Chapters My name is... I don't actually know. I woke up here, no memories, wearing nothing but a hospital gown. Shivering, I sit up. The room I'm in is a hospital room. It's empty, except for a window and a door. I was leaning against a wall. Looking next to me, I see a note. I pick it up to read it. "Welcome to the game! You may be wondering where you are. Well, I know! Open the door for some answers. I'll be kind and give you this warning. This isn't for the faint at heart. You can either go out, prepared to possibly die, a horrible, horrible death, or, you can stay here and starve to death. a slow, but mainly painless death. Well, compared to what's outside the door. It's your pick. -The Puppetmaster." Was I going to take the risk? Yes. I am. I stand up, with some difficulty, and open the door.
I walk outside into the hallway to find it empty, like not a single soul was here. I venture down the hall to find the elevator, I press the button, and of course the elevator is broken. I wander father down the hall when I hear something, it sounded like a moan coming from a pony, except the moan sounded more like those from zombie movies. A shiver goes down my spine as I try to make a choice – find out where the moan came from, or turn around and walk away- I decided to find out where the moan came from. I walk past a bunch of rooms R1, R2, R3, and R5, as I go further on the moan gets louder and louder until I reach room 11. This is the room where the moan came from. I walk inside the room –this was biggest mistake I ever made- this pony jumps me and keeps pushing me, I try to blow as many punches as I can to get it off but it over powers me and it thrusts me against the wall. For some strange reason this pony keeps trying to bite me, until I realize what I’m facing –A zombie-
The pale coat, the vacant eyes, the rigid deadness, I feel stupid for not recognizing it before. Before he can bite me, I punch him in the eye with all my might and run to R1. A sign is on the wall. "Think fast." Think fast? I hear a whizzing and I jerked my head to the side. A split second after, a see a knife thunk into the wall, right where my head was. Inspecting the room, I see a long hallway with red and burgundy tiles. Well, it's also a maroony color. Burgundy-maroon? Whatever. I look down to see fuzzy blue carpeting under my hooves. At the end of a hall there's a door.I shrug and take the knife with my mouth. I put a hoof on a red tile and two knives whizz at me, one nicking my ear and one barely missing my right hoof. Startled, I stumble back. "Owwww." I quietly mumble. I see small drops of blood dripping down to the floor. Ignoring the stinging in my ear, I step on a burgundy tile. Nothing. Hm. The red tiles must be set off... The problem is, is that there are way more red than burgundy tiles. Gritting my teeth. I hopped, skipped, and jumped cautiously across the floor, occasionally setting off a red tile. When I made it to the other side, which also featured blue carpeting, my mane and tail was half chopped off and there was a deep cut on my flank. Hoping the next room would have some cloth I can wrap around me so it soaks up the blood, I nudge it open.
As I pull the door open, finally being stuck in some sort of apocalypse, has paid off. This room is where they stored all of the hospitals medical supplies, such as cloths, gauzes, band-aids, and the gowns. I grabed a on-the-go med kit and pack it with 10 band-aids, 2 cloths, 5 gauzes and a bunch of other stuff. I waas in the middle of dressing my wound when i heard yet, another moan. I may have been mistake now i here two, now three, the building must have more of these ,zombies, than I thought. I look for a weapon then I see, yet another note. I quickly grab it and run, the room started to be filled with them. I run through a door thats lable was so messed up it read "stf brek rom" witch I thought must of been the staff break room. I open the door to another room, this room was empty, so I start searching the room for any food or sign of communication. After finding a can of beans I ate them then started reading the note: "Congratulations you have passed my death tiles! Well now I guess you should patch up before the biters find you! P.S- inside the closet next to this note is a bunch of guns and weapons! well I guess that the fact that you have probably took this note and ran, you don't get weapons!- P.P.S biters can smell blood from 2 miles away!- The Puppetmaster." I look at the note in anger "I should of searched the room more then just focus on packing bandages!" I said in an angry hushed tone. It looks like its too late to go sback o I decide to search a little more, then i find it -A radio!- I turn it on and-
"Well, hello there! I was beginning to think you'd never show up." A sweet and cute filly's voice chipperly came out of the radio, along with some static.
"Who are you?" I asked.
"Me? Oh, I'm the Puppetmaster." Whaaaat?
"Are you serious?" I asked.
"Well, considering it's just you and me here, yes." A pause of silence.
"Well, not counting the corpses of the other ponies who never got out." She said, with a bit of menace. The Puppetmaster's voice, once sweet, now seems a little creepy, like the voice of a doll you'd imagine that'll kill you one day.
