Terror Puppet

by Windrunner

Cold As The Clay

'

I want you to suffer, and continue suffering.. - ͏̵ʇ̶̨͢ɹn҉ɥ́̕ ̴͘I

Twilight takes slow steps into the cold and dark surrounding, hesitant to move towards this blight upon reality. The whole of it invaded by a feeling of ill reckoning. Something forceful and painful and dire. For what could possibly be this cold in feeling but some infernal predator come calling? Could death itself possibly be present? Perhaps hunting her as she hunts for it. Not a game of cat and mouse, but more of opposing forces. Whatever is out there defying description of any coherent sort, it simply is. And what is, lay ahead. Somewhere. Hanging there amidst that which is normal and for all the while acting like it belongs. All the world seeming lacking in coherency and lunacy abound, she hopes her friends will come to aid her as always.

Is it wishful thinking in turning to hope they will indeed be there when she looks? So far this proves untrue. No pretty manes and worried faces. For the moment all there is represents ever present cold. Surely good will prove out triumphant once again? For whatever reason, she does not feel so. Wanting to know but for once afraid to learn, she wanders these puzzling hallways. Clearly more than a simple mine. An idea forming in mind suggesting all is far more out of balance than she would ever have dared imagine before. Fear is that way. Fear itself, surely not? It begs to differ. More shuffling along than walking she comes to feel as though this enclosed space is fraught with the designs of something seeming otherworldly.

She could always simply leave. Turn back and run away for once. Not in the cards. Instead a pressing need to forge ahead builds inside to gird against the oppressive cold. So very cold. As though the deepest possible chill were kept bottled to be hurtled forth at any too stubborn to give in to the lie of it. Twilight makes a fine target for this. Almost too tempting to leave be. Or maybe it is mere imagination. Is the cold truly any worse than ever before? Uncertainty plagues each calculated move forward. These abandoned tunnels signify something out of reach. What is it about their architecture, their arrangement that feels so displeasing? Mere walls should not engender such apprehension. The idea reinforces itself.

Not believing for an instant the whole of ones faculties to be entirely trusted, her wayward trip into some heretofore unknown strikes every note of revulsion. Closing in on that feeling of naught but ice and darkness tears her resistance down. Why not simply leave and come back with a whole herd of reinforcements? It was within her power and rank to do so, even were it from another source. Something about risking more lives gives pause. At least two were gone from this world already, perhaps more. The thought kept jumping to mind. Well-trained and equipped guards, loyal to a fault had failed and paid for it with their lives. Apprehension and revulsion building with near every breath made her feel almost sickly.

Twilight thinks to herself, had she ever truly faced death directly? Stared into that abyss and found it staring back? Each call to action she'd found resolve and support in the end. No. Never truly. Not alone a single time when truth is told. Now, with every shadow a potential danger, she finds so much as breathing to be difficult. Every labored step cautiously taken as though the ground beneath might itself suddenly disappear into the ether to leave her falling into some endless chasm that breaks reality all around. The depth and size of this place is striking for a mine. Why so large and spread so far? A nagging feeling inside insists there is something amiss with that, even beyond what is already known to be wrong.

For all Equestria stands for and about, it was never quite the totally peaceful place she always imagined it was when only a bit younger. Those were the hard lessons. There were even something akin to wars fought in the past. Mostly short, some not. Yet, still nothing compared to the slow moments being experienced in the now. With a heavy heart she treads along the dim hallway ahead. Where would it lead? She did not wish to discover more corpses of fellow ponies, or anything else so distressing. Having looked upon the tormented guards faces left a lasting impression. She supposed they were killed to keep them quiet about whatever was happening here. Was there even a reason? It did not appear to make sense.

She walked and thought, calculating every angle known. Both guards were clearly overpowered during a great struggle, but what good did it actually do to kill them in the first place? They would have faced much the same situation she did now, and been unable to really convince anyone there were monsters parading themselves around in place of the princesses. This was tremendously puzzling. Unable to think of any good reason whatsoever for them to have been slain and in such a vile manner was thoroughly disheartening. Whatever was ahead must be cruel, unreasonable, insane or a great deal of many other things. Her one and only goal now was to stop any further bloodshed if at all possible.

Having read a great many books on every subject imaginable and even on less pleasant subjects, she found there was nothing to draw on here. Thinking back to dinner with the two strange puppets, something became clear. Had she not known them to be false it would have been pleasant. They acted considerate and even friendly. Keeping up such a thing as a mere act would be difficult enough in itself. Twilight halts a moment and considers only to become even more worried. Via some means, whatever was behind this knew exactly how both of her friends spoke and thought, even what they liked to have for a meal. This thought causes concern and bewilderment as to the how of it. A massive chamber stands ahead at the end of the tunnel. It must be there.

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A world of dark, haunted places where I traveled..alone...