//------------------------------// // Chapter Three // Story: Twilight's Descension // by Harmonic Scrible //------------------------------// The monster behind her was showing no signs of pursuit. Most likely caused by whatever force had helped the mare in the previous room. She was now in a brilliantly lit, although short, hallway. Candles lined the walls, a good portion of them had their wick ablaze. The hallway itself was only about five feet across, and fifteen feet length wise, with a door at the end. Yet another gramophone sat beside the newest door waiting to be cranked. The mare limped over to the gramophone. The pain was pulsing up her foreleg in succession to her heart beat. Aversely, she turned the crank, "I'm sure you've figured out how it all works by now." Twilight speculated, "Are you enjoying my quips? I think they are quite clever. Not that I ever was much of a conversationalist, studying magic has always been my forte. But I digress. You should press on; it will all be over soon. Also, there is a very good friend of mine I would like you to see. She's the generous type. And has a way with finding the good in things. Maybe she'll find some good in her dungeon cell." The recording cut off, and the mare turned to the door. The door was slightly ajar allowing one to peer into the next hallway. In said hallway, was a set of five stairs leading downwards. Water filled the lower half of the room, and darkness bathed the stairway. Another door sat at the bottom of the stairs, half of it underwater. The mare forced open the halfway submerged door, pushing the water around in doing so. This next room was fairly dark, excluding some holes in the ceiling allowing just enough light in to see the complex machines around the room. Many of the machines had pipes, which the mare assumed water would flow through under normal circumstances, leading up into the ceiling itself and deep into the contours of the walls. Chains loosely hung from the roof providing no obvious purpose at the moment. There were two large works in the middle of the room separated by about five feet, each of which read, "Water Storage, Pump" Neither appeared to be in working order. Crates littered the room and floated around in the water uselessly. A wooden door was fixed on both the left and right side of the room, and a large metal wall was directly across from the door the mare entered though. A slot for a lever was beside the metal wall, except it was missing the arm. Sloshing through the water and examining the room had only taken a few moments. She quickly decided she wanted out of the water as soon as possible. Heading towards the door to the left, a hallway lined on the right side with lit candles and another door at the end greeted her. She tried to move the door only to find it had been locked. Shuffling her way back through the water to the opposite door, she entered to find a mirror of the hallway on the other side of the machine room. With reluctance, she tried the new door. It opened to reveal a small rectangular room. Two shelves lined the right side of the room, another shelve had been pushed over and now resided underneath the water beside the door. A table was at the back of the room covered in boxes and finally what looked like an open closet. She hurried through the room searching every shelf on the two remaining standing shelves. Using a rather dense crate to stand on, she searched the top shelves for anything of use. A note, directed towards Rarity was hiding underneath a small box. It read; "Dear Rarity; I really hope you can make it. I know how much you love social gatherings and I prepared this one just for you with Pinkie! It's really just for thanks for the dresses you made for us for the Gala this year. I'm sure everypony will be happy with them. Hope to see you soon. Sincerely, Twilight Sparkle." A thought clicked in the mares mind, "Wait, why is this here? And it mentions a second name…" She put the note into her saddlebags and went into the closet. A stack of crates was placed along the left side of the closet, an opened and broken crate rested on the top of the pile. Carefully the mare climbed to the open crate inside she found packaging material and a wooden handle. "The metal wall and the slot… this could be the lever for that wall." The mare put the lever into her saddlebags and exited the room. Slowly making her way back into the main pump room, she heard an echo of a door opening nearby. She slowed down and crouched behind the door to the pump room, enough to listen to the sounds around her. "Hahahahaa!" The giggle rang out around the room. The mare would have thought it came from a filly. That is if she hadn't seen a pink mare walk from the other side of the room. It was no less horrifying than the last two monsters the mare had seen. Devoid of eyes, like the others the mare had seen. It's mane and tail were slightly more shaded than the coat, both were torn and uneven. Like the others, it had an iron collar that seemed to be tightly wrought around its throat. It had chains wrapping around and going through the flesh of its hind right leg, and left foreleg. Blood, both dried and fresh, was strewn across the things face as if it were bleeding from the nose and mouth. Some flesh hung from the things chest, although it was mostly underwater due to the high level of water. In a singsong, yet foreboding, voice the creature sang "Hide and seek! Hide and seek!" The creature was now ahead and in front of her started bounding around the rooms' perimeter. The mare started to lose her vision and felt extremely light headed. The more she examined the creature the worse she got. The mare closed her eyes and went back into hiding. "I think she… it knows I'm here somewhere. It's only matter of time before it finds me too. Where