Unbound

Slowly, consciousness returned to her. Twilight’s eyes fluttered open to a haze of pale colors. A crackling sound buzzed in her ears. She almost thought it was her head still ringing from whatever impact she took, but it wasn't uniform enough.

Her body felt cold and numb. No pain. That wasn't a good sign after the wound she suffered. Then, memories of the battle shot back to her, filling her with alarm.

Working her way to her haunches, Twilight shook herself until her vision cleared. There was no sign of the great beast or her friends. In fact, she wasn't even in the same place she was knocked out in.

Faded white wallpaper peeled away from broken walls. Cracked wooden boards served as the floor. On the otherwise plain ceiling, many holes allowed water to rain down. Only, it wasn't water. It was in the shape of rain droplets, but it was pitch black, as if the clinging shadows above were leaking in like fluid before vanishing in the light.

Muffled voices in the crackling buzz drew her attention away from this strange phenomenon. The room before her was sparse, with only photos adorning the walls, each with bipedal figures similar to Isaac. Curiously, every photo with a certain male figure was crossed out.

A tattered red rug spanned the floor, with white trim and an outline of a winged cross in the middle. Sitting on this rug was a similarly red couch facing away from her, bathed in pale light from the centerpiece of this scene.

Twilight had heard of these devices before. Some richer parts of Equestria were starting to incorporate them for the upper class, and she had even seen one first-hoof at a technology exposition she attended with Celestia when she was still the princess’ student. It was called a television.

It was a bulky wooden box with thick glass in the center that was currently playing a static-ridden scene of more bipedal figures gathered before a single figure on a podium who was giving a speech of some sort. Through the garble of static, it was difficult to tell through sound or sight what was going on, but judging from the tone of the speaker, it didn’t sound pleasant.

There, in the shadow cast by the couch in the pale light, the only light in this decrepit room, Twilight slowly stood. As she did, she noticed two figures were sitting on the couch. One larger one with puffy orange hair poking out above the edge of the couch, and one smaller one with no hair that she recognized.

Twilight cautiously approached the couch. As she neared the side, she confirmed her suspicions of the smaller figure. “Isaac…?” She reached out to him, and he lifted his head and started to turn.

Then, a large hand tipped with red nails clasped down on the boy’s shoulder, causing both him and Twilight to flinch.

“You shouldn’t be here,” a deep feminine voice spoke, and the back of the orange-haired figure jostled in time with her words. Neither she nor Isaac turned or otherwise moved to face the alicorn.

Twilight’s ears wilted at the woman’s words. She withdrew her hoof and inched back, remaining silent for a few moments. The snow-white broadcast on the box before them kept playing, the volume of the muffled speaker increasing.

“Who are you?” Twilight asked finally. Looking around at the faded photos in their cracked glass, she recognized the shape of the hair on a female figure in a dress that was often depicted standing next to Isaac. “Are you Isaac’s mother?”

The figure didn’t respond. Twilight wanted to walk around the front and face them, but her hooves were rooted to the spot by a deep-seated fear that she didn’t understand. It made her feel small, like a filly getting in trouble.

Noticing that Isaac was shaking, Twilight frowned. “Isaac… are you ok?” she asked. He didn’t respond, not that he would normally.

“Go away,” the female figure commanded. Despite her voice not raising, it held such intensity. The hand on Isaac’s shoulder tensed and clutched him closer. The boy lifted his own hand to try and pull it away, but he could only bring himself to rest it on top of hers.

“Leave him alone,” Twilight said, gathering the courage to stand tall. "Isaac, you don't have to listen to her."

A dismissive laugh came. “The devil takes many forms, Isaac. He wants you to forsake me and the way of the Lord, but I won’t let him. I will save you, even if you don’t want me to.”

Isaac trembled like a leaf in a storm, even as the hand around his shoulder gripped tighter and tighter. He probably couldn’t get away if he tried.

“I said leave him alone!” Twilight shouted. “Can’t you see you’re hurting him?! Aren’t you supposed to be his mother?!”

She stomped around the side of the couch, bringing a hoof up to Isaac’s side and preparing to cast her magic out to pull the woman off him. However, before she could even light her horn, she froze.

So put to death the sinful, earthly things lurking within you!

The television crackled more violently as the speaker grew more passionate, receiving uproarious applause from his crowd that sounded like a terrible monster crying out through the static. In the pale light, Twilight couldn’t see the woman’s face.

All that greeted her was a dark visage silhouetted by hair, with two glowing red eyes and a wicked smile where the face was.

“Hurting him? Why… no, I am not hurting him. He is hurting himself,” the woman spoke, her voice cutting through the alicorn like glass as those red eyes focused on her. “Isaac is a sinner, as are we all. He must repent his wicked ways. And no matter how long it takes… no matter how many serpents whisper in his ear to stray him from the path, I will bring him back to the light… kicking and screaming if I have to.”

Gradually, the hand on Isaac’s shoulder lifted, and began reaching for Twilight.

“Now, begone little serpent. You are not welcome here.”

The hand loomed larger, overshadowing her like a parent to a child. Twilight backed up one step, and then another. Still it kept reaching, closing in on her faster than she could get away.

She hit something solid behind her that chilled her back. Glass. She could feel the tingly static of the television crackling through her fur.

All of us have become like one who is unclean, and all our righteous acts are like filthy rags!

The maddening sermon filled her ears. It almost sounded like she was in the room with them, even though it was still muddled and crackling. It almost felt like the glass behind her was gone too.

Then, the tingling feeling of the static moved up her side. Twilight eyed down to her body, only to pale at the sight of many tiny hands reaching out of the shifting snow. No, it was more like the static itself was reaching out and wrapping around her.

We all shrivel up like a leaf, and like the wind, our sins sweep us away!

