chapter one
"Yawn" I said, as I stretched my wings and arms. "Ah... I think it will be a nice day" I stretched again and thought to myself, I wonder if Opal is awake? I started down the stairs and peeked into her room to check on her. "Hm not here" it wasn't strange for her to wake up before me. She did it almost every morning. Shrugging to myself I continued downstairs to the kitchen. My stomach growled hungrily at me."Well I guess some food wouldn't hurt"
I got out a small salad plate and some salad making supplies. It would be the perfect salad. My mouth was watering just thinking about it. I was reviewing my supplies when I saw that first I didn't have dressing and second I didn't have cucumber. "I wonder where Opal putts the dressing" I started searching the kitchen again to come up empty hoofed. "Buck, I guess I'll have to just go buy more, I wonder if they'll even be open?" I went to the chest me and Opal had in the living room and grabbed some spare bits. My head snapped to the front door, I thought I heard a noise coming from it. Not a knocking like I expected it to be, it was something different something that didn't feel right. "Hello? Anypony there?" I crept up to the door and looked out the peep hole only to see nopony there. "Huh...." Shrugging I opened the door and made my way to the market.
Being so close to town made getting there quick. As I enters town the shops started to open. "Wow perfect timing." I smiled to myself. Yes today was shaping up to be a nice calm day. The only thing was that the noise I had heard at the door was creeping in my mind. It filled my thoughts when I entered the store and it was still there when I left with the dressing.what was it? Was it just a prank? Prank don't feel dangerous, Then I heard a somepony calling my name from somewhere. "Mystic!" I turned my head and saw my old special somepony John Star calling to me.
"Well hello John, how have you been?" I said as I walked to him from the shop I was at. John is a navy blue stallion with aqua or cyan hair. He never really specified witch, and was real wishy washy on the whole subject. With a start and hammer cutie mark; he once told me that it was because her was an expert repair horse. He was quit handsome just the stallion for me but...."Just fine, I have a new special somepony I'de like you to meet someday. She's real nice"... Not very loyal to em at all I'm afraid.
"Oh.... Well it sounds like your happy, but I have some busyness to take care of right now. I guess I'll see you later John." I said as I slowly walked away. I was hoping he would come and comfort me in my sad memory of him, but I guess he was off to do his own thing. I was such a fool to have even been with him for all the heart break he brought on me. No matter I just have to try harder to find the perfect stallion for me. With these new uplifting thoughts I headed back home, having completely forgotten about the strange noise from this morning.
I got into our house and set the dressing down on the counter when I noticed that I forgot to get the cucumbers. Face-hoofing I went out to the small garden I had made for eating and sometimes selling. There were some cucumbers in it, and some other things to, but I was just here for the cucumbers. I went to the gardening box I had for the small garden and got out some sissiers for cutting them off the stem. As I was doing that I had a small sensation in my mind. It was pushed back from my mind as I was to busy consecrating on my cucumber harvest. It crept slowly up to the front of my brain, and by the time it became to loud to ignore it was screaming to turn around. The sudden scream in my mind to turn made me whip around as fast as anypony possibly could. I think I screamed so loud that I drew all of town to my house.
Except that I didn't like I thought I wish I would have. Standing right there behind me, and about to pull a prank was my friend and roommate Opal Whisper! She laughs at my reaction so long, and loud. Falling to her side ,and wheezing from what she thought of as hilarious. Not to me though! her little prank totally ruined my cucumber!
Opal Whisper is a short pony with orange fur and extra curly green hair. She says she would never trade it for anything in the world, but I see her brushing it furiously in an attempt to get it straight. She has a coral shaped cutie mark that looks like its dancing in the wind. "Opal! You ruined my cucumber! Now what am I going to do? I was going to have that in my salad for breakfast."
"Oops sorry hun, I guess I got carried away with all them fancy little bits o' lettuces you keep so neatly stowed away. -snort-
-giggle-" Hes face cricked up as she tried to repress the laugh from using that ridiculous western accent on me.
