Boo! Not scared? It's normal.
Outside the carriage window, the natural scenery near Canterlot whizzed by. The morning sun illuminated the bumpy road, flanked on either side by the country houses of wealthy families. I certainly don't want to brag, but my family's house is among them.
It's a shame it hasn't been visited in a long time. Even I'm going there now, just to pick up some things before the sale. This is how the story of the place where I spent so much time as a child ends.
I sighed sadly and focused my gaze on the many houses. They were all so clean and intact, and some of them even had lights on! Honestly, I envy them a little bit. On the other hand, no one has time to visit a country house, so it's better to really get rid of the dead weight.
As soon as that thought ran through my mind, I caught a glimpse of a building that cast a shadow over me. It was a house with a large attic. From the current distance, it looked pretty ordinary, except that the attic window looked a little flimsy, like it was about to fall down. But in principle it was well kept. Enough for me to recognize it.
“Stop here, please.” I said to the pony driving the wagon. Thankfully, he nodded silently and stopped smoothly. Nodding gratefully, I took out a bag of gold coins from my saddlebag and handed him the pre-warranted amount for the trip and for the carriage to stay here.
After all, it can't take long to collect old things. The list of what is important from them is quite small.
I nodded slightly to myself before getting off the cart and heading for the gate. It had once been painted a beautiful purple, but the paint was almost completely faded and, moreover, the metal that made up the gate had rusted in many places. Time had been merciless to the place of my childhood.
Sighing, I pulled the slightly rusty keys out of my saddlebag and inserted them into the keyhole of the gate. With difficulty, I made one turn and the gate swung open with a resounding creak, revealing a view of the country house grounds. The stone path I'd expected to see was completely obscured by grass and other plants.
Shaking my head sadly, I glanced a little to the right and saw that at least the door to the house hadn't broken under the weight of time. Sighing, I pulled a list of necessary items out of my saddlebag and read aloud: “So. Dad's gramophone. He can't remember where it is, I'll have to look for it. Mom's necklace. She wrote that it's somewhere in her parents' room. My brother's toy. Must be in the attic somewhere.”
I hope the stairs haven't rotted away. And in fact, I hope that at least the inside can be walked through comfortably.
“That would be nice. “I muttered to myself before I started walking carefully through the grass toward the house. For a few seconds, the only sound in the air was the crunch of dry grass under my hooves. There isn't even any wind. It's so quiet.
“Playing with my brother used to prevent such silence. “ I sighed frustratedly before stepping over a small brick staircase that was missing a few bricks. Probably just a result of the passage of time. Or was it?
No, no, Twilight. Don't look for something weird where it's not. Besides, your friends with Pinky. What could be weirder and more mysterious than her?
I grinned slightly before inserting the other key into the keyhole and struggling to make two turns. The door creaked open with an extremely loud creak, letting me see the house I'd spent so much time in before. There was a long hallway, with doors to rooms on the right side and family photos and nightstands with wilted flowers on the left.
I tried to take a full breath, but quickly coughed from the abundance of dust in the air. After a few seconds, the coughing stopped, and so did my good mood. I put my saddlebag on one of the nightstands and muttered to myself as I looked up at the ceiling, “I should probably go to the attic first. No sense in putting off the most unpleasant part.”
After a couple more moments of thought, I nodded to myself and lit the horn to grab the rope on the ceiling with magic. Surprisingly, a weak pull on it was enough for the ladder to the attic to extend and hit the floor with a loud thud. Which, by the way, raised a lot of dust into the air.
Get to the point. We need to find Shining's childhood toy. I can imagine the pain of losing a child's toy. Good thing I don't have to deal with it yet.
I swept some of the dust away with my hoof and started up the creaky stairs. On the way up, my eyes couldn't help but notice the cobwebs that could be seen in almost every corner. Well, hopefully I wouldn't have to cross paths with any spiders.
“At worst, the appearance of one won't be a surprise.” I reassured myself as I took the last step and found myself in the attic. The dark, dust-covered room was lit only by the light of the sun, which came through a single window. And what a coincidence: right under the window was a toy that perfectly matched the description on the list!
“Just lucky. Yeah, just lucky.” I said to myself as I slowly walked towards the toy. Due to the thick layer of dust, it had almost completely lost all of its colors and the only way to identify it was its dark sapphire mane.
Somehow, I don't remember Shining having anything like that. Maybe I just wasn't interested in it?
“Or he was uncomfortable showing his toy to his little sister.” I wondered before quickly shaking my head. The list, I obeyed the list.
Taking one last step towards the toy, I grabbed it with magic and pulled it closer to my face. No matter how hard I tried, not a single memory of my brother having it popped into my head. Maybe it was the dust?
“Hmm. Let's see what you really look like.” I muttered before slowly reaching out a hoof to the toy to wipe off the dust. But froze when I felt the thing in my magical grip shake slightly. Before my brain could come up with an explanation, a creature with eight paws and many large eyes appeared on the doll's head and stared at me.
Gulp
Extremely slowly, I grabbed the spider with magic and lifted it from the toy's head. The spider was waving its legs very fast, as if it wanted to get to me. Taking a deep breath, I tossed it aside, into the shadows that are not illuminated by light. I hope to never see him again.