"Why have you put this radio here?" There must be a reason.
"Oh, I decided to test how stupid you are." Gee. Thanks.
"I have 2 riddles for you. If you solve both correctly, you may pass on to the next room. However... miss one riddle, and the biters will get in." She paused and something banged on the locked door.
"Okay." I said. "Do your worst." Bracing myself, I listen closely to the first riddle.
"I can be the sun. I can be the sand. I can be a bird. Tell me, what am I?" After a loong silence, she sighed.
"You really do need some help. Okay stupid, it's either a clock, a mirror, a statue, or a paper and pencil." Well, that certainly clears thing up. A mirror can reflect all of those, but it isn't exactly those, Just a reflection. A statue is only one solid thing, so no. A paper and pencil? Well... you can draw those things.. Maybe that? Or... the clock. Uh, the sun...a sundial? Sand... the sands of time? A bird.. can be a cuckoo clock. After reflecting on each of those, I make my choice.
"The clock." I say, assuredly.
"Nice choice. Next riddle." She says meanly, as if she expected me to get that wrong.
"I have a mouth, but I cannot speak. I can run, but never walk. I have a head but I cannot weep. I have a bed but I cannot speak." Oh, this is easy, I heard this as a filly.
"A river." After a moment's hestitation, the Puppetmaster sighed.
"You win. But, I have one more challenge. I love riddles. So, give me a riddle. If I can't solve it, then you can go ahead. If I can, I will let in only 5 biters, seeing as you have solved those two. Sound fair?" No. But she's the one with my life in her hooves. I think of a good riddle.
I was always very good at solving riddles but never good at making one. I try to remember all the riddles my friends told me, but I could only remember 3.
“Oh well” I mutter “If I tell you everything is a lie am I telling you a truth or a lie?” I said.
“Easy” the Puppetmaster says “if you say everything is a lie then that means you are lying!”
I hear a click then I turn around to see 5 biters walking into the room. I start panicking, I scan the room for any sign of weapons but the biters are already on me. I grab a chair and throw it down on the first biter- a nurse that didn’t make it- the head of the biter was smashed open from the leg of the chair. 4 more biter started trotting at me, their facial expressions looked like they were begging to be freed, or to eat me. I break the legs of the chair and then I feel a sharp pain in my arm. The biter –a male patient- was on my arm biting down, I shrieked at the pain, but thrusted the leg of the chair straight at its head. The biter immediately fell down and, I guess died again, my arm was bubbling up whatever the biters were infected with had now spread on me. The remaining 3 biters started slowly approaching me 1 by 1 and with my limb badly wounded I couldn’t go anywhere. As the 3 biters go in punching range I stabbed all 3 right through the chest with the other leg of the chair. I thought I killed them, but no I didn’t apparently the biters didn’t die after being struck through the heart, but then I remembered that in the movies the only way to kill a zombie is by hitting it in the head “Stupid me” I muttered under my breath. I grab one of the 2 chair legs remaining and struck all three in the head.
“Oh good finally you got rid of them!” the Puppetmaster said in a bored voice “now time for you to tell me another riddle!”
Okay I can do this I just need to remember a good riddle,
“okay ‘Puppetmaster’ a pony is trapped in a room with nothing but a table and a mirror, how did he escape? I asked
“hmm let’s see, Oh I know! The pony broke one of the legs off the table, broke the mirror, grabbed a large piece of glass from the mirror attacked it to the leg, made an axe and chopped his way out!” The Puppetmaster said in a gleeful voice.
“no” I said happily “the pony looked in the mirror, sees what he saw, grabbed the saw, cut the table in two and two halves make a hole and he jumped through the hole.”
“Clever” The Puppetmaster said harshly “ I guess you can advance to the next room, but remember to take this radio with you!”
The door in front of me made a beep then opened, I looked into the room and-
I stumbled back. I saw someone I knew. Only... it couldn't be her. She was dead. "Dawn?" I asked. "Is that you?" Dawn, or should I say Misty Dawn, the earth pony named for her gray-blue coat trotted towards me in surprise. "Celestia raise the moon, it’s you! I'm so glad you're here. I need help with this room." I looked around the room and saw nothing. "What is it?" There was nothing but a table with an injection on it. "Taking that shot-" She pointed to the table. "Would show you your worst fear. You have to overcome it... but I'm too scared. You were always so brave." She looked at me. "Can you do it?" Dawn was always a timid pony, so I nodded. "But one question... how long have you been here? Everyone thought you were..." I left it hanging. "Dead?" She asked. "I.. I know." She looked down. "The Puppetmaster told me... Everyone here never makes it out. So they all think that we're dead." That means... everyone thinks I'M dead. Everything crushes inside me, but I grit my teeth and take the shot. "Good luck..." I hear Dawn say, before everything starts to fade.
