//------------------------------// // Piknik na Obochine // Story: Tricks and Traps // by Samey90 //------------------------------// “So,” Rumble said. “I think it is some kind of an experiment. They put us here and are testing our reactions to, umm... changes.” “L-like death?” Pipsqueak asked, looking at the back of the group, where Scootaloo was trying, without an effect, to talk to Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle. “Because, whoever did this, they... They just killed Button and Babs...” “Maybe they are aliens,” Rumble replied. “They think we’re test subjects, like mice or rats... My brother once told me that–” “Or maybe it’s a simulation,” Featherweight interrupted him. “Think about this, guys... Magic can make you fall in love, send you to the moon, turn you to stone... Maybe it’s all a dream – Luna cast a spell and we’re sleeping... Button and Babs simply woke up.” “Luna would never do that!” Pipsqueak exclaimed. Zippoorwhill landed next to them. “I don’t think it’s about who did it,” she said. “More like ‘why?’” She looked at Rumble and Featherweight. “Also, it’s a rather crappy dream. Or really weird aliens for that matter.” Rumble looked around the corridor they were in. None of the things there looked alien. It was three days since Babs was killed and they were still surrounded by red, battered bricks and rusty pipes that didn’t seem to lead anywhere. The lights were dim and flickering. Unlike in the previous part, they didn’t gradually darken – they were simply going off and the end of the day. Even though they were paying more attention to their surroundings, they still didn’t find anything that’d help them in getting out, or at least understanding what was going on. Featherweight sighed and looked at Zippoorwhill askew. “So, what’s your theory?” he asked. “Why are we here?” Zippoorwhill shrugged. “What if I told you that we all died in some terrible accident and are now in a purgatory, waiting whether we should go to Tartarus or Elysium?” “Well...” Featherweight muttered. “That’s an interesting idea...” “I just made it up.” Featherweight ignored her. “I still think we’re in a dream. You see, it may be some kind of a test. Maybe in the end there’ll be six of us–” “So, twelve more would die? Thank you very much.” Zippoorwhill shook her head and took off. “And those six would be, like, a back-up Element Bearers,” Featherweight said. “There are no Elements of Harmony anymore, remember?” Rumble looked at his friend and rolled his eyes. “But we can still get them back, or use that magic from the box, or whatever...” “As Ruby would say, bullshit.” Rumble shrugged. “Who do you think would become the Element Bearer? Diamond Tiara?” Featherweight looked at Diamond Tiara, who, together with Silver Spoon, was in front of the group. He thought that after Babs died, Apple Bloom would become their leader, but she was too devastated to even think about it. She didn’t say anything when Diamond Tiara stood up and told them to follow her. Only Scootaloo tried to protest, but nopony listened to her. “Who knows,” Featherweight said. “She’d be, like, the element of Honesty. Silver Spoon would be Loyalty... That leaves Laughter to you and Generosity to me...” Rumble shook his head. “Yeah, right. What’s next? Ruby as Kindness?” “What do you want from me, faggots?” Ruby asked, turning her head to them. “Got bored or what? Can’t fuck when we’re watching?” “We were wondering who’d volunteer to open the next door we find,” Featherweight replied. “Since you were so eager to try the food...” Ruby looked at him, her eyes half-closed. “Fuck off.” “Is that what your mother says when you ask her for something?” Featherweight asked innocently. Ruby gasped. Her horn started to glow and for a moment Rumble thought that she’d cast some spell on Featherweight. Ruby lowered her head, gritting her teeth, and slowly turned back. She then ran forward, bumping into a few foals. “What’s wrong with her?” Featherweight asked. “You shouldn’t have told her that,” Rumble replied. “Now she’ll strangle you in your sleep...” “I’d like to see her try...” Featherweight muttered and looked at Diamond Tiara again. “I really need to get closer to Diamond...” “You okay, Silver?” Diamond Tiara asked. “Yeah,” Silver Spoon replied, wiping her glasses. “It’s just Babs...” “Oh, come on.” Diamond Tiara rolled her eyes. “Don’t you remember what she did to