“Good thing I don't have Fluttershy with me. She clearly wouldn't like this kind of treatment of animals. “ I said with a sigh as I walked down from the attic and held the toy some distance away from my face. Well, in case there were more spiders inside. The first spider came out of the toy right? Just in case, I spun the toy with my magic and noticed a few holes in the back.
These holes are so narrow. I'm certainly no animal expert, but would spider bites leave something like that? Do spiders even know how to bite through things to live inside them?
“Never mind, never mind, never mind. I'll just put the toy in my saddlebag and go on down the list. It's simple!” I said to myself as I walked down the stairs and took a few steps to the nightstand where my bag was located. I opened it and was about to put the toy inside, but something strange was visible in the periphery of my vision.
Turning my head slightly, I saw a small bee honeycomb on the nightstand. It looked completely black, so it was probably dried out. But from where? I looked up at the ceiling, but there was nothing there. Not a single hint of a nest. The house had been completely closed up for years. How could a piece of bee honeycomb have gotten in here?
And most importantly, how did putting my bag here without me noticing it?
For a few seconds, I tried desperately to think of an answer to at least one question. But in my mind, just like in the house, there was silence. This whole situation didn't make any sense!
I took a deep breath before carefully placing the toy in my saddlebag and muttering to myself: “Gotta hurry up. And don't leave my stuff anywhere else.”
Swallowing the remnants of nervousness, I put on my saddlebag and looked ahead at the long hallway. As a child, I'd never been intimidated by the structure of this house. But now? It looks really weird. The whole house is just a long hallway with a few rooms and an attic!
I'd use the gut analogy. But, I've had enough of the creepy atmosphere.
I let out a quiet sigh and walked forward down the hallway, glancing in the direction of where the family photos and portraits should be. You know, to invoke a sense of nostalgia and take my mind off all the weird stuff. Well, it didn't work out.
With each step forward, I became more and more dismayed by the lack of any photos or portraits. I distinctly remember walking down the hallway as a child and feeling tiny against the endless portraits!
Just go ahead, Twilight. Let's go into the hall! There might be a gramophone in there. Plus, the largest room in the house won't be so claustrophobic!
Instantly I accepted the idea and quickened my step as my gaze slid down the right side of the corridor, looking for the wide door to the hall. Soon the right thing was located. And, thank goodness, the doors just closed normally! No mysticism!
Almost happily, I pushed the double door to the hall with my hoof and it opened without a creak. My gaze quickly began to study the hall of the house. An old couch that I swear had a few bugs on it a second ago. Anyway, there were nightstands on the sides, but they were empty too. Finally, the whole place was lit by a window facing the sunset.
Eh, I remember when I was a kid it was just impossible to be in the hall in the evening.
I let out a long sigh as I felt the tension in my head subside. A second of calm even allowed my brain to come up with an explanation for the lack of pictures. It had been years since I'd last been here! What if before the last visit to this house, we had decided to put the paintings away somewhere but I had forgotten about it?
“Totally logical thought!” I replied, nodding to myself a few times to reassure myself. Luckily, my assertion wasn't refuted by any sounds or strange things. Since the sun wasn't capable of fully illuminating the room right now, I channeled some magic into my horn to create a normal source of light. And almost immediately regretted it.
Why is there jewelry here?
I blinked intensely for a couple of moments, trying to make the objects disappear. But they didn't. Jewelry was scattered chaotically in the corners of the room. It was as if someone had come here and was trying to find something specific. Despite the tension, I had to look as hard as possible at the jewelry, which glistened slightly in the light of my horn.
A disappointed sigh escaped my lips when the right necklace was not found among them all. The list accurately stated that I needed my mom's beaded necklace. There's nothing like that here. Everything in this room is just another source of anxiety.
I really wanted to deny it. Trivial because it's impossible because the house has been closed all this time. But it looks like someone's been here. . . .
“Whoever is here, I hope he or she was here a long time ago. A long time ago.” I muttered before turning around extremely slowly and starting to walk out of the hall. Unfortunately or fortunately, there were no sounds. Even the wooden floor refused to creak under my hooves. All that was left to do was to focus on my thoughts so as not to go crazy in the narrow space of the hallway.
As I moved down the corridor, my eyes noticed that the cobwebs and dust in the corners were getting smaller and smaller. It was as if I was moving into a more inhabited area. Or a part of the house where a new tenant had decided to settle in. Swallowing the lump in my throat, I began to mutter to myself: “It's okay. It's just an accident. No one came here. It was just a series of accidents! Yes exactly. . .”
I froze in place when I heard a sound ahead, outside the lighted area. A dripping. Something dripping and hitting something metal. An iron bucket? Armor? Or something more creepy?
If anything goes wrong, I'll quickly teleport as far away from here as possible. Nothing can hurt me. Nothing can hurt me.
Despite my fear, the mental image of the list demanded fulfillment. Slowly, I began to walk forward as the light of my horn illuminated the previously dark area with light. With each passing second, the sound of dripping grew louder and louder. With each new illuminated inch, my ears picked up some sort of buzzing sound more and more clearly. With each step, the hallway became clearer and clearer. I'd even say... lifeless. Dead.
