Forget Me Not

A growl of frustration slices through the silence permeating the ruined halls of Sandalwood Coast Academy. I back away from the door I had just been attempting to open and huff angrily. I couldn’t say for sure how long I’ve been wandering inside this school, but every door and locker I’ve come across has refused to open. In every case, the handles or dials have refused to turn in the slightest and no amount of force made the doors move. Not even the key given to me by Sunshine works on them. I’ve tried. Every. Single. One up to this point. It’s almost as if the doors are all just for show, just mere props with no actual use.

Although it may lay in near total ruin and supposedly severely infested with ghosts, demons and other monsters, this was clearly a functional school at some point. By no means was this school small, either. Quite the opposite. Why have a whole floor of non-existent classrooms with fake doors and lockers that don’t open? Why waste money doing so? It made just about as much sense as a fish born with wheels. That being said, I don’t quite understand why I’m getting as frustrated as I am. It’s not like this school has done anything to prove it’s normal and the same goes for everything that may or may not call this place ‘home’. I guess my brain is just desperate for things to be logical and rational instead of being, well, not that.

I exhale sharply as I survey my surroundings. Sandalwood Coast Academy is an absurdly large school with an odd layout. It wasn’t until after I had descended down to the next floor that I realized I likely started on the very top floor of the school, which meant the infirmary was situated in a very odd place. It would make so much more sense for it to be on the first floor, but maybe there’s a slim chance they placed an infirmary on the top floor in addition to the first. I guess it’s more likely that the school was built in a nonsensical way on purpose, perhaps for the sake of being ‘unique’ to bring in more students or something. A 'you've got to see it to believe' kind of exclusive experience. All things considered, I’m sure I have every right to overthink and question everything I’ve experienced and observed, but yet I also felt that maybe I was going a little overboard with it all.

I make my way down the hall and wonder how exactly this place is as dangerous as Sunshine made it out to be. With the exception of the demon Sunshine ate and whatever caused me to suffer enough trauma to completely forget everything about myself, I’ve experienced absolutely no trouble. I pause in my tracks and reach over to the nearby wall. The top half is painted a peachy color that’s faded, cracked, chipped and peeling. In other words, old and in desperate need of repair. The bottom half is made of a spruce wood paneling, which my hoofs knocks on a solid three times. Best not to jinx myself, after all. If I talk too much shit, the school might overhear and try to pull one over on me.

I continue down the hallway until I pass by a set of bathrooms. I bite my bottom lip and cross my back legs as I’m suddenly hit with the realization that I have to piss. Badly. I didn’t realize I had even been holding it in to begin with. I whisper a half-assed prayer before entering the filly’s room. I know I’m going to be pretty vulnerable while I relieve myself and saying a little prayer of protection- no matter how poorly worded or attempted- couldn’t hurt. The room is unsurprisingly dark, prompting me to take out my flashlight and turn it on. I trot over to the first stall and push the door open. However, the door bounces close almost immediately. Odd, but something’s clearly blocking the door. No need to get worked up, Dahlia, I’ll just… move on to the next one.

I try the second stall and am met with the same scenario. I move onto the third, fourth and fifth stalls and I find I cannot enter them either. I try to the sixth stall and this time, the door opens much wider than others but stops half way. I poke my head around the door to get a look at what’s blocking my way and am immediately floored with regret and terror. Hanging from the beam crossing over the stalls is a young filly, her pale, rigid body swaying slightly from the door bumping into it. She’s been strung up with a multicolor jump rope which has squeezed her neck into an hourglass shape. Judging by her overall state, this poor child has been dead for a long time. Nausea washes over me as I back away from the stall and shine my flashlight upwards. I grimace as I observe in every stall is some form of noose tied to the beam and although I couldn’t see the ponies inside, I could only imagine they were in a similar- if not worse- state as the filly in the last stall.

