Sugar Valley

The midday sun shines brightly down on to the orchard, Twilight Sparkle in comfortable silence as she watches Winona sprint around the open fields. Rarity stands to the princess’ left, a smile growing across her muzzle at the sight of the Cutie Mark Crusaders chase after the dog, who refuses to give back the stick they had just thrown.

Twilight turns to her right, catching a friendly glance from Applejack, Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy talking quietly to the farm pony’s side.

“I wanna thank y’all for the help today; don’t know how long I’d be out there if it weren’t for the spare hooves.”

Rarity, gently placing her brightly colored drink down, is the first to respond.

“It was no trouble at all, darling.”

The violet alicorn situated between the two mares takes a moment to outstretch her wings, the brilliant radiance of the sun warming her exposed down.

“Yeah; and the weather couldn’t have been more perfect.”

Rarity ‘hmm’s in agreeance before bringing the glass back to her lips. Silence resumes, and Twilight is given the time to simply bask in the comfort and familiarity of the scene. The five ponies remain in their positions for not nearly long enough, before Applejack refers to Twilight without changing her expression or even turning her head.

“Let go.”

The princess turns to look at her friend, unsure of what she meant.

“What?”

“Let go, and you’ll be safe.”

A pink hoof quickly emerges from behind Twilight, grabbing the mare’s shoulder. She gasps at the sensation, and with a quick leap forward to escape, Sweet Apple Acres crumbles around her, replaced by off-white walls and small holiday lights lining the room. Pinkie Pie stands less than a meter from Twilight, her right forehoof raised in the air.

“Sorry! I didn’t know you were—’elsewhere’.”

Twilight Sparkle gives no indication of a response, or even the intention of one. Pinkie uses the silence to cast a glance at the corner of the room, where a large pile of deserts are stacked up.

“You sure you wanna do this without eating anything? You might need the energy…”

Dozens of colorful lights reflect in Twilight’s empty gaze, her lips remaining still. Pinkie Pie slowly lowers her hoof to the ground, then gives her ‘friend’ a smile.

“Okie dokie loki!”

* * *

A full moon blankets the park, revealing every ride and attraction in a silvery light. Twilight isn’t sure how much time she’d spent in confinement, or even what Pinkie had spent that time doing. The park owner had mentioned preparing a ‘finale’, but what exactly that entailed was a detail Twilight had made no attempt to deduce.

The princess stands lifelessly as Pinkie Pie fights with the rusted mechanisms of the ride she’s prepared. An uncostumed assistant stands quietly a leg away from Twilight, but their presence had proved unnecessary as the alicorn had made no escape efforts.

With a loud smack of the car, and a shrug of her shoulders, Pinkie Pie finally leaves the ride alone and instead approaches the violet mare staring blankly at the grass.

“Okay! It’s ready—I think. Just one more ride, and your Sugar Valley experience will be complete!”

Twilight lazily shifts her eyes up and over to the attraction, a rickety wooden track leading straight into the closed mouth of a giant, smiling clown face.

“I put a lot of effort into the decoration, you know. Rarity would be proud…”

The alicorn’s ear twitches at the sound of her friend’s name, but she continues to stare only at her hooves. Pinkie Pie watches the mare with wide eyes and a smile, proud of how far she had brought her pupil. She extends a hoof toward the princess, motioning to the ride with her head.

“Shall we?”

Pinkie’s assistant steps closer as Twilight utters no response, nor does she acknowledge the outstretched hoof. With the creature behind Twilight now close enough for her to feel their breath on the back of her neck, the princess continues to ignore Pinkie’s hoof, but does slowly make her way to the track. Pinkie Pie’s still hovering hoof turns then points in the sickly assistant’s direction, and then at the control panel next to the car. The creature nods, eager to follow their master’s command.

“Get comfy!”

Pinkie Pie pats the seat on the left of the car before making her way to the right side and settling in. Twilight hesitates for just a moment, then climbs into the ride and slumps against the back of the seat. Pinkie Pie strains her forelegs as she reaches up and pulls down the safety restraint, locking the two in behind the peeling styrofoam padding.

“Grace!”

The pony at the control panel begins to bring the attraction to life, using the help of the colored sticky notes Pinkie had left all over the console.

“Remember Twilight; eyes open, mind free.”

The bulging eyes of the giant clown stare down at Twilight, just visible over the short climb in the tracks laid out before her. The clown’s mouth isn’t immediately at the top of the hill; instead, a straight section of track lies beyond the climax and just above the Big Top to its right, giving the ride’s occupants a fair amount of time before entering the clown’s maw. Twilight continues to focus on the exaggerated teeth even as the ride stirs to life, and the chain lift begins its journey down the hill.

“There’s all kinds of magic out there. I believe the strongest comes from right here:”

Pinkie Pie gently prods her chest as the chain latches underneath the car.

“Sometimes, we need a little push to see that.”

The ride shrieks and moans as its aging metal is dragged to the top of the hill, the mouth of the clown starting to slowly rise to allow passage. The princess’ eyes, however, have already moved on to the more immediate focus of the rattling hoof restraint.

