This is a non-profit fanfiction created for entertainment purposes only. This story is a continuation to Silence of Ponyville, which is a side story of Silent Ponyville and Silent Ponyville 2 by author jake-heritagu on deviantART. While it is highly suggested to read the previous stories before this one. My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic is owned by Hasbro and Lauren Faust. Silent Ponyville concept belongs to jake-heritagu. Please support both.
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Silence of Ponyville: The Shop - Chapter 3 - School

Even expecting it the experience wasn't any less disorienting. Knick's eyes opened slowly and before he was aware of what was around him he knew that this wasn't his bed room. He was cold and on a hard surface, one made of tile instead of wooden floor of the train or his comforter back home. Also the room was dark save for the small amount of light coming from the lantern which was perfectly set near by, standing at the ready to depart. Knick laid still and listened but he didn't hear much of anything really. Wherever it was it was deathly quiet. When he was sure there were no beasts with giant claws waiting for him in the dark he began to rise to his hooves and assess the situation.

He was in a closet as far as he could tell or some sort of storage room. There were cleaning items, towels, mops, brooms and all the things a custodian would need. It looked professional and too out of place to belong to the train from the last time he went crawling through the horror hole. He walked back and forth a little and although his leg still ached his wound was bandaged, fairly clean and ready to go. Where to go was the question now.

There wasn't any holes in the walls around him but there was a plain door that probably lead out into what ever building he'd found himself in. Strange that the hole had taken him some place else besides the train yard. Maybe it was random where it dropped him? The thought gave him an idea and Knick picked up the lantern with his mouth, lifting it up as he searched the ceiling. Sure enough there was an open air duct that was just big enough to fit a pony through. He must have fallen out of there... and not hurt himself or broken his lantern. Yeah, that made sense.

Sighing Knick Knack walked forward and very carefully opened the door leading out of the room, grateful it wasn't locked or he'd been in an even worse place than before when he was trapped in his home. Peeking outside Knick looked down the hallways to see what exactly was around. The hall was fairly long and there were doors all along it leading both directions. Also on the walls were what appeared to be lockers and he wondered if maybe this was a school he'd fallen into. That would be good, schools were usually in populated areas and if he could find the exit he could get out of here and into the world for some help.

Knick proceeded carefully and closed the door behind him quietly. After those things he'd met the last time he'd left his house Knick wasn't in the mood to press his luck. Anything that wasn't a pony he'd hide from until he could find a safe way out of the building. To his left it looked like the hall way actually ended as there was a rusty old drinking fountain attached to the wall that blocked his travel. All that remained was to the right and so he proceeded with the lantern light kept low to try and not draw attention to himself.

Maybe this was all paranoia but the pain in his leg and his torso convinced him otherwise. Those creatures wanted to kill him, be it for food or pleasure or just that he was different they wanted him dead. There was no reason given but he knew another encounter could mean kill or be killed and he desperately didn't want to kill again or die. So he took careful, slow steps forward down the hallway.

For the longest time it seemed like he was going to encounter nothing at all and he was considering going into one of the class rooms to see if he could find a window to just climb out of. Knick approached a door and fiddled with the handle but it seemed to be locked. He could probably kick it open with his hind legs but the sound could attract unwanted attention. Speaking of sound were those hoof steps echoing through the hall after he stopped walking?

Knick swung his lantern around the hallway trying to pin down the noise. Walking forward a bit and turning the flame up in the lantern he let out a muffled and low "Whoa" at the sight before him. Panties! Not just panties mind you, but on the haunches of what looked like an attractive mare that was in front of him. Knick actually stopped for a moment to get a grasp on the situation and be sure he wasn't imagining things. Soon after though she moved away from him and her steps confirmed she was in fact a pony.

Knick blushed, he thought he might have found another Pony at some point while he was in the train but all he'd ever encountered were those monsters. Now there was some sexy mare in provocative clothing right in front of him. It looked like she had on a skirt as well and Knick was starting to wonder if it was some sort of school uniform. But even with uniforms school fillies never wore panties. Those kind of accessories were generally used to either hide something or bring a lot of attention to a certain area. She was starting to get away and Knick followed behind her to catch up, stopping once he heard a familiar grinding.

His watch, it was making that noise it made before when the dog creatures with the huge claws appeared. He swung the lantern around in different directions but there didn't appear to be any monsters on any side of him or behind him. That meant it had to be down the hall and he had to try and hurry to that pony before she got herself hurt. Knick began to trot a little bit faster but still doing his best to be quiet.