This is horrible! What could have driven these individuals to suicide? I can't stay here, I need to leave. Somehow this discovery has made the air in here suffocating. I shudder as I quickly trot to the exit, open the door and leave. I hate the idea of it, but it seems if I wish to relieve myself, I'll have to use the colt's room. I look around to ensure a clear coast before quickly entering the colt's room. I know there hasn't been a soul to be seen, but even so, I guess I don't want to be judged for going in here. Then again, desperate times call for desperate measures and perhaps that's something these ghosts understand. Almost immediately, my nose is assaulted with the foul stench of ammonia. Everywhere I've been has had a musty, stale odor with a hint of death to it. It was gross, but not as gross at the way this bathroom smelt. Even Sunshine smelt better in comparison. I'd better go ahead and piss so I can get out of here before the smell clings to my clothes, skin or hair.

I trot over to the first stall and try the door. Thankfully, it opens without any problems and I'm able to walk in. I close the door behind me and get right down to business after removing my saddlebag and pants. A sense of relief washes over me as I finish. Luckily, there's toilet paper in the stall but it's yellow and wrinkled along the edges. At the very least, it's still usable. When I get out of here, I'm going to wash myself and my clothes a million times. Everything here is gross, gross, gross! I step away from the toilet and put my pants and saddlebag back on before reaching to flush the toilet. The handle just jiggles and the chain inside the tank clunks around, yet nothing happens. There must be no water in the tank. As gross as it is to leave piss sitting in the bowl to add to the ammonia permeating the air, there's nothing I can really do about it. Oh well, not that it really matters anyways.

I leave the stall and go over to the nearest sink. The sink is cracked, the faucet is rusty and the basin has mold creeping out from around the drain. I turn the handle and the pipe groans, but not a single drop of water comes out. On second thought, maybe that's for the better. There's no telling how disgusting the water might have been if the water was on. This place is a serious health hazard and I’m beginning to feel diseased just lingering here. I look up and the light reflects back into my eyes, making me instinctively squint and look away. Great, now I have greenish blue dots floating around in my vision.

An idea pops into my head as I take the flashlight out of my mouth and examine the mirror, being careful to avoid shining the light into my eyes again. Other than being cracked down the center and cloudy around the edges, the mirror was in a decent enough shape to reveal what I wanted to know. I don’t know why I hadn’t thought of this sooner. What better way to remember who I am than to look at myself in the mirror? I fumble with the flashlight as I situate it in the sink to be able to see myself without being blinded or obscured behind the light. It takes me a minute, but eventually I get it to stay where I want it.

My heart beats against my chest in anticipation as I ready myself for the ‘big’ reveal. Oddly enough, I feel a bit nervous and I’m unsure why. I steel myself and look up. A loud gasp of shock involuntarily leaves my throat as I stare wide-eyed at my reflection. Staring back at me is the same mare with orange eyes, mulberry colored mane and pale yellow coat from my nightmare, only this time she looks entirely normal and frightened. What I can see of her neck is covered in long bruises. No, no! This can't be! That means it wasn't a nightmare after all! It… it was real?! This entire time I was the monstrous mare that attacked me in that horrible dream?!

I squeeze my eyes shut and rub them vigorously, desperately hoping it’s not true. When I open them again, nothing changes. Only my scared and confused reflection stares back at me instead of a different pony altogether. I was hoping for some answers, but all I’ve gotten instead is more questions! How could that nightmare have been reality? If I was that demented monster, why did I see myself from a different point of view? Why did the pain of my ear being ripped off feel so real? I don't understand! I groan in pain as my head starts to throb intensely. As I hold my head with a hoof, a forgotten memory suddenly comes to my mind in the form of a flashback.

I recall galloping as fast as my hooves would take me through the halls of a part of Sandalwood Coast I don't recognize. Fear is plastered across my face and it quickly becomes apparent that I'm fleeing from something- or perhaps more likely, somepony. I glanced behind me to see a mare with a watermelon colored coat and a long, curly ruddy-colored mane. For some odd reason, all identifying features- like her face and cutiemark- are blurred out. It’s almost like I’m not allowed to remember her properly. Although I can't see the expression on her face, I can tell she is just as afraid as I am as she trails closely behind me.

We round a corner, hop over some fallen debris and then quickly slide to a stop. A section of the floor ahead of us is- unsurprisingly- missing. Our only option is to go around via the classroom that is off to our right. With no hesitation, we enter the room and I quickly yet quietly close the door. I press my weight against the door after shutting it and struggle to catch my breath. I’m unsure how long we had been fleeing for, but judging by our breathing, I assume it was a good, long while. The silence that quickly filled the room was continuously interrupted by our heavy huffing and puffing. We make our way over to the door on the other end of the room, but quickly find that it's either locked or just plain refuses to budge open.

