Castle, Dull Castle

Fluttershy awoke in a bed. It wasn't hers though... What was she doing here? Maybe her friend bear had another problem with his wife and she had fallen asleep in their cave. But... This didn't look like his house.

First of all she wasn't in a cave. Second of all, what was with all of these paintings of her?!

She sat up, a little worried, and realized she wasn't wearing pijamas but a weird red dress. It was short - it stopped a little before her knees  - and long black lingerie socks stopped at the same level of her dress. Black lace was sewed on the edges of it.

Fluttershy blushed at the somewhat sexy outfit she had on her.

She quickly got up and dashed for the doors, almost slipping on the marble checkered floor. They were locked... Of course they were.

"Help! Um... Somebody? Please help me! I... If you don't mind".

A laugh behind the door came to her ears.

"So sweet and lovely! Now, beg for me more my dear!" said the voice.

"D... Discord!!" squealed Fluttershy, finally remembering her dreadful day yesterday.

She backed away from the two massive wooden doors and crashed into a cristal lamp behind her. Pieces of glass ripped through her skin and she cried out in pain at the burning sensations in her arms and face.

"Now now my dear, I'm the one supposed to hurt you. Don't do it yourself you little troublemaker!" Discord smirked, appearing in front of her and stretching out a hand.

"What do you mean?" squeaked Fluttershy, grabbing on to his hand with a little bit of hesitation "What did I do to  you?!"

A flash of anger crossed his yellow eyes as he took hold of her.

"You're kidding right? You've got to be kidding! Something like that is unforgivable." He pressed her hand and she felt shards of cristal cut deeper in her palm. Tears of pain filled her eyes and she struggled against his grasp. "I gave you my love! I gave you my affection! I cared for you!"

"N...No you didn't! You tried to... And I hate you for that!" gulped the poor yellow girl.

"Well," murmured the draconequs, seeming to loose his anger," I know that you're not going to hate me anymore! Oh no my dear, you are going to love me! And I will love you back..."

He pulled her closer until he could feel her panicked breath on his face.

"I will love you back so good that you won't be able to struggle or resist me ever again".

Discord saw the terrified look she was giving him and loved it. He started to laugh as he let go of her and said :

"Lunch will be at 12 pm sharp. Like the castle is big - and I must admit that I have modified it a little - the first couple of days here, you will be allowed to get some help from our maids".

Fluttershy blinked.

"Ourmaids?!"

"Twilight! Twilight! Twilight! Twilight! Twilight! Twilight!"

"Rarity! Please turn the pinky alarm off!" yelled Twilight, digging her head deeper in the pillows.

A muffled groan came to her, sign that her friend had no intent on doing it.

"Rainbow Dash! Rainbow Dash! Rainbow Dash!"

"Alright girls! Who switched her on yesterday?!" yelled Rainbow Dash, not moving.

The others didn't answer and RD felt a hoof tap her shoulder.

"This is not a Pinkie alarm silly!" squealed Pinkie Pie's voice," This is a 'Omigoshthereisaverybigproblem' alarm! And I think that you should get up now! Applejack! Applejack! Applejack! Applejack!"

Twilight finally gave up on trying to sleep and got up, rubbing her eyes. She didn't remember much of yesterday, perhaps she had drunk to much again?

But when her eyes opened, she let out a gasp. What had happened to her room?!

It was now smaller and a creepy black and red color had replaced the beautiful purple and blue color of the walls. Everything was dark crystal now...

The furniture had disappeared and her friends where all asleep on mattresses with blankets and pillows. There was a big chest in the corner.

"Girls! Girls! Pinkie is right! There is a problem. Wake up!" said Twilight, making sure they were alright.

The others woke up and were as shocked as her when they discovered their new surroundings.

"What in tarnation' has happened here?" said AJ, immediately standing up in alert.

"I have absolutely no idea!" chirped a very bouncy Pinkie Pie. "Good thing the 'Omigoshthereisaverybigproblem' alarm is automatic! I just woke up and everything was all weird and black! Did you do it Twilight? You should of painted the walls pink! It brings more fun to the rooms... "

"No, I didn't Pinkie. And I have no idea who did this. Anybody remember what happened yesterday?"

"Actually, I'm afraid I might have drunk a little to much punch last night," muttered a guilty Rarity.

"Rarity, punch does not give you the same effects as alcohol" scolded Twilight.

