Chapter Six: Nightmares
Chapter Six: Nightmares
“I couldn’t save them...”
By: BroSteve (Steven Rodriquez)
Twilight was standing in the middle of a large open intersection in the middle of the underwater hell. The only other movement was that of the pieces of garbage tumbling past her eventually ending up rolling out of her sight. The silence was excruciatingly loud, tearing at her sanity. She put a hoof forward figuring she'd find out where she was.
Wasn't I with Iron?
As soon as the her hoof came in contact with the ground she heard a voice whisper her name. A shiver shot down her spine as the the whisper flew past her ear. She slowly turned to see Iron standing behind her. A smile of relief grew on her face as she spun around faster now.
"Iron!" she cried as she started to walk towards him. With every step the mare took, the distance between them didn't change.
She didn't appear to be moving at all.
"Twi..light.."
Iron whispered even softer than he had the last time. His tone was unlike any she heard him speak before. It was quiet, broken, and weak. He collapsed in front of her as blood began to pour from a gaping hole in his side. Twilight's eyes grew wide as she spotted the mortal wound. Tears began to form in her eyes and freely ran down her cheeks before falling to the road. The sound of agonizing screams started to fill the air emanating from every direction. The sky was a deathly gray and red as all of the buildings around them began to rapidly decay; crumbling to pieces before them. A thick dust poured over them from the collapsing buildings. She ran toward Iron's side and held him. As soon as she went to wrap her hooves around him, he grew cold. Instantly the life had drained from his body as he began to decay right in front of her. She screamed as she jumped back; the tears poured out even harder now.
"Iron no!" she cried as she watched her friend slowly wither away to dust. She collapsed on the dust covered ground as she cried in her hooves. She couldn't think of anything else to do then just cry.
She couldn't save her friend.
She couldn't save anypony.
As the thought finished in her mind, she felt a hoof on her shoulder. Quickly, she jerked her head up to see. The hoof was attached to a tall dark stallion. His eyes were drained of any color, glowing a bright white in contrast with his dark coat. A demented smile was strewn across his muzzle baring his blood covered fangs.
Twilight froze; petrified with pure fear.
The stallion suddenly lunged at Twilight, mouth open, not even giving her a chance to scream.
Twilight's eyes shot open as she woke up covered in sweat and her heart daring to rip straight from her chest. She jumped up from where she was to see the fire diminished and rays of artificial sunlight pouring in through the grime covered window. The images of the horrible dream still fresh in her memory, not wanting to be forgotten, made her look for Iron.
He wasn't there.
"Iron.. Iron!?" she cried out frantically looking around the small metal container they had slept in. She quickly galloped out to look around. A huge wave of relief rushed over her body as she saw Iron Sights standing by the window looking out over the street.
"Iron!" She quickly ran over and threw her hooves around him, squeezing tightly.
"Wh-what.. A-are you okay there Twilight?" Iron said confused by the small mare's random hug. He threw a hoof around her to return the hug. After a minute they separated. Twilight's cheeks were wet with tears as a now large wet spot was left on his coat. She blushed, embarrassed at her tears.
"I-I'm sorry.." she sniffled before continuing to speak. "I just.. I had this horrible dream. I couldn't save you.. I couldn't save anypony." Her head lowered, looking at the ground. Iron walked over and smiled.
"Hey, don't worry now. I'm okay and so are you! It was just a dream, Twilight." he said in a comforting tone as he gently pushed her head up with a hoof. Twilight smiled, assuring Iron his soft tone worked with the mare. "Come on now, we should probably get moving if you wanna help your Blue friend." With a nod, the two walked over toward the storage container and grabbed what little supplies they had left.
"We- we're going to need some supplies. Especially medical stuff. I used the last of the bandages and gauze on your wounds yesterday." She said waiting at the entrance for Iron to grab his weapons and ammunition.
"With our luck, we need plenty of those. I know there is a hospital around here somewhere. Each sector of the city has a hospital." He strapped a saddle filled with ammunition onto his back and walked up to Twilight. "I suggest we head there, I know how to get there from here I believe."
"Okay! That sounds good." She was desperately trying to forget her nightmare, along with her embarrassing behavior in front of Iron. She threw on a smile and headed toward the hallway.
The two had made their way down to the first floor again and looked out over the street where they had encountered the splicers just last night. The blackened mark on the street showed where the explosion that had injured Iron had been. Twilight look on with curiosity.