"What do we do now, Miss…?" The mare whispers in a panicky tone.

Her voice is warped and almost staticky, like my brain couldn't remember exactly what it sounded like. The staticky noise completely drowns out whatever came after 'Miss'. Another thing I'm not allowed to remember, apparently. I look around the room and spot a fallen bookshelf with desks and chairs piled on top of it. It’s the only place in the room decent enough to hide us from view, but with the room being so bare, I’m not sure what good hiding would do.

"Behind the bookshelf! Quickly!" I instruct in a whisper.

We quickly make our way over to the bookshelf and hide behind it. All we can do is wait and pray that whatever is chasing us will be unable to find us and leave. Forever. We aren’t as exactly perfectly hidden as I assumed we would be. In fact, we were just as much sitting ducks behind this bookshelf as we would be by the locked classroom door- or anywhere else, for that matter. The mare presses her warm body against mine and I can feel her trembling. I wrap my right leg around her shoulders and pull her close before resting my head atop of hers. I hold her hoof with my free one and gently squeeze hers.

We flinch as the door slams open and a terrifying roar shakes the entirety of the classroom. The mare beside me whimpers softly, prompting me to hold onto her a little tighter. We can hear the thing hunting us down stomping around the room and I notice a reddish glowing tint that shifts and moves along the walls and floor in sync with the stomping. This goes on for what feels like an eternity before growing suspiciously quiet. I take a risky chance and cautiously peek over the bookshelf and through gaps between the desks and chairs. The door has been left wide open, but it seems the only ponies in here are the two of us. Whatever was after her and I seems to be gone. I recall being hopeful that the monster gave up on finding us, but oddly enough not for my own sake. I suspect for the sake of this mare, who I assume is important to me, even if I can’t exactly recall why.

As if to mock me as soon as the words were thought of in my mind, the classroom door slams shut and the floor begins to shake again. Before us appears a very tall, slender and vaguely pony-shaped individual who seems to be made entirely out of fire, yet there was no warmth emitting from them whatsoever. Quite the opposite, actually. I recall a chill running up my spine, sending every hair follicle on my body to stand on end and tingle. There was no doubt this malicious spirit wanted to end our lives and possibly even consume our very souls. The mare and I momentarily remain where we lay on the floor, staring up at the monster before us in a mixture of shock and fear. The mare whimpers in fear and shrinks into me, nonverbally communicating her desire for me to protect her. Something I feel I’m all too happy to oblige.

The flaming monster roars loudly, shaking the room harder than before. Chairs and desks topple off the bookshelf and clatter loudly to the floor. The mare and I scream before scrambling to our hooves and making an attempt to flee. We get halfway to the end of the room before every desk and chair forms a barricade blocking the only viable path to get to the doors, as- like most of everywhere in the school- a lot of the floor was missing. A reddish-orange aura emanates from the barricade, indicating this was the work of the monster after us. I whip around and face the slowly approaching monster. The mare and I are slowly back into the corner of the classroom with nowhere left to run or hide. It seems this is going to be the end of the line for us, yet I recall feeling unbothered by this fact and instead feeling determined to protect the mare with me at all costs.

I adopt a protective stance and glare angrily at the approaching monster. It’s almost like it’s savoring every second we spend quaking in fear as it slowly grows near. However, any bit of fear left in me is quickly replaced by a mixture of anger and determination. Anger at this fiery demon-monster-thing for having the audacity to harm the mare behind me. Determination to keep her safe at all costs, including the loss of my own life… or worse. I look back at the mare behind me and give her the biggest, reassuring look I can muster.

“I meant what I said, you know. I’ll protect you no matter what, so go! Run! As far as you can, my treasure! I’ll buy you the time you’ll need to get out of here!” I reassuringly declare.

“What? No! I-I’m not going to leave-”

“I said go! Just go! Now!” I harshly interrupt her protest and momentarily glare at her.

