Chapter 2-There is Truth in Wine.
Hope had gleamed brightly for me or at least that is what I thought for in the following moments, while I would ponder my options, I would soon face my own delusional self. It was only then that I had fallen once more in a state of depression unlike those before it.
Such a decadent path I had acknowledged, something so abominable, even my mind sought to dispel. “There was once a time… A past life… Where only the ancient secrets and hidden knowledge of magic interested me…” The words surfaced from within the very depths of my mind, however, I felt as if my very conscience was trying to banish them more than anything else. As I shivered uncontrollably at the thought, as if it was not true, as if my very skull was eager and ready to explode. My words drenched my mind in painful scars wrought long ago, of which I could not make out anything. As I stood on the floor I whispered to myself. “And now… All I care about… All I care about is…” I could not say it for I felt my throat dry out as the headache cast upon me a shadow of anger and what felt like the bitter touch of despair. I had the chance to escape my forsaken destiny, from the bonds of terror and sorrow lingering within these walls; yet something was telling me it was not right.
An odd idea quickly formed around my clouded judgment, an idea I had forced myself to ignore for so long. “Could it be…That I deserve all this?” I had forgotten a great deal of my past and while images and memories occasionally revealed themselves to me, I remained oblivious of what had initially brought me in the midst of my supposed “prison”. The cold touch of stone had become very familiar to my exhausted body while I had waited and concerned myself with a decision; time had passed and the vicious substance lurking throughout the place had almost completely engulfed the grand entrance. Slowly but surely, the bloodshot entity would devour all that was left. “Maybe it is better to just wait…”
Yet I knew I was unable to simply witness the end of my days, no matter how lost and confused. I got up on my hooves with a bit of a daze and slowly approached the door at the end of the passage, leading towards the outskirts surrounding the castle. I could almost imagine the tall pine trees and the fresh air, the end of my torment and a new day outside. The same indistinguishable volatile matter was suspended firmly on the wooden surface of the door, relieving me of my sought escape route.
However, I now possessed the means to dissolve the obstacles laid before me, at a price. I gently slid my hoof across the corroded timber and ceased my movement upon almost touching the creature. I could feel it emanating pain, yet harm would not become a real issue unless I made contact with it it. For a moment, I pondered the possibility of really breaking the living seal on the door. “An easy way out.”
All the swirling memories which came to pass in this castle relinquished themselves from captivity, one by one, as if I could finally see clearly after a very long period of time. The trail of reddish liquid binding me to a certain path, the note dedicated to my newly formed existence, the story behind the somewhat uncommon expedition I had attended almost a lifetime ago... And finally…The reason I was so keen on dealing with Celestia once and for all… It was neither the letter addressed to myself, nor the history surrounding her past…It was but a promise, one I had made quite recently to the trapped souls, drifting within this morbid darkness, confused and lonely with only the images of their past to remind them of their ill fates; fates which had been sealed ages ago by Celestia herself in the depths of the Wine Cellar.
But yet, how could I? After I had learned so much about her, my former tutor and princess with a past so well hidden and yet so intriguing. The personal note I had found, magically engraved by an ancient and knowledgeable alicorn with feelings hidden deeply inside a corner of her mind… I sensed the warmth of her tears and the strength of her feelings as if I had been there myself, crying over the happiness of which I had been robbed. I just couldn’t go on with my vindictive thoughts towards her any longer. I simply couldn’t bear it.
I turned my sight away from the barricaded door, gentle hoofsteps accompanying me towards the finely crafted and roughly aged staircase leading below the castle. Although I remained clueless of whatever horrors I would encounter down there, a certain determination pushed me forward, urging me to act. Strangely I wasn’t keen on disobeying. With a single move, I swung open the rotten door. As it creaked open, it revealed before me the same, unmistakable elastic tissue resembling the inner flesh of a living creature. With my hopes dwindling as I approached, I realized that whatever fate awaited me behind the veil of flesh, it all relied on one question. Would the formula actually have the desired effect?
It did not matter. I grabbed the stone jar from my saddle bag and then simply stopped for a moment as if in anticipation. I felt my jaw gripping tightly on the rigid stone surface as if it was frozen in time. I thought it would take years or even centuries for it to move once again. Much to my surprise, it took only a second of courage for me to throw it in a feat of anger and maddening rage. To destroy something felt so good and I could finally admit to being happy for once in this creepy place. A pleasure I did not even know I held within me… To see evil burning away! The beast seemed as if it almost realized how much I despised it, its form dissolving before my anger-filled eyes. I had a choice at last, a path that would take me to Celestia and… the truth.