"Uh... Unless I put a little bit in the punch bowl..." said Applejack a little sheepishly.

"What?! Why wasn't I told about that awesome prank!" squeaked Pinkie.

"How could you?! That is very irresponsible of you AJ!" huffed Rarity.

"It was Rainbow Dash! She dared me to do it!" defended the cowgirl.

"No I didn't ! Well... Maybe!" joined the cyan girl.

They all started fighting. Twilight suddenly realized somebody was missing.

"Girls!" she yelled in panic, "Where's Fluttershy?!"

They all stopped and stared at each other before searching frantically around the small room.

"Well she certainly isn't under the mattresses" chirped Pinkie after lifting each of them up.

"I may have found something gals" said Applejack, showing them the opened chest.

They gathered around her and saw some beautiful black and white dresses with the same color aprons. The edges were decorated with white laces and the rest was black.

"These look like... Maid Outfits!" screamed Rarity, starting to laugh hysterically. "And of the finest quality too! Oh just look at the cute little headbands that match them! This fabric is old and yet so well preserved! Who made these? They're fabulous!"

"Maybe we have to put them on?" proposed Rainbow Dash, ignoring her. "I'm freezing in these!"

Twilight looked down at herself and remembered that she had gone to bed in just a purple bra and panties. The others had done the same apparently, each of them wearing them in their favorite color.

"Ohhhh! Lookie! This one's got my cutie mark on it!"

"And this one's got mine! They're hard to see but ah' can always spot a few apples from a mile away".

They all gathered around the chest and each found one with their cutie mark stitched in the bottom right of the dress.

"That means they're meant for us..." murmured Twilight concentrating,"I wonder who is behind all this".

"Fluttershy apparently doesn't have a dress!" said Rarity, "There's only one for each of us."

"And this stupid door won't budge!" muttered Rainbow Dash with effort while pushing with all her strength against it.

"We should get dressed and look for clues" suggested Twilight, taking her maid outfit out and staring to put it on.

"Hold on now Twi' !" interrupted Applejack. " We have no idea what we're doing here and you want us to follow the rules that somebody gave us with these dresses?"

"Yeah! How do we know they're not dangerous! You could just blast open the door with your horn and we could figure out what happened. Plus, these are way to girly for me to put on!"

"Sorry but I can't concentrate with all of you jumping around half naked. Now put those on until we find something more suitable to wear" snapped Twilight.

Rainbow Dash and Applejack reluctantly dressed up while Rarity looked like she was about to faint with joy.

Twilight finished putting hers on and looked around. They actually looked hot in these.

"Okay! Get away from the door girls, I'm going to use a fire spell." said Twilight, getting into position.

They all backed away from it and the purple girl closed her eyes in concentration... A few seconds passed and the others started to feel uncomfortable.

Finally, Rarity stepped forward :

"Darling? Anytime now!"

"I... I can't!" gasped Twilight. "Its like I forgot every spell I've ever learned! I feel like a filly again!"

"Nonsense! You are one of the princesses of Equestria! You cannot simply forget" Rarity said, shaking her head. "Here, let me try and soften the wood for you!"

She concentrated and, like Twilight, gasped in horror.

"She's right! I can't remember how to do magic! It's like all of my knowledge simply disappeared!"

"That can't be happening! We need to get out of here to get you some help" said RD. "And to do so, we have to open the door..."

"Why don't ya just fly up and dash down like ya always do Rainbow?" suggested Applejack.

"Yeah yeah I was going to get to that no problem!" moaned the cyan girl as she started to flap her wings... Nothing.

Everyone in the room raised an eyebrow at the pitiful way her wings flapped but how they never got her off the ground. She tried and tried and tried but failed at even lifting herself off the floor.

"I lost my knowledge about flying!" she finally breathed out, exhausted. "That's fucked up! How could I forget how to fly?! I've always been able to fly! I could do it before walking!"

"Rainbow calm down!" interrupted Twilight, "We're going to fix this."

"Yeah and how do you suggest we do that while locked in here?! We don't have any food either! Unless...?" said Rainbow, shooting a hopeful look at Pinkie Pie who just shook her head sadly :

"Sorry but I didn't pack any emergency food yesterday. There was plenty in Twilight's room when I went to bed!" she sagged. Then she opened her mouth wide and gasped that gasp she was known to do. "No food means no cupcakes!! I have no cupcakes! How am I supposed to survive without any of those delicious goodies?! I need help! I need help!" she yelled in despair.