Although I can’t see her face, I can tell she’s simply staring at me. Her ears flatten against her mane as she meekly nods her head.

“Please! D-Don’t leave me here all alone, Miss…! I-I’ll go, but please! Please find me!” The mare pleads.

Despite the staticky-ness of her voice, I can tell that it waivers and it's clear she’s on the verge of bursting into tears. I flash a big smile at her before looking forward and glaring at the monster once more. I glance around for something to use as a weapon and pry a loose piece of board off the floor. Angrily, I swing the board at the monster, which- in turn- makes it angry. It lunges at me and knocks me to the floor. I punch and kick at it, but every move seems to pass right through the monster.

I shake my head as the memory ends. Every bruise, scrape and cut begins to burn, like they’re permanently branding themselves into my skin. Why was that memory physically painful to remember? What happened after that? Dammit! Why couldn’t I remember more?! Is that how I ended up in the infirmary or did something even worse happen?! I have endless questions with no answers to be given and I fucking hate it! Whenever I get out of here, I think I’m going to drink myself stupid to forget any of this ever happened. Am I really going to be able to escape this place? Will I become trapped here, forever doomed to haunt these halls? No. No, I can't think like that! I will get out of here, I know it!

I forcibly snatch the flashlight from the sink and quickly turn around. I exit the colt’s room and put away my flashlight for the time being. A fire of anger and determination burns in my heart. I’m angry at my inability to recall my memories, but determined to get them back and get out of here all the same. One way or another, I’m going to accomplish that much, no matter what it may cost me. So long as it’s not my life, of course. I will not die here. I refuse to! No matter how much it may hurt, I will gladly give up an eye, limb or any other outer extremity if it means I’ll survive and get the fuck out of here!

My newfound passion to survive is momentarily put on hold to make way for the sudden shock and confusion that- quite literally- smacks me upside the back of my head. I grunt in pain as something small but solid is thrown at the back of my head with a surprising amount of force. A chorus of otherworldly giggles emanates from the filly’s room. I look back just in time to see several pairs of glowing blue eyes peering at me before the door slams shut all on its own. Er, well, I guess not really on its own. I suppose it would be more appropriate to say before the spirits shut the door, which clicks loudly as the giggles fade to silence. Did… Did they lock the door? Whatever. I didn’t plan on going back inside there anyways.

I rub the back of my head as I look down to find what hit me. On the floor is a spiral notebook with a floral design on the front and back. The background is black with an assortment of pink, yellow and orange flowers all over. The very center of the front cover simply reads ‘notebook’. Ah, yes, because clearly, I would have confused it with a shoebox were it not for the ‘helpful’ label on the front. I pick up the notebook and examine the outside. All things considered, the outside appears to be in pretty decent condition with the exception of a few scratches and a wrinkled corner. I sit down and open the notebook out of pure curiosity.

The spirits inside the filly’s room must either want me to have this or they want me to read what’s written inside, assuming there is anything. It’s also plausible that they just wanted to mess with me and this notebook was the only object they had to throw. No matter the reason, I’m reading this notebook now and I don’t give a damn how anypony else might feel about it, even if there’s not really anypony around to even complain to begin with. It looks like its previous owner wrote down some journal entries before abandoning it. The first entry reads;

“I don’t know how we got here, but it seems we’re in some sort of school. I have this really vague memory of being in an elevator, but we’ve looked everywhere and couldn’t find one. Found this notebook in one of the classrooms and ripped out the first few pages with math work scribbled down. School’s been long out of session, so this sucker is mine now.

Pearly says we came here with some other ponies, but we haven’t run into anypony else so far and we’ve been wandering around for a while. I don’t know what will become of us here, so I guess I’ll write down our names and whatnot for posterity’s sake. My name is Orchid Snow. I’m a 21-year-old unicorn mare. With me are my friends Pearly Petals (23/mare/earth pony), Storm Chaser (28/stallion/pegasus) and Cinnamon Swirls (20/mare/unicorn). This place is old and feels as unsafe as it looks. I hope we can go home soon.”

