In the Dark Castle Halls

When I came to, everything was still as dark as before. It was getting really hard to breathe inside the cabinet. How long had I passed out?

Memories from earlier came flooding back. Escaping from my cage. Finding a fellow prisoner beside me in another cage. Finding him deformed beyond imagination. The guardpony’s warnings.

And then, some mare, entered the room and ended his life. Screams of pain and terror echoed in my head which had chilled me to no end. I felt sorrow building up in me and silently prayed that the guardpony have a safe passage in the afterlife. Even though he was tortured to death, he never did utter a single word of my whereabouts. Even though there was no order around here, he still upheld his loyalty to the very end.

I silently slid the door of the cabinet open to view the room. Nopony was around, so I decided it was relatively safe to leave my safe zone. The room was now dimly lit by a lantern left on the table. Although the light it gave was not strong, it still relieved me to have a light source that could help me find my way out of this dreadful place.

After a few moments of contorting my body into ways beyond its natural capability, I finally stepped out from my hiding spot. I stretched my appendages to get the blood flowing again, pins and needles prickling across my body. I suddenly visualised the guardpony’s body and I quickly shook my head to clear the image, not wanting to distract myself.

The coppery smell of blood hung heavily in the air as I made my way to his cage. However, the cage was empty when I finally examined it. Only the blood and gibbets spattered across the interior of the cage and leaking out by the sides and onto the floor indicated that the previous occupant had suffered a cruel death. I closed my eyes, thankful that I had been spared the agony of hearing the nightmarish sounds throughout my hiding, and that his battered remains had been cleared. At least you got put out of your misery and got a ticket out of this place…

Manoeuvring past the streams of blood on the floor, my hoof came into contact with something cold, hard and sticky. Flinching, I kicked the object across the floor, clattering into the shadows untouched by the light.

Oh no.

Cursing my clumsiness, I went on the alert, waiting for something to happen or someone to come and investigate the noise.

But there was none.

I breathed normally again. I went to investigate the object that I had managed to kick halfway across the room in surprise and terror. I trotted across the room to pick up the lantern first. Reaching the table, I could now clearly see that the ‘odds and ends’ were actually pieces of fragmented skulls. I could make out smashed pony skulls, staring soullessly at me and running chills down my back. But there were other bones that did not seem natural to pony physiology.

I don’t think ponies had sharp teeth, right? And they should have longer faces too right?

Whatever, I’ll worry about that later.

I examined the lantern. There was a long strap attached to the base of the lamp that allowed me to slip it around my neck. I noted that the lamp seemed to be magically enchanted since no oil flowed inside of it, and that there was a knob that allowed me to control the brightness of the light. Twisting it showed that the lamp was currently operating at its maximum brightness, which irked me a little. At least I didn’t have to worry about running out of oil or burning my skin.

Walking cautiously across the room, and following the trails of blood that marked its path, I came upon the object.

It was large hammer, with traces of gore still laced around its large metal head. But this hammer clearly wasn’t designed to whack in nails; it was a broad squarish mallet that was lined with multiple vicious-looking spikes on both ends. The handle was made out of wood that was caked with dry blood.

I picked it up with my right hoof to test its weight. It was as heavy as a broomstick, but it would mean that I could defend myself better if the need ever arose. Some relief washed over me as I wasn’t defenceless. Yet, I hoped that I didn’t have to use this. Stowing it under my wing, and giving the room one final glance over for anything useful, I stepped out of the door….

And into the unknown.

The corridor I stood in was illuminated by 3 torches set a good distance apart. Wooden jail doors lined up on my left and right, unmoving and unrevealing as they were meant to be designed. A rotting smell hit my nostrils, and the faint hum of flies moving at crack speeds sounded in my ears. Ahead, the corridor morphed into a T-junction, where what appeared to be a painted sign hung from the ceiling, dimly illuminated by the torches.

I took one step. And another, slowly increasing my pace. My hoofs clopped and echoed in the long corridor. I focused on the sign ahead of me, trying to make sense of the markings on them. The stench grew stronger, but at least the buzzing had died down somewhat. The lamp bounced gently against my chest as I moved forward unsteadily, trying to control my breathing to minimise my intake of the putrid air.

Finally, I reached the sign where I could take a closer look. Blood had been smeared across the white painted carvings, but nonetheless I was still able to make out “<--Main Jail HouseLaboratories” and “--> Main hall”. The messy scratching out of the words "main jail house" and subsequent replacement with "laboratories" piqued my interest, but I decided that obtaining the map of the castle was of upmost importance and probably safer too. I turned right, eyes peeled and ears pricked.

