Drip.
The offending sound reaches Twilight's ears, gently pulling her from her from sleep into wakefulness.
Drip Drop.
Twilight could not help but notice a sharp pain in her head. she could not discern where it came from. She could clearly remember going to bed the previous night sober and she doesn’t remember hitting her head on anything.
Drop.
She had finally had enough and wanted it to stop. "Spike!" she called out, "Spike, could you stop that leak?"
Drip.
The lack of a response from her faithful assistant was less than thrilling. "Spike, this is not funny!" she called out.
Drop Drip.
"Spike!" she shouted in anger as she quickly sat up and opened her eyes. Immediately, the dim red light of the room filled her vision. Concrete walls on all sides, a steel door in the middle of one, and a metal bed were the main features in the room. Twilight was stunned and scared. "Spike!" she called out again, this time more worried, "Are you there?"
"Twilight!" came the raspy voice of a more than slightly boastful mare from the door, "Is that you?"
"Rainbow?" Twilight questioned, getting out of the bed and heading toward the door.
"It is you," Rainbow said, sounding slightly relieved, "Could you do your magic thing and get us out of here?"
"Wait," Twilight began, "Where are we? Where are the rest of the girls? And just what is going on?"
"I Don't know, but I’m sure that they are okay," Rainbow said with confidence.
Before Twilight could respond, the loud ringing of a com system filled her ears, prompting her to cover her ears.
"Good morning girls..." came a deep, distorted voice from an unseen speaker, "I do hope you had a good night's rest"
Twilight raised her head and looked around to try to find the source of the voice. Twilight was going to say something, but before she got the chance to say anything, Rainbow shouted out "Who are you and why did you lock us up here?"
"I want to play a game," the voice said flatly, "If you win, you’re free to leave."
"And if we lose?" Rainbow questioned.
No response came from the voice.
Twilight looked at the floor. What she saw where puddles on the floor, cracks, and large pools of brown that could be dried blood. "Rainbow," Twilight said shakily, "I don't think we want to find out."
"But-" Rainbow started.
"Just, please," Twilight said, even more frightened than before. She looked up "What is this game you want to play?"
The voice began to explain,"Rule one, no magic. Rule two, stay together. Rule three, stay hidden." The voice receded for a few seconds, letting the rules that were just presented sink in. "Reach the end and you will have completed the first stage." another long and loud beep filled the room, followed by a click, signifying the end of the communication.
"That's it? that’s so cliché!" Rainbow said confidently, "I can just fly us right through this and we will be out out of here in no time!" The steel door sealing Twilight in the concrete room swung open. Twilight stepped out of her room and into a hallway that was just as dirty and damp. Rainbow stepped into the hall from a door on the opposite side of the one Twilight was in. Rainbow bent down ready for Twilight to climb onto her back. "Come on, let’s go."
"I don't think it will be that easy," Twilight said, hoping that she was wrong.
Drip.
Twilight and Rainbow had been walking down the hall for nearly an hour. Twilight's hooves were sore, and her headache was not getting any better. Twilight felt in her gut that there was something more sinister than a game going on here. The only thing keeping her from breaking down right where she stood was the presence of her friend beside her. Door after door they went past. Some open, some closed, some bent in and covered in rubble. All of the doors were the same steel pattern like the one that trapped Twilight in that dark room just an hour earlier.
Drip Drop.
"Would you like me to fly us to the end of the hall now?" Rainbow questioned, impatience in her voice.
"My answer before was no, and it is still no!" Twilight said more annoyed than anything.
"What could be so bad that I would not be able to fly?" Rainbow pressed
"I don't want to find out..." Twilight said, leaving no room for questioning.
Rainbow lowered her head, and continued her walking in silence. Twilight made a mental note to do something for Rainbow to make up for this when this was all over. She did not want to ruin her friendship because of this.
Drop Drip.
Clank!
Rainbows head shot up as the sudden sound echoed through the hall. "What was that?" she said.
Twilight stood still for a second, thinking of every possibility in this place that she could think of, none of which were pretty. after some time of thinking, she finally said, "I don't know."
