//------------------------------//
// Chapter 2 
// Story: The Tower of Doom 
// by Matthew Penn 
//------------------------------//

“Who are you?” screamed Lulu.

The pony did not answer. The dark bulking figure edged closer to the frightened fillies until his towering frame cornered them against the wall. Tia felt her little sister clinging to her, whimpering and shaking in fear. She caught a glimpse of the black mask that concealed his entire face as he walked underneath the beam of light from above.

Was this guy an employee? An actor hired to scare the tourists? If so, he was doing a pretty good job. Her legs felt as though she was standing on wet noodles.

“Excuse me, sir,” Tia said timidly. “D-do you work here?”

The stallion said nothing. Tia’s breathing became hollow. “W-we didn’t mean to be here so late. You see, we were taking a tour, and we lost our group. . .” she trailed off, too stricken with fear to finish her words.

“There is no escape this time,” the stallion said with a snarl.

Tia’s legs shook, and her heart pounded against her chest. She could not remember any time in her life when she was this scared.

The pony rose on his hind legs, making himself look taller than before. It happened so suddenly the fillies fell on their flanks. One of his hooves reached into the folds of his black cape, and in the next second pulled out an intimidating looking battle axe. Tia couldn’t believe this was happening. Whoever was in charge of the Tower must have seen her crawl inside the Iron Mare. Never in her life had Tia ever been so sorry.

“Don’t hurt us!” pleaded Tia. “I was just playing around!”

“There is no escape this time,” snarled the pony.

“Leave us alone!” Lulu screamed.

The masked stallion raised his axe, ready to bring it down on the young fillies. Thinking fast, Tia grabbed Lulu and quickly moved out of the way before the blade struck the ground. They made a run for the entrance, forgetting it was locked. The fillies bang their little hooves against the wooden door, hoping someone will hear and save them.

“I want to go home!” cried Lulu.

The heavy hoofsteps of the stallion reverberated through the floor, causing the girls to stumble where they stood. The stallion growled, wielding the sharp axe as he approached Tia and Lulu, ready for another lethal swing. Tia pushed Lulu out of the way, then grabbed her little sister’s forearm, dashing through the darkness of the chamber.

The walls of the torture chamber were closing in as they ran. Tia noticed the interior was shaped as a giant triangle. She realized they could not run for much longer. She stopped to look at the torture devices on display, desperately searching for something to fight him off. She found a whip rolled up on a pedestal. She unrolled it, revealing nine cords with sharp metal objects at the tips - a cat o’nine tails. These guys were crazy back then, thought Tia.

“There is nowhere to run!” the stallion bellowed.

Tia told Lulu to stay behind her. The masked psychotic pony emerged from the darkness. Tia raised the cat, whipping the air with a loud crack.

“Stay back!” she shouted.

The stallion paused to consider his next move. After a moment he let out an animal-like grunt. He advanced forward, axe ready to cut the filly down. Tia swung the cat with a single move at his arm. The stallion grunted in pain, backing away just a little. Tia took a few steps forward, striking the dark air, giving him a warning not to come closer. The masked pony dodged the next blow of the cat. Tia wielded the whip for one more strike, but the stallion grabbed the tails with his forearm, pulling it away from Tia’s hooves. Once again the girls found themselves cornered, seeing their scared faces reflected on the blade of the axe.

“Do not delay the inevitable,” the pony said. “It is time to meet your fate.”

Tia and Lulu held on to each other, backing away, knowing there would not be anymore space to back themselves to. Lulu turned her head away, burying her face on the back of Tia’s neck. Tia took another step backward, and one of her hind legs pressed on a stone slab that sunk to the ground. The back wall opened like a sliding door. Tia and Lulu fell through a tunnel made of stone, tumbling into oblivion until they were dropped into dark shallow waters. The girls picked themselves up. They could not see a thing, but they were relieved the nightmare was over.

“Where are we?” asked Lulu. “Who was that guy? Why was he trying to kill us?”

One question at a time, Tia said to herself. She sniffed the air, then gagged. The tunnel led them into the sewer system. Somehow this was worse than being chased by the crazy axe-wielding pony.

“Come on, let’s find a way out,” said Tia.

Tia did not know which direction she was going. The path of the sewer only went one way; which way it went she had no clue. With Lulu behind her they slowly trotted in the darkness, holding in their breaths so they would suck in the raw sewage stench.

