“So, that just leaves deciding which path to take,” Trixie the unicorn said with a frown. Between the forest on the left, the clouds on the right, and the ornate architecture in the center, each are looked innocent enough. Admitting as much only gave her a greater sense of unease. What horrors awaited behind each of these shams?
“Oh, I vote for Skyway Flyway,” Doctor Hooves chimed in with a curious excitement.
“What? But . . . Trixie was sure you would want to go through History Kingdom. Isn’t history kind of your, you know, kind of your thing?” Trixie had been sure she was starting to figure this pony out, but he kept managing to surprise her. An hour ago he had been freaking out over meeting Star Swirl the Bearded and now he wanted to stroll through some clouds.
“Yes, I do consider myself something of a fan of history. Or maybe it’s that history is a fan of me. But that’s just the point,” the Doctor argued. His tone conveyed a curious lack of maturity. “I go to history all the time. I mean, it’s been a while, but I literally experience history. Mock ups are, ehhh . . . .” Trixie waited patiently for him to finish his sentence. “Boring.”
“‘Boring?’” That was not what she had expected to hear. Sure, it made a certain amount of sense when he explained it that way, but come on, he was the one that was supposed to like the boring stuff. “But . . . it could teach us about what’s happened, maybe? Viewing history through the eyes of our enemies might still be useful! Right?”
“Meh.” Doctor Hooves shrugged nonchalantly. “Trixie, I’ll be honest with you.” The Doctor looked fiercely serious. He was trusting her with something important. Maybe there really was a reasoning beyond his madness. “Skyway Flyway sounds really cool.”
“Gah!” she yelled in anger and despair. So, it turned out her companion was not so goal oriented as he had seemed. Or she had hoped. Or she had hoped he seemed. “You are ridiculous!”
“Oh, come on!” he returned with far more fervor than Trixie had expected. “You don’t think flying sounds cool? Probably only want to go to History Kingdom because of all the fancy unicorn pictures.” The second sentence had been a petulant mutter, but it had been enough to put Trixie on the defensive.
“Look, Doctor, if you really must know, then, I, Trixie, sort of, um, has a fear of, you know . . . .”
“Sorry?” he asked innocently.
“I’m afraid of heights!” she screamed before cowering in embarrassment.
“Oh. Well why didn’t you say so?” This pony could be pretty dense when he wanted to be.
“And you know that all of these are going to be some sort of torture instead of attraction, so between falling at fifty thousand feet,” she jabbed a hoof to the right, “or being mauled to death by a bear,” she pointed to the left, “Trixie would feel safest in the big history lesson!”
“Alright, hey, that’s okay,” he said softly, moving over to pat her shoulder comfortingly. “That’s fine then, History Kingdom it is. You’re right, I love history. See?” A goofy smile stretched across his face. “Couldn’t be happier.”
She couldn’t help but laugh at seeing the weird, yet earnest grin. The truth of the situation was that she knew she was choosing between three worst case scenarios, whatever personal bias she happened to have aside. However, the fact that the Doctor seemed willing to support her decision did a great deal to restore her confidence. She would not shirk long from the a challenge. Not the Great and Powerful Trixie.
“Very well then, Doctor. The Great and Powerful Trixie is ready to proceed.”
“Good,” he said, taking one step forward, followed by another, making sure she was indeed following after him. “Because history is hardly what I would call safe.”
“Do not worry, Doctor Hooves,” she replied as they passed beneath the center archway. “The Great and Powerful Trixie will be with you.”
While it was true that they had left the past only hours earlier, the path of History Kingdom was not as inviting as the Doctor or Trixie may have liked. The surroundings were vaguely familiar in a way, but remained somehow more ominous than any of the structures they had witnessed in ancient Cantaerloth.
