Chapters The basement, and my violin.
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.
Cinder rolled over on the cold stone floor. What a strange sensation it was, so be so stiff, but she stretched it out, and sat in the hard wooden chair, the only furniture in the basement. She stared at the wall, the darkness of the basement pressing in on her sides. The air felt heavy, hard to breathe, she needed oxygen, this house was melting, she swore it was. She could almost feel the walls and floor and even the chair melting into a puddle of ooze, drowning her in the weight of the locks and bars and curtains that kept her inside. She could hear the heartbeat.
tha-Thump. tha-Thump. tha-Thump.
She shook out of her daze, knowing that the house wasn't really melting, and the house didn't have a sickening heartbeat. She tasted the coppery flavor of blood in her mouth, and she realized she had bit her lip. She got off the chair, and started pacing, back and forth, back and forth. The only thing standing between her and salvation was a stupid door. She snorted angrily. The only time the door was unlocked was when Mother was down with her. Cinder felt the heartbeat of the house like a drum in her body. She couldn't stay here. She wasn't stupid. She knew this was wrong and terrifying, but she had torn herself from the reality of her situation, because she was just a helpless little girl. What could she do?
"Heh." Cinder let out a little giggle. The house was bleeding again. It liked to do that, it like whispering and screaming, but it like bleeding all over her, caking in her mane and tail until she couldn't breathe without the stench of blood. "Heh, hehe, hehehe!" She giggled harder, the sheer pressure rendering her helpless. She was helpless. She was alone. She wanted... she needed...
Mother opened the basement door. "Come, my dear, off the ground! It ISN'T DIGNIFIED! My child is special, and I won't have her laying about like some no good heathen." Cinder slowly stood. "N-no." She couldn't take this anymore, the house was beating so much faster- "WHAT?!" Mother sorted angrily. "So you want to be a no good heathen? FINE. But do it on your own time." She sweetened suddenly, a smile cracking her face in half. "Come on now, Mommy dearest wants to hear some music." She tugged the violin box off her back, and placed it in front of Cinder. It won't quite, it knows, it knows I want, I want.. Mother looked unamused as Cinder made no move to pick up and play the violin. "What? Come on now, if there's something wrong, tell your Mommy. I can't read minds!" Mother chuckled.
I...I WANT MY MOMMY!
Cinder looked up, furious and in tears. "YOU'RE NOT MY MOTHER!"
Mother suddenly froze. Her voice was low, quiet, and dangerous. "What did you say?"
Cinder refused to let down. "You're not my real mommy! You're a bad, bad pony! My real mommy was kind, and loving, and you're just a two faced fraud!" Her young voice cracked from tears as she said it, and she zipped up into the air, using her wings to pull herself out of hoof's reach.
Mother let out a soft giggle, her hair shrouding her eyes. Magic suddenly closed around Cinder's throat, and she was thrown to the ground like a rag doll.
"And you...you aren't my child. I realize that now. You're a poor replacement. My child was perfect."
Mother stalked Cinder into a corner, Cinder cowering in fear. Mother smiled.
"My child was * SPECIAL."***
The walls stopped bleeding.
Cinder felt feathers being pulled out, one by one. She screamed in agony, she felt the walls and heard the whispers and knew the heartbeat like her own.
"MY CHILD WASN'T A PEGASUS!"
"MY CHILD WASN'T A BLANK FLANK!"
"MY CHILD WASN'T A FOOL!"
Mother screamed these words, throwing them like daggers into Cinder's skin, and feathers fell around like a soft, blue snow.
Cinder's breathing grew ragged as she felt the magic digging into her skin, grabbing the feathers one by one and slowly plucking them out like you would a chicken.
Mother cackled, "You know, I saw you here, with your parents, and all I could think was, that little filly looks a lot like my little one used too! So,I watched, and I waited, and I bided my time. We had such a happy family, you and me! It's been at least two years, my child would have GROWN OUT OF THIS BY NOW. YOU STUPID BRAT! DON'T. TALK. BACK. TO. YOUR. MOTHER!" Mother grabbed a clump of feathers, and yanked them out harshly, leaving Cinder to scream in agony. There was only one issue. The basement door was still open, and the neighbors heard the screaming. Mother heard the sirens, and ran upstairs quickly, slamming the basement door shut. Cinder heard the ponies above her. Mother was trying to placate them, to make them go away. Cinder felt her training kick in, as she quieted her screams into her forlegs. She shakily stood up, a look of stubborn determination on her face, and slammed her hooves against the basement door, screaming as loud she could. She screamed and hammered and kicked. If they left but Mother noticed the attempts for attention, she was sure she would die, but she had to try.
The police pony heard something strange, like a thumping noise. Like an irregular heartbeat. She excused herself. "A bathroom trip." She said, scurrying away to find where this strange noise was coming from. There was that strange thumping noise. She could hear a muffled screaming as well, which only fastened her determination. She scoured the house, eventually coming into what looked like a little girl's room. It was full of pink and fluffy things, but the closet was thumping and screaming. She bucked the back of the closet until it smashed open, and to her horror and surprise, a little, blue, tear-stained filly gasped back up at her.
Mother had made short work of the other Police stallion. His gasping moans died in the Grey room, and she shut the door behind her. She'd clean up that mess later, but she needed to take care of the other one. Probably snooping around the house she had so carefully tended to since it's last owners went missing. The neighbors never questioned a thing, and their daughter, no HER daughter was perfect. And if she could help it, it'd forever stay that way. They'd have to move, of course. Two missing police ponies could be easily tracked back to her, but she'd do it. For family. Not that it wasn't a thrill to gut him like a fish, of course. She laughed, and started towards Cinder, and her new friend.
"We have to leave, NOW, go, go, please, please!" Cinder sobbed, shaking the poor Police mare's leg. She picked up Cinder, and quickly made her way towards the door, opening it halfway before it slammed in her face. There was a dull, metallic scraping as Mother dragged the knife on the wall. "So, thought you'd waltz off with MY daughter?" There was an insane smile on her face, and the blood on her body was completely real this time. Cinder clamped her eyes shut, knowing this was the end. The police pony gently set Cinder behind her, before facing the deranged Mother. "So. You're the serial killer we've been looking for for years. Strange, I thought you'd actually be intimidating." The police mare shot sarcastically. Mother just laughed. "Well, when life gives you lemons..." The police pony raised up suddenly, and bucked the door angrily. The door cracked and groaned under the harsh pound, but held firm. A knife soared straight at the police mare's head, barely missing. "Aw, and here I thought we'd be able to have some small talk!" Mother cackled and grabbed all the knives out of the block. "So? Diced, or minced?"
With a final crash, the door broke down, and the police mare stepped aside with Cinder as backup swarmed and took down Mother.
She was dragged away, screaming for Cinder, cursing them all and saying she'd be back someday. She was executed and now...
"Now I have to keep going on with my life, I guess. It's strange, but I guess I'm just glad to be alive." Cinder looked at the ceiling, an almost grown mare, almost a head taller than most ponies.
The psychologist smiled and snapped shut her binder. "I'm glad to hear that. Now, we're done here for the day, do you have anything else to say?"
"At least the walls stopped bleeding."
