Day 12, 00:05

Pinkie instinctively raised her hooves to shield her face as a gust of air smashed into the room as soon as she turned the door handle, the door was flung open, the warmth of the bedroom evaporating instantly, leaving only an icy chill around her. Pinkie lowered her forehooves and opened her eyes, somehow without realising it she had been spun around so she was now facing the inside of her room.

Pinkie recalled how the rooms had always felt warm and cosy; the same could not be said anymore. The wooden panelling was stripped away from the walls, revealing bare concrete beneath. The wooden fixtures were rotten and crawling with woodlice. The curtains were tattered, the bed nothing more than a dirty sheet stretched over a sagging mattress which was… writhing. Pinkie fought the urge to throw up as she began to notice maggots crawling off it and landing on the floor, she quickly backed out of the room and fell straight down.

The fall didn’t last long, Pinkie landing hard on her rump after only a few seconds. She groaned as she craned her neck. High above her was a rectangular light amidst the darkness. Looking around, Pinkie recognised her surroundings as being the hallway just outside her room, however the walls were completely bare, the doors to the bedrooms completely absent. Looking up once more, Pinkie realised that the ceiling had simply disappeared, instead the walls just travelled higher and higher until they faded into the darkness. The ethereal lights that had once danced throughout the corridor were also gone.

Dragging herself to her hooves, Pinkie glanced back once at her bedroom door impossibly high above her. There was no way she could reach it now, even if she wanted to. Turning her attention back to the corridor, she reminded herself why she had strayed from the safety of her room in the first place. She had to find Fluttershy, and that meant leaving this place. Taking a deep breath, Pinkie set off down the corridor, her hooves shuffling on the decline. Pinkie’s room should have been one of the lowest in towers, but for some reason when she traversed the corner, she found herself in another blank stretch of hallway, ending in another corner.

Pinkie picked up the pace, almost running to the end. Flinging herself around the corner her jaw dropped when she found herself standing at the start of yet another corridor segment. Pinkie stood up straight, closed her eyes and began to take deep, even breaths.

This place is trying to mess with my head; it’s all just a nightmare. If I keep my cool I should be able to make my way out of this.

Feeling slightly more confident, Pinkie opened her eyes once more, and immediately regretted doing so when she found herself standing on a much steeper slope, staring down into the darkness beneath her. Pinkie scrabbled desperately at the carpeted floor as the corridor tilted even further. Her breathing became more rapid as she clung to the surprisingly sticky floor.

“It’s just a nightmare,” Pinkie reminded herself, her voice shaky.

She repeated her mantra several more times, trying feverishly to calm down. Then her stomach lurched as the corridor stretched out like an elastic band before snapping back, causing her to lose her grip on the carpet and fall down into the shadows.

Pinkie got spat out of the corridor at the other, end being flung unceremoniously into the opposite wall of hallway outside the residence tower. She rubbed her aching head, moaning as she looked up. The doorway to the tower began melting before her very eyes, taking the form of a gaping mouth snapping its jagged teeth fruitlessly at her. Even though it was confined to the opposite wall, Pinkie still tucked her limbs in, desperate to be as far away from the door monster as she could.

Looking around her she found this corridor was more or less the same as it was during the day, the only difference being the flaming torches shone with a pale blue light. Pinkie slowly got to her hooves, trying to ignore the savage monster in the wall in front of her. She glanced down both directions, trying to decide where to go. On the one hand she could go towards the entrance hall; from there she could reach the whole first floor, the grounds and the library wing.

The other direction would lead her to the central chamber, and by extension the infirmary. Pinkie had no idea where Fluttershy had gone, or why, but if she was lucky she’d find her in the infirmary. Making up her mind, Pinkie set off towards the central chamber, the sound of snapping jaws fading into the background until Pinkie could hear it no more.

Day 12, 00:53

Pinkie reached the end of the corridor, arriving at a door. She wasn’t sure how long she’d been walking; it felt like time had slowed down. Glancing down at her hoof computer she found the screen fuzzy, a familiar image of grey pixels. She tapped fruitlessly a few times, but nothing would change the image, or silence the humming that she hadn’t even noticed until now. Sighing, she opened the door and stepped through automatically.

