Til You Believe In Friendship

“—No…Please don’t…No...No!...AHHHH!...Please stop!...Stop it…Stop it! PLEASE! PLEASE STOP!...AGHHHH!...STOP IT!...PLEASE!...

—Aww, feeling shattered already, sweetheart? But we’ve just started the fun!

—…Gha.. You’re insane!

—Well, what would art be without a little insanity?

—No, no, no, wait! WAIT, NO! AHHHH!”

…

The young mare lifted her terrified expression when the screams of her own voice woke her in the darkness. The nightmares never left her alone. Her sight slowly got used to the poor lighting of the room. Soon, the agony of her most recent experiences showed up in all of their glory, as well as the pain she was already used to. With her front hooves strongly chained to the ceiling and her horn blocked by a magical latch, the filly tried to pay no attention to feelings growing inside her, like a virus at its top. She knew what was waiting for her that day. Today her final tests started. And nopony passes the final tests.

She waited helplessly as the last hours of the night gave way to the morning, and thus, to her calling. The dread of what might happen at any moment kept her idly in the cell. When the usual buzzing noise announced it, the chains opened and threw her down to the floor. She got up slowly, weakened by the lack of a proper meal. As she did so, her jailer opened the lid on her cell’s door.

—Oh look; she’s awake! Hello there! Are you nervous? Well, you should. After all, the biggest day of your life is just about to start!

The joyful tone of his voice and the lack of any shame or remorse in him made her nauseated. His attitude was incredibly cheery as he opened the door and levitated her out of the cell. This kind of days excited him all the time, and he was always happy to be in front row.

They both got out to a much bigger room with labeled doors leading to other cells. She could overhear some subtle cries as she advanced up the stairs to the upper floor. The Jailor ignored the following doors in the hallway, as well as the examination room. The mare’s eyes stared at its door until they turned. He might have read her mind, because he said:

—Oh no, not this time. Today is just too special for it to happen in such a filthy room, don’t you think?

At this point she would’ve been even happy to enter that room and not the one she was heading to. But she knew that whatever she was going to turn into would not get happy in there.

They reached their destination and the Jailor opened the door. It wasn’t as dark as she had expected, but yet quite disturbing. With the tiled floor and walls white as snow and more than one light bulb giving a golden glimmer, the room’s atmosphere vastly differed from the instruments inside it. With enough knives and shears to wool ten mammoths at once and the sharpest needles she had ever seen, it highly reminisced to a dentist’s office; a you-will-most-probably-die-in-here dentist’s office.

She was sited down on one of the various steel chairs and stripped of her only clothing. Her seat was cold and a little moist, while the lights above her head blinded her for a moment.

—The Doctress will be here in a moment. Don’t you go anywhere! —the Jailor said while immobilizing her with a pair leather straps and copper locks. He left her and all of her misery alone. She lay in the cold seat, shrieking a bit. Do you know that some ponies say that you watch your entire life in front of you when you know you’re about to die? Well, it’s true; the only lie is that they say it lasts less than a second. Although most of them hadn’t been totally pleasing, some of her memories were worth a last effort: her lovable parents, her house, her school, her friends… Her brother… A tear came out of her eyes as she thought of the only moment she ever saw him. He looked so happy! She had never being able to see him walk, or talk; not even to laugh. And now she would never see him again. It was all finally over.

Suddenly the door opened and two more colts were brought inside by the Jailor, both of them younger than she. They were placed and restrained inside equal cages by him, both of their sights crying for mercy, literally. Then he called for someone outside the door. When the so-called entered, all that came to the mare’s head while her nausea came to a boiling point was about how horrible the test was going to be if they were using two ponies as bait. Next, the Doctress came closer to her and started the procedure. After some startup she tried to apply the mare anesthesia, but she started to struggle, trying to avoid her hoof. She was tired of it. No more needles were going inside her. No more deaths. No more accidents. She just couldn’t stand it anymore. If she was finally kicking the bucket, she wasn’t taking any other pony with her.

