"Suddenly, Daring Do heard a voice in the echoing chamber, the glow in the center of the room looking even brighter..."
It was the day before the holiday known as Nightmare Night, and Rainbow Dash was partaking in one of her favorite activities—reading about the brave adventurer known as Daring Do. She was reading Daring Do and the House on Haunted Hill, the cover adorned with an illustration of the titular character entering a large stone house, the surroundings dusty and worn with age. This was about the fifth time she had read the story, though it was both for the sake of the upcoming holiday and the fact that the next book in the series was due to be out the following week.
"Hey, you want to go to some place really like that?"
Rainbow Dash looked up from her book to see a cream-colored earth pony with a dark blue and pink mane standing in front of her. Sweetie Drops, known to most ponies by the nickname Bon Bon, wore an expression that seemed rather curious.
"Hey Bon Bon, I thought you had your voice-acting classes to go to today." She gestured to the bag at the earth pony's side, where a folded script could be seen sticking out.
Bon Bon shook her head. "The director was sick today." Her voice changed to a tone that was considered 'high-class'. "So I figured I'd do a bit of practicing on my own." Smiling, her voice returned to her normal dialect. "Anyway, I just saw the cover of the book you're reading and remembering the legends of an old cursed asylum that's said to be around here. It looks kind of like that." She pointed at the book cover.
"A cursed asylum?" Rainbow's ears perked up in interest, the earth pony now having her full attention. That prospect sounded like an adventure waiting to happen.
"Yup," Bon Bon turned her head in the direction of the Everfree Forest, just on the outskirts of Ponyville. "It's called Blackthorn Asylum. They say that a bunch of ponies used to be tormented there because they were insane, but that was centuries ago. I've even heard some ponies say that the place was cursed."
"Cool!" The pegasus placed her bookmark into the spot she had been reading and turned the cover upright. "So it really looks kind of like this?"
The cream-colored pony nodded. "I thought that was Blackthorn Asylum at first until I got a closer look at the cover." She paused, a hoof to her chin, before a small smile lit up her face. "Hey, how about you and I make a bet?"
An arch of the pegasus's brow. Now things were getting interesting. "What kind of bet?"
Bon Bon smirked. "Go to Blackthorn Asylum on Nightmare Night, stay there all night, and come back the next morning and describe the experience in detail." Bon Bon moved her head closer, her eyes narrowed. "And I mean a lot of detail. Enough to prove without a doubt that you were there."
Rainbow Dash was prepared to meet this challenge head on. "What do I get if I win?"
"30 bits. And if you lose, you have to give me 30."
The eager pegasus let out a small but excited squeak. "That means if I win, I'll have just enough bits to go get a signed copy of the next Daring Doo book!" Grinning widely, she accepted the challenge with a hoof bump. "You're on!"
Before Rainbow could take off, the earth pony held up a hoof to stop her. "Hold it. There's a few rules for this."
"Aw man..." The pegasus looked disappointed, but she put all four hooves firmly on the ground and listened anyway, despite her mind already wandering concerning what she'd do with the money.
"Rule number one, you can't leave the asylum for any reason, so if you plan to bring anything, stock up. Rule number two, you have to bring somepony with you."
"Why?"
"So I can trust somepony that you actually went there and didn't fake it."
Rainbow lifted into the air again and crossed her forehooves in defiance. "Are you saying you don't trust me?" She attempted to make as innocent a face as she could.
The deadpan expression on Bon Bon's face made it clear that the answer to that question was, "No, I don't".
A sigh of exasperation. "Okay, okay, fine. I'll bring somepony with me."
"And rule three—bring a souvenir." Bon Bon's narrowed eyes matched Rainbow's in a challenging stare, knowing that Rainbow never backed down from a challenge. "Bring some relic back from the asylum as absolute proof."
The thought of bringing back an object from the asylum, probably rumored to be cursed, was causing Rainbow Dash to feel more and more like Daring Do with each passing second. "What kind of souvenir?"
"Anything," said Bon Bon. "A scythe, a list of tortures, living shadows, a map, a magically cursed notebook that kills whoever's name you write in it, I don't know, just something as proof of your visit."
The pegasus's magenta eyes narrowed, and she extended her hoof downward to meet Bon Bon's in a hoof bump. "Challenge accepted." Finding that an acceptable answer, she started to fly off and immediately prepare for her nighttime excursion.
"Wait!" Bon Bon called after her, "I forgot rule number four."
Rainbow suppressed an irritated roll of her eyes before looking downward. "What?"
The smile on Bon Bon's face looked almost too cheerful, and Rainbow Dash had to admit that if the mare would be going for a villain role, she could be pretty darn good at it with her expression and voice.
"Don't die."
"W-Why did you bring me here?" Fluttershy asked quietly, attempting to control her trembling. "You know I really, really don't like scary things."
"Because this'll be like a Daring Do adventure we're going on together!" Rainbow grinned. "No way should something like this be passed up!"
Fluttershy only seemed more afraid than before. "But why'd you have to bring me here? Wouldn't it be better to bring somepony along who's a little bit, um," she paused, eyes darting around, "braver?""