The door slammed shut behind her, but she barely noticed as she stood blinking on the balcony of the entrance hall.

But the entrance hall was the other way. I did go the right way… didn’t I?

Pinkie gritted her teeth; she was beginning to regret ever opening her bedroom door.

When I find you Fluttershy, I don’t know if I’m going to hug you or kill you!

Glancing back, Pinkie wasn’t overly surprised to see the door behind her inaccessible, dark vines spreading over it, pulsating grotesquely. Turning back to the entrance hall Pinkie began walking, stopping only at the top of the staircase. This room, like the last was almost the same as she remembered it, the only major difference being the blue lights. As she began walking down the stairs however, the open gate ahead of her began rippling, the image warping and distorting. When Pinkie reached the foot of the stairs, the rippling stopped and the gate was now blocked by the portcullis.

“Well that seemed unnecessary,” a voice said from behind Pinkie. “Couldn’t they have just lowered it instead of doing that weird wobbly stuff?”

Pinkie turned around and looked to the top of the staircase, her blood freezing as she saw who spoke.

“I mean, sure it’s spookier that way,” Twilight admitted, “but it’s not like that matters with somepony as brave as you Pinkie.”

Pinkie gaped like a fish out of water, staring up at the lavender alicorn sitting casually upon the staircase.

“What’s wrong Pinkie?” Twilight asked, sounding concerned. “You look like you’ve just seen a ghost.”

Pinkie blinked hard, her nostrils flaring.

“Go away!” Pinkie snapped, turning away from her. “You aren’t real.”

“Well that’s hardly a nice thing to say to your friend,” Twilight said, sounding hurt.

Pinkie ignored her and began walking away in the direction of the adjoining corridor.

“Wait, wait, wait,” Twilight called, rushing down the steps after Pinkie. “I’m sorry; clearly you’re upset about something. Is there anything I can do to help?”

“You could not pretend to be my friend!” Pinkie shot back, her eyes piercing into those of the lookalike.

“Pinkie, I am your friend,” Twilight said reaching out and taking hold of Pinkie’s hoof. “See?”

Pinkie froze, she had expected to be able to just phase right through her, but there it was, Twilight’s hoof in her own. Pinkie jerked back but Twilight held on, pulling Pinkie in closer so her hoof was pressed against Twilight’s chest.

“It’s me Pinkie,” Twilight insisted.

Pinkie tried to pull away, tried to ignore to warmth of her hoof, of the beating of her heart. Twilight sighed and let her go.

“You aren’t Twilight,” Pinkie stated, although her voice was shaking this time. “Twilight is dead.”

Twilight laughed, causing Pinkie to back up even further. It wasn’t a cold laugh, it wasn’t dark or maniacal, it was rich hearty laugh, and it sounded all too familiar.

“Thank goodness, I was afraid you’d changed Pinkie,” Twilight said, whipping a tear from her eye. “But you still know how to make me laugh.”

Pinkie stared at the other mare in a mixture of horror and disbelief.

“I was afraid you see,” Twilight continued, suddenly sounding more serious. “That you weren’t the Pinkie I once knew. Do you remember, when I asked you never to change?”

Pinkie opened her mouth, but then a voice shouted out in her head.

Twilight is dead! This is a trick, just like everything else you’ve seen!

Pinkie braced her resolve.

“What do you want?” Pinkie asked flatly.

“What do I want?” Twilight repeated, sounding confused. “I want to help you.”

“Find Fluttershy?” Pinkie queried.

Twilight smirked, her eyes narrowing.

“Is that really what you want?” she asked, her voice cool, her horn flashing.

Pinkie blinked, before her hung a rectangular object held aloft by a pink aura.

“How did you get this?” Pinkie asked in disbelief, taking hold of the picture frame.

Twilight laughed again.

“So I was right, that’s all you really care about.”

