//------------------------------// // Key to the Wine Cellar // Story: Amnesia: Twilight's Nightmare // by CookiesOnFridays //------------------------------// Chapter 2- Key to the Wine Cellar (Going through re-editing) (Authors note- This is only a pre-recorded message told in the point of view of Twilight Sparkle. Please note that not all information may be accurate and that this is a new genre to the author.) Sometime later I fell asleep but woke up with a jerk, banging my head against the stone wall. Everything seemed to be different here. Nothing was normal, descending into the darkness like this only meant my sanity will drain by the second. But I knew whatever I needed to achieve was within the darkness. Sleeping was a large mistake. The voices seemed closer than before, the female yells were echoing in my head. ‘Servants of the dark’ I thought. Checking my lamp if I had any oil left, I continued to go through the dark stained corridor. When it ended I appeared to be in a cellar. With it's wooden planks creating platforms of stairs, large barrels, and murky air the atmosphere sent a chill through my bones. I lit up my lamp and advanced toward a pair of wooden stairs leading toward the ground. Lighting up my lamp, I noticed another room. Of course I proceeded with caution and entered. Going inside, I took note of my surroundings. Books, scrolls, and chests of documentaries littered the walls. Some of the chests were over turned and had large claw marks. It couldn’t have been the rats…The far side of the wall were covered with shelves lined with bits of torn paper and dust. I looked right and noticed a chemistry set on a table. Four chemistry bottles connected all together by a pipe. Going toward my left I saw a small bottle. It seemed strong, sturdy, and it even had a label on it that read ‘Used for high temperature experiments’. As I picked it up my mind started to become distant. Once again I found myself next to the Princess as she started pouring different bottle together. “Now my student, watch carefully. You may need to remember this for the near future so I want you to write down some notes.” I watched as the Princess continued to pour the substances together. “There should be more Cuprite… Some Aqua Fortis…” She clinked the bottles together and mixed the mixture around with her glowing horn and what I thought to have believed was magic. Lastly she added in another two chemicals together “And finally some Calamine and Orpiment…” I felt myself frown. “Wouldn’t this make a strong acid Princess? How can acid free me from the Shadow of Chaos?” The Princess only looked at me and gave me a small smile, “This acid my dearest student, is a key to freeing yourself from the dark. But remember, this must be held with great care, and without any accidents or someone will get hurt…” She quickly swirled the bottle around and with a dim shimmering of light, the contents inside bubbled and radiated heat which warmed a small space of the room. With it's deep green light it flashed and danced around the walls, revealing shadows from the air itself. Opening my eyes again I noticed a note. The flashback must be telling me something. Reading the rather long note, it was a page explaining about errors and how that it wanted to make something else, but made acid instead. It also told me that it was extremely strong and that it could even melt tissue and flesh itself. Not finding much within the room I knew that I would have to go out of here. Crossing my hooves together in the hopes that the monster wasn’t outside, I exited the laboratory. I quickly looked upstairs. I looked at a door right across from the laboratory and tried to open it… Locked… I checked my journal and wrote down my objectives. ‘Find the key to the wine cellar’ I wrote down noticing the sign next to the door. ‘Find the four chemicals to make acid.’ Placing the journal back, I once again took caution of looking around my surroundings. Everything was clear, nothing was changed except the atmosphere felt deadly. I must hurry! Quickly I looked for a way to advance. I noticed a door at the top of some marble stairs. I entered and closed the door behind me and the feeling in the air changed for the better. For once I actually felt as if I wasn’t in danger. Of course not all the candles were lit, but most rooms had small amounts of light. I decided to try and find supplies. Oil and tinderboxes, but as I entered a room toward my right, the door slammed shut behind me and the dim candle light was blown out by a sudden gust of wind. A monstrous moan seemed to echo from just down the hall. I knew something terrifying and unnatural was just beyond the door. I started looking around frantically, trying to find a place to hide. The desk in the middle of the room was too small and the chests were too small also. I started to become terrified. My breathing quickening, my throat rasping for air! Once again I felt the terrible ringing in my ears. My head pounded with blood and my ears banged to the rhythm of my heart. I dashed around hearing the monster coming closer and closer. The small groans were very soft but that wasn’t the point. I was still going to die. I let out a small cry of frustration and desperation and I heard the monster becoming more alert. ‘For the love of harmony please tell me where to hide!’ I started trashing cabinets and drawers banging louder and louder by the second. Finally, I found a closet… Why didn’t I notice this before!? The door started banging. I knew that the creature was trying to break the door so I snuggled deep inside the closet and closed both side doors. Finally, there was a bang, and a crash. I heard heavy breathing and loud footsteps of the creature. I dared not to even move a muscle or to even breathe despite my adrenaline rush. But for some stupid reason I tested myself to look at the creature. I opened the closet doors, just a peek. The sight shocked me dearly! This one was different. It looked like a female and not so… Dead… And I was more surprised by the fact that it could talk! “Where are you my dear? Why did you leave me? I thought we were friends.” She looked horrifying! Her mane was pink but tattered with blood and her coat was covered with long lines of stitches and crimson red was slowly leaking out the bonds of her sides. It seemed as if she just came back from the dead! The undead mare also had a long round, spiked, rusted collar around her neck. And her eyes were nothing but dark holes… Accidently, I bumped into the side of the closet. The sound alerted the monster and I watched as she turned toward me or rather the closet… I was terrified! “Is that you my friend?” My ears were still ringing making me nearly deaf and this eerie sound of danger echoed in my head. My vision seemed so distant and blind. Images were distorted and pictures appeared in my mind. I stared at the creature one last time. I looked deep into her eyes. Thoughts were swirling around in my mind. A clean face appeared showing innocence but suddenly disappeared and was replaced with the creature before me. I closed my eyes and I saw a cheerful mare with a pink mane and a yellow coat. Images of her smiling and taking care of animals filled my mind. Opening my eyes again… I knew who this mare was! She was my friend… Fluttershy… ---------------------------------------------------------- Ears still ringing and my eyes blinking rapidly, every second she came closer. “Why did you leave me?” Only a few feet away… “Why did you leave me to die?” Only inches away from the doors… “Why did you kill us…” Blood started pouring out of her eyes, her broken teeth showing with dark stains. I closed my eyes, ready to be gutted and killed. But I waited… One second, two seconds, three seconds… Nothing! I opened my eyes again to see the creature walking away. The sound of a piano filled the air. I stood in the closet for a good few minutes and the time I stayed inside felt like hours for each second that passed. My heart was still beating at a million miles per minute, anticipating the moment that she’ll rush back inside. But the eerie sound in my head disappeared. Maybe… Just maybe this sense will help me tell if danger was near. Ever so slowly I opened the doors of the closet. I just stared at the broken door way. Nervously getting out I took a few minutes to regain my breath. My hooves were shaking and my head was lightly pounding but other than that I was alright. The room became dark except for the dim light that was trickling out of the window. That creature was my friend? I didn’t know how I even got the conclusion that this mare was a friend and also the fact that I don’t even know my friends… Or their names except this one… I felt another splitting pain in my head and stumbled on the table, I remembered… “No! The potion it’s… It’s fading! No, no, no! Forget everything! Forget just… Forget…” I just laid, slumped over the table shaking my head… But now… What did I need to forget? What the heck was this place and… My name is Twilight Sparkle… Yes that’s right and I had a friend named Fluttershy. I started to think. Think back to the flash back that I had in the rubble filled room. The Princess, or I said something about some stallion named Shining Armor turning different? And my friends… What the heck? Maybe this is what the Princess was relating to. I opened up my journal to look at my objectives again. “Find the key to the wine cellar and find the four chemicals…” I said. As I reached the end of the page I also noticed another piece of paper right on the table. Of course it must’ve been a coincidence but this was just strange. It even said my name, Twilight’s Diary. I placed a hoof on my head and scratched my mane. I had a Diary? Even if it were only a few pages I read them. Maybe they could tell me something about my former self. About how I got into this bloody mess. “Dear Diary, The unflinching humidity in the dark rain forests had