Patricidium

What.. what are you saying..?

I’m sorry, but this has to be done.

You..

Lightning awoke from his deep sleep, the nightmare fading from his mind. He didn’t open his eyes, afraid to only see what he saw in his sleep. But the more he thought about it, the more did the dream slip away, until he could remember only one simple thing.

Death.

His dreams had been that of death, nothing more, nothing less. The death of who? He couldn’t remember, it had all turned into a hazy blur. He didn’t even remember what kind of death it was, no emotions or pictures. Just that pressing feel of death. A weak sigh escaped his lips, and his breath sounded unsteady, shaking.

As the sigh died down, he closed his mouth and took a deep breath through his nose. And instantly, he felt the urge to throw up. A smell had made its way into his nostrils; a sickening smell, sweet, sour, bitter and strong. Like a mix between old milk and ammonia. Lightning felt his insides rush up to his mouth, but nothing came out of his mouth. Probably because he was lying on his back, which he just realized.

He swallowed down the small amount of stomach acid in his mouth, and it felt as if that horrible smell followed the liquid down into his belly. Almost immediately, his stomach tried to force itself up through his throat again. Lightning forced himself to hold it down, and it sent shivers through his body as he felt the contents of his stomach go back down. Just that sensation alone made him want to throw up instead.

After taking a few breaths, the stallion opened his eyes.

He instantly regretted doing so. The room that filled his vision sure as buck wasn’t his bedroom, or any other of the rooms in his apartment for that matter. Above him, the ceiling looked as if it was about to give way under age and decay, threatening to come crashing down upon him any second. Cracks ran across it, and through them, ivy and moss sprouted out, hanging limply like dead carcasses.

The plants seemed to move on its own; swaying slightly in a breeze he couldn’t feel. Apart from that, no other movements could be seen. As he slowly raised his head up from the pillow – Wait, were did that pillow come from..? – Lightning realized that it was eerily quiet as well. He didn’t have time to ponder this though, as almost all his questions as to what was wrong here got answered the moment he saw the room he was in.

Disgusting. That was all he could think of. Just the mere sight made him feel nauseous. He could now clearly see that he was in what looked like a room for patients. Probably a hospital, he thought. The walls where covered in some sort of green goo, which he believed to be mold or fungal spores. The wallpapers had been ripped to shreds, and discolorations had taken their place, ranging from rusty brown to more sickly green.

More moss and ivy hung from various parts of the walls, most of it cowered up into the corners and bends between it and the ceiling. Some old graffiti had all but faded on the wall opposite of him, and only after Lighting squinted his eyes could he read it.

DJ-Pon3 WaS HERE

The name said nothing to him, and he thought it silly as he read the graffiti once more. Beneath it, somepony had scribbled:

want some wood, dj?

The rest of the graffiti was illegible, and he could only make out a few letters here and there. Deciding that there was no point in reading anymore, he instead scanned the room again. Crude drawings could be seen through the mold at places, drawings of strange symbols and letters, as well as several depicting genitalia.

As Lighting saw these drawings, he instantly got reminded of his own body. He looked down on himself, afraid to see something.. he did not want to see. For a  split second, images of castration filled his mind. Luckily though, a white blanket covered his body up to around his belly, and oddly enough, the fabric was completely clean. Its white color seemed to almost blend together with his white coat, and it almost looked is if his hind legs and flank had molten together with the bed he was laying in. Once again, he dreaded what he would find underneath the blanket. There wasn’t any pain or numbness down his waist, and that was a good sign.. No wait, I cant.. feel anything..

Images ran through his mind; broken bones, cracked in all manner of ways, crushed into nothing but a red mess, or completely cut off, amputated to stop the spread of some decease.

And what if they cut off more than my legs, just to be sure..

The blanket turned into a pale shade of green as his magic surrounded it. Slowly, he lifted it into the air and took a peek underneath it. He then tossed it to the floor in relief; everything was still there. Why was he even afraid something like that would have been done to him? There was no logical reason for it. His worries faded slowly.

Lightning moved his hindlegs slowly to try and get out of bed, and he felt his right leg grind against something. Something moist, yet solid. He moved his leg away to look, and once again felt his inside twist. The bed was covered in mold, thick and spongy. Now that he realized it, he looked down on what he had his back against, which he thought was more blankets, seeing as it had felt so soft.

It looked like hair. The kind of mold you see in rotting food, where strands of white or grey “fur”  sprout out of the spoiled meal.

Lighting instinctively shrieked, drawing in breath hard in a wheezing sound as he threw himself off the bed. He hit the floor with a wet sound, and water splashed up into his face. It stunk even worse than the mold. A thin layer of filthy water covered the floor, probably no more than an inch deep. He felt it soak into his coat, and he quickly stood up. Didn’t want that sickly brown slush on him, didn’t want it to.. sink into him.

