Author's Note
Our first short story begins with a common horror scene. A team of humble salvagers in a place they shouldn't be. Just a little warm-up, it's quite tame. We hope you enjoy it... all the same.
Clunk Screee
The lamp you are holding in your magic lights up the huge dark hallway you and your mentor are walking trough. You look around trying to see something to let you know ANYTHING exists here other than darkness, emptiness, and rust. The soft clanking of tools in your bag and hoofs clopping on the metal floor fills the hallway. Chief Engineer Sturdy Weld is ahead of you with more tools and a lamp of his own. He glances back at you and sees your nervous expression. He smiles at you and says: “Don’t worry Mended Wire, you did great on your first day out in the field. I’ll help make sure you second is no different.”
He doesn’t seem to know your expression isn’t because of the job, but the dark, worn, rusted metal hallways you are walking down make you feel like you will never see the sun again. You are the last to enter the dimly, lamp-lit lobby to join the rest of the crew that entered the facility. Captain Scrap Spyglass, Doctor Stitched Wound, and Lieutenant Steady Aim were here already making a plan with a copy of a map they found not long ago.
Captain Spyglass circles something on two of the maps, and says: “Alright, first things first.” He looks at Sturdy and hands him one of the maps. "You two go get the lights back on if you can.” He walks over to you and hands you the other map with ‘Generator Room’ circled “We need to be able to see better if we are going to salvage everything we can from this Celestial forsaken, decrepit place."
The guard chimes in: “IF we find anything... This place has been abandoned for five centuries at LEAST. If you need me, call me on the radio. I’m going to go help make sure no one tries to steal our way home.” The guard looks at the captain for permission.
The Captain looks at him says: “If they can’t get the lights on, we’ll have to think of something. There is no way this place doesn’t have something valuable, It was a top research center back in the day and the log says we are the first here since it was shut down.” Then he nods for the guard to leave.
Later...
You and your mentor reach the generator but it doesn’t have any fuel. Your mentor sends you downstairs, he wants you to check on the auxiliary fuel line to see if it is shut off. You reach the valve and you set down your bag and go to turn the rusted valve, silently praying it won’t just snap. You grab your wrench and immediately drop it when a sound startles you. Clunk srceee You figure somepony just moved something heavy, but then you realize, no one should be down here with you. You grab your radio off your shoulder and press the button and try to ask what that was... Static is what you hear back, you can almost hear something in the static. It sounds like screeching. You wonder how a magic-infused high tech radio can get interference like that.
Back in the lobby, the crew has almost finished setting up. The captain grabs his radio: “Sturdy, can I have Mending back if you don’t need him? I need one of you to take a look at the scanners. They are acting very strange. over.”
Sturdy takes his radio in his magic and replies: “He still hasn't fixed the fuel issue yet... Hey kid, how’s it going? Did you find the problem yet? over.” silence is his only reply. The older pony repeats with a confused and worried look. “Mending, did you find the problem, can ya hear me? over.” … again silence… “Captain, I sent him downstairs, and he’s not responding. over.” … Sturdy’s heart sinks in his chest. “Captain?… anypony?...” static...
Back at the lobby, the Doctor leaves to retrieve Steady Aim and his partner to find the missing engineers. Ironically, the only ones who can figure out what's been breaking the equipment, including the radios that have made them MIA in the first place, are the engineers that went missing.
CLUNK SCREEE
CLUNK SCREEE
CLUNK SCREEE
What a horrible sound. Metal scraping against metal like nails on a chalkboard, and stomping you can feel through the floor. You don’t know how far away it is, or even WHAT it is. Even though you have been at full gallop for nearly 3 minutes straight, it hasn’t gotten much quieter. Your lamp, a vague memory of the layout, and adrenaline are the only things you have right now. You left your bags, along with your map and tools behind in a blind panic when the… whatever it is started chasing you. You have a feeling if you ever see it, your heart will stop. The dark, metal hallways form something similar to a maze, all the signs have faded away, all the hallways look the same. You don’t even know if you’re going in the right general direction. You're so tired, part of you wants to just cower in the corner and hope it doesn't see you, you can't find a corner to test it if you can find a room first. Absolute despair fills You when you reach a locked door that makes a dead-end, emphasis on ‘dead’. Without power, you can't open it, and you couldn't finish your task. You crumple to the floor exhausted, dropping the lantern. It rolls away from you back down the hallway a little bit. You are silently praying that whatever is chasing you is the only one, and your friends are ok. The feeling you had when first entering the facility returns. You know Celestia and Luna are not gods, but at this moment you find yourself praying to them anyway.
CLUNK, CLUNK, SCREE
CLUNK, CLUNK, SCREE
CLUNK, CLUNK, SCREE
It sounds like it slowed down... like it knows you’re trapped. You don't know if you should feel happy you get to live that much longer, or sad that you must endure the wait full of anxiety and apprehension. You turn around to face your end, wishing the captain hadn't decided to follow that old map here. Your heart nearly stops dead in your chest when you look towards the end of the hallway, and time seems to slow. You see it... a way out.... a vent you could fit in with your slender frame if you find a way to get the rusted cover off. Hope joins your adrenaline, giving you a second wind. You get up to run to it... It knows... you don’t know how it knows… but it knows. The horrible screeching sound and stomping picks up and doesn’t stop.
CLUNK SCREEEEEEEEEEEE CLUNK CLUNK CLUNK CLUNKCLUNKCLUNK CLUNKCLUNKCLUNK