Finally, I saw an iron bucket standing in the middle of the corridor with a yellow liquid dripping from the ceiling. Slowly I looked up and saw a huge beehive with a tube attached to it that dripped honey. The bees inside were buzzing furiously as if they sensed my approach and were ready to attack.
After a couple seconds of observation, I slowly looked around and muttered: “How could they have settled here? Even if someone settled here, the hive is completely natural. There are simply no flowers for bees to pollinate! Not to mention . . . “
The wall.
There was a large hole in the lower part of the wall, through which light was coming through. At the same time, it didn't look like something created by time at all! The hole was perfectly flat, as if someone had carefully removed the boards with a tool! Haha, but that's impossible!
A shiver ran down my spine before I sighed contritely: “I'm left with no way to deny it. Someone was here.“
I cast a brief glance at the bucket and said with another sigh: “And perhaps that someone still lives here.”
Breathe, Twilight. It's all right. There's always the option of teleporting away from the threat.
I nodded uncertainly to myself and stepped carefully around the honey bucket. My parents' room and the bathroom should be up ahead. I didn't think I'd have to go into the second room at all, though. After all, it's unlikely there's anything remotely responsive to the requests on the list.
As I walked forward, the mind-numbing silence continued to hang in the air, my hooves making no sound as they hit the floor, as if I had become weightless. The only thing that diluted it all was the rhythmic and brain-dropping sound of dripping. Without any stimulants, my brain began to wander, which resulted in quiet words escaping my lips, “Okay, this all needs to be sorted. Why are there signs that someone was here? Because someone was here. How did he get here? Through a hole in the wall. Who was that? I don't know. Why is he here?”
I have no idea. There's a homeless shelter just around the corner. And like every shelter in Canterlot, it's one of the best in Equestria! There's no point in settling here!
I let out a convulsive sigh as I once again stopped in front of another strange thing. There was a large hole in the floor. A perfectly square hole that a whole pony could fall through. It felt like, just like the wall, someone had removed the boards with tools. But I'd be calmer if it weren't for one detail.
There was a brick at the bottom of the hole. This house is all wood, the closest place to find a brick is the staircase in front of the front door! What would be the point of someone taking a brick from there, dragging it all the way down here just to throw it at the bottom of the hole?
Nothing here makes sense. I'm just-- I'm just--
My ears twitched when I heard a sound coming from downstairs. Music. Due to, presumably, damage to the record, only a fast violin was audible from the entire composition, which occasionally faded to silence. There's sound. No sound. There it is again. Not again. It's getting annoying.
I stare into the hole for a while until I let out a sigh and muttered, “There are only two options here. Either the gramophone is down there somewhere. Or I've already lost my mind.”
And now I'm going to have to test which option is worse.
Extremely carefully, I hooked my front hooves down and jumped down. The ground was soft enough that I could feel myself leaving footprints. That said, there were no tracks visible up ahead. But someone must have turned on the music right?
Sighing, I looked up and saw that there was some sort of tunnel going forward that didn't look very secure. Small chunks of dirt were falling off and no beams were visible in the vicinity. This tunnel is held together by magic at best. At worst, by luck.
Finally, I pulled myself together and started walking forward through the tunnel. Unfortunately or fortunately, the sound of dirt crumpling under my hooves was completely drowned out by the music of the damaged record. And the sound was getting louder and more annoying.
After a while, I noticed a sharp turn in the direction of a warm light.
Well, there's no way out. I've already gone too far.
Nodding slightly to myself I slowed my pace slightly to be quieter and after a couple steps I peeked around the corner. What my eyes discovered was intense, to say the least.
There was a single gramophone in the center of the room, and a multitude of candles that illuminated the paintings that lined the walls of the cave. But there was a catch. They were paintings of my family. And there were only paintings of me in here.
“Why?” Came out of my lips as I unknowingly started to step out from around the corner to get a better look at the paintings. Unfortunately, my first idea was absolutely true. These are paintings of my family, but with some creepy additions.
The faces of absolutely every pony in the paintings except me were crossed out with what looked like some kind of green, viscous liquid. In the same substance, various phrases were written on the pictures of me. Among them:
“Thief”
“Forger”
“Liar”
"Fake"
“I”
I. . . ?
My eyes widened more and more with each inscription I noticed on the images of me. My mind raced desperately trying to explain the situation. Why would someone here have a personal grudge against me? Why would they settle here? Why. . . . Why did the letter mention a gramophone that had never been in my childhood memories?
I was jerked out of my musings by a sudden rustle behind me and a cold touch on my horn, after which the light coming from it went out. A shiver went through every fiber of my body and only intensified when a woman's voice asked me, “Do you like what you see, fake?”
Before I could even begin to think of an answer, a dull pain pierced my temple. Then another, followed by a ringing in my ears. And finally, the final blow that made my eyes roll to the back of my head and my body go limp. Everything around me began to actively darken, and before I lost consciousness, I managed to form only one thought.
It was a trap from the start.