Twilight suddenly started getting pulled back. Crackling whiteness consumed her vision, steadily eating away at the picture of Isaac’s mother laughing madly on the couch, and the boy himself reaching out to her.

A scream tore from her lungs. She could barely hear it over the roar of static. Soon, static was all that remained.
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..
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“AH!”

Twilight shot up. Her heart was beating out of her chest, and her stomach burned with a familiar pain. Cringing as she darted her head around, she didn’t find any grasping hands made of static or a horrifying figure with red eyes. Instead, she found all her friends loosely gathered around her in what looked to be a child’s bedroom.

“Easy there, Twilight. You’re safe now,” Applejack said.

“Safe?” Twilight parroted. Looking down, she found herself in a bed. She lifted the dirtied sheets off of herself, still fighting to catch her breath. Underneath, she discovered that a set of faded bandages had been wrapped around her midsection, with a red stain in the front. “Wh… where are we?”

Taking a slower look around yielded a similar view of light wallpaper and wooden floors as the living room she just escaped from, only to a lesser degree of decay. Here, drawings dominated the walls, and only a few scattered broken toys could be seen on the floor.

“I think we’re in Isaac’s room,” Fluttershy noted. Nearby, the boy gave a helpful nod.

Twilight winced and swung her lower half over the side of the bed. She held a hoof to her bandaged wound and the back of her throbbing head. “Ngh… what happened? Is everypony okay?”

“We should be asking you that.” Rainbow Dash pointed to her midsection.

“Yeah. I thought for sure you would be squished like a bug.” Pinkie frowned at the mere thought. “I sure am glad that alicorns are super-duper hard to kill.”

“After that dreadful beast knocked you out, we managed to wear it down until Isaac could finish it off,” Rarity explained. “We asked him if there was any way he could help you, and he brought us here. We bandaged you up the best we could, but there honestly wasn't much we could do. Thank goodness it didn’t go very deep.”

“So, you helped patch me up?” Twilight asked, looking at Isaac a bit surprised. He nodded sheepishly. “Thank you so much, Isaac. I… umm…” She trailed off as she thought about what she just experienced. “Hey, this might sound strange, but… did we just meet in a living room?”

Isaac raised a brow at that. After sharing unsure looks with the others, he shrugged.

Twilight’s eyes trailed off in thought. Was it a dream? Logically, it must have been for her to still be here and for Isaac to have no memory of it. Seeing her friends giving her odd looks, she shook her head. “Nevermind. Just, thanks again for helping us.” She smiled before returning her attention to her wound. “Also, I hate to put you out any more than we already have, but do you have any more bandages? I think this one is bleeding through, and I already used all of mine earlier.”

In response, Rarity pointed to what must have been a closet door in the corner of the room. “We found them in there. Just be sure to take some antibiotics later. I did my best to sterilize them, but the bandages here weren’t exactly the cleanest.” She cringed in second-hand disgust.

Twilight twitched a brow as she looked down to her stomach with newfound paranoia. “Oh, well… beggars can’t be choosers. I suppose getting an infection beats bleeding to death,” she said as she hopped off the bed and started toward the closet.

Opening the door allowed a well of shadows to peer out at her. Twilight hesitated before stepping into the narrow space.

Wrapping her magic around a dangling pull string, she lit the single bare bulb in the closet. Dust and cobwebs danced in the orange glow, and she slowly panned her head around a vista of forgotten memories.

As with many closets, shelves and racks lined the sides, choking what little space was within. Isaac would be claustrophobic, so an alicorn like her felt even more cramped.

Stuffed into every square inch of these shelves were remnants of what must have been Isaac’s old life. Boxes of toys, twenty-sided dice, books with strange titles, wigs and hats for dressing up.

Twilight felt a pang in her heart as she looked around. All these things that any child would have readily accessible in their room were haphazardly stacked and covered in dust, as if they had been imprisoned. The door behind her also had many scratches and dings on the inside, and various drawings on the walls and floor. Despite the dust and darkness, this place felt more lived in than the room outside.

Shaking off these thoughts, Twilight shifted her eyes to a first-aid box tucked away near the back. Moving further in, she opened it up and rifled through it until she found another old roll of bandages.

Then, as she was walking away, she paused. Another box was next to the first-aid kit, and this one was stuffed with drawings.

Letting her curiosity lead her hoof, she picked up the faded papers and shuffled through them.

On the first, she found a depiction of a terrible creature with exposed bones and rotten flesh. The picture was labeled 'mother'. Another drawing had many versions of Isaac either dead or dying in various ways.

"Oh my gosh…" Twilight’s frown deepened the more drawings she went through. She was about to stop looking at them, when she found some at the back that were taped together.

On the first of these, she found a depiction of a home, with two figures outside. Below was a poorly spelled narrative of some kind of story.

Isaac, and his mother, lived alone in a small house on a hill…

From there, Twilight read through a short telling. Of what, she couldn’t be sure. Was it Isaac’s past, or a fabrication he made to cope with his past?

Isaac kept to himself, drawing pictures and playing with his toys as his mom watched Christian broadcasts on the television.

Life was simple, and they were both happy. That was, until the day Isaac’s mom heard a voice from above.

‘Your son has become corrupted by sin. He needs to be saved.’

‘I will do my best to save him, my Lord,’ Isaac’s mother replied, rushing into Isaac’s room, removing all that was evil from his life.

Twilight’s eyes wrinkled at a depiction of the boy’s mother ripping everything in his room away from him. His toys, his drawings, even his clothes.

Again the voice called to her, ‘Isaac’s soul is still corrupt. He needs to be cut off from all that is evil in this world and confess his sins.’

‘I will follow your instructions, Lord. I have faith in thee,’ Isaac’s mother replied, as she locked Isaac in his room, away from the evils of the world.