"Let's go check it out!" Rainbow exclaimed as she rushed to the door the sound had emanated from.
"Wa- Urgh..., Rainbow," Twilight said annoyed at Rainbow's total disregard for safety in this situation.
Rainbow stopped at the door the sound had come from and pushed it open. Rainbow turned her head to Twilight before saying "Hey Twi, come check this out!" Rainbow proceeded to enter the door. no sounds came from from the room for several seconds. "Twilight, Help!" Rainbow shouted from the room.
"Rainbow!" Twilight shouted before running as fast as she could to get to the room. When she reached the room she shouted "Rainbow, are you-."
"Bwa!" came a shout as a figure shrouded in a sheet jumped out in front of Twilight.
"Ah!" Twilight screamed before turning around and bucking at the figure with as much strength as she could manage. When Twilight expected her hooves to make contact with the figure, they swung out hitting nothing, causing her to fall flat on her face.
"Bwahahahaha!" came a howling laughter from behind her. "Oh that was just great, Twi. I couldn’t imagine a better reaction than that!" Rainbow exclaimed from behind her.
"Rainbow!" Twilight exclaimed angrily as she jumped up to face her, "This is not the time for jokes"
"Calm down Twi," Rainbow said while backing away, "It's not like some psycho robot is chasing us or anything!"
Twilight huffed and turned away, "Well if we are done here, I'd like to get going."
"Wait, Twi..." Rainbow quickly said, "There is something that I think you should see in here."
"Is this another one of your pranks again?" Twilight questioned, more than a little annoyed.
"No!" Rainbow started, "It's...well...you'll see..."
"Okay, fine..." Twilight said with a huff, "I'll check it out." Twilight entered the room. Rainbow was waiting, and motioned for her to look at the back wall. At that moment, all of Twilight's hopes that she was wrong were crushed. On the wall were the brown stains of dried blood, but this time they were in a pattern that suggested they were put there intentionally. It seemed to spell out a long, chilling message, yet most of it was illegible at certain points. The only parts that were still legible were two lines.
THE RULES KEEP YOU ALIVE.
THEY ARE NOT HERE TO HELP.
"What do you think it means?" Rainbow asked as she walked up beside Twilight.
"I do not know, and I do not want to find out..." Twilight said, shaking even more than ever before.
"I am here to help you..." came a voice from down the hall accompanied by the sound of servos turning.
"But I think we’re about to anyway..." Twilight said.
Without warning, Rainbow grabbed Twilight and dragged her to a nearby bed. "You can hide here!" Rainbow said quickly.
"You mean we, r-right?" Twilight said shakily.
"How am I going to fight that thing if I am hiding under a bed?" Rainbow complained.
"You are not!" Twilight said, leaving no room for arguing.
"But-" Rainbow started.
"No 'buts', get under the bed!" Twilight commanded.
Hearing the tone in her voice and seeing the fear on her face, Rainbow obliged Twilight and climbed under the bed with her.
"I am here to help you..." came a voice again. This time, the voice was closer than before.
"Don't make a sound..." Twilight said before a figure entered the door.
The figure entered the room entirely giving Twilight and Rainbow full view of what it was. A robot griffon about three hooves taller that a Big Macintosh. It was covered in dirt, grime, and rust. Just like the floor and wall, the robot’s jaw was covered in blood, but this was not old dried blood. The blood was fresh.
At that moment, a rat chose to run out into the middle of the room. The robot looked directly at the rodent. The rat froze in place. the two stood there for several seconds until the robot said "I am here to help you..." With that, the rat started to run to the other side of the room. "I am here to help you..." the Robot said again accompanied by the sound of servos and actuators as it lunged toward the rat, capturing it in its talons.
The robot lifted up the rat up to its eye level. The rat started squirming for freedom. "I am here to help you..." The robot said one last time before opening its jaw wide enough to fit a pony, and chomped down on the rat.
Author's Note
My first fanfic to be released to the public
I would rely appreciate if you give me advice on how it improve it in the comments.
I got help with editing from pokescream12, a fanfic author on Deviantart
His Deviantart page
