Popcorn

by Popcorn Pony

Chapter 13

Pocornia looked ahead, down the end of the empty stone hallway. A single question tugged at her thoughts, where was she?

Pocornia crept forward, noticing metallic plaques shaped like faces built onto both sides of the hallway, tall mirrors hung across everyone of them. To her, the hallway's design appeared intentional, the faces had nothing to do except stare into their own reflection as if it were a punishment. She watched their eyes dart right to left and wondered why they were doing that.

Pocornia stopped and gave one of the faces a tilted look. "Who are you?"

The face gave Pocornia a look of stoic disinterest, but it was actually studying her, quietly, observing her tired eyes and depressed state of being.

"Who are you?" Pocornia asked again. "What made that noise, what is this place, can you talk, why won't you answer me?"

Pocornia eventually gave up then turned to walk away. "Mortal..."

Pocornia returned her attention to the face. "Yes?"

"What has brought you to this lifeless realm?" The face asked.

Pocornia spun on her hooves and faced the face. "I need the orb."

"Why.." The face hollowly lamented.

"I need it to fix something I did." Pocornia mewled.

The face traded looks with the others, knowing they all wanted it to stop talking. "You asked us who we were..."

"Yeah, and I don't like repeating myself!" Pocornia snipped.

"We are failure...our failure has made our gaze eternal..." The face admitted. "That is all you will find here!"

"No!" Pocornia bluntly replied. "I didn't come this far just to pick up and leave!"

"Your fate will be sealed here, leave mortal...leave while you can!" The face warned.

"Shut up!" Pocornia shouted, she then proceeded down the hall.

Pocornia reached the end of the hallway, it split off into two directions. She looked left noticing a flight of stairs down the hall. She proceeded, softening her hoof steps to avoid unwanted attention. As she neared the top of the stairway, a bright green light offended her eyes. She squinted uncomfortably as the light dimmed. She could not believe what rested behind the light, it was the heart of her harrowing journey, it was the orb; a dense green colored ancient relic placed atop a stone dais. She gasped, noticing three metal serpents rhythmically weaving themselves over and under the orb. Pocornia silently pondered that detail. "Why are they doing that?"

Pocornia wanted nothing more than to snatch the orb and run, but a locked gate stood between her and her goal. She jiggled the gate's lock, mumbling. "I need a key."

Pocornia descended the stairway, knowing all she could do was continue down the other hallway. Upon arrival, her eyes met a disheartening sight. The old hallway had inexplicably disappeared, and was replaced by a new stairway. She nervously descended the new path and came to an oval shaped room adjoined by three hallways. Pocornia stepped forward, into the center of the room with a perplexed look on her face. She listened, it was near silent, the only discernible sound being silence itself. She thought what she noticed sounded impossible, but silence made a sound down in the bowels of the mausoleum , an empty, loud, apathetic sound.

An unexpected noise caressed Pocornia's ears, it sounded acoustic in nature. She listened to a series of dreamy notes and followed her ears into a hallway. She cut the hall's corner and saw a known friend of hers playing her cello. It was Octavia, her chin tucked into her cello's handle as she dragged her bow across its strings. Octavia looked up at Pocornia, her solemn expression stretched into a wide open eyed grin. Delight tickled her senses, she watched her aghast friend's eyes dart around in horror as she played her eerie song. Pocornia shrieked "Oh my gosh, Octavia, what happened!"

Octavia giggled gleefully at Pocornia, cherishing her dismay.

Octavia's bones were exposed between patches of burnt fur caked in dried blood, flakes crumbled off of her as she whilst playing her cello. "It's not that bad..." Octavia encouraged. "I can still play..."

"What, no..." Pocornia whined.

Octavia lifted her head from her cello and smiled, blood seeping from her lips, her jagged teeth glistening red. She swallowed and gagged then mockingly cooed. "Pocornia...Be with us, scream for me."

Pocornia shuddered then backed away as she shook her head. "No, you're not you!"

"Aren't I?" Octavia asked. "How can you tell?"

Pocornia fled from Octavia, feeling absolutely mortified. She escaped into the oval shaped room. The walls around her started to change color, their cold surface beginning to pulse and vibrate. Pink, yellow, red, green then purple, the energetic sequence blinded her, leaving her disoriented. Her vision went hazy only for it to clear up later. The stone that once enveloped the environment had been replaced by dark oak wood, a new flight of stairs sat ahead of her. She cautiously stood up then ascended the stairway. She came to a fixed door fixed with clouded glass, her ears suddenly graced by a refined singing voice made for opera followed by the tapping of hooves. Pocornia intrusively peered through the window and saw what looked like ballerina's dancing to and fro.