Pinkie’s eye twitched in anger.

“I want to find Fluttershy,” Pinkie stated firmly. “This picture means nothing to me.”

“Fluttershy will be fine,” Twilight assured her. “What you hold is of far more value, and I’m offering it to you.”

“A picture of you and your family?” Pinkie questioned.

“A way to get ahead in this game,” Twilight corrected, that caught Pinkie’s interest and Twilight knew it. “Things are happening tonight, and if you choose to ignore me you’ll be caught off guard.”

Pinkie hesitated; she looked down at the picture frame, noticing the glass was cracked.

“What happened to this?” Pinkie demanded. “And how did you get it?”

“These are the answers I’m offering you,” Twilight explained, circling around Pinkie. “But you’ll have to forget about your friend, trust me when I tell you she will be fine.”

“How would you know?!” Pinkie snapped.

“That…” Twilight began, smirking, “is not one of the answers I’m offering you.”

Pinkie inhaled deeply, she just knew she was going to regret this, but then there wasn’t a thing about this situation she did like.

“Fine, say I agree,” Pinkie began. “What is it you want me to do?”

“For starters…” Twilight began.

Pinkie stepped back, horrified as Twilight’s entire body began melting away, becoming nothing more than a pitch black bubble writhing and shaping itself in the air in front of Pinkie.

“I’d like a drink,” Twilight finished, the black gloop solidifying in the shape of a large goblet.

Pinkie blinked in bewilderment, reaching out reluctantly to take hold of the chalice floating before her. The textures of the cup rippled beneath Pinkie’s touch, sending shivers up her spine. She wanted nothing more than the throw the cursed object as far away from her as possible.

She wants a drink?

Pinkie continued to stare in utter confusion, what did that even mean? Pinkie thought about it, it had to be some sort of clue as to where she was expected to go, but the only place where she could possible find a drink was in the…

Pinkie groaned.

The cellar.

Day 12, 01:38

Pinkie felt sick, she’d never be able to walk down a perfectly straight corridor again without expecting it to try and kill her in some way. Finally reaching the cellar door, she wasn’t half surprised to find the table conveniently absent. Peering through the threshold, she could make out an orange pinprick of light, flickering amidst the darkness. Taking one last look at the luminous blue light of the hallway, she set off down the cellar steps, the chalice held in her teeth.

She edged her way down the steps very slowly, not wishing to be taken by surprise again. Reaching the foot of the stairs, she made out a wooden column directly ahead of her, a lantern hanging from a hook. Walking up, she reached out with her hoof, hitting her computer first to bring the prongs out. Then, angling one of the prongs through the ring atop the lantern, she lifted it down and held it out before her, allowing its light to spill out around her.

The cellar ceiling was still as low as she remembered it, but she couldn’t see any of the walls from where she stood. The light radius the lantern offered wasn’t brilliant, but she should still have been able to make out something. Glancing back she could still see the blue glow from the top of the staircase. With the lantern held aloft, she began edging forward on three legs, hers eyes scanning the room for anything at all.

She must have walked for a minute straight, and still hadn’t found the walls, no barrels either. Occasionally she’d find an empty bottle lying on the ground. Frowning, she tried back tracking a little, almost tripping herself up on one of the bottles. She swore in a muffled voice as the bottle rolled away into the darkness, but then she heard a faint clink of glass against glass. Curious she began walking in the direction the bottle had gone, finding it lying next to another one.

Pinkie sighed internally, about to walk away when she caught sight of another bottle just at the edge of her field of vision. Walking over to it her suspicions were confirmed when the flickering light reflected off another bottle just ahead.

It’s a trail of breadcrumbs… or empty wine bottles.

Pinkie followed the bottle, which quickly became closer together and in some cases lying in piles of two of three. Finally, by following the trail she made it to the end of the room. The shelves were filled with more bottles, every one of them bone dry upon examination, but Pinkie’s attention was drawn to a gap in the shelves, a space where they had been smashed away to reveal a natural rock tunnel behind.