Rainbow tried not to look as exasperated as she felt. "You're my best friend, and Bon Bon knows that you wouldn't lie about our adventure when we come back."
Fluttershy squeaked in reply, attempting to focus her thoughts away from replacing "when we come back" with "if we come back".
The two pegasai walked through the concealing mist which was ever-present in this part of the forest. The bare trees on either side of them only served to give that section of the wilderness a more mysterious allure, Fluttershy drawing closer to Rainbow in unease.
As the fog began to clear, the two ponies finally beheld their destination—a large stone building that resided in the center of the forest. No noise from inside resounded, no opening and shutting of doors. No distant ghosts or the screams of those who had once inhabited the edifice in question...
"Ha, I knew we'd find it around here!"
The gazes of the two visitors rose to the top of the building's gate, where faded, engraved words were visible, enduring over the centuries since it had first been built:
Blackthorn Asylum
The pair stared upward, the foreboding structure appearing to leer down at them, as if daring them to inter the decrepit halls at their own risk. Both members of the party carried small bags over their shoulders, packed with the provisions for the night ahead that they planned to spend in this forbidden sector of the forest. As they looked at the towering asylum, the ponies wore opposing expressions—Fluttershy bore a gaze that expressed she would rather be anywhere but there, while Rainbow hovered eagerly in the air.
"Wow, it really is like that one abandoned house in Daring Do and the House on Haunted Hill..." A grin spread across Rainbow's face, her rainbow-hued mane standing out in the sinister lighting. She nudged her companion. "Come on, Fluttershy, time for us to take our nighttime trip inside! Sounds like it could be fun, right?"
Fluttershy cringed and stepped back, wide teal eyes gazing upward at the imposing building. This definitely did not look like the kind of friendly place she was used to back in Ponyville, and she wanted nothing more than to get as far away from the creepy old asylum as possible. "Um...I'm really not sure, Rainbow Dash." She gulped, the dark building seeming to cast a shadow over them. "I've heard some grim stories about Blackthorn Asylum."
The words got Rainbow's attention. "Like what?" Though she recalled Bon Bon mentioning the asylum was centuries old, she hadn't elaborated on any particular stories.
Fluttershy whimpered slightly, averting her eyes from the asylum in question as her long pink mane hid her face. "When I mentioned I was going there with you tonight, Roseluck told me that the Shadow King and Crystal Princess were rumored to run the asylum a long time ago."
"Shadow King? Crystal Princess?" Magenta eyes bright, Rainbow lowered herself to the ground, curiosity overcoming her. "Who are they?"
Fluttershy took a deep breath. "You've heard of the Crystal Empire, haven't you?"
"Sure," Rainbow said nonchalantly, turning back to the other pegasus. "That's the country just north of Equestria that we established a trade route with last month, right? I heard a few of the townsponies here have friends up there."
Fluttershy nodded, clearly hesitant to continue. "Roseluck told me that the Shadow King and the Crystal Princess were ponies who lived there in a large manor. The Shadow King wanted nothing but power, and he became so consumed by the dark magic that he turned into a living shadow himself. When he was hiding in his manor, he used his magic to form a pony from crystal who he saw as his daughter, who was just as corrupted as he was. Eventually, the crystal ponies of the Empire used their own form of magic to overthrow them and drive them out."
Though Rainbow had only a rough idea of what the two ponies in question looked like, the images of Fluttershy's story began to fill her mind. The two ponies reigning sovereign over the Crystal Empire, the crystal ponies combining their own magic to drive the two away, the King and Princess traveling through Equestria, remaining hidden...
"The two wanted to take revenge against ponykind for having overthrown them, but they knew that they couldn't just take over someplace like they did with the Empire after word got out. Eventually, they found the Everfree Forest and decided to stay here." She looked up, the reality of where they were truly setting in as she watched some wispy clouds pass over the moon. "I don't know why they'd want to stay here instead of any other forest though. I mean, the animals take care of themselves, the clouds move on their—"
"I get it Fluttershy, we're here," Rainbow said, waving a hoof toward the building in front of them but looking more intrigued than irritated. "So how'd this asylum get here?"
"Sorry," Fluttershy muttered. "Anyway, after they were able to observe some of the ponies that lived there for a while, they found out only the really brave or foolish went into the forest. So the Shadow King and Crystal Princess built the asylum and led some ponies there to trap them, putting them through terrible tortures until the 'patients' tore each other apart." Fluttershy swallowed hard, the thought of such torments happening to ponies visibly frightening her, as if she saw the scenarios playing out in her mind. "They'd transform the inmates into crystal and shatter their bodies if a patient resisted long enough, and then they'd become part of the building and..." Fluttershy closed her eyes and shuddered at the thought, stepping back and looking like she was going to fly back home any second. "I don't like the idea of being turned to crystal."
While some ponies might have been terrified of Fluttershy's story, it only seemed to make Rainbow Dash more eager to go in. "Wow, a place with a cursed history like that? Sounds awesome!"