"heeefff!" He tried to call out to her with a 'Hey!' but the lantern just made it too hard to speak while he held it. "Heef! Yuff ovverrth der!" He grumbled as she didn't stop walking forward but the grinding was getting louder. Frustrated Knick just put the lantern down and tried to speak before she could get away. "Hey! Pssst! You in front of me." She stopped. "Oh thank Celestia." Knick picked up the lantern again and approached her, blushing over that she kept facing away from him and giving him a view of her back side. Couldn't she turn around at least? Once he was fairly close he put the lantern down again near by and looked around, the grinding noise as loud as he'd ever heard it back in the train yard.

"Listen, my name's Knick Knack and I'm lost here. Do you know your way around?" She turned her head to look back at him but didn't say anything, the shadow of her body keeping her face obscured from the light. "I'm not going to hurt you, but I think there are monsters out there." She started to turn and Knick cold have sworn he heard the grinding get louder. He began looking around frantically for where those dogs could be. Even looking at the ceiling with nothing shown. "We shouldn't be out in the open. Are you hurt, maybe we can help each other figure out what's... going... on."

Knick came face to face with her and not to be crude but she was a much better view from behind than in front. He stared for a moment trying to comprehend what he was looking at. It was a mare's face but it was... wrong. Incomplete. Her eyes were gone, not like that odd ghost unicorn at the train yard who's eyes were missing but the sockets were there. No this mare who also happened to be a unicorn just didn't have them. Knick just looked forward at the blank face, who's skin looked like it was some sort of wet horrible film pulled over where the face should have been. "Are you... are you okay?"

"Haaaaaggk..." It had a mouth and it was terrible. The blank faced filly opened her gaping maw and a black, vile substance dripped out it. She sounded like she was drowning, choking for breath but it was gurgled by the black filth. It was unlike the dogs that had sounded high pitched with their quick breaths as if they couldn't suck in enough to breath. Knick looked down where the venom had dripped and he noted by the lantern's light that it seemed to bubble and hiss at the tile. It was then he realized it was eating away at the floor. As she reared her head back Knick came to the realization this girl was no pony. He had to run.

Dipping his head down he moved past her and picked up the lantern, running to escape whatever she was. Her head snapped his direction as he did and she spit some of the black venom at him. He heard it slap against the lockers behind him and looked back to see what the damage was. Just like the floor the lockers were hissing as the bubbling substance tried to eat through the metal. If that hit his skin there was no recovering from it. Knick tried the closest door he could find but it was locked. She heard him rustling with the handle and reared her head back again. Knick moved in time to hear that venom slap against the door. She was trying to kill him.

Panicked Knick ran past her to the next door that was within eyesight, locked as well. He was becoming angered that all his points of possible exit were diminishing. Knick started towards the rest of the hallway but stopped when he thought he heard more hoof steps. Could there be more like her? Or another like him?

He heard the inhaling of her monstrous lungs and knew there wasn't any time to think it over. Out of hope Knick tried the next door he found in the hall and miraculously it opened. Pushing it open with his hooves he stumbled inside and flailed behind himself to close the door. As it clicked close he heard the sound of liquid slapping against the door and backed up from it. Watching for a while there was no sign of her acidic spit eating its way through the door, fortunate for him. The grinding of his watch had stopped as well. It seemed he was safe for the moment.

Knick took a second to catch his breath and consider what he'd just seen. It was a monster like at the train yard but it wasn't one of those dogs. Instead this one looked like a pony, and was even dressed in a school uniform. Why would it be wearing that? Was it trying to attract ponies like Knick to come up to it? Also he'd now seen another creature besides the dogs and that odd ghost. Would there be more terrible creatures out there?

He looked around the class room he'd taken refuge in and it was just as dark as the rest of the school. He was sure he'd be trapped in pure darkness had it not been for his lantern. It must have been why those vile mares had no eyes; no need for them in such a dark place. Knick walked towards the front of the classroom to look around, everything appearing in a state of decay and disuse like so much else he'd discovered. Except for one item that rested upon the teacher's desk.

"Nutrition drink?" Knick read the label after putting the lantern down on the desk. Funny how it had such a generic name. No brand or logo or even an indication who made it. Just the words written in black text across the bottle's label. Knick pulled the cork out of the bottle and sniffed it, noting the scent that reminded him of bitter medicine. "I suppose nutrition is one thing I really need." He hadn't found any solid food and the chocolate milk he was carrying wouldn't be very good energy to run on. Grabbing the bottle with his mouth he leaned back and swallowed the liquid. Sure enough it tasted like medicine mixed with berries to hide the flavor. After drinking the whole thing he set the bottle back down and gagged at the after taste. Somehow he did feel a little better for drinking it.

