The adolescent dragon's eyes slowly opened in response to light trickling in through a window to his left. After a couple groans stemming from the frustration of being woken from his slumber he stumbled to his feet. Immediately in front of him was a hall that branched off in a few directions. The odd torches spaced throughout the hall cast a soft light over all that he could see, though darkness still held secrets in the corners of unlit rooms.

"Where...am I?" He asked quizzically as he surveyed the hall he was in. A structural collapse made going to the path behind him impossible, leaving only the path forward as an option. The castle was old. That much he could tell. The stones echoed of age and being well past their prime.

Within moments Spike became subconsciously aware that his heartbeat had turned in to a nervous tempo. The very air seemed threatening and being unsure why made the matter worse.

"Is anyone there?" He called out. His voice echoed back to him, almost mockingly.

"Oh I get it. Real funny. You got me, guys. Good prank." He said with a small laugh as if to reassure himself. No response came.

"Guys? Please...this isn't funny anymore..."

The only sound he heard was the wind howling through a broken window. Without anyone else around and no sense of what to do Spike had only two options. Sit where he was and wait indefinitely for his friends that might not even be coming, or descend into the structure...

He put one scaly foot on the floor. His claws made a soft click as they made contact with the stone. Another set of claws clicked as he began taking uncertain steps forward. He flapped his wings nervously. They had started growing in as he reached his teenage years and though they were not small they were not large yet either. He was not capable of flight though he could greatly soften landing from a fall.

Spike walked forward cautiously and though his claws were not loud they seemed all but deafening in the silence that reverberated all around.

Hopefully that means my friends will find me easier... He mused within his own mind.

Something sitting atop a nearby table caught his eye. A tinderbox.

"Who'd leave this here? Might as well take it. Just in case."

He scooped it up in his talons. For a moment he considered leaving it because he could breathe fire naturally though he held onto it anyway. It was more for the sake of just having something to hold if he had to give a reason, he liked to fiddle with whatever he was holding when he got nervous.

As he progressed into the main hall a runaway breeze from nowhere flung open a door a short distance ahead. He recoiled a few steps back in fear as he saw a shadow as tall as himself cast on the door. He would stand eye to eye with a man at his height and did his best to cover himself behind a set of drapes that adorned the window behind him. A moment later he dared to peek out again.

He heard a small squeak and watched the shadow shrink down to mere inches when a rat scurried out of the doorway.

He was confused but relieved nonetheless. He walked up to the doorway to investigate. Inside was a small closet illuminated by a candle resting on the floor.

Just a trick of the light! He thought to himself. The incident would have been funny to him under different circumstances. With his eyes following the rat moving across the floor he caught sight of a strange liquid on the floor. It was a pinkish hue of sorts and there was a trail of it leading into a hallway that branched off of this one.

Spike's curiosity getting the best of him, the young dragon followed it. His claws making a "tick-tack" sound as he walked.

I should clip those sometime. Last time I was in Canterlot it drove me nuts. The new, clean stone there made it even louder.

He followed the trail back to a room with nothing in it with the exception of a single desk in the center of the room. On it lay several items. Spike cautiously advanced to get a closer look. The first thing he noticed was a note in the the middle with a quill and inkwell beside it, as well as a nearly empty bottle with a few drops of pink liquid in it. Likely what left the trail he found. He picked up the note and began reading.