There’s that elevator being mentioned again. In fact, this first entry alone corroborates what Sunshine told me; Several ponies all at once being sent to their deaths via an elevator. This school is a lot more sinister than I initially assumed. Perhaps I was sent here to my death as well. I can’t think of a more plausible reason at the moment. I flip to the next page and read the second entry;

“What the fuck is this place?? We’ve been here for Celestia knows how long and we’ve seen corpses all over the place! Why are we even here?? Are we going to end up like all these poor, unfortunate ponies?? I haven’t been able to fulfill my dreams of becoming a world famous artist yet! I haven’t even lost my virginity either! I can’t die yet! I won’t! I won’t! I won’t!

Pearly and Storm promised we’d make it out of here alive. Poor Cinnamon is terrified and has accidentally pissed on herself twice. She reeks of vomit, too. She doesn’t handle death and gore well, but I can’t say that I blame her. It really is gross as hell. Where’s a janitor when you need one?”

I can’t help but chuckle at the beginning of this entry. What high priorities this Orchid Snow had. I flip through the next five entries, which are all various complaints about the state of the school and the horrible, disgusting stuff they’ve seen. I’m not sure how far apart these have been written or how long Orchid had left behind her notebook. I flip to the eighth entry and find things had taken a tragic turn for this mare and her friends;

“Cinnamon is dead. Cinnamon is dead. Cinnamon is FUCKING DEAD!!!! We got to the fourth floor and some fucking bitchass monster came out of a locker and just swallowed her up! We tried to save her but that THING was too strong! We could hear Cinny screaming in pain and begging for us to help her as that thing chewed her up! Me, Pearly and Storm got the hell out of there ASAP. Went back down the third floor. I puked as soon as we got there. Pearly started wailing and screaming. Had a complete breakdown. All I could do was puke until nothing was left in my stomach. Storm tried to comfort us both, but I made him take care of Pearly. Sure, Cinny was our best friend and we loved her dearly, but she was the only family Pearly had left. Now her sister is gone and poor Pearly wishes she was dead instead of Cinny. I wish it was me instead of her too, Pearly.”

I can’t help but feel a tad bit offended on Sunshine’s behalf at the way Orchid refers to her, but I do understand her anger and sympathize with the now-trio. It’s not like they were going to stick around and demand an apology from Sunshine, nor ask her to explain herself and her actions, but I knew the truth. Sunshine likely didn’t mean to eat Cinnamon, but I guess it doesn’t really matter now, does it? She’s dead and regardless of knowing whether or not Sunshine meant to do it isn’t going to bring anypony back from the dead. I highly doubt knowing that would have even brought them closure.

The next four entries detail Orchid and her remaining friends trying to escape and cope with the loss of Cinnamon. It quickly becomes apparent that with her gone, tensions grew between them and put a strain on their relationships as the hours passed by during their wandering. From what Orchid wrote, it seems that Pearly couldn’t quite handle the pain of losing her sister and was lashing out at Orchid and Storm rather harshly. Arguments broke out and a lot of harsh words were said between them, particularly from Pearly. I turn the page once more and read the thirteenth entry in Orchid’s notebook;

“Pearly is dead now. Good riddance. Storm and I just watched as Pearly lost her mind, screaming and crying and throwing a major fit until she started to slam her head against the wall. There was a piece of wood sticking out from the paneling and it didn’t take her long to find it. Storm and I just watched as Pearly bashed her head on it and we did nothing to stop her. I didn’t think I’d ever get to hear what an eyeball sounds like when it’s being stabbed to a pulp, not that I wanted to, but the squelching of her eye keeps echoing in my head. I’m glad Pearly is gone. I know she was upset about losing Cinnamon, but she wasn’t the only one. We were upset too, but weren’t being abusive to her. It wasn’t our fault. Stupid bitch.

To make things even better for us, Storm and I got to talking while Pearly laid on the ground bleeding out to death. We talked for a while and it turns out Storm didn’t want to die a virgin either, so we fixed that for ourselves. I don’t think Pearly was quite dead yet, but I couldn’t really tell for sure. I hope she was, though, and watched us fuck as she took her dying breath. She did say she always had a crush on Storm Chaser.”

