A Play

by Di-o-S

Speak of the Devil

The wind washes over the land bathing it in coldness as the air seeks out every open crevice or small crack in a wall, door or the earth itself it matters little to the wind as it travels great leagues and has seen many moons pass by, it has seen wars come and go, civilizations rise and fall, sisters and brothers fight against one another, it has seen the fall of many evil things that walk no more, it has seen bearers come and go. Yet this small town held a certain coldness to it that even the wind feared to tread there. When the wind first heard tell of the monster that now lurks in Ponyville he warned the animals and all manner of creature and bug to flee with haste. He also warned a certain pink pony in hopes that the ponies would retreat as they were in the gravest danger. But alas the ponies ignored the mare, the wind was saddened by this news but what saddened it the most was that it watched the monster start it’s work against the unsuspecting citizens while they slept unable to stop it only able to watch as the wind has done over countless millenniums.

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The breeze gently passes’s by as you sit on the porch of the cloud house still in thought about what you were going to do. You still didn’t know how to leave or if you even could anymore, on the other hoof you could keep exploring until those ponies caught you or until whatever ‘it’ was caught you, neither were a preferable option. The last option was that you could try to find Fluttershy, wherever she might be, which seems to be the most dangerous out of the three but it looks like it has more favor from you. You choose an option after a considerable time thinking.

Grabbing your saddlebags you walk off the cloud, your eyes carefully examining the surrounding area as you did so. The ponies that chased you didn’t seem to be here although curiosity still tugs at you on why they didn’t enter the cloud house. Starting at a brisk pace you head toward Ponyville getting there in no time. It looks just as it did when you saw it last, silent, abandoned but has a story that it has yet to yield. The houses seemed to have dulled colors unlike last time, some windows were broken, objects littered the streets. A blue and red scooter, a brown stetson hat, a golden lyre were among some of the things that might have been dropped on accident or discarded.

It seems as if whatever hid this from you doesn’t care anymore unless this is intended if so you should be wary. You wander the streets aimlessly searching for anything that may seem out of place. Being mindful not to trip on the miscellaneous items as you roam the streets. You believe you’re getting nowhere. A giggle is heard, you jump at the sudden sound in the otherwise silent Ponyville. Nervously you look around trying to find the source of the giggle that was always accompanied with the voice of the filly that you had yet to see. This time, however, the silence was the only thing that greeted you. The silence seems to you to be worse than hearing the voice, you’re on edge.

Nevertheless, voice or no voice you continue on walking around the town. Surprisingly you walk unhindered throughout your walk, you still get the feeling you're being watched. Turning your head to check behind you, you’re startled to see that the only thing behind you is darkness an endless void with no light in its depths. The darkness is surrounding you in a circle motion crawling closer inch by inch a silent harbinger of dread. As it closes in you try to find a way to stop it, however, objects just sink into it while you aren’t allowed through. It doesn’t take long before it only a mere couple inches away leaving no room to move. Closing your eyes you wait for the inevitable pain of being crushed slowly to death. Yet it never comes, you feel cool stone below you. You crack open one eye only to find a stone room with an old wooden door, there's a sheet on the ground and a plate next to it, the plate just has crumbs on it.

“Help me!” a voice yells from far off. The desperation put into the voice unnerves you but the voice sounds familiar. “Please, I just want to-” the voice is cut off by a bloodcurdling scream then all is silent. Your ears are pressed against your head at the sound of the scream. After a couple seconds, you start to look around the room you’ve found yourself in before leaving, although after on the scream you’re not too enthusiastic about it. Finding nothing you reluctantly head toward the door. With one push the door swings open without resistance showing an empty gray stone hallway filled with doors.

You try to open a door adjacent to the door you just left. The door refuses to budge. After trying to open a couple doors and getting the same result one door swings open revealing a room, in the room was a white sheet that was intended to be a bed of sorts, next to the bed is a folded paper and busted pair of blue and white headphones with purple musical notes on them. On the folded paper is what seems to be a note to someone, the only thing you can read is ‘I’m sorry I didn’t tell you earlier and now I never can…’ the rest is illegible smudges.

A feeling of dread hangs over you, but hope still shines just barely reaching you in this dark place. You leave the room the headphones tucked neatly in your saddlebags with everything else you picked up. You start down the hallway only to stop when you see the two ponies that chased you on your first day here although that seems like a lifetime ago. This time, you notice that down their faces is a thin string that you didn’t notice before, it's as if they need the string to keep their faces from parting.

The two mares just stand there not moving an inch just like last time. Peering into their eyes you see that behind that cold, emotionless look is helplessness, fear. The two mares walked around you heading down toward the other end of the hall paying no attention to you at all besides their brief pause upon seeing you. Shaking your head you continue down the hall, you can wonder about those two later. The hall twists and turns with multiple doors to accompany them. The hall seemed to end here, with six doors. These doors were rusted metal rather than corroded wood. On the doors are marks of some kind, a cloud with a rainbow lightning bolt, a purple star with a small white star behind it both surrounded by five small white stars, three blue gems,two blue balloons with a yellow balloon, three red apples, three pink and blue butterflies.

The door with the three butterflies draws your attention because you saw that mark on another pony not long ago named Fluttershy. Putting a hoof on the door you feel nervous, you have no idea if she's there or not. Slowly you push the door open, revealing a room that was filthy, dirt covered the floor, on top of it was a variety of roaches among other vile bugs. Food if it could be called that was laid out on many different plates, some had small bites taken out of them. In the middle of it was a malnourished Fluttershy, her mane was in tatters, her coat had dulled due to the dirt. Fluttershy lay there unmoving, moving forward you try to talk to her.

“Fluttershy?” you ask tapping her lightly on the shoulder. Fluttershy flinched at the touch, looking up at you, you could see the bags under her eyes.

“So, despite telling you that I can’t be helped you try anyway?” Fluttershy asks me with a small smile.

“Yea, everypony can be helped,” you say confidently, then a thought hits you. Even if you save Fluttershy there is still something causing bad things to happen here. “Hey, Fluttershy?”

“Yes, what is it?” Fluttershy asks while you both leave the room behind you.

“Can you still fly?”

“Yes, why?”

“Could you fly to say, Canterlot from here?” I ask, a plan starting to take form in your head.

“Not without help from another pegasus or…” Fluttershy trails off.

“Or what?”

“Or I could use an element, but they're all gone taken by him,” Fluttershy explains. “Without an element, I can’t leave,”

“What’s an element look like?”

“It’s a golden necklace with a gem in the middle shaped to a pony's cutie mark for example mine which was a butterfly,” Fluttershy explains yet again. You remember the golden necklace from the cloud house.

“Would any element work?” You ask sitting down and rooting through your saddle bags.

“I guess but, Twilight knew more about this stuff them me,” Fluttershy says taking some time to brush the dirt off her coat. Finding the element as you now knew it as you bring it out.

“Here, this will help as you said,” You say handing the element over to Fluttershy. “I’ll try to stop what's happening here,” Fluttershy simply nodded her head putting on the element. You both say your goodbyes and well wishes then you're once again left alone. You enter the room that you and Fluttershy exited earlier only to find that there are seven doors instead of six. The seventh door is open revealing only darkness. Cautiously you walk forward hoof step by hoof step each echoing throughout the room until your right in front of the door. You walk in slowly taking into account every step you take. When you are fully into the room the shuts behind you.

“I’ll find whoever is behind this,” you whisper to yourself.

“Speak of the devil…” a male voice says, his voice cold. “...and he shall appear,”