The corridors widened and curved as I carried on walking. No torches lit the way though, and gradually, the darkness seemed to consume me as I continued on. I thought about everything that had happened so far. I still had no clue as to what my identity was, but I did know that something terrible has happened to the inhabitants of this castle, judging from what I saw from the predicament of the guardpony and the mare who was clearly insane. I also had no clue to what the guardpony meant when he mentioned “foreigners”, or what he meant by “made the best use of them”, or when he talked about obtaining live subjects. Somehow, thinking about that caused me to shake involuntarily. I hope I didn’t run into anyone else. I just want to get out of this place alive, and go somewhere safe. This place might just turn out to be a living hell…

The lamp guided my path as I treaded carefully along the corridor, passing a few tables and chairs, not that they were still usable anyway. Most of the furniture had been broken down and splintered, leaving piles of useless and mouldy wood to decorate the wide corridor. I also realised that the floor had become less rough and had been designed using smoother square tiles, compared to the dungeon areas where the floor was an uncomfortable cobblestone.

I must be approaching the main hall.

Moonlight poured somewhere from further up from the left. Something also glinted in the darkness up ahead, beyond the corridor I was walking in.

Interesting, but should I investigate it?

I decided to leave it be, and to continue my search for the castle map. The main hall poorly lit by moonlight trickling in by a barred window above large wooden double doors. By the doors was a tattered scrap of paper, and upon further investigation, revealed it to be the map I desired.

Well, part of it actually. While the map showed the way around the maze-like dungeons (Did Equestria really need so many cells?), the part showing the layout of the upper floors were missing entirely, and with that, any possible route I might have been able to consider. I noted with mild amusement that the dungeon layout roughly resembled that of Celestia’s cutie mark. The main jail house formed the central circle while cell blocks like where I had come from formed the wavy rays originating from the central circle. My block, however, was conveniently located near the only exit.

At least it’s a start, I thought grimly as I tried the large oaken doors. They groaned as I pushed against them, but apart from moving only a few hairs, they wouldn’t budge. There was a keyhole in the doors around the height of my neck, so I had to find a key to proceed, but where?

The shining object in the darkness, could it be it? I shook my head. It would be too easy, but it wouldn’t hurt if I checked it out.

I approached the area where I thought I saw the glint and let the light of my lamp fall to the ground. Then, I started crawling around.Tile after tile of stone slabs only came into the little circle cast by the glow of the lamp as I ambled lamely like a dog trying to sniff out where it last buried its bone. The occasional crack in stone or stain showed up, but nothing unusual popped up for a while.

Found it!

Jutting out from a crack in the floor was a silver key. It produced an eerie glow as my lamp shone over it, glinting brightly even in the poor illumination. I gently used my hooves to tease it out of the crack, as if the slightest rough motion would cause it to shatter into a million unidentifiable pieces. After all, it would be my only way out of here.

I think.

Trying not to get my hopes too high, I went back to the giant doors and tried to fit the key into the lock.

No such luck; the key was too small to fit into the lock. I cursed my stupidity for not having realised that earlier. I wondered which lock did the key turn in.

Turning the key in my hooves, I noticed that faintly scratched on the long handle of the key were the words “Jailhouse Key”. I gulped audibly as I fearfully recounted the image of the guardpony before his demise. Who knew what horrors may lie beyond that block?

In denial, and trying my luck again, I tried to jam the key into the keyhole again. Only to meet with the same result as before: Nothing.

Guess that means I gotta head to the laboratories then, maybe I'll find something useful there...

Sitting on my haunches, I took out the tattered map and took a good look at the route I had to take to get to the laboratories/Jailhouse block. I didn't have to take too much time though, there was already a trail marked in red leading from my block to the labs. Odd...

I turned the map over and was surprised to see a message scrawled on the back in the same blood red ink. It was addressed to me:

Hello there!

I hope you had a great nap! However, I don't appreciate ponies who don't show me gratitude in taking care of them, after all, wasn't your cage the most wonderful place to sleep in?

So, I made sure that you learn a good lesson about manners and decided to lock you in the dungeons for a little while. Don't worry! You can find the key to unlock these big doors in the labs! Be careful though, there are many surprises waiting for you!

I'll be waiting for you when you're ready!

Love --L

Well, at least I know that mare has clearly lost it, and her name was L. She was nice enough to warn me about the stuff ahead though. Grimly, I shoved the map and key under my right wing, and took out the hammer, hoping to get some comfort from cradling the weapon. I hope you're as useful as you look

I turned to face the corridor where I came from and started walking. Once again I was consumed by the darkness.