Making his way around the desk to see what may have been hidden behind it he bumped into something that collided with the ground, giving off a wooden sound as it hit. Pulling the lantern closer to the edge of the desk Knick saw it was a baseball bat. "Hey, I remember these." Knick hoisted the bat up with his hoof and propped it against the desk again. "Used to play this in school all the time. Wasn't any good at it. Heh... or... was I? Wait, I played baseball in school?" Knick stopped and stared at the bat, pondering his sudden outburst. It was like he was recalling some memory but Knick couldn't grasp it. In fact he was having a hard time remembering what sports he played as a child. "I... I played something in school right? It seems like it's really familiar." He looked the bat over, it had a grip for earth ponies to sink their teeth into and swing with their heads. The unicorns just used their magic so the mouth grip was only necessary for pegasus and earth ponies. But Knick had a different way of playing.

Turning around he wrapped his tail around the handle and yanked up, the bat swinging into the air and landing comfortably on his back. It was a talent few earth ponies practiced on a regular basis but you could get pretty versatile with your tail if you tried your luck at it. He swung the bat back and forth with momentum to see if he could get a good swing with it. "Well, seems I got some skill using this at least." He noted proud of himself, still not sure where he ever learned to handle this particular piece of sports equipment like that. "Guess if I want to play a game with Annie and everyone else when I finally get home I know I got a chance to win. Got a nice swing for hitting a ball. Or... something else."

The dark thought crossed his mind and he was trying to reject it right away. "I'm not... I'm not a killer." No, he wasn't. But his life was very clearly in danger. That vile mare out there was going to kill him. "She'll only attack if she hears me. If I'm quiet she'll never know." But what if he can't be quiet? What if there's more. A weapon to protect himself was a good idea. "I don't want to fight anymore!" It isn't fighting, it's just self defense. Knick had a reason to live and ponies he cared for. He deserved to fight for that. "Nothing... nothing deserves to be murdered. I'm not a killer." No, he wasn't a killer. But he was a stallion that had to make a choice. Try his best to live, or die struggling.

Knick kept his tail curled around the baseball bat, walking over to pick up the lantern with his mouth. He'd keep the bat just in case. To scare off predators that came after him if it came down to it. He wasn't a killer. But protecting yourself wasn't the same as killing for the fun of it. This was something he had to do.

Walking back to the door Knick pushed it open slowly and he was thankful it didn't make a creak as it did, small miracles a blessing in this place. Once he was out of the class room his watch began with its grinding noise again, alerting him to her presence somewhere in the hall way. He turned the lamp light low again not sure how sensitive that creature would be to the heat. He craned his head around to see where she'd gone to, noting the melted spots on the wall and floor where she'd spit and dripped her venom. Turning his head to look down the hall in the original direction he was going he saw her. She was just standing there, perfectly still. Probably trying to listen for him was Knick's guess but it wasn't like he could apply common sense to anything in this nightmare world.

Knick decided to try his luck and began walking down the hall. He took his steps slowly and careful, trying not to make any noise for her to react. The hall wasn't especially large, only about four ponies wide and she was nearly in the middle of it. He did his best not to touch her as he passed by, listening as well and hearing her gurgled breathing through the black bile that dripped from her mouth. It was a chore through the increased noise of his watch and he was begining to grow irritated with the thing. He was aware he was in danger already, no need to keep reminding him! Looking at her he wondered if at some point she'd been alive? Was this what happened to you if you died here?

Knick was nearly passed her when she suddenly inhaled and raised her head, Knick stopping in his tracks near her. Had she heard him? Smelled him? Felt the heat of the lamp? He wasn't sure but knew the danger was real as she moved her head around trying to listen to him more closely, breathing harder and drowning out Knick's own light breaths. While she searched the pocket watch continued its grinding at him insistently and he did his best to ignore the racket that apparently only he could hear. He remained motionless for what felt like an eternity before the vile mare's breath began to slow, lower, and eventually fade from it's excited state. The creature lowered its head in disappointment, somehow he'd avoided detection. He'd avoided death.

In that moment after his brush with danger Knick's mind felt detached, his hind legs kicked themselves up off the ground, his tail raised the bat into the air, and his body brought the bat down with a terrible momentum. As the bat swung down it brutally struck the vile mare across her skull.

She shrieked as she fell to the floor, not the cry of attack or hiss as she readied to exhale her venom onto him but a shriek of pain. Knick looked back just enough to see her body staggering behind him and he swung his tail up, bringing it down across her head again. Another shriek, confused and in pain as she clearly didn't know where the attacks were coming from. She was raising her head to spit blindly out at the hallway and Knick raised his tail and kicked his legs up again, bringing the bat down onto the base of her skull with a sickening thud. She collapsed shortly after.