What was that metal exploding ball?
They proceeded to walk down the long and empty road ahead of them.
After around an hour later, Twilight questioned "Are we there yet?" Her voice was tired and was borderline whining.
Iron simply laughed.
"It should be about another hour or so. These cities aren't small yah know!" He continued walking forward when his mind couldn't help but think of what Twilight had said about saving him, saving everypony. "So uh, Twilight. You don't have to answer if you don't want.. but what did you mean when you said save anypony?" He was careful not to send the mare back into hysteria like earlier. The last thing he wanted was her screaming and crying attracting unnecessary attention to them.
Twilight kept silent for a while, leaving Iron wondering if he should have just kept his mouth shut.
He felt stupid, cursing himself in his head.
When suddenly, she spoke. "The reason.. I was on that plane. I was trying to get away." She paused again, trying to build up the courage to tell him. "About ten years ago, somepony went crazy in Ponyville. He wore an all white mask and a suit. Something in him just snapped and he went around.. murdering innocent ponies."
Iron's ears perked up as he could instantly tell this was no easy story to share. Definitely not one just anypony had heard.
"He broke into our house that night. He started destroying things. I ran into my parents room where they told me to hide under the bed. They held the door closed as he banged and bucked, trying to get in. Finally, he did. My dad tried to fight him off, landing a few good hits to the ponies face. My dad was no match for the knife the pony held." He could see tears starting to form in her eyes. "I watched him collapse in front of me. A huge slash down his side.. I ran out, trying to protect my mom." Twilight stretching to her mane and lifting it off of her body, revealing a large scar. "He swung the knife at me, cutting me, then kicked me out of the way. He thought I was dead. My mom was next." She stopped walking now as she looked down at the ground, the memories now danced in her head, tormenting her. Tears began to stream down her face
"I couldn't save them.."
Iron stopped and wrapped his hoof around her, comforting the mare as they stood there.
She sniffled and tried to fight back the tears. "I couldn't be there anymore.. living with the memory even ten years later. There was nothing for me there. I needed to move on. I was going to Manehatten, to start fresh. Instead, I ended up here." She breathed deeply as she started to regain her composure, stopping the tears.
Iron let go of her and looked down at her. "If there is anyone who can find a way out of here, it's you. Don't worry. Even if I have to swim you to the surface, I'm going to help you out of here." He was trying his hardest to calm the mare. Twilight simply smiled and nuzzled against him leaving a tinge of red in Iron's cheeks.
"Thank you, Iron!" Her mood seemed to do a complete change now. She seemed at ease standing next to him. Finally she broke the silence and suggested "Maybe we should keep moving toward the hospital." She paused and then said trying to sound like Iron with his much deeper voice "You do NOT want to be outside at night." They both laughed and continued walking
"Oh, come on. I do NOT sound like that. I did NOT put that much emphasis on the word not." he said, trying to hold back even more laughter.
"You just did it, Iron. Don't worry though! It's charming. Plus it adds extra drama to any situation!" She said in a playful tone toward the stallion. He just sighed and they continued walking.
After about another hours walk, the two found themselves in front of an enormous four story building in front of them. The outside was covered in ivy, running along the battered and decaying walls. Most of the windows had iron bars, keeping anything outside from coming in. Or maybe keeping whatever was inside locked up.
In giant red letters spelled "NM Hospital" along with a giant red plus sign. The giant lettering was falling apart, the “O” in hospital was laying on the ground in front of the entrance. The front doors were not those of a typical hospital though. They were giant steel doors that looked more like the entrance to some sort of military base than a hospital.
The two ponies stared at the massive rundown structure, wondering if this was really a good idea. Iron Sights raise a hoof; pointing at two small robots that looked like a screen with helicopter blades and guns.
"Security bots still guarding this place? Weird. I wonder if they are active yet."
Twilight looked up at him and back toward the intimidating entrance.
"Iron, how are we supposed to get in there if the entrance is a giant metal door with security, and all the wi-"
Just before she could finish her sentence a loud buzzing rang through the air. The giant double steel doors began to slowly slide open scraping the ground as they did. Finally they came to a halt. The security bots flashed green and the guns folded away into themselves. The two just stared at the door, then to each other.
"Looks like.. it wants us to come in.."
