Sisyphus

by daOtterGuy


Fall

Rockhoof stepped off of the stairs and onto the landing, taking a moment to catch his breath. Once he had recovered, he glared back at the staircase. The blasted thing had been only one story high, until he had started to climb them. One story had turned into ten and he had cursed at the damned building every step. He was certain the difference was due to the inherent magic of the place, and it did not bode well for his future solution to the loop.

It had taken far too long to climb those stairs. Eventually, he would have to save all of his friends in one loop. It already took far too long to help each individually. Adding a significant amount of time to just go up a single set of stairs was making the task seem im—

Shaking his head, Rockhoof cleared his thoughts and decided to focus on the present, beginning to trot toward the right side of the mansion. He still had too many unknowns within the loop to begin worrying about how to pull off the final one. Specifically, in regards to the pegasi.

Flash he had at least seen, if only the aftermath of what happens to him within the loop. The same could be said for Somnambula, but he had no idea from where she always fell  from, nor did he understand the randomness of what time she ended up dying.

He knew she was somewhere on the second floor and, based on the position of where she lands at the bottom of the mechanical workings of the clock, in the right wing of the house.

Bong.

Startled, Rockhoof whipped his head toward the source of the noise and found a large hourglass similar to the one in the foyer. Puzzled, he inspected it to find that the hourglass was seemingly identical and intact. The other always broke when Rockhoof restarted the loop, for some reason.

“Frogs and boils!”

Recognizing the melodic cadence of the curse, Rockhoof galloped down the hall and through the open door at the end of the corridor. As he stepped through, the entryway slammed close, and several massive gears fell from the ceiling to block it.

Rockhoof knew from experience how embedded into the floor that gear was. No chance he’d be able to move it.

A quick glance at his surroundings showed that he was in a room filled with cogs and gears that ground away at a steady pace. The scratching of metal against metal was grating to his ears and, though not an engineer, Rockhoof knew enough to be able to tell that the connections between parts were nonsensical.

More important than all of that, though, was the familiar-looking pegasus that stood with her back facing away from him a few paces away.

“Som?” He called out.

The pegasus whipped their head toward him in surprise, which quickly morphed into joy. “Rockhoof!” Somnambula flew toward him, embracing him in a tight hug. “It’s wonderful to see you!”

“You as well, Som.” They pulled apart. “How did you get in here?”

“I don’t know.” She sighed. “I was scouting the second floor with Flash, we got separated somewhere along the way, and then found myself trapped here after stepping through an unmarked door.”

“There’s no exit?”

“None that I can find, but you must have—!”

“Blocked by fallen gears,” Rockhoof interrupted sadly.

“Firstborns and darkness!” Som cursed. “My usual good fortune seems to be running poor in this damnable place.”

“I’m certain your fortunes will swing back around before long.”

“To be fair, they have in a way.” Somnambula smiled. “Though trapped we may be in this place, I am thankful to have you here, habib.” 

“I’m just glad to have finally found you.” He took another look around the chamber. “This is inside the clock?”

“The one from the front of the mansion I presume, or a second considering the mechanisms on the first floor. When I found myself stuck, I had hoped there would be a hatch in the back of the clock face to the outside, but I have neither found the face nor an escape.” She growled. “This room seems determined to keep me here.”

“How so?”

“It keeps moving and—” An involuntary shudder “—shrinking. This place used to be much larger when I first became trapped.”

“Then we may be running out of time.”

A strange expression passed over Somnambula’s face, returning to a bright smile before Rockhoof could decipher it. “That may be so, but I have unwavering hope in our ability to escape.”

Rockhoof, thinking the odd look inconsequential, returned the smile. “Aye, Som. We’ll be gone from here in no time.”

“Yes, now we should look—” A rumble interrupted her. “What was that?”

“I’m not sure, maybe—”

Clunk. The gears drowned out the rest of Rockhoof’s words as they began to grind at an alarming rate and close in on them just as quickly.

“What is this?!” Rockhoof shouted.

“I-I don’t—!” Somnambula began to hyperventilate, her wings locked in place. “This is new! It hasn’t—! No, it’s fine! Everything is fine and it will pass soon! Just need to have hope and keep it together!”

“Som, what are you—” 

Deafening chimes rang through the chamber as it began to shake, causing Rockhoof and Somnambula to both cry out in pain. As the noise came to a feverish pitch, the floor dropped away from them, and they fell.

Wind whipped past them as the stories whizzed by. Somnambula had curled in on herself as she screamed through a deluge of tears. Rockhoof reached out a hoof toward her.

“Som—!”

They hit the ground.


Smash.

Rockhoof came to before the broken hourglass, as he did every new loop. He readied to race back to the second floor, but this time he stopped, as he took in his surroundings.

He was already on the second floor.

