"You have no idea how angry you have just made me, Shadow Light."
"It was a mistake. I thought I had turned it on."
"Well, you DIDN'T."
...
"You don't need to snap at me, Doctor."
"I'm sorry."
"You don't sound sorry."
"Wake him."
...
"I said, WAKE HIM!"
"Yes, Doctor."
I stand there, staring at the intercom. That's not a robot, I think. But that certainly isn't a friend, either.
"Perhaps I need to repeat the question. What did you dream about last night?" the voice says after a moment of silence, and much calmer this time.
I clear my throat and answer with, "Uh... nothing. But... I have a question?"
"That wasn't very convincing, Mr. Black. But whatever. I will answer your question. Ask, before I change my mind."
"Wh-what's your name?"
The mysterious voice laughs in response. "Yeah, right! Like I'm going to tell you my name! What a laugh. Look, I'm no idiot. And I will ask again, what did you dream about last night?"
"I told you, I didn't dream last night!" I say, frustrated.
"And I told you, I'm not an idiot. You haven't dreamed about anything for the last month and a half, due to the gas we've been pumping into your room, and the only reason I add this bit of information is because I know you're not stupid, either. You have definitely noticed the gas by now. Look, if you don't tell me what you dreamed about last night, I swear, you will not like the consequences."
My eyes go wide and my pupils shrink, and I try to think of something to do, something to say. "I...I..." Then, I make a decision. My face set with determination, I muster any courage I have inside, and once again, I say, "I did not dream."
"Fine. Have it your way," the stallion says, then I hear a click. Nervous, my eyes hover over the intercom speaker, then they move to the door and back again. The hair on the back of my neck starts to tingle, and chills go over me like sheets of ice. I take a step back. Something's about to happen; I can feel it.
Then I hear multiple noises on the door, as if something's being moved, and locks are being snapped into and out of place. It sounds like an extremely complex system. Then the last thing I expect happens: The door opens.
And standing in the doorway is a stallion, probably the stallion, the one that was speaking through the intercom earlier. A unicorn, no less. He has a light yellow fur, so light it's almost white, with a mane and tail that's a rich shade of brown; like milk chocolate. He wears a pair of square glasses, and his eyes...
They're the same as mine, I think in horror. I take another step back. Then I notice the cutie mark. It's a syringe filled with a clear liquid like water, but it looks like a light blue. And there is a couple of squirts coming out of it. He is also wearing a lab jacket.
The stallion steps into the room, still blocking the doorway, and he is holding something with his levitation (so other unicorns CAN do that, I think) magic: a syringe, filled with a black liquid.
"Alright, Cage. Last chance. Tell me what you dreamed about last night, or this syringe is going into your neck, and you most likely won't like the consequences."
My eyes hover over the syringe, considering my options. On the one hoof, I really shouldn't tell him about my encounter with Princess Luna. On the other hoof, I don't know what the fuck is in that syringe. On the third hoof, that syringe could kill me, and part of me does want that. But I want to live more, not to mention that then whatever Luna's planning would go to waste. But on the last hoof, if I tell him, that would sabotage Luna's mission. I don't know how powerful this guy is. More powerful than an Alicorn princess that can control the fucking moon?
Probably not. But I don't want to take any chances. Both options have good and bad outcomes. And the bad outcome in one seems intensely worse than the other when analyzing them.
"Well, Mr. Black?" asks the stallion.
I gulp. "I'm not saying shit."
"Alright, then." I watch as the syringe moves back as he prepares to launch it into my neck. Then I remember that I can burn him. I...I feel stupid. Whatever. I send a blast of green fire at him from my horn. This catches him off guard, as his eyes widen and pupils shrink, and the flame hits him in the cheek and disappears, singing his fur and leaving a black burn mark.
"You son of a bitch!" he says, and while he's distracted, I run for the door. I escape the room, and what I see is a split hallway: A path going forward, and one to my left. I see a conveyor belt that has been unchained from the floor and moved aside. I look between the hallways. Both seem to stretch on forever, and there are no doors that I can see. I stare between the two hallways, panicked, trying to decide which way I should go. I apparently was considering for too long, and it doesn't matter that my hope was being demolished the longer I stood there.
Not to mention that the hallways are all white, as well. And concrete. Concrete and steel. And in that moment there, I stop panicking. My heartbeat is still fast, but my breathing steadies, and my whole body goes numb. I don't even feel it when the syringe plunges into the side of neck, nor when the plunger goes down and I lose consciousness.
Twilight frantically runs back and forth across her castle's library, combing through the books, trying to find the spell. Rainbow Dash stands in the doorway, watching the Alicorn losing her mind.
"Uh, Twilight? What... what exactly are you looking for?" Dash asks nervously.
"Remember when Pinkie said that there could be a spell blocking the place we need to go to from appearing on the map? Well, I think I remember coming across a spell that does just that!" Twilight says.
"So you're trying to find a spell that keeps places from appearing on maps?" Dash asks.
"Yes, but I can't seem to find it anywhere!" The bags under Twilight's eyes are darker than they've been in a while, and her mane is starting to look messy from her running her hooves through it.
"Uh, Twilight?" comes Spike's voice from somewhere on her right. Twilight snaps her head in Spike's direction, her eyes holding a psychotic look. "What?" Twilight snaps. Spike flinches, then calmly points to a book on the shelf in front of him. "I was just going to say that I think I found the book you were looking for."
Twilight blinks. Then she blushes, embarrassed. "Sorry, Spike."
"Oh, it's fine, Twilight. You think I'm not used to this kind of thing coming from you by now?" Spike says, waving his hand. Twilight, smiling, takes the book from the shelf with her magic, and flies down to Rainbow Dash.
"Alright, Dash. Let's look at this."
Twilight flips the book open with her magic, the book floating in air. She skims through the pages, looking for something similar to what Pinkie theorized.
And finally, she finds it. A spell that once casted, will block a place's appearance from all maps, and will only be visible within a mile radius of the place in question.
"Is there a counter-spell?" Dash asks once Twilight explains the spell to her.
"I'm not sure," Twilight answers. "There doesn't appear to be one... But this is interesting. In order to cast the spell, you'd have to be a master level unicorn. Which means we might be dealing with another Starlight!"
Dash's eyes widen in surprise and slight fear. "What?"
Just when Twilight doesn't think things can get any worse, Spike burps up a letter from Princess Luna. Twilight reads the letter, then shows it to Dash.
Luna had written Twilight a letter, explaining a gas that stops dreams...
And she also mentions me. Speaking of which...
I slowly wake, and the first thing I notice is white. And the next thing I notice is that I have no memories, except for my name.