“Who knows…”

A small, dislodged piece of the car can be heard falling through the tracks below.

“...you might even see some familiar faces in there.”

Twilight’s muscles tense and her eyes narrow as a grinding sound coming from within the coaster grows louder, and the restraint starts to rattle violently.

“What is wrong with—”

With a sharp metallic click, the lock on the restraint comes loose, and the padded bar flies up above the two mares. Twilight doesn’t waste a second, driving a hoof straight into the park owner’s jaw, dislodging a tooth. Pinkie Pie immediately begins to giggle, using her forehooves to intercept the barrage of attacks Twilight follows up with. Pinkie is pushed back, grabbing ahold of the alicorn’s neck as her assault starts to force Pinkie over the side. Twilight resists too late, rolling out of the car with Pinkie before both are sent tumbling over the side of the tracks, a violet hoof full of splinters the last thing to go. The alicorn’s heart drops as she realizes she’s headed straight for the roof of the Big Top, shielding her eyes with a hoof as she barrels through the striped cloth.

A moment later, the car enters the clown’s mouth slowly, fading into the darkness without its passengers.

* * *

Moonlight pours through the freshly torn hole in the Big Top, providing a sliver of illumination in the otherwise pitchblack tent. Twilight cries out in pain, holding her rear leg with her forehooves. A brief interlude amidst the crying allows the pony to observe the hoof she’d landed on, its direction protruding grotesquely backwards. She grits her teeth painfully hard, and attempts to redirect her focus.

On the dirt ground beneath her, a trail of hoofprints can be seen, leading out of the moonlight and into the darkness that surrounds her. Twilight pulls herself from the earth, and hobbles along the tracks, wincing with every step. The princess stops at the edge of the darkness, feeling out one of the prints on the ground with a forehoof. Once comfortable with its shape, she enters the darkness with a grimace and narrowed eyes.

“Look how far you’ve come…”

Pinkie’s voice floats around the otherwise silent Big Top with haunting resonance. Twilight is unable to locate the source, instead focusing on the imprints beneath her hooves.

“I wonder how much of the old Twilight is left?”

The princess stops, suddenly feeling a deviation in the tracks. Upon extending her hooves in either direction, she discovers dozens of indentations; even of different sizes.

“...Well?”

A shadeless lamp suddenly comes to life, projecting the shadow of a pony with a large mane on a covered crate in front of Twilight. She hurriedly spins around, only to discover a dusty ponequin wearing a rainbow afro wig to be the source. Once her breathing is relatively calm, Twilight takes advantage of the light to learn as much about her surroundings as possible.

There were hundreds; maybe even thousands of hoofprints embedded in the dirt, heading in every direction imaginable. Attempting to follow Pinkie’s was no longer an option. Instead, Twilight looks around her, covered crates and attractions surrounding the alicorn on all sides.

Twilight chooses a direction at random and shambles toward it, moving her eyes between the bizarre shapes hidden under the covers and the ragged bottoms of the cloth, where the cover would often just come up short, and leave a sliver of the object exposed. And, as the princess hopes, the hooves of anyone hiding under them.

“You’re a hoot, Twilight.”

The alicorn’s ears perk up, and she stops in her tracks. That time she could clearly tell that the voice came from behind her. Twilight pivots slowly on three legs, then begins her painful journey back the way she came.

Twilight Sparkle stops before one of the few uncovered objects, a large mirror similar to the one found on her first night in Sugar Valley. She steps closer to her reflection, grunting as she settles before it, just close enough to see the red in her eyes.

There were several small cuts surrounding her dirt-stained hooves, bruises along her legs and abdomen. The bandaging around where her wings once were is faded and peeling, loose pieces of the cloth dangling freely at her sides. The last part of her that she looks at is the face, where her narrowed eyes are pronounced with heavy bags underneath, her right eye further highlighted by a large bruise surrounding it. Twilight’s snarl—teeth lined with cracks of dirt—begins to fade; and her brows relax. The pain in the mare’s leg momentarily subsides, as the grimace transforms almost entirely into a much more calm, if not somber expression.

“That’s right, take a good look.”

Twilight spins around just in time to see Pinkie emerge from seemingly nowhere behind her. A pink hoof comes crashing down into the alicorn’s face, sending her and a long strand of saliva into the dirt. Pinkie paces expectantly as the cloud of dirt around Twilight dissipates. The alicorn groans as she turns her head to see that all-too-familiar smile prancing around her, mocking the miserable princess.

Slowly, Twilight rises to her hooves again, back to the mirror and muzzle facing her attacker. Once steadied, she begins to wind up a punch, but Pinkie Pie moves in much faster and sweeps a leg under Twilight, sending waves of pain through her dislocated hoof as she crashes back into the dirt.

“You’re still resisting! You’ll never get anywhere like this!”

