Chapters "Hey Twilight, are we there yet?" asked Apple Jack impatiently. "You said we'd have been there an hour ago."
"We should have been there by now, I'm not sure whats taking so long." the unicorn answered.
Twilight, AJ, and Rainbow Dash were going on a trip to one of the more secluded forests to find a special herb for Zecora, only they didn't know where it was. And to top it all off it was getting dark.
"Yeah I'm getting tired and this place is kinda creepy." said Rainbow with a shudder.
"You scared Rainbow?" asked AJ with a smirk.
"No! Of course not. Why would I be scared of a little dark forest?" A shiver ran down her back.
"Stop arguing over something as petty as being scared!" Twilight shouted in annoyance. "We need to find this herb before we get stuck out..."
She stopped dead in her sentence as she heard something in the distance. It sounded like a little filly at first. "Do you guys hear that?" she asked. They looked at each other and listened intently, but both shook they're heads no.
"Sorry Twi, but we don't here anything." Applejack said with a shake of her head.
There it was again. She spun around and looked behind her... nothing. She shook her head. I must be imagining things. "Oh well, sorry, lets go back home and look again tomorrow." she said.
"Sounds good to me." Rainbow Dash said sounding exhausted. AJ agreed so they started going back. It had been a long day for them.
Twilight couldn't sleep that night she kept having visions about the forest seeing and hearing things that she knew wasn't real, it couldn't be. Finally after what seemed like hours she fell into a restless slumber. The next morning she awoke feeling not the least bit rested. She got out of bed and walked to the door with a sigh. When she opened it, what she saw made her feel like she was going to be sick. There was blood everywhere and hoof prints in the blood. She looked around and screamed when she saw Rainbow Dash on a wall with her limbs torn mostly off and her head cracked down the middle, blood splattered around and on her body, still flowing onto the ground below her limp form. Twilight turned and ran into a body. It was AJ all torn up but alive, blood seeping out of her wounds.
"This is all your fault." AJ said with tears in her eyes. Well, one eye, since the other was gone, gouged out, leaving a bloody hole in her head.
"What?" Twilight was panicking.
"You did this to us." The farm pony closed her eyes and breathed a final sigh, spitting out one last stream of blood.
"No no no..." Twilight closed her eyes and started screaming again...
Twilight bolted upright, shivering with terror and sadness. She felt the cool comfort of her blankets surrounding her. Wait... it was just a dream? It had felt so real though. She couldn't even remember most of it now. She just laid there in bed thinking. I've never had a dream like that before. She was trying to remember when there was a knock on her door. Twilight opened the door and saw Applejack standing there.
"Are ya comin' or not?"
"What are you talking about Apple Jack?" Twilight's brain was slow from the nightmare.
"We'er supposed to go to the forest and look for that plant again, don't you remember?"
Of course! She had forgotten when she woke up. She threw her covers off and ran to get ready. After a few minuets she was ready to leave. They finally arrived at the forest and started searching.
"Hey guys!" yelled Twilight.
"Yeah?" Rainbow and AJ answered.
"Lets split up so we can cover more ground. Here what were looking for." she said as she showed them a picture of the plant.
"Sure thing Twi." answered Aj.
"Rainbow, you go with AJ."
"Got it!"
Twilight went looking the other direction of AJ and Rainbow. After an hour of searching she still couldn't find it. Why is it getting so dark? It was only noon. Soon it got so dark she could see almost nothing, and her magic wasn't working for some reason. She started to get worried. Where was Apple Jack and Rainbow Dash? She was about to call out their names when she saw something, just an outline of what appeared to be a pony.
"AppleJack! Is that you?" she called out. It didn't respond to her, instead moving away from her. "Wait!" she cried out. She couldn't see it anymore. She turned around and stopped in fear. She heard something, a little filly singing quietly. She kept looking around but didn't see anything the singing got louder and louder till it was all she could here. All the sudden she heard a blood curdling scream. She yelled and stared running anywhere she could. It was everywhere, she couldn't hear anything else then... it all stopped. She opened her eyes and saw another alicorn with a broken horn and wicked grin. It walked up to her and laughed as she scrambled away from him. She suddenly felt a stabbing pain in her head like somepony hit her with a rock. It intensified until she couldn't bear it and finally passed out.
