First came cold, then darkness, then silence. Slowly, the unicorn opened her eyes. She was on a smooth stone floor. The cold had drained any sensation from her left side, rendering it completely numb.

Where was she? This certainly didn’t look familiar. She appeared to be in a room of some sort. With the lack of light, that was the best she could deduce. Maybe walking around would give her a clue. The instant she stood up, pain shot through her entire body.
Thousands of pins and needles along her left side made her start hopping in place. How she hated the sensation! It took longer than she would have liked for her circulation to be restored. The pain was gone and she could feel all four hoofs again.

Gently, she tapped on the floor. Hard and smooth. Time to shed some light on the situation. She concentrated. A glowing orb of yellow light appeared around the tip of her horn. Now she could see what was going on.

It looked like a room, a hall rather, so large that the spell lit only a small fraction of it. A feeling of abandonment filled the air. From what the unicorn could tell, this must have been a grand, possibly beautiful, place, but now was little more than an empty shell.

What the hay was she doing here? She didn't remember being invited to any grand events. And even if she had, it wouldn't be to an empty hall. The walls were as bare as the floor - no windows, doorways, or any sort of decoration for as far as the eye could see. No furniture either.

“Is anypony there?” she called. Her voice echoed off the hard surfaces, disappearing into the darkness.

So much for that. The only option left was to start searching for a door. Logic dictated that she should follow the wall. That way, she wouldn’t get lost or venture into any sort of danger, and would hopefully find an exit sooner or later. What concerned her the most was her consumption of magic. A simple light spell required a lot of energy, but there was no telling how long the unicorn would have to maintain it. The exit could be a few steps away, or it could be a thousand. There was simply no way of knowing until she was practically on top of it. Also, she had to keep in mind that there was no telling what awaited her beyond the hall.

Pressing a shoulder against the wall, she went forward. There was nothing to be afraid of, the unicorn kept repeating to herself. She should end the light spell now. She could recast it anytime. That way she would have enough magic stored for when she needed it. It was simple math, even a filly could see. And yet the thought of walking on in darkness terrified her to the core. Her mind tried to find an excuse, any excuse, to keep maintaining the light. There were none. Ultimately, what it came down to was a simple choice - walk in darkness now or later. And while walking in darkness now would be painful, staying in darkness, unable to cast a spell, was worse.

Taking a deep breath, the unicorn let go of her magic and let the darkness engulf her.

“I hope I’m not making a mistake here,” she said, hoping to hear a reply. Unsurprisingly, there was none.

For a few long seconds she stood there motionless, hesitating, wondering whether to recast the spell or not. Finally she made a step forward, then another, and another. The darkness made her steps sound louder, almost as if there was somepony else nearby. Was there? She stopped abruptly. The only sounds that remained were her breath and the pounding of her heart.

“Just an echo,” the unicorn said nervously. That didn’t make her feel even a bit better. If only she could remember how she got here. That would explain so much. But no matter how hard she tried, everything remained one huge blank. No memory of her home, her parents, or anything else related to her life. The only thing she could vaguely remember, before waking up, was… laughter?

Something sharp brushed against her shoulder.

"AH!" she shouted and instantly lit up her horn. This time it wasn't her imagination. Something had nicked her - something on the wall.

Moving a step back, she focused all light on the wall. There was a message there, carved into the stone of the wall in huge wavy letters. She had to take another few steps back to make the whole of it out.

"Old names no more," the message read. Slightly spooky, but not overly disturbing. Until she realized the fashion in which it had been made.

She felt sick to the core. Every single letter was lined with small, barely noticeable, bone fragments. These were no ordinary piece of bone. Some unicorn had burned its horn to a crisp to melt the words into the wall. Somepony had sacrificed their horn! What insanity could have forced them to do something so deranged? Without a horn, a unicorn was nothing. It couldn’t just become an earth pony, magic was the element that made it whole, its very life force! Even those incapable of anything but simple levitation wouldn't part with their horns! The experience was as horrible and painful as plucking the wings off a pegasus! And yet somepony had chosen to do just that, all to leave this message.

“Old names no more…” she repeated, despite the protest of her stomach. “Old names…”

She must have spent close to an hour trying to figure it out, when she got it. She couldn't remember her name! Since she woke up, there hadn’t been a reason to think about it. Without the message she might not have at all.

How was it possible for her to forget her own name?! That wasn’t natural! Nopony could forget their name. It was the same as losing a cutie mark. The unicorn froze. A horrible thought crossed her mind. Panicked, she looked at her flank.

"Please be there, please be there," she whispered, heart beating wildly.

