The Dark Descent

I stumbled backwards in shock. My head was pounding; it felt as if somepony had taken down an entire tree atop my cranium. What the hell was that thing anyways? I had never come across anything that looked quite like that face before. No more than second later I slammed my flank into the drawers behind me, rattling the lantern atop and knocking the painting down off the wall. My eyes were closed, just hoping whatever that thing was would leave me alone. A few seconds past, this swiftly became minutes. Nothing happened, but I still was afraid to open my eyes to see the small blank eyes staring back at me. Time felt like it has slowed to a halt; the minutes I had my eyes closed felt like hours, but I refused to open my eyes. Feeling something warm trickling down the side of my flank, I finally decided it was a necessity to view what was in front of me once more. Slowly opening my eyes, I saw nothing but a door. As my eyelids continued to expand, I found myself staring into an empty room. Whatever I had just seen had left me alone. For the moment, at least.

Collecting my thoughts, I recalled some books I had read about mythology and old pony tales. Silently reading over each one in my mind, I still couldn't identify the assailant. The closest thing I could come up with was a human, however if this had been a human it had been mutilated beyond recognition. The scars, the torn open jaw, it just didn't make any sense. I stood under the light of the lantern for another minute. Had that thing just been a part of my imagination? Was all of this just a crazy dream? No, it couldn't be, the pain of running into the drawers, the blood on my hooves, it was too real. Once my train of thought had ended, my flank was shaking. I had most certainly hit it extremely hard against the drawers, and when I turned around to examine the damage I saw a large streak of blood trailing down my leg. My options were fairly limited, without magic I would need to make a temporary bandage of some sort. Wandering over to the old bed, I tore the dark green sheet off with my mouth. The taste was terrible; it had not been washed within the past two months at least. But this just didn't make any sense - the pony corpse in the other room couldn't be more than a day or so old, otherwise it wouldn't be bleeding. Now I was really questioning what had happened in this place, and if I was the only pony alive.

Bandaging the wound was difficult. I had to lie on the unharmed side of my body while carefully using my front hooves and mouth to tie a knot around my backside. The effort itself took quite a while, and when I had finally succeeded I could feel the blood running down my leg beginning to calm. I remained on the ground for another minute; I wouldn't be able to get much farther if I continued to test my sanity in this type of situation. The physical injuries were just as bad as the mental injuries. I was bleeding profusely, but the previous experiences with blood and gore had been enough to leave me shaking. With the fear inside, I wanted to stay in the bedroom. The other ponies must have noticed I was missing, and they would come looking for me... right? I rested on the floor for what felt like an eternity, but eventually I convinced myself to get up. Should I lay much longer, my thoughts may best my sanity. Taking a minute to raise back onto my hooves, I deemed it appropriate to continue exploring, with the lantern of course. I cautiously walked back towards the lantern and picked it up in my mouth. The rusty taste wasn't appealing, but this way I could rely on vision over feel, a method of which I found to be much more comforting.

I wandered over to the wooden door by the bed. Opening the door like the previous doors, standing on my hind legs and twisting with the front, I winced in the pain in the back of my body. The door opened fine, and beyond it lied a small study. There were two bookcases, one on the wall opposite the door, and one to the right. To the left of the door rested a small window, resting seemingly peacefully upon the wall. The curtains had been pulled to the side; however a limited amount of moonlight could penetrate through the ivy consuming the glass panes. In front of the window, there was a small study desk, with a small table light and green velvet sprawled across the top. There was a pen and ink well beside the lamp, and the chair was collapsed just beyond. The two back legs of the chair had been torn off, leaving nothing but splinters sprawled across the floor between the chair and the two detached legs. The desk also had a small drawer at the front. Limping slightly, I proceeded towards the desk.

The lamp didn't work, so instead I carefully placed it on the floor and rested the lantern atop the desk. Carefully pulling the drawer out with my teeth, I could hear a feint whistling coming from the window. Inside the desk I found a few blank pieces of paper, as well as one covered with writing. Carefully pulling out the written piece, ensuring that the wording would not be damaged, I placed it on top of the desk and began reading.

It has been quite a while. Nobody has bothered to visit me in weeks. Perhaps I should host some sort of diner party, I am certain people would want to visit a marvelous castle like this!

People? So there were humans here at some point. I continued reading.

My servants have been giving me demands of more food, complaining that since the previous ones had disappeared they should have their meals split among them. I pity them, really.

However, I am in need of more people to test my newest serum on. I am certain this one will produce much better results than the previous. The serum had never quite hurt anybody yet, and if it must so be it. This is for power, power that nobody could ever imagine. Should I succeed at producing the serum, I shall be made a god! The people will worship me and my power!

But I need subjects. More subjects. Animals seem to be producing the best results, although the side effects appear to be the worst. I have nearly cleared the forest around my home, and there are few animals left in the pound. Perhaps the diner party would be appropriate. This way, I may be able to test on more subjects from before, and get better results. For now, my eyes grow weary, and I must retire to my bedroom.

What in the world was the serum for? How would this make him a 'god'? What was a 'god', and why would they worship him? Celestia and Luna were worshiped in the past, but that was thousands of years ago. Maybe, just maybe, I have been sent back to the past. But humans were just myths; Celestia herself had proven they had not existed! What in all of Equestria is going on? This is just too much... Whatever is going on is just.... Wrong! At this point I had broken into tears, the combined effort of the nerves of my flank unable to cope with the pain, and my own body, missing the simple pleasures of home. Home... I just want to go home...