Seven rooms

Hours had passed by and the red had finally faded from the water. Then we started seeing bubbles and soap flowing by. Maybe some pony was cleaning the room after the murder. He must be cleaning the bloody room.

After the water returned to the usual dirtiness and hoof steps leaving, I decided to get in the ditch and moved towards the first room. The mares in room 2 and 3 asked me to explain what had just happened, but I told them that I will explain as soon as I was back.

The mare in the 1st room had disappeared. The room was washed with soap and water, and it was spotlessly clean. It was done by the same pony who killed her, I imagined. The strand of hair that Rarity found must belong to the previous pony who were locked up here. The murderer would kill one pony every day, and lock a new pony up. He, or she, seemed to enjoy watching us suffer for six days and then kill us.

None of us have seen his/her face, or heard his/her voice. But we know there is some pony out there. Every day they would come and bring us a slice of bread, water, and eventually death. He/she is like the reaper. We have been locked inside his game of death with no way of escaping.

I went back to the 2nd room and explained Rarity’s guess to her. She didn’t call me insane because just like us, she saw the dead bodies as well. I could tell that she had given up hope of getting out of here. When I finished talking, she didn’t say anything. She just sat there quietly, thinking just like Rarity.

“I’ll be back later.”

I said to her and went to the 3rd room. I told her the same thing, who is going to be killed tomorrow. Before that, she didn’t know how long she would be locked up, or what was going to happen to her. Now it’s all clear. She was destined to die tomorrow.

The 3rd mare covered her lips with her hooves. Tears flew down her beautiful cheeks as I told her the truth.

Suddenly, I wasn’t sure if I was doing the right thing or not any more. I don’t know if I should or shouldn’t know if it’s my time to die. Maybe it’s better to just watch pieces of body flow down the ditch, and suddenly one day the door was opened and I was killed. Maybe it’s better than knowing exactly how much more time you actually have.

Looking at the crying mare, I remembered the 7th mare. Eventually every pony would be just like her, paranoid and scared. And hopeless.

It’s been days inside this solid concrete room. No pony could believe that this is a game anymore. Every pony knew that death would come. Even though no pony wanted to accept the fact, it’s going to happen.

The 7th mare must be in a lot of pain. She watched bodies every single day, and thought when would be her time. These thoughts drove over the edge of her sanity, and she fell into an abyss of hopelessness.

I went through all the room and told them the truth. When I reached the 7th room, I heard a scream coming from the new mare who was locked up There.

I went back to our room. Rarity was still sitting in the exactly same position. I was worried about her. I moved closer and shook her shoulders.

“Hey Rarity, you all right?”

Rarity didn’t answer. Then we heard hoof steps coming from far away. It stopped in front of our room, and we saw a slice of bread being tossed into the room from below the door, and the noise of our dish being filled with water.

Right outside that door, it’s the devil that had killed numerous ponies. Thinking about this made me want to throw up from the pressure. I could almost feel the dark and scary invisible force from him.

Suddenly, Rarity jumped up like a spring.

“WAIT!”

She pushed herself against the bottom of the door, holding her muzzle right against the floor. She tried to hold out her hoof, but there were just not enough space.

“Please, I BEG YOU! Listen to me, who are you?”

Rarity yelled and screamed, but the pony outside didn’t seem to care at all. He/she walked away as if Rarity was invisible.

The hoof steps became distant.

“Damnit… DAMNIT!”

Rarity fell back onto the wall next to the iron door. It looked like she had lost all of her strength. She tried to levitate the bread and split it in half, but her magic didn’t work.

“Rarity! Are you okay?”

“Sweetie Bell… An unicorn’s magic comes from her strength. I am just too tired and weak.”

There were no hoofle on the door, so I guessed the door could only be opened from the outside. The next time it opens would be the time for us to die.

I was about to be killed. At first I was scared because I wanted to go home, or when I got really hungry, but I haven’t gotten scared because death. Living in Pony Ville for all these years, I have no idea what death is like. Would it hurt? Of course it would. But, where do I go after I die? I am scared, but what scared me more is that Rarity is panicking more than I am. She used to be so strong and bossy, but seeing her like this making me feel like the end of the world is just steps ahead.

“Rarity…?”

Rarity raised her eyes.

“Did you tell them about the rules of the rooms?” She asked.

I didn’t understand why did she ask this. I nodded.

“You just did a very, VERY, cruel thing, do you know that?”

I tried to apologize that I didn’t know that I wasn’t suppose to tell them, but Rarity didn’t seem to be paying attention at all.

Remembering my promise, I went back to the 2nd room.

The mare smiled when I appeared.

“Ah finally, I thought you weren’t gonna show up.”

Even though her smile was weak, it was heartwarming. I haven’t seen any happy face s in these concrete rooms, so her smile was like a small ray of sunshine on my heart.

But she was going to be killed that day, why would she still smile about it? I was confused.

“You were calling your sister just now, right?”

“Yeah… you heard us?”

“Well it was all muffled and echoes, but I thought it was your voice.”

Then she started talking about her hometown, about how I looked a lot like one of her cousins. She also told me about her life before she got here, being a photographer and stuff.

”Oh, and if you get out, could you please give this to my family?”

She took off her necklace and placed it around my neck. It was a silver cross. She said she had been praying since she was locked up in here.

I spent the whole day becoming friends with her. We sat together against the concrete wall, stretching our legs like we are on a comfortable couch. Sometimes one of us would stand up and walk around as we talk. The ceiling was quite low, so a great portion of the light would be blocked, leaving a huge shadow on the wall.

I heard the water in the ditch flowing, then I remembered that I had been swimming around in the dirty water for days. I must stink. So I moved a little further away from here.

“Haha, don’t’ worry. I haven’t taken a shower in days either. My nose isn’t working at all. If I can get out of here, the first thing I do would be taking a seven hour bubble bath.”

She smiled as she talked, which amazed me.

“I am sorry, but how can you be so calm when you know you are going to be killed today?”

She thought about it for a while and said, “I’ve already accepted the fact.” She looked a bit lonely, but she was still smiling and happy. For a second, I thought she was an angel in a church.

When I had to go we held our hooves together, for a really long time.

Her hooves were gentle and warm.

I went back to my room before 6 pm. I told Rarity about the necklace. Rarity held me tight against her chest, and she sobbed a little.

The water inside the ditch slowly turned red. Then I saw eyes, lips and hair that I had just saw, flowing down the stream.

I moved closer and held out part of her hoof that I was holding no more than an hour ago. They were so warm and calm, but now they were cold and stiff.

I felt like my chest was going to burst open with pain. My brain was filled with the color of red just like the ditch. I felt the whole red turning crimson and hot. I can’t even think any more.

When I woke up I found myself lying down in Rarity’s lap, crying. Rarity was stroking my mane gently, looking down at me.

“I want to go home.” She said gently.

I nodded.