Wow. That’s… just wow. I’m completely at a loss for words right now. This school seems likely to drain one’s sanity very quickly. I should be a lot more careful unless I want to end up like Orchid and her friends. It seems things went south very quickly for them. I don’t want the same to happen to me. The next few entries are filled with nonsense that gets worse and less comprehensible with every page that I turn. That is, at least, until I turn to a page that has dried bloody hoofprints all over it. Some of the words are covered with blood, making them illegible, but for the most part I’m able to read the majority of it;

“Pearly and Storm lied. There’s … escape. Just death. That’s the o… .a. out. Now it’s my turn. I d… .e’ll find me, but if he somehow does, all Storm will f… … a corpse. I didn’t see that hole a… …l right …o... .t. Down two floors, I think. Blood is every…re but it h….. …ts. I think I …… on a ….en desk. I have a few ex… holes no. … a br… ..w piercing.”

The final entry is a bit short, but seems to capture Orchid’s final moments;

“Dead soon. So cold. I was so awful. Sorry, Pearly. Sorry, Cinny. Sorry, Storm. So dark now and more cold. Cold, cold, cold, cold, cold. Blood everywhere. Drew pictures with it. Bye, Storm. Get out of here. Love, Orchid.”

I can’t say if this Storm Chaser ever found Orchid, but it seems she bled to death all alone and likely with a lot of regret. So long as I’m fairly careful, it’s a fate I can avoid for myself. It seems like a thin line to tread, though. If I’m overly scrupulous or far too lax, I could very easily find myself meeting a similar demise. I sigh as I flip through the remaining pages of the notebook. The rest of it is empty and mostly untouched, save for a bit of blood that has stained a few pages and curled their edges. I might as well take this with me. The empty pages might come in handy later… or they might not. Either way, I open my saddlebag and quickly tuck the notebook away. After closing the bag, I stand up and resume my journey to leave this school.

I make my way to the end of the hallway and continue forward until I have no choice but to turn right. The walls are decorated with rotted, once-colorful streamers, stars, hearts and paper chains. A banner to my left simply reads ‘Spirit Week!’ in big red letters against a bright yellow background. It must be spirit week every week in this awful place. Below the spirit week banner is a second banner with what I assume to be the school’s logo and the phrase ‘Better Together!’. The logo depicts a large, light blue manta ray jumping through a circle in a darker shade stylized to look like waves. ‘Better’ is written to the right of the logo while ‘Together!’ is to the left. Both are in a thick, white font against a black background.

As I meander down the hall, I pass by a large window off to my right and pause. How many have I passed by since leaving the infirmary? Several, I imagine, yet not once have I given them a second thought… or really, any thought at all. I get closer to the window and notice the glass is scratched and covered in hairline cracks. Droplets gather and run down the outside of the window and it’s not until now that I realize that it’s been raining heavily this entire time. I guess I’ve been too busy overthinking and pouring over details to hone in on that.

Light flashes in the sky and briefly illuminates what looks to be a thick forest. A clap of thunder rolls through and interrupts the lingering silence inside the school. Listening to the pitter patter of rain against the glass was soothing. Almost enough to forget my troubles altogether, but not quite. Lightning flashes and thunder rolls through the sky once more. I wonder how long this storm will last for? As I continue to stare, a thought of sudden realization crosses my mind. Why waste my time searching for an elevator when I could escape out the window?

I prop myself up against the window and get halfway through the motions of trying to open it when another realization strikes me. I’d be wasting more of my time trying to open this window than I would trying to find that elevator. The vast majority of the doors I passed by wouldn’t open in spite of all efforts made, so what made me think this window- or any window, for that matter- would magically open for me? Why did I believe that escaping would be so simple and straightforward when everything thus far has been everything but that?

I rest my forehead against the cold glass and sigh, my warm breath forming a foggy cloud on the pane. If only I could remember the exact chain of events that led me to this moment. If only I knew why I was even here in this school to begin with. Then, maybe this wouldn’t be so bad. I would know if I truly deserved to be here or if I’m just one more innocent pony caught up in something so much bigger than myself. I’m not sure if I should count myself as being extremely lucky or terribly unlucky. On one hoof, I’ve somehow managed to survive whatever knocked me out and caused me to lose my memories, I’ve survived an infirmary demon and avoided being eaten by Sunshine. Who knows what I had been through prior to waking up in the infirmary? Since coming to Sandalwood Coast Academy?