When her body fell to the floor Knick turned around quickly to look at what he'd done. His heart was pounding and he was trying to catch his breath as the adrenaline ran through his body. Why had he attacked? He was going to get away, she hadn't noticed him. But still when her guard dropped something in his body informed him that now was the time to strike and he obeyed that command. Now the vile mare laid on the ground before him, blood oozing from lacerations on her head and her horn broken off from one of his strikes to her face. The venom was pooling from her mouth but somehow she was still alive. In pain and gagging but alive. "I'm... I'm sorry." Knick pressed his hoof against her throat and applied a powerful amount of pressure.

The watch stopped its grinding. She wasn't alive anymore.

Knick stared at the body on the floor that may have once been a pony, and was surprised at how little he felt. Shouldn't he have been more horrified? Shouldn't he care more than this? As he looked down at the quiet form before him he sighed, and turned away down the hall again leaving it behind.

After the encounter with the vile mare he was sure there would have been more like the dogs at the train yard but for the moment things had been calm, the pocket watch silent. He was forced to come up with an alternative route when he reached a blockaded part of the hall way however. "How the heck did they do this?" Desks were stacked in the hall, but not in any manner that made sense. They were pushed against each other in such a way that the pressure applied between the floor and the ceiling was holding them together like a wall. Knick considered trying to kick it over but the effort may attract more monsters. There was only one door that was near the blockade and Knick chose it.

Heading inside he found it was yet another classroom and this one looked larger than the last. His attention was immediately drawn to four desks that had all been turned towards each other Curious Knick walked over there first to find an elaborate set up put on top of the desks. "No way... it can't be... " He looked on in shock at the sight before him. "Lasers and Laboratories?"

It was true, amazingly, unbelievably the desk was set up for a game of Lasers and Laboratories. That role playing game that the nerdy colts generally played with each other to live out the fantasy of being a science powered fighter, doctor or engineer. He had a copy of it in his own store and had always been mildly curious about opening it up to see what it was like but never had done so. Seeing it before him now was oddly exciting. "Look at the detail in all of this. It's like someone was just playing with it." Funny enough it was in good condition compared to the rest of the school. Knick turned the lantern light up and noticed something reflective in the center of the board game. When he got closer he found that he recognized it.

"One of those silver candles." Knick picked the candle up in his hoof and looked it over, it was the same kind he'd found in the train yard where he'd heard that filly's voice. And the same kind he'd lost when he'd met that ghostly looking unicorn and discovered the lamp. Feeling it was somehow important Knick put it into his saddle bag, thinking he may need it later. He moved around to behind the card board screen where the Laboratory Directory would sit, or the LD, the pony that ran the game for the other players. Usually here you'd find all the notes and references to play as Knick understood it. Funny enough there were no game notes but there was an unusual collection of items.

"An abacus?" Knick propped it up with his hoof and looked it over. It made sense for as far as he knew the LD would need to be able to do quick math on the fly but he was just surprised to see it. Also behind the screen was a pair of dice and a small paper. The dice were a twenty sided one and a six sided dice, reading sixteen and five respectively. The paper was especially interesting as Knick read what was written on it.

As they traveled they felt the danger upon them. As they battled the two fell bravely. The one hid away, surviving the brutality. Crying out to her for his salvation. The mare in the moon.

"Was this for their game?" Knick read the words repeatedly but it didn't make any sense to him. Inspecting the rest of the desk he saw before each player's seat was dice already rolled. One other player had a twenty sided dice and six sided as well, his reading nine and five. On the opposite side of that seat another player had two six sided dice reading six and six together. Who ever was opposite of the LD must have been an unlucky pony as they only had one six sided dice, and it read one as its number.

Knick didn't see anything else of value besides the candle and the abacus, and feeling a strange compulsion decided to take it with him. Its cleaner appearance feeling like a clue as to its importance. His saddle bags were getting heavy and he decided he'd have to be careful if there was anything else he found that he wanted to take. "Shouldn't have let myself get distracted for so long." Remembering the task at hand Knick picked the lantern up with his mouth and walked to the front of the room, making out the outline of a door. Pleased to see a method of escape Knick walked towards the front of the class. He was about to exit when another paper caught his eye.

There was a note book laying out on one of the desks. It was smudged badly and dirty like everything else but he was able to make out what was written clearly enough.

