I had awoken from my slumber, to the sound of an air conditioner. My eyes fluttering open and shut as an orange light flickered in my line of sight. It wasn't overly bright. Which was a good thing. It was actually a gentle awakening, no pain for once, which seemed almost too good to be true. As my eyes continued to try to open themselves, I saw a silhouette figure retreating from the light, and slamming the door shut behind it. That's what got me kicked out of my drowsy state.
Tick Tock.
The orange light once again flickered. But this time it was due to the air of the door, which almost blew it out. Which left me to believe it was a candle of some sort. My gaze slowly trailed to the source of the light, which indeed proved to be a candle.
Tick Tock.
The room I was in, was dreary. Very much so. I learned that more and more as I observed it. There was a picture of a pony hanging above the unlit fireplace, I could see that due to the little candle light. He had a beard, a very fluffy one. But his eyes were as cold as ice. Ironically they were ice blue.They seemed to pierce right through me, sending a chill through my spine and making me shudder from the creepiness.I decided to look at something else, looking down at the floor to see what exactly I was standing on. The floor had a carpet on it. A deep scarlet red color. It took me a moment to realize that it wasn't the natural color of the carpet as I had shifted my eyes and studied the it. The original shade was white, it seemed. Judging by how the edges of the carpet were tinted white. And random areas of the carpet were also white. But now most of it was just plain red. I had identified the red substance on the rug, not as paint or some innocent item that could make it this shade, but actually blood.
Tick Tock.
I pulled my hoof back, and stumbled backwards off of the rug to get away from the horrible powerful stench that the rug created. It smelled of hard iron and rust. At least it didn't smell of rot. Moving on, I looked around the room and noticed yet another thing that had been keeping me calm the entire time.
Tick Tock.
It was the clock.
It gave the room a steady noise, making sure it wasn't too quite. The fire also helped this. The room was still creepy in general. And I had no idea why I was here. I couldn't remember anything that happened before that. No, now I remember. I was actually in a dream. I was actually climbing a mountain. I was in the dreamscape world earlier. I know I had fallen asleep, and thought I got the answer. Did that mean I was still in it?
Just like the last, this dream seemed too real to even be a dream. The lighting, the smell, the texture. Such was the power of magic. Unless I had just been knocked out and dumped in some place, which I hardly doubt would happen. A felt a slight breeze, turning to my side, I saw a window that was open. The weird part was it was pitch black outside, not a single light. Something told me I should stay away from it.
"Why?"
I jumped, startled at the sudden sound, sharply swiveling my head around the area, searching for the origin of the sound. I found nothing at all. Nervously, I my toward the door to see if I could find the source of the sound.
Creeeeeak.
I was suddenly very aware that this place had to be very old as the wood creaked under my hoof. I pulled my hoof off the wood, very startled at the unforeseen noise. This place couldn't possibly get in creepier in my opinion. I then opened the door.
WHOOSH!
A rush of wind hit me in the face, sending a cold chill through me as I tried to peer into the dark hall that had no source of light radiating from it. It was a literal pitch black hall. The only light that was even in the hall, was the little light that was radiating from the room. The air conditioner was quite loud, roaring over must of everything. But I couldn't put my finger on where the air conditioner sound was coming from.
Focusing, I attempted to build a light with magic, which seemed to not really work for some reason. It felt like I had no more magic. My very being felt drained as I tried to use my magic. Gasping for air at the lack of magic, I shut the door in fear, as if something could grab me from the very darkness itself.
"Why?"
I heard the sound again, it wasn't coming from this room, it seemed to come from everywhere at once. And if I thought about it, it sounded like a sob. I knew I needed to investigate, but I didn't have any lights. But I remember the conjuring book, it was in a dream that I learned, but it still should apply.
I had enough magic for basic levitation magic and a conjuring spell. I conjured a small lantern, that could provide me enough light source. And lit it with a spark of magic making the room much brighter. While I was at it, I thought I'd make this my 'save point'.
This consisted of a place to constantly come back to when I needed to, just incase something goes wrong. I took a few floor board pieces and placed them on the door, bending a few metal pieces with some magic, to create a giant effective lock. I sent a spark into the fire place. It didn't work. So I tried again, and once more. Finally, a small fire was born.
FLASH.
I clenched my eyes shut as the light blinded me quite swiftly. Once the glare died down, I was able to resume sight. The room had a different feel to it now. It felt.. safe. Like nothing could get in. The room was fully bright. Like an orange light bulb was in the room. The room no long felt cold anymore. It felt very warm and comfy. The floor board was no longer a creaky wood, it was fixed up and looked brand new. The picture of the ice cold pony was now a smiling elder pony with a serene aura around him. There was tons of pictures of Mr and Mrs. Cake with Drew and I. Or, Pumpkin Cake and Pound cake. The window now had a calming breeze, peaceful and was no longer pitch black. Outside looked like it was a dark night, but was lit up by the fire in the room. It looked like there was a whole town out there. The blood red carpet was now a clean white, as if the very room was purified. The sound of the fire place was also comforting. The crackling and all that. I had then noticed the sobbing had subsided. I could no longer hear it. That part didn't really calm me. They could still be out there in trouble. There were several chairs in the room now, to sit in. Sighing in relief at the newly lit and comforting room I dropped on my haunches. Atleast it wasn't creepy anymore. But I knew outside the door was pitch black. And if I wanted to get out of here, I'd have to go outside, and find my way out. I glanced to the side and saw it, there was a nice made bed that looked crafted.
THUNK.
I jumped at the sudden sound.
"Huh? Why's the door locked? Daniel? Are you up? Could you um, let me in?" I immediately scrambled to the door, opening it to reveal a dust covered Drew with a sheepish look on his face. He stepped in the room, his once tense posture left as soon as he did. He looked relaxed now. He had a lantern necklace around his neck. Unique.
