Fluttershy woke up in her bed, her head gently resting on a pillow and the covers drawn around her. A warm sunbeam alighted on her head as she opened her eyes slowly. It... it had all been a dream! She was back home! Everything was fine! The sun was shining, the birds were singing, and the clock on the wall proudly proclaimed the hour - eight o'clock.
She had to make certain, though. Fluttershy got out from under the covers and walked up to the door, deciding that a visit to her friends was in order. Just to make certain. She opened the door.
"Why hello there, Midnight Sparkle! We hope you slept well."
No. No no no. No no no no no no no no.
"This... this can't be happening!"
"Oh, my dear princess. Did you have a bad dream? Here, Aunty Celestia will hug it better." And with that, the larger alicorn swept Fluttershy up into a crushing embrace. Fluttershy struggled, working a hoof free to strike Celestia in the face. She dropped immediately.
"Midnight Sparkle! Don't you dare hit your aunt like that!" Princess Celestia's gaze softened. "I'm sorry, darling. We can't stay angry at you. You're probably just hungry, that's it. Come and have breakfast, and you'll feel much better."
Fluttershy bolted back into the bedroom, locking the door behind her. Princess Celestia teleported inside.
"Don't you run away from me, young filly."
"Send me back home! Please! I don't want to be a princess!"
"Stop talking nonsense and come with me. You're not behaving very well this morning."
"No! I - I don't want to be here. I can fly out!"
"Midnight Sparkle, you stay away from that window. MIDNIGHT SPARKLE!" As Fluttershy tried to break the glass of the window, searching for some kind of escape route, she felt herself being picked up by the older alicorn's telekinesis. Celestia tied the struggling pony's hooves and wings together with the bedsheets, causing Fluttershy to whimper as the fabric tightened around her injuries from the previous day. The two of them disappeared.
They reappeared in the Royal Private Dining Room, a place where (up until the day before) the alicorn sisters would generally take their meals. On it was a simple repast - breakfast cereals, buttered toast, fruit juices, jams and preserves. Unravelling Fluttershy and placing her in a chair, Celestia sat down.
"Eat up, Midnight Sparkle!" said the Princess, gesturing with a hoof. "And once you've had your fill, young filly, we can discuss our plans for today."
Fluttershy looked down at the table, shivering. Why was this happening to her? Her legs were horribly long, her wings had been ripped from a corpse, and the horn made her head feel horribly heavy. Her friends were all dead, or as close to it as one could reasonably get. Princess Luna was dead. That poor pegasus, as creepy as he was, had died in a gruesome manner. Spike was in hospital.
Was this all Princess Celestia's doing? Or was she just as mad as Twilight and all the rest?
The Princess' voice broke through her thoughts.
"If you do not eat, Midnight Sparkle," said the alicorn between bites of buttered toast, "then I shall take some marmalade and cram it down your throat, jar and all."
Fluttershy reached for a crumpet.
"Now that you have finished," said Princess Celestia as she daintily dabbed at her lips, "we will discuss the plans for today. Now I would like to begin some lessons in magic with you, for starters. You must learn how to use that horn of yours. In addition, during your time at Canterlot you and us will partake in activities such as flying, and diplomacy. Before that, however, I have some important business to attend to, so you must keep out of my way." She turned her head. "Sonic Boom! Gleamhorn!" The two Guardsponies filed in, resplendent with their dull eyes and strong hooves that had held that poor doctor down as he melted from the inside.
"Sonic Boom, Gleamhorn, would the two of you kindly escort Midnight Sparkle to her room? I have arranged a playdate between the three of you." Before Fluttershy could move from her chair the mesmerised ponies appeared to her left and right, sandwiching her in.
"Midnight Sparkle, we expect you to be on your best behviour. If not, then I will have to ground you for a few months. Breaking your wings should do it."
"Come on, Midnight!" said Gleamhorn, tugging at Fluttershy's shoulder. "We'll have plenty of fun!"
"But Princess Celestia- " Fluttershy stopped. Every item of cutlery on the table had risen into the air, angling themselves at eye height towards her face.
"Midnight Sparkle. We will not ask again. Go and have fun."