Walking up to the tunnel entrance, Pinkie shone her light in, noticing the cavern floor glittered as she did so. Figuring this was the way she was expected to go, Pinkie put her hoof forward, immediately pulling it right back, crying out in pain and dropping the chalice. Pinkie held her hoof up to the light, seeing a jagged shard of glass jutting into it, a small trickle of blood running from the wound.

Pinkie mentally chastised herself for rushing in so quickly. That was broken glass all over the tunnel floor, that’s why it was glittering when she shone her light over it. Lifting her injured hoof up to her mouth, she pulled the shard of glass out with her teeth, spitting it away to the side. She then scanned the floor for the chalice, quickly fining it and picking it back up. She would need to take it slower this time.

Stepping back towards the tunnel entrance she began shuffling along on her hooves, pushing the broken glass away from her as she moved as opposed to putting her weight down on it. Thankfully the tunnel wasn’t too long, a dark red glow indicating the end not too far from her. Pinkie felt the chalice wiggle about against her teeth, almost like it was getting excited. Arriving at the end, the tunnel opened out into a circular cavern, the red glow coming from the centre.

Pinkie set the lantern down at the cavern exit and stepped over the pile of glass she’d pushed forward onto the thankfully clear floor. The glow was emanating from a pedestal carved roughly in the centre of the chamber, a basin scooped out from the top making it look like a baptismal font. Reaching the edge of the font, Pinkie looked down into the basin where a deep crimson liquid lapped gently.

“There we are…” a voice hissed from the chalice in Pinkie’s mouth. “Now, dip me in, fill me up.”

Pinkie briefly questioned what this act could possibly accomplish before taking the chalice in her hooves and carrying out its wish. The liquid was thin, the goblet penetrating the surface easily. Pinkie tried to ignore the sensual moans the object began making as she filled it up, she was only too happy to pull it back out and silence it.

“Good, now…” the chalice began in a slow, lustful tone. “Drink!”

“Excuse me?!” Pinkie demanded. “There is no way I am drinking that stuff.”

“You must!” the chalice insisted. “Lest its answers be denied to you forever.”

Pinkie screwed up her face; she had to be completely insane to actually contemplate obeying this stupid cup.

“What exactly will it do?” Pinkie asked warily.

“Wonderful things…” the chalice replied. “The things you’ll see… the things you’ll feel…”

“And this will somehow help me win the game?” Pinkie questioned suspiciously.

“It will help you get ahead, yes,” the chalice confirmed.

Pinkie clenched her eyes shut, she was definitely insane. Bracing herself, she raised the goblet to her mouth and began chugging the red liquid down as quickly as she could. It tasted metallic, it was truly disgusting, Pinkie wanted nothing more than to throw the damn cup away and spew the vile stuff up, but for some reason she couldn’t. It was as if her body was no longer obeying her, guzzling down the liquid as fast as it could before dipping the chalice into the basin once more and refilling it.

“Isn’t it just intoxicating?” the voice said, echoing all around her as she began drinking down the second load. “Better than mother’s milk, wouldn’t you agree?”

Pinkie could barely focus on the voice, her mind was becoming hazy. The whole world was spinning out of control and yet somehow standing perfectly still. Her vision spun around as she tried to refill the chalice once more, but her hoof missed the basin and she collapsed to the ground, the whole world turning red.

Day 12, 02:54

Pinkie blinked awake, her brain ached, her body felt lifeless. She was forced to shut her eyes almost immediately as she was greeted with the sting of an intense white glow. Groaning, her head hurting even more now from the blinding light, she rolled over and swiftly fell off whatever she was lying on down to the hard ground below.

Pinkie’s eyes snapped open as the wind was knocked from her. The world was still spinning, but it was slowing down so that she was finally able to make out her surroundings. She was in the infirmary, only it didn’t feel like the infirmary. The only light came from the single neon bulb hanging over the bed she had been lying on. Now that she thought about it, there were never any beds in the centre of the infirmary. Standing up onto shaking hooves, Pinkie turned to the bed she had just fallen off.