A quick inspection around the area revealed that he had started the loop at the second floor hourglass, instead of the first floor one. The change was confusing, but welcome, as he hurried to meet Somnambula once more. 

“Pestilence and lice!”

He came upon Somnambula cussing up a storm just as gears descended from the ceiling to block the doorway he’d just come through.

“Oh my— Rockhoof!” Somnambula exclaimed. “How good to— Oh, blood water and frogs! Really?!”

“Rather unfortunate, that,” Rockhoof replied.

“One of a series for me.” Somnambula sighed, then smiled widely as she regarded Rockhoof. “At least you are here, habib.”

“Aye, and it’s great to see you.” He returned her smile with one of his own. “You’ve been trapped here the whole time?”

“Yes, and it’s been… trying. But! I am confident we shall find an escape soon with your presence here.”

“Of course, but I have something important to ask you before we start the search.”

“Certainly. We have as much time as we need to in order to find an exit from this… small… place.” She chuckled. Rockhoof noted the nervous twinge he hadn’t noticed before. “Ask away.”

“How are ya feeling?”

“Quite fine!” She replied, her pitch strained. “Now, if that is—”

“Nay. You’re not being honest, Som.”

“Rockhoof, I just—”

“I want to know how you’re really feeling.” Before Somnambula could speak, he held up a hoof. “Mistmane told me something about you.”

“Good things, I hope?”

“Not… particularly,” Rockhoof said. “She told me that you have a tendency to bury your feelings, and I’m beginning to see why she would say that.”

“Mistmane is wise, but doesn’t know everything about us, as much as she thinks she does. It is true that I sometimes hide how nervous I may feel, but that is the extent of it.”

Unbidden, an image of Somnambula’s final moments came to Rockhoof’s mind. “Nay, Som. I don’t think that’s entirely true. If you would—”

“How dare you insinuate I am lying.” She drew herself up to her full height, boring daggers into his head with her eyes. “I am not afraid.”

“I never said that you were,” Rockhoof replied.

“Because I’m… not! Never am.”

A clang echoed through the room.

Rockhoof furrowed his brow. “I find that hard to believe.”

“Well, you should since— since—” Somnambula stomped her hoof, shaking from barely contained emotion. “Why are you even questioning me?!”

“Som, please.” Rockhoof took a step forward. Somnambula took a step back. “I’m just worried about you, and you’re acting—”

“What?! Acting like what?! Like— like some coward! Like some foolish foal who can’t handle a small room and some loud noises!”

A rumble filled the room. Gears began to grind at an alarming pace.

“I don’t think you're a fool.”

“Of course you do! Everyone does! Everyone in the mansion with us! Everyone back home! EVERYONE—!”

They fell through the floor.


“I just feel that you should take a moment to breathe,” Rockhoof calmly explained.

Somnambula glared up at him with a fiery gaze, which Rockhoof normally loved, but was somewhat fearful of at the moment. “That is ridiculous! You throw slander at me as soon as we meet, then have the audacity to tell me to calm down?! Am I acting hysterical to you?!”

“Well, not—”

“Am I?!”

In a moment of introspection, Rockhoof weighed two possible options. He could either tell his marefriend what she wanted to hear, or he could tell her what needed to be said in order to escape. Self-preservation was caught between two horrible situations, and ultimately decided on the latter.

“Aye, you are acting hysterical,” Rockhoof bluntly stated.

Somnambula’s fur bristled as her wings raised themselves into an aggressive position. Her face scrunched up into a look of unbridled rage reserved solely for monsters that dared attack her two beloved stallions, or when said two beloved stallions said something stupid.

She took several deep breaths, then managed to calm herself down from a blistering rage to a simple smolder.

“I suppose, I am acting irrational,” Somnambula relented. “It may be worth taking a moment to… calm down.” The last part was hissed through clenched teeth.

“That’s the spirit, lass,” Rockhoof declared, projecting happiness as his self-preservation continued to focus solely on avoiding the death fall.

A tight smile. “Then what would you recommend I do in this situation?”

“Meditation.”

A moment of silence, broken only by the sound of grinding gears.

“Meditation?” Somnambula questioned.

“You always seem more at peace after you do a session.”

“Here?”

“Yes.”

“Now?”

Rockhoof tilted his head to one side. “Yes?”

In a show of great restraint, Somnambula did not, in fact, murder her coltfriend and instead kept a tight smile upon her face.

“... you seem mad,” Rockhoof noted.

“Of course not, habib, just needed to remind myself of certain facts.”

“Like?”

“You do not wish to know the answer to that.”

A gulp.

“Well, I suppose I should start my… meditation,” Somnambula said, with a note of resignation.

She settled in place and moved into her usual meditative pose: body raised up, back legs crossed before her, front hooves out in an open embrace, and deep, even breathing.

After a few moments, Rockhoof asked, “Are you feeling better yet?”

