A Darker Home

Sleep clings to your eyelids as your group leaves the bedroom.

"Half way there, guys. Just a matter of time," you say.

Fluttershy wipes tears from her eyes once the three of you reconvene in the hallway.

"You gonna be okay, Fluttershy?" you ask.

"Y-yeah. It's just... animal reunions make me cry every time."

A part of you wasn’t sure what you were expecting. It checks out. Twilight turns to Fluttershy with excitement written on her face.

"I know some good books that you might love then. I'll pass them onto you when we get out of here," she says.

The three of you give a light laugh. That's a first for today. In fact, things are finally beginning to feel a little less spooky in the house. The frigid air doesn't have quite the same bite to it. The darkness didn't seem quite so thick. The light from Twilight's horn was beginning to light the whole hallway. Was Gertrude’s power weakening?

"Only one room left up here. Let's check it out," you suggest.

Hitting the next door at the end of the hallway. Turning the knob, you open the entrance to the room. Light from Twilight's horn instantly begins to fill the void, revealing it’s contents. One long table sits in the center of a room under a large ornate red rug covered in a thick coat of dust. The chairs are pushed in and pristine, and the table is set for an exquisite dinner. The three of you file into the room to examine it a bit more closely. Cabinets line the walls, each with clouded windows displaying ancient pieces of fine china.

You find a book of matches sitting at the edge of the table.

"Finally. A non-magic source of light. Maybe there are some candles or something."

Taking a match, you strike it against the side of the box.

The fire from the match radiates out through the room lighting each of the candles on the table. Gentle orange light from a majestic sunset graces the room through the windows. Triangles of sandwiches with the crusts cut off materialize along with a wide array of carrots, celery and other vegetables. The five of the girls sit at the table all silent, munching on their dinner.

One place at the table is empty, but food has been put on their plate. Occasionally, one will look up at another, then return their gaze to their meal. One of the fillies cough, grabbing all of their attention. They turn their eyes to the door, as if waiting for something.

A tense moment of silence passes.

"Uh... what's up?" you ask.

None of the ponies acknowledge your words. Looking at your hands, you find yourself slightly transparent. This must be another vision, but it seems like you’re becoming more resilient. At least you can tell you are in one now. The five fillies relax a little bit as nothing happens.

"This is really good, Melody," one of the fillies says.

"Thanks," Melody replies quietly.

"Uh... thanks for... cutting off the crusts," pipes up a little filly that you haven't met yet.

Melody smiles.

"Of course, Summer. I know you don't like them. Rose, be sure to give those crusts to Buddy."

Rose, the filly from the bedroom, nods with a smile. A loud noise from the hallway draws your attention. Instantly, all of the fillies are face forward, sitting up straight at their place. The door slams open, causing the cabinets to shake. The sound of loud wailing and crying fills the room as Gertrude drags a filly in by their hair.

"This is unacceptable! Are you trying to test me, child? Do you think that I don’t know what you’re trying to do? Slack off on the job and see if you can get away with it? You’ll get the closet for this one."

The filly tries to choke out words among her sobs.

"B-but I've been cleaning all day! All day! I'm sorry I haven't cleaned the bathroom yet!"

She throws the little one at a cabinet and she hits her head, glass shattering onto the rug below. A plate falls out of the cabinet and breaks on one of her back legs, covering the floor with pieces of razor sharp porcelain. None of the girls even look up. Terror and fear written across their faces, as they stare at the floor. The littlest one, Summer, has her eyes closed and is biting her lip.

One of them isn't terrified of being next though. She rises to her hooves. She stares directly at her plate, and is filled with rage.

"Leave her alone!"

Gertrude looks at the angry filly, who stands up on her seat.

"Robin, don't do this," whispers Rose.

"She's been working hard all day! She hasn't even eaten anything. Let her take a little break."

Gertrude furrows her brow, then smiles malevolently.

"I see," she replies. She moves around the table to stand face to face with the filly. "I'm sure you wouldn't mind helping this slacker with the rest of the house then."

The filly nods, but refuses to break eye contact with Gertrude. She moves around the table and examines the empty seat at the table, and picks up the plate of food.

