Emptiness Pt. 3

>You shine your lantern down the dark hall once more
>…yeah, there’s no way you imagined that
>They’re all there
>All open
>Every single door
How did this…?
>You step further into the hall
>And think for a moment…
>…The doors locking with no locks…
>The disembodied giggling…
>The… suits of p0ny armor
>And now… these doors
>…
>…something definitely isn’t right here
>Is this place…?
>You mean, could it really be…?
…haunted?
>You whisper to yourself
>You glance over at all the doors
>Each one hosts a wall of thick black darkness
>Just like the halls do
>Just like every area in this mansion does
>When will you get out…?
>You sigh
>Slowly, you bring yourself over to the first door
>You hold your lantern inside
>The room illuminates slightly, revealing its secrets previously kept to you
>…it’s a standard room
>No different than the one you hid from Fluttershy in
>You retreat your hand and continue to the next
>It’s the same thing
>How many bedrooms or guest beds does a place need?
>You continue this down the hall for what seems like hours
>Only the repetitious, yet soothing, pitterpatter of the pouring rain keeps you company
>Until finally…
Well… this is a little different…
>You sink your hand into the room a little further
>Revealed to you is not a bed and dresser, but a desk
>An old, rotting wooden desk
>Surrounding it are several different bookcases
>Stuffed to capacity with ancient, dusty books
>Several of them look leatherbound
>You advance into this new area
>You place your lantern down at the desk, which envelopes the small study in a manageable amount of light
>You pace over to one of the bookshelves
>You place your hand on one of the dust-coated spines, and run your fingers across a row of these age-old harbingers of information
>You look to your fingers and dust them off
>Now…
>You pull out a random book, carry it over to the light, and open it
>…
>It’s written in p0ny scribble
>You sigh
>Twilight Sparkle had been slowly teaching you to read their written language
>But…
>This was way too advanced for your level
>You can only make out a few conjunctions and nouns
>Maybe a verb or two
>But their conjugations are those of which you’ve yet to learn
>You sigh
>You place the book down on the table
>And just…
>Listen to the rain for a bit
>It’s… soothing
>You turn to put the book away
>But...
>Something catches your eye
>You glance back over to the door
>…
>Is that…?
>You reach over and grab your lantern
Just to be sure…
>You blow out the flame
>The study is once again engulfed in thick darkness
>But through the door
>You can still make out a faint light
>Very faint
>It’s not a dull yellow like your flame or lantern emit
>It’s brighter
>Bluer
>…
>What is it?
>It gets brighter
>You instinctively back up further into the darkness of the study
>As it gets brighter, you begin to hear something slowly rise over the white noise of the rain
>It’s…
>Charging magic
What?
>You sink even further back
>Who could possibly be roaming these halls other than you or Fluttershy?
>The light gets very bright
>The clopping of hooves becomes noticeable
>”…Anon?” you hear called
>Your heart skips a beat
>That voice is familiar…
>The light reaches its peak brightness
>The clopping hooves are immediately among you
>And a mint green unicorn passes by the door
>Her horn emitting a soft blue light
>Your eyes widen
>”Anon?” she calls again, passing by the door
>She continues making her way
>…
>That’s… Lyra
>The unicorn that you occasionally exchange conversation with at the market
>You don’t know her particularly well, but…
>Well, more than Fluttershy, anyway
>What’s she doing here?
>How did she find this place?
>And why is she looking for you?
>The light begins to dim more
>Her hooves resonate further down the hall
>Shit…
>What do you do?
>Do you give away your position?
>Could you trust this p0ny?
>Is she trying to help?
>The hooves are out of earshot now
>The light is almost out of visibility
>You play tug of war in your mind
>Think, man… think!
>…
>…
Lyra!
>You call out
>The quick verbal lash echoes slightly in the room and throughout the halls
>The light stops
>You silently step toward the door and poke your head out
Lyra!
>You call again, in a whispery yell
Over here!
>You dip back into the room
>”Anon?”
>You hear
>The light gets brighter and brighter
>You can hear galloping
In here!
>You call from the room
>The soft light rounds the corner, attached to the green p0ny
>”Anon!” she cheers, as her eyes meet yours
>She leaps into your arms
>You almost fall over, having been caught off-guard
>But you catch her, and return her hug
>You place her on the ground
Lyra, what are you doing here?
>You ask, crouched down to her level to try and be as quiet as possible
>”Looking for you, silly!” she says with a smile. “Twilight was worried sick! She said you might be around here.”
>Twilight!
Is she okay?!
>You ask
>You slap your hand over your mouth
>That might have been a little loud
>”Of course she’s okay! Why wouldn’t she be? She just wanted me to look for you.”
