The Dark Descent

I was surrounded by darkness. The smell of blood was still lingering through the air from the previous room, and the only other familiar feeling was the rough wood beneath my hooves. The light from the candle only reached a couple steps into the darkness at most. As the current situation stood, I was alone; apart from my breathing the room remained silent. Please... Please let this be a way out... I thought to myself. I slowly raised one of my front hooves, carefully placing it ahead. The darkness seemed to engulf the floor, leaving only feel to determine if there was anything ahead. Alright, just take it slow. I took another step forward, the sound of my hoof echoing below me. There was no sign of life nearby, so I took another step. This step landed on something unfamiliar, it was hairy almost like a mat, until it squished slightly below me. It was almost like it was deflating. My eyes were still not quite adjusted to the light, but the shape itself told me I had just stepped on some sort of creature. Taking into account the shape and hairless tail, I knew it was a rat and an extremely large one as well.

"EEEP!" I shrieked loudly noticing what I had stepped on. Some blood had gushed out of the corpse's ears, eyes and mouth. Despite me not being able to see the deep red liquid, I could definitely feel it. Trying to brush it off onto the wood, I found my efforts to be noneffective. With a sigh, I continued on, the liquid slowly drying onto the purple hairs.

This may have been the scariest thing I've ever experienced, and I've experienced a lot. Fighting the master of chaos, Discord, was interesting and a little unnerving, but not so much scary. The changeling queen, Chrysalis, was quite similar, although I didn't really have a part in that. Nightmare Moon was pretty scary, I have to admit. But this... This was completely different. It's not about something big and scary trying to kill you, like a full grown dragon. It's the fear of knowing what else is waiting.

*CLUNK*

"Ow!" I wince slightly noticing I had just walked into a wall. Perhaps it was a door; I still had no idea what I was looking at. Slowly feeling around the wall, I felt a slight crevice into the wall, one to the left of me and one to the right. I must have been a door. Feeling around the wooden substance, I knew I was getting plenty of splinters. It hurt a little, of course, but eventually I found a cool, metal knob. These doors were pretty large, I had noticed, most of the handles being slightly above my head. Twisting the handle, I felt a gust of wind blow through my mane, followed by the smell of rotting wood. It was somewhat refreshing, even the smell of the rotting wood was enough to overpower the stench of the blood on my hooves. Still no light in the room. Did these ponies have anything against proper lighting? I was wondering what had lived there, since there was no sign of lights other than the candle in the previous room. Carefully trotting around the room, I decided it would be quite appropriate to explore for anything of interest.

"Arghh!" I had stubbed the front of my leg once again, but the object retaliated slightly, grinding against the wooden floor. Finally some furniture, at least this place isn't completely empty. Reaching one hoof out, I carefully felt around the object. The top of it was smooth, and seemed to overhang the side slightly. This object was made from wood as well, but it was polished and well-kept compared to most of the other wooden objects. The side had a rectangular crease into it, and the front had three separate objects, more than likely these were drawers. Wait... Drawers? Is this a bedroom? Feeling around for some way to open them, I found a small ring attached near each of the sides. Grabbing one of the top rings with my teeth, I pulled it open slowly, releasing a loud grinding of wood as the drawers opened. I stuck one of my hooves inside, carefully feeling for anything useful. There was a quiet *tink* as I made contact with an object. The sound alone made it easy to determine it was made of glass. With the combined effort of my two front hooves, I carefully lifted the object and placed it on top of the drawers. There was a slight swishing noise as it moved, as if there was a liquid inside. Feeling around the object some more, there was also metal attached. The top was round, with a thick metal ring poking through a small tube. The bottom was a cylinder shaped metal cap, the origin of the liquid sounds. It was a lantern.

I quickly searched around in the other drawer to see if there was anything I could light. I was desperate to get my vision back; I had never gone so long without being able to see. I found a small rectangular box with one edge significantly rougher than the others. The box slid open, and inside of it a few small sticks.

"Yes! Matches!" I cried out in victory. Carefully pulling out one of the casing with my teeth, and holding the box down with my hoof, I struck the edge hoping for it to light. Nothing happened. I tried a second time, and succeeded. I could see better now, this room was in better condition than the previous. The walls were a darker wood, more than likely due to the finishing product used. The drawers I had looked through seemed pretty basic, and were just as dark as the walls. There was a painting just behind the drawers, a painting of a marvelous castle, with mountains towering over even the highest points of the castle in the background. With my vision regained, everything was a little blurry at first. I opened the lantern with my hooves, shoving the match inside. The lantern lit up swiftly, providing better vision to my surroundings. I saw an elegant looking bed, four tall pillars supporting a dark green cloth. The mattress was a deep green as well, with a small red pillow on top. When I had finally stopped admiring the bedroom, I turned around to see something that scared me to the bone. Staring blankly back at me was a very pale tan face, with small pearl eyes.