“This takes time, Rockhoof. Even in ideal conditions, and this can be considered most assuredly not ideal.”

“I was just hoping for a more immediate effect.”

“And I’m hoping that I can clear my mind! Maybe think of somewhere nicer to be, like in the middle of the desert with a nest of vipers!”

“Som—”

“Firstborns and darkness, do not Som me!” She retorted angrily, all pretense of calm lost. “This place is a living nightmare! All of this noise!”

The gears ramped up in speed.

“This small space!”

Sparks burst from the rapidly turning cogs.

“No exit to be seen!”

The room tightened as it shrunk on their location.

“We are trapped here! We are trapped within this horrid place and we’ll never get out! Just be permanently stuck here in this tiny room and I’ll never see the outside again! I have never felt so hope—!”

She covered her mouth with her hooves with a gasp. Tears gathered in the corners of her eyes.

Rockhoof reached out toward her with a hoof.

They fell through the floor.


“Som, before we search for an exit, could we talk for a moment?” Rockhoof asked.

“Of course,” Somnambula replied.

“Could I have a hug?”

A wide smile. “Always, habib.”

Rockhoof opened up his body as Somnambula hugged him tightly around his middle. Rockhoof closed his hooves around Somnambula, taking extra care to block out as much of the room as possible from her. After a moment, he could feel the tension drain from Somnambula.

“Can I ask you something?” Rockhoof said.

She made a hum of consent in answer.

“Are you afraid right now?”

Silence. “I see there was an ulterior motive to this embrace,” Somnambula noted in wry amusement.

“You said you always feel safe when I or Flash hug you, so I thought this might be the best way to get you to open up to me.”

“Well played.” A weary sigh. “I don’t want to admit it, but yes. I am very much afraid.”

“Is it because of this room?”

“Partially. It’s the room, how small it is, the noise, the constant feeling of being trapped… I hate it. It make me feel so…” she trailed off.

“Hopeless?”

Another moment of silence.

“I can’t be without it,” Somnambula whispered.

“We are not just our chosen titles, Som.”

“But it is not something I have struggled with before! It’s this place! It doesn’t make sense.” She pounded a hoof against Rockhoof’s chest in frustration.

“What do you mean?”

“My home back in the desert is terrifying. There are dangers everywhere you look, even where you would expect it to be safe, but there is always hope for survival because simply knowing how to handle those situations is enough to save yourself. Here… nothing makes sense. I can’t garner hope when I have no comprehension of what is happening. I’m just trapped, and no amount of logic can assist me.”

“I’m sorry you’re going through this.”

She buried her face further into Rockhoof’s fur. He ignored the cold. Wet feeling of tears. He instead began to gently stroke her back.

“It’s okay to feel afraid, and to tell us that,” Rockhoof said, soothingly.

“You will all think less of me for it,” Somnambula said.

“None of us would think less of you.”

“You cannot speak for everyone.”

“In this case, I can. You’re not the only one who gets scared, Som. We all do. Just in different ways.”

“I do not believe you.”

“I get scared that the others will get hurt and that it will be because I wasn’t strong enough, Swirl is afraid of his own actions and his regrets coming back to haunt him, Meadowbrook can’t stand pain, Mistmane fears that she won’t be there to comfort us when we really need her, Stygian doesn’t want to be left behind, and, just between you and me, Flash is the most scared out of all of us.”

Somnambula pulled away, a skeptical look on her face. “Now, I know for certain you are lying, which is strange, as you are terrible at it.”

“I can lie,” Rockhoof mumbled.

“You cannot. However, I would ask what you mean by Flash being the most fearful. Is he not the most courageous?”

“He is, and that’s why he has the most fear. As he’s told me himself, Flash is a soldier. There are a lot of things to be afraid of in that occupation. He told me that courage, real courage, is being able to acknowledge that fear and to overcome in spite of it. Something that I think applies to you, because you don’t just hope for the sake of it, but in spite of how little there is.” He kissed the top of her forehead. “And I think you’re amazing for it.”

“Thank you,” Somnambula said, a soft smile spreading across her face. “I am very glad you are here, habib.”

“I’m glad as well. Flash may be my first partner, but I care about you just as much.”

“There was never any doubt in my mind.”

With a quick flap of her wings, Somnambula launched herself up with a hop and kissed Rockhoof on the lips. As she dropped back to the floor, Rockhoof chuckled nervously as his face became flush. Somnambula giggled at his reaction.

Clunk. Both ponies were put on edge as the sound echoed through the room. After a moment, the gears ground down to a halt and the room quieted down to silence.

“How odd,” Somnambula remarked. “I wonder—”

A compartment in the floor opened up with a loud bang, and they jumped in surprise. A quick look revealed to them a set of stairs leading down to the first floor of the mansion. As they charged down in joyous celebration, bells chimed seemingly to join them.

In another part of the mansion, a yellow light began to glow.