“Nobody loves you.”
The reflection in the mirror told her this, but she turned away from it, squeezing her eyes shut. There were ponies that loved her, long before they did loved her.. They were all gone now. Celestia, why did they have to go? She should’ve been the one; she should’ve been the one. That very sentence repeated itself in her head, unwilling to let go of her as she wailed once more, as if she was stabbed in the very stomach as she fell to the floor of her home, her wings covering her as she sobbed once again. They were gone, and she was the only one left. Not even Spike existed, why did he have to follow them? He didn’t have to of course. He just wanted to be there, it was important, the stupid mission Celestia gave.
She gasped for air, remembering their screams, how she couldn’t save them. Spike had died, his cold eyes staring into hers as he whispered Rarity’s name one last time. Rarity was screaming frantically, yet when she finally fell silent, that’s when the real terror had begun, it had killed her on the inside, no one could run, no one could fly, they all stood there in terror, as the thing before them shifted, its gurgling laughter filling their minds, filling their everything. It was their everything. And then it was darkness.
No one remembered, no one could stop screaming for other’s names. She remembered her name being screamed, trying to respond, screaming and sobbing. She couldn’t speak; cold terror had filled her entire being, swallowing her in whole. It… The thing… Laughed in her ear, whispering horrible things to her… It was almost like it was her own thoughts, yet it was there, whispering in her ear, and then it left. It left her, shuddering, her wings covering her own body from the cold, as sudden as Rarity began to scream again, her terror… and then her pain. She remembered trying to scream, but it felt like ice was in her throat, it wouldn’t let her scream, wouldn’t let her swallow without coughing incoherently.
Her eyes opened again, she tried screaming again, but she could no longer speak. The thing had taken that away from her. All she had was an empty home, an empty heart. She rose, shaking, shuddering, trying desperately to get away from the memories, running back to her bed and covering herself in warmth, yet it wasn’t enough. The cold would never leave her body. It sunk so deeply inside of her that she had no choice but to cry once again, even Twilight’s soft voice could no longer comfort her, Twi was no longer here.
Like a broken record, the scenes would replay in her mind forever, why it left her there to live, the monster, that thing… It didn’t even find her worthy to kill, but she barely remembered the way it allowed her to live, she just remembered ungodly terror going on inside of her, the way she couldn’t run, couldn’t blink… It found her funny. Rarity died, and no one knew how either, but when the walls had lifted, she had saw. She blocked the memory in her head, repressing it. She remembered how Rarity’s last wail of pain left them all cold, and not from terror, but over how a life was burnt out. A life that they had all loved. Applejack started to howl in anguish, her shouts and wails burning into her mind. Twilight’s questions, and soon Twilight crying out for her to speak. The silence as the two pegasi had no idea how to respond, shuddering, unable to speak.
She remembered the smell of the blood, remembered the salty taste of tears as she had pressed herself up against the cold stone, unable to live with herself, unable to scream. She couldn’t believe what was happening; a simple order to visit the crystal caves, to see what was going beneath it. Nothing horrid like this was supposed to exist, nothing like him was supposed to exist. All she had in her cubicle prism was crystals and a flat, cold, stone. In the crystals her reflection was all she had for her eyes to see, and even then, she refused to look. Her cheek had felt numb, her wings limp as she could not get rid of Rarity’s screams in her head. She had no idea how they got separated, the walls had came so suddenly, separating them all just like Discord's maze... Yet nothing as deadly and cold as this. She remembered whimpering, wondering who was next, what was going to happen...
Then Applejack’s time ran out.
She remembered crying out for Applejack silently, eyes wide as she frantically paced around in the room till she finally just covered herself with her wings, shivering, shuddering, and gasping for air. Applejack had first cried out when they felt the rumble, a shift of something stone like, she was with Rarity. She screamed in terror, cold, uncontrollable, terror. They had never heard Applejack cry out like this, never heard her sob like this. Soon she started to scream, a pounding upon crystal was heard, crackling noises, then a shatter. Suddenly, a scream as everypony heard glass like substance rubbing together, reversing the noise it made when it shattered, a sudden disgusted rip of something, like one of Rarity's dresses. “MY LEGS!” She had screamed, telling them what they thought had happened.
The walls could not be broken, they only regenerated…
And Applejack was the one who found this out, with a grave cost.
It went on so fast, her screams, her howls, and then silence. She could hear him, laughing, taunting Applejack because she could no longer get up. She was useless now, and he was only going to make things worse. Her screaming came up once again, a horrid ripping sound echoing off the stone. And then, one final whimper, and Applejack was gone. She had no idea much longer it was, the best she could guess was around ten minutes when something opened, a flutter of wings went by, “Applejack!” the voice cried, out, but after that, she forgot. She had knocked herself in a daze, refusing to accept reality.
She smiled as she could hear ripping, the tearing of body limbs, as the voice whispered, “Fly away now..” The gargling, Twilight howling in distress. Then, darkness. She soon awoke, unable to speak still as the stone slid open. Her name was called, Twilight is concerned. She feels herself being held, then, she feels tears. The tears streak upon her face, her body, and soon her wings, because she’s trying so hard to be strong for Twilight. She’s wiping away her tears with her wings as she hugs her now, holding her away from danger. She couldn’t lose Twi, she couldn’t… He had different plans though.