It wasn’t a bed. It closer resembled a dentist chair, with the addition of mechanical arms jutting out around it, each tipped with various bloody tools. It was some kind of surgery chair. Pinkie quickly looked herself up and down but found no scars to indicate she had been the source of the blood on those tools. She shuddered at the thought and quickly stumbled around the contraption and started towards the doors.

Opening them both wide she stepped out into a much brighter lit waiting room. There were no torches lit, all the light came from a roaring wall of fire stretching across the archway leading to the central chamber. Pinkie gulped and edged forward, away from the infirmary doors. There would definitely be no getting through that flaming barrier, which left her with only one direction to go in. Turning right, Pinkie wasted no time in trotting down the corridor to the observatory, lined with flickering blue torches.

As she traversed the hallway she was constantly on the lookout for any bizarre activity that she’d come to expect of this nightmarish world. Surprisingly however, nothing did occur, that on its own worried Pinkie even more. Glancing back she quickly confirmed that nothing was following her. She was about to turn her attention forward once more when something did end up catching her eye.

Bloody hoof prints. Pinkie blinked in confusion for a moment before lifting up one of her legs and looking at the underside of her hoof. It was covered in cuts resembling the one she’d got when she stepped on the broken glass; some were long while others were deep, strangely enough none of them hurt. Checking her other hooves, Pinkie confirmed the trend. Peculiar, but if they didn’t affect her walking it hardly mattered. Shaking off the thought she continued on her way, traveling up the spiral corridor and reaching the heavy bulk door which was still lying open.

Pinkie could hear the hum of machinery as she stepped through the threshold of the observatory, heard the click-clacking of the orrery limbs carrying out their orbit of the centre orb. Pinkie was greeted with the sight of the orrery the moment she stepped into the room, it was not however as she remembered it. The structure itself was the same, but it was now surrounded by a mass of ghostlike gears.

Pinkie stared up at the machine in confusion as she edged around it. Almost the entire room was filled with the phantom clockwork. As she watched the rotating of the orbs and the turning of the gears, she couldn’t help but feel the two were connected somehow, working in tandem with one another. Then something specific caught her eye.

One of the planets was missing, ripped straight off its limb which was still turning none the less. Pinkie barely had time to contemplate this however before something heavy struck her in the side of the head and sent her flying across the observatory.

Pinkie’s head hammered as she tried to right herself. Craning her neck back, she looked to see what had attacked her. At first she couldn’t see anything amidst the phantom gears, but then it swooped into view. Pinkie rolled as it sped at her, clearing the way just as it smashed into the ground where she had just been laying.

Now that she a clear view of it she could see that it was some kind of ethereal blue ghost, comprised entirely of what could be magical energy. Surrounding it however were fragments of purple armour with gold trimming, floating about it to create the impression of some spectral stallion. Pinkie got back onto her hooves, wobbling as she did so. She had taken way too many hits lately, it was starting to become miraculous that she could even stand at all.

The monster turned to face her, almost furious in its stance, no doubt at her evading it. It charged again but Pinkie dodged, allowing it to speed into the wall behind her. Wasting no time, Pinkie galloped away from the creature, climbing the mesh ramp, eager to put as much distance between herself and the spectral knight as she could. It however, was having none it, swooping through the air and blocking Pinkie’s path. It swiped at Pinkie with a hoof gauntlet, but Pinkie side stepped and ducked through the open door to the battlements.

It was the first time she had been outside since she set foot outside her room this night; it was not a pretty sight. The sky was a mass of swirling colours, reminding her all too vividly of the shield over the Arcane Manor. The castle however was alive with activity, every wall, window and tower moving and changing shape. Judging from the view of the town so far below, the entire castle was inexorably spinning. Whilst inside Pinkie hadn’t even felt it, but now that she was out she could feel herself moving along with it.