I wake up in a bank. I realize that I’m in my fear, it’s just I don’t even know what I’m afraid of! I go through in my head the things I fear the most so I can learn to overcome them in here
“alright” I muttered under my breath.
I took me a while to think about it but I found my fear- watching my family die- I know my fear sounds stupid, but the way I had to experience my family did was awful. When I was a little foal, my mom, sister and I went to the bank to get some money withdrawn. My mom was next in line when a bunch of stallions marched in with guns. At first I thought the police were here, but it turned out this was a robbery. There were three stallions; one was around 21 and the other in their late thirties. The oldest one yelled at every one “GET ON THE GROUND!” and so my mom shoved us to the ground and said keep quiet. My sister started crying because she was sacred, and the youngest of the burglars yelled at my mom “Get her to shut up or I will!” I watched in fear as my mom pleaded at my sister to be quiet but she kept on crying, and so the man grabbed my sister and pointed a gun at her head. My mom begged the man to let her go but he didn’t do it, he just laughed at my mom. He kept on saying “Come on I dare you! Come and get her!” my mom was so worried and frightened on what to do. The two older stallions loaded the money in their bags and were also telling the young stallion to let her go. The young stallion was having too much fun playing with my mom. I wasn’t thinking what I was about to do I just did it. I lunged forward to my sister’s rescue, and with the stallion so shocked at my actions, shot his gun killing my sister. My mom screamed and punched the man square in the jaw. The man was furious and hit my mom in the back of her head with the gun, killing her too. I was just about to cry when the robber walked up to me and said “Shut up you worthless pile of trash.” Then shot me in the head too. I and all the others who were shot were rushed to the hospital ,where my sister and my mom were declared dead, and I only had a 5% chance to survive what I did. I walked out of that hospital all alone with no one to comfort me. Everyone I loved and cared for was dead, all because of me.
I shook my head, trying to forget about my memory. I was never more terrified then I was at that moment at the bank. I realized what I had to do to overcome my fear: watch my family die and not feel anything. I was outside the bank with two other older men, both looked very familiar, but then I realized what was going on- I was the man who was going to kill my family!-
Walking inside, I surveyed the bank. There was me- filly me, and my even smaller little sister. My tired, weary looking mom, but in light of that, she still smiled. I had to remind my self that this was all fake. This was all fake. A gun was levitating- levitating? Right. The stallion was a unicorn. Anyways, it was levitating at my side. How weird it is, to use magic. As I was thinking that, one of my comrades- one who I instantly recognized as my older brother, for some reason, yelled "GET ON THE GROUND!"
Mother shoved the filly me and my sister to the ground, and my sister started crying. I realized that I was gonna have to do it the exact same way the stallion did it. I looked to my mom, and glared at her menacingly.
"G-get her to shut up." I said, with a lump in my throat. "Or I will."
Mother begged and pleaded to my sister to please stop crying, and I wished so bad I could drop my gun and hug, her, saying sweetly, "Silly Rose Petal! I was just playing, it's me! Your sister!" But I knew that I couldn't do that, I couldn't I couldn't I couldn't. Instead I took her roughly by the scruff and aimed the gun towards her head, tears in my eyes that I was detremined to not let out.
"Let her go! Please! I'll give you anything!" Mother pleaded.
"Come on! I dare you! Come and get her!" I said through gritted teeth, as Rose squirmed and wailed. My older brothers, loading the money bags, said to let her go, but I couldn't. I had to do exactly as he did. Then, filly me went up suddenly to save Rose, and as much as I wanted to let me save her, I couldn't. I shot my sister and was so, so close to crying. I had to stay strong. Mother screamed and punched me in the jaw, pain spreading it's fingers around my face. Instinctively, I hit her with the butt of the gun, and she collapsed. Horrified, I turned to mini me, who stared at me with hatred and tears pooling up in her eyes and one falling down her cheek.
"Shut up, you w-worthless... pile of trash." I shot myself in the head, and as everything faded black, I let a few tears pour down my cheek. Hastily wiping it up as the scene brightened again, I realized I was inside of the bank, and everything was a little larger. My sister, Rose, smiled. "Look at what I can do!" She said brightly, never having been able to say my name. I realized I had to go through that again, only this time, I was myself as a filly. I decided to enjoy what little time I had with my sister and mother.
