Chapters The room was dark. The floor was a rough mahogany, with a small purple unicorn sprawled across it. The walls around her were made from many stones, and the building itself appeared quite old. Lingering through the air was a faint musty smell, as if the building hadn't been cleaned in quite a while. In the distance there appeared to be a moonlit window, boarded up with a few slivers of silver light creeping through. It was quite difficult to make out any other objects throughout the room, although there was clearly a few paintings hung upon the wall, as well as some unlit torches, but the lack of appropriate light made it difficult to determine what was drawn across them.
How... How did I get here? I thought to myself. Is this just another teleportation spell gone wrong? It seemed quite logical. Unicorns could easily send themselves to places they didn't mean to, but usually not very far. But something was definitely wrong with this place. The magical influence that the unicorn was so accustomed to seemed to be absent. Maybe I can get some light in here. I thought to myself. After carefully rises onto all fours, the floored creaked under the new distribution of weight. There was a feint whispering of wind coming from the window at the end of the hall. A few sparks emitted from Twilights horn, and the eerie darkness remained. That's strange. Why didn't my magic work? I thought. More than likely this place was immune to magic, or perhaps it suppressed her powers. Whatever it was, I was not used to the lack of magic.
Reflecting on the situation, I thought of the books I had read in the past, mostly thinking of what could suppress magical abilities. This building didn't seem to have any sort of counter-magical materials. I shrugged it off and took a step forward. The wood was very rough, and touching it alone felt like my hoof was showered with splinters. I don't remember any buildings in Ponyville in such poor condition, and I know if this was a teleportation accident I couldn't be outside of Ponyville by far. Slowly edging towards the end of the hallway, creaking hooves upon the tarnished wood, I could hear the feint sound of water dripping every couple seconds.
After reaching the window, I took a break. The air near the window was fresh, filled with the smell of pine needles and tree sap. Through one of the cracks, the moon could be seen. The sight was quite beautiful, despite most of it being blocked by old wooden planks. After staring out the window a little longer, I was surprised what thoughts had entered my mind. Does anypony still live here? Do they know that I'm here? And why can't I use magic in here? I paused for a moment, knowing something was terribly wrong. How did magic get me here, if magic can't be used here? I gasped slightly. Either very powerful magic sent me here, maybe even something from outside of Equestria. Either way, I needed to find a way out.
Without light, navigating over wooden floor proved to be more difficult than I had thought. There were many broken chairs, fallen paintings and damaged floorboards littering the castle floors. Somepony really should clean this place up. But now wasn't the time, and I didn't plan on cleaning it without magical abilities, let alone in the dark. After carefully climbing over the wreckage, I reached a small wooden door. The handle was very small, and appeared to be made of brass. The hinges attached to the door appeared to be rusted, and I pondered if the door would even open. Beyond this door, the dripping sound was much stronger, whatever was leaking was awaiting me on the other side of the door. Hopefully it's a kitchen. I thought to myself, trying to make the best of the situation. Maybe there's still some food left! I giggled a little, doubting there would be any food. Reaching out for the handle, I swear I head a moaning sound from behind me. Pausing just for a moment, I reached out with both my front hooves and twisted the brass handle. The door swung open with ease.
Beyond the door, however, was not a kitchen with a dripping tap. Nor was it a bathroom with a leaking shower. There was a large, metal hook hanging from the ceiling, covered blood, impaling the corpse of a silver pony with a blood-soaked mane. The corpse had been torn open, several ribs were broken and the organs strewn about the floor below. The eyes were black sockets, the eyes had been gouged out but were nowhere to be found. The dripping blood was coming from the torn open stomach, with a large puddle of blood almost filling the room beneath the corpse. I nearly threw up from all the gore. Keep it together Twilight. I thought. Whatever sick pony was here isn't here now, so I'm safe right? The thoughts lingered through my head. What would happen if whoever, or whatever did this came back? I stared in disbelief, unable to absorb the gravity of the situation.
The room itself was frightening itself as well. There was a small metal pan on a wooden table with many different tools for slashing, cutting, gutting, almost every tool of torture. The room itself had no windows, but there was two doors opposite each other. One was the wooden door of which Twilight had entered, and the other was a large, heavy looking pale blue metal door. The only thing lighting the entire room was a small candle beside the assortment of torture tools. The corners were almost completely unlit. There was a small cage in the back corner, near the metal door, with a small bench inside of it. There was a plate in the cage, as if whatever was in there was fed. Beside the cage there was a small metal trash bin, and the rest of the room was empty. I approached the can, trotting carefully to avoid the blood splattered across the floor. Inside it were more organs, more than likely stripped from the lifeless corpse attached to the ceiling. What in the world would do something like this? I was shaking at this point. I couldn't go backwards, that was just a dead end, so the only option I had was to enter the metal door. Strange enough, the door had to handle. Simply by leaning into the door, it opened without much resistance. As the door finally swung open, the darkness almost felt like it wanted to engulf me. With nowhere else to go, I stepped into the abyss, not knowing what to expect.
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.
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...