One last time, Isaac’s mom heard the voice of God calling to her. ‘You've done as I've asked, but I still question your devotion to me. To prove your faith, I will ask one more thing of you.’

‘Yes Lord, anything!’ Isaac’s mother begged.

‘To prove your love and devotion, I require a sacrifice. Your son, Isaac, will be this sacrifice. Go into his room and end his life, as an offering to me to prove you love me above all else.’

‘Yes Lord’, she replied, grabbing a butcher’s knife from the kitchen.

Isaac, watching through a crack in his door, trembled in fear. Scrambling around his room to find a hiding place, he noticed a trap door to the basement hidden under his rug.

Without hesitation, he flung open the hatch, just as his mother burst through his door, and threw himself down into the unknown depths below.

Bringing the paper down from her eyes, Twilight stood there with her heart heavy and her mouth agape.

Hearing the door creak open behind her, Twilight turned and spotted Fluttershy and Rarity walking into the closet.

Fluttershy noted the drawings hovering in the alicorn’s magic, her expression falling as she did. "You found them too?" she asked. Twilight merely nodded.

"Poor dear," Rarity said. She turned and watched Isaac playing with some miniature horse figurines with Pinkie. "I wonder if that story really happened?"

"I'm not sure… but either way, it explains a lot about this place," Twilight said.

"What do you mean?" Fluttershy asked.

Twilight took out one of the drawings and pointed to a depiction of some of the monsters they had encountered. "I already suspected it, but now I'm sure. Isaac isn't just trapped in this place. This place wouldn't exist without him. Somehow, all his fears and fantasies have become real."

Rarity put a hoof to her mouth. She took a moment to process the wild theory before speaking, “But if that’s true, how does that chest factor into things?”

“I’m… not sure about that,” Twilight admitted.

Meanwhile, Fluttershy stared out of the door with a troubled look on her face. “Now that you mention it, doesn’t Isaac’s toy box look an awful lot like that chest?”

Both mares joined the pegasus in looking outside. Sure enough, the box by Isaac’s bed was a wooden chest of similar build, with similar coloring.

“You’re right. It does,” Twilight noted.

“Didn’t you say that you felt something at the bottom of the chest when we first found it, Twilight?” Rarity asked, a gnawing sense of unease slowly building inside of her as she turned to a drawing on the wall of Isaac curled up inside a familiar chest. “What did it feel like?”

“I… don’t know if I want to say what I think it was,” Twilight said as she stared at the drawing. “I hope I’m wrong… but if I’m not, I think I’m starting to understand why Celestia and Luna didn’t help Isaac escape when they found him.”

“But… we’re going to find a way to help him escape, aren’t we?” Fluttershy asked quietly.

Twilight didn’t answer at first. She shared an uncomfortable look with Rarity before facing the pegasus. “If there is a way, we’ll find it.” She rested a hoof on Fluttershy’s shoulder before glancing back toward the series of drawings. “But one way or another, we need to get out of this place as soon as possible.”

With that, the trio exited the closet and rejoined their friends. And after reapplying Twilight’s bandages, the group set out once more.

Leaving Isaac’s hideaway brought them to a room not too far away from the skull room. Getting back to the site of the battle was a surprising experience for Twilight. The horned monster was nowhere to be found, as it had retreated into its hole once defeated. It was like nothing had happened.

Another trapdoor sat ahead of them, open and waiting patiently. With some trepidation between them, the ponies mustered their courage and began their descent, leaving the cold, damp caves behind.

To say that darkness swallowed them wouldn’t be accurate, as they had been battling darkness since arriving at the caves. Strangely, it actually got lighter by comparison, even if they still couldn’t see anything.

Then, as they all floated down, they started to see solid ground come into view once more. Landing on an expanse of dark stone, they all took in their oppressive new surroundings.

Bones, skulls, and barred grates dotted the black walls, akin to some kind of dungeon. Above, instead of a single hole in the ceiling that they came through the last time they traveled to a new floor, the entire view above them was steeped in darkness.

Shadows clung to the edges of the room, and while they could see much better than before, something was different about the darkness here. Up in the caves, the dark was an obstacle. They merely couldn’t see through it very well, which presented a threat in some ways, but not from the darkness itself.

Here, the darkness felt off. It felt like something was watching them from within the abyss above.

Rarity shivered. "Well, this place is certainly cheery. Does anypony else feel an impending sense of doom, or is it just me?"

"I thought that was normal," Fluttershy said.

"I'm starting to notice a pattern here," Rainbow Dash said. "If these floors keep getting worse, we'll be in Tartarus before long."

"You sure we aren’t already?" Applejack asked.

"Don't s-say that!" Fluttershy whined.

Twilight walked up to one of the doorways and peered into its depths. While she couldn’t deny her own unease, she pressed down her fears and stood tall.

However, as all her friends fell in line behind her, she noticed that someone was missing. Looking around, she found Isaac still standing where he was when they landed.

"Isaac?" She took a few steps toward him.

The boy was staring past them into the doorway, his hands clasped and his thumbs running over each other. His body arched away from them, away from the path forward.

"What’s wrong, kid?" Rainbow Dash frowned at such a pitiful sight. She and the others walked over and surrounded him.

Fluttershy knelt down and gently brought a hoof to his shoulder. "Isaac, are you okay?"

Isaac nodded, though he hid his eyes from them. Following the direction of his hesitant stare out the door, Fluttershy’s features softened.

"Is… is there something ahead that you're scared of?" she asked.

Another nod, and he shrank down further.

Twilight joined the pegasus in craning herself down to the boy’s level. He eyed up at her, but didn't otherwise move. "We can't do this without you, Isaac. I promise we'll take care of you… so will you help us?"

Seeing the ponies all looking to him, not just for help, but also worried for him, Isaac’s eyes sparkled with emotion.

