I don't know why I did it. Something inside of me, I... I just snapped. I couldn't control myself.
My friend Mimic Trend, he was bickering with somepony; an earth pony with a dirty, charcoal-black coat and an ash grey mane. I was standing by my friend's side, keeping silent as always, afraid to intervene. The argument was a heated one, with the charcoal stallion accusing my friend of being a filthy, love-leeching bug. I tried to tell the charcoal stallion that accusing Mimic of having similar traits to that of a changeling was wrong, that his somewhat hardened black forelegs were merely birth defects and not a "sign of being one of those changeling pests", but I was promptly ignored by both Mimic and the charcoal stallion; although Mimic did cast me an appreciative glance and a nod before proceeding to shout various insults, making wild gestures to himself and asking the elder stallion if he had any proof to back up his "idiotic claim". I didn't hear the entire conversation, I was too busy casting nervous glances at the gradually building crowd of ponies surrounding us. The Ponyville Marketplace was bustling with activity, which only made matters worse.
Not soon after the crowd began to build, the elder stallion began to get more violent in his gestures, prodding Mimic's chest with a forehoof and repetitively shouting rather colorful insults, all of which involved the word "changeling" in one way or another.
Mimic tried to fight back, batting the charcoal stallions hoof away with his own hardened forehoof, but the stallion was just too persistent in his prodding and jabbing, and eventually took to shoving Mimic to the gravel, now screaming at Mimic to get up and show his "true colors"...
I just... don't know what happened.
The moment that damn earth pony laid his hoof on my friend, I just stopped thinking, and acted in defense of my friend. My vision clouded over with a blood-red hue, time slowed, the magic flowing through my horn began to crackle as I grit my teeth in anger. A solid cone of crystallized magic covered my horn, the shards growing towards the base of my horn from the tip. I lowered my horn at the stallion, shooting the cone at him. It tore through his chest and came out his right flank, embedding itself in a nearby building. Being a magical construct, it quickly dissolved, the blood that coated it splashing on the ground and down the wall...
A few moments of silence passed as I stared upon the unmoving corpse of the earth pony, taking shaky breaths as I watched over his features; keeping an eye out for any signs of movement… I saw none.
I didn't want to believe it, he couldn't be dead, I was quite obviously in denial… and so the realization came slow to me, but when it did, it hit me hard… I killed that thug... I killed him! I was in shock, I never meant for it to be like this; it was never my intention to hurt anypony. I knew what was coming next. I could already hear the panicked screams of the townsfolk who had witnessed this calling the local guards to restrain me. And so I sat down on my haunches next to the lifeless corpse of the earth pony, my eyes clamped shut, fighting back the tears that were beginning to emerge. I could hear my friend shouting my name, but I paid him no mind, I couldn't focus.
Barely seconds after the incident, the screams and jeers of the townsfolk died down, and the faint metallic clanging of the Town Guards' armor reached my ears. From what I could hear, there were two guards, one positioned at the either side of me. I slowly stood, twisting to face the guards in silver. They had their spears aimed at me, their teal eyes fixed upon my now shaking figure. The guard off to my left spoke, but what came out was disoriented. I tried to speak, but my tongue felt heavy in my mouth, and soon it began a struggle to stay upright. My ignorance of what the guard supposedly ordered seemed to anger him, as he took a step closer to me, bringing the spear he held in his hoof closer to my face. His mouth was now moving rapidly, supposedly yelling at me, I could not tell. A peculiar ringing noise within my head muffled out any outside noise, causing me to droop slightly and stagger forwards towards the guards in hope that they would notice my condition.
It seemed to work, as the guards lowered their spears and slowly made their way towards me. Not soon after they began inching near me, darkness started to creep into the corners of my already disoriented vision, I tried to stay upright, but I felt sleepy... so very... sleepy. I then fell forward, towards in the direction of the two guards. Two silver streaks rushed towards me, and that was the last glimpse of color I saw before I finally succumbed to the darkness.
"I'm... sorry."
I awoke to the piercing screech of rusted iron hinges and the somewhat distant echoing of hooves against stone. I took note of it, realizing that somepony was slowly making their way towards me.
I didn't want to talk, I just couldn't, not that I could remember much at the time anyway. My memory was still a little hazy.
So instead of turning to face the direction of the hoofsteps, I kept my eyes closed and focused on my surroundings and the surface of which I laid upon. It was a soft, rectangular object, barely larger than my average frame.
'A mattress? A dirty one at that. Not to mention a little damp...' I thought to myself, and then it clicked 'Oh Celestia, am I in prison?'