"Where's Twilight?" asked Rainbow dash. "We haven't seen her in hours."
"That's odd, but she knows what she's doin'. I hope." Applejack glanced around in fear.
The two walked around for what seemed like hours.
"Why is it getting so dark?" asked AJ. "It can't be past noon."
"Yeah..."
They spun around at the sound of a scream. "Is that Twilight?" asked AJ. Rainbow was about to answer when it stopped.
"W-what was that?"
Rainbow was visibly shaking, but was unable to be seen by her friend, as the blackness enveloped them. It was so dark they could hardly see anything. They wandered around for awhile till they stumbled across a body... of Twilight. They screamed and saw that she was covered in blood. Suddenly Twilight stood up and turned to look at them. Her face was like a skeleton with a big toothy grin and bits of flesh hanging off it, and her eyes were all black with spots of red in them. They started to run away when Twilight yelled at them.
"Guys!"
They stopped and looked at her. "Whats going on?" they looked at her face which was now normal.
"Your face was all messed up Twi! You need to tell us what's goin' on."
"I don't know what you mean." She said looking like she didn't know anything. "I just fell asleep for a bit."
AJ and Rainbow looked at each other and agreed they needed to leave this place. They turned to leave and started walking when AJ saw Raibow fall and start screaming as Twilight pulled her away. AJ tried to stop her but Twilight put up a barrier that kept her from following.She stared in horror as Twilight's face turned from normal to how it was before, completely crazy. Rainbow was clawing at the ground and her hooves were getting bloody and torn up yelling at AJ to help her. She was crying and yelling back, but couldn't help her friend. What happened to Twilight, what was going on? And why couldn't she move? She tried to yell for help but no one heard her desperate cries.
She just ran, nothing could stop her, she had to get away from everything that happened. 'Their dead.' she thought to herself. 'Why did I kill them?' Twilight couldn't stop thinking about what she had done. KILLED, DEAD... And for what? she couldn't even remember why she'd done it. All she remembered was Apple Jacks last words. "I'm a MONSTER." she said to herself.
"Yes... you are." said the same raspy voice she'd heard before. "You killed them in cold blood."
She fell over from exhaustion and cried quietly. "I know." she whispered. She lay there shuddering in the dirt under the trees of the forest. 'What if Celestia finds out what I've done? What will happen?' she couldn't wait here to find out. She got up again and started walking deeper into the forest. As she walked she saw somepony in the distance. "Hello?" she called out, "Who's there?" It came closer until she made out a face. She didn't recognize him at all. "Who are you?"
"My name is Derrek." said the pony, "I thought I was the only one that came here at night." he said winking at her. Twilight looked at him with swollen eyes. "What's wrong with you?" he asked a little inconsiderately.
"Something horrible..." and started breaking down in tears.
"What?" Are you gonna tell me?"
She looked at him and shook her head her body trembling, "I can't." She turned to leave and gasped when she saw AJ standing in front of her. "Apple Jack!" she exclaimed in surprise. "What's going on? Your..."
"I'm what Twi? Come on say it!" she yelled.
"D-dead." she whispered.
She nodded. "That's right!"
"Why'd you do this to us Twilight?" She spun around to see Rainbow standing there behind her. "What did we do to you?" She started trembling even harder now.
"It wasn't my fault." She said between sobs. "I didn't mean to." The other pony was standing there concentrating on the illusions.
"Yeah right!" AJ said angrily. Twilight ran. Not knowing where. She just had to get out of there. She started screaming. She looked back and when she looked forward again she hit a tree and blacked out.
Twilight was in her house getting ready to leave. Once she was ready she went over to Fluttershy's and knocked on the door. She answered and Twilight asked if she could come in.
"Why of course Twilight. What's wrong?"
"Does something have to be wrong for me to come see my friend?"
