//------------------------------// // 2. Slant (The Red Parade) // Story: Reunion: A RariTwi Exquisite Corpse // by SigmasonicX //------------------------------// Almost as soon as Rarity’s hooves hit the first step, she felt her breath be violently torn from her lungs. She cried out but it was voiceless, and her eyes bulged widely as panic seized her spine. Her gaze was locked into the abyss that awaited her below. The slanted ceiling above her and the stairs below seemed to sink towards her, like the jaws of a massive creature ready to crush her and swallow her whole. Rarity tried to pull away, to retreat back through the door, but her front hooves were frozen. She took a shaky breath, trying to make out Twilight through the darkness around her. But there was no sign of her, no single discoloration against the endless sea of black. “Rarity?” She gasped as Twilight’s voice shattered the silence that had built against her ears, like a hammer thrown straight through a stained glass window. Rarity took a few more hesitant steps, the stairs creaking and groaning in alarm. “T-Twilight?” Her voice was raspy and shot full of holes. She paused, squeezing her eyes shut as she forced air into her lungs. “T-T-T… T-Twilight?!” When there was no reply, Rarity wondered if she should wait for the rest of their friends to arrive. “Rarity!” But then, Twilight’s voice bobbed up and down like a ship swallowed by the sea. Unable to keep looking into the darkness, Rarity studied the wall instead. The plaster was peeling, and bits of wallpaper were dotted across it. It reminded Rarity of the fur of some great beast, lurking in the shadows beyond her home. And as she kept walking down the stairs, she could almost hear it growl. “Twilight, dear, what is it?” Rarity stuttered. “Where are you?” There was a flash of purple from within. Rarity gasped, feeling a glimmer of hope surge up within her. She picked up the pace, almost flying down the stairs. As her hooves hit the last step however the aged plank gave way, and Rarity let loose a shriek as she fell forwards. Before her face could hit the ground however, her entire body was seized in a warm velvet glow. She exhaled in relief as Twilight gently lowered her to the ground. “Twilight, did you… did you feel that?” Twilight glanced at Rarity in confusion. “Feel what?” “When you came in. Something… something seized me Twilight,” Rarity gasped, heart still fluttering. “Something wrapped around me like a snake, and sucked all the air from my lungs.” Twilight tilted her hair, gazing at Rarity oddly. “Rarity, are you okay?” Rarity shivered, feeling something tingling along her spine. She quickly shook it off with a sigh. “Oh… I suppose so. I must get over this fear anyways, should we wish to stay the night and keep the house. Did you find out what I kicked down the stairs?” “No, but… well, you should see for yourself.” Twilight lit up her horn, basking the room in a bright purple glow. When Rarity looked around she immediately realized that something was wrong. The dark cloud that had enveloped her was still there, with only the light from Twilight’s horn beating it back. She looked around the room, squinting hard into the darkness before finally voicing her suspicions. “What… Where are the walls?” Rarity spun around, searching into the dark. But the truth remained: the basement was impossibly large. The only wall in sight was the one by the stairs, which Rarity had studied on her way down. The others were nowhere in sight, and the room seemed to span on forever. “I don’t know, but…” Twilight gestured to the floor. When Rarity followed her gaze to the floor, her breath caught in her throat again when she saw a set of hoofprints, vanishing into the darkness. “Rarity, are you sure you don’t know anything about this?” “Why… I certainly know there were stories,” Rarity stammered. “I believe my uncle mentioned their groundskeeper… the ancestor of the current one. She would often proclaim the house was alive, although nobody believed her.” “Alive?” Twilight tapped her chin. “Hm.” Rarity studied the tracks with suspicion. “I… She considered herself not a groundskeeper but a caretaker.” Twilight levitated the lamp Rarity had thrown over, now broken in two pieces. “Well… you definitely hit something with this. Just… what was it?” There was a clatter from somewhere within, and both Rarity and Twilight’s heads whipped around. They stared into the darkness as the house made noises around them. Rarity’s ear flicked as the groaning of pipes, the dripping of a faucet, and several dull thuds were heard. As she stared into the wall-less, infinite room, her head began to spin, and the distant noises turned into a voice. A voice that was calling her name. Rarity. Find me. “Twilight,” Rarity said, her voice nearly unheard. “Twilight, there’s something in there.” Neither of them noticed as behind them, the door above the stairs swung shut.