Rose then flittered up to mom's neck, and I clapped appreciatively. "Good job Rose! You'll join the Wonderbolts one day!" I Hugged my mother's leg. "I love you mama." I said, as the doors banged open and I heard the men trot in.
"GET ON THE GROUND!" They yelled. Mother shoved us both down to the ground and Rose started to cry. "Rose!" I whispered, terrified. "Stop crying!"
The man came up to us. "Get her to shut up, or I will." He said. Mother begged Rose to stop, but the more she begged, the herder she'd cry. Eventually, the man took her by the scruff and aimed the gun. "Nonononono stop! STOP!" I thought desperately.
"Come on, I dare you! Come and get her!" I couldn't help it. I lunged up to help my sister and he shot her, blood splettering on to both of our coats. I stared limp at her lifeless body as he killed mother too. He then came to me, and tears were falling down my cheek and he said something and I didn't know what was happening and then.
Everything was black.
I woke up out of the serum and burst out in tears.
Holly! Holly Leaf are you okay?” Dawn asked
“Holly-Leaf?” I said in a tearful voice
“Yeah that’s your name! Don’t you remember?” Dawn questioned
“I don’t quite remember anything, but things are coming back to my mind” I muttered as I thought about my family that I lost.
“Oh, Anyway what happened in their! You started crying halfway through the serum” Dawn said in a warming voice
“M-My fear” I stuttered “My fear was my family.”
“What do you mean Holly? Your fear your family?”
“No, remember back when we were fillies and the news did a report about the robbery on St. Hooves street?”
“Yeah, a family of 3 were shot and two were declared dead.”
“well that family of three just happened to be MY family!”
Dawn’s jaw dropped.
“How come you never told me that your family died? I could have been there for you! You know I would let you stay at my place!”
“I didn’t know what to do, the police kept me away from every pony because they thought I was in shock of what I had to experience.’
“what happened after that?” Dawn asked to caught up in what I was saying to notice that I was in pain.
“They sent me to live with my uncle and aunt, who never really liked me, but both died when I was eighteen from the disease that was flowing through the town.” I answered
About an hour of talking and comforting me, The Puppetmaster came on the radio.
“Hello Holly! I’m glad to hear that you have made it through your fear! I guess now you can continue on to the next room, but-“The Puppetmaster was cut off
“But WHAT?!?!?” Dawn and I shouted
“Dawn you never passed your fear! Either you face all 20 fears you have or stay here and stare” The Puppetmaster said in a taunting voice
dawn looked at me with a frightened expression; I knew that everyone of these fears are actually phobias, ones that Dawn will never be able to face.
“I can’t do it…” Dawn squealed and began to cry at the thought of being stuck here
“If she isn’t leaving- I gulped- I’m not either!” I said
“Oh how nice you two are both going to stay! Alright have it your way!” The Puppetmaster laughed and hung up.
“Holly I’m so sorry! I didn’t know you were going to stay too!” Dawn cried out
“Its alright, I found a friend and I’m not about to leave her, and besides it’s not like the Puppetmaster can do anything about it.” I said confidently
“INCOMING” I flinched at the voice, the Puppetmaster was back on the radio.
“What?” I responded, and then I heard a click.
“The doors are opening!” Dawn shouted happily
Something seemed a little off -but then I saw it- a hoof stepped into the door.
“BITERS!” I shouted!
Now, usually, I am a sensitive, kind, loving pony. But, seeing our fate, while sweet and innocent Dawn trembled in fear, I realized if we're gonna make it out alive, she's gonna buck up and deal. Kicking and thrashing, I fought my way to the table and picked up the needle with my teeth, and struggled over to Dawn. Closing my eyes, I jabbed the needle to her neck and looked in her eyes. "I'm... so... sorry!" I cried, in between shoving away biters. She looked at me with infinite hurt, then blacked out. I punched and punched and kicked and hit and tried to ignore Dawn's pitiful mewling. After a few biters, I realized they had three soft spots- eyes, necks, and ears. I rythmically fought them off, and as I jumped on the last one, bleeding heavily and breathing heavilier, my coat now a sticky red, Dawn woke up and began to cry and cry. "Oh Holly!" She sobbed.
"What happened?" I asked. And she told me.
"oh Holly, its just too much for me!" dawn yelled "I never wanna live throught that nightmare again!"
"Dawn whats wrong? What happened in there?" I asked
"What do you think happened! MY WORST FEAR HOLLY!"
I looked at her dumbstruck
"My fear, its of the Puppetmaster!"