It seems I’ve been to hell and back again and have thus far survived. Sure, that was lucky, but what about overall? The circumstances that led me to being here? Likely losing the pony- or ponies- that I came here with? What’ll end up happening in the very end? I sigh. There I go again getting lost in thought and overanalyzing everything. I can worry about this later, preferably when I escape. Spacing out like this is going to get me- SMACK! The corpse of a pegasus stallion smacks loudly against the window so unexpectedly that it startles me greatly.

“GAH!!” I scream in fear before stumbling backwards and falling hard onto my back.

I only had a moment to look at him, but from what I briefly saw, it looked as if he had been carved up, had his hooves tied up, his feathers plucked out and wings mutilated before being thrown off either the roof or one of the floors above. Fear had been permanently branded to his face. I quickly rise to my hooves and squeeze my eyes closed. I take in a deep breath and slowly release it in an effort to calm myself. If I hadn’t wasted time overthinking, I’m sure this wouldn’t have happened. I open my eyes and slowly look over at the window.

I do a double take as my face contorts with confusion. Where there had been a stallion hanging moments ago, the corpse of a bloodied, broken raven is now in its place. There’s no way I could ever confuse the body of an adult pony with that of a body of a bird! Is this school playing tricks on me, trying to make me feel like I’ve lost my mind? Or was it my mind playing pulling one over on me? I… I should get going before anything else happens. What kind of a fool am I to think I could have a moment of peace and reflection without something happening? Whatever. I sigh again before shaking my head and continuing down the hall.

I reach the end and take a left before continuing onward. I quietly hum a random yet cheerful tune to break the awful silence and in an effort to keep my spirits up. I pause and roll my eyes when this hall comes to an end and I have no choice but to go right. Seriously, how long is this hallway? I huff in annoyance before pressing onwards. I can’t help but notice the hall looks the same as the first right I took, except for the bloody smears and hoofprints all over the place. There’s even a big window on the right in the same condition as the first, but there’s not a dead raven stuck to the outside. Instead, there’s just a small splatter of blood in roughly the same area.

I abandon my cheerful humming and make my way down the hall at a slightly quicker pace. I go left and all the way down again before making a third right. By all accounts, the hall was exactly the same and the only differences to be seen are more blood added to the walls. There are now lumps of what I can only assume to be bloody flesh plopped in random spots on the floor. What the fuck? Is this hall just repeating itself and getting worse each time? I guess there’s really one way to know for sure. I steel myself and canter down to the end of the hall, hang a left, go all the way down and hang another right. Sure enough, the hall is simply repeating itself and getting worse with each loop.

More blood and gore is all over the walls and floor. As I canter down the hall, I notice the words on both banners have changed. Instead of displaying ‘Spirit Week!’, the top banner now says ‘You’ll Never Leave!’ while the bottom banner now reads ‘Here Forever!’. Truly, a reassuring message that- so far- seems to be true. Maybe if I try going backwards I’ll be able to escape this loop? I immediately turn around and attempt to back the way I came, only to find the hall I had just came from is now gone. In its place is a wall, a dead end, leaving me with no choice but to continue forward. Of course it couldn’t- for once- be just that damn simple. Now more annoyed than worried or scared, I reluctantly resume the same song and dance of going left, straight and right again.

Every loop adds more blood and gore. Each loop changes what the banners say. The more recent loops now have rude messages- such as ‘Fuck you’, ‘Loser’ and ‘Liar, Liar, pants on fire!’- scribbled on the walls in what looks to be black crayon. Each loop just pisses me off more and more. I’ve already wasted so much of my own time by just simply thinking, now this damn school was determined to waste even more of it. On the eighth loop, blood starts seeping and pouring through certain spots in the ceiling and forces me to slow down a bit in order to carefully weave past them. I make two more loops and find myself surprised. Not that the looping has ended, but instead that hall is back to the state it was in when the loop first began.

