Ponies Souls

Twilight's eyes shot open and she inhaled deeply, feeling as if something had knocked the wind out of her, only to inhale a lung full of dust. She hacked and coughed, rolling onto her side as her coughing slowed and ceased. She kept breathing steadily, avoiding another breath of dust.

She took this time to look at her surroundings, taking note of everything around her. A rusted iron gate, solid looking grey stone walls, a large hole in the ceiling, showering her surroundings in light. Moss in the corners and little shadows crawling through a duct high up the wall. She looked at the ceiling and sighed.

"If this was supposed to trap me, maybe there shouldn't be a hole in the ceiling." Twilight sat up, closed her eyes and focused on flying. Twilight frowned as she opened her eyes to see she was still on the ground.

"What the? Why am I not flying?" She turned her head as far as she could to look behind her.

She nearly screamed as she found she had no wings, but not only that but something looked different. Twilight looked at herself, her eyes widened and this time she did scream. Instead of hooves, she had some strange looking appendages that looked like Spikes claws, only longer and more sensitive. She put her hands together and interlinked her fingers and let go. She slowly got used to bending and moving her fingers and hands.

"Hey, these things are pretty useful." She smiled and continued to inspect her new body.

Instead of her usual equine body, it replaced with what she assumed was a bi-pedal form. Upon this thought, Twilight planted her hands on the rough floor and placed one of her new feet planted down, then the other. After finding a balance, she slowly raised her hands from the ground, only to lose balance and fall flat on her butt.

"Ugh, This might take a bit of practice." She tried the same strategy again, making it a bit a further but once again failing.

Eventually, Twilight managed to stand straight up, but her smile turned to a face of 'now what?' She ran through her memories of the books she read about creatures that moved like this, eventually finding the picture she needed. She placed a hand on the closest wall and slowly edged one of her feet forward, her face contorted to a look of pure concentration.

Twilight kept practicing until she acquired the basic movement of her new form. She pushed off of the wall and walked around the whole area of her cell.

"Alright, time to get out of here." She walked toward the iron gate and pushed it, but it barely budged. Twilight frowned as she tried pulling it instead, only to get the same outcome. She grunted as she shook the door.

"That just isn't fair!"Twilight kicked the door, but launched herself away and lost balance, falling against the wall. She curled her legs up and wrapped her arms around her knees. Tears started to well up in Twilight's eyes.

"Why did I have to open that stupid scroll, I ruined everything." Twilight cried till she passed out from exhaustion.

Twilight woke in her cell again, curled up against a wall, her eyes were red from crying and her joints ached from staying still for so long. She straightened her arms and legs and stretched. She looked around the cell, not seeing any change and sighed.

“I’m never going to get out of here.” As she said this, a shadow emerged on the sunlit floor, catching Twilight’s eye and made her look up, another being, almost like her, except in full armor and a closed helmet. She shot up and reached for them.

“Hey! Please help me! I can’t get out!” She pleaded for help but lost hope when the other person stood up and walked off.

“No, come back!” Her arms dropped as she gave up, and turned around. Twilight sat in her corner again, staring at the hole in the ceiling. Then a sound caught her ear, heavy metal hitting something, and it sounded close. Twilight stood again to see the person return.

“If you really are the one I’m looking for,” The person bent down and dumped a shriveled body down the hole, “Take this chance and escape, I’ll meet you when you get out.”  The person walked off, leaving Twilight with the body.

Once she focused on the body, the smell hit her like a train, making her gag and cough. She stopped and held her breath to get closer, noticing an iron key connected its belt. She slowly reached forward, still holding her breath. She grabbed a hold of the key and tugged, but the belt resisted. She pulled again and managed to tug the key off the belt. She recoiled as she couldn't hold her breath anymore and gasped for air.

She stood against the wall and worked her way to the door, staying as far away from the body as she could. Twilight reached the door and grabbed onto the handle, looking for the lock. She found it and plunged the key in and twisted it, giving a satisfying click.

She smiled and threw open the door. She stumbled into the hall, only to recoil again, as the smell from the body intensified. Twilight covered her mouth and nose and looked down the hallway. There were three more bodies like the one in her cell, only they were moving. They looked like they should be dead, but then again, Twilight knew nothing of this new land.

Keeping her hand over her mouth, she moved forward, keeping away from the cell doors and the other ‘things’. One was holding the door of its cell and shook it loudly when Twilight got near, either wanting help or to get to her. Either way, she avoided it while the two in the hall simply stared at her with empty black sockets with bright orange dots for eyes. She shivered when she made eye contact with one and it stared right back. She walked up the stairs at the end and slowly let her hand fall when she entered a dim square room with one other door. The smell of decay was slightly hidden behind the smell of wet stone

She walked around a large pool of water in the center, following a stone path to the door. Twilight reached the door and smiled to see a ladder leading up. She rushed to it and gripped onto it with all her strength, placing one hand on the rung in front of her and the other above and slowly began to climb. After a minute of climbing, she reached the top and layed down on the cold rock floor, glad to be rid of the stench of the prison.

Twilight stood and looked out the doorway in front of her, she peeked around the corners to make sure she was the only one around there. She breathed a sigh of relief as she walked out into a courtyard, the only thing in it was a charred sword looking item impaled into a pit a ash. She approached the sword with curiosity, reaching out for it. With a flash, the ashes lit into a small but brilliant flame that Twilight could feel from her position little more than a foot away, and Twilight smiled and sat next to the fire.