All Pocornia did was blink and the crowd of performers had vanished. Pocornia tugged on the door's handle and jiggled it fiercely. Pocornia insisted upon herself that she turned back while she was ahead and moved to do so. Her jaw dropped at an unsettling sight. She trembled before a crowd of exaggerated smiles, all directed at her. All of the ponies faces were covered in white paint, their lips and the bottoms of their eyes painted black. Pocornia could not believe it, Rara stepped forward, her face too done up like a mime. "We're so happy to see you!" Rara cheered.

Pocornia stood stiff, already having backed herself up to the point of her tail pressing hard against the door. "How...how did you?"

"Popcorn, its okay. You don't have to do this anymore." Rara explained as she gently stepped closer to Pocornia. "I'm your friend, I only want what's best for you, right?" Rara asked, nodding reassuringly. "Right, Pocornia?

Pocornia threw her hoof outward, ensuring a bit of distance between herself and Rara. She traded looks with the ballerinas, their weird smiles and carefree eyes chilling her cold. Rara frowned at her then frantically stomped her hooves like a mad mare. "Why do you make everything so hard!" Rara roared, adding. "Scream!"

A puff of smoke slipped between Rara's lips, her and her ballerina's violently combusted, the flame consuming them. Pocornia saw Delight in Rara's eyes, but heard torment in her screams. She watched Rara and the ballerina's burn, their fur shriveled, their skin peeled, their spongy eyes liquefied into a syrup that drizzled down their blackening skulls. The smell forced Pocornia to reach for her throat as she wretched at the acrid fumes. Her eyes leaked tears, the thought of her friend finding joy in such a cruel death brought her own sanity into question.

The narrow area Pocornia occupied turned upside down then swirled into a vortex. She unexpectedly appeared next to a flower bed of red flowers. She looked around then looked up at the sky, seeing how it had been set on fire. It was as if the very atmosphere had ignited and all that remained was scorched embers falling like rain. She began to shutter underneath the insolent impression the clouds gave her, she watched them, knowing they loathed her, hated her, wanted her gone. Pocornia softly cried. "I...I don't...I"

Pocornia closed her eyes as tight as she could, wishing she would awake in the humble bedroll she had laid in at her log cabin. She opened her frightened eyes, the reality of her situation sunk in fast. She was still caught in horror's grip, feeling it tighten its hold of her. She begrudgingly accepted the world for what it was as she made her through it. She ordered herself "just go, okay..."

Pocornia moved along, looking far ahead of her. She saw a collection of unnatural looking trees, they had a greasy shine and fleshy yet semi-transparent texture, blood circulating through their veins. She looked ahead and saw a narrowing treeline, the path leading her towards it, the end of the path darkening under the overhanging canopy. Out the corner of her eye, she noticed red droplets misting into the air, her eyes crossing red flowers along the ground, watching them ooze liquid.

Pocornia returned her attention to the path, opening her eyes widely. She saw a beige pony, a mare, with her blue hair hanging over her face as she approached. The mare swerved left and right along the path until she neared Pocornia. Pocornia stopped walking, the mare stopping in front of her.

The mare lifted her head, her golden eyes meeting Pocornia's appalled eyes. Her stomach throbbed, blood dripping from it. She inhaled weakly, proceeding to ask. "Have you seen the baby?"

Pocornia trembled under the mare's pleading stare, her mind beset by uncertainty. "Sapphire..."

"Please, help me..." Sapphire groveled.

"I..." Pocornia stuttered, having to force her words out of her. "I'm looking for something else."

Sapphire began to shed tears, latching her hoof onto Pocornia's shoulder. "Please..."

"I have to go." Pocornia replied as she not so subtly trotted away from Sapphire. "She's not real, she's not real, she's not real!" Pocornia tried to convince herself that what she saw was nothing more than another one of the world's lies, but her concern for the injured Sapphire behind her tugged at her own sense of self. A part of her made her feel horrible leaving Sapphire behind, but another part of her knew that mare could not be her beloved Sapphire. The two parts fought each other, the inner conflict weighing upon her already burdened mind. Pocornia sulked over the matter to the point of slowing her pace along the path.