Twilight backed up as Isaac stood. Despite sniffing and wiping some excess tears, of which he had plenty, he adopted a determined expression and nodded. She smiled. “Thank you.”

With their young companion finding the courage to press on alongside them, the ponies headed into the depths of the unknown.
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..
…
…“GAH!”...

How long had they been in this place? It was hard to keep track. Time as a concept seemed to hold no sway here. All there was, all that had been, all that would ever be, was the cold, dark expanse of rooms and the shambling horrors that walked them.

This place abhorred the living. They could feel it in the air.

Every brick scraping against their fur as they fell, every chill snuffing the warmth from their bodies, every abomination of flesh and bone was bent toward one purpose: to kill them.

“Watch out!”

Each new room provided a new struggle to survive, and each battle left scars, be they physical or mental. Even as one monstrosity fell and they were victorious, another would leave a bruise, a wound, a nightmare.

Their stamina started to wane, and their unshakeable confidence in themselves and each other followed suit. They had faced many foes before, but not like this.

Slowly but surely, the doubt started to creep in and grip their hearts. Would they die here?

*Crunch*

Twilight panted as she heaved a pale, blubbery mass of a figure into a nearby wall, splattering it instantly. She didn’t have the time to be disturbed by the gorey display.

The sound of tears striking and a monstrous groan came from behind her. She snapped her head back, only to widen her eyes at the sight of a red, skinless creature with one gazing eye reaching out for her, ignoring Isaac’s attempts at gunning it down.

“Ngh!” Twilight grunted, falling to her back as the thing tackled her. It flailed its fleshy hands and tried to bite into her, but she kept it at bay with her forelegs.

“Twilight!” Rarity cried out. She started to rush to help her friend, when—

“Rarity, look out!” Pinkie yelled.

Before the unicorn could even process the warning, Pinkie dove into her and sent them both to the floor. Not a moment after, another massive pale creature landed where they just were with a squelch, sending crimson flying from its bleeding form.

A few drops struck Pinkie’s side, causing a painful yelp. Two bloody welts were left behind, and Rarity gasped as she looked up to see what her friend just protected her from. “Pinkie!”

Over on the other side of the room, Fluttershy cowered behind Rainbow Dash and Applejack. The pair kicked, punched, and tossed a small army of the skinless red figures from all sides, but they were struggling to keep up.

Rainbow grunted as one of the creatures leapt onto her back while she punched at another one. “Get off me!” she yelled, bucking it back and sending it flying into the wall, where it collapsed into a pile of pulsing red goo with a disgusting slorp.

Fluttershy watched the mush slide to the floor. It was like the red creatures didn’t even have bones. However, as she turned away, the pile wriggled and lifted of its own accord, forming back into its original shape.

Hearing a familiar shriek behind them, Applejack and Rainbow Dash froze. They turned to see Fluttershy on the ground, with a freshly regenerated monster biting into her foreleg.

“Shy!” Applejack wasted no time in rushing forward. She kicked the thing off of the pegasus, and as it collapsed into goo again, Rainbow Dash leapt up and stomped down on it with a mighty yell, sending bits of red pulp flying everywhere.

“Are you okay?” Rainbow asked as she helped her injured friend back up.

Fluttershy cringed and held her foreleg to her chest. It was bleeding superficially from a ring of teeth marks. “I… I-I think so.”

“What, do these things not stay down or somethin’?” Applejack asked.

“Wait…” Rainbow Dash blinked. Both she and Applejack looked at each other, and then behind them. “Does that mean—”

All at once, several sloshing noises and hungry groans came as every single creature they dispatched before rose again. A horde of meat in the shape of gaping maws and empty eyes came charging at them again.

“AHH!” All three of them screamed and scrambled back against the wall, unsure of whether to try and run or defend themselves.

Then, with a small click, a beam of light fell on the advancing creatures, slowing them in their tracks. With a few zaps and wet plops, a barrage of projectiles set on the fleshy mob. Tears and magical bolts of blue and magenta.

Seeing Isaac and their other friends assisting them, having dealt with their own creatures, Rainbow Dash smirked. Wasting no time, she flew forward and stomped down on one of the things, jumping up and down on it a few times for good measure until it was scattered pulp.

Applejack joined in as well, using a similar strategy to dispatch one of the remaining few. And as Isaac finished off the last pile of red mush, the room fell silent.

Rarity panted heavily and held a hoof to her head. Her horn sparked and fitted after forcing so many offensive spells from it. She wasn't as strong as Twilight, but she was glad to help in some small way.

Hearing a wince beside her, she shifted her attention to her pink friend. “Oh, my goodness, Pinkie!”

“Don’t… ngh… w-worry. It’s just a little ouchie,” Pinkie assured.

“Oh, darling.” Rarity frowned, resting a hoof on her shoulder.

Twilight walked to the middle of the room and breathed heavily. She observed her friends, many of whom were now injured to some degree. Even she bore painful reminders of battles past.

She met eyes with Isaac, who was similarly frowning at the state of those around him. Both of them then looked up. A lone door stood at the back of the room, adorned with skulls. A warning? Or perhaps, a promise of what waited within?

“Is everypony okay?” Twilight asked.

“A little rough around the edges, but I think I’m good.” Rainbow Dash popped her stiff neck and loosened some sore muscles. “How about you, Fluttershy? How’s that leg?”

Fluttershy winced as she put weight on her injured forelimb, but managed to suppress the pain and put on a fragile smile. “I’m alright.”

“Me too,” Pinkie reported, though her energy was noticeably diminished by pain.

Twilight shook her head and sighed. “We can’t keep this up if we keep getting hurt. Everypony do your best to stay on the defensive. Isaac and I should be able to do most of the fighting,” she reasoned, looking to the boy for confirmation. As ever, a nod served as his response as he fired off a couple tears for show.