A gruff voice then answered my internal questioning, instructing me to stand up, which was then followed by what sounded like a hoof striking iron bars. Considering the fact that I may not have any choice, I did so with great reluctance, wincing as I stretch my aching joints.
Images of rather scary forms of interrogation flashed into my mind. I pondered why I would think of such things before dismissing the thoughts entirely.
'Note to self – Stop listening to those old tales Lyra keeps telling you about... her and her hooman nonsense.'
Shaking my head, I glanced around my cell. There wasn't much to look at in this cage, the back of the cell consisted of an uneven stone-brick wall, with an occasional patch of bright green moss hanging off the odd stone brick. The floor was slightly more well managed, not a patch of moss or crack to be seen, almost as if the floor was made of polished stone, instead of the same dirty, moss-covered bricks the walls were made of. The sides of my cell contained nothing more than a view of more cells, all very much identical to my own.
Call me weird, but I loved new places. I was actually somewhat enjoying my time in this cell, oddly enough, it was a new experience. That was until I found my gaze shifting towards the entrance of the cell. Stood at the entrance of the cell was none other than-
"P-Princess Celestia..." I stammered. My ears flopped towards the sides of my head, my pupils shrinking to mere blue pricks. I could barely hide the surprise in my tone. Why, out of all ponies, was she here?
'If Princess Celestia herself is here... that means I'm in Canterlot... away from Ponyville...'
Her magenta eyes gazed upon me, studying me, as if to see if I truly was a threat, before she spoke.
"What is your name?" she questioned.
I could detect just a hint of anger and disgust in her voice.
"My n-name... is Hollow." I replied. Obviously scared, but at this point, I couldn't care less. The Princess of the Sun herself was here to question me.
"Hollow? Such a peculiar name. Tell me, who are your parents?" She replied, the anger previously in her voice no longer apparent.
My vision clouded a light shade of red at that comment. I wanted to tell her that they left me for dead in the streets of Ponyville, that I hated them for it, but that was not what came out of my mouth.
"Forgive me Princess, but my family is not a subject I like to discuss," I responded, the evident fear in my shaky voice replaced with hints of anger and sadness.
Princess Celestia raised an eyebrow at this, but made no comment.
"Hollow, do you know why you are here?" The Princess questioned.
I remained quiet. The question caught me off guard as I realized exactly how much trouble I was really in...
"Well?" Princess Celestia pushed.
"Y-yes." I confirmed, a single tear trickling down my cheek.
The Princess hmm'd at this, before gesturing for me to continue.
"..." I couldn't hold it anymore, I started sobbing, tears forming below my eyes. I began to panic yet again, unable to control my emotions.
The Princess seemed shocked, if not surprised that I would break down like this. Her expression showed that she was no longer angry, but slightly concerned for my well-being.
"Hollow... follow me." She said with slight hesitation, before gesturing for a guard standing off to the side to follow too. "We have much to discuss."
Author's Note
Whelp, here it is, my first story posted. Would greatly appreciate any feedback, whether it be positive or negative - as long as it's constructive, heh.
I was led through what appeared to be the hallways of the Canterlot Castle, which were surprisingly empty. Celestia led at point, whilst a rather scary Solar Guard marched behind me, watching my every move. I couldn't blame him really, I was a prisoner being led to some unknown location by the Princess herself. I could practically feel his gaze burning into the back of my head, which was not a nice feeling. I trotted onward, our hoofsteps echoing throughout the empty corridors. The whole time I found myself trying desperately to keep as far away from the Princess as possible without seeming like I'm trying to slip away and make a hopeful escape, which wasn't an easy task considering that the guard would shove me forward every time I'd try to slow down. Mind you, I wasn't trying to slow down on purpose, it was all subconscious. I knew the Princess wanted answers, and I knew that she was going to resume questioning me when the time came, and that is what I was afraid of.
I glanced downwards, staring at the white marble tiles reflecting my image. I was not in the best shape I have to admit. My eyes were bloodshot, my navy blue mane in a mess... hey, I looked like some madpony. Which... was not a good thing. I wanted to be seen as innocent and trustworthy as possible, not like some somepony mentally ill. Changing my appearance wouldn't make much of a difference. After all, I did murder somepony, but it was all worth it. Right? Every second I spend in here. It's all worth it... all worth saving my friend's life...
...
I must've stopped walking; because a sudden jolt of pain erupted from my flank causing me to jump forward instinctively to escape what I presumed was the culprit of the pain I had just been presented to.
"Keep moving, prisoner," the guard commanded in that deeply intimidating voice of his, spitting out the word 'prisoner' with clear distaste.