Dear Spike,

I don't have too long to write this. You are writing this, even if you don't remember by now. Details are already slipping from my mind so I can't get off subject. You have been in this castle for a week. Twilight was experimenting with a new form of magic and it went haywire about a week ago. Everyone was there expecting positive results but we were sent to this castle, on a world called Earth. An odd but charismatic man named Alexander welcomed us and showed us around some areas within the castle. He took the most interest to Twilight and Rarity and sometimes invited them privately to help him with his "projects". At one point I found a note written by someone named "Daniel" but he was quick to claim that he was an old assistant that had left years ago. I was right to be suspicious when he forbade us from certain areas of the castle and hesitated when any of us asking detailed questions and became frustrated when he caught Rainbow Dash trying to snoop. Last night he was very excited when he asked me to follow him into his "inner sanctum". I did as he asked. We crossed a narrow bridge that stretched over a hole that seemed to go on forever and he opened a large pair of doors and inside the chamber was a pair of orbs on pedestals. I noticed that there were three pedestals and only two orbs. The second thing I noticed was the smell. Blood. When I asked him he claimed it was it was liquid squeezed from a fruit that would aid the ritual he had planned but he was lying. Any dragon knows blood when they smell it. I pretended to believe him but I was already planning escape routes. He said the orbs were advanced ways of channeling magic and he asked me to breathe fire into the empty pedestal in the hopes that it would work in the absence of a third orb. I asked where my friends were and that's when I think he knew that I had caught onto him. He called for a servant to come in but what entered was a nightmarish creature with its head split open and a blade replacing the right arm! A second one entered right behind it and they stood beside Alexander. He told me that my friends were safe for now but he demanded I do as he said. I breathed onto the empty pedestal but nothing happened. That's when he flew into a rage and ordered his monsters to throw me in a cell while he figured out what to do next. I ran as fast as I could away form them. They chased me and swung their terrible blades while making bone-chilling roars. I don't remember the areas I ran through anymore and I can tell I'm almost out of time to write this. I made it to a solid metal door some distance back and locked it down tight. They made a ruckus for a while but eventually they stopped and I could hear them walk away but I can't dare to head back as I am, I can't remember it anymore but I couldn't even begin to think of how I'd keep living with the knowledge of it. So I'm sorry to do this and leave myself in the dark about so much but I took one of Alexander's "Amnesia" bottles and drank it. Find the girls. Find a way home. Bring Alexander to justice. Stay safe.

Sincerely, Spike.

"Oh no..." He whispered to himself.

This can't be! I'm no hero! This has to just be a bad dream...but I know it isn't. My only choice is to go back down there...

That was when an idea came to his mind that perhaps there was something else for him to find, whether it was another note or a map of the castle if he lucked out. He pulled open each of the drawers in the desk and in the largest one he found a lantern with a small jar of oil beside it. He dumped the oil into the lantern's fuel supply and picked it up by the handle.

He left the room and turned to the giant doors that closed off the main hall. He took hold of a handle and slowly pulled the great slab of wood and iron open. It led straight into an empty hall lined with torches. At the end sat a simple wooden door. He lifted the wooden door lock and pulled the door towards him. Behind it was yet another hallway, only this one was longer and only dimly lit. At the end was a heavy metal door.

The hunk of metal that sectioned off the hallway looked heavy enough to crush a catapult if dropped from high enough. Three locks and a door bar kept it secure. Spike reluctantly approached. If he had a choice he'd be here only to seal it tighter but he needed to rescue the girls and get them home safely. They needed him, and that was all the purpose he needed.

First he undid the door bar, lifting it up and gently setting it against the wall. He felt a shiver run down his spine as he began to undo one of the locks. His imagination conjured up a million horrors that could emerge as soon as he passed through here. He undid the second lock as well. As he reached for the third one it felt as if his blood ran cold. While he couldn't actually remember what the monstrosities looked like some deep, primal part of his mind remembered exactly how they made him feel. He felt terror. Spike looked back at the lock hesitantly, realizing he was panicking and had yet to even open the door.

Get a hold of yourself, Spike. You are a dragon! You shouldn't be scared! If anything they should be scared of you! This is for Twilgiht. This is for Fluttershy, AJ, Pinkie, and Rainbow! This is for Rarity! I can't fail them! The young dragon thought confidently. It faded again slightly as he undid the final lock but it was done and he refused to turn back.

Once more steeling his resolve, Spike but one claw on the door and flexed his arm.

He let out a long nervous breath. He slowly pulled towards himself...and opened the door.

Author's Note

Hope you guys enjoyed! When you read this I advise you read in in the dark, at night, somewhere real quiet. I wanted to do something a little different and I've been wanting to write a story centered around Spike for ages so...here you go. It also adds variety to my stories. I've got romance, adventure, horror, sad, funny, etc. It's good to branch out. As always be sure to comment and like, I love getting feedback.

Just a heads up. I plan to do more like this but I wanted to start off and letting you guys know this runs similar to the actual game "Amnesia: The Dark Descent" The characters present in the game are present in this as well but in addition to Spike plus the main six. If you played the game you may see similarities but you should not expect things to go in accordance to how they did in the game. There will be plenty of differences and I can promise that this isn't simply a retelling of what happened with a couple things switched out. If you haven't played the game, buckle up and enjoy! With that said, hope you all like it!