Without stopping to speculate on these bizarre happenings, Pinkie kept running across the battlements, while the monster struggled to push its armour through the small doorway she had escaped through. The sound of smashing stone behind her told her the creature had gotten through the door and would now be pursuing her. There was nowhere left to run up here. Pinkie looked over at the monster as it rushed towards her, as she did, she caught sight of something.

A small object floated inside the centre of the creature, shielded by the breastplate it was wearing. Even from this distance Pinkie could make out the model planet that had been removed from the orrery. At that moment, a very foolish idea came to mind. Instead of turning tail and running away from the monster, Pinkie began sprinting towards it, leaping straight for its chest as they got close. The pair collided in mid-air, but Pinkie’s force managed to push both her and the phantom back off the edge of the battlements.

They were now free falling, Pinkie was beginning to seriously question the logic of her plan, however as they swiftly approached the ground below she decided to bite the bullet and go for broke.

She reached over the crest of the breast plate and drove her hoof into the magical aura that made of the monsters body. Her hoof computer only offered a little protection against the severe burning sensation in her leg as she grasped at the orb, wrenching it free from the creature. The second her hoof was free of the blue aura and the orb was no longer attached to the monster, it simply vanished into thin air, the pieces of armour spreading out and falling to the ground.

Pinkie however, felt a strange sensation overcome her, her descent began to slow rapidly, and just as she was about to connect with the ground her whole body flashed and she felt herself being dragged back through space itself.

Day 12, 04:22

When the light faded from around Pinkie, she found herself standing alone in a wide tiled room painted in an unearthly blue glow from the ethereal orbs set in brackets along the wall. She backed up and leaned against the wall to catch her breath, looking down at her prize, only then realising the orb was broken. Pinkie groaned.

Wonderful, I went through all this shit for a broken planet replica.

Pinkie slid down the wall and cradled her head, wishing she had just ignored Twilight and gone after Fluttershy. Now she was trapped alone in all this madness and Fluttershy could be anywhere.

Still, I wanted to know how Twilight got that picture. She seemed pretty insistent that Fluttershy was okay, did she give it to her?

There were so many questions Pinkie wanted answered, not least being what she was to do now. Reluctantly standing back up, taking a closer look at her surroundings. It didn’t take her long to register the wooden benches and shower cubicles, this was the wash room. At least this put her back close to where she started; she could leave and get back to her search.

With that decision made, Pinkie began walking across the wash room, her eyes set on the exit, trying not to slip on the slightly wet floor. She was about to reach out and turn the door handle when a loud creaking echoed behind her.

Pinkie took a deep breath, drawing her outstretched hoof back and turning around. At first she didn’t see anything out of the ordinary, but then she noticed it. A single cubicle door was now lying ajar where before they had all been tight shut. Pinkie didn’t doubt for a second this was going to be something designed to mess with her head, but also knew full well it was something she was expected to investigate.

“Sometimes,” Pinkie whispered, “I really hate my curious nature.”

Pinkie strode across the room once more, her eyes flickering back and forth to make sure nothing was going to jump out at her. Once she arrived beside the cubicle door she cast one last glance behind her before reaching out and pushing the door open the remainder of the way. Finding the walls of the cubicle smeared of copious amounts of blood actually didn’t surprise Pinkie as much as she was expected to.

“Huh,” Pinkie muttered. “I was actually expecting… something else.”

Feeling the tiniest bit disappointed, Pinkie turned away from the stall and began walking away, stopping when she heard a loud slurping noise.

That’s more like it…

Pinkie turned around slowly, her eyes drawn to the drain of the shower as something dark began rising up from it. The bizarre gloop continued to rise from the drain, inflating itself up, stretching out of the cubicle. It was only when the light shone over than Pinkie realised it was a living mass of wet, clogged hair.

“Okay…” Pinkie began slowly, backing up slightly. “I’m gonna go.”

Turning, she swiftly walked away from the tangled abomination towards the door she had previously ignored. Arriving next to it she reached out and turned the handle, only to find the door locked.

Pinkie turned the handle a few more times, internally swearing. When she finally accepted the door wasn’t going to magically open itself, she reluctantly turned around in time to see the sopping, blue mass now towering over Pinkie and hulking itself under the ceiling which was low for the monster.