More of the massive and ornate stone columns marked the path as they progressed further in, but Trixie was sure that they were becoming subtly different the more they passed. Where once they had been finely carved and ornamented, the lining between pieces looked to dull with a sort of grime and the fine ridges that encircled the segments were chipped and less severe. Similarly, the accompanying friezes had begun to change. Each depiction was a bit different than the last, creating a sort of flip book effect as they walked. The beautiful and powerful unicorn that had caught Trixie’s eye before was slowly becoming deformed. At first she had thought it merely a side effect of the gradually increasing weathered effect made to the stonework, but every so often she caught a little detail that made her wonder if the transformation was intentional. It was like her beauty had begun to fade and a more animalistic side of her had taken over. In one of the designs, she could have sworn that the unicorn’s horn had split into two, curving menacingly outward. Obviously though, that could never happen.
Filling in the gaps between these intermittent pillars was nothing. Whoever built the prison had somehow created a path completely flanked by the empty void of darkness. As far as they could tell, there was nothing to stop the Doctor or Trixie from stepping off the path and into the presumably empty air around them, but Trixie dared not and, despite his earlier desire to fly, Doctor Hooves appeared to be thinking better of it, as well. Terrifying or not, the darkness did give the place a very ethereal quality that did not go unnoticed.
As of that moment, there had been nothing to actually identify this area of the park as anything resembling an attraction. Perhaps there were those attracted to spooky pathways, but, beyond that silent minority, Trixie could not imagine the allure of such a place. She was starting to get a bit miffed. Obviously, the place was more to scare them than it was to truly entertain them, but it did not even seem like they were trying with this place.
Filled with unease, Trixie opened her mouth to speak to her stalwart companion, but he managed to beat her to the punch.
“Trixie, don’t stare into the darkness too long.”
Trixie immediately cast a sideways glance at the encroaching darkness. That was uncalled for. It took conscious effort to force her concentration back on the path ahead. “You’re mean.”
“Sorry,” he replied with very little humor, “but I’m serious. Don’t spend too much time looking at the darkness.” His steady pace carried him ever forward, his gaze never drifting from the path.
“What do you mean? Trixie may look where she likes. Though, there isn’t very much to look at.”
“Just be careful,” he whispered. “It might be staring back.”
Nervous tittering erupted into the thick air. That was all she needed right now. Seriously, who needs a terrifying haunted future prison when Doctor Hooves was around? Just let him talk long enough and the fear of constant danger becomes nothing but a redundancy.
All she could manage at that point forward was to follow along a step behind with stiff joins and legs locked straight. Every muscle in Trixie’s body was tensed. Even her tail seemed to be standing straight out behind her and she wasn’t even sure how that was possible.
Talking to the Doctor was the last thing she wanted to do at that point. He was the one who brought her to this horrible place. Took her from her home. Forced her into exhaustion more than once. So what if he had trusted her . . . believed in her . . . saved her. Further and further, her thoughts drifted back into her memories. That night so many years ago. That night that had changed everything for Trixie.
She had stumbled back from that fateful encounter confused and scared. As soon as she emerged from the pitch black forest into her family’s camp, frightened and bawling, her parents flocked to her. They had been more concerned than angry when she had not returned immediately. When it became apparent that something traumatic had occurred, they let the issue rest. Eventually, Trixie had been able to talk about what had happened that night in the forest, but . . . no one believed her. They all just thought she was trying to emulate one of her father’s incredible stories. She insisted that it was all true, but they had grown impatient with her “lies for attention.” It had broken her heart. Never before had she encountered such mistrust from her family. Before that time they had always trusted and supported her. Hadn’t they? Looking back, Trixie became less sure. Maybe she had been wrong about that, as well.
What came next had been even worse. Magic. She had wanted to perform magic. They had never had a magic act in the show. After trying so long to find something she could be good at, some way to contribute to her family, she had finally become a pony of her own. They . . . it hurt Trixie to remember. Tears welled in her eyes just thinking about it. They had lashed out at her.
