellish experience alive. I didn’t even know if the walls were done with me yet, but for now, I was trying to make my heart not come out of my chest and calm myself down a bit so I didn’t have a panic attack. The two paths leading off from this area were too dark to see anything that wasn’t just mossy walls or stone flooring. There were three options for me to take, just stay here and live out a very short and sad life, take the left path or take the right path. “Well, there is always a sure way to decide these things,” I said as I raised my right hoof and pointed at the right path, “Eeny meenie miny mo!” I alternated pathways four times and my gaze landed on the left corridor. “Ok, left corridor it is,” I said as I went down the right corridor. /\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\ After a good ten minutes and so many twists and turns, I had come to yet another corner, but this one was different. The walls and floor were still the same yes, but I had caught a glimpse of a shadowy figure rounding the corner. With no other way forward, I decided to follow the shadow. Around said corner was a clearing with four other pathways leading off of the circle, in the middle was a rotted building that looked like it was once a hospital. I slowly trotted into the clearing and was about to go around the rotting hospital when the walls surrounding the other four entrances and the ones behind me suddenly closed in and blocked any way out. Feeling very closed in suddenly, I galloped to the where the nearest exit had been. I looked all over the wall for a button of some sort that would make the wall retract but to no avail. I slumped against the wall and looked towards the building in the center slowly slowly mumbling, “No no no no no no, please Celestia no,” I recognized I was clearly on the edge of insanity. Looking to the door, I caught a glimpse of a shadowed… arm? Just entering the hospital. Quickly glancing around to see if I had any other choice of direction, and upon finding none, I felt that familiar sense of dread as I cautiously trotted towards the entrance. I half expected to see a ghostly image of a face in one of the windows just looking at me as I looked up at the forboding structure. It gave off the vibe that I should not be here if I wanted to preserve my sanity and life, unfortunately, since I didn't have any other option, I had to go into this place if I ever wanted to get out of this damn labyrinth. The shadowed figure I had seen earlier disappeared through the door. Giving me even more of an incentive to not go into the rotting building, but alas, I decided to trot towards the hospital. “I am not looking forward to walking into this place,” I mutter to myself. The wooden steps creaked as I applied weight to the steps as I went up to the door. Then something odd happened, I couldn’t smell any of the rot, mold, or general muskyness that came with abandoned buildings, nor could I feel any dust in the air slightly choking my lungs. I pushed my way inside to see that it was pitch black, like everywhere else in this damned maze. Once fully inside, I saw that I was in the hospital’s waiting room which had the generic white rooms and blue carpeted floor. The entire room looked rotted, as if it was a piece of moldy food that’s been in the fridge for far too long. The ceiling had collapsed in, absolutely crushing any sort of admittance desk and making a ramp to the second floor. I glanced around quickly to see if there was any sort of light switch for light, seeing none, I ventured up to the second floor, driven by the urge to explore the building. To my utter bewilderment, the second floor was absolutely enormous, far too big to be held by the building that I saw from the outside. “Damn,” I said, flinching at the sound of my voice echoing throughout the impossibly big room. I heard grinding noises coming from the floor as if gears were turning just below my hooves and I looked behind me. I saw that the ramp that I used to come into this room was closing up behind me. The blackness was suddenly much more foreboding and somewhat terrifying than it was a little bit ago. I heard soft shuffling sounds coming from all around me but I couldn’t see anything. A light suddenly turned on with a clang, illuminating a set of stairs just as the first claw of some sort of… thing was on placed on my back, drawing blood. “Yess… stay heeree and weeee can take you away from the pain,” came a whispering voice from right behind my ear. I bucked but didn’t hit anything, dismissing that fact, I galloped as hard as I could towards the light. The shuffling noises became louder as they too seemed to gain speed, I tried to listen closer over the sound of my own hard breathing and hoof impacts. It seemed as if there was a pack behind me, as if wolves were chasing down prey. I looked behind me, saw nothing and immediately tripped up the stairs. “Damnit, I don’t have time for this,” I said, I was injured, there was no getting around that fact. I didn’t have time to do anything, so I got up and went up the