Up until now, the stallion had not noticed the tubes and cords hooked into one of his forelegs and neck, but when he did, he shrieked again, out of both disgust and fear. His body began to shake uncontrollably as he saw the needle buried in his forelegs, partly slipped out of his skin. Forgetting the state of the room, he opened his mouth and yelled.

“Hello? Anypony there?!”

The room didn’t matter anymore, nothing did. He just had to get that bucking needle out of him. He yelled again, but the only answer he got was the quiet sound of dripping water. Lightning was terrified of needles, and just seeing one actually piercing his skin made his mind almost shut down in fear. He had to get it out, but he was too afraid to even touch it himself.

But he had no choice. Nopony was there to hear him, nopony would come to his aid. He had to do it himself. The young stallion took one last look across the room to see if there was anything he could use, anything else he could focus on as he did.. what he had to. He saw nothing. Slowly, the realization dawned in his mind, and his lips started to quiver and he felt tears build up in his eyes.

This has to be a nightmare, it..

He once again fired up his horn, and this time focusing his magic on the small needle in his leg. It glowed dimly in green light, and it made it look even more disgusting and terrifying in his eyes. Hesitantly, Lighting pulled on the needle, and cried out the moment he felt it move within him. He panted heavily, and his tears fell into the water at his hooves. Just one more pull, and it..

Buck it!

The needle slipped out of his skin and landed on the floor with a splash, sending a few drops of water up unto his legs. As the body of water got disturbed, its smell once again let itself free through the room, and Lightning cringed. He looked at the cord with the needle on it, floating slightly in the water. He blinked away his tears, and without understanding why he did so, the stallion spat at the needle on the floor.

To his right, Lighting could see what he thought was a window, covered up in what looked to be cardboard, with specks of mold growing around its edges. He hurried towards it, and the water splashed around his hooves. Once he reached the window, the stallion wasted no time, and started tearing at the cardboard with his front hooves. Needed to see where the buck he was, what was on the other.. side..

His heart stopped, and he swore he could almost feel his eyeballs bulge out of his head as he saw what was in the window. Behind several layers of cardboard, fabric and moss, there was a filthy glass sheet, and behind it.. nothing. A brick wall covered in moss and with water running down in streams. He wanted to slam his hoof through the window, tear down the wall, but that would probably just hurt him.

What the buck am I doing here..?

Desperately, he tried to call out for help again, but once again no answer came. His body started to shake even more as panic built up inside him. Not knowing what to do, he instead made his way to the door on the opposite side of the room. He tried twisting the handle with his magic, but it was locked and refused to move. In sheer desperation, Lighting turned his back towards the door, and bucked his hind legs hard into it. He heard a satisfying crack as the hinges gave way, and he could see the door slowly creak open.

Feeling a little bit more confident, he reached his leg out to push it open a bit more. Just when he was about to touch the filthy wooden door, it was slammed shut from the outside. The stallion shrieked in fear as the door hit him across his hoof. Slowly, he backed up from it, and his fear grew as out of nowhere, a knock on the door could be heard. Followed by more knocks.

His heart beat fast, and his breath was erratic as he quietly cowered down behind the bed. His stomach started to turn as the knockings changed into loud bangs. But this time, his stomach tried to force itself another way instead of his throat. Terrified, he strained himself to hold it in as whatever was on the other side of the door started twisting and pulling at the doorknob. Lightning’s mind went blank, and only one thought went through his head.

I want my mommy.

Just as he lost control over his bladder, the beating on the door stopped suddenly. His young body trembled from fear, and he didn’t notice the water beneath him shifting color as the contents of his bladder mixed out with the filthy, brown water.

After a long while, Lightning finally gathered enough courage to stand up again. He didn’t take his eyes away from the door, afraid it would open itself any second. He couldn’t stay in this room, but he was too afraid to leave, and meet whatever it was on the other side. But he had to leave, if he stayed here.. it might come back for him.

Finaly made up his mind, he once again approached the door, and without thinking, he pushed it open.

I’m a brave pony, I can do this.. Or perhaps I’m just stupid.

The door made a creaking sound as it opened, and Lightning carefully peaked outside. A hallway met his gaze, long and empty. He exhaled in relief.  He stepped out into the hallway, and found that the state of it was almost exactly like the room. Old, dilapidated, overgrown and filthy. Several more doors lined the walls of the hallway, probably more rooms. Could there be ponies inside them? He was too afraid to check it out.

On the floor, he could see an old stain, brown in color, drawn out across the ground, and then disappearing underneath one of the doors. He had an idea of what the stain actually was, but he had no desire to find out if he was right or not.