Pinkie barely had time to utter a single swear before she was forced to roll out of the way of a large dripping limb swiping down. The limb made a loud slapping noise as it splattered all over the floor, leaving mounds of stray blue hairs sticking to the ground as it pulled its limb back. Pinkie continued to back up, never taking her eyes off the massive hairball as it began slowly lumbering over to her. The monster had no discernable features; it was quite simply a mound until it reached out with a single lazy appendage.

Circling around the edge of the room so as to avoid having to get close to the creature, Pinkie crossed to the door that led to the other areas of the wash room, only to find it locked also.

“Oh come on!” Pinkie yelled at the door.

She turned and found the monster inches from her ready to swing its tangled, clogged limb down once more. Pinkie only barely missed it that time, skidding across the wet floor in her escape attempt.

How did it move so fast? It was barely moving at all a second ago.

Backing up once more, Pinkie’s eyes flickered all around for something she could use to defend herself with. As she passed by the blood splattered shower cubicle she stared in it for a moment, looking back in time to see the creature once again mere inches away from her. The only way to escape was backwards into the cubicle, slamming the door shut and locking it.

So if I don’t look at it, it moves faster.

Luckily she could still see the sopping mass spreading out through the gap under the door. Jumping in here had successfully protected her from another blow, but now she was trapped without anything to protect herself with. She backed up and felt something jut into her back; glancing back she noticed the shower head hooked onto the wall. The cubical door shuddered as the monster threw its weight against it.

Once again Pinkie made a snap decision that probably would have seemed insane to any normal pony. Grabbing the shower head, she pulled it free of the wall, dragging it out as far as the cord would allow, then she turned the dial causing hot water to jet out and steam to begin filling the confined space.

The monster hammered against the door a second time. Pinkie obliged by reaching out and pulling the latch, allowing the door to be flung open by the force of the creature. Pinkie was glad she hadn’t planned on being able to squeeze past it as the monster filled every visible inch of the doorway. Without hesitating Pinkie turned the water on the creature, making sure it was at maximum pressure. The hairy mass seemed to stumble slightly as the water began punching a hole through its body, separating and untangling the hairs that made it up.

It was slow, but effective. The hair that made up the creature steadily began to peel away, the entire body collapsing lower and lower until it was nothing more than clumps of soaked hair floating about in the slightly flooded floor. Once every inch of the creature had stopped moving, Pinkie shut the water off and let the shower head drop to the floor, wasting no time in hoping out of the cubicle trying to avoid the largest piles of hair.

Her eyes were immediately drawn to the now wide open door which she sprinted for as soon as she was clear of the hair monsters remains. As she passed the door she felt a rushing sensation as light enveloped her and the world slipped out of focus.

Day 12, 05:38

She blinked rapidly as she found herself in the old, generic corridor. While the flaming torches here shone blue, it wasn’t nearly as vibrant as it was in the wash room and Pinkie was glad to be rid of the tint.

“Bad hair day?” a voice asked beside her.

Pinkie turned to see Twilight leaning casually against the door Pinkie had just come through which had managed to close itself without a single noise.

“What are you playing at?!” Pinkie demanded, shoving the ghost back. “All that crap with that chalice and the cellar, the phantom in the observatory, that thing in there! How does any of this help me win the game?!”

“It will help you get ahead,” Twilight repeated, brushing Pinkie off. “As soon as you stop acting and start thinking, you’ll see how. But that’s what I’m here to help with.”

“No!” Pinkie snapped. “I’m done listening to you. Twilight is dead; you and everything else in this insane place are nothing more than nightmares.”

Pinkie turned away from the alicorn and began storming away, freezing when she heard a scream of rage behind her.

“Don’t you dare walk away from me!” Twilight screeched, her voice no longer anything like Pinkie remembered, instead it was thundering and demonic.