"Really? What happened?"
"I never told you this Holly, But the Puppetmaster is my daughter."
"wha-WHAT???"
"wha-WHAT???"
I meet this pony, his name was Sombra."
" You mean, like King Sombra?!?!"
"yes..."
"Dawn how come you never told me about this!"
"WELL IF YOUHAVENT NOTICED I WAS TRAPPED HERE FOR MONTHS!" Dawn yelled
"sorry, anyways why would the Puppetmaster put you through this?" I asked
"For you information Holly, her name is Auttumn! Anyways, as I told you, Kng Sombra was her father, so naturally she inherited her, well, 'Evilness'. She had discovered she had powers beyond my control, and put everypony through this so called 'game'."
"She did this to everypony?"
"Yes. She started out with.. With.." Dawn had a painfully sad look on her face.
"Go on." I said
"I-I can't!" She yelled as she bursted into tears
"Dawn" I said in a soothing voice "it’s alright, if you don't want to say it, you don't.
"I have to tell you... It was Celestia."
My mouth dropped.
"Holy Celestia!" I cried, rather ironically. "But... she's still alive. Why didn't she spread the news about it?" Then the news hit me. "You had a filly with King Sombra?"
Dawn scrunched her nose up and looked away. "Not the point Holly. Not the point."
"Sorry. So anyways, is Autumn a unicorn? Earth pony? Pegasus? Why did she put you through this? This is insane. What kinda daughter would do that?" I got up and began to pace the room. Angrily, I shouted out to nothing. "Hey, Autumn! Good for nothing little brat! Your mom went through her fear, so LET US THROUGH!" In a rage, I stomped my hoof on the ground and whirled around. My anger quickly dissapated when I saw that Dawn was gone.
"Well, mother decided to spill the beans, didn't she?" I heard a cloying and angry voice. "Don't worry- she's taken care of now." Horrified, I looked around.
"What did you do with her?" I shouted.
"Oh, silly little Holly- she's taken care of. If there is one thing I don't care for, it's secret spillers. So, naturally, I had to let her... go." Let her go? What... did she...
"Why would you do that?" I said, albeit without my usual flair.
"Little Holly," How dare she? I'm older than her! "It's all in good fun. Advance to the next room, and, since you just lost someone, I'll give you a spoiler. No more biters- they're getting a little boring." I heard a click, and the door opened.
For a moment I just sat there just processing what just happened. Found Dawn. Went through fear landscape. Woke up. Remembered story of past. Cried. Puppetmaster went back online on the radio. Biters entered room. Dawn went through landscape. Dawn woke. Reveled she was Puppetmaster’s mother. Father was Sombra. Puppetmaster’s name was Autumn. Autumn did something to Dawn. Then I stopped thinking of what just happened. Dawn, what did she do to Dawn? All the sudden a voice appeared on the radio again.
“Hello?!?!?” Auttumn yelled “Are you going to enter the next room or do I have to kill you now?”
I grunted then walked into the room. Then I froze, shocked at what I’m looking at. There right in the middle of the plain white room with absoloutly no décor was Dawn. I would of yelled happily and called Dawns name, If she was fully intact. In the center of the room was indeed Dawn, but she was attached to a giant, umm let’s just say giant circle. As I took a closer look I could see that her limbs were cleanly chopped off, and nailed one inch away from there attachment point to the body. In the middle of the circle was her torso, or what was left. Her chest was torn open and all her inner organs were missing, well the ones you could see anyway. Her head was the most grusom part, her head, like her limbs was suspended one inch away from the attachment part on the torso. Her eyes were cut out of the sockets, and here ears and tongue were missing.
I meet this pony, his name was Sombra."
" You mean, like King Sombra?!?!"
"yes..."
"Dawn how come you never told me about this!"
"WELL IF YOUHAVENT NOTICED I WAS TRAPPED HERE FOR MONTHS!" Dawn yelled
"sorry, anyways why would the Puppetmaster put you through this?" I asked
"For you information Holly, her name is Auttumn! Anyways, as I told you, Kng Sombra was her father, so naturally she inharated her, well, 'Evilness'. She had discovered she had powers beyond my control, and put everypony throught this so called 'game'."
"She did this to everypony?"
"yes. She started out with.. with.." Dawn had a painfully sad look on her face.
"Go on." I said
"I-i can't!" She yelled as she bursted into tears
"Dawn" i said in a soothing voice "its alright, if you don't want to say it, you don't.
"I have to tell you... It was Celestia."
My mouth dropped.