>You look at her slightly puzzled
>She just smiles up at you
A-Are you sure? No one hurt her? No one like…
>You glance over to the door once more
…Fluttershy?
>She raises her eyebrow at you
>”The quiet one?”
>She giggles
>”Of course not! Why would she hurt Twilight?”
>You glance down at her solemnly
Well…
>You explain the situation back at Twilight’s library
>Continuing to your teleportation to this mansion
>And how Fluttershy has been stalking you inside the mansion
>…hunting, even
>…you leave out anything unexplainable
>She gasps
>”You mean Fluttershy is in here too?”
>You nod
Yeah, and she wants me dead. At least, I think she does.
>Lyra nods
>”Okay. Then we’ll just have to be extra quiet.”
>You nod as well
>”So… do you know any way out?”
>You look at her confused for a bit
>Wait…
Couldn’t you just… teleport us or something?
>She looks up to you
>Her eyes fold back sadly
>And she glances to the ground
>”No…”
>Wait… no?
Why not…?
>She looks back up to you
>”I’m not sure! I teleported in here from the OUTSIDE, but high magic like that doesn’t seem to work on the INSIDE!”
>You slap your face and groan
>So much for that…
>”Any other ideas…?”
>You peek at her from between your fingers
Well, sort of…
>You turn around and head toward a bookcase
I was hoping one of these books could give me some sort of clue, but…
>You twiddle your fingers a bit
I can’t really read…
>Lyra doesn’t say anything
…anyway,
>You grab a book and flip it open
You can read, right? Maybe we can study a few of these and get some kind of hint.
>You turn back to her
>She’s just staring at you
Does that sound like a plan?
>She continues staring at you, then glances away, nodding
>”Yeah, yeah, that could work…”
>She looks back up to you
>”Or…”
>Suddenly, you begin to feel tingly all over
>A light green mist surrounds you, and you’re flung up into the air
Wha—?
>You look over to Lyra
>She has a devious smile on her face
>She slams you up against one of the bookcases
>”Or…”
>She repeats, walking up to you
>”We could have a little fun…”
>She flashes a sinister smile
What? But… but Lyra—
>”Don’t worry your pretty little head about it…”
>She grins even wider
>”HEY! FLUTTERSLUT!” she calls at the top of her lungs
>”I FOUND HIM! GET YOUR ASS OVER HERE!”
>Shock resonates throughout your body
>But…
>You thought she…
>…
>That bitch…
>You wriggle around, being able to move your forearms at best
>Lyra scoffs and laughs
>”Don’t even try…” she says menacingly
>She walks over and begins nuzzling your crotch
>What the…
>…fuck?
W-What are you doing?
>You manage to get out
>She looks up to you
>”I figure we have a little bit until Flutterbitch shows up… why not have a little fun between just us?”
>Is she serious?
You’re… you’re crazy!
>She laughs again
>”Maybe a little…”
>She starts gnawing at the button on your pants
>Fuck!
>You have to do something, Anon!
>You begin moving your forearms again
>But it’s no use
>She’s too low
>So instead, you grip a book from behind you
>And lightly toss it at her
>But, with only your forearms, it does nothing more than bump off her back
>She takes a second off from your pants, looks up to you to acknowledge your attempt, and laughs
>Very hard
>Then goes back to your pants
>She manages to get the button undone
>She begins attacking the zipper
>You’re not sure what to do
>So you continue grabbing books and throwing them
>Book after book, novel after novel, bump off from her
>But to no avail
>Eventually, you grab what you think to be your final book
>You pull
>But… it doesn’t release
>You pull again
>It slides out a little bit
>You pull one more time!
>Then…
>Well, it all happens so fast
>You hear a clunk
>And the faint sound of turning, wooden cogs
>And suddenly, you’re flipping completely around
>Lyra darts back in surprise
>The light from her horn disappears into a new darkness
>And you’re flung blindly into a new area
>The loud sound of the bookcase setting is the last thing you hear
>Before absolute silence
>Dead silence
>…
>Not even the rain makes it into wherever you’ve gone
>You sit on the ground for a moment
>Catching your breath
>…
>Lyra…
>How could she…?
>You continue sitting
>Then…
>You reach into your pants and pull out your zippo once more
>You flick it on
>You see the bookcase, still facing you
>…
>The old rotating bookcase, huh…?