So many thoughts ran through Tia’s mind. Who was that axe-wielding stallion? There was no way he was an actor. It felt all too real, like he really wanted to kill them. Is he an escaped convict? Would he have killed the other members of their tour group if he had the chance? Tia had the striking feeling that he had killed other ponies before. A nerve-wracking feeling slithered down her spine, realizing she had come face-to-face with a murderous criminal. She and Lulu must go to the police about that pony before he goes after the next tour group. First, they have to find a way out of the sewer.

“Tia, I want to get out of here!” whined Lulu. “This place smells awful, and my fur and hooves are all sticky and wet!”

They stopped walking. A strange sound came from the darkness behind them. Lulu immediately sought protection by hiding behind her sister. She said something in a low, frightened voice, but Tia did not hear her. Splish, splosh, splish, splosh went the murky water. Tia dared not speak out to the darkness, fearing the answer she would receive. Something. . . or someone was following them.

“Tia,” whimpered Lulu.

Ripples appeared on the surface of the filthy water. Silence filled the empty space of the foul air, followed by a familiar ominous grunting that echoed in the darkness of the sewer, and the clopping of hooves on the watery surface. What approached them dragged something large and sharp.

“Tia,” squeaked Lulu.

Walking on his hind legs and holding the axe with his forearms, the masked pony emerged from the darkness. He let out a vicious growl, then charged forward.

Tia told her sister to run in a loud voice. “Run! Run! Run!” she yelled again. She warned Lulu not to look back. Tia wishes she listened to her own advice. She managed to get a quick glance behind her. She could not see the madpony, although she knew he was right on their tail. “Keep running!” she shouted to Lulu. Tia made sure to not let go of her sister, but something was wrong. Lulu had been putting much effort to keep her little legs moving, although Tia could feel her blue arm limping, and soon enough will slip out of her hooves, caught right under the blade of the crazy pony trying to kill them.

“Slow down!” cried Lulu.

“We can’t slow down! Not now!”

Tia saw a ladder on a wall, out of the dim electric light of the sewer. She hauled Lulu up, then climbed up. Lulu looked down, catching a glimpse of the masked murderer below. He hoists his giant axe behind his back, then starts climbing. Seeing him almost made Lulu lose her grip. “I told you not to look!” yelled Tia.

The girls climbed to the top, reaching the metal seal of the sewer hole. She tried to lift the seal using her little blue arms. “Tia, help!” she cried.

A hoof caught hold of one of Tia’s hind legs. The masked maniac grunted, which soon turned into a menacing snicker. She used her other leg to kick him, to no effect. “Leave her alone!” shouted Lulu.

Tia held onto the ladder with a tight grip. However, the masked pony may succeed in pulling her down. Suddenly, the struggling ceased. Although his face was concealed by the black mask, Tia could imagine the look of confusion on his face. The stallion looked down. A large hairy rat clung to his leg, crawling all the way to his face. He accidentally released his grip on Tia’s leg, then his hoof slipped from the ladder. He let out a deep roar, and he fell to the bottom of the sewer with a loud thud.

“Gross,” was all Tia could say.

She carefully climbed over Lulu, and helped her push the metal seal out of the way, then climbed out. They stood in the middle of the street, under the glowing lights of the buildings and street lamps of downtown Canterlot. How could the day become evening so quickly? It was only in the midafternoon when the crazy pony started chasing them. There was no time to think. Tia and Lulu dashed across the street, dodging oncoming traffic, finding safety at a sidewalk bench.

They sat for a while to catch up with their breathing, relieved that the terrible day was finally over. Tia heard her little sister crying softly to herself. Tia hugged her. She felt like letting it out, too. She read about it somewhere that there are times ponies cry after surviving a distressful or life-threatening situation. Those ponies become emotional because they are lucky to be alive.

Something caught Tia’s eye when she looked up. She saw the Canterlot Continental Hotel just down the street from where they sat, just a mere walking distance.

“Our hotel is over there!” said Tia. She pulled Lulu from the bench.

Tia thought about their parents as they rushed down the city sidewalk, beating traffic lights before they turned red. She thought about their parents. They had to attend business meetings all day while she and Tia toured Canterlot. She wondered if they realized they had not returned to the hotel by now.

Something else also occupied her thoughts. There was something about the Tower of Doom that seemed so. . . familiar, like she had been there before. The idea blossomed inside her head. Tia could not remember seeing pictures or images of it before taking the trip to Canterlot. Still, entering the Tower felt like entering a distant memory, like having visions of a half-remembered dream. Why did it feel like that?