Fluttershy lowered her head. "No I guess not. Well I was just about to eat. Do you want to join me?"
"Sure that would be nice." she smiled. As soon as Fluttershy turned something came over Twilight and she couldn't remember anything after that. She woke hours later in a pool of blood. She jumped and ran into corner. She saw Fluttershy in the middle of the room. Her limbs were bent at horrible angles bones jutting out. Her stomach had been torn open blood and intestine all over the floor. She was missing her eyes and her jaw was broken back so it didn't look like a mouth. "What?" She had no words and then saw all of the animals dead also. Had she done this? She herself was covered in blood also. She screamed and ran out the door.
She arrived at the forest again determined to find that pony who had done this. It was dark by the time she made it to the middle of the forest. She was still running when she heard hoof steps behind her. She spun and saw it. The one she had come for. She charged in fury and jumped at it. It just teleported behind her and struck her head making her fall to the ground. After running all that way she was suddenly so tired she couldn't move. She just sat there and cried. The other pony used his magic and sent it into her body. It started jerking and she creamed in pain. "I have 2 more tasks for you to complete."
She knocked on the door to Rarity's house. It was the middle of night now. Rarity answered grumbling about not getting her beauty sleep. She opened the door to see Twilight. "Twilight? What are you doing here darling?" She just pushed past her into the house.
"Shut the door." she said in a commanding voice. Rarity did as she was told.
"What's going on?" She turned and was flung into the wall by Twilight. Her leg broke as she impacted the wall, causing her to scream in pain, before falling to the floor. Twilight took a knife and walked over to her. "Why are you doing this?" She didn't answer and plunged it into her stomach. Rarity screamed as Twilight yanked it back and forth inside of her. Blood sprayed everywhere and poured onto the floor around them. She stood up and used her magic to further mutilate her body. Her bones snapped and her eyes melted in their sockets. The pain was so bad she couldn't even scream. Twilight threw her body into the wall and fell over unconscious.
Twilight woke up one last time, in a place that seemed different. It looked familiar, yet it didn't. She saw Rarity and was able to remember everything that happened. She sat there crying. After awhile she got up, heading back to the forest one more time. She turned around and took a knife. With tears steaming down her face, she stabbed herself and waited for herself to bleed out.
She saw her friends, all of them, and they embraced her. They seemed to glow, carrying with them a peace and re-assurance. Her aches seemed to melt away as she gazed into their loving eyes. "I'm so sorry." she said crying still.
They looked at each other then at her. "We forgive you. Come home Twilight." She smiled through tears. and followed them, never coming back.
Where am I? Whats going on? Rainbow Dash didn't know how she got here... or where here is. Slowly, her memory returned.
"Twilight!" she yelled in a panic. "Whats going on? Where am I?" she looked around and saw her self in a mirror hanging upside down. She gasped as she saw herself covered in blood, she saw her back and started crying cause her wings were torn off. Why, why would she do this to me? Her back began to throb with pain as she realized her loss. The door banged open and in walked none other than Twilight.
"So I see your up." she said with a smirk on her face.
"Why are you doing this?" Rainbow was doing her best to hold back the tears.
"Cause I told her to." replied a low and raspy voice. "And she has been very..." he looked up thoughtfully, thinking of the right word. "Compliant."
"But why? Why her, and why me?" she asked absolutely terrified.
He chuckled at her and said, "Because I want my revenge on Celestia for banishing me. Plain and simple."
"Why did she do that?" she whimpered.
"Because I was to be king of Equestria and she took that from me. My plan was perfect, kill her in her sleep and then Luna and Cadence. One by one, removing the rulers of this wretched nation, until it plunged into chaos. Then the kingdom would be MINE."
"Then why Twilight? She has nothing to..." it all made sense. She was a alicorn so she would be a princess and she was Celestia's favorite. But her? "What about me?"
"When Twilight comes out of her coma she will remember what she has done. She will start with you and then everypony else will suffer." he boomed with laughter.
She noticed that his horn was broken in half. What happened? She wondered.
