There is only darkness.

I am in a completely pitch-black room. I can't see anything at all. There's a comfortable bed covering half the room, with a single soft pillow and heavy silk blanket. The room itself is square and tiny; I can reach the walls both in front and behind me if I stretch my legs out on the floor. Speaking of the floor, it's oddly very clean! I can feel no dust or dirt. The air is so crisp and cool, I feel like I can breathe easier than ever in here. Seems like I'm able to stay calm due to it, but maybe it's just me. Either way, I need to keep this calm; it is the only chance I have to escape, keeping my sanity.

I try to use a simple lamplight spell, before I remember that I don't have a horn anymore. How is that possible? Was it... surgically removed, or something? It is not exactly easy to remove one. I run a hoof over my head and across my backside. My mane and tail don't seem to have the curls that they're supposed to, either. It feels sleek and smooth, but straight. It just isn't my style. Just what happened to me? Where am I...?

Time passes, I think. With nothing to see, there is little to reference the passage of time. I try to count the seconds, the minutes, the hours. It's hopeless. I can't even be sure that I'm counting properly. The most I can do is continue to lay in bed, slowly going insane.

The sound of a sliding panel echoes in my ears suddenly, shocking me and making me bump my head into the wall. A stoic, straightforward voice came out of the darkness in front of me.

"Water," the voice of a hidden mare says. I heard the sound of something wooden knocking against the wall. When I think about it, I'm extremely thirsty. Stepping carefully towards the wall where I heard the noises, I stuck my nose forward gently into something wooden. Dipping my head over, I could feel the cool touch of the water on my snout. Pursing my lips on the end, I could feel the spoon or ladle or whatever it is tipping to me from the other side, and I drank the cold liquid. It doesn't quite have a taste, but it is very quenching; it's quite pure. As the water ran out, the panel slid shut again, leaving me in my silent room.

I awoke in the darkness once again, having relaxed enough to sleep after my drink. My hoof instantly went to my forehead, trying to find my horn. It's still gone. I'm still here; stuck in this room. As the time passes, I listen closely to what goes on outside. On occasion there is a slew of bumping and clattering and noise from what I can assume is a nearby room. I hear hoofsteps, a door opening, and then a moment later the noise quiets. From what I can tell by such events, I don't dare make a commotion while I'm in here.

"Food." The sound of the panel and the voice came once more. Carefully, I again went to find this food from the source of the word. My nose bumps into something soft. Dragging my lips around the edge and sniffing it, I find it's a kind of sandwich. I took it into my mouth, and the panel slid shut again. Taking a careful bite, I can taste a remarkable mixture of flavor in this. A lettuce, tomato, and cheese sandwich with just a smidge of mayonnaise. It tastes absolutely wonderful, the experience within this dark void giving me solace. Sitting on the bed, I enjoy my sandwich quietly for the next... I'm not sure how much time passes as I eat. I take it slow so that I occupy myself easier.

Finishing my meal, I breathe out a sigh of relief from the exquisite distraction. Back to the darkness, I'm beginning to tire after eating. Climbing into bed, my hooves grab the silk blanket and I drape it over myself. I can feel that it is extraordinarily well-crafted. Suddenly, a crackling sound from the ceiling gave me pause, and a moment later, the mare's voice from before spoke from above.

"Music."

The sound of a piano began playing out of the ceiling. It's... oddly soothing. A violin accompanies it after a few moments. A flute and a harp soon follow, and the composition flows through the air gently, reaching my ears, touching me at the core. I feel so... at peace. My stomach is full, my soul is calm, my body is limp. However, my mind is still at a bit of an unease. I should try not to focus on that right now. I may as well get some more sleep while I'm able.

My eyes open once more... I think. The darkness is all I continue to see. It is unnerving. I honestly don't know how long I can stand to be here before I go mad. Just as I'm feeling like I'm about to pound on the walls in frustration, I hear doors opening outside, one by one. The noise gets closer and closer until, I believe, mine opens.

"Exercise," the solemn, mysterious mare says from the ceiling. My curiosity getting the better of me, I look out of the room to what I knew was a long hallway... Although, this hallway is far, far longer than I thought it was. Small lamps hanging from the ceiling illuminate the hall, if I can even call it illumination. I can still barely make out anything. Everything is still dark, but I can see that the walls are grey. My room is grey. I... I'm grey!!

My perfectly filed hooves... My beautiful violet mane, my gorgeous matching tail, my pristine pearl coat... All of it is gone, replaced by this monotone. I leap outside in a craze, looking around helplessly. Countless amounts of ponies came out of their rooms to walk into the hallway. They were all trotting slowly in one direction, staring forward, one hoof after the other. They were grey. Manes, coats, tails, even eyes. Everything... Everypony... Grey.

I'm hyperventilating. The sight of it all is maddening. I let out a scream, causing many ponies around me to trip and fall. I can see all of their eyes staring at me in confusion and surprise as if they just saw a ghost. I back into my room, still breathing heavily as I spin around and slump onto my bed. I lay my arms down and throw my head into them, trying to erase what I had just seen from memory. This can't be happening. Am I in a prison!? No, this is worse... A visual nightmare beyond anything I could ever imagine. This can't be real...

Ow! Something small just poked my behind, making me almost jump, and my head turns back to check what it was. A unicorn mare is standing there, looking down at me carefully. My eyes shift to her mouth, where she seems to be carrying a syringe.

"Number 283. Mania," she says to nopony in particular. Whoever she is, she is turning into an even darker gray blob, and soon, I find I returned to the darkness once more...

- - -

Sight, what many may first view as false,

is constricted by our imposed walls.

To see beyond what eyes perceive,

one must change all one conceives.