Fluttershy stammered, eyes wide. "But Rainbow Dash... what if the stories are true?"
"Relax," Rainbow assured her friend, putting a hoof around her shoulders. "This place has been abandoned for centuries. We'll probably just see a few of the cells and a skeleton or two—"
Fluttershy squeaked.
"—but that doesn't mean that we'll run into anypony. Even if that story is true, they're long gone."
"I hope you're right..." Fluttershy trailed off, her fears still not entirely eased by Rainbow's attempt at consoling. It was clear that the stories of this being a terrible legacy to the power of shadow magic was still nagging at her mind.
Unbeknownst to the pair, a lone figure watched them from a window in the asylum's higher towers, the windowpane dusty with age from the outside. Their onlooker was a pink alicorn, her gradient, purple-tipped wings folded at her sides. The crystal heart on her flank briefly flashed, as if it were a signal in response to new visitors.
"Well, well, well..."
The expression on the alicorn's face brightened, her pink eyes housing a rekindled spark. "Hmm, about time some others showed up. It was starting to get a little dull around here with the same old inmates to torment." She turned behind her, peering into the darkness behind her.
At first, it seemed that no one was there, only the darkness keeping the mare company. But soon enough, the shadows condensed into a more solidified form. From out of the gloom, two bright red eyes materialized, gazing at the alicorn curiously.
"Father, I-I mean," the alicorn cleared her throat, adopting a more professional air. "Doctor."
The pair of eyes moved up, then down, a slight nod urging the alicorn to continue.
"I see we have some new guests arriving, I'll have to get everything ready for them." The grin on the alicorn's face grew, looking much more malicious than kind.
The shadow-like stallion stepped out of the darkness to stand beside her, letting out a slight huff of irritation. "Not right away. Come now, Cadenza, they're our guests. You know it's been a while since we've had any. Let us make their last moments nice for the time being..."
The mare bowed in respect, a smirk on her face that she was relieved her guests couldn't see. Though there were times where they wanted to see their "guests" on edge right away, they did like to have a little fun pretending every now and then.
"Yes, of course, Doctor Sombra."
With a mixture of curiosity and fear, the pair of pegasai below stepped forward through the heavy iron gates of the asylum, all sound around them appearing to be muted. There was no blowing of the wind against their coats, no crinkle of dry leaves under their hooves, no creaking branches reaching out to grab them. There was only the faint sounds of their steps as their hooves propelled them forward.
Reaching the door and pushing it open with a creak, the two of them stepped inside. Neither noticed that in that same moment, the rusted gates of the asylum closed, and an ethereal shield briefly flashed above.
Cadenza smiled from the upper floor. It was time to go greet the new visitors.
Hoofsteps unfamiliar to Blackthorn's halls echoed across the stone floor, the silence through which they resonated almost tangible in the asylum's entryway. What lighting there was provided little visibility, and the only light source was the dim slivers of moonlight that poked their way into the building's windows.
What was in view of the newcomers, however, was far from welcoming. The central area in which they now stood, concealed in flickering shadow, appeared to be entirely made of stone. The branching pathways beyond the entrance, marked by stone arches and heavy wooden doors, gave off the vibe of a desolate labyrinth. The hinges of a partially open doorway creaked as if attempting to lure curious travelers to Celestia-knew-where.
To Rainbow Dash, all that was missing was an "Abandon All Hope" sign. Even if there was a sign, though, I'd go in anyway, she thought to herself. No way am I losing this bet!
Fluttershy stepped backward, intimidated by the imposing scenery before her. "Well, okay, we've seen it, let's just go outside and wait there until—"
Rainbow turned to her with a determined gaze. "Bon Bon said we have to stay inside until morning. I know you're scared Fluttershy, but it's just an abandoned asylum." She smiled in an attempt to be reassuring, slinging her small saddlebag across her chest and fumbling for the camera she had brought along, moving her Daring Do novel aside. "All we have to do is stay here for the night, look around, bring some evidence, simple." Throwing the camera strap around her neck and grasping the camera in her hooves, she turned to get pictures from all angles, the clicking of each button-press echoing faintly. "Hey, Fluttershy?"
"Y-Yeah?"
Rainbow waved her hoof. "Come over here, I want you to be in a picture."
"Okay..."
No sooner had Fluttershy gotten within reach of Rainbow's hoof that the other pegasus pulled her into a half-hug, smiling at the camera. At least, Rainbow was smiling—Fluttershy looked scared out of her wits.
"Picture #1 as proof that we were actually there!"
The anxious look on Fluttershy's face didn't waver. "Just don't lose it..."
"Relax, I'm not going to lose it," Rainbow said casually. "I intend to have my bag right here with me at all times. There's no way I'm leaving without evidence. Otherwise I'll never get my 30 bits!"
The timid pegasus moved a little closer to Rainbow Dash, peering around for any sense of danger. It was as if every uneven stone or creaking structural beam threatened to lash out at them and trap the pair within the asylum's halls indefinitely.