"Something doesn't seem right here." Iron said suspiciously at the open invitation. The inside of the hospital was dark and appeared to be lifeless. Twilight began to step forward toward the entrance.
"Whoa! What are you doing?" Iron quickly yelled in surprise.
"We won't find out unless we go in there. Besides, maybe it's Blue, or just another legitimately nice person wanting to help." Twilight said, praying she was right, as she waited for Iron to catch up.
"This is a horrible idea," Iron muttered as he followed Twilight up to the entrance.
As soon as they got past the doors, they slammed shut behind them. The room now blanketed with darkness. A foul stench filled the air now, similar to the stench of the rotting pony Twilight had encountered earlier; she tried not to gag. The two quickly backed up against the cold metal doors unable to see their hooves in front of their faces. "Twilight, stay close." She could hear him open his saddle and pull the gun out as he spoke cautiously and quietly to her.
Ahead of them a spotlight clicked on, blinding them. After adjusting to the light, illuminated in the spotlight was a wall with the world of Equestria painted on it. Blood drawn graffiti was all over the once beautiful mural saying:
We're all ugly, horrid creatures. I ... I can make you beautiful!
Two doorways on opposite sides of the room opened up, revealing one barely lit hallway and another where the only light source appeared to be fire. Twilight looked around the destroyed room, now taking in what was actually in it.
Dead ponies.
Mutilated.
Decapitated.
Disemboweled.
They were everywhere.
The waiting area, the registration counter, and even hanging from the ceiling from ropes tied tightly around their necks. Twilight couldn't hold it back any longer, the contents of her stomach quickly forced back up. What she had seen before was nothing compared to this horrific sight.
Iron cringed at the sight, even he had never seen anything quite like this. "This looks like more than just the work of splicers. We should really be careful in here and find a way out as soon as possible." He looked over toward Twilight who had just regained her composure and was now standing on shaky hooves. She nodded in agreement.
"Which path.. should we take..?" She spoke quietly and hesitantly.
After carefully thinking about it Iron spoke up, "We should take the way with the fire. That way if the lights go out, we'll be fine and have that light." He took a few steps forward before turning to Twilight again "Stay as close as you can. We can NOT get separated here.. who knows what is in this place."
She could sense a fear in his voice, that deeply worried her. She nodded and quickly followed directly next to him. They maneuvered around the overturned furniture and corpses and finally made their way to the door on the right. They looked in and saw a long hallway with a set of elevators at the very end of the hallway. The walls were stained with blood; hospital beds and wheel chairs strewn about while some were set ablaze. Twilight cringed at the dank looking hallway. Iron started to move forward, ready to take on the hallway.
"W-wait for me."
Twilight said in a loud whisper as she trotted up to him. Each of the rooms were barely lit from the fire outside, showing off more dead ponies and blood everywhere. Twilight felt her stomach do a flip. She could never get used to the horrible sight. That all-too-familiar stench of rotting corpses filled the air once again. She subconsciously moved closer to Iron, knowing if anypony could get them out of here it was going to be him. After making it a little ways down the hallway Twilight spoke up "Should we start checking the rooms.. for supplies?" She looked up at him waiting for a response.
"Actually, that's a good idea. It is what we came here to do.. just be careful and never leave earshot, okay?" Iron whispered, not wanting to be loud if he didn't have to. He turned to his right and started to walk into one of the open rooms while Twilight went to the room on the left. Iron walked into the room as it was barely lit from the outside fire. The bathroom to his left was jammed shut, so he turned his attention to the rest of the room. The privacy curtain was pulled over the bed, not letting him see anything past the bathroom door. Cautiously, he walked over as the sound of his hoofsteps echoed in the small area. Just as he went to grab the curtain to open it, the curtain flew forward to the shape of a pony behind it, pouncing on him.
It let out a horrible ear piercing screech as it pinned him to the ground and began thrashing in the curtain on top of him. He quickly bucked off the splicer and it flew back against the wall. Twilight quickly ran out of the room, not even having time to really search for anything. She grabbed Iron, quickly helping him up.
Just as he stood up, the splicer rose and ripped the curtain off. Standing before them, this splicer was wrapped in bloody bandages, wearing a surgical mask and a nurse outfit. On it's back and foreleg was metal plating, bolted into it's skin down to the bone. Attached to the metal plate was a sharp blade. This horrific abomination that stood before them let out another shriek as it stood in place.
