Twilight gasped as a bright light completely filled her sight. She wanted to close her eyes, but when she did, the blinding light was still there. A high pitched sound shattered her eardrums. She tried to cover her ears, but she found that she couldn’t move at all.
What the hay is going on? She thought to herself. Where Am I? And how did I get here?
Suddenly, the blinding light, along with the defining sound, was no more. It was pitch black, with no sound at all. Twilight didn’t know which she preferred: blinding light and deafening sounds, or no light and no sounds at all.
It was then that she realized that her eyes were closed. So, with great determination, she opened her eyes. She was in shock. Wherever she was, she was definitely not in Ponyville, or anyplace in Equestria for that matter. In front of her, about two feet away, was what looked like her loyal dragon assistant, Spike.
He was standing, but not moving. His hands were in a holding position, as if he were holding scrolls from Princess Celestia herself.
Two feet away from the figure resembling Spike, stood Rainbow Dash (or, at least, a pony that looked like Rainbow Dash). She was standing on a cloud against a painted background of other clouds. Her eyes were closed, so Twilight figured that she was asleep, just as she had been mere moments before.
Twilight tried to lean forward so she could see where she was, but she found it impossible to move a muscle. She could only stand there in the dark room with her two friends, waiting and waiting.
After what had seemed like an eternity, Twilight heard the sound of hoof-steps on the tile floor. But something was odd about the sound; instead of the graceful clop Twilight was used to, there was a great, ominous clang that reminded Twilight of pans constantly hitting one another.
In the corner of the room, a leg appeared from behind the wall, and soon, a whole body emerged. Twilight couldn’t make out anything except for the eyes and the mouth of the figure, which glowed like two flashlights in the dark. Its eyes and mouth were colored bright green, red, and yellow-a color scheme which Twilight couldn’t understand. The figure walked menacingly towards Twilight. Finally, the figure stopped.
It gave out a threatening chuckle, and then it spoke.
“My, my. Look what we have here,” the figure said in a rasping, echoing voice. As the jaw of the figure moved, Twilight was blinded by the green, red, and yellow lights pouring from its mouth.
“Princess Twilight Sparkle, we finally meet,” it said with a grin that made Twilight want to wince. She was about to ask “Should I know you?”, but found that no matter how hard she tried, she simply could not speak.
“Go ahead and try,” said the shadowy figure chuckling. “It won’t work.”
Silence followed. Twilight was becoming uncomfortable by the neon red, green, and yellow lights staring at her. Finally, the being spoke again.
“You want out of here, don’t you?” it asked. Twilight struggled, but finally shook her head. Of course she wanted out, and the sooner she was outside, the sooner she could be searching for answers.
“Well, I could just let you walk out. But honestly, what’s the fun in that?” it said, still staring at Twilight. “How about we play a little game? It’s like hide-and-seek, except the goal is to never, ever be caught. I’m it, and if I catch you, you lose. Reach the exit, and you win. Understand, your highness?”
Twilight did not know how to answer. For one thing, the thing didn’t make it clear what would actually happen when she got caught and what the rest of the rules were.
“Yes? Well then, good luck, your highness,” the figure said, backing away while laughing to itself. The figure turned around in an instant and faded back into the corner from which it came. Twilight blinked in surprise; she was worried, for she didn’t know what the figure wanted her to do.
“The game will begin,” the figure’s voice said out of nowhere, which startled Twilight, “In 10…9…8…7…6…5…4…3…2…1!”
A loud click could be heard throughout the room. Twilight saw steam being released behind the pony resembling Rainbow Dash. Suddenly, the pony’s eyelids went up, revealing bright blue lights where the eyeballs were supposed to be.
In a flash, Twilight closed her eyes, but she left a small portion open so she could see what was going on. She didn’t know if the pony in front of her was a friend or foe, and she wasn’t going to find out. The pony tilted its head, first to the right, then to the left. It then walked towards Twilight, giving off the same clanging sound as the menacing figure did. It looked closely at Twilight, as if it were examining her. Then, after what seemed like hours, it slowly trotted off to the left and exited the room.
Twilight opened her eyes and was relieved that she hadn’t been caught yet. Right when she was congratulating herself, she heard multiple clanging sounds echo throughout the room. In fear, Twilight closed her eyes again, this time completely. When the sounds faded away, she opened her eyes again, this time she saw that the figure resembling Spike was gone. From what Twilight could tell, the room was now completely empty.
Curious on whether she could move or not, Twilight thought of lifting her front left hoof. Her the hoof slowly moved up as if a giant horseshoe made of lead was attached to it. She didn’t remember it being so heavy, but she was glad that she could move again. As she plopped her front, left hoof on the ground, it made a rather jarring clang. To make sure she didn’t make too much noise, she slowly but steadily walked forward, cautiously listening to the noises her steps made.
Moments later, she was off the wooden surface and on a tile floor. She turned around to see a wooden plank with text above a red button that read:
“Princess Twilight Sparkle! Press button to learn more!”
Twilight was tempted to press the button, but she decided not to. After all, she didn’t want to attract anymore attention than necessary. She walked around the room, noticing that each section had a different backdrop and a wooden plank with a red button below a line of text.
It didn’t take time for Twilight to notice that each section was dedicated to her friends and their interests. For example, in Rarity’s section, there was a backdrop of various ponies wearing dresses in a ball room and a plank that read:
“Rarity the Generous! Press button to learn more!”
Fluttershy’s section had a painting of her cottage as a backdrop, and the plank read.
“Fluttershy the Kind! Press button to learn more!”
Twilight thought it was odd how in each section dedicated to her friends, there was a large, empty space right in the middle. But she didn't ponder it for too long, for she knew she had to find the exit, and no doubt the menacing figure would be back soon.
Walking at a steady pace, Twilight exited the room.