That bully Sledge Hammer took my lunch again. I told the teacher about it but she said since she didn't see anything then she couldn't punish him. But she never sees it because he always makes sure to take it from me when she's not around. I hate this school. I really wanted that chocolate milk too.

"Strange coincidence." Knick said aloud thinking of the bottle of chocolate milk he still had in his saddle bag. He forgot about it quickly, a colt pining for his lost milk didn't really match up with his current problems. Knick lowered the light on his lantern and opened the door to the hallway passed the wall of desks.

Almost immediately his watch began to grind at him in warning and Knick turned fast to see two more figures standing in the hall. More just like that same venom spitting mare he'd fought previously. One was facing away showing her more attractive side off and the other was facing directly at him. Knick decided to leave the door open to the other room and lightly stepped away from it, letting it swing closed on its own. When the door finally swung to a shut it clicked and both mares looked its direction immediately.

Perhaps it was due to him trying to think about this as a way to solve a problem but Knick was starting to find ways to set his fear aside now. He was still frightened terribly, and knew these creatures could kill him so much more easily than the previous monsters he fought. Their acid like saliva something he was sure he wouldn't be able to walk off. His tail coiled tightly around the now blood stained baseball bat and he watched carefully as the two mares took awkward steps towards the door. They were trying to find him and he didn't intend to let them.

Not daring to try and fight two at once Knick began to walk away in slow steps, feeling a bit more confident now that he was learning how to survive this horrid place. The mares were standing near the door now, one in front of the other and keeping her from being able to get around. He looked back smugly at the two confused creatures pleased in his accomplishment. Knick would blame himself later for what came next though as he felt something soft collide with the side of his head.

If his heart hadn't been pumping so hard he might have laughed. The pony shaped monster looked behind itself after Knick collided with its rear. There wasn't any hiding himself anymore, her mouth opening in the lamp light to reveal the fresh venom dripping out. Knick's body thankfully worked faster than his mind as he swung his rear legs towards the vile mare, she turning her head to unleash her poison. Knick's tail gave him slightly more reach and he closed the gap quickly, swinging upward into her jaw. She let out a screech through her teeth and spit her venom into the air. As the monster stumbled aside from the strike Knick winced feeling the drops fall upon his skin. He let out a groan of pain himself from the tiny drops burning at his flesh but there wasn't time. Her friends would hear.

Taking to his hooves Knick knocked the mare over and ran down the hallway, the sound of venom being spit behind him but he didn't dare turn his head to look back. His legs carrying him faster through the school until he discovered two double doors before him. He had no idea where they lead but it was away from his hunters and that was enough motivation to push him forward. Screeching to a halt he slammed his hoof onto the door handle and collapsed through the entry. Using his back legs he pushed the door closed and heard the satisfying click as it latched shut. The pocket watch had stopped its grinding, the sound of the venom hitting the tile had ceased. There was only his own breathing. Was he safe?

Knick got to his hooves from his side and groaned as the pain caught up to him. His bandaged leg felt like it was on fire in pain and he was scared he was literally burning from the drops of that mare's acid. He needed to get a better look at himself. Lifting the lantern he saw that he'd made it into the cafeteria, rows of similar tables lining the large room. The room had the look of decay about it as was standard by now but there was no sign of movement or sound of threats looming in the darkness. Setting the lantern on one of the tables he took a moment to examine himself.

His leg wasn't bleeding, thankfully. He was sure he'd have opened the wound but it looked like he'd been lucky. Looking over his torso he saw small black spots on his orange coat and swallowed the lump in his throat. He didn't know how bad it was, maybe it just burned the surface of his skin but was it poisonous? Would it eat him from the inside? He was getting scared considering all the possibilities and decided to just deal with it if it came up. Maybe he'd find some medicine like that odd drink earlier in the class room. It was a cafeteria after all.

Knick traveled between the rows of tables and benches for ponies to rest on, hoping to find the entrance to where the food was kept. Instead he saw an interesting shadow a few tables away; the shape of a pony sitting with his head on the table. Knick watched and listened for some time but he didn't hear any breathing or see any movement from the pony, neither did his pocket watch make that noise when they were close by. Even though it hadn't worked in his favor lately he decided to go investigate.

Knick made sure that when he got close he was on the opposite side of the table, wanting something between him and whatever this might be. The closer he got he saw it looked like a unicorn colt, but his skin was dried and withered, his body thin. It wasn't like the vile mares in the hallway, this was a corpse. Knick set his lantern on the table and uncurled the tight hold his tail had on his bat, propping it up near by for easy reach. He settled himself onto the bench and looked at the figure before him closely. The unicorn had his front legs wrapped around what appeared to be a lunch box, and his head was resting on top of it. Knick wondered if maybe there was something actually edible in there and not just more frighting bits of meat like the last place.