"What are you doing? Don't even try to use the fake accent on me this time! It wont work I swear you're not getting away with this one Opal! I swear it!"
"Oh poo, Mystic why do m you have to be so neat? It's just a little fun. Why don't you try it sometime huh?"
"Hey i can be fun! I just choose appropriate times and places for fun. like not when my friends are busy working with sharp tools. hey though... why aren't you at work?"
"See! It's all work with you! Don't you ever just stop working and relax? Have fun?! Come on! lets us blow off work and go take a sick day! Have some fun!" Opal grabbed my hoof and tried to drag me off to the town for a day of fun, but I wouldn't have any of that! I had lots of important things to do today!
"NO! Opal I can't. You may be able to skip work, and blow that day off for some fun. I however can not! I have to many responsibilities at my work that I have to get done every day, not to just blow it off. That would get me an even harder day tomorrow, and I would end up worrying about all the time I was supposed to be relaxing!" I yanked my hoof away and put it down."I think you would do best to let me work to. We kinda need the money you know. Now more than ever with all your new hobbies courtesy of my job"
"fine... I don't need you to have fun, and I don't need you money ether Ill just have fun without you, Miss grand records keeper!!" Opal stomped away from our front yard. almost creating a new trail as she went.
"sigh" Now I had even more work than I wanted, as now I had to clean up my garden. I couldn't do it thought. I suppose I would have to do it later. Now that I was almost late to work. As I prepared to flap my wings to pick up the pace, and get to work on time I was hit from behind by something. Naturally I fell flat on my face to the ground, and trying to get up proved just as troublesome. What ever it was that hit me had me pined down under its foot. I say foot with scrutiny, It felt like a hoof, but then again hooves don't have claws now do they. I looked up at my attacker to see the most terrifying pony in my whole life. I opened my mouth to scream for help, and found a hoof in my mouth. Well as I said it wasn't really a hoof, but what else am I gonna call it. the (i)hoof(/i) spread over my nose, and started to suffocate me. I heaved my lungs to draw in air, but was meet with nothing. My world slowly spinning to black. I felt myself being dragged away from my peaceful house. Nothing stirred in my front yard. Not even the wind.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Sluggish, slow, my head hurt and I reached up a hoof to rub it. Only I found no hoof on my head. My head hurt to much I groaned and open my eyes slowly. Blinking my eyes again I looked at my surroundings they widened in fear. I tried to look behind me and above me and below me but my head wouldn't move. Starting to panic, calling for help from somepony. It was then that I heard somepony coming into from a door behind me. I was frantic, trying hard to see who it could possibly be. When a strange pony came to the front of where I was. She unstrapped me from where I was on a table it looked like and said the following things.
"Hello pony, I am Coral Dust servant of the great and powerful Dark Hole. The benevolent keeper of your destiny. I am to show you to your quarters until he is ready to give you your task. Please don"t do anything foolish as this will anger our lord and cause your death to be much quicker. now come." She sounded very much bored of saying that, I would have thought she would sound more angry or scared. Anyway this Coral Dust pony looked very tired. with light blue fur and a dark purple main styled strangely, and being a unicorn with her magic restrict color meant she was also a prisoner. She lead me through a series of halls with cells lining then. They all contained a kind of monster or some form of pony. I soon saw they were all ponies turned into freaks by dark magic. I gasped when I realized this, and Coral just laughed horseley at me.
"Um miss Coral? What happened to all these ponies?" Thought I did expect a response from her, the reason that came was... terrifying. "These are all experiments done my lord Dark Hole. He is researching how to make an Alicorn out of ponies. I myself am a product of his work. Given extended life and I thank him by working as a servant for the cause." When I heard that she herself was an experiment I noticed that she was taller than the average unicorn and that she had what looked like very strong legs for that matter. She was also starving! Why was she starving?! Was there not enough food down here?
