Emptiness Pt. 2

>Opting to stay as far away from the roaming Fluttershy as possible, you decide to stick to the main floor
>You turn from the stairs, instead heading to the left of them, down another dark hallway
>You walk as lightfooted as possible, as to not give your position away
>The lantern opens up the hall with each step, revealing the secrets of the corridor once bathed in and protected by darkness
>More ancient furniture, dressers, paintings
>Several more suits of p0ny armor
>You wonder why such a place has so many suits of armor
>They practically line the wall every ten feet
>But these coats of metal give off no reflection
>Their armor was stained, dirty, ancient
>When did p0nies ever wear suits of armor like this?
>You push such petty and irrelevant thoughts out of your mind
>You round the corner of the corridor, and—
>!!!
>Oh… oh man…
>You place your hand on your chest and breathe
>Your heart practically shot out of your throat there
>In the middle of the hall stands…
> a suit of armor
>Out of place, not against the wall, just…
>Sitting there
>Facing you
>You walk around it, keeping your eyes on it as you do
>Who moved this…?
>Fluttershy…?
>You peer over to the wall
>Other suits of armor sit there
>Every ten feet
>So…
>You glace down
Where did this one come from…?
>It continues to stare down the direction from which you came
>You take a few more steps down the hall
>Eyes on the armor
>Then you break off, continuing your trek down the corridor
>The patterns begin to repeat
>Furniture, armor, dressers
>The portraits on the wall all depict p0nies from centuries past
>If you had to compare it to a time period from your own world, you’d say around Victorian-era
>Not a single portrait is the same
>As you pass, your light illuminates each and every one
>Like an introduction, bidding you hello as you shift their world from the everlasting darkness that only they know
>To a goodbye, as you suck the tantalizing light from them
>Only offering it for a second before ripping it away from their grasp once more
>…
(They’re only paintings, Anon…)
>You tell yourself
>A single window has appeared
>Offering what little assistance it can in terms of visibility
>You approach it
I wonder…
>Putting the lantern down, you take off your shirt
>You wrap it around your fist
>You breathe…
>…
>Okay
>One
>Two
>THUNK!
>You punch the window with all your might
>It simply bounces off
>A “thunk” reverberates throughout the corridor
>A loud one
>You sit in silence for a moment
>Only the white noise of rain taking up your ears’ invitation
>You hope Fluttershy didn’t hear that…
>You put your shirt back on
>You grip the lantern firmly in your hand
>You continue to gaze outside
So close…
>With one more lingering look, you turn back to walking
>The lantern opens the darkness once more
>Revealing—
Wha-!?
>Another suit of armor
>It just emerged from the darkness
>It stops you dead in your tracks
>You actually stumble back a little
>You place your hand on your chest once more
>…
>Nope
>You stride lengthily around it
>Leaving it in the darkness forever more
>Three steps later…
>…two more appear
>In the center of the hall
What’s going… on…?
>You step around these ones too
>You extend your stride
>You think you hear silent clinks and clanks
>Your lantern is doing a poor job of parting the darkness at your speed
>You barely catch the faint glimmer of several suits of armor before almost crashing right into them
>You halt immediately
>And back up a little
>There has to be at least…
>Seven of them
>In the middle of the hall…?
>…
>You stare at them
>No way someone could have…
>You take a step back
>Slowly
>You place your other foot behind you
>Your light retreats with you
>The old pieces of metal sink back into the blackness whence they came
>You take one more step for good measure
>Then turn around
>You hold your light in front of you, and—
What the--!?
>You almost drop your lantern in surprise
>You take a few steps back
>But… how…?