Thankfully, it was there - a candle flame surrounded by the sun. That was a relief. Now if she could only figure out what it meant. Her memories related to her cutie mark had gone as well. Candlelight… Sun… was her special talent light making? That would terribly convenient, not to mention weird. Would anypony need a candle during the day? Then again, if that was her speciality, maybe she could light up the entire hall. Not a bad idea, but not particularly good either. There was nothing for her to light. No lamp, or torch, or any object whatsoever. She could probably make a floating flame, but that seemed unreliable. Or maybe...

The unicorn tapped the floor with her hoof. What if she had been looking at it all wrong? So far she had thought of the floor as her enemy, but what if she could transform it into an ally? Everything was all a matter of perspective. Making marble glow wasn't particularly difficult, it would only require more magic. Judging by the hall's size, she would have to push herself a bit, but once done it would keep on glowing for hours. Ideally, that should be more than enough to find her bearings and get out.

Taking a deep breath, the unicorn focused her magic on the floor. A radiant glow slowly poured from her horn onto the smooth surface. Very much like paint, gently pouring into a dish of water. In a matter of seconds a circle of light formed beneath her, expanding steadily. The experience felt surprisingly enjoyable, filling her with hope and confidence. Soon, however, fatigue and doubt started seeping in. For every foot the circle of light grew, the unicorn's strain increased twofold.

“I have to manage,” she encouraged herself. Already she had lit more of the hall than she had been through. A short distance away she could see the spot she had woken up on, the remnants of drool glistening slightly in the light.

“Just a little more…”

The lit area was large enough to hold a manor. The hall, however, had no intention of ending. Just how large was this place? The unicorn had seen lakes smaller than this!

“Just a little…” Sweat trickled down her forehead.

The pressure was unbearable. Her horn was white hot with magic. There was no telling how much more she could endure. Could the hall be infinite? With everything she had experienced in the last hour, the notion didn't seem too far fetched. There was so little she could make sense of. Giving up seemed quite tempting at the moment. However, if she did, all her progress so far would be erased. Magic didn’t allow the luxury of stopping half way. A spell could either be complete or fizzle out.

"Not yet!" The unicorn closed her eyes.

Gathering every ounce of strength available, she focused on the spell. Come Tartarus or high water she was not going to end up going insane in the darkness! No matter what it cost her, she would not!

The sound of crackling filled her ears. Not good! Her horn was burning up, incapable of enduring the strain. Any longer and the spells would poof away, leaving her with in the dark, with an extremely painful headache.

"Won't you end, you stupid floor!" the unicorn shouted. She wasn't going to last much longer. Fortunately, she didn't have to. A loud pop filled the room, indicating the completion of the spell. Finally, it was over.

“Thank Celestia,” the unicorn said, then dutifully collapsed on the floor. When she came to, she had no idea how much time had passed. It could have been minutes or hours. The floor was still glowing, so that was a good thing.

Her head hurt like a tree trunk during apple bucking season. She definitely hoped she wouldn't have to cast any other spells of that magnitude anytime soon. Now to figure out how to get out of here.

The hall was a dome, and it was enormous! Once, it must have been a ballroom of sorts. Majestic reliefs covered the upper part of the dome, peaked with a huge crystal chandelier that hung from the middle. Three small balconies overlooked the vastness, each with a white velvet banner hanging above. The symbols embroidered upon them were mostly illegible, dark strings torn off violently, leaving holes on the white surface. Of the remaining points of interest in the hall were a series of empty frames under the balconies, and a massive double door located directly across. That was all! No tables, chairs, candelabras, not even a carpet.

“At least it's not a difficult choice," the unicorn said, and went forward.

The door revealed further questions. For one thing, its entire surface was covered in several layers of damage - hoof marks, claw marks, horn marks, fire marks, even the spidery form of electrical burns spread across it. Whoever had been kept here, had desperately tried to escape. That meant two things: the unicorn wasn't the first to be trapped here, and everypony before her had either escaped or been dragged out posthumously.

The unicorn swallowed heavily. There was no telling what was expecting her beyond the door, but it didn't seem overly friendly. Taking a few steps back, she pressed the handle with her magic. Hardly had she done so when both halves of the door swung off their hinges and crashed loudly to the floor. Had she been a step closer, she would have been crushed!

“I… I…” she stuttered, eyes glued on the door. What sort of place was this?! She would have screamed, if the shock hadn't completely petrified her. Moments passed before she regained control of her body. Reluctantly, she looked up at the doorway. An instant later she wished she hadn't. A grey brick wall blocked the exit. There was no getting out through there. Scorched on the bricks another message stared at her.