did it come from though? It's not the same as the rainbow maned creature. And it's definitely not as angry as her either… It almost seems happy." The mare almost crawled over to the door. The mare was stopped when she heard the creature say, "Come out, you'll like what I have planned!" The voice was rather ominous, and it sounded as if something terrible would come of leaving her hiding place. Silently the mare sat and gathered her courage to go out with the lever handle and leave this new horror behind. The mare peaked around the corner of the wall she hid behind, the creature was heading towards the hallway on the other side of the room. Taking this chance to bolt for the door, she quickly pulled out the lever and placed it in the empty slot. She pushed the lever in the up direction, the door lurched upwards, "Hahahaaa, I see youuu!" the mare went numb and turned to see the creature running directly at her. The mare crossed through the now open wall and searched for a method to close the wall. Another lever, parallel to the one the mare had placed, protruded from the wall and the mare pulled down with all the might she could muster. Smoothly the wall returned to the place it was originally resided. She turned to face the new room, a platform rose from the water in the center. Cages hung from the ceiling from chains, some had snapped off their chains and fallen into the water below. All the cages looked empty at a glance. At each of the four corners a pillar shot from the submerged ground to the ceiling. Very little light came into the room, but enough that another metal wall was across from the first and two additional doors on either side of the room could be made out. "Hehehahahaa! Come here!" The eerie voice called out. The mare turned to the wall, and quickly noted it was not made entirely of metal, it was mostly made of wood. She noted that wood can be shattered easier than metal, almost made the mare fly into a panic. The creature began banging on the door, splinters flying off on the first hit. The mare turned to the new room and ran for the lever across the room. She flipped it up but nothing seemed to have been happening, "I had to go right last time. That might be a pattern." She thought in a rush to escape. She sloshed through the water to the door on the right. Opening it she found a hallway almost identical to both the other hallways she'd gone into, complete with another door at the end of the hallway. Opening the door she found a work room, meant for making or repairing objects. Inside was a panel on the wall which wielded tools for repairs on machinery, underneath that was a work bench with a kog on it. Around the room more shelves lined the walls. Thinking the cog may be important, she grabbed it in an attempt to put it in her bag. However it was much too large and fairly heavy. Dragging it behind her to the larger room, the sounds of banging got increasingly louder and more violent. The mare dragged the cog into the opposite hallway which again looked very much like the previous hallways. In the room off of the hallway on the left looked like a room with controls to the previous machinery of the pump room. A cog was missing from the one of the controls "This must be the control to the wall lever. If I can get this on here I should be able to leave!" Time was of the essence but machinery took time to fix, carefully the mare placed the cog on the wall in an attempt to fix the mechanism. The cog fit almost perfectly as it slid into pace alongside the other gears. The banging could now clearly be heard from the platform room. Quickly the mare ran back through the water infested hall back to the room in the centre. Pulling the lever upwards the wall shot upwards. The metal laced wall behind her shattered as the creature stepped into the room "Bonjour!" The happily eerie voice esclaimed, in greeting, to the mare. It started to run at her. The mare dashed around to the other side of the door and pulled a lever, which was again parallel to the one she originally used, down with all of her might. The door slid back into position, just as the creature reached it. Almost immediately the banging resumed and the voice rang out "I grow tired of my own flesh…" It gasped, "Let me wear yours!" The new room looked much like a prison, to the right and left there were three cells on each wall. The middle cell on the right wall was open, a White coated pony with a purple tail, and a set of three diamonds set on its flank was chained to the wall with a burlap sack covering its face. Gave out a small whimper at the sound of sloshing water. "Who's there?" A regal, yet broken voice came from the white pony that was chained to the wall "Listen darling, if you help me out, I can get us out of this horrendous place. If… whatever that thing is, doesn't catch us I can get us out of here." The banging from the door grew ever louder and the mare could hear it splitting "Oh no, this is absolutely terrible. It's coming… Listen to me darling, close my cell. I'll get free and catch up to you soon. And please don't let that ruffian catch you… Now, away with you!" The mare nodded her head once in compliance, not that she could be seen but she also couldn't be heard. Turning the wheel as fast as she could the door began sliding downwards "Good luck darling." Was the last thing she heard from the white mare as the door reached the floor and sealed her in protection. She now ran for the door across from the creature, another wheel met her. She began turning it as the door from behind her was shattered into pieces. The giggling came forth as the creature made its way into the room. The mare had opened the door just enough for her to crawl underneath. The creature was running at her, and not seeing the door crashed into it. The mare chanced