An Invitation

Twilight was busy reorganizing her books and Spike was helping her tidy up her library. She was interrupted by her restocking when a knock came from the door.

"Hey, Spike. You mind getting the door for me?" Twilight asked.

"Alright." Spike said as he set down the pile of papers he was organizing. He walked over to the door to find out who was there. He opened the door to find a mailcolt.

"Letter for Princess Twilight Sparkle," He said.

"Oh okay," Spike grabbed the letter. He closed the door and walked over to Twilight, "A letter came for you."

"Who is it from?" She she inquired.

"I dunno. How about you open it and find out?"

She gave Spike a glare and proceeded to open the letter and read the following:

My Dearest Princess Twilight Sparkle,

Mind if I call you Twilight? I'm sure you don't. Anywho, my assistant Derpy Hooves and I have been called out to investigate a manor that somepony told us to look into. She said that she closed it down two years ago and she says she's feeling, rather stalked by somepony. What connections do these two things have you might ask? Her dead husband. She and her husband lived here over two years ago and she started to feel uneasy about him. Eventually she discovered he was a psychopath who then attempted to murder her. The reason she said why he wanted to do such a horrific thing was for her money. She felt like she was in a horror movie until she beat him with her wits. She had come to a dead end only to find one object that could suffice to be a weapon: an umbrella. She hid behind the door as he entered the room with a large kitchen knife. She jumped out and stuck the tip of the umbrella into the colts neck, piercing all the way through. She had become a murderer, only to kill one. Hiding his body, she quickly left the place and closed it down forever. Now she thinks his ghost has come to stalk her and eventually kill her. Why am I telling you this? Well I want you and your friends to come along of course! Bring your little dragon assistant too! If you agree to my little offer of investigating this manor of insanity, It is on the outskirts of Ponyville on a hilltop. You can't miss it, unless you're oh so incredibly oblivious. Well, I hope to see you soon.

Sincerely,

Doctor Whooves

"That sounds interesting. I'll gladly take the offer!" Twilight said with excitement.

"Are you sure about this? It sounds pretty dangerous," Spike said uneasy.

"I think we've been through a lot worse than something like this. C'mon Spike. Help me gather up the girls! Also make sure you grab a camcorder and a flashlight."

"Okay, I'll go do that," Spike went upstairs to grab what Twilight wanted and they quickly headed out.

***

Six mares and a dragon were walking up to a hill in the outskirts of Ponyville to see a sketchy looking manor at the top.

"I'm so glad you girls were willing to do this," Twilight thanked them.

"Aww, It's no biggie. I'm ALWAYS up for some adventure." Rainbow Dash said rather energetically.

"And we don't really spend much time together anyways. Anything for us six to be together!" Rarity added.

"Hey! What about me?" Spike asked.

"And of course you too Spikey-Wikey!" Rarity gave him a kiss on the cheek with his face flushing into a deep red.

"Well, here we are girls!" Twilight announced.

"Uhh, Where exactly IS the Doctor?" Applejack asked.

"Oooo!!! Over there! I bet he's playing hide n' seek in his TARDIS!" Pinkie Pie bounced pointing at the blue police box. They proceeded to walk over to the TARDIS to find a note.

"It's another letter from the Doctor," Twilight said.

"What does it say?" Fluttershy asked. Twilight then proceeded to read it:

Dearest Twilight and friends,

If you are currently reading this, Derpy and I are oh so very glad you decided to come along. If you are reading this and we are currently with you, disregard this whole letter. If you are currently reading this letter and we are not here, we have already gone inside without you, because your slow. So feel free to take a look around this place and then proceed to find us. It is important that you do. So you may not hear from me until you find Derpy and I in pony. So I hope you have a successful search throughout the place.