Pinkie’s head whipped around in time to see Twilight’s skin shred away in black fire, something else emerging from her shell. First came its arms, long and skinny with spider like hands, its skin pitch black. They crept out, fingers twitching, grasping for her. Pinkie didn’t wait to see the rest, she turn and bolted down the corridor, the light of the torches rushing past her in blue blurs.

The demon screamed in anger, charging after Pinkie. A brief glance cast over her shoulder told Pinkie the demon was considerably faster than her, and despite her head start it was already rapidly gaining on her. Facing forward once more Pinkie noticed what appeared to be an alcove slightly further ahead. As she got closer she realised it was the spiral staircase to the second floor. Running with all her might she dived into the stairwell and scrambled up just as the demons claw swiped at her.

Once at the top she looked back to see the arm stretching up through the staircase, trying desperately to grasp hold of her, but she was just out of its reach. Wasting no time, she scrambled to her hooves and began sprinting down the corridor in the direction that would take her back to the entrance hall. A colossal smashing noise caused her to glance back for only a split second to see the demon punching through the floor behind her, now climbing up into the corridor with her.

Pinkie looked forward again, trying to wring whatever energy she could from whatever adrenaline she had left. Once again she heard the creature growing louder, knew it was swiftly catching up to her, and this time there was nowhere for her to escape to. Then she saw it, the tiniest sliver of light shining through a door ahead of her that was only slightly ajar.

Pinkie was so focused on the light that she never saw the object lying discarded on the floor in front of her. She placed a hoof down on it, felt it roll away beneath her and take her legs with it. Pinkie fell into a crumpled heap, rolling over just in time to see the ferocious demon leaping upon her. Pinkie clenched her eyes shut, knowing there was no way out of this one. Even if there was an escape route, she didn’t have the strength left.

This entire night she had been thrown about like a rag doll and it was finally catching up to her. No, there would be no escaping this, this time she was going to die.

But death never came. The demon ceased making noise. Confused, Pinkie opened her eyes. If the sheer lack of the demons presence was the first clue things were back to normal, then the flaming torches once again being orange was the second. Pinkie rolled her head slightly, peering down at her limp hoof where the screen on her hoof computer had returned to life.

06:00

She had made it. Pinkie let her head fall back upon the stone floor and allowed herself to wheezily laugh in triumph. Dragging herself into a sitting position, she mentally promised herself she would never break the curfew again. Now that she was up however, she spotted something odd lying down the corridor. She stared at it for a few seconds before realising it must have been the object she had slipped on.

Curious as to what almost cost her her life, Pinkie stood up and walked over to it on weak legs. Any ill feelings she had towards the object dissipated as soon as she saw what it was. Holding it in her hooves she quickly searched through her saddlebags for the other half of the planet. Fishing it out she put the pieces together, they fit perfectly and looked almost identical; the only major difference being this new piece was caked in blood.

As Pinkie’s head began to clear, a sense of dread began to fill her up. She turned around, directing her attention to the ajar doors, the doors to the chapel. Walking over slowly, Pinkie reached out to open them, briefly taking note of a chip of glass lying on the floor. Entering the chapel, Pinkie’s eyes navigated to the form lying spread-eagle in the middle of the aisle, under the light of the rose glass.

Pinkie felt empty as she walked down the red carpeted aisle, reaching the body and crouching down next to her. Fleetfoot wasn’t wearing her flight suit, and her sunglasses were nowhere to be seen, but it was her alright, even if her face was a mangled mess, her skull brutally smashed in.

“Good morning everypony!” the Mastermind announced, Pinkie hardly acknowledging it. “It’s been a busy night, so much so that a body has just been discovered in the chapel.”

“I’m sorry,” Pinkie whispered to be brutalised corpse. “My friend.”

Author's Notes:

This part was easily one of the hardest to write. I have nightmares all the time, but putting the kind of twisted imagery associated with them into words has always been one of my greatest trials.
The observatory monster is based on Xerath from League Of Legends, while the wash room monster is basically what I imagined would happen if the hair that clogs up the shower drain grew so large that it developed sentience.