They didn't notice the alicorn mare hiding in the shadows of the farthest doorway, the shadowed arch blocking her momentarily from their view. She made sure to be extremely quiet—her father and superior had instructed her in some of his shadowy tricks, after all. While a few of his works were known by all the phantom doctors and nurses who haunted Blackthorn Asylum, some skills were reserved for his "daughter", and her alone.
You are the guide, and I am the master. Time and time again she had heard these instructions from Dr. Sombra, reminding her that he was the one in charge, the heart of Blackthorn itself. The more familiar introductions, however, were permitted to be Cadance's doing, and she intended to uphold that honor well.
Her gradient eyes surveyed the pair with a keen interest. She and her superior had encountered many ponies who had wandered into the asylum, and each had reacted differently—some foolishly trusting, others in understandable disbelief. Now how would these two react to her presence?
She forced a gentle smile before she came into view of the entryway, a friendly laugh startling the visiting pegasai. "Well, what do you know, I thought I heard somepony walking around."
Nearly dropping the camera in surprise, Rainbow Dash whirled around to see the pony who had entered through the stone archway, Fluttershy following suit with a surprised squeak. They could see that this new mare was a pink alicorn, wearing a loose, white outfit that traditional nurses would wear. She smiled in a friendly manner as her horn glowed a light blue color to provide some more illumination.
"Who are you?"
The alicorn lowered her head respectfully. "I am Mi Amore Cadenza, but you can call me Nurse Cadance, if you wish."
The pair paused, uncertain about this newcomer in their midst, and whether or not they could trust her. When she made no move to attack them, however, this eventually prompted a hesitant wave from Fluttershy. "H-Hello, Cadance."
Rainbow Dash arched her brow, stunned that there was anypony here at all besides themselves. "I thought this place was supposed to be abandoned." Her magenta irises seemed alight with a subtly-held suspicion. "What are you doing here?"
"Consider me a tour guide of sorts," Cadance responded, turning slightly and beckoning them over with a hoof. "I just show ponies around this old place when visitors do show up. Come on, let me show you around!"
It was in that moment where Fluttershy clung to Rainbow Dash, leaping behind her.
"What?" Rainbow's voice was an irritated hiss.
Her companion pointed a shaky hoof at Cadance's flanks, drawing Rainbow's attention to her cutie mark—a bright blue crystal heart.
Rainbow Dash frowned, immediately understanding what Fluttershy was trying to convey. "Fluttershy, you're kidding me." She looked from the alicorn to Fluttershy. "You're not seriously saying she's the Crystal Princess, are you?"
Cadance, hearing their hushed whispers, glanced behind her. "Something wrong?"
Fluttershy was forcing herself to stay still, rooted to the spot. "Your... y-your..."
"My what?" Cadance turned around, fully meeting the others' gaze, expression questioning but not threatening.
"Your cutie mark," Rainbow finished for Fluttershy, gesturing to the crystal heart mark on Cadance's flanks. "It's a crystal heart."
A faint smile. "You like it?"
"Are you the..." Rainbow trailed off, reluctant to even ask such a stupid-sounding question.
"The what?"
"...The Crystal Princess?" Rainbow felt foolish for asking the question, and resisted the urge to smack her hoof against her forehead. The Crystal Princess and Shadow King lived centuries ago! But, she figured that an answer would calm the tension that was present in the room. Either that, or give them a reason to strike first if need be.
Cadance laughed. "Can't say I am. I guess this means you've heard the legend though, I'm impressed! It seems like too many ponies forget the old stories..." She waved a hoof as if brushing away a fly. "It's always nice to find a pony who's interested in the past."
Despite the unease that Fluttershy was clearly expressing, Rainbow Dash managed a nervous smile. The mare did seem pretty friendly, she recognized the old legends, and, if she was the Crystal Princess, she didn't automatically turn the two of them into crystals.
And if worse comes to worse, the rainbow-maned pony thought, I can definitely take her on. And maybe I can bring her back to Ponyville, then Bon Bon will have to give me 150 bits! Or 200! Or— Rainbow quickly shook herself out of her vision of grandeur. She wasn't in a Daring Do book, and there was no way that the Crystal Princess could still exist.
"Just through this door, and I can start showing you the place!"
The door in question creaked open, a whoosh of cold air momentarily surprising them and casting their world into shadow
Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy made sure to stay close together as they were ushered in, planning to turn tail and leave at the first sign of potential aggression from their alicorn host. Crystal Princess or not, it was unusual that somepony else would be here besides themselves.
The trio moved over the threshold, stepping into the dark corridor. The only illumination present was the faint blue aura emitted from Cadance's horn.
There were no torches or doors lining the hallway, just walls of solid stone on either side. Every so often the pathway branched, veering right or left, but the alicorn guide simply led the two guests straight onward, acting as if the other pathways weren't even there. The hallway appeared to extend the farther they walked, as if it would literally take forever to get to the end.
It's just an optical illusion or something, Rainbow thought to herself. It's nothing to be scared of...