As the last of the viscous substance dissolved, it gave way to a door. It felt great! The sizzling flesh was nothing but music to my ears, as I stepped over the decomposing tissue. Beyond it, there lay a gloomy and somewhat expected entrance, above which, with cold, irregular letters lay written an unmistakable title “Fabrica Eliquatoria”. The door towards the refinery now stood right before my eyes, remnants of the fleshy monstrosity were still covering corners of the tunnel. I did not know what would await me beyond its safety, in the midst of the darkness, nor did I want to find out anytime soon. At least one thing was certain. I would reveal my true conscience and my former memories with each step taken deeper within this forsaken castle.
The sound of lurking rats, indiscernible whispers from afar and faint howling wind… If I could’ve just gone back, I swear I would have… Yet this was the path I had chosen for myself, and whether it was good or bad, I had to see it through. Uncertainty, loneliness and how could I forget fear, none of these feelings was ever going to stop me, not now. And then after closing shut the door behind me, I paced myself through the spooky corridor until that moment I grew so familiar with struck again.
“It sure is dark in here…”
“Yes. And there is a good reason for it. But you can light the lamp now, if you wish.”
“What’s the reason? For the darkness, that is.”
“Stay close. Be careful not to stray.”
“What’s the reason? Why is it so dark?”
“Pay attention, Twilight. It’s important that you keep going straight and make sure not to stray.”
The memory left me with the same distinct bittersweet taste, one I could never hope to decipher and moreover… What kind of memory leaves a flavor behind? It almost felt like roses, but I couldn’t be sure… Maybe it was just the smell of rancid wine reverberating across the putrid halls. Reverberating smell… Another new feeling I had yet to experience up to this point.
The moment I had to spare. I trembled at the thought of it, but it was now finally over, not unlike the day of an exam. When one feels so stressed and full of fear, sitting quietly in a corner of the class and expecting the worst of what is to come. All you’d want to do in such a situation is to go home and do what you enjoy the most. To me… I don’t even remember clearly what it was; maybe it was reading a book, or solving a puzzle or probably just dabbling around with magic. No, it was something else, something… more that relaxed me whenever I was discouraged. There was simply no use trying to remember, not for the time being, at least. It was time to move on, literally.
The wet drops fell onto my skin coldly; the rotten wood, mixed with the repulsive smell of decaying wine gave out a smell familiar only to gravediggers. The soil was moist and soft enabling my hooves to sink in just a little each time I would take a step. As one remarkably cold spark of water fell onto my neck, I felt myself twitch uncontrollably and then give out a deep shiver. Such a magnificent feeling, though I must admit at that time, I did not know whether it was due to my personal satisfaction or because of the lingering sense of fear and sorrow.
I found myself venturing deeper into the pitch black embrace of the corridor. As my hoofsteps guided me further, I came across a blob of the putrid organism. I was not shocked to see it here of all places, after all, this really seemed like the perfect environment for such an abomination. Instead, I was intrigued to see that it had developed on its own, separated from the growing organism which I had left behind. Either it sprung here out of pure coincidence or… Would it be foolish to assume it was following me all along? It appeared to be stiff and immovable which led me to the conclusion that it had probably developed itself no more than a few minutes ago, leaving it in a weakened state.
However, I couldn’t really shake that sudden feeling, that it was lying in wait of its prey, expecting one false move, just one. I carefully steered away from it, and while doing so, I noticed that my path had once again aligned itself with the trail of petals, leading towards the refinery’s primary chamber. The distillers lay broken and corroded, their concoctions long degraded into a state of uselessness. The unknown sound that caught my attention was more than enough to bring me to an abrupt halt. I dared not pull out my oil lamp for I knew not what lingered in the darkness.
I stood still, frozen even, simply adjusting my pupils to the darkness. I wanted to see, to understand what I heard. And it took quite a while until I could finally distinguish a faint silhouette in the back of the room. From a distance, and mostly out of accumulated false hope, I figured that what I saw was undeniably another pony just like myself, someone who could finally help me escape from this nightmare. At last, somepony… Somepony who can help me.
To describe the foolishness of my actions would be impossible. Disregarding all my previews beliefs of careful approach and rushing in like a spoiled filly in favor of what could only be my delusions of freedom… I marched towards him, careless of what may happen, embracing the false truth I had carved in my vanity, only to realize… Only to realize that the pony in the back of the room was nothing other than a monster. All this time I had been galloping in the hooves of my death, a suitor which would gladly claim my life once I had allowed it. My mind was shut. All I could think about was its appearance.
The chains, the ringing of those chains felt like a gruesome melody even for the wicked. The metal pieces forming its binds had been stitched through the twisted and festering flesh. Its jaw was hanging while the teeth appeared to have been simply impaled into the remains of what should have been a mouth. The eyelids were contortioned and the pupils had been molded into black beads which seemed to have overtaken the eyes wholly. The groans of its agony sounded like a requiem of sorrow and pity and altogether anger. Its corrosive smell felt abound in the air as if such monstrosity had come from another world to bring all that is evil in one single form. It was death.