Again, Princess Twilight painfully brings herself up, grunting as she barely reaches a full stand. Pinkie moves in for another attack, but Twilight blocks it with a hoof quickly thrown in front of her face. The impact jolts Twilight back, the mare unable to do anything as Pinkie’s alternate leg returns from the other side, and elbows the alicorn in the jaw. She falls to the earth in another cloud of dirt, the taste of blood now present in her mouth. Pinkie falls back, clicking her tongue disappointedly at the mare on the ground.

“You know, up there on the ride; I really thought you’d seen it.”

Twilight slowly rolls her head the other direction so that she can watch the earth pony, having lost the determination to stand up again.

“We aaall went and muzzled ourselves. Castrated one another, in a feral world...”

The alicorn helplessly attempts to prop herself up on an elbow, as Pinkie circles around and smirks at her efforts.

“Do you actually think any of that is real?”

A violet forehoof extends out to grant more leverage for Twilight, her unkempt mane hanging over her face.

“Pain is real. Lust. Impulse. Those are our masters; not any princess.”

Twilight looks up from the ground to catch another devilish smirk from Pinkie.

“Heh—no offense…”

The alicorn’s face again pivots toward the earth, before she forces herself up once more. She nearly stumbles over, and it takes much longer than the last time, but Twilight finally stands once again before the Element of Laughter. Pinkie Pie pauses her pacing to stare at the other mare, who’s mouth hangs open just beneath the lines of blood tracing a path to her nostrils.

The two watch each other quietly for a moment, muscles itching to spring into action. Pinkie is again the first, closing the distance between the two of them with a short sprint and her head down. Twilight is defenseless against the ramming attack, which sends her flying back into the mirror, cracking it on impact. The next hoof to fly up is a pink one, which Twilight narrowly dodges with a bob of her head. The splitting crack resonates in her ear as Pinkie’s hoof lands directly against the mirror, not even flinching as blood quickly fills the freshly made crevices. Twilight quickly follows with a strike to the chest, earning nothing but another attack from Pinkie, this time straight to the princess’ muzzle. The princess closes her eyes and raises a hoof, but nothing can be done to stop the fury of her once best friend, the cracks and blood on the mirror spreading until Pinkie finalizes her assault by grabbing Twilight’s head and forcing it through the glass. The alicorn cries out in pain as the grueling sensation of dozens of shards piercing through her flesh, most sticking as Pinkie pulls her off and tosses her backwards.

“You’re the one who wanted this, remember? All I wanted to do was take a peaceful ride together!”

Twilight writhes in agony against the dirt, holding a hoof up to her bloodied face. Her cries are ignored by Pinkie, who heaves the pony up in her arms so that Twilight can watch the two of them together in the mirror.

“What do you think?”

The alicorn’s right eye is forced shut because of countless lacerations and small shards of glass, but her remaining eye is able to just make out the violet shape slumped before her.

“Maybe not a total loss. Sugar Valley can always use more employees!”

Twilight whimpers helplessly as she allows her head to fall against her chest, staring down at the blood and glass surrounding her hooves.

“You’ll be a bit of a fixer-upper, but; I’ve seen worse.”

There’s no response but that of a gargled cough, Twilight driving one of her forehooves deep into the ground beneath her.

“Do you wanna stick with the purple theme? I’m sure I can find something.”

Twilight’s good eye opens with a deep slant, and her mouth curls into a venomous snarl as her hoof pulls up, bringing strands of blood and a collection of glass with it.

“Oooh! How about a—”

With her last surge of adrenaline, Twilight turns and sends a hoof-ful of glass straight into Pinkie’s eye, causing the pony to recoil in shock. Wasting no time, the alicorn makes a full rotation and leaps into Pinkie, who lands against the hard ground with Twilight on top of her. The princess holds her victim down with her left hoof as her right drives again and again into Pinkie, blinding her and slashing her throat. The sound of flesh tearing and gargled laughter echoes throughout the Big Top, Twilight ignoring every sensation but one.

Eventually, the strikes slow, and the laughter tapers off into a haunting gurgle. Twilight finally places her glass-ridden hoof off of the pony, and instead on the ground next to her. The princess’ breathing is ragged and loud, offering no relief as she slowly pulls herself from the corpse. She can only drag herself a forehoof away from Pinkie before collapsing into a heap in the dirt, closing her eyes and simply listening to the sound of her own breath.

The only recognizable feature left on Pinkie’s face is her smile, frozen amidst the gore and the glass. Two gaping holes remain where her eyes once were, putrid pits filled with rendered flesh and still seeping blood. And off to the deceased’s side is Twilight—who lies with her back turned to Pinkie, warm blood slowly pooling around the alicorn. Mind and body faltering from total exhaustion, she’s able to do nothing but curl into a ball, hopelessly trying to think of an escape plan, the will to get up; even the image of her brutalized companion would be favorable over the crushing nothingness she feels.

With her breathing finally steadied, Twilight finds comfort in the approaching embrace of sleep, her bloodshot eye disappearing behind a heavy eyelid. After a moment, there are wild flashes of bright light that surround the mare, and what sounds like distant voices settling in her ears. These sensations grow louder and brighter, drawing nearer to the princess until she finally drifts off, blanketed by the shadows of many.