Light assaulted Celestia’s eyes, violating her sight with flashes and beams of white. Her entire body felt numb, detached, as if it was nowhere. She habitually brought her hand to her mouth, to wipe the tiny bit of saliva that dripped from her mouth on the rare instances in which she slept. Perhaps it’d be better to say she attempted to bring her hand to her face, for Celestia could not move them very far without the yank of heavy chains pulling them back above her head.
Celestia gazed around her bedroom, or what her bedroom had become. A cold, gray stone box, the only window being directly opposite of her, and with black steel bars bracing the opening. Her stomach, back, and legs were all sore and, upon further inspection, bruised. Directly to her right was a wooden bucket, which, though empty, gave off a putrid odor. She rolled her eyes, waiting for the joke to be over. This had to be Discord at work.
Then, she took a look at herself. Celestia was sitting completely naked, her usual flowing white robes and shiny golden crown nowhere to be found. All down her legs and stomach were scars, of varying sizes and depths. That’s when panic gripped her. Discord would never go so far as to physically hurt Celestia, not unless provoked. She willed her horn to glow, waiting for the chains to melt into dust. It was simple, a spell she could do in her sleep, yet it never happened. Celestia never felt the familiar buzzing of energy, the pressure on her forehead whenever she cast a spell.
Celestia yanked at her chains one last time before deciding that it would be impossible to pull them from the walls. Fear grew in her chest, dark, confused terror. She’d never been trapped with no escape before, certainly not without some idea of how to free herself. This time, however, liberty seemed to be an impossible dream. Celestia’s stomach clenched uncomfortably, vomit working it’s way up her throat. She shot her head to the left, then the right, eyes falling on the smelly, wooden bucket.
When the acid was done scalding her esophagus, Celestia felt the pain of the scars and bruises as if they were fresh. She could imagine every slice of the knife, every lash of the whip, though she couldn’t imagine the reason why. Why would anyone attack her, Princess Celestia of Equestria, using such primitive methods? Celestia couldn’t imagine any of her enemies wasting their time with a riding crop, yet she recognized the bruise on her thigh to be from just that; a riding crop.
There was a slight creaking to Celestia’s left, catching the princess’ attention. Through a door that she hadn’t noticed before, two alicorns entered the room. One was light blue, with a starry blue mane and bold cerulean eyes, with a jet black crown atop her head. Her black cloak only partly covered her Cutie Mark, a white crescent moon that painted over her black, splotchy birthmark. Celestia recognized her immediately as her sister, the Princess of the Moon.
The other alicorn, however, was a little harder to place. Her coat was lavender, and her purple mane shimmered and glittered much like Luna’s, though much longer. She wore a purple cloak that flowed down her and pooled around her hooves. She reached into some hidden pocket in her cape, revealing her Cutie Mark for a split second. A split second was more than enough time for Celestia to make out the purple six-point star. Twilight Sparkle used her horn to adjust her crown as she drew a small knife with her hands.
“Twilight! Sister!” croaked Celestia, words nearly sticking in her throat. “What is happening?”
“She’s doing it again.” said Twilight, ignoring Celestia. “Just like five years ago.”
“Yes. Proceed as planned.” said Luna. “She is faking it, of course.”
“Faking what?” asked Celestia. “What is happening? Why am I in chains? Are we being attacked?”
“Your deceit is pointless. Hold your silence.” commanded Luna. She reached into her own cloak and withdrew a tiny butterfly needle, a tube of wire, and an empty IV bag. She attached one end of the tube to the bag and the other to the needle. Luna roughly grabbed her sister’s arm and buried the tip of the needle into her.
“What is happening?” asked Celestia once again. Her throat still burned from her vomit and she felt absolutely dreadful.
“Silence.” ordered Luna, watching Celestia’s blood fill the bag. When she had a full pint of red, she removed the needle, leaving Celestia’s wound to leak. That’s when Twilight went to work.
The younger princess brought the knife to Celestia’s face, just under the left eye, and slowly dragged. Celestia gasped in both pain and surprise, the hate in her student’s eyes shocking her. She began to squirm, thrashing and trying to escape. Her attempts only angered Twilight, who slashed her teacher again, deeper this time.
“Sit still, prisoner!” commanded Twilight. Celestia immediately stopped, taken aback by Twilight’s anger. She was equally shocked by the word “prisoner”. Celestia knew she was many things, but a criminal was not one of them.
“Why are you doing this?” asked Celestia. “Why? What has happened to you two?”
“For Rarity and Applejack.” said Twilight, letting out an angry puff. She stabbed Celestia just above the right knee. “For Fluttershy.” Another flurry of stabs, each punctuated by a tribute from Twilight and a yelp from Celestia.