"Now enough of this nonsense, Twilight be a dear and finish the job."
She nodded her head and he turned and left the room. "No Twilight don't do this its me Rainbow Dash please!!"
She only smiled and shook her head as she took a knife and plunged it into her stomach.Rainbow Dash screamed in pain as Twilight twisted the hooked blade and tore it out of her along with some intestines. Her heart had been broken by the her own bones as they were twisted around insider her own body, causing her life to spill down her face, and onto the ground. She then took the knife and cut most of her arms and legs off leaving just enough to keep them attached to her body. Only small bits of her bones and strands of muscle tendons kept her arms from falling to the ground. Rainbow couldn't take pain anymore as she was screaming for it to stop.
"Twilight?" Tears streamed down her face, intermingling with her blood, both on her body and on the ground.
With a wicked smile, Twilight took the knife and slowly cut into her head, gouging out her eyes, twisting the blade slowly as she drove the weapon through Rainbow's brain and into her skull. With one last scream Rainbow was forever still. Twilight removed the knife and licked the blood off and smiled.
As her own friends blood ran down her jaw from the knife in her mouth, her lips parted into a sadistic smile. "Next."
AJ had found her way home after what felt like hours. What happened to Rainbow and Twilight? What made her go crazy? She had no clue at all. She thought it was just a dream so she went to bed. In the morning she went to go find them but they were nowhere to be found, so she started asking around. Everypony she asked said they hadn't seen them since yesterday. She started getting worried that maybe it wasn't a dream. She went home and was getting ready to leave when Twilight came to her.
"Hey Apple Jack. What are you doing?" she asked.
AJ was a little scared because of what happened and asked, "Hey Twi, do you remember anything weird happening last night?"
"No, why do you ask?"
"Oh no reason. Just wondering." she looked around nervously. Was this a trap?
"Hey, why don't we go to my place and invite Rainbow Dash too." she said sounding excited.
AJ thought about it. This could very well be a trap. Then again, this was Twilight she was talking about. SHe might have gone crazy at times, but she was a good pony. She would never hurt her friends.
They went over there and once they got there Twilight told Spike to leave. She wasn't sure why though. AJ was wondering where Rainbow Dash was and Twilight said, "Oh she's already here, let me show you." She took AJ upstairs and opened one of the doors and told her to look. She was horrified as soon as she saw it. It was a mess, blood everywhere and on the wall was Rainbow Dash on the wall limbs severed mostly head split down the middle. She screamed and turned to run but Twilight stood in her way.
"Why Twilight? Why are you doing this?"
"I don't know. It's fun?" she said with a genuine smile.
AJ looked desperately around for somewhere to escape, or for something to use to defend herself. Something, anything. She lunged for a book on the ground and just as she was about to reach it Twilight stopped her with magic.
"And what do you think your doing? Hmm? Hahaha!" she laughed as threw AJ against the wall. "You can't stop me mortal." she started hitting her against the wall harder this time till finally she couldn't even move. Twilight stopped and let her fall to the ground and walked over to her and impaled her with her horn. AJ screamed in agony.Twilight laughed as she ripped up and cut her almost in half, using her magic to slice through the orange pony's flesh with a sizzle.. And then... she stopped and fell over.
Twilight woke up from her dream yelling and crying. What had she done? Killed her friends? No, she couldn't have. Right? She got out of bed and went to the door, she opened it slowly fearing what she might see. She fell to her knees and put a hoof to her mouth. There were her friends Rainbow on the wall, no longer bleeding but her cyan coat was almost completely red. And AJ was curled up in a ball, shivering and coughing.
"This i-is your f-fault." said AJ very slowly. "You did this... t-to us. Why? What did we do?" Her face told of pain, sadness, anger... and fear.
Twilight went to her side and wept loudly, "I DON"T KNOW!" she screamed. What had she done? She KILLED her friends. "I'm sorry AJ." she said quietly, "I'm sorry." Finally after what seemed like forever she died. Twilight sobbed for so long she lost track of the time. Finally she got up and went to the place where all this started. The Forest of the Necropony.