"Boy am I glad to see you." I sighed out. "This place was giving me the creeps." Briefly, I noted that I couldn't hear the air conditioner anymore.
"You have no idea. I thought I would be doing this all alone, I see you gave the place a new look, and a lock to the boot. Good job man, I feel like I'm perfectly safe in here, even with all that just happened. out there. Magic, can't live without it. Literally." He opened the door that wasn't there before, revealing a nice clean bathroom, it looked like it was made for our size. Which I found strange.
"This wasn't here before." I thought out loud.
"Yeah, well there's a bathroom that's more than usable. I'm not gonna complain, I'm gonna take a bath, I feel dusty."
I raised a brow.
"You ARE dusty." I pointed out. He ignored me and turned on the bath water after plugging the tub.
"Yeah so, basically if you plan on going out there, becareful, and always keep your light. There's something out there that's been chasing me. I don't know what, but I don't plan on going back out till I have all my nerves back in place. Good luck man."
He then pushed me out the bathroom, and shut the door.
The jerk just bailed on me.
Actually, I can't blame him if it's really that scary out there. I guess I should go check out what he was talking about, and that sobbing. I put the lantern handle around my neck, pulling the door open and stepping outside. Luckily, this time around the lantern around my neck illuminated the dark halls immensely, it wasn't too bright. But I could manage now.
Making my way down the hall, the floor squeaking was back. The place looked old and rusted in comparison to the room I just came from. Actually, scratch that. This place was the most creepy, filthy, dark and run down place I had EVER seen.
"Why?"
I jumped again as I heard the sob, it was back and still in as much pain as ever. I swallowed nervously, still moving. This had continued, the same gloomy dank hall with sobs, until I got to a table. Said table had a document of some sort on it. I read it out loud.
"-It seemed quite impossible, but we did it. We brought back the two from the dead. But it came at a cost. We lost-" The rest of it was covered in blood. I couldn't very well read it with blood all over it. I was very angry, who writes such a short document? That's why it's a document! The page looked torn on the side, so I assumed it was ripped out a note book of some sort. I took the paper and put it in my satchel on my side. That now I that I think about it, I don't remember grabbing it. I moved on, the sobbing grew louder as I went, making me more nervous.
I started moving sluggishly, the floor creaking with every step I took, twitchy at every noise due the the aura the house possessed. The rust colored walls I realized were not their original color. I quickly hastened my pace, the light of the lamp the only thing keeping me even the slightest calm. The hall had a few tables, but about eight doors on each side, left and right. I brought my hoof up, to observe, It was covered in a thick red substance, as well as a ton of dust. My very hooves smelled horrible. I grimaced and put my hoof back down.
"Why?"
I heard the sob again, I tensed, As soon as I did, I realized that the sound came from the door on my left. Which unnerved me to no end. I took a deep breath, inhaling a lot of dust in the process and well as that disgusting smell and taste of rust. I broke into a coughing fit. After calming down, I noticed the sobbing once again subsided, which sent another cold chill down my spine. I pushed on the door which easily flew open without any resistance, I'm pretty sure if I pushed any harder it would have broke instantly. I levitated my lamp up, lighting up the room slightly. In the middle was a pony, the pony in question was pink, but had dust all over it. The pony brought up it's head, it's almost soulless eyes peering right through me, but then something in them changed, they were full of a desperate hope, lighting up. The color in the room was brighter. As I peered harder, I realized something.
I was looking at a broken Pinkie Pie.
"Pumpkin? Is that really you?...You're okay! Haha!" She sprinted towards me, gripping me in a hug.
"Oof! Pinkie!" Pinkie Pie giggled and perked up, her eyes gaining back the life in them.
"I always have this bad dream of when you both...Um, nevermind. But now I'm not here alone! And you even brought light! It's not cold anymore either!...It's nice to believe you're alive... even if it is a dream..." Wait, what?
I reeled my head back in surprise. She immediately hugged my head back to her, not letting me escape.
"When I came from the room...you and Pound Cake were laying on the ground like always...I thought you were..." She shakes her head. "But you're here now! Come on, where'd you come from? Let's go there and grab Pound Cake! And we'll play all sorts of games together!" She then went off on a rant, rambling about how much fun we could have. I didn't really have time for that, I knew that we were sleeping now, but I didn't know how to leave. I'm happy I found Pinkie though, it was cruel to even think about leaving her in this dark place. "-But we can't play hide 'n seek, I don't wanna lose you!"
Sighing I wriggled out of Pinkie's grasp, and grabbed her hoof, dragging her to the room where I woke up at. Eventually, we arrived, the place seemed a lot less dark with Pinkie Pie talking her mouth off, we stepped into the room, and Pinkie got even more happy.
"This place, is so nice! It wasn't like this before! Magic, you can't live without it! Literally!" Huh.
Suddenly Drew stepped out the bathroom, a bunch of steam coming from it like sauna.
"Oh, I see you're back. And you brought Pinkie Pie, wherever you found her at. It's a good thing YOU found her."
"Hey you two! Let's play some games, come on!" Pinkie Pie hopped around, smiling like no other. Her once dusty flat mane had perked up again and the dust was shaken out due to her bouncing.
"Drew, we're in a dream. Where is Princess Luna? Why can't she reach us or Pinkie?"
"This dream, I'm not sure if it's torture to me, or a blessing. It's so real! It's like I'm actually here! The smell, the taste the feeling! The sight! Everything! And I get to spend time with my favorite little buddies!" She seemed to be happy, but there was something off.
"I wonder if Mr.Cake will be here too?..."