"Um, why are you so hungry looking?" Her head slowly turned to me, she rolled her eyes and turn all the way around to look at me in the face. "Look around pony, what do you see here? It's stink, filth, decay, rot, all those ponies, my tyrant master, I am no servant I am a slave here. I am not strong enough to stand up to him, even at full strength. I'm starving myself in a hope to die and leave this place but I can't. He made me immortal, I have an over extended life, I am doomed to serve him and his cult until they die off and I am free. So I suggest you keep your smart mouth shut so I can wallow in my state of filth, and you can be condemned to such a fate as well." Her rage at me in that one moment echoed through the cave, and she turned around with a humph to start leading me away again. "Here, this is your room, enjoy your stay highness."
She slammed the door, and locked it behind her. I flinched away from her fury and looked around the room. It was gorgeously decorated in what looked like the finest cloth and silk anywhere. This room was was beautiful, stunning, magnificent. I flopped down onto the bed and felt the most comfortable thing next to clouds there ever was. Before I could get properly comfortable on the new bed the door unlocked and slammed open. The bright and cheery air that was here got sucked out through the open door and into the dark unicorn standing there. His fur was deep dark grey, and his flowing locks of hair were pitch black. His cutie mark was a black hole sucking in a star that lay at it's center. It looked warped as if it had been changed somehow. He beckoned me off the bed, and when I didn't get off he slammed his hoof down, and used magic to toss me onto the hard rounds.
I shakily stood up as he said. "Why hello there pony, you must be my next experiment. No no don't be frightened." he said smiling "I won't do that nasty business yet. I have to get the other ingredients first. I just wanted to meet you first, and introduce my self I am Dark Hole " He grinned vially at me while walking out backwards. "I will be seeing you soon princess." the door to my new room was closed slowly shut by his magic so as I could hear his dark chuckle as he walked down the hall. I let out a breath I didn't realize I was holding, and stood there trembling. Slumping into the floor I lay there crying, being reminded of why i was brought hear in such a way was terrifying. There was nothing I could do about this situation so I went to bed, or at least tried to. I lay there in the bed thinking of what he might do to me. Would I become like those ponies in cages? What about that Coral Dust that lead me here? Would I become like her? These plaguing thoughts drove me to cry myself to sleep, but my sleep was no better. The images of my mind filled to a boil, and nightmares ran free in my sleep. One in particular stood out to me.
There was a field of flowers. They looked like the flowers that I had planted in front of my house.There was a feeling behind me, and I turned around. It was John he was smiling at me, and he gave me a kiss. Grinning he ran through the meadow, and I chased him. We were laughing, and dancing when Opal whisper stepped out of the edge of the forest, To the edge of the meadow. He saw her and went to her. I trotted to her as well. When I had gotten closer I saw a strange thing behind them. I tried running faster to them to warn them, but they didn't seem to notice. Instead they stood there, and let whatever it was get to them. Still they stood there, and when that thing touched them there flesh started to rot off there bodies. When they were nothing but bones they collapsed. The thing started to come to me, so I ran away. whenever I looked back thought he was still gaining on me. His hoof, if that's what it was reaching for my skin to make contact with every step. Finally it touched me, and I felt me flesh melting off my body. My heart slowed to a weak pulse, but before I died I looked up at my attacker. It was DarkHole!!
I screamed awake with a gasp right into the face of that terrible unicorn. he shoved his hoof into my mouth, "QUIET!!!" He screamed. My panic at being touched by him was overwhelming. He did just melt me in a dream. He smiled at me again making me shiver. "Well if your awake then that means we can begin. To bad for you I have gathered the other ingredients. We can start the procedure now my little princess." He backed away, and singled for a spot light to shine at two other places in the room. the other ingredients on the table where two other ponies. One was a unicorn, and the other was an earth pony. That wasn't even the worst part. The earth pony, and unicorn were Opal Whisper, and John Star!