I glance back and see that the dead end is still behind me, which means- surprise, surprise- I can only go forward. As I make my way down the hall for what feels like the millionth time, I start hearing voices whisper and giggle. Whatever they’re saying is incomprehensible but the giggling is clear as day. The whispers and giggles persist and gradually grow louder as I make another loop, then another, and another, and another and another. On the next loop, I stop dead in my tracks and grind my teeth together. I’m thoroughly pissed off and sick and tired of being a toy to this damn school.

“STOP!! STOP IT ALREADY!!” I scream over the whispers and giggles.

Silence. Dead Silence.

“Enough of this already! Stop wasting my goddamn time!” I yell angrily.

More silence.

“I’m serious! Stop this nonsense before I beat you to a pulp!” I continue my berating.

The giggling and whispering continues once more, even louder than before.

“Stop it! Stop, stop, STOP!!” I scream.

I growl loudly and stomp all the way down the hall, looking around angrily as I do. I go to make my usual left turn and- thanks to my lack of attention- instead run right smack into a wall. I back up and look around to see that this end of the hall is now a dead end as well. A piece of paper is tacked to the wall with the words ‘Turn back’ and a smiley face scribbled on it. I yank the piece of paper off the wall and crumple it up in anger and frustration. I throw it to the ground and begrudgingly follow its advice. I go back to the other end only to find the exact same note tacked to this wall. I look back and see that the hall has gotten noticeably shorter.

When I look forward again and see the message on the note has now changed. ‘Three more times’ is written in red. Is it telling me to walk from one end to the other three more times? What will happen when I do? Will it set me free or… or will something bad happen? I sigh sharply. I don’t have any choice in the matter. As it stands, I’m stuck in that damn hallway with no way out. What’s the worst that can happen? I turn around and stomp to the other end. A new note has appeared on the wall that simply reads ‘Two more times’ as if it was counting down. Although I’m still pissed off, I can’t help but to start feeling nervous as I turn around and see the hall has gotten drastically shorter.

I try to swallow away my fear as I more slowly make my way down to the other end. Once there, I see the note has changed again to say ‘Once more’. Without having to look, I just know the hallway has gotten shorter. Sure enough, when I turn around, my suspicions are confirmed. The hallway has indeed gotten even shorter. I make the short trip to the other end and read the changes to the note. ‘Turn around’ and a smiley face is scribbled on the paper. I turn around to find the other hand roughly a couple of yards away. Fear quickly gathers in my chest and stomach when I read the note posted to the other wall. There’s only one word written in what is likely blood and it sends chills down my spine. ‘Goodbye’, it says.

The entire hall begins to rumble and gradually grows louder before the walls start to slowly move inward. Panic starts to form in my stomach as I back away from the wall I’m closest to. I prance about in panicky circles as I try to avoid the walls that are slowly closing in on me. What should I do? What do I do?? No, no, no, no, no, no, no!! Fuck! This isn’t good! This isn’t good!! Either wall is now less than a foot from where I stand. I quickly look back and forth between the walls as I back into the wall behind me and make a truly pathetic attempt to shrink into it, like I’m hoping it’ll save me from being crushed to death.

“I’m sorry! I’m sorry!” I shout as I find myself on the verge of bursting into sobs.

The walls ignore my apology and continue to close in on me.

“Please! Spare me! I truly am sorry! PLEASE!!” I plead desperately.

I start sobbing as I continue to be ignored and the walls keep moving. I fall over and curl into as tight a ball as I physically can. I sob even more as I hear the walls continuing their slow forward march. I wait for the end to come. I wait to feel the walls slowly squish me until I pop. I wait and wait, and wait, and wait some more, yet... nothing happens. I don’t know how long I lay on the ground sobbing and waiting, but when I open my eyes and look around, the walls have returned entirely to normal. I take in a few shaky breaths and wipe away my tears before standing up. I sniffle and wipe my eyes with the neck of my sweater. How pathetic. How low I’ve fallen to be reduced to panic and fear. A perfectly natural response all things considered, but still, I feel ashamed to have openly cried like that. I get the distinct feeling that showing such emotions is very out-of-character for me.

I hear knocking coming from behind and quickly turn around. Where the was once a window, a door is now in its place. As I stare at the door and ponder everything I had just experienced, a female sounding voice giggles and whispers something in my ear.

“Wow, so shiny! What do you think it's for?” The voice whispers.