Pop! Bzzt!
Twilight's ears quickly perked up faster than ever.
Blue?!
"Ello there Twilight! Been, uh, quite some time! Anyway, I have some bad news for yah.
You're trapped.
This building is run by.." the voice cut short by the sound of static.
That static seemed to trigger the splicer as it leaped toward the two. Iron quickly pushed Twilight away back into the dark room where she came from. The splicer lunged at Iron, it's iron blade ripping at his flanks, leaving a small slash wound. He fell back and winced at the sudden pain. Fresh blood dripped from the splicers blade as it howled once again. Iron quickly jumped to the side, reaching for his gun and drawing it. The splicer leapt and landed on top of him.
Just as the blade was about to pierce the mocha colored stallions throat, a purple glow consumed it. Soon the purple glow covered the whole splicer as it was launched against the wall with a powerful thud, knocking lose of the blood stained tiles. It's scream pierced the air again as it struggled to get free. Twilight's horn was glowing extra bright as she used ever last bit of magic she had to keep it pinned there. Iron Sights quickly stood up, took aim, and fired two shots into the beast.
One; piercing where it's heart should have been.
Two; right through the forehead.
It quickly went limp as blood splattered on the wall behind it and dripped down. Twilight let go with her magic and fell back to her haunches.
Pop! Bzzt!
The static filled voice quickly came back once more.
"Sorry 'bout that love. Lost control of the wiring again." There was a brief pause, as Iron quickly rushed over to Twilight, his side still slightly bleeding. "Now where was I.. Ah! Yes. It appears yah ended up stumblin' upon the home operations of one Doctor Skitz. I don't know how you ended up here, but lemme tell yah. This fellow is not one we should be messing with. The stallion.. well he is not fully there if yah know what I mean."
Twilight stood up, a little wobbly on her hooves as Iron helped her.
"Blue.. where did you go.."
Her voice held a sort of sad tone to it. She was happy the person who had helped her live had finally returned, but couldn't help but feel betrayed as he left her for dead, hadn't it been for Iron Sights.
"Ah dear, I do apologize.. really. John Colt really doesn't like me talking to yah, and cut off my communication methods. I tried everything to get them back, and I did it as fast as I could." A sigh could be heard through the speaker as he paused.
"Besides, I see you found yourself another pony? Who might you be, lad?"
Iron hesitantly responded "My name is Iron Sights. I'm part of the resistance from The Gardens. You’re this Blue fellah Twilight here has been talking about. I suppose I should thank you for saving her earlier. I've been taking good care of the girl."
Iron spoke almost like he was talking to Twilight's father, upon trying to get approval to date the mare. The thought crossed his mind, but quickly was cast out as Blue spoke again.
"Ah! Good! A pony of the resistance! Pleasure to, uh, meet yah Iron Sights. I have not been able to talk to any of yah, seeing as I have absolutely no way to contact yah locked up in there. Seeing as you are a friend of Miss Twilight here, you're ah friend of mine!" Blue spoke, almost trusting the stallion way too easily.
"I'm glad you're back Blue. I'm gonna get you out of wherever you are. That's where Iron an-"
Twilight's words were brought to an abrupt end as an ever louder static filled the air as all of the fluorescent lights flickered on in the building.
"Welcome! Welcome fillies and gentlecolts! Hehehahehe!"
A deranged voice croaked over the hospital intercom rather loudly.
"I see I have some new.. TEST sub..jects... HAHAHEHEHA!" The voice seemed sick and desperate as it echoed through the building.
"I.. am.. Doc-TOR Skitz! Ha!"
"Oh boy.." Blue spoke to the both of them as they looked around, the hallway now being illuminated by more than just the first revealed the grotesque graffiti painted in blood saying "He will make us perfect."
"I kn-oh.. We! Are all im-Perfect! creatures. I-I can help you. I can- make you BEAUTIFUL hahaheheahaha!" The sick desperation in his laugh was enough to send shivers down Twilight's spine.
"Well-come! To your worst night-mare! Hehehahahahe!”
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Dr. Skitz sound like a even more psychopatic version of Dr. Rictofen
Holy crap this fic is well written. Keep up the good work BroSteve, I'm enjoying this.
80555
Why thank you :D
would you kindly write this stuff faster, mah friend?