>You step forward again, holding up your light
>As you raise it, the p0ny shaped helmets emerge from the darkness
>All four of them
>As you raise it further, their bodies as well show themselves
>All facing you
>No way…
But I… I just came from…
>You lower your light
>You spin back around
>Maybe—
>Armor
>You stumble
>Six suits of armor
>In front of you once more
>The light wasn’t even needed to be able to see them
>You turn your head behind you
>The others from behind appear to be even closer
>You’re so flustered
>How are they—
>Taking a step back, your foot clangs against metal
>You lunge forward in response, dropping your lantern
>It bangs against the ground, extinguishing itself once more
>Total darkness
>Instantly, clinging and clanging of metal erupts from all around you
>It’s like an earthquake at a pots and pans outlet
>You drop to your knees and fumble against the ground
>You can feel something pass by you
>And behind you
>The noise continues violently
>Your heart races
>You feel your hand pang against an object on the ground
>You grip it instantly and pull it close
>The metal clanging adds so much pressure to your situation
>You fling out your lighter and flick it on
>You light the lantern as quickly as possible
>Immediately, at the instant the flame touches the wick
>…the sound halts
>Completely
>You hold out the light and dart it from left to right
>Not a single suit of armor surrounds you
>…
>You breathe heavily and deeply
>Catching your breath
>…
>You point it to the wall
>Well… there is that one…
>Sitting against the wall like all the others
>…
>You stand to your feet
>And back slowly away from it
>You turn around
>You dart the lantern out quickly
>…nothing
>You reach your hand behind your head and rub
>What the hell was that about…?
>This structure…
>You gaze around once more
>…what kind of place is this?
>You breathe in deeply
>Well, you’re in this situation now, and you have to get out of it
>Be brave, Anon
>You set forward in the direction you were in once more
>Eyes locked on every suit of armor as you pass
>Such an uneasy feeling they give you…
>The hall eventually splits up in three different directions
>There is zero indication as to which one goes where
>Windows disappeared a while ago
>Which means you’re probably inside the mansion deeper now
>Maybe even the middle
>You take a look down one of the halls with your light
>You can’t see far, but it looks very much the same
>You point it down another
>Also looks the same
>But it seems to be lined with rooms
>Your instinct tells you to go with this one
>Maybe check these rooms out
>You head in that direction, and approach one of the rooms
>You grip the handle and push
>It doesn’t budge
>You don’t linger on it for too long
>You advance down about ten feet down
>Another room
>You try this one as well
>…nothing
>You continue walking and trying
>The rain has been so constant, it’s almost completely blended in with your own thought
>Unnoticeable
>Unlike the…
>…
>Wait
>You crouch down and sit still
>And listen
>…
>What is that…?
>Is that… singing?
>You listen more intently
>…
>…
>It becomes clearer
>”…--quiet now, it’s time to go to bed~.”
>That voice
>It’s Fluttershy…
>And it’s coming from where you just came from
>Your chest starts thumping even harder
>”Hush now, quiet now~”
>You fling your hand down to your lantern and fumble with it
>”It’s time to lay your sleepy head~. Hush now… Ooh…”
>You finally extinguish the light
>”…what was that I saw?~”
>…oh no
>”Was that a light, my dear Anon?”
>…no, no no no
>You stand up
>She could see that? Is light that noticeable in this dark decrepit structure?
>She has to be more than sixty feet down the other hall!
>You tuck it under your arm and step quickly but quietly to a door
>You grip it and push
>Nothing
>Ugh!
>You quickly make your way to the next
>Push!
>Nothing
>”I can heeeear you~!”
>You’re being too loud with these doors!
>You practically bolt to the next one, trying to be as quiet as possible
>It’s a no-go!
>You can begin to hear her trotting hooves echo throughout the corridors
>You begin to panic
>You hurry to the next one and push
>It gently opens up
>Perfect!
>You slip inside quietly and close the door as silently as possible
>You feel around for a lock
>There… isn’t one…?
>Do none of these doors actually have locks…?
>But…
>…
>You don’t dwell on it
>You whip out your zippo lighter and flick it on
>The flame barely illuminates anything, but it’s enough to make out where you are
>It’s another bedroom
>One that seems to be much bigger than before
>”Sweeeeetie~” you hear from not too far away
>You can hear doors rattling back and forth
>Fuck!
>You step forward in the room
>Under the bed?
>Too obvious!
>In the corner?
>You doubt the dark will sufficiently shield you this time!
>A wardrobe…?
>Also obvious
>But—
>You hear a door very close rattle
>--no time!