Although they were battered and bruised, the ponies all readied themselves for what they knew would be another fierce battle. Whatever terrible creature was waiting for them beyond those doors, they would have to defeat it if they wanted to get home.

Marching through the door, most of the group didn’t notice as Isaac hesitated at the threshold. A hoof on the back and a reassuring look from Fluttershy coaxed him into continuing, and soon they all stepped inside.

Twilight scanned her eyes around, horn at the ready. After their last battle in a room like this, she wouldn’t let her friends down again. She was prepared for anything.

However, the only thing she couldn’t prepare for, was nothing.

Nothing was in the room before them, save for a few rocks, bones, and lit candles on the floor. Strangely, there were three more skull doors, one on each wall. All were closed, save for theirs.

Then, even that one slammed shut, sealing them inside.

The ponies had come to expect this. They all huddled around each other, keeping vigilant for any threat from any direction. Above. Below. Anything was possible here.

“Uh… what’s the deal?” Rainbow asked. “Isn’t this the part where something big and scary pops out and tries to kill us?”

“And here I thought this place could be consistent in at least one thing,” Rarity said.

“Stay on your guard. There has to be something here, or else an exit would have appeared by now,” Twilight reasoned. “Isn’t that right, Isaac?”

Turning toward the boy, she found him slowly approaching the center of the room. He was staring straight up at the dark abyss above them, his posture small and his fingers fidgeting together.

“Isaac?” Twilight’s expression fell.

“Is something wrong?” Fluttershy asked, starting to move up and put a hoof on his shoulder, until she stopped as she noticed that he was breathing faster. His eyes trembled, and he almost seemed to be waiting for something.

…”Isaac!”...

Just then, another voice filled the room. It was feminine, laced with anger and disappointment, and it seemed to come from somewhere above.

“What was that?” Rarity darted her eyes around, but nothing yet moved within the inky blackness.

“Wait…” Twilight muttered, her eyes narrowing. “I recognize that voice. I had a dream about it after that thing knocked me out.” She stood tall in the face of the unseen. “You’re Isaac’s mother, aren’t you?”

“His mother?” Pinkie parroted. She looked over to see the boy crouched down, his whole body trembling now as he stared up like a child awaiting punishment from their parent. “But… w-why is he so scared of her?”

Before anyone could answer her, the voice came booming down again.

“Oh, look what’s happened to you, Isaac! Is this what I taught you? To surround yourself with evil?!”

Rainbow Dash hovered up and jabbed a hoof toward the ceiling. “Hey! Who’re you calling evil, lady?! You don’t see Isaac cowering from us!” she yelled, nostrils flared, before she paused. “Well, there was that one time, but that’s beside the point!”

Fluttershy boldly stepped forward to be beside the trembling boy. As she stared up into the darkness, she didn’t feel fear. She felt outrage. “How could you treat your own son like this?! I’ve seen the way Isaac draws you. I don’t know if all of it really happened, but you must have been awful to him for him to be this scared of you!”

There were a few seconds of silence from the shadows above. Eventually, a sad sort of chuckle came down.

“If Isaac must fear me, so be it. I am only doing what’s right, what my lord has commanded of me! There is evil inside him that must be cleansed!”

The voice raved, growing more intense. Each word served to make Isaac shake harder. He hid his face and covered his head, only to look up in surprise as he felt another shape brush against him. It was Applejack, and she was facing down the unseen voice with fierceness burning in her eyes.

“He’s your family! I don’t care what your lord told ya to do! You don’t hurt family like this!” She stomped a hoof.

“Yeah!” Pinkie scowled up at the voice as she stormed over with her friends. She rested a hoof on Isaac’s back along with Fluttershy. “My mom and dad were strict, but not like this! Parents are supposed to kiss your boo-boo’s and tuck you in at night, not make you afraid!”

Twilight spread her wings and hovered up. She glared into the abyss, unsure of where the target of her ire even was. “You’re the reason Isaac is stuck here, aren’t you?! Whatever you did to him, it made him turn to making his own world. A world where you couldn’t hurt him! Now his world’s been corrupted and made real, and he’s been trapped in it for centuries! Is this really what you wanted?!” she yelled, only to pause and take a breath, though her glare remained. "No… you’re not even real. You’re just Isaac’s fear of his mother given a voice and body. And you know what? He doesn’t need to be afraid of you anymore, because we’re going to get him out of this place! Do you hear me, you glorified nightmare?"

Down on the ground, Isaac looked to Twilight in awe. All the others wore the same determination on their faces, and as he met eyes with Fluttershy, she flashed a smile and held a hoof to his head. It felt comforting and warm, like a true mother’s caress. They really meant it.

Then, a low rumble filled the air, as if the very room around them flared with rage.

“It could have been so much easier if you just let me save you and turned from your wickedness. I thought that once your good-for-nothing father left, that his sinful influence over you would fade. But you just keep walking further into the dark! Well… if it is your choice to remain here with these serpents, then I will crush you along with them, ISAAC!”

With that scornful yell, a shape descended from the abyss, casting a shadow over all of them. The group’s pupils collectively shrank, and a sea of terrified screams came as they all scrambled to get away.

Both Fluttershy and Isaac were petrified as they stared up at their approaching doom. Twilight swooped down and tackled the pair out of the way. Just as they harshly landed on the blackened rock floor, a towering foot in a red high heel thundered down.

Twilight slowly lifted her head alongside Fluttershy and Isaac. She turned to look back, only to have her jaw drop at the sheer size of the leg now standing in the middle of the room.

An upsetting visage of bulging flesh, veins and hair stretched all the way up to a portion of a blue dress with yellow polkadots, which further extended up until it faded within the shadows above. It was completely unlike the figure Twilight had seen. The image of Isaac’s mother she encountered was monstrous to be sure, but this titan overshadowed all of them, not just as a parent to a child, but more like a regular sized pony to an insect.

