Sky woke with a raspy groan, his throat sore from heavy breathing. He winced as he turned over and rose from his bed. Every part of his body felt unbearably sore between his broken wing, cut leg, and generally bruised form. Sky stood there for a moment thinking over what had just transpired in the nightmare. He had been ready to give up and let the monster have him. He was just so tired. Tired of running. Tired of fighting, of being scared. Most of all, he was tired of being alone. Sky smirked as he went over that last complaint. He had spent most of his life in one form of isolation or another, and now only when it’s being so strongly enforced does he realize how much he wants to see a friendly face.
‘A friendly face huh...’ Sky’s thoughts turned to his brother. Two times he had appeared before Sky. Twice now he had saved Sky from death. Yet in neither of those cases had Shield let Sky get a word in, would not stay and talk or even offer any words of encouragement. It seemed Shield was more interested in keeping Sky in his apartment then actually being there for him.
Sky felt confused at the conflicting emotions swirling in his mind like an out of control typhoon. Sky never thought about his brother this way. Shield had always been there for him and helped him, so why couldn't he help but feel resentment for his older sibling now? Sky rose his head to look at the picture on his desk. The picture was from a happier time of Shield and Sky together, so perhaps it could sooth the roiling storm in his mind.
When Sky looked at the photo pain cracked in his brain like a strike of lightning. The photo of their happy moment had been horribly changed into a grotesque mockery of the original. Rather than a sunny day in the grass, a pair of tattered rotting ponies stood with a glassy eyed stare in front of a brittle, dead tree in an empty brown wasteland. The picture reeked of death and was unbearable to look at for more than a moment, if not for how horrible it had become than for the strange pain and accompanying sense of rage that came from it.
Sky stumbled out of the room, bucking the bedroom door closed and gasped as he took in a breath he hadn't realized he was holding. Standing there in the silent apartment hall Sky remembered his brother final words to him, how he had promised the hole would be closed now. Sky had to know if it was true, would his only way out be gone? Gently Sky opened the bathroom door, assaulted by the stench of old blood. Stepping inside with a hoof blocking his nose Sky looked to the spot over the toilet where the hole stood.
Sky felt is his soul turn to ice in the sight of all hope being lost to him. The hole was now a simple one inch circular depression in the wall, filled in with solid brown stone. ‘Thats it then...unless the door decides to unlock itself than I really am stuck here.’ Letting his mind wander Sky noticed the foul taste in his mouth from when he had vomited. He turned on the bathroom sink, thankfully water flowed out, and washed the taste from his maw. ‘I don’t handle horrible things well...I’m not gonna have an esophagus if this keeps up.’ Sky managed to let out a small chuckle at the thought.
Sky stepped out and closed the bathroom behind him to seal the bloody stench inside as much as possible and turned down the hall to the living room. Sky’s pace slowed as he came to the living room until coming to a dead stop at the threshold. The entire room looked old, very old. The walls had begun peeling, the kitchen was a rusty deteriorating mess, and a moldy smell was in the stuffy air. Everything from the carpet to the ceiling had been stained red, by what Sky didn’t want to think about very hard. The worst changes however were the windows which now appeared to be covered in a pulsating red flesh of some kind, and what used to be the black stain on the wall. The ‘stain’ was now an oozing black tar like mass that gleamed and shivered on the wall. Rising and falling from the surface of the ooze were many small green eyes that followed Sky’s movements, keeping a constant unholy vigil on him.
Sky simply stood stock still, taking in the condition of his home turned prison. Perhaps he had become jaded, or more likely his bruised and battered mind simply refused to let the horror sink in, but Sky found his thoughts turning to his most prized possession rather than the eldritch horrors around him. Entering the living area Sky looked to the corner where he kept his cello. Only when he saw his cello did he finally let out a weak scream. The case lay open in the corner and the cello lay in fragments around that entire corner of the room. It had been reduced to splinters as if a wild animal had taken issue with the instrument.