“Nothing is what it seems”

Panic filled the unicorn. She hadn't got here by accident. Something had brought her to this dome, leaving her to die here, alone, abandoned in darkness! Who could hate her so much? Who could she have wronged so badly as to deserve this?

"What do you want of me?" she shouted, tears filling her eyes. "What have I done to deserve this?"

No answer. Dozens of questions raced through the unicorn's head. How many had been imprisoned before her? How long had it taken for them to be driven insane? Two messages meant two unicorns, and the marks on the doors indicated there had been others. It was a matter of time before she shared their fate. When that happened, what would she leave behind? A broken door? Nothing? Or would she burn her horn to leave a message of her own? At least that way she would leave a testament that she had ever existed.

Wiping away her tears, she looked at the brick wall. If she were an earth pony she could try to break it with her hooves. If she were a pegasus, she wouldn't even bother - it would be foal's play to fly to one of the balconies and escape from there. As a unicorn, she was stuck. Of course, she could try to teleport, in theory at least. The spell was ridiculously complicated, requiring years of careful study.

Panic became depression, then gradually turned to indifference. She might as well accept her fate to die here. She was neither strong, nor particularly crafty. If she had any useful skills, they had gone together with her memories. The most she could aim for was to burn off her horn in an attempt to melt a hole in the brick wall.

“Don’t leave yourself behind,” a faint whisper reached her ears. It was the first voice besides her own she had heard in this desolate place. Fearing it to be a trick of the mind, she held her breath and waited.

“Don’t leave yourself behind,” the whisper came again.

There was no denying it now. Somepony else was here! Somepony helping her! That meant there was a way to escape. All she had to do was find it.

“Everything starts with a single first step,” she said confidently. The phrase sounded familiar. Maybe it was part of her past?

The answer had to be connected to the balconies. There were three of them, all at the same height, all nearly identical. One of them had to hold be her way out. But which one to choose? Normally she would go for the middle one. That was the obvious choice. Here, however, nothing was what it seemed. She had a greater chance choosing the least likely - the one to the left. All that remained was to teleport there. Funny how she remembered there was such a spell. Apparently her memory loss was limited to places, ponies and events. Her knowledge and experience was still intact, if buried deep down in her mind.

"Teleportation is one of the pinnacles of magic," she recited. Saying her thoughts out loud had a positive effect. Of all the unicorns, maybe a dozen were able to pull it off successfully. When mastered it would allow the caster to appear in any place she could see, or had had been before. For the moment, the unicorn would settle with reaching the balcony.

“Here goes nothing,” she said, and started concentrating.

A flash of yellow light surrounded her, followed by a whooshing sound. Suddenly her surroundings changed. Much to her astonishment, she was no longer on the floor, but rather a few feet above the balcony itself.

“Whoa!” she screamed, landing on her feet.

A single attempt got her here? That couldn't be right. There was no way she could be that lucky. Teleporting was reserved for unicorns extremely gifted in the arts of magic. For her to manage on the first go, she must have been well versed indeed.

A gifted unicorn... She left the notion sink in. Being gifted was good. It meant she could rely on her spells to get her out of a mess. If nothing else, she could always teleport to safety.

The hall looked quite different from the balcony. Even now, completely empty and badly lit by a glowing floor, it projected a feeling of refined beauty. The unicorn could only imagine what it had to be like, packed with elegant mares and stallions, dancing under the glow of the crystal chandelier. Home to banquets and nobility, now the place of nothingness.

“Don’t leave yourself behind,” the whisper sounded again. It was coming from the small doorway at the end of the balcony.

“Can you hear me?” the unicorn shouted, her voice echoing in the hall. “I won’t hurt you!” Not thinking, she ran forward straight through the doorway and down a dark stairwell. “I’m just so lost and need your help!”

A new darkness surrounded her, softened only by a distant light further down the stairs.

“Don’t leave yourself behind…” the voice seemed only steps away. A mare, it sounded like a mare. Dry and a bit raspy, but there could be no mistake.

“I won’t,” the unicorn said, as a feeling of joy propelled her down the stairs. “And thank you!”

There were so many questions she had. Hay, there were so many things she wanted to say. Silly, stupid things that would make her feel like a pony again, not some lost forgotten prisoner, struggling to escape a living nightmare.

The hallway beyond the stairwell was clearly visible, and it was beautiful. Rich carpets covered the floor, intricate tapestries decorated the walls, small tables with silver lightning sticks illuminated everything. All the lovely colours rushed into her eyes. After the bleak hall she had been in, this seemed like a dream beyond compare.

“Hey,” she jumped out eagerly. “I am so glad to…” her voice trailed off.