Rainbow Dash’s eyes nearly popped out of her head as she floated in place, craning her neck all the way up and stammering. “S-Sweet Celestia!”

With his friends scattered on the ground after the sudden attack, Isaac stood and clenched his fists. He began shooting his weaponized tears at his mother, and she reacted with a pained growl.

The massive leg receded back out of sight. Everyone quickly got to their hooves and kept their heads glued above, ready to dodge any further stomps.

As Rarity and Applejack backed closer to the wall, a banging sound came from behind them. They turned just in time to watch the closed skull door buckling outward, as if something were striking it from the other side. Then, the door flew open, and an oversized hand burst out.

“AHH!” Rarity squealed and fell back onto her tail end. She cringed with disgust and backed up further as the hand reached for her. “I usually don’t put people down for their choice in makeup, but those nails are atrocious!” She kicked out a hind leg at one of the fingers, barely making a ripple in the flesh.

The hand started to grab at her, when another kick from the side caused it to recoil.

“Leave her alone!” Applejack demanded. She settled from her attack and pulled Rarity to all fours before backing herself and the unicorn away. Thankfully, the hand receded back into the doorway, whereupon the door slammed shut.

Elsewhere in the room, something wet plopped to the floor. Looking over, the ponies saw red shapes falling from the darkness. Some of them were the living mounds of meat they encountered in the basement, while others were piles of mush that soon formed into the groaning flesh horrors.

“Woah!” Pinkie ducked under a blood bullet spewed from one of the meat monsters.

Rainbow Dash growled under her breath as she floated away from some of the skinless walkers. “Yeah, because it wasn't already an unfair fight!”

Fluttershy slowly backed away from the monsters going after her friends. She started to back toward one of the doors, when she remembered the hand bursting out to meet Rarity.

Turning around, she suddenly jolted as she met the gaze of a giant bloodshot red eye bulging out of the open doorway. “AH!”

As she recoiled, Isaac got in front of her and faced down the eye. A barrage of tears impacted the squishy sclera, causing it to flinch. A disembodied grunt of pain came from his mother as the eye glared at them before disappearing.

Two more of the doors opened up across from each other, allowing amorphous flesh to bulge out. Isaac shifted his aim to meet them, getting in a few more hits before they too vanished.

Twilight observed this from her position fending off some monsters. The boy seemed to be prioritizing hitting pieces of his mother wherever they reared their metaphorical ugly heads. “I see… Focus on her! She’s the real enemy here!”

“It doesn’t seem like that from where I’m standing!” Rarity squealed. The others turned to see her struggling to toss away some of the flesh walkers. One of them got close enough to grasp at her, when a boomerang suddenly struck it in the back of the head and stunned it.

“We’ll take care of the a.d.d’s! You guys handle the boss!” Pinkie stated. She effortlessly caught her boomerang before sharply turning and using it to cleave down through one of the skinless monsters, reducing it to goop.

“Uh, Pinkie, what’s an a.d.d?!” Rainbow asked. Before she could get an answer, however, a grunt came from above and another leg stomped down, nearly crushing Applejack and Rarity. “Holy…!” She widened her eyes before clenching her teeth and flying headlong at the leg.

With as much speed as she could muster in such a small space, Rainbow sailed forward and kicked out both hind legs. She slammed into the thigh, her hooves sinking in deeper than she would have liked before she struck bone.

Magenta light split the air as Twilight fired some blasts at the leg as well. Soon, Isaac joined in, and even Pinkie spared a moment to toss her boomerang at it.

Yelping at all the strikes, Isaac’s mother lifted her leg and kicked out with surprising swiftness. Rainbow Dash and Pinkie dove away in time to avoid it, but Twilight was knocked out of the air just from being clipped by the mighty foot as it slammed into the wall.

“Ooof!” Twilight grunted, smacking into the floor and skidding to a halt a few feet away. She grit her teeth and pushed herself up before leaping back into the fray.

Strafing around the side, Isaac ducked under a monster Applejack had sent flying. Snapping his gaze up, he saw the leg receding into the abyss. He managed to land a few last-minute shots on it before it vanished, his watery projectiles burning into his mother’s flesh like acid.

The boy kept his attention fixed on the darkness above as he wandered about the room. But his unwavering focus upwards was misplaced: a hand burst out from a nearby door before seizing his leg with vice-like grip. His mother’s echoed laugh filled the room as he was yanked to the ground and dragged back toward the door.

Fluttershy gasped. "Isaac!"

Racing across the room, she leapt and reached out. With the tip of her hooves, she managed to grasp the boy’s hands. However, even as she pulled with all her might, she could only slow the inevitable.

Two more sets of hooves grabbed onto her hindquarters. Fluttershy and Isaac looked back to see Rarity and Pinkie struggling to help them while Applejack kept the monsters off of them.

“Twilight, we could use a hoof with this hand!” Rarity shouted.

In response, a bolt of magic exploded into the hand. It jerked as its flesh was burned, but it didn’t let go.

Twilight prepared to send a more powerful attack, when a shadow fell over her. Her pupils shrank and she looked up. She flapped her wings hard and got clear just in time before the foot came crashing down.

However, as she jerked to the side and followed the foot with her eyes, they abruptly widened. Below the foot, right where she had just been flying over, was a pile of rocks. Not only that, but embedded into one of the rocks, was what looked to be a cluster of bombs.

She yelped and raced to channel her magic into a barrier, but it was too late. The moment the leg slammed into the rocks, a fiery explosion enveloped the alicorn and sent her flying into the wall.

Rainbow Dash looked over at the deafening sound, only to freeze in the air as she spotted her friend smacking into a wall and collapsing to the floor. “Twi!”