a look back. The feelings she had last time she gazed at the creature returned. She lost her footing and tripped over some boxes and chairs which she didn't see in the darkness. As the pain shot through her leg again she tried regaining her footing and getting away from the creature as soon as possible. "Hehehee. Come here!" the mare heard just before the door was smashed into bits. The mare ran down the dark walkway a small stairway no more than five steps led out of the water. More boxes blocked her way; she scrambled over them as quickly as she could and turned right into the next stretch. *Smash* she turned left, more crates. Quickly she scrambled over them *Smash* The creature was nearly at her tail and quickly closing the space between them. Another left, more crates blocking her way and more climbing. Once over she started to run again. *Smash* That was the final blockade between her and the creature. Another right turn led to stairs and to a sturdy looking door. Getting to the door she flung it open with such force it slammed itself against the wall and closed up behind her on its own. She had run into a small corridor with another gramophone and ran by it to the next door, still fleeing for her life from the creature. The door however was locked and showed no sign of opening at the present. The mare turned around to face whatever evil now wanted her. Nothing was following her. Nothing was banging at the door from whence she came and no sounds of horrific laughter could be heard from behind the door. "Wh-where is it?! It should be following me! It should be breaking down that door right at this very moment, why isn't it?!" These ecstatic thoughts and similar thoughts ran through her mind trying to comprehend the situation she was left in. She could not come up with an explanation, however thinking silently to herself had given her some time to calm her heart rate and start thinking more clearly. "Alright, whatever that was is no longer following me… right? I should check the door to make sure. I guess I also should listen to the message from the phonograph too…" She cringed at the thought of either task she had given herself. The first thing she did was try to peek out the door, to her luck the door was jammed and would not budge. "Task one, complete, the door won't open. So on to task two." The pain was returning to her leg with the loss of adrenaline. She limped over to the gramophone and cranked it. "Dear Rarity, are you still with us? I'm looking forward to see if you managed to save her or not. She has such a caring family, what would Sweetiebelle do if Rarity had died? Poor, poor, little sister. But she falls on her own horn, so to speak. Even though I share the most kinship with her, it would be very interesting to see what happens to her family if she wasn't there. As she would agree, the aristocracy doesn't need to know right from wrong. We are always right." The message cut out and an audible click could be heard from the door. The mare hoped with all her soul that this was a way out and not another twisted game that Twilight had set up for her. She fumbled her way towards the door pushing it open with her good forehoof. This next room was very large, very dark, and its ground was made of dirt. "Something isn't right about this room. The air about it is all… stale. And it smells like…" Realization clued her in as within a few steps of entering the room she spotted a tombstone. The name had been scratched off and was illegible. Around the room she could make out similar shapes to the one in front of her, there were also holes half dug up all around the room. In the dark she only could count three of them but there may have been more she couldn't see properly due to the lighting. Following along the right wall, avoiding any graves along the way, she came to an alcove. At the back of the alcove a winged unicorn "Alicorn" she almost immediately and completely accidentally corrected herself, "Wait… how do I know that?" now confused over her knowledge she didn't know beforehoof. The "Alicorn" in front of her seemed familiar, but not well enough so that she knew its name. Turning to leave and think more on the matter later, she noticed a feint light coming from across the room. Curiosity grabbed a hold of her mind and she limped her way to the other side of the room. A filled grave and another statue greeted her. She reached her hoof out and touched the headstone and statue. A memory of somepony else shot though her mind. "You did it… You killed her… why Twilight, why?" this new voice rang through her head like a steam powered train. She retracted her hoof like she had just burned a part of her body. Her mind was ablaze with foreign memories. She ran from the alcove, desperate to get away from the torturous voices and memories. She ran away from both the alcoves and into another small room with yet another gramophone. The room had drawings, paintings, and sketches strewn across the walls. Finally a door was just behind the gramophone. She slowly walked towards the musical device and cranked it. "Well done. You have triumphed – conquered my cabinet." The mares ears perked up at hearing those words, now she was filling with hope and joy. "I wish I could tell you how you did, but alas this is a recording. You'll have to figure it out all by yourself. Did anypony survive? Applejack? Trixie? Or perhaps Rarity. Who was allowed to live? Why? You should really reflect on these past events, and consider what they meant to you, what you have learned about your true nature." The mare started to think back to the ponies she had saved, "Celestia never knew me. She thought she did, but then she was frightened and nothing was ever the same again. I can still see her, lying there on the floor of her castle, she looked so