Pocornia refocused her mind then proceeded down the path. She neared the narrowing end of the path, stepping into total darkness.

Pocornia appeared, instantaneously feeling a need to hurl as her hooves landed atop an abrasive surface. She looked around the dimly lit square room and quivered. Caskets lay in shelves carved into the walls, Pocornia assumed the caskets were in use and dreaded the thought of that being her fate. She quickly pressed forward down a hallway adorned with shelves filled with caskets. "that is going to be me if I don't find that key..."

Pocornia felt the hair on her stand up as she continued forward, marching on and on down the dark hall. She kept going, quietly wondering how far she had gone. She kept moving, she thought she had to be nearing the end of the hall by now. Since she thought about it, she believed she had walked twice the distance she did when she wasn't thinking about it. "where does this go?"

Pocornia stopped to look behind her. She could only see so far down the hall before details disappeared. "Where..., what do I...what do I do?" She muttered, apprehensively.

Pocornia blinked her eyes a few times to refocus them. She gasped, catching the eyes of something lurking behind the darkness ahead of her.

It crept closer and closer, creeping close enough for Pocornia to see the sharp facial structure of a cat, but it had long triangular ears that flopped backwards like a dog's ears. She caught her own breath as a trio of hisses assaulted her ears, three snake heads slithered outward from the monster's back. Pocornia felt so much terror coursing through her that she dared not wonder what the rest of it looked like. The creature withdrew into the darkness, back from whence it came.

Pocornia felt highly uncertain of what to do next. The never ending hallway only gave her two directions to choose from, backwards or forwards. Her muscles clenched up at the thought of having to fight the intimidating beast, but the bath behind her would take her nowhere.

Pocornia charged forward, wearing a battle ready frown. To her surprise, she saw light nearing her. She excitedly hastened her charge, letting out a fierce battle cry.

She exited the hall, screeching to a sudden halt. Her hooves tittered on the edge of a stone platform. A light chuckle touched her ears. "Hahahahaha, what are you doing, misfit?"

Pocornia turned to look. It was her evil self, nonchalantly sitting atop a flat rock, gracing her with a smirk.

"What are you doing here?" Pocornia asked.

The evil Pocornia clicked her teeth. "Waiting for you." She answered with a roll of her eyes.

"What?" Pocornia asked.

"You've been back there, walking in circles like you're deranged or something," the evil Pocornia sarcastically answered.

"Shut up!" Pocornia fired back.

"How rude!" Evil Pocornia mockingly replied. "Dumb pony, I guess you don't want me to tell you what to do next."

Pocornia frowned then stomped her hooves in agitation. "Stop making fun of me!"

The evil popcorn dismissively waved her hooves. "Alright, calm down there hot head." She said. "Look around, you're good at that."

Pocornia looked all around, the only noticeable detail being the hole in the floor ahead of the platform. "I have to go down there?" Pocornia asked.

"Yes," the evil self answered. "Hey...."

Pocornia gave her evil self her attention.

"I have a kitty too, and he wants to play..."

Pocornia pondered that assertion for a moment, then thought of her own kitty. Not all spiders, she knew, could be or wanted to be domesticated. Nor were they all tiny. Her evil self stared at her, the smirk still on her face. Pocornia ignored it, and leaped down into the dark pit.

Author's Note:

I know this chapter is much smaller than what I typically write, but I think it advances things effectively. Hopefully, it won't take me too long to get the other half out which was originally going to be included in this chapter, but I broke it up into two parts so people wouldn't have to wait for an update.

Comments

[Popcorn Pony]

10421787
Ah, I see.

I just woke up so I will message you after my head clears up. Thanks again for your feedback, some of the observations you have made never would have occurred to me. It is almost like when you write something yourself, you get tunnel vision and things just don't stick out to you. I'll need to find someone willing to edit Popcorn for me or perhaps I should pay someone to do it.

When I have the right frame of mind, I am going to take all of the comments you have made and write out everything for a analysis. I really do appreciate it.

[MagicPony]

Now is just Pocornia against the Spirit World and all the traps it has prepared for her.

Time is running short now that she has found the orb. Her friends need to hurry up and rescue her before is to late.

I had the impression that Pocornia wasn’t supposed to scream for whatever reason yet she yelled a battle cry at one point. I’m not sure if it counts.

Thank you for a nice read!

[Popcorn Pony]

10930095
I really worked hard on this chapter, I am glad you liked it.