continued to plague our expedition, making it unbearable to dig until sundown. How the top scholar in Canterlot managed to find the location in these vast areas of trees still remains very strange to me. When I asked him about the burial site, he told me about the legend of Eva Sly, “the creator of insanity”. An interesting story that is on its own hooves right now, but I can’t help feeling there’s more. Later that night, we uncovered a passage beneath the mounts of bushes and trees leading to a dirty-covered stone structure. The scholar was confident it was the tomb we have sought and ordered the others to clear the way, late into the dark warm night. Tomorrow, I shall lead the crew into the ancient structure, hoping to reach the end of the burial chamber. No matter what the scholar is keeping from me, the dig should yield something interesting to bring back to Canterlot, and to Princess Celestia herself. Another power source to strengthen harmony she says… But I can’t shake off the feeling that there is a lot more…” I just stared at the piece of paper that I was holding and I just tried to add things up. ‘I was in an expedition in the forest?’ I thought to myself. This was only the first clue of finding about my past and how I got into a situation like this. But I felt as if there were more in this castle. Pieces of my past written and scattered around here! Taking out my journal, I wrote down another objective. ‘Regain memories through Diary entries’ After writing that down I continued toward my journey to find the key toward the wine cellar. There was only one way to go and it was toward a very vast room at the end of the short corridor. Where the creature I mean, my friend… Was standing. The sound of a piano coming from the large room filled the air. The tune was extremely strange but it seemed unique at the same time. Scary, but unique to the ears. I entered the room with caution peeking to my left and right. The piano was right next to the door! I was about to panic but there was no sound coming from the piano. Instead it slammed shut, breathing out dust and grim into the musty air. This place was extremely terrifying. I couldn’t decide where to. Not because I didn’t want to check the establishment out but because of the fact that the mare that was close to killing me was at this very floor… The monster she has become! I don’t know the full details but I needed to find out and that only way, was to go deeper. Of course I wanted to stop the darkness but this seemed like an important side quest. Filled with motivation I dashed to my right heading for once again a long corridor. It was filled with paintings of Princess Celestia and random pictures of mares, stallions and young ponies all together. But the large pictures with faces, they seemed to follow me. Their eyes following my every step! The creepiness of this made my hairs tingle and set off my alarm that danger was very close. Suddenly the terrifying scream of the ancient beast roared. I felt my ears ring once again and crumbled to the floor. The only thing that kept me going were the things appearing on the floors, walls, and across objects! Red things that at some points moved and were advancing on me extremely fast. I started running for my dear life. Lighting up my lamp, I didn’t really care if the Fluttershy creature noticed me and also tried to kill me. The darkness was already driving me insane enough. I turned a sharp left and headed for where ever I was going I just didn’t know! The walls of goo were coming closer and closer. I stopped and looked back. The rest of the corridor was blocked by a massive rock slide. The air seemed to roar at me and I was left to crumble on the floor once again and I laid on the musty rug, feeling tears swelling up in my eyes. What did I do to deserve this!? As I wormed my way slowly on the rug the flesh like substance still seemed to want to reach me. Only few inches away from me, I didn’t dare move. I already knew that my life was going to end right here. I tried to remember if there were any good memories I could keep to myself, but all were horrifying. I didn’t even know my family, my past, and most importantly my friends… I just didn’t know where to start anymore. I was crying in the inside and the outside. At this point I would have let the Shadow of Chaos take me… As I closed my eyes I let out a yell of sadness and frustration. Banging my back up and down against the rug and curling up into a ball of hopelessness. There was one last screech and hollow cry… But there was also the sound of heavy falling debris that indicated intense impact. And the dust that scattered around my face, I started to cough and I got up instantly trying to get some of the better air. ‘Well’ I thought to myself ‘I just got lucky’ Quickly getting out of my emotional state I started searching for a way out. I looked at both rooms in the right and left. All I found were a few tinderboxes and a small bottle of oil. I poured