Chapter One- Before the Beginning
Chapter One- Before the Beginning
From outside of the Canterlot castle, one might say it's a beautiful, serene day. On the inside, however, nearly the whole staff of guards and assistants have gathered in the throne room to subdue a quite unruly criminal in front of the four princesses. The growling, thrashing, black maned and grey coated mare was restrained in a strait jacket, her pointed teeth trying to tear it apart, while her horn was subdued by a magic cover around her horn. She was forced to sit down and her head yanked up to glare at the head princess there, Princess Celestia.
Grim Rose was notoriously known throughout the kingdom as the most feared mare criminal of her time. No matter where they put her, mental wards, prison, camps...She would always break loose; killing all she found along her way to escape. She is a wild-eyed, mental mare with a cutie mark that shows a black, shriveled rose inside a toxic green liquid in a beaker with a skull and cross bones on it; the mark shows that she is a master at potions, Dark and Light, though the rose symbolizes she is a master at the Dark magic as well. Rose was finally caught after wandering in the mountains where the guards found her on their rounds; though killing several in the process. Now, wild and angry Grim Rose screamed and cursed when she was now brought before the rulers of Equestria.
Then, she fell silent.
The whole room settled into a disturbing silence as her eyes remained on the princess, the dark, stony glare slightly alarmed her, but when the guard stepped forward to slap her back into focus, she spoke. First it was slow and menacing, then it gained in power until she was chanting something that sounded dark and eerie.
Like it belonged in a dark ritual somewhere far away from Canterlot.
"The Sun will end up clouded,
The Moon and Stars shrouded.
Love and Happiness turns dry...
For even someday, your precious Friendship will die..."
After Grim recited this, all was still. All was silent. Then, a blonde-maned, grey mare shouted, "T-that mare is c-crazy, Princess!" After that, the room burst with noise; ponies shouting and stamping, voicing their thoughts about what should be done; all of this was happening as the mare grinned and laughed, not caring about what was going to happen.
At this time, the princesses shouted in unison. "ENOUGH!"
Almost at once, the whole room quieted, all except for dear Grim Rose, laughing at what seemed the funniest thing she had ever seen. Then, Princess Celestia stood, walking over to where Rose was seated against the Guard Captain's protests. She had known Grim Rose as a filly, she grew up in a twisted environment, one not even Celestia could help her out of. It hurt her greatly to see what she had become.
Seeing the hurt in Celestia's eyes, Grim Rose sneered. "Kill me already, Princess. I'd get to hold the grand honor of first criminal executed since you can't help me. Some rulers you are...not putting a mare out of her misery..." She cackled at this, and for the first time in all her years, Celestia felt fear, disturbance, and anger stir in her at the same time.
"Luna, Cadence, Twilight; it's time to get this over with. It is time, to pass judgement on Grim Rose." Celestia stated, staring the deranged mare down. "We, the Rulers of Equestria, hereby notice the crimes committed by you, Grim Rose. You cannot plea innocent, for we see all, and we have seen that your heart and mind have been consumed by darkness. You show no grievance for your crimes, unlike the many you have affected, so we will now pass judgement on you, Grim Rose." The three other princesses then stood, their words cold and solemn as they spoke. Twilight spoke first. "You hold friendship with no importance. You are found guilty." Cadence was next. "You show no love or kindness to others. You are found guilty." Luna, third. "You have used my cover of night to hurt the citizens of Equestria. You are found guilty." Then finally, the great Sun Princess spoke. "Grim Rose, you have violated all the rules of the kingdom. You have no respect for Night and Day, Friendship, and Love. You are found guilty." The princesses spoke at once. "Grim Rose, you are hereby sentenced to a life of dungeons, no Night or Day to protect you."
As they spoke, she was dragged away, again, laughing as if the funniest thing just happened.
The guards dragged her down the stairs and twisting halls for what seemed like hours. They were silent. The only thing that could be heard was the occasional giggle from Rose, or the slight hiss of her hooves being dragged on the cold crystal floor. The only light was the faint glow of the guards' horns as they produced light for themselves.