"So... mind sharing that?" He had no idea what possessed him to talk to the dead body but he'd been alone for a while now and it felt nice to talk to anything. "I mean you just don't seem to need it in your current state so... sharing is caring." No response, naturally. Knick was trying to figure out how to pry the lunch box from the corpse when an idea occurred to him. "Hey, are you the colt that the bully kept taking his lunch? Um... well you liked chocolate milk right?" Knick reached into his bag and pulled out the bottle of chocolate milk out, setting it on the table between them. "There, I'll trade you for whatever you got. Deal?" He looked at the body across from himself and awaited for it to confirm his offer. Silence filled the cafeteria.

Knick was starting to feel stupid. Why did he think this was going to work in the first place? He looked at the unicorn corpse annoyed. "What, did you need me to take the cap off for you too?" He unscrewed the cap from the bottled and set it back down. "There, even opened it for you. Maybe show some appreciation now?" In that second the unicorn's head rose up, and lunged forward, its jaws snapping.

"Celestia's Beard!" Knick shouted in surprise loud enough to fill the whole cafeteria, falling backwards off the bench and onto the floor. Across from him the unicorn corpse did the same, the bottle of chocolate milk clutched firmly in its teeth and spilling onto its face as it laid on the ground. Knick rolled onto his side and winced at the pain of his skin from the burns he got earlier from those spitting unicorns in the hall. He rose up and saw the lunch box was now free to take. "Simple thank you would have been good enough." He pulled the lunch box to himself to see what his prize was.

Inside was a bag of what was listed as "Healthy Oats". Knick didn't care if they were healthy or junk food it looked like he'd finally found something he could eat. Remembering his experience from the last time he'd thought that Knick picked out the oats and put them into his saddle bag, planning to examine them later some place where he could see them clearly. Underneath the oats there was also a slip of paper and he pulled that out to observe as well.

"239... 12 - 6 - 10. Looks like a locker combination." It made sense compared to everything else he'd seen thus far and the fact he was in a school. He dropped the paper in his bag too now starting to notice the weight of it with his sore skin. He may have to unload some of these useless things at some point, it was hard enough carrying the lantern in his mouth and the bat with his tail. He wasn't really built for this much physical activity over this long a period.

Knick trotted away from the table and started searching for the exit that didn't lead back the way he came. It looked like there were doors leading outside but the windows over them were boarded up. There was another set of double doors opposite of that and he decided to inspect them next.

"Do you ever wonder what it would have been like if we'd been closer?"

A voice! A female voice, it was coming from the doors. Knick approached quietly but as fast as he could to try and catch who it was.

"I suppose you're right. I mean... it was a silly question, sorry."

She was older than the girl he'd heard in the train yard. Probably about teenage years. He couldn't tell who she was talking to though.

"Goodbye..."

"Wait!" Knick pushed the doors open quickly to try and catch the only other intelligent voice he'd heard in this whole place but when he walked through there was just a darkened hall way. She could have hidden in any number of the class rooms that were stretching into the darkness. It was a hopeless search. Knick sighed through the lantern held in his mouth and just moved forward, now at least having a direction to travel. He moved the lantern back and forth to cast light in various directions, counting the locker numbers having remembered the slip of paper he'd found so recently. "235... 237... 239." He walked over to the locker and sure enough, there was a pad lock. In fact it was the only locker that had one at all. Setting the lantern down next to himself he got to work. "Easy enough to open." Knick pulled the lock up in his hoof and started to spin the dial in the necessary directions. He was starting to get the feeling something was wrong though.

He should have felt that for some time actually. It seemed like he was being herded along through this building. He generally only had one direction to go at any time and would stumble upon clues or items each time he went where it guided him. Was this some sort of set up? He started to look around for possible monsters or even ponies watching him but instead saw another familiar sight; a blue door.

It was just like the train yard, a blue door with fancy gold trim decoration around its boarder. Also like the train yard it looked as if somepony had forced it into the wall where it didn't belong, like they had cut a rectangular hole and shoved the door and its frame into it. Before at the train he hadn't had time to try and open the door, he wondered if he should now? But first to open the locker.

Entering the last number the lock came undone and Knick took it off, casting it aside as he didn't see a point in keeping a pad lock. He pulled on the latch and opened the locker door. He was expecting yet another clue to lead him along his set path but was shocked when he was greeted by a unicorn body falling out of the small space.