us? She spent almost all her time in Ponyville with us and then–” “She’s dead now,” Silver Spoon interrupted her. “We shouldn’t–” “Yeah, right,” Diamond Tiara muttered. “Just because she got fried, we can only speak good things about her, right? Fine. I heard mud is good for your skin anyway.” She looked at the path in front of her and found out that the corridor was splitting into two. Without thinking, she turned into the right one. “Hey!” Ruby exclaimed behind her. “Why did you choose that one?” “Because I felt like,” Diamond Tiara replied, giving Ruby a nasty look. “If you need to, you may check what is in the other one. You don’t even have to come back.” “When Babs was alive, we voted...” Snips said. “Exactly,” Diamond Tiara replied. “When Babs was alive. Now she’s dead and we’re not voting. It didn’t do us any good so far.” “I think we should vote,” Silver Spoon said. Diamond Tiara looked at her and sighed. “I can check what is in the other one.” Zippoorwhill took off. “Tornado, will you go with me?” “Sure,” Tornado Bolt replied. Ignoring Diamond Tiara, they flew back to the intersection and into the other corridor. For a while, the rest of the foals was listening for the slightest noise coming from behind the wall. It was silent, except of the background noise which, as they realised, wasn’t scratching anymore – it sounded like a low-pitched, droning hum. A sudden scream caused them to freeze. They looked at each other unsurely. “What happened to them?” Pipsqueak asked. “I think we need to check that...” Rumble muttered. “No!” Diamond Tiara exclaimed. “Do you want to die too?” “They’re okay!” Scootaloo shouted from the back of the group. Indeed, Zippoorwhill and Tornado Bolt flew above their heads and landed next to Diamond Tiara. “What’s going on?” Diamond Tiara asked. Tornado Bolt was the first to regain the ability speak. “T-there was a skeleton there...” she said with a whimper. “What skeleton?” Truffle Shuffle asked, shifting his legs. Zippoorwhill shuddered. “A pony’s skeleton... I don’t know whose... It was a foal, just like us.” “Told you,” Diamond Tiara said. “It was a good idea to choose this corridor.” “Maybe we should go and check it?” Shady Daze asked. “Why?” Silver Spoon looked at Shady and sighed. “It’s just an old skeleton. Why’d you want to look at it?” “Dunno, look for some clues?” Shady Daze looked around. The expressions of his companions didn’t seem very eager to follow him. Featherweight grabbed Rumble’s wing and pulled him further from the rest of the group. “A skeleton...” he whispered. “Do you know what does it mean?” “Somepony died here?” Rumble asked. “Nothing new, if you ask me...” “We weren’t the first ponies here, moron,” Featherweight replied. “Wonder what killed them...” “I’m not going to check that,” Rumble said quickly. “Me neither.” Featherweight shrugged. “I think we’ll find more...” “Skeletons,” Sweetie Belle muttered. “First Button, then Babs... And now those skeletons.” “Meh.” Scootaloo sighed. “Have you seen them? I think Tornado and Zip are pulling a prank...” “Mah cousin died!” Apple Bloom exclaimed. “It’s not time for pullin’ pranks...” “Like they care,” Scootaloo replied. “I don’t trust them. Ruby is the only one who says it aloud, but they are already thinking who will be next. You’ll see, when we reach the next door, Diamond will make somepony open it to see what happens.” “Ruby is a nutjob,” Apple Bloom said. “And y’all are turnin’ into nutjobs too. Nopony wants to kill us, Scoots. Maybe except the spider-duck.” “I’d rather see it,” Scootaloo muttered. “What’s going on with that? Lurking in the darkness, scratching the walls, making Boysenberry insane... Why doesn’t it face us?” “Would you really want it to?” Sweetie Belle asked. “Maybe,” Scootaloo said with a sigh, looking at the brick walls. Several ponies from the group stopped to rest. “All that waiting is killing me.” Silver Spoon looked at the entanglement of pipes on her right. They seem to be hastily repaired with pieces of wire and scrap metal. She looked at it closer. Some of the wires didn’t make sense – as if they were put there not to keep the whole thing together, but rather to form some complicated pattern out of it. One of the pipes was nearly completely eaten by rust; some blue fluid was dripping from it, evaporating almost immediately after hitting the floor. Silver examined the whole thing closer. She saw