Fluttershy kept glancing behind them, looking as if she planned to zoom behind them through the open door and out of the asylum faster than somepony could say "Cloudsdale". But a light nudge of Rainbow's hoof stopped her from doing so each time, knowing that Rainbow was counting on her. And in any case, she didn't exactly want to leave her pegasus friend alone with this alicorn either.
Cadance eventually broke the silence. "Now tell me, you two, what year do you think it is?"
"What year?" Fluttershy's tone made her confusion evident, getting more uneasy by the second.
Rainbow fought the urge to laugh. What kind of game was this mare trying to pull? "This is a joke, right? Are you giving us some kind of quiz?"
"I'm sincerely asking you."
"It's 2013 A.D, or After Discord," the cyan pegasus answered, barely suppressing a roll of her eyes. "Come on, everypony knows that!"
The expression on Cadance's face suddenly changed to a more condescending one, like a parent scolding a child who had misbehaved. "Oh great, another pair who thinks they live in an alternate century... seems we're going to need to fix that again."
And in that moment, a panicked scream was heard just before the door they had entered through slammed shut, an echoing click indicating it had been locked.
"Aahhh!"
"Hey!"
Cadance only watched the two pegasai as they zoomed at the door, a calm smile present on her face as the visitors tried futiley to make the door yield to their attempts. She teleported a few feet from them, her expression unwavering. They always try the door.
"I-I can't get it open!" Fluttershy cried out, her hooves slipping on the door handle in her haste.
Rainbow tightened her grip, trying to use her legs to buck through the door. Try as they might to smash through the wood and send broken splinters flying, it was as if the door was really made of some sort of metal, rather than the wood it appeared to be. Either way, they couldn't open it.
"That door's magically sealed, so you're not getting out of there," the hostess said placidly, not even making a move to try to stop their efforts.
Cadance's words only seemed to fuel Rainbow's movements. "You're probably making that up!"
"No, I'm not. And in case you haven't guessed, I am the Crystal Princess," Cadance added, the heart on her flanks briefly appearing to flash in response. "I just couldn't say that I was or you never would have followed me. And now it's confirmed that you needed to follow me here."
"W-Why?!" Fluttershy stammered, trying to help Rainbow Dash in opening the door.
"Because, you're insane," Cadance said with a nonchalant air. "You're sick. You seem to think you were born centuries too late..." With a shimmering light from her horn, the aura of magic encased the two pegasai, attempting to pull them away from the doorframe. "We need to keep you here for a while and... fix that."
Fluttershy clung to the immobile door desperately, trying to resist the alicorn's magical pull. "Wait! I'm not insane!"
"Neither am I!" Rainbow Dash insisted, trying to remain stationary as well. "So much for your talk about taking a tour! I mean, you said you were a guide, and guides don't capture their guests!" She managed to turn to Cadance, putting on a brave face and looking at the alicorn defiantly as she tried to recall what she knew about asylums in general. "I can get out of a straightjacket so don't bother. Besides, I have a camera—HEY!"
No sooner had the words escaped Rainbow's mouth than the bag was forcefully wrenched from her body, vanishing faster than she could grab at it.
"I'm sorry," Cadance said, her magical field only appearing to strengthen its grip on their bodies. "We have to hold onto your belongings while you're here. Just so there's no disturbance."
The conversation grew silent as the pounding of hoofsteps was heard beyond, appearing to come from different directions in hidden corridors. From out of the disorienting gloom came groups of ponies of all three primary races, wearing uniforms similar to those of prison guards.
"It seems the doctors have arrived to help take you to your room."
Rainbow Dash whipped her head wildly around, wishing she had more eyes as the so-called "doctors" appeared to surround her and Fluttershy from all sides.
"Hey, they don't look like real doctors! What the Tartarus is this place?!" Rainbow tried to fly away, fighting her way through the hooves and magic that attempted to hold her down tight. She looked at Fluttershy, determined to help her friend despite her own growing fear. "Come on, we can take them on!"
Fluttershy cried out as she struggled to get away from the advancing doctors, appearing in a seemingly endless stream of paths. "Oh no! There's too many of them!" She shrank closer to Rainbow. "How are we gonna get out of this?!"
"We will if I can help it!" Rainbow hurriedly grasped Fluttershy's hoof in her own. "Come on!"
The two pegasai flew as fast as their wings could carry them, charging straight through the passageway and just barely missing the so-called "doctors". Unfortunately, what they thought was one corridor like the first turned into a seemingly unending labyrinth, with one pathway branching off into two more, turning still further a seemingly never-ending devision. And unfortunately, the guards were far more familiar with the various pathways.
"There has... to be... another exit..."
Rainbow attempted to barrel through the blockade of ponies as fast as possible, Fluttershy hot on her tail, but their pursuers were well-prepared. Before they knew it, the two were again surrounded by the relentless equines as they reached a dead end, one large burly pegasus in particular blocking their path.
"You're not going anywhere."
Before they had a chance to turn around, the two found themselves locked into a vicegrip as a result of the doctors and nurses, some keeping them still through brute force while others used magic. The onslaught had taken them both by surprise.