Sincerely,

Doctor Whooves

"I guess we should go ahead and go on inside," Twilight suggested, " Got your camcorders and flashlights everypony?" Rarity, Pinkie Pie and Fluttershy pulled out their flashlights, While Rainbow Dash, Applejack, Spike and Twilight pulled out their camcorders. "Okay. Lets go." Twilight said as she opened the door.

They walked into a dimly lit hall with two furnaces and a huge chandelier. The night-light creeped through the boarded up walls emitting an eerie glow.

"Kinda spooky in here," Applejack commented about the place.

"What do you expect? It's been like this for two years. Someone was murdered here y'know." Twilight added. Suddenly the entrance door closed behind them. Pinkie ran over to try to get it open, but it wouldn't budge.

"What the hay? Who closed the door?" She started to panic, "Who the hell closed the door!?" Everypony looked at each other becoming suspicion of one another.

"None of us would've done this," Fluttershy stated.

"Then who did?" Rainbow Dash questioned.

"None of us would do this!" Applejack countered.

"Then who did?" Ranbow Dash asked, "I bet it was the Doctor!"

"No. He wouldn't do this. Never," Twilight said "Girls, I fear besides the Doctor and Derpy, that we're not the only ones here."

"How do you know that?" Rarity inquired.

"I don't know...."

"Let's keep moving," Spike suggested. They all followed the dragons order as they made their way into the manor.

***

They had all been walking for quite some time now, and the couldn't help but feel uneasy about the place: broken walls, boarded up doors, shattered glass, it was quite unsettling. Twilight turned to see her friends through her night vision in her camcorder.

"Everypony okay?" She asked. They all nodded besides Fluttershy, "Fluttershy? Are you okay?" She turned her head to Twilight with a very nervous look on her face, "Umm... Yeah I-I'm fine."

"Now you can't fool me Shy. I know your scared, but we're here for you"

"I," She gulped, "I know that. T-to be honest, I didn't want to come."

"The what ever made you decide to tag along, darling?" Rarity asked.

"The lack of making my own decisions got the better of me. Twilight, you said that everypony was coming to search around the place, and I didn't want to upset you... Besides, Rarity is right. We hardly spend time together anymore, so I could't decline."

"I'm sorry Fluttershy. I should've thought about your timidness not being able to handle this," Twilight apologized.

"You're fine," Fluttershy said accepting her apology. Twilight turned back around to see a door was in front of them. She opened the door to find a body fall out of it. She and the others jumped back in a panic and the sight of the corpse. It was exactly the way thet the Doctor told them about the murder of the psychotic husband: An umbrella lodged all the way through his throat, the blood so crusty and old some of it had turned a mustard yellow mixing with the dark red, creating a deep orange color. It was all over his mouth and had created a dry trail of blood all the way down to his back and chest. His lips had been stuck together because of the stick now clotted blood seeped from his lips. Some of his skin had merged to the tile floor and had decayed.

"What the hell?" Spike stepped back in disgust. A sudden sound of a chain being dragged on the floor, was heard from down the hall. Pinkie covered her mouth, preventing her from screaming in a panic. The others stepped back in terror. The noise then stopped and they stood there in silence. Rarity shrieked as she was slammed against the wall to their left, starting to phase through the wall. Twilight and Spike tried to pull her back, but she was sucked in. Pinkie Pie was the next one to be dragged away. She was being bulled by the neck all the way down the hallway, by some sort of a shadowy object. Pinkie was dragged upward, and was slammed against the floor being sucked in. Rainbow dash ran for Pinkie, but she had disappeared through the wooden floor. She thought there might have been a trap door, but there was nothing. Applejack was the next victim. A chain wrapped around Applajack and she was pulled into an open room a few steps down the hall. The others chased after her but the door slammed after she was inside the room. They tried to open it, but it was shut up tight.

"What the hell is happening!?" Twilight yelled, demanding for an answer. Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy were in a state of shock and couldn't answer even if they wanted to. "Spike! Do you know what's happening??"