Nothing could have prepared her for what was in store. The beauty she thought she had seen, the grandeur and majesty, the colours and hope, were a mere bubble extending a few steps from the stairwell entrance. Beyond that, filled with skeletal remains, lay a crumbling corridor, scorched black with cinders. Whatever joy had once resided here had long been swept away, replaced by something horrid. And the bodies... There had to be hundreds! Unicorns, pegasi, earth ponies, all burned to a crisp, piled along the corridor as far as the eye could see.

“Don’t leave yourself behind.” A single record player stood ten steps away, ceaselessly spinning a broken record. On the wall behind it, burned through cloth and stone, a new message awaited the unicorn, far more chilling that those before.

“The other side” it read in large misshapen letters.

What was this place? Had she died and gone to Tartarus? What was with all the dead ponies? How long before she joined them? Without food or water she could last for about a week, but without a reason to live - no more than a few hours. This terrifying place had taken care of that quite well! There literally was nothing to look forward to. Darkness behind her, death and scorched decay in front. The best she could do was to remain in the "happy bubble." At least there she would pass away comfortably, not like the ones before her. She at least would die in the light, listening to music. In the end what else could she hope for?

“Remember all the bubbles of joy we made,” she recited with a forced smile.

Using a bit of magic, the unicorn carefully pulled the record player towards her. It seemed in surprisingly good condition - no nicks or scratches that she could see, just a fine layer of dust keeping the needle from playing the record in full.

"Let's get a better look at you," she said, magicking the record out and cleaning it with her tail.

It seemed quite old. Probably something of the last century. The name “Amnesia Corners” was written on the label with bright orange letters. Underneath was a list of the contents - five songs:

1. Old names no more

2. Nothing is what it seems

3. Don’t leave yourself behind

4. The other side

5. Pick a name

The unicorn blinked. The song titles were familiar, they had been staring her since the moment she had woken up in the hall! No way this was a coincidence. All the messages were there - the one on the wall, the one on the bricks behind the door, the song on the record, the writing on the tapestry. Just one was missing - the final one.

Pick a name. That made as little sense as anything else in here, but it showed one thing - there was more to come. The whole place was like one giant riddle, nudging her to keep on going or give up and die. The unicorn was ashamed to admit, but it had almost worked. Pure luck made her move the record player closer. Had she not, she wouldn’t have seen the disc’s label. She would have never made the connection, and she would have chosen to die in the bubble of safety surrounding her. Come to think of it, was this a safety bubble at all?

Steadily, she made her way to the edge of the carpet, then took one step forward. A loud pop echoed, erasing the gruesomeness around her. Just as she suspected! This was an illusion bubble. There never was a fire or bodies. The hallway was as vibrant and preserved as the time it had been built.

Cautiously, she slid a hoof over the nearest tapestry, just to be sure. It was rough and dusty, but unmistakably real. So this is what "the other side" meant. Very clever. Now what was left was for her to find the final message. It wasn't here, and a glance to the other side of the hallway revealed it not to be there either.

"So this is your game," she said. Every message seemed to prepare her for something. The first had taught her to make a new start, the second - not to take anything for granted, the third - not to give up. From then on things were a bit tricky. Possibly the fourth invited her to accept the new, and the last to accept what she is? To be honest that made no sense. Or maybe she was still looking at things the wrong way?

"Nothing is what it seems," she said, then ripped the nearby tapestry off the wall.

There was a lot of resistance, followed by a loud tearing sound. Instead of falling to the ground, the tapestry flew off like a scroll grabbed by a hurricane. There, on the wall underneath, was the last message scribbled in horrible writing. That was not all. The entire wall below was covered in names, neatly arranged in tidy columns. So this is what "Pick a name" meant, and from what she could tell others had followed the advice. A large number of the names were crossed out.

The unicorn felt her heart race. There really were others, there had to be! Some of them had to be alive! Maybe they could tell her what was going on. Maybe they would help her get out. She hoped so, at least. For the moment, however, she had to pick a name.

“Let’s see what you’ve left me,” she mused.

Most of the good ones were taken. Of the remaining, she instantly discarded half. Of those that were left three caught her eye: Liquid Ice, Shatterwind, and Candlelight. Shatterwind sounded more suited for a pegasus stallion. Liquid Ice had the distinct feeling of a crystal pony. The last seemed appropriate - fairly neutral and also matching her cutie mark.

“Candlelight,” she tested the word. It had a nice ring to it. “I am Candlelight!” she repeated loudly. A split second later, a sharp sensation of pain shot through her body. Then darkness engulfed her once more...

Author's Notes:

Safe for work, without anything too grotesque. Any comments and questions much appreciated. :)

Likely to be updates a few times per month.

Special thanks to Scathecraw for editing.

Next chapter: Don't Trust Mirrors