PTSD

        “Ahem.” The camera focused on the mare in the shot. She sported a lavender coat, with a flat mane and tail and stripes of dark purple, pink, and a light purple.

        “Hello. My name is Twilight Sparkle, and I work at Manehatten General Hospital.” She spoke calmly with a sternness about her voice.

“I helped to deal with the influx of patients during the Great War. It… it was not easy. During and after the war, we at Manehatten General dealt with numerous patients suffering from PTSD. It was tiring but rewarding work. Though, with time, my memory is faltering.” Her expression shifted.

“But, there still is… one particular patient I remember, and that is why I am recording this.” She paused and collected herself, taking a long, deep breath, and sighing.

        She continued. “It was a spring morning in early May. We were having an influx of patients at the time, earth ponies mostly, so I was at work most of the day. It was about time for the next patient to arrive when I saw a pony in the doorway with two men at his sides.” She changed the tone of her voice. She was a bit more hesitant.

        “I remember it vividly. He shuffled in like a zombie and stopped in the middle of the room. His mane and tail were golden, and his coat a pale yellow. His cutie mark was of an empty baking tray. The men who took him in left without a single word, leaving him in my care. I expected him to sit down, or say something, but he just stood there…” Her voice had shifted dramatically. Before she was calm and neutral, but now she spoke with only sadness and concern.

        “I asked him to take a seat. He sat down. I asked him to tell me his name. ‘Baker,’ he said. I asked him if he wanted a glass of water. He said yes. I floated one over to him. And then I asked him something a bit... out of line.”

“Are you alright, Baker?” I leaned in closer.

“Hm? Oh, uh... N...No, Doctor.” He didn’t move a single muscle.

“Well, what exactly has been... troubling you, Baker?”

        “He paused for a moment. I saw something in his eyes. Something in his expression. Like I had just used exactly the wrong words.”

“A few things.” He spoke calmly and boldly. You could tell he was trying to put on a brave face.

“Mr. Baker… I want to know then, what’s been troubling you the most?” I continued to press the issue.

“I…” His expression changed ever so slightly.

           "You could tell by his expression that he was distraught over something. I didn't really press it. I let him take his time to respond."

“It all started… yesterday. A building… it… spooked me, I guess you could say.” He stuttered his words hesitantly.

“Go on?”

“We were… out in the field, the desert. My squad and I, scouting the terrain under Celestia's sun. All of us were earth ponies. We… came across a building, at about 3 o’clock. It wasn’t inhabited, and by the looks of it, it hadn’t been for generations. Still, we kept our guard up. We approached the building slowly, and our sergeant gave us the all clear. We started searching the place. It was concrete, gray and bald. The floors were wet in random spots, almost like something had spilled water in random places. The whole structure had no lights in it, and only a single, solid floor with no doors to the outside, only missing doorways. There was only one notable feature about it, a singular iron door by its lonesome. It was… spooky, to say the least.”

           “He was very detailed in his description. He described it as an eerie, abandoned and mysterious structure."

"So, what was it that spooked you about this place?"

“Well… That door. Our squadron took interest in opening up said door. It was large, metal, and slightly dilapidated. It was rusted shut from years of not being cared for. We had to get 5 of our squadron to bite on the handle at once just to get it open. Thankfully, the handle was large enough to accommodate that. It slammed open with a loud creak, and an echoing, ear-piercing ‘SLAM’ came from it when it hit the wall. It kind of spooked us all. But, what more scary was where the door lead. In front of us laid a staircase, an uneven, stone staircase into pure darkness. No torches, or lanterns, or anything, nothing but darkness. It was already dark in the building, but the exits illuminated most of the small structure. We had not initially anticipated there to be an underground area to it, but there it was, staring us in the face, and we supposed that it would be the ideal place to hide secrets in, if any.”

“Honestly, the description he had given was interesting before, but it quickly turned very frightening.”

“Did you descend into the darkness?” I asked with a tinge of fear.

“Yes, of course. It was what our squadron had to do. It was our job. A job that… I wish I hadn’t fulfilled that day.” His face sported a fearful, anxious frown.

“Genuinely, this was a lot to take in. This man was describing something quite ominous to me. Something that, if I were in his boots, would have walked away from. He scolds himself for his bravery, but I praise him for just the same reason."

He continued without prompting. “We took to the stairs in pairs of 2, one carrying the lantern by mouth while the other followed behind. The whole squad, including me, was pretty nervous about this whole endeavor. It was so dark down there; the blackness consumed everything except for what was immediately illuminated by the lanterns. The stairs went on for a good 30 seconds before we hit the bottom. We were presented with a square, stone structure, with one moderate-sized rectangular room in front of us. To the left, a large, open passageway that led to another rectangular room beside it. And, well we expected silence, but it sounded as if some machinery was being run in the distance.

"And you pressed on?"

He paused for a moment. "...Yes. We split into teams of 4 each. One group in the main room, another to the side. I was part of the group in the main room. We looked around and found old medieval weaponry, barren, dirty corners, and a large pile of boxes, which we then had to search through. In the other room, they were appearing to have more luck than us. They said they found another passageway at the far side of the second room. They said they were going to enter it as a team and report back with their findings. At first, we sat down the lanterns and worked against the fear this place was bringing up in all of us. But it was getting to us. Eventually, we settled for waiting for the rest of the squad to return from the other room. And so we waited... Waited for what seemed like ages, until one of our members spoke up, and said 'Is it... is it getting darker in here?' And that's when it happened. There was a gust, a quick one. It was a gentle breeze, but it still made a sound. I turned to my right, and my squad member was gone. I flipped around to find that the others had disappeared too. Just as I started to process it all, the sound of machinery ground to a halt, and it welcomed deathly silence."

"Truly, his story had been shocking so far. It was nothing short of a horror film."

"And... What did you do?"

"I sat in silence for the longest time... It was... nerve-wracking, to say the least. I stopped and I told myself that it would be okay. I just had to leave. I picked up my lantern in my mouth, and I headed for the stairs... And... And... I saw him! Sergeant Wilson, hanging dead from a rope!" He began to cry and hold himself. "His body was mangled, his cutie mark and tail cut off and his clothes torn! His jaw was missing from his skull and his chest had three bone-chilling words painted onto it, ones that I will never forget so long as I live... A monster, only a monster could have done this... No, not like a manticore, something even worse... I dropped my lantern and ran for the stairs and galloped away as fast as I could..."

"Might I ask... What were those three words?"

"What he said next still terrifies me to this very day."

He stopped crying for just a second, but only long enough for him to get these 3 words out. "NEVER COME BACK."