more oil into the lamp and I settled down on a chair. I was in the map room and the place was a mess. Covered with littered books and large rocks, this place looked like a pig house. But I quickly got up and started searching for some more, any supplies, or even any Diary entries. And to my luck, I found one. “Dear Diary, My hooves tremble as I write this message. I feel as if I need to write this event for a future purpose for the fear that my memory would fail me if I keep thinking about this situation. Today I took some stallions and descended into the dark ancient passages we have uncovered. Some stallions could use magic so they lit their way while others used lamps or candles. But as we continued down, they all started to become well… Unbearable… They argued loudly and I felt as if their insanity was starting to become attached to me. I mustered my strength despite my stress and yelled at them to shut their traps and continue down the slopes of broken steps. The crudely carved passage confused me greatly. This looked a lot older than the burial chamber the Princess described. The walls were lined with statues unlike any I’d ever seen before! Despite their unearthly quality I felt a strange familiarity toward them… Which caused my fear for this chamber start to expand. At the far end of the chamber, a great slab of stone sealed off whatever lay ahead. I gave the order to raise the rock and I pushed through with my magic despite the narrow space, but then the heavy stone suddenly dropped, sealing me in… I was trapped…” This wasn’t enough information… What was inside the horsen room after the stone dropped down behind me!? But all in all I knew I needed to move on. I had a feeling that later on I’ll find out. But I just needed to wait. I noticed that there was a hole in the wall but was blocked by a few bricks of stone. Using brute strength, I ripped the blocks out of their place, despite having dust and some of my coat burning off from the friction. But as I worked I continued to think about myself on what I was doing. I acted very stupid and immature just trying to give up my own life to this Shadow. This wasn’t normal! This took lives and placed them in a bottle of darkness. Now that I thought about it, I don’t want to be floating in darkness for an eternity. As I entered the small hole, I entered a library… Suddenly as I got out of the hole, a thousand whispers seemed to tell me something. When I closed my eyes and opened them again, I was standing right next to the Princess. And as always, this was a flashback but I opened my mind wide and took notes on what the Princess says. “Now listen Twilight Sparkle… You must pull all three books before the locking sound of chains. Or else you have to start all over again.” She said as she pulled out a book. “But don’t you think this is a little to… Much?” The Princess just gave me a grim face. “You can never be too careful my student…” When I closed my eyes and opened them again I was in the dark except for my lamp. But taking the advantage of my fresh information filled mind, I quickly tried to find three books. It was rather easy to find actually! Since the books kind of popped out as if it were out of place. Pulling the three books out I heard the cranking of gears, and after a few seconds, a bookshelf turned itself wide open. And behind it was a room and again, filled with books. But there was something that actually caught my eye… “A key!” I said excitedly as I picked it up. I read the label on it and it said ‘Wine Cellar’ I gave myself a pat on the back. I achieved something that my former self wouldn’t have been able to do… But what was that noise? The bashing of wood… And the sound of a door going down… I peeked over the door and found myself staring at a different monster. It was the same one that chased me down toward the laboratory! I quickly ducked back… At that moment I knew that I would be dead… This was impossible… And in the end I turned off my lamp and wormed my way between two bookshelves and allowed myself to reside into some rest. Even if the position I was in was tight and uncomfortable, I knew that I would have a higher chance of staying alive. Unwillingly, I quickly fell asleep… A deep sleep… And the dream was well… Let’s just say it was filled with… Friends… (End Note- I’m not sure if this chapter was good or not since I think it’s kind of dull. Also I tried changing the writing format so it may be easier to read. If not I'll change it. I’m following the format of Amnesia but the room information will not be 100% accurate. I had to do additional research on the Shadow and to make the future chapters more interesting, I need information. I will add in my own ideas and things into this awesome pile of derp. If you have any suggestions on what I should do, feel free to tell me. And also tell me what I should work on to make this more frightening. Until then please wait for the next chap! And may you never play Amnesia at night…)