She collided with the ground as her body squeezed out of the locker. Wearing a uniform like the vile mares but it was less dirty and more faded. Her skin was stark white and her hair was dry and coarse as if she'd been in there for a very long time. Knick knelt down to inspect her further and saw that she wasn't moving at all, her body still as death and her eyes removed from their sockets. Just like the filly he'd encountered back at the train yard. "Oh... oh Celestia... what happened in this place?"

The sight of the school filly made a lot of the crushing feelings he'd been blocking come to the surface and he swallowed a lump in his throat looking at her. He hoped she hadn't suffered. He did notice that in her mane there was something metallic and shiny in the lantern light. Picking it up he saw it was a key for a house. Not wanting to leave anything that he may need to come back for he put it in his bag and bowed his head. "I'm sorry that I... that I can't bury you or take care of you. But I hope you're in a better place. You and the colt that gave me his lunch." He felt a little better saying something, and picking up the lantern he turned to head down the hall.

At that time his pocket watch began to make its grinding warning noise. She lifted her head when he turned his back on her, and cried out to him with hoof out stretched.

Seeing her body rise up from the ground Knick lost all strength in his legs and stood still, a feeling of dread in his heart. Even after all the other monsters he'd seen something about the school filly picking her dead form off the ground and levitating into the air shook him to his core. He watched her rise and float towards him, her front legs out stretched to embrace him. She moaned out and when her hoofs touched his skin he felt as if his life was being pulled out through them.

"N-no!" He swung his tail to strike her across the face with the baseball bat, colliding into her head with a dull thud but it didn't seem to really hurt her. She continued towards him and Knick swung the bat again and again to fend her off. Each strike thudded against her like if he was hitting a mattress that just absorbed the blows. When her legs felt as if she were about to pull him down he struck her hard with his hind legs in a kick and she dropped to the floor. Moaning and still reaching for him.

Knick escaped in the quickest manner he could, heading for the closest door to him which was now the one across the hall from the strange blue door. Mercifully it was unlocked and he entered the room, shutting the door behind him. When the door latched shut the watch faded and died down again into silence. Knick wasn't sure what she was but her very presence was terrifying, far beyond that of the monsters he'd seen before. He backed up from the door panting hard and tried to get control of himself. He'd wait until she went some place else and then make his escape.

Knick considered eating his oats now and walked to the front of the classroom to use the teacher's desk as a table. Setting the lantern down he let out a breath to control himself and searched the desk for a moment, seeing if he could locate anything useful like the other rooms. As he went through the drawers he stared to come to the realization that the chalk board on his right wasn't just dirtied and scratched like the rest of the room but that there were words written here. Pulling the lamp closer on the desk he read the words that were written over and over again across the board. "No-horn?"

It was everywhere on the chalkboard, written in different sizes and in different styles of writing in some cases. He was familiar with the term No-horn. It was an insult used for primarily earth ponies due to their lack of talents compared to unicorns and pegasi, usually given by mightier than thou types of unicorns. Directly in the middle of the board written in red chalk (he hoped it was chalk anyway) were the words GO BACK HOME.

"What in the world am I looking at?" He didn't know who could have put this here or why. Everything he'd seen so far had been a unicorn and could have written this, but not a single one of them had eyes. Or if they had eyes they were either gone or the owner was dead. "Is this a message for me?" It seemed just as likely as unlikely, he was the only earth pony in the whole building.

Knick's pondering was broken from the sound of his watch giving off warning and he turned to look about the classroom, trying to find the cause of the alarm. Picking up the lantern he moved it back and forth looking for any sort of odd creature in the dark. There was nothing passed where he'd been, but something was coming to him where he was.

Above himself the wall began to grow black and wet, the paint drying and cracking as it peeled away. The ghostly school filly was pushing her way through the wall, similar to how the young ghost filly from the train had pushed herself through the ceiling. As the wall grew a deeper black her body was shoving its way through more quickly. She'd be on him in seconds, he wasn't going to give her that chance. Running to the door way Knick let her push through the wall and collapse inside, hitting the ground with a thud that sent a shiver through him. Now inside the room Knick walked through the door to the hall way and closed it behind him. Maybe she could walk through walls, but it took her a while. He'd used that.

Stepping quickly down the hallway he moved forward looking to put as much distance between her and himself as he could. He could already hear her moans as she came through the wall again but he didn't look back. Instead pressing forward. The hall changed directions to his left and there were a pair of heavy doors before him with the faded words of Locker Room. Might as well give her another obstetrical.

Knick's watch was giving a slow grind to let him know the ghostly school filly was chasing him, and he pushed open the door planning to hide out in here until he could give her the slip again. He was startled when his watch screeched loudly in metallic noises, and his lantern shined on one of the vile mare's faces.