"Hey, let us go!"
Cadance smiled, seemingly oblivious to the struggling of the new arrivals. "Don't panic, we're only here to help you,"
"'Help us' my—" Rainbow Dash was cut off by the tightening grip of one of the doctors, threatening to choke her until she ceased talking, glaring at the ponies who held her and Fluttershy captive.
As they were led along, however, Rainbow's expression became thoughtful, pondering something she had read once. An attempt at escape began to form in her head. It may be a long shot, but it was all her stunned mind could come up with at the moment, seeing as brute force wasn't working. Well, it's worth a shot, anyway.
Fluttershy was about to make another attempt to fly away, until Rainbow Dash whispered to her, in a voice almost inaudible.
"Use the 'playing-dead' technique."
"What?" Rainbow had to strain her ears to her Fluttershy's response.
"Stay still, but go a little bit limp. If we trick them enough they'll think we've given up and be off guard, and then we can break free once they're not expecting it."
A quick nod from Fluttershy indicated that she understood, but the plan did little to quell her fear.
With the doctors and nurses firmly holding them, and Cadance's watchful eye overseeing their journey, the two were led along though the long hallway to their destination.
With a dim glow from Cadance's horn and the cutie marks on her flanks, doorways suddenly materialized into view along the sides of the dim corridor. And the long-forgotten past was suddenly brought into life in the present.
There were screams, bouts of insane laughter, and rapid hoofsteps as ponies tried to reach out through the bars. Bursts of magic signified unicorns trying to escape, while the dull thump of hooves could be heard resounding through the walls as ponies tried in vain to buck their way out.
"Get in here so I can smash your face in!"
"N-New v-visitors?! Help us!"
"Heheh... light, for once..."
The new voices and sounds were almost overpowering, sending Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy into a nightmarish daze. Could it be that Blackthorn Asylum had secretly been in operation all these years, and that other ponies had been trapped here recently?
"I thought this place was abandoned!" Rainbow exclaimed, glancing around as much as she could at the imprisoned ponies, gazing out at her with expressions of insanity and confusion.
"That's just what we want everypony to think," Cadance explained, "The ponies here may try to escape, but we can conceal the rooms at any time, and the doors are magically sealed. The patients can reach their hooves through the bars, but there's no way they can break out." She smiled, her expression unmistakably pleased. "Not to mention the rooms magically constructed switch their positions from time to time, so if you do escape, don't try to remember which ponies were where. One pony in this clustered hall one day may end up on the opposite side of the asylum the next."
"Liar!" screeched one of the trapped ponies, a mare who sounded about the same age as the new arrivals.
A glare in the direction of the voice. "Be QUIET!"
As the group continued their dismal trek, there was a sound coming from a room off to their left, the faded number 183 etched on a side plate, a noise that sounded like a dog barking and growling.
"There's dogs here?" Fluttershy squeaked, her voice merely a frightened whisper. While she was well-known for being good with animals, the barks sounded so threatening on top of everything else that she wasn't all too eager to approach it.
"Not quite..."
As they went past the room in question, a light blue hoof reached out as a gray-maned earth pony pulled herself up to eye-level with the others. It turned out it had been her who was making the barking noises.
"Hey, you!" she growled, eyes leering at Cadance. "Let us out! Arf, arf, arf!"
"Quit that barking!" snapped one of the "nurses", an earth pony mare with a white coat and light pink mane. "You're probably making your companion's ears bleed and upsetting the others!"
"No, no, it's alright," another pony could be heard from the same room, muttering in a slight Southern accent. "But that still doesn't excuse y'all for keepin' us here!"
"And how long have you been here?" the nurse said in a challenging tone, bringing her face close to the door to peer into the room. "I know you've tried to buck your way out of this place many a time."
"And Ah'll keep tryin' til my last breath!" The country-sounding pony got up alongside her companion and glared out defiantly with fierce emerald-colored eyes.
"Keep trying and I think we can arrange that," the earth pony nurse said. "I'm not in charge, so, we'll see."
The southern-sounding pony stopped talking while fierce growling and barking could be heard from the light blue dog-pony in the room with her, pushing her green-eyed companion out of the way as she tried furiously to get out. "You better get back here!"
"Ignore her, she's barking mad," one of the doctors could be heard saying with a harsh laugh as they walked past several more doors, listening to the wails, screams, and declarations of revenge from several other ponies. "Ha, barking mad, get it?"
A couple of the doctors laughed, but Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash, understandably, didn't crack a smile.
"W-Wait, heheheh, I've told you I'm not insane!"
Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash turned at the chilling voice, sounding like the crunch of dead leaves in winter. On a door to the right of where they were heading, a stallion peered out through the bars, horn glowing as if hoping to threaten his captors. The stallion's horn was surrounded by a golden aura, his eye color matching it, and the goldish-gray of his face was barely illuminated. There was a burst of magic as he clearly attempted to escape, to no avail, before looking straight at the new arrivals. "They'll get you one by one, just like the rest of us! Hahahah! You're never leaving this place! Ahahahaha!"