Trying not to think about it, the stallion turned away from it and started walking slowly down the hall. It really wasn’t that dark, but he let his horn cast its green light around him, just in case. It smelled just as bad here as in the room, and the air was thick to breathe, making his throat feel soar. Several times he had to walk around thick vines that had almost formed walls across the corridor, and cobwebs had been formed in and around them.

After what seemed like hours, the young unicorn finally emerged from the hallway, and found himself in a big room, with several pillars holding up the ceiling. It probably wasn’t even needed since the ceiling wasn’t that high or broad, but he guessed it was for decoration. They were placed with a few meters between each other, almost as if something was supposed to go in between them.

Coffins.

At first, Lightning thought that the floor was completely covered in moss, but once he took a closer look he could see that it was in fact a carpet in a dark shade of green. For a moment, he hated that color. It felt as if it was everywhere, the mold, the filth, his magic, his bleak mane and tail, and now this carpet.. Surrounded by green. The very color of sickness.

He took a few steps into the room, looking between the pillars as he went along. They made him nervous, the way there were placed and spaced out. They made him think of coffins and graves. And just like coffins, they were scattered across the green landscape in perfect rows, in an almost defiling manner.

Between another couple of pillar, Lightning saw a green light off in the distance. At first, he thought of yelling out, but as he came closer, he could see that it was only a mirror on the wall, covered in filth and a black liquid oozing out from behind it. He could see his own face in the dirty reflection. His white coat, somewhat dirty, a few specks of dried water.

His horn that glowed brightly in the darkness - Wait.. Has it gotten darker? – And the light reflected through the mirror and into his eyes.  They too, much like his mane, were colored in a bleak green, but they leaned more towards teal. Still, green had always been his color. And now he only felt sick as he saw it.

“Lightning Quill..” He whispered to the reflection. “You can do this..” The pony in the mirror didn’t answer.

He observed the mirror for a little while longer, hoping for something to happen. Anything that could help him understand where he was or how he got here.. And as if the mirror heard his thoughts, something did happen.

In a moment of shock, he saw his own skin.. peel. It looked like part of a band aid, about to fall off. It left an open wound in his face, but he felt no pain. He reached his hoof up to his face and touched it. Couldn’t feel anything except the soft fur. But in the reflection, the peeled skin moved at his touch, placing itself back in its original position.

Once he removed his hoof, the skin came off again. He felt panic build up inside as it started to move on its own, peeling off more of his skin. Paralized by both fear and fascination, he saw his entire face crumble before him, like wallpaper tearing away. And underneath it..

Finally, the paralysis let go of him, and he scream loudly at his own reflection. Underneath the peeled off skin, thousands of maggots crawled around, embedded deep into a substance that he could only envision as excrement’s. Lightning tore his face away from the mirror and without thinking, started running away from it, almost colliding into a pillar on his way.

Once again his mind had gone blank from fear. He ran as fast as he could across the room, forgetting about the magic light he was upholding. Slowly, it faded away as fear consumed him. He left the room and ran into another hallway, just like the one he came from. He closed his eyes hard as he ran, not giving a single buck as to where he ran or what was in front of him. He just had to get away from.. that.

Suddenly, his body stopped, and Lightning felt something wrap itself around him. He shrieked in terror, but once he opened his eyes, he realized it was nothing more than ivy growing across the hall. With trembling hooves, he managed to untangle himself, and came out on the other side. His first instinct was to keep on running, but something made him stop.

Far off, down the opposite end of the corridor.. there was a silhouette. It looked tall and slim, but it was covered by shadows and it was impossible to make out any features.

“Hello?” Lightning called out. “Please, I-I need help, I..” His voice died down instantly, as the figure came out of the shadows.

It was clearly a pony, but something wasn’t right with it. It moved fidgety, jerky. Clumsily. Its body seemed to be dressed in some sort of green rubber coverall with a hood, and in that hood..  No face. Instead, it had some sort of mask covering its face, and it looked to be in rubber as well. White and filthy rubber, with big eye lenses, and some sort of dark green canister hanging from the part Lightning thought must be the snout.

It drew closer to him, almost tripping over its own legs as it walked. Lightning panicked once again, and tried to tear his way back through the wall of plants. But they seemed impossible to break, and the masked pony came closer all the time.

Then, he heard a sound. He looked at the other pony, and it had stopped. It had probably also heard the loud crack that rang out through the hallway. Before Lightning had a chance to react, another crack reached his ears, and he felt the floor vibrate. As he looked down, he had just enough time to see it crumble beneath his hooves.

He screamed at the top of his lungs as it gave way, and he plummeted downwards.

Into darkness.