"How should I know!?" Spike yelled in frustration and horror. They looked back to see that Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash had disappeared. It was just the two of them. They stood there in a silence and waited for something to happen. The last thing Twilight remembered was falling into what felt like an abyss, and seeing Spike reaching out for her. Then she blacked out.

***

Twilight woke up with a start to find a dim light cast down on her. It was the hole in the floor she fell into. She got up and then turned her camcorder on so she could see in the darkness. She had very little sight of where she was going, even with her night vision and the flashlight built in her camera. She looked to her left to find another note from the Doctor:

Dear Twilight,

I bet you are wondering how I know it is you who are reading this. That is simple: I am Doctor Whooves, but from the future. With that being said, you now clearly know that my assistant and I make it out alive. I cannot tell you too much, because it may cause a paradox, and paradoxes are never a good thing. Even if I wanted to tell you more, I couldn't, because of the device I am using. It is called 'The Space and Time Notes'. Not a special name but it comes in handy. It allows me to pinpoint the location through out time and space of a pony, and write a letter to that specific pony, but I am timed. In other words, I have a minute and forty-five seconds to write this to you. And all of your friends will read this same letter, but addressed to them. Some of the notes you receive from me will be from the future me, and some will be notes from your present Doctor. now before I run out of time to tell you anything else, I will tell you this: TRUST NOPONY. I REPEAT: TRUST NOPONY. IT IS VITAL THAT YOU DO NOT TRUST ANYPONY. I've run out of time to write this to you. Your objective is to find your present Doctor as soon as you can. I wish you good luck.

Sincerely,

Doctor Whooves

She looked at the note, so incredibly confused at what she had just read.

"Trust no pony?" She said to herself, "What does he mean by that?" She began to press on when she heard a sudden booming voice:

"Yoo hoo! Any pony there?" The voiced asked. Twilight turned in every direction to pinpoint the location of the voice. Then it spoke again, "Feeling confused, little filly?" It asked again.

"Who's there??" Twilight asked in a slight panic.

"To answer that question: I'm no pony special really. And stop looking around like that! You're making a fool of yourself! And I know Princess Twilight Sparkle isn't a fool."

Twilight was frozen still at the mention of her title, "How do you know who I am?"

"Oh that's easy! I am a paranormal entity, a creature. I know the names of the dead and the living, just by looking a you. And I'd prefer you not call me a ghost, because that's just too cliche. But You may still call me that after I dragged away your friends."

"So that black 'thing' was you?" Twilight inquired.

"More or Less, yeah. Now, let me tell you what I am here to tell you: You're stuck in this manor, are you not?" The voice paused waiting for Twilight's answer. She hesitated, but refused to respond. The voice continued, "Yes. You are stuck. No you may be wondering how you get out? Let me answer that question for you: If you play my little game. I call this game of mine: Murder." Twilight's eyes widened and her pupils grew small. This must be what the Doctor meant by trust no pony. "How do you play my little game? It goes something like this," The voice explained, "In order to win you must be the last one alive. If you are the only pony left, you may go free. If you do not participate in my game, there will be punishment. Now, there are three rules; Rule number one: You cannot use your magic. Rule number two: You cannot use your wings. And rule number three: If you break any of the first two rules, you will be killed. Simple, eh? I have told all of your friends this, so they will all be participating. So now, I bid you good luck and I hope that one of you makes it out safely." The hall then grew quiet as the voice left. Twilight had thoughts rushing through her head

Would my friends kill me? Is this a dream? Is this the only way out? She then snapped back into reality and pressed forward, no, She thought to herself, My friends would never do anything like that. But, what the Doctor said. Should I not trust anypony? Dammit! I'm so confused! Well, I guess I'll have to find out. Twilight put her camcorder up so she could see her way in the darkness, and she made her way into the depths of this horrific game.

Author's Note

Alright. My second attempt at a grimdark. Well, The Seven Sins wasn't exactly a grimdark, but this one is.This time I don't want so much fire and hate, so I hope you like it.