I obliged without a word, but not before glancing behind at my flank which now had quite a large cut right above the blue shield that was my cutie mark. A thick, crimson liquid oozed out of the newly formed wound. It stung like Tartarus, but I wasn't going to complain, it could be a lot worse. I took one last, worried glance at the guard before continuing on my way. The wound wasn't deep, but it was large, and dangerously close to my cutie mark.
It took around ten minutes for us to reach our destination, which was the throne room. As Celestia approached the over sized double doors, the pair of unicorn guards stationed at the doors began to open the large doors with magic as their horns were engulfed in matching silver auras.
I took a single fearful look at the guard, who motioned with his hoof for me to follow Celestia in. And seeing that I had little choice, I reluctantly followed the Princess in; the large doors slamming shut behind us, sealing me in with the Solar Princess.
The fact that I was terrified would be an understatement. I had not a clue what was going to happen to me. I knew the punishment for murder was banishment to a non-Equine country, but Celestia knows what other punishments awaited me.
'Heh, now that I think about it; Celestia DOES know what other punishments await me...' At that somewhat dark thought, I chuckled nervously to myself, mentally facehoofing at my poor joke.
The chuckle obviously wasn't quiet enough, as the Princess turned around and glared at me...
"Uhm..." I started.
"Is something funny, Hollow?" The Princess questioned me, an eyebrow raised in obvious amusement.
"Uh... n-no, not at all." I stammered, unable to think up a decent excuse for laughing behind the Princess' back.
The Princess continued to stare at me with a somewhat unamused expression, causing me to shift my gaze to the ground, nervously tapping the marble floor with a hoof.
Moments passed before I finally worked the courage to glance up again, only to find that the Princess had continued walking, leaving me quite far behind.
In a panicked rush, I stumbled forward. Forgetting that this room was made of polished, shiny rock, and the fact that hoofsteps echo throughout the palace if loud enough. Unfortunately, I didn't take these facts into account and ended up causing quite a loud, dull screeching noise with every clumsy step I took, causing the Princess to yet again turn her head toward me... a somewhat less happy expression now plastered upon her muzzle.
"Please, try to keep up," she said, causing me to wince and drop my gaze in embarrassment. She didn't comment on the noise I made in my rush to keep up with her, of which I was grateful for.
The Princess stared at me for a few more moments before yet again turning back and continuing on her way towards the throne, with me now following close behind her making sure not to fall too far behind.
Less than a minute of walking later, we made it to the throne. The Princess then instructed me to stand at the foot of the throne, before walking up the steps and sitting down on the large seat.
I glanced nervously around the room, not willing myself to meet the gaze of the Princess that was currently staring at me with an unreadable expression.
It was clear what was going to happen next, I had no doubt in my mind that the Princess was going to order some form banishment sentence. What came next I could only describe as... I guess you could say it surprised me, caught me off guard. The Princess stood up from her throne, blasted me with a ray of golden light... my vision, it turned a reddish hue, only this time I didn't feel any anger... at all.
In fact, I couldn't feel anything, no heartbeat, nothing. I could see, but it seemed I had no control over anything else; it was unsettling to say the least.
The Princess' mouth moved, seemingly speaking to herself. I couldn't make out any words, which bugged me, I wanted to know what she was saying. After a few moments she began circling me, entering and leaving my view. I tried turning my head to face her, only to find my body still wouldn't respond to my wills.
A minute passed, and I began panicking. I desperately struggled against whatever force was preventing me access from my own body, doing what I thought was the equivalent of pounding on a wall, not that there was actually a wall in my body or that I was literally trapped in my own body. Pounding on a wall is just the best I could explain what it felt I was doing.
Whatever I was doing obviously had an effect on my body, as Celestia stopped circling me and stared at me in mild surprise, eyebrows raised and everything. It was actually rather amusing to see that expression on the Princess... not that I'd ever tell her that.
What happened next only led to more confusion. She summoned a rather large, expensive looking mirror, and levitated it so I could see my reflection. What I saw... it disturbed me.
I saw me... with a few changes. My usual navy blue mane was now a darker shade of blue and was slick with sweat, my horn had red magical sparks dancing around from the base before reaching the tip and discharging into the air, my coat was somewhat darker than its original grey… and my cutie mark… what used to be a blue shield, was now a sinister looking crimson shield, and it frightened me.
I don't know what happened... but after I noticed how I changed, something snapped. I heard a light fizzling sound, and I found myself back in control of my own body. Glancing wearily back at the mirror, I found that my coat was again its original colour, the same went for my mane… and cutie mark.
I tried to take a step forward, only for my legs to buckle underneath me. My head hit the hard surface of the marble, my vision began to dim...
'Not again, please not again, please not... buck'
Author's Note
I apologize if Celestia seems OOC.