>You run to the wardrobe and fling it open
>A pile of dusty clothes lay inside of it
>You quickly climb in and shut the door behind you
>You grab two handfuls of the clothes and shake them
>Dust goes everywhere; you can’t see it, but you can feel it
>You sit down inside the roomy wardrobe and plant them on top of you, completely covering you
>You really hope this works
>Your heart is racing
>And this dust…
>Oh man, this dust…
>Your throat starts to itch a little
>Damn it, Anon, do not cough
>Her hoofsteps are so close
>And…
>You hear the door to the room swing open
>”Aaah, this one’s open~” she says in her singsongy voice
>You can hear her trot in
>You try to balance your breath as efficiently as possible
>But you’re so nervous
>Every time you try, you practically hold it
>And this only makes your next breath bigger and louder
>And this dust!
>Your throat is on fire!
>”Hmm… could he be in the… bed?” she says playfully
>You hear the springs sink a little
>”Anon, dear? Not here? Awh…~”
>You hear the springs release
>”I thought a bed would be a great place to hide… maybe have a little… private time~?”
>Private time…?
>What is she talking about?
>”Hmm… maybe…”
>Her voice is much louder
>You practically hold your hand over your nose and mouth
>You need this breath under control!
>”Here?”
>KATCHING!
>Something just stabbed into the door
>Violently
>You hear the door creak open slowly
>You begin to hold your breath
>You clamp your eyes down hard
>Your own throat claws at you, desperately trying to betray you
>You need to hold on!
>Baaaaby~, you in here?”
>She waits a moment
>She says nothing more
>The door just stays open
>You can feel Fluttershy’s eyes scan the wardrobe
>Over and over
>…does she know?
>Why is she taking so long?
>It feels like an eternity passes
>…
>…
>SHINK
>The stabbing utensil leaves the door
>You can hear hooves trot away from the door
>”Hmm…” you hear her contemplate
>”Maybe…”
>The main door creaks open again
>”Come ooooout~” she calls again, the voice seemingly coming from the outside hallway
>You can hear her hooves trot away
>More doors try to be pushed open
>Until eventually
>…
>She’s out of earshot
>…you wait more
>Just to be safe
>Then, you burst out of the clothes
>You take a huge breath
>And cough violently
>Trying your best to be silent about it
>You flail out of the wardrobe
>Tripping as you do, falling onto the ground
>You slap against the cold stone floor
>And lay there for a moment
>Breathing
>Collecting yourself
>What a fucking close call…
>You bring out your lighter once more and take a look at the wardrobe
>The light illuminates the age-old wooden piece of furniture
>…yes
>A clear puncture, about two or three inches tall
>…looks like that of a knife
>Why is she carrying that around?
>Does she want to kill you…?
>or…
>…rape you?
>Maybe even…
>Both?
>She seems out of it enough to try something like that
>You take another deep breath
>You light your lantern and poke your head out of the door
>…the coast is clear
>You decide against going further down this hall like Fluttershy did
>Instead, heading back the way you came
>To the intersection
>You observe the third way you never quite looked at
>It looks very similar, even identical, to the hallway you’re in now
>Stretching seemingly indefinitely with a plethora of closed doors
>Fantastic…
>You begin to take a step
>…
>Wait
>…
>Clop…
>You twist your head
>Clop clop…
>Oh no…
>Clopclopclopclop
>Is that coming from down Fluttershy’s hall?
>Has she spotted you again?!
>You bolt from the hallway back down the very original one
>You quickly make your way back
>Suddenly
>A loud barrage of noises assaults your ears
>It sounds like repeated slamming
>You clamp your hands down over your ears
>But, it was pointless
>The noise ends almost as quickly as it began
>You take off your hands and listen
>…
>…
>Silence
>No hooves
>No slamming
>…
>Nothing
>You turn around
>And hold out your lantern once more
>You continue down, back toward the third hall
>You peer into it with your lantern
>It… looks the same
>But…
>Every door…
>Every single one that you can see
>…is wide open
>You stand still for a second, contemplating what just happened
>…what kind of place is this?
>Do you… do you still want to go down that hall?

End of Part 2