“For Rainbow, Pinkie, Sunset, Trixie.” growled Twilight. She stabbed at Celestia’s chest, barely missing the princess’ heart. “For Flash.” Another stab, on the opposite side. “For Cadence.” A slice deep in the left shoulder. “For Shining.” Twilight pressed the bloody blade of the knife against Celestia’s throat, biting her neck with the cold, unforgiving steel.
“You will have to wait for your gift from me.” whispered Twilight.
“Are you quite done, Twilight?” asked Luna. “We have work to do.”
“Yes, of course. I take it the guards understand that she is not to be killed?” asked Twilight.
“Obviously. She’s hardly any use to us as a cadaver. We will return later, if you have more to get off your chest.” offered Luna.
“We’ll see. Depends on how stressful today will be.”
“Considering how unlucky we’ve been the last five hundred years, I’d say you’ll have plenty to get off your chest.” sighed Luna. Celestia, having withdrawn from the situation, jerked back to coherency.
“Five hundred years?” asked Celestia in shock. “No. Impossible. Twilight can’t be five hundred years old.”
“She’s sticking with this story, then.” said Twilight. “She’s almost convincing.”
“Sister, please explain why Twilight is acting so strangely!” begged Celestia. Luna replied by launching her hoof into Celestia’s stomach, a groan of pain reverberating through the dungeon.
“Do not call me that anymore.” growled Luna, wiping her hoof with a handkerchief from her cloak. “You are no longer my sister. You are barely filth beneath my hoof.”
“And that is Princess Twilight to you, Celestia.” said Twilight bitterly.
“Queen Luna, on the rare instances I allow you to directly speak to me.” said Luna. And with that, the queen and princess left the dungeon, leaving Celestia bleeding and crying in her dungeon.
It’s a dream, thought Celestia. That’s all this is. I knew I should have refrained from the cake right before bed. Luna, she’s just being fair. The rules say she can’t interfere with an adult’s dreams, and she’s being fair. She can’t break the rules for me.
The more Celestia thought about it, the less sense it made. Her own internal rationalization fell apart. Luna would’ve woken her up by now. Regardless of the rules, Celestia knew her sister would never let her suffer like this. Yet, she was allowing it to happen. Celestia refused to accept this, the fact that Luna was sitting there and watching as Twilight hurt her. Impossible.
The truth does not change according to your ability to stomach it, whispered Celestia in her head. That’s what Mother would say.
What troubled Celestia the most wasn’t the chains, or the wounds, nor was it the lack of answers. What troubled her the most was the look in Twilight’s eyes. That hate, Celestia had seen that look of rage and despise before. The day she banished Luna to the moon. The gaze of Nightmares. It scared Celestia, downright terrified her, more than the implication that Twilight would kill her. That look, the evil, intense gaze was far more menacing than death.
“Somepony!” called Celestia. “Help me! Princess Luna and Princess Twilight, they are bewitched!” That was the only answer; They were cursed. The only possibility.
The door creaked open again, this time two unicorn stallions being the ones who entered. They had a large cart in tow, with various tools of varying size, sharpness and sterility. The stallions were clad in golden armor, with Princess Twilight’s Cutie Mark on the chest. As they bent over to grab their instruments, they revealed Queen Luna’s Cutie Mark on the back.
“I take it you’re not here to free me?” tried Celestia. To her surprise, one stallion pulled a ring of battered, golden keys from his hip. He unbound Celestia from the wall, dropping her arms back to her sides. As blood rushed back to her fingers, she muttered a quiet thanks. In response, the stallion who freed her dealt her a heavy blow to the head.
Celestia tried in vain to rise to her hooves. Everytime she attempted, her knees gave out, and the repeated kicks from the guards did not help. Eventually, through many blows, she found herself in the center of the room. With one stallion hitting her repeatedly in the stomach, the other pulled a crackling cattle prod from the cart. He sparked it up and brought it to Celestia’s side.
ZAAAP!
Celestia spasmed and convulsed, losing control of her muscles and twitching. Despite her efforts, her bladder emptied itself onto the floor, humiliating the once-honorable Princess of the Sun.
“We’re not supposed to talk to you.” said the cattle prod guard while his fellow chained Celestia’s arms to the roof. “I just think you should know that we plan on having a lot of fun with this.”
“Try to enjoy it as much as we do.” said the other, chaining her hooves to the floor.
Celestia tried to speak, but stopped herself in order to prevent herself from biting off her own tongue. Even in her chains, she twitched and spasmed, nearly slipping into a seizure. The guards laughed at their prisoner. They seemed to understand what she was going to say.
“We could tell you what we’re going to do to you.” said the cattle prod guard, removing his armor.
“But that would take away from the fun.” said the shackle guard. He also removed his armor, then went about undressing the thin clothing beneath. Celestia struggled once more, trying to free herself. The guards grabbed her by the hair, whispering that it would be okay, before forcing their way into her.