He appeared, laughing tauntingly at them, taunting them over their weakness. She only stared at him, feeling no fear. He isn’t pony… He wasn’t anything she had ever seen. He radiated of coldness, he seemed like he may have been an alicorn eons ago, but now? He was nothing. A heavy cloak covered his face, a rebreather covering his muzzle, his dark blue, yet glowing so palely, fur almost looked like ice itself. No, he was not a pony, but he wasn’t anything else she had ever known either. He was nothing.
She refused to take her eyes off of him, refused to give him the last laugh, but then, he grabbed her. Twilight tried to scream, but couldn’t, his magic surrounding her throat. He suddenly slashed at her flank with something, a scream ripping out of her chest as she fell to the ground, shuddering, jerking in strange places. She scrambled over to Twilight, not able to do a thing as she sat there, an almost green sort of ooze coming out of her wound. It was obvious, he had poisoned her. She whimpered, crying out for Twilight to use her magic, but Twilight could not use it. It was a poison made for unicorns. It sapped the very magic out of them, their very life out of them. It was painful, more painful then hearing the screams, watching Twilight pale away…
Twilight’s screams hushed, her vibrant purple fur fading to a dusty, light, looking purple. She laid herself around Twilight, trying to protect her from the cold, her wings covering the mare as best as they could. She choked on her cries, unable to say a word as she watched her disappear, and all Twilight could manage to say to her was, “It’ll be okay.. I promise, okay? It’ll be-AUUUGH!-Nmm…mn… Okay…” She whimpered the last word out, and she felt herself nod. Soon, Twilight could no longer speak, looking at her with tears running down her face.
Her hoof reached and brushed her bangs, softly, slowly, she felt the ability of her voice, her strength, break through… With love. “Hush now.. Quiet now.. It’s time to lay your sleepy head..” Fluttershy choked upon her words, feeling the eruptions of stone beginning to move, Twi’s eyes widening as she heard this, but soon boring into hers, desperation, they told her to keep going. “H-Hush now quiet now, it’s time to go bed…” The walls lifted, Rarity’s body directly in front of her, that is, if it was Rarity’s body. The whole thing was turned in reverse, her pulsating skin long cold now as the rotting stench of flesh entered her nostrils. “Drifting.. Off to sleep..” She looked to her right side, only to see Applejack’s limbless body, her head separated from her body, her face almost looked peaceful, if it wasn’t separated from her body. “D-Drifting… Off…” She looked to her left this time, only to Rainbow Dash, defiant to the end, her wings torn off her body. It seemed he had beaten her with her own wings, her hooves almost near bleeding from how she had beaten at the walls, trying desperately to escape, and to rescue her friends.
She could barely swallow when she looked back down, gazing into Twilight’s violet eyes, looking at her facial features. Fluttershy blinked, then smiled from behind her tears, lifting her head up slightly as she began to give her full voice to singing, “Drifting, off to sleep, the exciting day behind you~” She remembered just before this, they had a picnic, their usual picnic. They were laughing, Spike next to Rarity, Dash in the trees, Twi enjoying her hay sandwich.. Rarity in that expensive looking hat.. Tears filled her vision as her eyes opened, and looked down at Twi again, “Drifting off to sleep, let the jo-joy of dreamland find you.” Twilight’s eyes began to close..
“Hush now, quiet now, it's time to lay your sleepy head..” She began to choke up, “Hush now.. Qui-Quiet now..” Twilight’s color disappeared, a sigh leaving her lips as her life finally disappeared. “It’s time.. To go to…be-bed..” Fluttershy sat there, slowly sat up, looking at the chaos around her, then, for the first time in her life, she screamed. Not in terror, but in anguish, all of her hopes, her dreams.. Crushed. She stamped her hooves, kicked at the walls, screaming, screaming with all she had, for the years of dreams crushed. For everything she loved, gone.
When she finally laid there, crying softly, was when he finally came back. He didn’t speak, he only breathed, and that was when she lifted her head, tears fogging her vision. “Please… Ki-kill me too..” He laughed, softly, and whispered, “Oh how I watched from afar and loved you… Only you…” Fluttershy felt a cold hoof going down her back. “Such beauty, so quiet… And now you finally gave your full voice.” She blinked, all of this… For his amusement? The friendship severed, the love forever gone… She whispered out, “Please..” He neared her, feeling herself shrink against stone, as he nuzzled her, then whispered in her ear, “Death will never come to you.”
She had cried out, screamed, begged, wanted him to kill her, but all he did was pin her down… And no pain, only something she could never describe, something she would never try to remember, ever… She never wanted to be the one he loved, never wanted to be the one to survive. There was nothing special about her… Nothing.
Yet, here she was now, living.
She looked at herself again in the mirror, her sad green eyes, her unwashed mane, the once bright yellow fur she had was now almost grey looking. Then, sun light entered her life. A knock on the door that she didn’t answer turned into a swift kick down the door. Big Mac stood, staring at her. “You can’t keep yourself holed up in here forever; you know they wouldn’t want that.” She glanced at him, “Now come on, I’ll take ya down to the acres, get some apples in ya.” She blinked away the tears; it wasn’t Mac standing at her door, but Applejack, telling her to live once more.
“On-only if you w-want me to-to..” She lowered her head, and she felt his hoof go underneath her chin and lift her head up, “I’d love you to.” She smiled and left her ruined home, the furniture kicked, broken, books splayed everywhere, glass from mirrors and dishes, but only one thing was untouched. A picture of the mane 6, on the middle of her bed, soaked with tears, yet, still there…
Always, there....
End…?