"And yet you call me a drama queen..." muttered Rarity.

Pinkie ran for the door and leaned against it, almost crying. The door opened and she fell to the floor. Everyone looked at each other.

"Uh... Pinkie Pie?" asked Applejack, "How hard did you push on that door?"

"I dunno!" said an uncertain pink girl, "I just leaned on it!"

There was another silence before Rainbow took hold of a pillow and threw it on the floor.

"Oh come on!"

They all stepped out of the room warily. It was the same corridor as in Twilight's castle. The only change was that every wall was now beige and a red carpet was on the floor.

A laugh came to their ears.

"Th... That's Discord!" yelled Twilight and her memories from the night before came back. She gasped in horror, remembering the castle going up to the sky.

The others seemed to have remembered that too because they were now getting into a defensive position.

"You are right indeed!" Discord said, appearing in front of them. "I hope you liked my little surprise! You all look good in these..."

"Why can't we use magic?" interrupted Twilight rudely.

The draconequs slowly turned to her and snapped his fingers. A horrible pain slashed through Twilight's body and she fell to the floor. She had the impression that knives inside her were thrashing about, cutting every fragile organ she had. Sweat trickled down her face and she screamed the most horrible scream anybody had ever heard.

Her friends hurried to her side, yelling in panic.

Then it stopped. All of a sudden, she couldn't feel the knives anymore. She slowly got up, her legs shaking and her ears ringing. She could feel the girls around her but couldn't quite make out what they were saying or see them very well for her vision was blurred.

Finally, she felt better but was still traumatized. She looked up and saw Discord who hadn't moved. He was smirking.

"What happened ?" asked a worried Rarity. "We thought you were going to... well we had that impression!"

Twilight ignored her and stomped her hoof on the ground, looking strait in the yellow and red eyes.

"Why?" she asked.

"Don't interrupt me again" simply said Discord. "And don't annoy me or interfere with my plans. Or you get that again."

"What plans?" RD raged.

"Oh you know. Glory, happiness..." he gritted his teeth"love... All that stuff!"

"Are you going to take over Equestria again? And make it rain delicious chocolate milk everywhere?"

"Maybe later... And even if I did, there would still be no. whipped. cream."

"You monster..." whispered Pinkie, narrowing her eyes.

"Who cares about that?!" yelled Rainbow Dash. "I wanna know what you just did to Twilight! And now!"

Discord shot her a glare and lifted his hand up.

Twilight gasped and pushed Rainbow.

"Shut up" she scolded.

RD and the others looked at her, shocked and Twilight interiorly cursed Discord for making her do that.

"Well, well!" Discord smiled evilly, "I'm going to explain everything in the main room with Fluttershy. Get to it in five minutes or else..."

Then he disappeared and the girls looked at each other.

"Should we go?" asked Applejack.

"Yeah" said Twilight in a low voice. "And we better get there fast..."

Spike awoke in a dungeon. It smelled damp and cold. A shudder passed his whole body as he realized that a few rats ran here and there. He got up from the mattress he had awoken on and paced around the rather small black room, looking for some way to escape. He remembered perfectly what had happened last night and hated himself for not being able to save Fluttershy. Or the others. They probably didn't even know what was going on!

Spike shook his head. There would be time for negative thoughts later.

The only light he had was from the inside of the left wall. At at least two meters up, a tiny tunnel continued for a good 2 or 3 meters, digging into the stone. At the far end, Spike assumed there was a vent for he could feel some fresh air on his face every now and then.

Other than that, there were no doors, no windows, just a mattress and a few rats. Spike laid back on his 'bed' and closed his eyes, searching for sleep. He thought he heard Fluttershy's voice at some point...

Spike stood up. That was her voice! He rushed to the direction of the sound : it was coming from the vent. Spike could also hear another voice, it was low and dull.

That celestiadamm idiot! What is that fucker doing to her now? Spike raged, clutching his fists.

He suddenly heard a small sob as Fluttershy whisper screamed. It was driving the purple dragon mad. He had to get out of here!

Running towards his mattress, he ripped it open, taking out the springs in it. Spike walked back to where the small tunnel and the vent was and breathed out to give him courage.

It's time to start digging...