"Silence!" With an icy glare, Cadance caught up with the guards who held the two pegasai in place. "Sorry girls, he's one of our guests that has been here a while. Ignore him, he's grown delusional."
The two young mares looked at each other. The way that old stallion had acted—whoever he was—was really giving them the creeps, on top of everything else in this place. If they stayed here, would they end up like him? Raving lunatics who really were insane?
"H-How long has he been here?" Fluttershy managed to ask, overcoming the shock of being carried away by these unfamiliar ponies.
"A very long time." Cadance rolled her eyes before smiling again. "Don't worry though, as long as you stay away from his cell—I mean room," she corrected herself, "—you should be just fine."
"And what if we try to escape?" Rainbow challenged, willing herself to act brave as she tried to wait for an opportunity to get free.
"If you struggle too much, then I may decide to have my superior take care of you..."
Fluttershy, trembling, dared herself to ask. "W-Who's your superior?" Her fear had paralyzed her from thinking of anything else outside their current circumstances, much less the other tormentor in the tale-turned-fact.
"Dear Cadance is speaking of me, new one."
The voice chilled Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash to the bone as their eyes directed them to an alcove on their right. Descending down a flight of stairs was a black unicorn with a bright red horn, a cape-like garment draped over his body that looked to be the kind that kings in the olden times wore.
The dark-coated equine let out a low chuckle. "Let the voices speak...Yes...yes...yes..." He began to laugh maniacally, the noise echoing through the asylum's halls and causing the desperate cries from the trapped residents to cease. "At last we have some new ponies as guests!"
Fluttershy squeaked. "I-Is that?" Imagined depictions of the Shadow King began to haunt her mind, bringing up every possibility that she had thought he might look like. Neither she nor Rainbow Dash knew for certain what he looked like, but they had a feeling that if he did indeed exist here, the dark stallion was almost certainly him.
Rainbow shook her head, barely daring to believe the possibility. "I-It can't be..." But though the pegasus hated to admit it, if the Crystal Princess was real, than the Shadow King certainly was.
"I am Dr. Sombra," the stallion announced, his red eyes leering down at the pair of arrivals, the edges of his body appearing to be shadow-like for an instant.
"You're the Sh-Shadow King, aren't you?" Fluttershy stammered, eyes terrified as the myth was turned real right before her eyes, just as she had feared.
Sombra didn't answer her question directly, but something in his gaze confirmed those fearful suspicions. "I see you've found your way into my little asylum. Nopony wanders in here willy-nilly, there must have been something that led you here."
"It's simple, Doctor," Cadence replied. "They're insane. They think they're in a time period that's far beyond our own."
Sombra looked irritated, like he had heard this a hundred times before. "What time are they claiming?"
"2013 After Discord," Rainbow Dash exclaimed again. "Now give me my bag back and let us go!"
The shadow-like stallion shook his head, letting out an sigh. "Another time displacement case, it seems. You know what to do with them, Cadance."
Fluttershy flailed desperately, knowing it couldn't be anything good. "NO! Let us go!" She wasn't as strong as Rainbow Dash, but she was still attempting to struggle with all her might, writhing in an attempt to get free. "Where are you taking us?! We don't belong here!"
"Of course you do," Cadance said bluntly, as if stating the obvious. "You're two ponies who believe they're in the wrong century. Just like a few others have said."
The golden-eyed unicorn attempted to call out again as they passed by his room, drawing the attention of everypony else. "You have to help me... I'm in 1408, hehe, if you help me, I can help you get out of here! Or you'll be trapped here forever like I've been for years!" He tried to meet the eyes of those passing by, golden irises staring into Rainbow's magenta as they drew further away. "Please, I'm in 1408, I have ways to help if I'm free, help me! Remember, 1408—"
Cadance turned sharply to the elderly captive, speaking in a voice that was almost too sweet, slowly getting angry. "We all know you are in 1408, you have made this all too clear to all of us. It's just another room number with one very irritating guest." Cadance wasn't even attempting to hide her irritation now. "Now shut up, please." The last phrase was accompanied by a stomp of her hoof that resounded off the cobblestone floor.
Whether it was through conditioning of years of being trapped, or finding it pointless to argue anymore, the aged stallion fell silent, the golden gaze of his eyes taking on a somber expression as the light from his horn faded.
As creepy as the old stallion was, Rainbow Dash took the opportunity where everypony seemed distracted. "Now, Fluttershy!"
The two pegasai fought against the grip of the doctors with such force that they were able to break free and get a head start, much to the alarm of their captors. Several of the guards were nearly within reach, just missing them by inches. Fear fueled the speed of the two pegasai, but the determination from the doctors and nurses proved just as powerful.
The Shadow King glared as the new pegasai tried with all their might to buck and fly their way out of the mass of ponies that drove to keep them there. They were putting up far too good of a fight. "Cadance! Gaurds! Get the sleeping needles! Our new arrivals must be calmed down!"