Several actually. Dozens... they were everywhere. The locker room was packed to the brim with them. Knick couldn't tell where they all stopped and began, but now many of them were looking his direction after the door opened. Realizing his mistake just in time Knick fell back and let the door close, the sound of the wet venom splashing against the walls and door repeatedly on the other side. Some oozed underneath the door and through the opening before he could close it all the way. He let out a shout as it caught him just underneath this left hoof and felt the stinging burn touch the soft skin around his hard under hoof. He backed up quickly and tried to rub it off onto the tile before it could cause any more damage.

He was breathing hard now and had to keep moving, she was still coming for him. Leaving the Locker Room full of vile mares behind him he started running down the rest of the hall, eventually ending in what looked like an office door. It was the only option left unless he ran back towards danger. As he got close he reached for the door but felt his heart sink at the sight of it.

Chains... just like his front door there were chains all across it. No, not exactly like his front door. These chains had pad locks across them and there were only about four chains in total. They were actually far apart enough he could probably squeeze through, and luck would have it the door opened inward towards the office. Desperately he tried the door handle with his hoof but of course it was locked. Frantically Knick began looking over the door for some way to get around this and noticed suddenly there was writing on it.

"(6 + ?) + (16 + ?) - (? + 9) x (?) = 19"

His jaw nearly dropped, almost losing the lantern in the process. A math equation, in a building full of horrors to reach safety? This place was beyond evil. He had no idea how he could even figure this out, except... "The abacus." He remembered thinking it seemed like it was important and that he should take it. Was this the reason why? It made sense and the pad locks looked like they were all resting on numbers already. He figured each of the four numbers would reveal the last number needed for the pad locks.

He could have figured it out if he had time for that sort of thing. Looking back he saw that not only was the floating ghost filly starting to figure out where he'd gone but one of the vile mares had wandered out of the locker room after he'd left the door open like an idiot. They seemed to be taking notice of each others' noises but weren't attacking. Maybe the recognized each other? "Doesn't matter, I have to go right now!" He didn't have time to do math, there was no way he could fend off all those monsters and this place wanted him to solve a puzzle. "Fine, I've got a solution."

Knick backed up towards the door and raised his hind quarters into the air, bringing the bat up and swing a powerful strike against the door handle. It snapped right off with a single blow and fell to the ground, the noise certainly gaining his hunters' attention. With the handle removed he bucked his back legs against the door. Each kick echoing through the halls. He pounded his hoofs against the door, feeling it start to buckle. "Come on!" He hit it over and over again, looking forward and seeing them coming for him. "Come on!" Just when it seemed hope would be lost he felt the door splinter and swing open from his kick, giving him access to the room.

After the door open there was a terrifying moment of uncertainty and Knick was left more confused than ever before. Something... howled. Or roared out through the school. It was an awful sound and it seemed to shake the walls of the building itself. So loud was it that the vile mares coming out of the locker room and even the ghost filly that had been reaching for him stopped moving. Everything seemed to stand still in that moment in time when even the monsters were holding their breath. Something horrible was coming, and even they were afraid.

Knick was snapped back to reality when there was a loud flash and boom like lighting before him. Down the hall something bright had struck one of the vile mares and knocked her body to the ground. The attack had left a hole in her neck and there was fire where her filthy school uniform had been. After the strike the ghost filly suddenly fled through the walls, pushing herself and fleeing the scene. There was another loud crack and bright flash as another of the vile mares dropped dead, her head had been severed from whatever struck it. Something was coming down the hall way and Knick didn't want to wait to see what it would be.

Pushing himself past the chains and wiggling his stuffed saddle bags as well through them he heard heavy steps behind him and it motivated him to move that much faster. Once he was through the chains he scrambled to shut the door behind him, although it wouldn't latch with the handle broke off. His pocket watch never stopped screeching at him about the danger. Knick looked around the room quickly and saw that there was one of the demon holes in the wall behind the desk of whoever had owned this office. There may have been more but his thoughts were clouded by the sudden explosion above him and bright flash that came with it.

He looked up to see a hole had been blasted through the door the same way it had cut through the monsters outside. This thing wouldn't be stopped and it was coming for him. Taking to his hooves Knick ran around the desk and climbed into the hole, not caring where it took him this time. He just knew he had to escape. As he walked into the hole and started to proceed into the darkness he looked back only once.

A single, huge emerald eye stared at him through the hole in the door. As he looked at it he knew that the monster had seen him just as he'd seen it. He ran that much faster into the depths of the tunnel because of it.