surprised…" a few moments of silence past by before twilight continued talking, "The star-shaped soapstone lay shattered by her body, still in shock I could do so much at such a young age. Blame me not for I was but a filly, with careful ambition I dared a smile. Rest in peace, Princess" The gramophone shut itself off. And the mare sat in front of the device. Emotion was devoid of her face, she was not even taking time to think about what Twilight had said. Almost automatically, as if her body was on autopilot, the mare got up and walked around the device and towards the door opening it with ease. A long dark corridor with scribbles along the wall greeted her. Snapping back into reality she glanced around and started to read the first scribble "We must hurry it's not too late" glancing at the next "It will be the end of everything" the mare was losing focus of the world around her the further she walked and the more she read "Stay alive" "Suffer the trial" By this point the mare had started to note something off about these notes. A headache started to form itself in the mares mind. "The pipers will call for us to dance" "The tattered yellow king shall dethrone" "Through the gates" The notes were not written in ink, and the mare had started crying. The mares heart rate sped up significantly "Oh Celestia" "From beyond it comes" "They who burrow waits beneath" The notes were written in blood. The mare could feel her brain following her heartbeat and causing pain all throughout her head. "The skinless ones are walking" "Death shall move across the floor" "Liar! Fluttershy is a kind pony" The further the mare traveled, the more sadistic the notes got. She had had enough of Twilights sick jokes. She was bawling her eyes outand each note brought her closer and closer to the brink of insanity. She had started to lose her vision. "The beautiful pain" "Entertain me" "Gluttony" "The inside" "It pleases me" "Lonely" "My darlings" "Playful" "I am emerging" The last few notes written in blood on the walls had become illegible. But the final note was written in chalk. "Plummet through the ancient city" A door had manifested itself in the mares' vision radius with no other visible way to leave the hall behind. Opening it as quickly as she could, she threw herself into the newest room. "And so it comes to an end." The voice took the mare by surprise, she looked around trying to find the source. "Now that you have seen what you truly are, you are able to go on and face eternity without fear – without doubt." Looking up the mare saw the body of a pony hanging from the ceiling a gramophone protruding from where the ponies mouth should be. The body looked female. A grinding sound started up as soon as Twilight stopped talking gears opposite from where the mares stood were clearly visible and turning. The mare glanced around looking for what the gears actually did. It took the mare about five seconds to register that the walls were closing in on her. Adrenaline filled her and she flew into a panic, completely unsure of what to do. The walls seeped closer together. The mare grabbed some debris lying around and tried to get the cogs to stop. The mechanisms were spinning too fast and launched the debris away from the mare. Closer the walls crept. The walls were all of ten feet away from each other, and still closing. The mare was losing the grip on her mind, she fell over and feinted when she thought for sure nothing could save her. Darkness clouded her vision before she would be crushed between the the sounds around her stopped at once, leaving only silence in its wake. The machines started up again, the spell over the mare now had been broken and she regained consciousness. Memories, all of her own, flooded back into her mind. The friends she had made over the years, the terrible; and yet somehow wonderful, things she had done. The memories of the Princess, with all her glory came back to the mare. Innately using the magic she had learned over the years, she mended her throat so that she may speak aloud. "This…" She explained to herself "this was the best one yet. So elaborate, it's just… too much." The walls were retreating back into their original positions. "Enough of this. Get up Twilight" The mare got herself up, a wicked smile crossed her face with the new triumph. She turned to the door she came in here from, no knocks came from the door. No shouts for help, or cries of anger. Nothing came from the door. "Just as I thought, nothing but figments of my imagination… well a mare can dream I suppose. I guess that means that everypony is upstairs waiting for me to return." Twilight turned away from the door, heading towards another newly revealed door. Behind it was a small hallway, and a long staircase upwards. She started climbing the steps and got a quarter of the way before a familiar voice came from the top of the stairs. "Hey, Twilight. Are you down there? Is everything all right?" Spike asked with strain in his voice "Of course Spike, I'm quite alright. Is everything ready for tonight?" she asked the purple dragon companion of hers. "Yeah. the foods almost done, it'll be ready any minute now. Your friends should be arriving anytime within the hour. I still don't understand why you invited that show boat, Trixie, though…" Spike sounded very upset at the notion. "Oh silly Spike, you've got to learn how to forgive people for their mistakes" twilight gave a silent giggle at her assistant. "Yeah, yeah. Whatever you say Twilight. I've gotta get back to the food." And with that spike ran back off to the kitchen and Twilight reached the top of the stairs and walked into her library. A brand new day awaited her tomorrow, and a brand new scenario for her to throw herself into using the illusionary magic she had learned recently. End of Final Chapter.