The next thing that the pair was aware of was the rough grip of hooves on their bodies and the sharp prick of needles into their skin. Instantly, the pair's movements became sluggish as the drug began to take effect. It was as if all their muscles refused to work, ceasing to aid in any chance of escape.
Cadance overlooked the process as the captives gazed at her with what was left of their fading awareness. "I'll be taking care of you when you are not with Dr. Sombra or the others. Don't worry, we'll take good care of you... I promise."
It was the last that Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy could hear before the darkness of unconsciousness fully overcame them, causing the two to fall limp in the grasp of their captors.
Upon double-checking to make sure that the injections had done their work, Cadance raised her voice, calling to the large white pegasus. "Snowflake, put these two in room 113 and I'll see to them later."
A gruff nod as the pegasus in question picked up the two unconscious mares, accompanying Cadance as she went to room 113 to imprison the newest "guests". Unlocking the door to the padded cell, the light blue aura of Cadance's magic manifested around Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy, dropping them into the room.
"It's so nice to have new visitors." Cadance murmured, shutting and locking the room door before trotting away with an eager smile on her face.
Back in the hallway that Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash had been carried through, the light blue pony they had seen before growled and bared her teeth, barking like crazy. "We'll get out of here! Arf, arf!"
"Screw Loose, give it a rest, you'll just be hurtin' your voice that way," said the country-sounding mare with a weary sigh. "Darn it, Ah' thought there was finally a breakout goin' on..."
Screw Loose whimpered like a puppy, withdrawing from her place at the room's door and curling up to get comfortable. She lifted her head to direct a growl in the direction of the closed door.
"Maybe they might help if they can get out," her companion assured. "We've been fightin' for a while. We can keep fightin'."
"Applejack," the pony called Screw Loose sighed, "we've been fighting for the past—" she paused, scratching herself in the same manner that dogs did, "—well, ever since we came here."
The country pony glanced at her, green eyes pondering. "How long have we been here, Screw Loose?"
The gray-maned pony lifted a back hoof to scratch herself more, as if to be rid of a bothersome flea. "Well, those two new ones were saying they were from... 2013 or something." She drooped her head, ears down like a dog who had been scolded. "I'm not all that good with years."
Applejack turned to her, gaze despondent. "Then we've been here longer than Ah thought..."
Screw Loose whimpered. "How do you know?" She knew what years were, but she had never kept too much track of them—dogs never had to keep track of what year was what, and time didn't matter much. She was aware that Applejack may not have been the most knowledgable in the mathematics department, but she knew a bit about time—at least, a basic knowledge. "So much time's passed."
"Because the year we came from is one of the few things Ah've been holdin' onto. For when we make it out."
The blue earth pony's left ear perked up, curious. "When? What year?"
"1865."
Screw Loose's eyes widened. "So we've been here... uh... for...." She growled like a feral animal. "UGH, I hate counting!"
"148 years."
With a yelp of surprise from Screw Loose, the two glanced over to the door opposite theirs, earning them a rare glimpse of the room across from them. The dark eyes of their unicorn neighbor stared out them, her matted mane and lavender-coated face barely visible by the magenta light of her horn. Her voice was strained, hoarse, as if it had been ages since she had spoken to another.
"You've been here 148 years."
The two blinked at her in astonishment, hardly able to believe it. Had it really been 148 years since they first came here?
"You'd be dead by now if you were out there," the unicorn sighed. "It's this place... "
The thump of hoofsteps were heard down the hall, and Applejack knew all too well that soon their way of proper communication to their nearby inmates would be at an end. "How long have you been here?"
The unicorn opened her mouth to respond, but was suddenly thrown back as the same magical pulse that had given the ponies a view of the outside corridors impacted them once again, knocking the inmates to the floors of their rooms and causing the window and bars on the outside to vanish.
The lavender mare from the opposite room shook herself, but didn't stand. She glanced up above her, at the dim bulb hanging lazily above her head, her only source of light apart from her horn. The light primarily focused its beams in the center of the spacious room, leaving a majority of the enclosure obscured in shadow.
She vocalized the answer that she would have given to her neighbors if they had had a few seconds more of communication. "Too long..."
Closing her eyes, the mare stood as her horn brightened to provide enough light to see a larger portion of the chamber. What had been concealed in an eerie darkness before was brought into light. The walls of the chamber, a cold, stark white, were covered in an undeterminable number of dash marks that stretched from floor to ceiling. Some were grouped together in clusters of five, while others were spaced as if the room's inhabitant had forgotten how to properly make a mark cluster. Still others were lines that appeared to be thicker than others, but were really desperate attempts to save space, not knowing how much room she'd have left.
"Much too long..."
Her gaze drew her to a shakily written message on the wall farthest from where the door had been, a note that was enough out of the way so that it could only be seen if the inhabitant's horn provided light to see it.
She had no companion to remind her of the past. Nopony to help her keep track of how long it had been since her initial arrival.
She only had herself, a rough guess on how long a day was, and the message that endured on the charcoal-stained walls. The lone sentence that she forced herself to view when she feared she'd forget everything. The one thing that tethered her to the pony she had been before.
My name is Twilight Sparkle.