Moans preceded each sudden twitch of the abominable fiend. Its cold approach aided by the echoing groans had just barely been able to instill such a fear in me that I was compelled to move. I attempted to make haste, to flee as fast as I could, yet I was unable to. That was the moment when I found out the true meaning of terror, the moment when your eyes appear to be fixed onto a single point that resembles every single fear you had ever experienced. It was like an abyss, staring back at me. The eyes of such a beholder could probably drive anyone mad or better yet, anything.
At first I backed away slowly in hopes that I would remain unnoticed, however my actions had long compromised any attempt at stealth. At first sight, the creature appeared to be locked in a seemingly dragged pace. Approaching someone hastily seemed almost beyond its reach, however with each painful step, its charge became ever more intimidating. The malformed pony was reaching towards me, determined to put an end to my actions. The only thing I was capable to understand, the only thought I could grasp and firmly comprehend… It felt like a vague image concealed beyond a great mist. Yet it was so simple. “Run!” At that moment, I could have sworn there was nothing else I would have rather done. I took to my hooves towards the nearest door I could spot and never looked back. As soon as I entered the bleak room, I slammed the door shut behind me, so that no monster would fail to realize where I had hidden. Boy, was I smart…
Maybe… He probably didn’t hear… Me. I really did like building up false hope, didn’t I? Suddenly, as the sound of hoofsteps came to a halt right behind me, I could feel my heart sinking. This is really, really bad… The disemboweled horror hounding me began pounding with forceful, heavy bucks on the frail wooden door at my back. I had to come up with something before long or this place would most certainly become my final resting place. As I took a quick glimpse across the dark room in hopes of finding an escape route, I could make out hundreds of bottles piled up in a storage shelf, emanating a strong, disgusting smell, there was also an old workbench adorned with rusted distilling mechanisms, nothing of use to me. Or so I thought, for just when I was ready to give up, I saw the almost hidden silhouette of a second door.
This is it! There was not a moment to spare, for the monster continued slamming against the door behind me with all its might. It was only a matter of seconds before either the rotten wood or the rusted hinges would give in to the sundering blows. With lack of any second thoughts, I hurried through the newly revealed entrance, this time closing it gently behind me and securing it firmly with the apparently intact chain lock. I was gasping while meditating upon what had just happened. It didn’t take long before I once again jumped to conclusions.
Taking into account the fact that that creature never did saw me entering this room and that he most likely didn’t hear me… Hmm… He will most probably be confused once he breaks the door. And not a moment too soon, I heard the beast breaking in and starting to rummage through the desolate room I had left just a few seconds ago. It was quite unbearable while it lasted, the echo of hoofsteps approaching and then fading into distance. I had to keep my mind busy in order to remain sane. I took my time, carefully searching with my eyesight for some sort of weapon to slay the abomination. Instead, I found a piece of paper which I recognized to be one of mine after a more delicate inspection. This was certainly not the time to read it, but I knew it would come in handy, so I got up as silently as I could and slipped it into my saddlebag.
As I gently folded the paper, another door, leading towards a larger chamber of the refinery eerily creaked itself open. Upon witnessing this, I almost screamed in horror, thinking that my assailant had finally got me. I held my breath in anticipation until I became aware that there was nopony within sight, if those things can even be called as such… The hoofsteps lurking within the first room had stopped in a seemingly coincidental moment, as if in response to the disturbing sound. If I hadn’t known better, I’d have said it heard the noise. Luckily enough, after several seconds of disturbing silence, the eager beats upon the putrid wood resumed their curious course. The next few seconds happened so abruptly, that I can’t even begin to describe my feelings at the time.
I felt eased for just a moment. Why couldn’t I simply understand that the purpose of this entire maze was to strike me down when I least expected it? Well, I sure did afterwards. This place was my enemy and its only goal was to conquer me, either through brute force or by shattering my psyche. As my heart began to calm down, a sudden noise similar to a leap occurred, followed by a staggering blow to the door, shaking its very frame. It would have most probably shattered then if not for my body which kept it closed and secure. I began to breathe in an uneven manner and felt pains in my chest. “You can do this Twilight. Move!” I had to pull the same trick once again, crossing the first doorstep I encountered, which of course belonged to that eerie door. I once again sealed the passage behind me using the padlock, yet I knew for certain it would not deceive that ghastly follower. I was terrified, trembling and shaking like an elderly mare… An elderly mare… A faint amount of pain accompanied those thoughts, it soon passed leaving me to my current problem. “Think Twilight, think! Damn it, look around!”