stairs as fast as I could with an injured leg. The shuffling sounds were dangerously close, I picked up some clanging noises coming from the base of the stairway and felt the ground below me shift with each interval of noise. I was steadying myself when a claw wrapped around my back leg and something bit into it, biting a chunk of flesh off. I cried out in pain and desperately tried to kick out with my other leg, it impacted on something soft and what sounded like a foal’s scream could be heard as whatever it was fell of the side. Crying, I finally got through the door at the top of the stairway and slammed it firmly shut behind me. I heard and felt several thumping noises as the things that were chasing me threw their bodies at the door, trying to break it down. I looked around and saw that I was on one the higher floors of this damned hospital because of the remnants of a number on the wall. Tears blurred my vision as I looked to my back leg that was the source of pain and all feeling fell away as I saw what was causing it. The bit leg was entirely black and the black was coming from the gaping wound that was oozing blood. I became suddenly became lightheaded, my mouth went dry and I fainted against the door. /\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\ A while later I woke up. It was extremely difficult to tell time in this place but just by looking at the blackness that had spread to my hip, completely destroying my cutiemark, and my wound looked better than it looked when I pasted out earlier. It seemed that while my entire leg was numb and the blackness had entirely covered the surface of it, it had regenerative powers. I noticed that I was in a medical research room of sorts. I attempted to get up, only to have my leg completely give out when I put pressure on it. I used the handle of the door that I was slumped against to support myself. I supported myself on the wall to one of the counters to look for some sort of brace to put on my leg and something to support myself on. All I found was a crutch, so using that, I made my way out of the room. I looked around to see myself in a perfect looking hallway except for the lights. It seemed as if some of them were bleeding the blood that was supposed to be coming from my unbandaged leg. “You know… that stuff on your leg? It’s going to kill you eventually unless you do something about it,” came a smooth voice from somewhere in my head. I shook my head, trying to dislodge the voice, knowing fully well what was happening. “Oh do you now? Do you actually know what that stuff is?” the voice asked. I sighed, “No, but I think I’m going insane. I have more important things to do than talk to fake voices in my head,” I replied testily. I limped my way to the nearest room, looking for supplies. “You aren’t going to find anything in these rooms,” the voice in my head informed me. “The thing you’re looking for is somewhere on the top floor. And I’d recommend hurrying if I were you. Also, your leg is fine and you don’t need that support anymore, moron,” it added. I looked back at my body to find that both of my legs were covered in the inky blackness but I could now feel them. They felt wrong somehow but I decided to take the voice’s advice and hurry to the top floor. So I galloped to the nearest flight of stairs and started to ascend. Once there was no more stairs to climb, I was out of breath and the blackness was halfway across my barrel. I hurried into the only room on the floor and saw that there was only one desk with two cabinets on each side of the room. The door slammed shut behind me and instantly disappeared only to leave a blank white wall. “Okay, so here’s the deal. The desk holds the thing to get rid of the blackness which is now up to your forelegs by the way. Now here is the choice, one of the cabinets has the key to the desk and the other leads to certain death. You have five minutes… choose wisely,” The voice explained to me. It was right, I could already see the blackness enveloping my chest. It was moving at an alarming pace which suggest that I had five minutes until it engulfs me completely. I trotted quickly to the desk to see that there was no indication of which one to choose. So after inspecting the cabinets for any sign of the right one. I came up with no clue what-so-ever on which to choose. I thought back through my experiences here, and only came up with terrifying and dark. Wait a minute… dark is the opposite of light and there is always light at the end of a tunnel. I looked towards the cabinets and noticed that one of them was glowing ever so slightly. ‘It has to be this one’ I thought. Looking back on it, it probably wasn’t the best of my ideas. I trotted over to the glowing cabinet, took a deep breath, and opened it. When my hoof touched it, the doors slammed open and a wild maniacal laugh echoed in my head, ‘Wrong one, wrong one, wrong one, wrong one…” the words echoed over and over as I plummeted towards the ground. The last thing I ever saw was a glowing white key pointed up and then everything went black.