"More tea, Midnight?" asked Sonic Boom, a hideous grin plastered on his face. It was unsettling, a grown stallion asking such a question as though they were fillies playing house. But she had to go along with them. Something horrible had happened to the mare once before on Princess Celestia's whim, and the thought of another...
It had only been the other day that she was living life relatively normally, with nary a single dismemberment. At least I got my wings back, she thought to herself. Yes, but they're not your wings, are they? They came from poor Princess Luna, just like that horn that she shoved into your skull after excavating it with a sharp rock. She shifted where she sat, her unnaturally long legs aching around the recent breakages.
Fluttershy tried not to cry.
"Y-yes, Sonic Boom. M-more tea would be l-lovely." The male pegasus gave a little laugh as he pretended to upturn a teapot over Fluttershy's imaginary cup and saucer.
"Well? Aren't you going to drink it?" Fluttershy raised a hoof towards her lips, giving a little slurp. She set the invisible cup down.
"I'm bored with this game!" the unicorn Guardspony suddenly announced. "Let's play the guessing game instead."
"Ooh, the guessing game!" said Sonic Boom. "I love the guessing game!"
"I'll go first," said the unicorn. The mare curled herself up into a ball.
"Are you a snail?" asked Sonic Boom.
"Nope!"
Sonic Boom prodded Fluttershy.
"Um, are you a hedgehog?"
"Nope!"
"Are you a box?"
"Nope, I'm a rock! Your turn, Midnight." Fluttershy looked at the two ponies nervously, then struck a pose.
"Are you a hatstand?"
"A castle?"
"A house?"
"I - I'm a tree," said Fluttershy, shaking her head.
"My turn now," said Sonic Boom. Then suddenly, without warning, he grabbed Gleamhorn by the head and drove the mare's horn into his stomach. He shuddered slightly as his skin offered some resistance, then there was a tearing sound as it gave way. Gleamhorn tugged herself free, all six inches of her horn dripping with blood. Fluttershy turned pale.
"What am I?" gurgled Sonic Boom.
"Celestia, please! Make it stop!"
"No, silly! I'm a corpse," he said with a smile.
"My turn again! I'm a pony-eating monster!" giggled Gleamhorn. She leaned forward, tearing the wound wide open with her teeth. Sonic Boom grunted, his mouth slackening as his belly was ripped open to reveal a mass of red underneath. The unicorn turned towards Fluttershy, and she recoiled at the side of the viscera oozing from the Guardspony's mouth.
"Want some?"
"No, please! Don't! Don't come neMMPPHH!" Fluttershy's voice was muffled as Gleamhorn rammed her face into the pegasus's gaping wound. She gasped and spluttered for air, choking as she inhaled the disgusting gore. Fluttershy could feel it soaking into her coat and mane. Eventually, she felt her head released.
She turned away and curled up sobbing. Behind her she could still hear Sonic Boom's final gurgles mixed with fleshy squelches, as Gleamhorn continued to eat.
One of the clock. Time for lunch.
Fluttershy uncurled from the fetal position that she had been in for the past - she glanced at the clock - four hours, at least. The chomping and slurping had long since died down, and as Fluttershy peeked around she saw Gleamhorn fast asleep on the hollowed-out corpse of Sonic Boom, resplendent with a visibly bulging belly. Shakily, she got to her hooves.
Her face felt horrible. Licking her dry lips, her stomach heaved as a metallic taste filled her mouth. Lurching to the bathroom to wash her mouth out, she stopped and stared at the mirror. Her face was caked in dried and congealed blood, and her mane was thick and matted with viscera. There was a flannel by the sink; she soaked it under the tap and scrubbed at her head. The process seemed to work, although the flannel was definitely ruined. That wasn't very important in the grand scheme of things, however. She spat into the sink as some of the ooze managed to enter her mouth, then left the bathroom.
There was a wicker picnic basket on her bedside table, with a little note pinned to it. She carefully stepped around the two bodies, and studied the paper.
My most dear Midnight Sparkle,
We apologise, but your magic lessons will have to wait until tomorrow. Urgent business has sprung up. You are to continue to stay in your room until six o'clock, and you shall continue to play with Gleamhorn and Sonic Boom. Do not disobey me. The door is locked, to remove any temptation.