a glimpse of something behind the pipes and raised her hoof to knock at it. Something rattled; Silver Spoon gasped and jumped back, seeing a skull that rolled from behind the pipe and hit the floor. “What the hell are you doing?” Diamond Tiara asked, startled by a sudden noise. “There’s a skull here!” Silver Spoon exclaimed, her voice higher than usual. “What?” Diamond Tiara asked, trotting to her friend. “What skull?” The rest of the foal surrounded them, staring at the skull. It looked like a normal pony’s skull, apart from a few dents near the eye socket. The jawbone and a few teeth were missing. “Who could it be?” Sweetie Belle asked. “No idea,” Ruby replied. “Who cares. At least it’s not me.” “Too bad,” Diamond Tiara deadpanned. “Don’t start it again!” Rumble exclaimed before Ruby could say anything. He approached the skull and took a closer look at it. Then he looked at the strange pattern made of pipes and wires where Silver Spoon had found it. “There are more bones here,” he said grimly. “Pieces of ribs, I think. And a feather.” “So, it was some trap for pegasi?” Truffle Shuffle asked, staring at the pipes. “No,” Rumble replied. “It’s more like... a trophy.” “It sorta looks like a dream catcher,” Tootsie Flute muttered. “Made of pipes, wire, and pegasus’ bones.” She prodded a skull with her hoof. “Still better than da electric door...” “Don’t do that!” Boysenberry exclaimed, when Tootsie poked the skull once more. “She doesn’t like it...” “How can you tell it’s she?” Dinky asked. “And that she doesn’t like it?” “Well,” Truffle Shuffle said. “You can guess that by the shape of the jaw... Which is missing. But if we found the pelvis–” “I’m not going to look for any pelvis!” Dinky exclaimed. “This place is creepy enough without some old skulls that apparently don’t like being poked!” She shuddered and sat on the floor, crying. “I want to go home...” Boysenberry walked to the skull and picked it up. “Sh-she was a pony, like us,” she said, her voice quivering. “You wouldn’t want somepony to kick you, would you?” “Yeah, I guess not,” Tootsie Flute replied, looking at the skull unsurely. “Should I apologise?” “I don’t think so,” Boysenberry said. “We just need to put it back here...” “Okay,” Tootsie muttered. She went to still crying Dinky and wrapped her hoof around her. “Let’s go,” Diamond Tiara said. “I don’t want to stay here with–” She looked at the pipes where Boysenberry put the skull. “–her.” “Boysenberry?” Zippoorwhill asked, approaching the cream filly, who walked through the corridor trying to look only at ponies in front of her. “H-how did you know what... she was saying?” “I don’t know,” Boysenberry replied. “It was like she appeared in my head for a second.” She looked at Zippoorwhill who shuddered when their eyes met. “She was sad.” Zippoorwhill nodded. “Did she have a name?” Boysenberry only shrugged. The light went off. Just like every time that happened, they simply lay down wherever they were and fell asleep, hugging each other to keep warm despite the gusts of cold wind. Featherweight, however, opened his eyes and waited till they accustomed to darkness. He remembered that, just before the “night” started, they were close to a short side corridor. There were actually numerous side corridors along the way, but most of them were short and empty. This one, however, was different. Featherweight could swear that he saw something shiny in it. He got up, trying not to wake Rumble up, and took off, thinking that his hoofsteps would probably attract someone’s attention. He almost hit the ceiling, so he lowered his flight a bit and, flying along the wall and touching it with one hoof, approached the side corridor. Featherweight’s eyes widened. The corridor was indeed short, and the colt was surprised that none of his companions noticed what he saw. He landed on the floor and trotted to it, staring at it in awe. A large sphere, made of gold or a similar metal. Even though the corridor was dark, the sphere was perfectly visible. Featherweight kneeled before it and closed his eyes. “I want to get out of here,” Featherweight said. “Save Silver Spoon and get out of here.” He opened his eyes and realised that he was lying on the floor, between Rumble and Sweetie Belle. He waited till he could see something in the darkness and looked in the direction of the side corridor. The only answer was scratching behind a brick wall.