CHAPTER 45
I'd wandered for only another ten minutes, only finding a few tinderboxes and vials of oil, nothing too interesting. I hadn't found any more notes, sadly. I wanted to figure this whole thing out.
"I can't believe I thought of these kinds of scenarios! What's wrong with me? Asides from the fact that I'm too brash and make stupid decisions. A lot. How am I gonna get out of here? And more importantly, what's going to get in-between me, and freedom?"
I stopped halfway through the hallway, and opened a door to investigate the room. Instead of just an empty room like I normally found, this one was much, much worse.
There were two dismembered and mutilated ponies, their faces frozen in fear before they were brutally murdered and cut apart. Their bodies were a sick greyish color, and flies crawled over them, feeding on the decomposing flesh. One of the ponies only had one eye, and his forehooves were missing, and his mane was torn out. The other only had one of her back legs, and her horn had apparently been snapped off, and she had been carved open and hollowed out in spots. I didn't know what was part of a sick experiment, and part of decomposition. I took a few steps back in horror, and I felt my head start pounding.
"What the hell happened to them?! Did Twilight do this?"
I turned around, when suddenly, a suit of armor had appeared right behind me. I flinched a bit, but inched my way around it, making sure not to let it out of my sight. But as soon as I turned to walk further down the hall, three other suits were blocking my way. I tried to push one of them out of the way, but the metal was searing hot. I yanked my hand away, and turned to walk back the way I'd come, but I was surrounded by suits of armor, and every time I turned around, they were inching closer to me. My head started throbbing, but then I heard the sound of wood creaking, and before I knew it, the floor broke from underneath me, and I fell to the floor below, landing hard on my back.
(Stop the "music.")
"Oh..." I rolled over, and pushed myself up. "That... Was too close... I'd rather have a sore back instead of being burned to death by posessed suits of armor."
I shook my head a bit, trying to ignore the dull headache I'd gotten, and the slight jolts of pain I'd get in my back every once in a while. I was in a ballroom, as I could tell by the fancy marble floor and wallpaper, which was torn in spots, and spattered with blood in others. There were no bodies in there, much to my relief, but it was still a little scary, what with the bloodstains all over the place, and several smashed tables and chairs scattered about the room. I looked up, and saw where I'd fallen through. It was close to the chandelier, which was dangling precariously, it's bolts creaking with each slight movement. I stayed clear of the area under it.
"Yeah, I don't feel like dying today. Or any day in the near future, for that matter."
I opened the door on the farthest side of the room, and peeked through into the hallway outside. It was short, and only had two doors, one halfway through, and one at the very end. I stepped into the hall, making sure to close the door behind me, and headed to the closest room. It was a simple bedroom, with just a bed, a cupboard, a dresser, and a desk with a note on it. I rummaged through the cupboard and dresser, but I only got a single tinderbox out of the deal. I had about seven at that point. I picked up the note, and I almost let out a little yelp when I read it.
They're after you. Remember what you've learned. Don't do anything too rash. Use your wits, Kyle. Be sneaky...
Shadow Weaver
"... That is extremely creepy... Shadow Weaver... Why does that name seem familiar? No matter. I need to get out of here."
I saw a small glint of pink in the corner of my vision, but when I turned around and lit my lantern, nothing was there.
"I'm going nuts... And I'm not sure if I'm serious when I think that or not."
I tried to hold out my lantern, and I noticed that my hands were shaking. I was absolutely terrified, and all I'd seen were a couple of dead bodies, and... I was attacked by possessed suits of armor. OK, not as surprising, but still. I never really got scared beforehand. Things only made me jump, or shocked me.
"What the hell am I gonna do...?"
I headed back into the hallway, and then into the room at the end. It was small, with a desk and a chest, with a few bookshelves. I didn't find anything at all, but when I crouched down to check the small compartment on the desk, I saw that there was an indent on the wall behind it.
"Well well well... What oh what does this desk hide from me..." I shoved the desk out of the way, and pushed on the indent a bit, and the section of wall fell away like nothing, revealing a small passage dug out of the stone behind the walls, and held up with small wooden timbers. It was just tall enough for me to crouch and crawl through. The passage stretched on for what seemed like miles, even though I knew it wasn't that long, and it was just my mind playing tricks on me. The rats and bugs scuttling around me were a little unsettling, but I was otherwise fine. Images of the two unfortunate ponies I'd seen in the bedroom kept flashing through my mind.
"I want to just shove them into the back of my mind, but I'm in the back of my mind, so I'd probably end up finding another corpse-filled room... I have no choice but to keep thinking about it..." I shuddered, and shook my head. I didn't need all of this stress. Just as I was beginning to feel a little claustrophobic, the passageway ended, and a small opening led to a hole leading to another hallway. I jumped down, and I felt pain shoot through my knees.
"Oof! That was a bigger fall than I expected..." I rubbed my knee a bit, and looked over the hall. It was quite large, with six different rooms to go into. I went into the nearest one, the center left room, and of course, it was full of bookshelves, with one knocked over in the middle. I climbed over it, and there was a writing desk at the other end of the room, illuminated by a single candle. There was a note on the desk, and against my better judgement, I read it.
I have made quite a discovery today. It turns out, there is a magical force seeping through into our world, called "Shadow." It has strange qualities, and it seems to take control of creatures who have lost all their will to live, or who accept it. It corrupts their minds, and turns them into flesh-eating monsters. I decided to test this on Fluttershy after performing my experiments on her, and it has worked quite well. She doesn't attack me, and now, she seems to be able to make these terrible roaring noises, which I assume is either the Shadow, or some sort of side affect from my surgery. Either way, this is going very well. I've created a new, better defense than just measly guards. I've created a monster, that heeds to my every whim.
Twilight Sparkle
I stuffed the note in my jacket, and I shook my head. "What is wrong with me to make me think of things like this? Why did I make Twilight the evil scientist again...? I think it was when I saw that one episode when we saw her basement, with all that crazy machinery-"
SMASH
I froze in place, and huddled into the dark space under the collapsed bookcase. I heard hoofsteps outside of the room, and I realized that I'd forgotten to close the door.
"Oh no..."
I saw hooves round the corner into the room, and stop right in the doorway. "Where are you...? I just want to make sure you're not hurt... Come out, please..."
I almost screamed. That voice was too all too familiar.
"FLUTTERSHY?!"