They have been walking for a long while until they finally reached the cells. The only thing Rose could see was the bars, darkness, and sometimes the faintest shadow of something lurking within. She could sometimes hear singing, whimpering, screaming from the unknown amount of hidden away ponies and...things she believed to be in here. For some odd reason, she felt a warm, comforting feeling well up in her chest the farther down they got.
Then, they stopped.
They were in front of a large black metal door, and it when the guards opened it, it was about two feet thick.
This was going to be an interesting stay.
As they pushed her in the room they explained what would be happening for the whole time she was here. "You will be given three full meals a day. You will never be allowed out of this place, so make yourself at home. If you ever read the Harry Trotter series, this set of rooms are like the Room of Requirement. Ask and you shall recieve. Well, as long as they can't be used for escape." The guard said carefully. Then his face creased with worry. "I warn you, you've been roomed with a changeling prisoner. Very dangerous. Though, I think he'll cut you down to size real quick..." He laughed.
They shoved her into the rooms then locked the door. The rooms started down the hallway, and to her surprise, they looked wonderful. A comfortable living room, kitchen, two bedrooms, a lab, and something like a garden. What was the most surprising, was who was supposed to be living with her. She found him in the garden, up in a tree no less. She quietly walked up to the tree and looked up. It looked like he was trying to grab a zapapple, which was weird because they are no where close to being in season...
"Hello up there!" She yelled. Realizing she probably shouldn't have done that, being that he was about forty feet in the air, balancing on a tree limb, she caught him with her magic before he hit the ground. She let him down softly, but kept him frozen, so he couldn't try any funny business with her. She didn't feel like fighting at the moment.
"Well, now that you know I'm here, I'm guessing I have to give you an introduction. I'm Grim Rose, master criminal, and the damn best if I do say so myself..." She told the...what was he?
The weird looking stallion blinked, the only part of his body that wasn't frozen, and she let him go, inspecting him closely.
"I know who you are. The guards have said enough about you already. I'm Dashing Fog, one of Chrysalis's most beloved guards before the big fight." He growled, rubbing where his foreleg hit the ground.
"Chrysalis...Oh! You're one of those changeling things I've heard about..." Rose exclaimed. "You...ah...transform into stuff, right? Feed off love?"
He rolled his eyes and finally bucked the zapapple from the tree, catching it in the air gracefully and landing back on his hooves. "Yes that would be me, dear Rose." He muttered sarcastically as he wandered over to the lab portion of their lair.
She growled softly at his sarcastic tone and followed him, her eyes staying on him the whole time. She didn't quite trust this...pony? Well whatever he was, she didn't want any funny business while she was staying in this place.
Dashing Fog rolled his eyes as he began to chop up the zapapple, careful not to hit any of the magic points of power in it. "I can almost feel you staring a whole through my head. Please, go away or come and be useful. Unfortunately, I am still no where close to being as good as you with potions as you are said to be..." He muttered unhappily, throwing the pieces of the zapapple into a large iron pot.
Rose laughed as she decided to help (Help? Since when did she help anypony?) the poor whelp. "Well, first of all, wrong pot. You need to have a silver pot or the iron will soak up the zapapple's magic." She watched as he switched the pots and continued. "Second, if I am correct on the potion you are brewing, you need water from a mountain steam, not from the ocean. And lastly, you have to have the pure intent of brewing this, no second guesses or you'll be in big trouble with the final result." She stated matter-of-factly.
As he went into another room to switch out the water, she ran her eyes over all the equipment. He's well stocked in this department...The guards were right about you get what you want in this cell. I wonder if there are more surprises in this little place... She smirked to herself and stepped aside from the work bench so he could start the potion with her guidance. This place will fit me just fine... She thought, looking over at him and smiling.
Author's Note
Author Note- This is my first fic, but I will not ask you to go easy on me, because I wish to make this story as well as possible! This is a background story for my OC, so I hope you like it!
-Karekel
