Stories from the Equestrian Containments

Doors

A story about NGI-0031, written by A

I entered hesitantly through the oddly shaped doorway. Suddenly, a strong wind blew the steel door closed behind me. I tried to open it but it would not open. One final shove and it swung back open. Beyond it was not the dark alleyway I went down, but a bedroom. On the wall was a digital calendar showing the date '11th October, 2013'.

The bedroom was minimalistic, with grey plaster walls and floors. The bed was as simple as possible, being a frame with a mattress on it, and nothing more. When I looked back the door I came through had changed. It was not steel but a polished iron, with a window. I looked through the window to find more plaster walls.

Suddenly the door opened vertically and a voice called for me. It was a mare's voice. "X-0015, please follow the track marked out for you."

I looked down. There was a yellow glow stretching across the ground from my feet out of the bedroom. I followed it without question to a larger room, where another door closed behind me. The room was rather long, and at the end were two black old-fashioned doors, inconsistent with the iron doors I had seen along the way.

In the corner of my eye I saw a shelf. On it was a single folder. I opened the folder and pulled out the one sheet that stood out the most. It talked about the two doors on the other side of the room, constantly referring to them as 'NGI-0031'.

"Please approach NGI-0031." The voice was begging for me to go through those doors... I could sense it.

I put the sheet back on the shelf and walked towards the doors. Getting close to the doors was hard, I was hesitant all the way, at intervals refusing to go any further down the room, and then changing my mind. Once I had reached the doors, I froze solid.

"Please enter NGI-0031."

I opened both doors outwards. They revealed a dark alley and a rounded-top door about a fifth of a kilometre away. I followed the voice’s instruction and walked through the doors.

No instruction followed. I wondered why. When I turned back, the plaster walled room was still there. The light the room gave off helped me see for a little bit, but not enough to light the entire alley.

I decided to go towards the rounded-top door by myself. On my way I bumped into several things, most notably an empty rubbish can, which I tripped onto. The rainwater on the floor didn’t help, making me slip backwards. I struggled to get back on my feet, and this time I made sure that I would look carefully before walking.

Before long I had reached the other side of the alley, and in front of me was the rounded-top door. Now that I was closer to it I was able to study it more. It was steel, and had a brass door handle. When I pushed on the handle, the door swung open. Inside was a very small room, about the size of a cubicle. Both the door and the room were familiar. I thought about going back, but that would prove nothing.

I entered hesitantly through the oddly shaped doorway. Suddenly, a strong wind blew the steel door closed behind me. I tried to open it but it would not open. One final shove and it swung back open. Beyond it was not the dark alleyway I went down, but a bedroom. On the wall was a digital calendar showing the date '12th October, 2013'.

"X-0015, please follow the track marked out for you."