It was disturbing and utterly weird talking to myself all the time, especially with encouraging words, but did I have a choice? Waiting was not in my favor, so I looked around. My sight crossed over the floor at first, revealing many odd-looking objects in the darkness amongst the rocks. The chamber I entered appeared to be larger than the last one, with a table in the middle, wine bottles scattered across it and some shapeless mechanisms in the distance, buried in rubble, which I assumed were distilling mechanisms… or monsters… Either way, I had to stay calm. While observing all this, something strange caught my attention, it was a light coming from a small passage. No sooner had I managed to see it than the monster broke into the room behind me, wailing in dismay whilst noticing my disappearance. “I don’t have much time left… Doors, there are two doors!” There was a sturdy looking door by the somewhat calming glow of the crawling space. I attempted entering through the door and soon found it was barricaded. “Hmm, interesting… And that small opening over there…” Although it was blocked by a few crates, I would easily be able to sneak inside unnoticed. However that creature was surely not stupid. I had to come up with a better plan.
I swiftly turned to my right and saw a second door. “That’s it! Lure him into a trap… Hmm, or better yet, confuse him!” The door positions, the main corridor entrances, they all fit together! This was nothing more than a circular depository with a main hall connecting all the refinery rooms. It was a cunning idea, but I had to work it out; it was the only way to confuse that thing, to make it go in circles. I only had one shot at it. I had to draw it inside the large room and then swiftly make way behind it, as soon as it would proceed in the presumed correct direction, I would slip through the small passage. Simply brilliant!
He wouldn’t be able to trace me back to this room. In fact, he would probably assume I ran back upstairs. That is, of course, if he thinks like a normal pony. The hoofsteps behind me were getting closer, ready to kick. I hastily barred the door with the wooden plank next to it. “Thank Celestia… Err… I mean Luna, that this place still has lockable doors.” A swift pace accompanied me to the next room, at the end of the corridor. “This is where I’ll wait and lure him once he breaks in.” There were so many risks at stake. Yet my wisdom only seemed to decrease in such dramatic moments… Weirdly enough, it turned out to be in my favor! I took a look around inside the room while that beast was busy knocking the door down. If not for my nosy personality, I would probably never have found that note. As my eyes spotted it, I felt like saying “I reckon I found something after all!”, yet a sudden headache followed. I ignored the feeling and grabbed the paper just in time, for he was here.
As I saw the creeper’s face, I ran towards the putrid table in the middle of the storage room, grabbing the nearest bottle of wine, gripping it tightly with my hoof. I sighed one more time before yelling with all my strength towards it. “Hey Flappyjaw, catch!” Hurling the bottle at the top of its skull, making it shatter onto the surface of the deformed head. The creature backed up slowly, probably in response to the sudden smack to the noggin. “Damn, that felt good and it caught its attention!” Sadly, one can never really ignore the law of equivalent exchange since... It didn’t take as much as I expected for that mongrel to lock me with its eyes and start speeding towards me like an enraged bull.
With a brief moment of satisfaction, I could feel a wicked smile sneaking onto my face as I closed the door in that freak’s face. “Safe once again.” or so I thought… There was a slight detail I hadn’t really taken into consideration when throwing that bottle, anger. As I hurried through the following door, I noticed the morbid figure breaking through the barricade with ravaging force, far faster and fiercer than before, shortening the distance between us exponentially.
I was terrified by the scene. Such was my luck that I had barely managed to bar the door within a fraction of a second of the monster’s first relentless slam upon it. I jolted down the room, trembling as I understood my fate. “There’s no time to think… I just have to run!” Another door closed and locked. My path had once again reached the corridor where I had first set eyes upon that deformed pony. If there was ever a time when I had ran faster than a flying pegasus, then this was it. No thoughts, no hopes and no memories. All I could picture was the image of my escape route and my hooves abided only in response to that vision. My heart felt as if throbbing when I reached the first room I had visited.
The chamber appeared rather morbid, having been ransacked by a living nightmare determined in its search for prey. It really did appear to transcend into the world of horror stories. Alas, at that time, all I could really perceive was the pain in my chest and the excessive need to run. The entrance had apparently been turned into nothing more than blisters of wood and shreds metal. As I made haste through the storage room, I noticed several pieces of glass which resembled former bottles, now spilling the blood-like juice on the floor and through its narrow cracks; it almost made my stomach turn. The only thing left to scare me was the deep gash carved into the wall, if that thing was capable of cutting up a stone like that, I can’t even begging to imagine what it would do to me. All this, probably happened in just a few seconds, as I finally reached my destination. My muscles were aching and my heart was pounding relentlessly, yet I still had to enter through and seal the gap in silence before it was too late. Impossible I thought, given the amount of time I had left.
Limits… I once thought I had limits, but I soon found out that I could exceed them. When fighting for my own life I realized there was no such thing as limits, or was it something else I was fighting for? I was unable to tell. However, as soon as I succeeded in concealing the gap, having reached the other side in a struggle for my own life, I found myself succumbing to a sudden headache, a burst of pain which ended in my sudden collapse. No sooner than I found safety, had another misfortune fell upon me. Figures…