>You turn around and look behind you
>…
>A staircase
>A stone staircase descends down
>You sit at the top, in a very thin hall
>Nowhere to go…
>But down…
>You stand to your feet
>You keep your lighter close
>And you plant your foot down on the first stair
>The footstep echoes deep down
>You take another deep breath
Here we go…

>You descended the stairs for at least ten minutes
>But finally, you seem to be at some end
>The stairs stop, and open up into a large room
>Or… area
>It seems natural, not p0ny made
>Like a deep dungeon, or cavern
>Water drips from the high, invisible ceiling
>The damp rock walls reflect what little light you offer it
>Your lighter does a poor job of illuminating anything
>This deep darkness is even thicker than up in the mansion
>And so…
>You move forward
>Each step reverberating throughout the room
>Bouncing off the wet walls to meet you once more
>As you continue though, you begin to see various metal contraptions
>Tables… chains… clamps…
>All rusted over completely
>Decades, or centuries, of neglect has claimed this chamber
>You stop for a moment, and take in what surrounds you
>What kind of place was this?
>You gently tap one of the chains
>It rattles slightly
>Raising above any other noise in the dungeon
>…
>Except…
>You bring your lighter out further, in an attempt to see clearer
>…no, you have to be hearing things
>You step further into the darkness
>…
>No, you aren’t
>It’s becoming louder
>You pass by several more rusty tables, or upright bindings
>That sound
>That… sobbing
>It’s clear
>Your heart races inside your chest
>Do you dare…?
>…
>…
Hello?
>You call out
>Your stomach turns over
>You instantly regret doing so
>The sobbing halts
>…
>…
>”H-Hello…?” you hear
>A voice…
>That of a small child
>A filly, perhaps
Hello? Where are you?
>You hear soft scuffling
>”Over here, mister…”
>You listen closely
>And follow her voice
>You round several stalagmites and gnarled metal contraptions
>The area starts to look more p0ny-made
>Walls begin to look more carved than natural, to fit a type of room
>You pass by several gates and bars
>Most have been torn open or destroyed
>”S-Sir…?”
>You’ve finally arrived
>From the darkness that your flame has vanquished, a small child sits
>A yellow filly with green hair
>She’s wet, and shivering
>Her mane looks twisted and neglected
Oh, you poor thing…
>You crouch down to her
What are you doing down here all alone?
>She sits up from the ground and sniffles
>”I’m… I’m waiting for my mommy…”
>Her mother?
>Another adult p0ny in this structure?
>You look over to her
>She’s looking to the ground
Hey…
>She looks up to you
>Her eyes are large, swollen, drenched with tears
>They embody misery
What are you and your mother doing in a place like this?
>She looks to the ground again
>”Mommy got in trouble…” she says solemnly
Trouble?
>”Yeah, trouble…”
>She scrapes the ground with her hoof
>”She said some mean things about Princess Celestia…”
What kind of things?
>She looks up to you again
>”Bad things. Mommy wasn’t happy about having to move here.”
>Move?
Move…? To this… castle?
>”No… to the new town not far away.”
>She sniffles again
 >”Princess Celestia made a bunch of her subjects move to this new town to help populate it. Anyone who said no or tried to get away…”
>She pauses
>”Got punished…”
>You place your hand to your chin
And your mom…?
>”Yeah, me and her had to go. But mommy wasn’t happy about it. She said bad things to and about Princess Celestia, and now…”
>She sighs
>”Now she’s in trouble…”
>You place your hand behind your head
>The poor thing…
>Maybe you can cheer her up…
>You place your hand under her belly and lift her up
>You tuck your hand under her, holding her like an infant, your other hand occupied by your lighter
>She looks slightly surprised, but accepting of the gesture
>…
>Oh my…
>This child…
>She’s so…
>…cold
>She looks to you
>And snuggles into you
>”Thanks mister…”
>Your eyes widen a bit
>Then you smile
No problem, kiddo.
>She hugs for a bit
>…
>But…
>Something’s not right…
Hey…
>You say
>She pulls away from you and acknowledges your inquiry
This new town… there’s a town being founded around here? In the Everfree Forest?
>She looks at you puzzled
>”No, not in the forest.”
>You look to her
Then… where?
>She smiles
>”Just outside of it!”
>Just outside of…
>Wait…
>…
>Your heart begins racing
Hey…
>She acknowledges you once more
What’s the name of this new town…?
>She smiles again
>”P0nyville!”
>…
>Your heart almost stops
>You look at her in total awe and surprise
>She looks back
>And grins
>She turns to your lighter
>Inhales
>And blows out the flame
H-Hey!
>The weight of the child dissipates from your arms
>A cool sensation swirls around your whole body
>Giggling echoes throughout the entire room
>You flick your lighter over and over again
>Until the flame finally returns
>You whip it around you, trying to locate this child
>But…
>She’s nowhere in sight
>There’s nothing around you
>The giggling has stopped
>But its ghostly echo still bounces off the walls
>Your heart is going a mile a minute
>You stand still for ages
>Then walk over to a large stalagmite
>And sit down, leaning your back against it
>…
>This mansion…
>…
>You get the feeling it’s of more significance than you thought…

End of Part 3