"Well doesn’t this look nice…" Gertrude drops the contents of the plate on her body, covering her in food. "Eat up."

The old mare leaves the room without another word. The rest of the group sits in silence as the little filly lies on the floor covered in food and tears, the only sound breaking the silence being the filly’s tiny whimpers. Robin gets off her chair and approaches her.

"Are you okay, Glitter?"

Glitter continues to sob. Robin begins to help clean the food off of Glitter and picks up the worst pieces of broken porcelain on the floor. A burning feeling in your hand causes you to drop your match.

Please stop your music.

When it hits the floor, the room returns to it's darker state, and dust retakes it's rightful home on the house's belongings.

"Look at this place," says a gentle voice. Your attention is drawn to a filly, whose hoof is running along the table. "This probably would’ve been at least six hours in the closet. Maybe more."

“You’re... Glitter. Right?" you ask.

She nods with a tired expression.

"I wanted you to see that. Just so you could see what it was like every single day here."

You pull out one of the chairs and sit next to her.

"I can't even imagine what you girls had to go through on a normal basis," you say.

She sighs and looks to you.

"Wanna know what the worst part was?"

Fluttershy and Twilight move closer to the filly and sit in front of her. She has all of your undivided attention.

"I worked hard every single day for Gertrude. For some reason she just didn't like me. I tried my best to meet her expectations, but I just never could."

Glitter sits down on the floor.

"Every night I would go to bed sore, hungry, and tired. Most of the time later than everyone else. There was so many things that she wanted done. I almost never got enough sleep, so when Gertrude taught her lessons I would sometimes fall asleep. Then there would be more chores and more…"

She looks at the floor.

"The worst part about all of this is, when I was in my final moments, I was just so happy. I would finally be able to relax. I would finally be able to rest for just a few moments."

Twilight strokes the filly's mane.

"Yet. I'm still so tired. All the time. I don't have a body anymore, but everything still hurts. I just wanted somepony to be proud of me." She looks over her front hooves carefully. "I've seen the door several times, so I know what you are doing for the rest of my friends."

You look to the girls.

"I just couldn't leave them,” she continues. “Some part of me thought that if I stayed, maybe then Gertrude wouldn't hurt or bother anyone else."

"That's really selfless of you, Glitter. But you might be surprised," you say. She looks up at you questioningly. "We've already helped Melody, Rose, and another filly go through the door. I think Gertrude is getting weaker."

Glitter thinks this over for a moment.

"So if everypony goes through the door, then she won't have any power anymore?"

"We think so," says Twilight. “We want to set you all free.”

Glitter smiles.

"Then I know what I have to do. For my friends."

Glitter walks to the door and opens it all by herself. White light fills the dining room. It seems to be a simple child's bedroom, filled with toys and a small pink bed. As she walks in she smiles widely.

"My old room… from my old home. It's just like I remembered before the accident."

You walk to the doorway and stand against the door to prevent it from closing. Every second of this beautiful moment is precious to you. Posters line the walls and school books sit on the wooden desk in the corner. She trots directly to the desk, where a picture of her family is sitting. The color slowly begins to return to her body.

"Mom... Dad... Little brother…"

She smiles, caressing the picture carefully. Outside the windows in the room you see a beautiful sight of Ponyville in the summer. Children are outside playing catch and tag on the crisp green grass. You even manage to see the filly from the bathroom outside. Glitter looks out the window and recognizes her as well. She gasps and opens the window wide.

"Joy! Melody! Rose!" she calls to the girls.

The fillies stop and wave to their friend.

"Glimmer! Come out here and play with us! It’s fantastic here!"

"You bet!" she calls to her friends.

She slams the window shut and gallops towards the door.

"Thank you... so much," she says. “I hope this is what you three need to escape...”

The three of you laugh and smile to the filly.

"I thought you were tired," you say to her.

She looks outside and then back to you.

"You know… I was. But now I'm not. I feel happy."

“Well then. I won’t stay in your way,” you say. “Have fun. Be safe. We’ll help the rest of your friends join you."

“Thank you,” she says, as you close the door. “I’ll never forget you.”

The door closes tightly, returning the dining room to the dark.