“Magic? My, my, somepony certainly thinks highly of herself! We all train and train to bring Equestria something truly original and you, a unicorn with barely a spark in you, thinks you can just trick everyone with some pitiful light show? Such boasting! You’re no daughter of ours!”
They had hated her. In one false step, she had failed worse than she ever had before. She had destroyed her family’s love for her. No matter what, she thought those were the ponies who would stick by her, tell her how special she was, even when others refused to see her greatness. But she wasn’t great. She was weak. She was nothing. Better if she just perform her final act and disappear for good . . .
“Trixie! No!”
In the next moment, she felt Doctor Hooves wrapping himself around her, using all his strength to hold her back.
Hold me back? Hold me back from what?
The bewildered unicorn blinked and looked down. Her hooves swung out into the empty darkness. Much to her surprise, not only did the blackness of the path appear to be truly a blank void, she found herself facing it directly. She had been walking along lost in thought, but how had she turned so sharply from the path? It was like she had meant to throw herself off. Again, her mind reeled, recalling her last thought before the Doctor’s voice had broken her unfortunate revery. Doctor Hooves took advantage of Trixie’s confusion, finally succeeding in pulling her back onto the path.
They fell backwards on top of one another, panting from the effort and adrenaline. Still winded and confused, Trixie let herself lie there. What had happened to her? That wasn’t the way things had happened. Her family had loved and supported her calling, just as they always had of everything she did. Not a day went by they didn’t applaud her skill and tell her how special she was. Everyone in the troupe had been her biggest fans. She knew that. Those memories could not have been fresher in her mind. So why had they felt so real? Why had she so desperately wanted to take that next step?
“Doctor, I—”
“You looked,” he interrupted, pulling himself back upon his hooves. “You looked into the darkness. You were drawn to it without even realizing.”
“What? Doctor, I don’t . . . I was just remembering things and . . . .”
“That’s what this place is,” he said, failing to heed his own warning as he looked around angrily. “History isn’t just what you read in books. It’s memories. Memories that this place rewrites into their own twisted histories. Reshapes them. Deforms them into something wicked.” Trixie thought back on the way the stone carving of the unicorn had changed the further in they went. Proud and beautiful at the start and wicked and ugly the deeper in they went. It was not a bad comparison. History was in the hand of its writer, after all. “And then,” Doctor Hooves continued, staring into the pit he had pulled her out of only moments before, “gives the victim an escape.”
Trixie was stunned. She had expected the place to be torturous, but this was more than she could have feared. What kind of magic let this place pry into a pony’s deepest thoughts? If she could not gain confidence from her memories, if that really had been her history, she may truly have wanted to take that next step. If the road ahead was going to be any worse, the thought of jumping may have even been a better alternative. No. She had to admonish herself for that. No life was worth giving up for nothing, especially not hers. Her family had believed in her. She looked to the stallion who had saved her, yet again. He believed in her.
“Doctor, thank you.”
When he looked at her, he seemed almost angry with her. “I should never have brought you here.” Angry at somepony. “Come on,” he turned to nod on ahead of them, “I can see another area up ahead.”
Without another word, Trixie picked herself up. She stopped, waiting for Doctor Hooves to take the lead. After he remained still, she got the impression that he meant to keep an eye on her this time. Rolling her eyes, she allowed herself to take the lead, making a mental note of it when she heard the sound of his hooves following shortly after her.
Sure enough, a stone tunnel appeared ahead of them through the haze. In a few more steps they would be released from the path of dark memories and into a place that, in all honesty, was probably going to be a lot worse. As they made their way into this new potential danger, Trixie could not stop herself from asking the question most burning in her mind.
“Doctor, why weren’t you drawn in by the darkness? Why weren’t any of your memories rewritten?”
His pace never faltered as he allowed himself a noncommittal shrug. “I can’t imagine how one might make my memories any worse.”
Trixie’s heart ached as they entered the next stretch of History Kingdom.