They pushed through a red uniformed doorpony as they entered the Canterlot Continental, and found themselves in a brightly-lit chandelier lobby. The fillies bumped into many ponies; Lulu nearly collided with a bellhop, almost knocking down a cart full of luggage. Tia searched the lobby for any sign of their mother and father. 

“Where are they?” she muttered to herself. “Their meetings should be over by now.”

That’s when Tia got the idea to check the hotel room. Tia grabbed her sister’s arm and rushed her to an elevator. They caught it right before it closed. Tia pressed the button for the sixth floor.

Tia can feel the eyes of well-dressed, high class looking ponies in suits and dresses on them. A large mare in a red dress and nice dress stared at them in bewilderment; their fur and hair were dirty and unkempt, like they just crawled out of a sewer. She might have smelled a foul stench coming from them. Tia rolled her eyes. Let’s see you try to outrun a crazy axe-happy pony, she wanted to say to the mare.

The elevator door opened to the sixth. Tia and Lulu quickly let themselves out, running through the empty hall until they found Room 620. The door was closed. Tia knocked.

“Mom, dad? Are you inside?” she called out. There was no answer. She knocked again. Still no answer. “Mom, dad! Hello! Anypony in there?” Tia called out again. Her knocking turned into banging. After a while she stopped. Her hoof ached.

“Tia, I’m scared,” whimpered Lulu.

A hotel keeper came to their way after she turned a corner. She rolled a basket with a pile of neatly folded towels and washcloths inside of it. Tia ran up to her.

“Excuse me, do you have a key to that door?” she asked. “We don’t have one. Our parents are supposed to be in there, but they’re not. Can you help us out, please?”

The hotel keeper looked at the two fillies. They looked and smelled awful; so helpless and poor, so miserable like street urchins. And they were staying at a hotel like this? It was not possible. She had the idea of turning them away, although she relented, giving them the benefit of the doubt. The hotel keeper reached into her pocket. She unlocked the door with a set of keys.

“Thanks! You’re a lifesaver,” said Tia.

Tia turned on the light. To her surprise the room was empty. The beds were made, as though nobody had slept in them at all. The sisters searched everywhere; Tia looked in the bathrooms, which only recently changed towels, Lulu searched under the beds. All the closets had no traces of clothes or jackets, or any of dad’s neckties. Tia opened drawers and nightstands, hoping they left a note. Nothing at all. It was incredible. The hotel staff must be really efficient at their jobs.

“This is so weird,” said Tia dreadfully.

“Where’s mommy and daddy!” whined Lulu.

“Stay calm, okay? They’re still here. Mom and Dad are probably still at the meetings. Let’s go downstairs.”

Tia was frustrated, but tried to sound as reassuring as she could for her frightened sister. They cleaned themselves up in the bathroom. Afterward they entered an elevator, this time with other ponies (thank goodness), and made their way down the lobby, to the front desk.

“How may I help you?” asked the clerk. She seemed like a pleasant enough pony.

“You see, my family is staying at this hotel, in Room 620,” explained Tia. “They have to attend some business meetings while my sister and I toured the city. Well, let’s just say we had a really bad day. We’re trying to find our parents, but they’re not in 620. We figured they might be at their meetings or whatever, but we can't find any trace of them, not even a stupid note. Can you help us find them?”

The clerk nodded. She opened a large book, which Tia figured was the guest book. The clerk flipped through pages and pages. She stopped at one, then drew her hoof attentively, murmuring to herself. “Which room did you say you were staying in?” she asked.

“620,” answered Tia.

“According to the book, that room is vacant. Nopony has claimed it.”

TIa’s heart stopped. How can Room 620 be vacant? She tried not to freak out in front of Lulu. Her mind zigzagged into different directions; she did not know what to think.

“That’s impossible. We checked in this morning! I know we did. . . did we?” 

Tia asked that question to herself.

Lulu went up to the clerk. “Please, please find my mommy!” Her eyes were big, glassy and full of terror, like she had seen something awful or had a bad dream.

“There’s no need to worry,” said the clerk. She spoke in that reassuring tone Tia used earlier. “We’ll try to get to the bottom of this.” She held a telephone to her ear and dialed a number. She had a conversation with someone on the other line that lasted for a couple of minutes, then she put the phone down when she mentioned business meetings happening at the hotel. “There are business meetings happening in some conference rooms right now,” she told the girls. “We might be able to locate them, we just need their names.”

Tia opened her mouth to speak. Something was wrong. She spent some moments thinking and thinking, digging deep in the back of her mind. She looked at Lulu, who was just as confused as she was. Her throat tightened.

“I. . . I don’t know their names,” said Tia.