Without wasting a moment, Rainbow zoomed off to help the alicorn. She made it about halfway there when she heard a grunt of exertion, but not from any of her friends. Before she could alter her course, the massive leg lifted once again and kicked out at her. The resulting collision rattled her very bones and sent her bouncing off the ground and into the far wall.

“Gah…” Rainbow groaned. Her head was throbbing, and her whole body felt brittle and sore.

Pushing herself up on one forelimb, she looked around at the dire state they were in. All her friends were either injured or occupied with trying to save Isaac, and all the while a small army of monsters was closing in on them. Judging by the wicked laugh echoing through the room, Isaac’s mother was still standing strong.

Teeth gritted and eyes darting, Rainbow raced to think of something she could do to swing the battle in their favor. Then, she remembered something.

She reached behind her ear and pulled out the card she won back in the arcade. The figure in its chariot stared back at her blankly. It could have easily just been a normal card, but somehow in this place she doubted it.

“Here goes nothing,” Rainbow muttered. She cringed and averted her eyes before holding out the card.

Nothing happened.

Shifting her deadpan look to the card, she flicked it and waved it around. Still, nothing came of her actions.

Seeing a few of the skinless walkers heading her way, she growled and waved harder. “Oh, come on! Work, dang it! Don’t tell me this really is just a piece of—”

Then, as she crushed the card between her hooves, it abruptly dissolved into sparkles of white light. These sparkles then covered her forelegs and swiftly spread out through her whole body. A strange feeling buzzed inside of her.

“Woah…. Woah!” Rainbow clenched her eyes shut as the feeling grew in intensity, like a surging current of electricity building within. It was overwhelming, but it didn’t hurt. In fact, it felt good. Really good.

And as strands of her mane and tail stood on end and floated, filled with crackling energy, Rainbow Dash opened her sparkling eyes and the light surrounding her body flashed into a perpetually moving aura of prismatic colors.

“WOOOOO!”

With a single flap of her wings, she was off like a shot from a canon.

Off to the side, Twilight groaned and slowly pushed herself up from the floor. She looked up, only to flinch at the sight of those red monsters shambling toward her.

Before she could try to defend herself, however, a bright light and a wall of air crashed into her, whipping her hair aside and forcing her to shield her eyes. When she opened them, a rainbow contrail faded away where the monsters once were, and scattering bits of red pulp fell to the floor.

Twilight looked up, her jaw falling agape at the sight of her pegasus friend. Rainbow zipped and bounced off the walls, crossing the room multiple times in mere seconds as she crashed through the remaining monsters, then arching back and hitting the massive hand so hard that it released Isaac and receded back into its doorway, leaving behind a confused mass of ponies.

Then, Rainbow bolted at top speed, ramming into the giant leg in the middle of the room once. Twice. Four, five times. Going faster than she perhaps ever had, she kept striking into Isaac’s mother, using her own glowing body as a weapon.

And with one final windup, Rainbow rocketed into the top of the leg, ripping through the blue dress and sending droplets of crimson scattering. A yell filled the room, and the whole leg started shaking and leaking blood.

“Isaac!”

The voice from above wailed, sounding both pained and saddened. All at once, the leg vanished into the darkness one last time, and the room fell still.

On the ground, Fluttershy and the others lay in a loose pile, still recovering from their fierce fight with the giant hand. They looked around, stunned to find no remaining monsters or other signs of danger.

“Is… is it over?” Rarity asked.

“I think so,” Twilight said. She walked over and helped Pinkie to her hooves. Just then, a gust of air behind them signaled them to turn and flinch back at the sight of a glowing ball of energy in the shape of their pegasus friend.

Applejack’s mouth wrinkled as she watched Rainbow standing still, or at least doing her best at it. Her eye was twitching, and her whole body was vibrating subtly. “Uh… you okay there, sugarcube?”

“Yeah,” Rainbow muttered, nodding so enthusiastically that Pinkie’s neck hurt just watching it. “Never better… Why do you ask?” Her voice was simultaneously hoarse and full of energy.

“How’d you get so glowy?” Pinkie asked. “It looks cool!”

“Not sure. I just… crushed that card that I got earlier, and now I’m fast… so fast.” Rainbow gave an unhinged chuckle.

“I don’t know whether to be fascinated or concerned.” Twilight placed a hoof to her chin and watched the hypnotizing phenomenon.

Then, after a moment, Rainbow’s hair drooped and her body unceremoniously stopped glowing. She fell to her haunches and deflated, as if all her will to live vanished alongside the strange light. “Ohhh… dangit,” she groaned, her eyes fluttering drowsily until she flopped over with a thud.

“Is she ok?” Fluttershy asked, lowering a tentative hoof to her friend.

Twilight walked up and craned her neck down to examine the cyan mare. Before she could start her wellness check, however, a soft snoring sound came. “I think she’s asleep.”

“In all fairness, I feel like she’s earned a nap,” Rarity said.

Meanwhile, Pinkie paused as she felt a small shape brush past her. She looked over, only to spot Isaac slowly walking away, a gloomy frown on his face. “Isaac…?”

Hearing this, the others all looked over as well. They noticed the boy walking to the other side of the room where two pedestals now stood. On one of the pedestals floated a colored photograph of Isaac and two larger figures smiling brightly. Unlike his current appearance, Isaac wore a green shirt and some pants here.

On the other was that same photograph, only dark and with unsettling colors. A photo negative. It radiated an almost sinister feeling.

Isaac walked up to the colored photograph and grabbed it. The negative vanished as soon as he did, but he paid no attention to this. He simply stared at the photo, using one thumb to cover his mother while he ran his other over a male figure in a tank top. His head drooped, and the tears in his eyes grew heavier.

“Isaac?”

Hearing a gentle voice behind him, the boy looked back to see his pony friends, minus a sleeping pegasus, gathering behind him. Fluttershy took a few small steps closer to him, and seeing no objections from him, closed the distance between them.

