THE ONLY ME IS ME THE ONLY ME IS ME THE ONLY ME IS ME THE ONLY ME IS ME THE ONLY ME IS ME (Edited)
Twilight's eyes slowly opened as a cockroach ran over her leg toward a crack in the wall of the dull gray room. A dim lightbulb swung gently above her, allowing her to see somewhat, though failing to illuminate the dark corners of the room.
"Uuugh. Wha...where in Equestria...what is this?" Twilight groaned as she managed to get to her hooves. "Where am I?" Her head throbbed as though a jackhammer were chipping away at the inside of her skull. "H-hello? Is anypony here?"
Fighting through the pain in her head, she tried instead to collect her thoughts. Her memory was hazy, but she could recall going over some books - what were they, spell books? She remembered some strange symbols on the pages, so they must have been spell books. Then Spike...he...he came to the stairs and...he said goodnight to her.
And after that...
Blackness, and then waking up here. Twilight scowled, stamping her hoof in frustration. As the pain began to slowly subside, she noticed the wooden door in front of her, a decrepit looking thing with rotting boards and peeling white paint. She was about to walk over to it, when suddenly the sound of something unlocking stopped her, and THE ONLY ME IS ME ARE YOU SURE THE ONLY YOU IS YOU she froze on the spot as she saw the rusted door handle turn slowly. A moment later, the door creaked open just a few inches.
Twilight stood frozen as an uneasy feeling formed in her gut. "Hello?" she called again, softer this time. "Is anypony there?"
No answer.
Twilight slowly approached the door, her horn glowing with magic just in case. When she was close enough, she lifted a hoof and pushed it open a little and peeked out. Behind the door was a long, well-lit hallway. Several paintings lined the walls, and there was a little alcove a few feet ahead where she could just see part of a wooden table jutting out from behind the corner.
But there was no sign of whoever had unlocked the door.
Twilight stepped out of the YOU CAN'T TRUST THE TAP WATER room and into the hallway. As soon as she was clear of the door, it slammed shut behind her. After nearly leaping out of her skin, she spun around. To her shock, there was no door, only a blank wall.
"Wha-what?" Twilight stammered. Closing her eyes, she focused on a de-cloaking spell, thinking that maybe it was just an illusion and that maybe somepony - or something - was messing with her. But to her even greater shock, she opened her eyes to find that her magic had revealed no form of trickery in play here. The door was well and completely gone.
Well, on the plus side, at least she wasn't wanting to return back to that room any time soon, so taking one last look at the bare wall, Trying to swallow her fear, Twilight turned around and began to walk down the hallway. Coming up to the alcove, she saw nothing else there except for the little wooden table. She then noticed something on the table: and curiosity getting the better of her, she reached out and pulled the object closer to her and turned it around, revealing it to be a digital alarm clock. In glowing bright red numbers, the time read out as 2-0-4-8-6-3, 2-0-4-8-6-3, 2-0-4-8-6-3 being just a minute to midnight.
“Oh my gosh! Is it really that late?” Twilight wondered aloud. She then gasped. “Spike! He's all alone back at home! I better hurry up and find a way out of here...wherever here is, exactly.”
There was a window at the crook of the hallway, and as Twilight approached she saw that there were wrought-iron bars covering the glass. Heavy rain pattered against the glass, and everything outside the window was pitch-black.
Suddenly her ears perked up. There was noise coming from the other end of the hallway. She heard a creaking sound and turned around. The second part of the hallway was a long, eerie-looking corridor with a plain door at the far end. As she slowly approached, the creaking noise grew louder; she saw that it came from a hanging lamp, swinging ominously and casting shadows over the walls. As she passed by what she assumed was a bathroom, she saw the front door and sighed in relief. But to her dismay, when she tried to open it, she found that it was locked tighter than a drum. She stamped her hoof in frustration.
Then she heard another noise right behind her. A voice, distorted as though it were coming from a speaker. She turned around, ready to face whoever the voice belonged to, but sighed when she realized that it was merely a radio on a counter that she had not previously noticed. As her heartbeat slowly returned to normal, she approached the radio, listening carefully.
“…regret to report the murder of the wife and two children by the husband and Father. This brutal killing took place while the family were at home on a Saturday afternoon. The day of the crime, the father blasted his wife with a deadly magic spell as she was cleaning up the kitchen after lunch. When his twelve-year-old son came to investigate the commotion, the father killed him, too, igniting the poor colt's body with a combustion spell. His six-yeaR-old filly had the good sense to hide in the bathroom, but reports suggest he lured her out by telling her it was just a Game and that nopony was actually hurt. The filly was found dead from several horn jabs to the chest. Royal guards arriving on-scene found the father in his room, listening to the radIo, smiling maniacally to himself. Several days before the murders, neighbors say they heard the father repeating a sequence of numbers in a loud Voice. They said it was like he was chanting some strange spEll…”
Twilight covered her mouth in shock. “Oh, my…that’s horrible. Who would do such a thing?”
The radio continued to play and the speaker kept droning on, but Twilight wasn’t listening. All she wanted was to get the heck out of this house. Something was not right. This place wasn’t normal. So, with a huff, she stomped down the hall and opened the far door, leading to a small room with steps and another door. She walked down the stairs, threw open the door, and stepped into…
…a long, well-lit hallway, with several paintings lining the walls and a little alcove a few feet ahead where part of a wooden table jutted out from behind the corner.
The same place.