This picnic basket contains lunch for you. We will know if you do not eat, and I would like you to remember that force-feeding is an uncomfortable and humiliating process.
Also, please note that jumping out the window, death by drowning, beating yourself to a pulp, or any other form of 'running away' will not be tolerated.
Your loving aunt,
Celestia
How would Princess Celestia know if Fluttershy had not eaten? And what would be the consequences? She did not want to find out. Trying fruitlessly to calm her stomach, she opened the basket to reveal sandwiches, an apple, and a bottle of lemonade.
She wouldn't poison me, would she?
Would she?
Fluttershy sat down on her bed and began to eat. She couldn't taste the contents of the sandwiches, nor did she particularly want to. It was all she could do to keep the food down. She could see the grisly scene out of the corner of her eye, and she found her head drawn to stare at the pegasus corpse.
When Fluttershy had finished the last of the food, she got to her hooves again. It was twenty past one, and there was another four and a half hours at least before she would be allowed to leave the room. She decided to find some way to remove the crusted blood that the flannel had missed, and to get the stuff out of her mane. Entering the bathroom again, Fluttershy decided to use the shower instead of the bath; laying in a pool of bloody water would not do her any favours.
There was a selection of gels and liquids in expensive bottles, which the alicorn made use of. To her surprise, it cleaned up her mane in mere minutes, returning it to its usual pink. She winced slightly as, while she massaged her scalp, her hoof brushed over the melted and re-sculpted flesh at the base of her newly-acquired horn. Why had Princess Celestia done that? It wasn't as if she could ever use it. Melancholy pondering aside for the moment, Fluttershy gave a sigh and let the water wash over her body. Maybe she would just stand there for a few hours. Maybe she could drown herself. Maybe that would be the best thing to do, if the Princess had any more plans for her.
She was thrust out of her stupor by something slamming against the locked door.
"Midnight Sparkle!" trilled Gleamhorn's voice. "What are you doing in there? You've been an awfully long time. Have you forgotten about me?" Another series of slams, and the door splintered. "Aunty Celestia says that if a filly at your age spends a long time in the shower, she's probably doing something naughty." The door split apart, revealing the unicorn Guardspony's hind legs as she bucked the door down. "Are you doing something naughty in there?"
"Go - go away!"
"That's not very nice. Can I join in?" Gleamhorn tugged aside the shower curtain, revealing Fluttershy huddled underneath the faucet. The alicorn felt her legs being tugged from under her as the unicorn's horn glowed, and she skidded backwards on the slick floor. A wave of pain swept through her head, the room went dark.
Her eyes still closed, Fluttershy felt something warm being forced into her mouth. She opened her eyelids to find Gleamhorn's face nose-to-nose with her own, their lips locked and the mare's tongue in her mouth. Panicking and gasping for breath, Fluttershy pushed the unicorn away forcefully.
"Aah! What are you doing?" The mare looked hurt.
"Mouth-to-mouth resussitashun thingy! Grown-ups do it when ponies get knocked out, then they get all embarrassed when foals ask them what they're doing with each other." Gleamhorn looked thoughtful. "Actually, Aunty Celestia said that ponies who get knocked out can have brain damage. Do you have brain damage?"
"W-what?"
"Look, repeat after me: say 'apple'. Apple."
"Apple! What are you talking about?"
"Don't ask me loads of questions! It's not nice. You fell over and hurt yourself, so I was checking to see if you were okay."
Fluttershy shakily got to her hooves, shivering as the air brushed over her body, wincing as a dull ache ran through her head. Drying herself down, she stepped past the disturbed mare and back into her bedroom. Another four hours before Princess Celestia would let her briefly leave the room.
Unless...
She trotted over to the door, excitement welling up inside her. This whole room seemed to be an exact copy of her room in her cottage, and it didn't have a lock on the door! She reached out a hoof for the handle, and almost gasped for joy when it opened. And on the other side was-
A brick wall. Princess Celestia had walled her in.
A sound behind her. Fluttershy turned around to find Gleamhorn staring her in the eyes, a grin plastered on her face and her horn glowing.
"Naughty, naughty, Midnight Sparkle. We will have to find a punishment for you."
And behind her, Fluttershy could see Sonic Boom's corpse rising into the air.
Author's Note
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