She looked at the photo limply hanging in his grasp. A photo of a happier time, clearly, and of a family now broken. The joy in Isaac’s face as he stood with his parents was one she hadn’t seen him display in her short time knowing him. A few tears of her own formed, and she rested her hoof on his head.

“I’m so sorry,” Fluttershy whispered as he buried his head into her chest.

Twilight and the others gathered around the pair, offering the boy their heartfelt sympathy. Gradually, as time went on, the alicorn took another look around the room.

About now, a trapdoor should have appeared to allow them access to the next floor. No such trapdoor was anywhere to be seen. She did, however, notice a door that wasn't there before.

Its frame was black and spikey, with a dark goat skull with curved horns and glowing red eyes above it. Darkness radiated from within it, and a chill ran down Twilight’s back the longer she stared at it.

“What the…?” Twilight muttered.

The others looked up and noticed the door as well. Fluttershy and Rarity shrank away from it, while Applejack and Pinkie were merely curious.

“I don’t think I have ever not wanted to go through a door more than I do right now,” Rarity said.

Meanwhile, Isaac broke away from the group and, much to Rarity’s dismay, approached the ominous door. He gestured for them to follow and headed inside like there was nothing wrong.

“Of course… I don’t know why I expected anything else.” Rarity sighed as the others began moving without her. She turned and lit her horn, roping a cluster of magic around one of Rainbow Dash’s hind legs so she could drag the sleeping pegasus along with them.

Rainbow snored and kicked her other leg like a dog. She always was a deep sleeper, and with how exhausted her experience made her, it would be a wonder if anything could wake her up. Still, she had a smile on her face, so it must have been a pleasant dream she was having.

“Shpeed…? I am… ssshpeed…” she mumbled as the unicorn pulled her inside the dark room.

Within, the ponies were met with another black expanse of stone, though this one appeared more natural and uneven than the dungeon-esc surroundings of this floor.

At the back of the room was a statue of a bipedal figure sitting cross-legged. It had a goat head with pointed horns and a cross on its forehead. Two black wings framed its form as it loomed over them and silently watched.

Just in front of this statue were two more item pedestals. One had what looked to be a severed cat’s paw. The other held a floating red symbol of an infinity sign with a cross sticking out of it that had two bars instead of one.

“Umm… w-what is this place?” Fluttershy asked. She darted her eyes around and shrank closer to her friends. For once, it wasn't just her acting nervous. The room had an eerie quality to it, helped in no small part by the statue and the bone-chilling cold.

“Spooky is what it is.” Pinkie held her sides and shivered.

“Isaac, dear, can you please just do whatever it is that you came here to do so we can leave?” Rarity pleaded.

Isaac glanced back to his friends before taking the hint and approaching the item pedestals. He paused before them, looking at each and silently sizing up which one, if any, he wanted.

Looking to the goat statue at the back, there was a moment of hesitation where the boy shrank back, as if what he was about to do was wrong somehow. However, he got over whatever was giving him pause and walked up to the pedestal with the red symbol.

He reached a hand out and touched it, whereupon it absorbed into him. Gritting his teeth, he began to tremble and shake for a moment. Twilight started to reach a hoof out to the boy, when she drew back as his skin suddenly shifted black and he sprouted horns from his head.

“Woah!” Twilight took a step back. She and her friends shrank away from the boy, unsure of whether or not they should be worried for him or for themselves.

Isaac slowly turned to face them. Other than the obvious changes in appearance and perhaps a fiercer expression, he didn’t look or act any different.

“Uh… I-Isaac? Are you… okay?” Fluttershy asked.

“You don’t wanna eat us or nothin’, right?” Applejack chuckled nervously.

In response, Isaac gave them a thumbs-up and a toothy grin. For a moment, the unmistakable odor of sulfur drifted out of his mouth.

“Right…” Twilight mirrored his smile, though hers was far more twitchy. She cleared her throat and turned toward the exit. “I think we should be moving on… like, right now.”

Quickly shuffling out of the dark room with their newly transformed friend in tow, the group gathered outside and kept their eyes peeled for an exit. They paused as they noticed two things that they hadn’t before.

The first, was a small object on the ground in the middle of the room. A book. It was bound in a thick brown leather, and had a cross on its surface.

The second, was the exit that they had been searching for, though not the one they expected. Instead of the trapdoor in the ground that they were somewhat used to, there was now a hole.

A hole made of what could only be flesh.

Standing before the opening, the ponies stared into its depths. It led to a red tunnel of sorts, moving and wriggling subtly like it was alive.

“Ok… I stand corrected.” Rarity took a deep breath. “Now I have never not wanted to go into a door more.”

Pinkie tilted her head. “Is it really a door if it’s on the floor? I think it’s just a hole.”

“Please don’t say hole.” Twilight shuddered. “I’m not sure what that is or where it leads, but the short list of possibilities isn’t very promising.” Turning away to distract herself from the inevitable, she noticed the book on the floor and picked it up. Skimming through a few pages, she realized that it was a religious book of sorts. Perhaps Issac’s mom dropped it when Rainbow Dash ripped her dress?

As always, Isaac ignored the hesitance felt by his friends and stepped up to the fleshy exit. He cannon-balled into it, and it stretched to fit him with a wet plop.

“There ain’t enough showers in the world to make me feel clean again…” Applejack deadpanned.

“Do we really have to?” Rarity asked pitifully.

Twilight sighed and nodded. “Don’t worry, I’ve already planned on erasing our memories of all this,” she explained. Then, after picking up Rainbow Dash in her magic, and internalizing some jealousy of the unconscious pegasus, she held her breath and jumped.

Not wanting to be left behind, the others soon followed. Falling into a warm, wet tunnel, they weren’t sure what awaited them at its end. All they knew was that they wanted this nightmare to end.