"My child is special."

Cinder Stardust, a filly hardly over ten, looked at the bars on the basement door. She couldn't tell what time it was, and to be honest, she lost her sense of time a long while ago. She was a dark blue pegasus, with messy black hair that liked to fall in front of her eyes, which she currently pushed away from her face as the clink of the basement door rang across the stone room. Was it food this time? When was the last time she ate? She knew she only got fed when she was perfect, so she pushed side the silly thought. A tall, charcoal grey unicorn mare trotted down the stairs, boxes in her hands. Cinder stood, looking at the cage. She had perfect posture, and though she was bruised and battered, this seemed normal to her. Just another day of practice. The mare's glittering green eyes scanned the filly with deadpan eyes in this cool, dark place. She was "Mother." She refused to be called anything else, would smack you if you called her anything but a sickeningly sweet "Mother".  Cinder stood stock still, not willing to make the first move. Mother pulled one of the boxes off her back. "Baby, play your mother some music." She said it in a sweet tone, but it was clear it was not a request. Cinder gave the box a terrified look, but shakily placed the violin where it needed to be. She was swift, and deliberate with her movements. One wrong note, and she knew she would not eat that day. Yet, even so, her mind managed to wander. There were hardly any screams last night. Cinder used to wonder who made those terrible screams that kept her awake at night, but when she asked Mother, Mother hissed that they should never speak of it again. Mother had brought out a hard wooden chair, and was calmly sitting in it now, watching Cinder make the bow glide across the violin. Cinder paid little attention to her movements, the song memorized over and over again. She kept playing for what seemed like hours, until her legs shook for the effort of standing and pain wracked her lower body. She didn't cry, just gritted her teeth and kept playing, she wouldn't stop, she had to eat today, how many days had it been since she last tasted food? Her forelegs were sore, sweat hanging off her small frame, and Mother finally clapped her hooves together once and said sharply, "Done!" Cinder almost collapsed to the ground, but Mother hated when she did that, so she shakily lowered to her four hooves. "Much better Cinder! I knew you could do it! You're Mommy's special little girl! Now, I need you to go clean the Grey room. Follow me." Cinder followed Mother out of the basement. The sudden transition from a murky twilight to the blinding light of day stung her eyes, and Mother kept a sharp eye on her as they walked through the house. It was so simple, so normal, but it felt empty, and hollow. There were small things that made the house seem off beat. Maybe it was the extra two locks on the door, or the blackout curtains, or the fact that there was no carpeting in the house. Cinder rarely got to see the upstairs, so she relished the chance to escape her normal room's monotony. Mother turned to her, as they faced her closet. She smiled a little, a warm smile that never fully seemed to reach her eyes. She found the seam she was looking for, and pressed in. The back of the closet fell away with a hiss, the fake back sliding over to reveal what looked like a hospital surgical table. It was the Grey room, and every time she saw it, Cinder felt a little nauseous. Mother pushed her inside. "The bleach and rags are in the same spot they always are. I'm going out to fetch things for dinner, so, do have this done by the time I get back!" The door to the Grey room closed in Cinder's face. Cinder turned, her small frame leaning against the door, looking at the room she needed to clean. There was blood on the instruments, and all over the floor, and some on the walls as well. If Cinder could, she'd open the door, and run away as far as she could. But, what was the point? She'd just be found, put back in the basement. The thumping of her heart could be heard in her ears. What was the point in fighting it anymore? She'd never leave this place, not until she was the next one in the Grey room. She felt tears on her face, and didn't even register them as hers until she reached up a hoof and wiped them away. She went and grabbed the bleach. She washed the grey walls until they shone, washed everything, not a speck of dust anywhere. She knew that her punishment would be worse than not eating if she was not perfect at this task. She looked at the bleach. Everything was so...pointless. What would happen if she just...ended it here? Mother would cry, but she'd have another filly take her spot eventually. Cinder choked down sobs, hearing whispers at the edges of her hearing, like ghosts coming back to drag her to tartarus. The loud thumping of her heart in her ears, like the house was alive, and the grey room was just its stomach, waiting to dissolve her and put her bones in the walls. Her breathing quickened, and she beat on the locked door like a madpony, the walls closing in on her, she could feel the walls closing in, she was going to be crushed! She screamed, pounding on the door. But who was going to hear her? She was all alone, and only she could see the phantoms in this house. Hear the heartbeat of the animal. Feel the walls crushing her as she could hear the loud SCREECHING of her violin, like it was screaming too, like it was snapping under the pressure as well. There was a slam of a door. Cinder looked around, her screaming abruptly cut off.  The walls were not crushing her, and her violin was downstairs. In the basement. The cold, dark basement. Mother opened up the Grey room. "My special baby, let's go back to your room. Then, I'll go back upstairs and make dinner!" Cinder knew that wouldn't be all. Mother would come in here, and examine every last inch to make sure she was satisfied. Cinder followed Mother back to the basement. Mother had an eerily cheery air about her, and Cinder shuddered to think what that entailed. She saw blood rising from the floorboards as they walked through the house. It oozed out of the walls, dripping onto her coat, making her breath hitch. Mother turned around, confused. "What?" Cinder jut mustered up a weak smile. "N-nothing Mother." What she didn't comment on was the blood all over Mother's face, her usually well groomed light green hair looking matted and ripped out. The blood that stained every inch of Mother's body, the darkness that trailed at her heels, the strange glinting eyes. Then Cinder blinked, and all was normal again. Mother scoffed, and escorted Cinder back to the basement. "Play me some music while I cook, my special baby, alright?" There it was again. The strange edge to her voice, that made it clear that "no" was not an answer. Cinder went down the stairs, and took up the cursed violin again. All she wanted was to smash it, but she played, and she played, and she played until her hooves bled and her lips cracked and she turned to dust, blown away by the swells of fire that ignited in her back.