Kneeling down Sky pawed at the pieces of wood and string in shock. There were very few things that had ever given Sky pure joy in his life, fewer still that he could access whenever he wanted, and now it was destroyed. Sky simply fell to his haunches, empty stare aimed at the shattered pieces of his happiness.
Sky wasn’t sure how long he sat there, his mind frozen in a state of self pity before the sounds beyond the front door roused him. Careful to keep far enough away from the door so as not to suffer from it’s mental attack again Sky listened to the conversation beyond.
Sky could make out the high pitched voice of Pinkie “It’s right here Twilight! Something bad is happening in there and it has something to do with that spell you cast on me.”
Another voice, presumably this ‘Twilight’, spoke “But I don’t see what-”
At this point the two voices began to speak over each other in what sounded like an argument over what they were going to do. It finally came to an end with Pinkie screaming out “JUST OPEN THE DOOR!”
There was a moment of silence followed by the hum of unicorn magic activating. Sky’s eyes widened as the door shuttered against the chains binding it producing a loud rattle. This was followed by a cry of pain and a thud from the other side of the door. Sky listened carefully as the voices mumbled to each other, although the words couldn't be made out Sky could hear the shock and concern in their voices.
“Alright. So maybe you were on to something Pinkie. There is definitely something holding this door shut. The magic fights me when I try to push against it.”
Pinkie replied with a note of desperation to her voice “There must be something you can do?”
A moment passed while the unicorn took in her options. “I’m going to build up a large charge of magic and aim it at a pinpoint location of the door rather than trying to push the whole thing open. That should pierce the magic and might destabilize it.”
Worried about the idea of a focused bolt of strong magic striking the door just in front of him, Sky stepped away and to the side, taking refuge in the kitchen. The green eyes of the wall followed him unsettlingly. The hum of magic came from beyond the door again. This time it held for longer, and with each passing moment the sound grew louder and louder. When the hum had become a dull roar the magic was finally released and struck the door with the sound of a bull smashing against it. The door shook from the blow wildly and the whole apartment shook with it. As the room shook like an earthquake a loud roar came from every direction at once, as if the unicorn beyond the door had angered Tirek himself with her magic.
As the shaking and roar continued a red fleshy growth sprung from around the door, covering it and blacking out the last remnants of noise that had passed through it. Finally as the noise and shaking started to calm there was a loud crack and a crash from the bedroom. Sky lay on the floor darting his eyes around the room in fear. When he was felt sure the strange event had passed he gathered his wits. The windows and door now pulsed with a horrible life of their own and silence pervaded the apartment. Sky couldn't help but think of Pinkie. He barely knew her and yet she continued to try everything she could to help him. He frowned as he thought of how he treated her when they first met. ‘If I make it out of here alive...well I don’t exactly know what I’ll do but thanking her will be part of it!’
Remembering The final noise from the bedroom, Sky made his way down the hall and opened the door to peer inside. Being careful not to look at the desk with the warped picture Sky took in the room. Where his bed once was, was a hole in the floor. The hole was surrounded by a set of glowing red glyphs, just as the other hole had been before. It seemed Twilights attack had breached the magic after all. There was a way out again.
Sky couldn't quite get himself to smile at his discovery. The hole ment a way out again true, but wherever it would lead would not be pleasant. Not to mention how his brother would react if he were to show up again. Shield had been furious, and had claimed Sky would be punished. Looking at the state of the apartment on his return as well as...his cello, Sky could tell Shield had been serious. Taking a deep breath Sky approached the hole. ‘No...I can’t stay in here. I can’t stay alone. I have gotten through nightmares in this place and I won't let myself need protection anymore.’ Sky took another step toward the hole, leaving his cut left leg dangling over the abyss. ‘I’m doing this Shield...and if you care about me, you’ll accept that.’
This time as Sky jumped into the hole he didn't feel like he was falling into what lay beyond. Rather Sky felt the calming sensation that he was choosing to go toward whatever lay ahead.