But the Doctress couldn’t bear such rebelliousness, and so, she hit her right on the face a few times. The mare stared at the ceiling, seeing stars as the Doctress gave her the shot. The mare felt how she lost all sensibility in both her hind legs.

—I want to make clear that this is the most perfect formula we’ve ever created. You are aware of the possible effects, right? ¬—the Doctress said to the Jailor with her remarked accent as she filled up another syringe, this time with a bright, reddish substance.

—Yes, I know. Don’t worry; this room has always been failure-proof. After all, I designed it —he answered smugly.

—Ok then. Here we go —and she inserted the shot into the mare’s body. The following blackout was total.

●  ●  ●

What the Jailor was seeing could just vaguely be described with words. He could feel the excitement of the day quickly vanishing, the horror rumbling in his stomach. The transformation was going on well… Too well… Neither he nor the Doctress could believe it. In front of their very eyes they saw how the mare’s body was forced by the drug to become… something, but certainly not what they were expecting.

Her body turned three times bigger as her bones overextended inside her. Her entire spine and neck cracked when they stretched out the body to an atrocious sate. Her hooves elongated and reached a curved, 6-inches long razor shape. The face changed alongside her body; her muzzle had grown twice its length, while her teeth now counted as small daggers. The metal secures broke and the steel chair started flinching under the transmuting force. Her entire mane and tail was now resting steadily on the floor. And there was no sign of her horn.

The minutes turned to hours as she lay on the chair when the changing finally ended. She was panting, and bleeding, with her eyes tightly closed. Then it seemed that she had woken up from a dream. A gross, rotten cry came from her as a green stuff started pouring out of her eyes, which now were just two black pearls. The Jailor heard one of the colts throwing up in his cage. As if by magic she started getting up until being standing on her brand-new claws. She rested there on all fours, breathing peacefully. The Doctress, who was the fastest to get out of her amusement, started approaching the odd, ghastly creature. If the transformation was now complete, maybe not everything was ruined. She started to cast the spell, but when the Jailor saw it, it was too late for her.

With a speed completely disproportional to her size, the thing leaped on the Doctress and tossed her to the ground. The creature grumbled, looking her at the eyes. She opened her jaws and made her move. More screams from the colts were heard when they saw the creature tearing apart the skin and organs of the Doctress, chewing and swallowing some pieces while her cries flooded the place. But the creature didn’t like her. The room suddenly turned dead silent; the Doctress’ body stopped convulsing with a dry noise as the creature’s nose started sniffing the air. She was blind, apparently. But she smelled something good. She started to slowly follow the weeping of one of the colts, getting dangerously close to the Jailor. During all that time he had been frozen in his place, holding breath while looking now at the immobile corpse of her co-worker. They had thought that they were ready, that everything was under control…

He had to get out of there.

It’s needless to say that the creature finally found her prey. The colt was screaming and crying while the creature crooked the bars of the cage with her hooks, roaring a victorious yell while getting inside. The other colt stood on his own cell, impotent and merciless as he was forced to see the ghastly murder of his brother. The creature clearly found the little colt’s flesh tastier than the Doctress’. She took her time to slowly feel the flavors of each muscle as the thick red blood filled her mouth with a delightful warmness.

The Jailor took advantage of this and tried to escape, moving as calmly and quietly as possible. The door was just few hoofsteps ahead. He could feel each and every sweat drop flowing on him. When he finally reached it, he unlocked it with a quietness worthy of a butterfly. Unfortunately for him, the door screeched. Inside the huge, quiet room, filled only with the cries of the live colt, it sounded like an explosion. The creature lifted her blood-stained muzzle from her meal, using every cell in her ears. She got up calmly, turning her head across the room, sniffing. The Jailor didn’t even turn around. He could hear her presence getting closer… her steps becoming louder… her warm breath in his neck…

Suddenly he felt a tremendous force pushing him to the ground as the creature jumped over him and started a fearless gallop. He was still paralyzed in the ground when the creature’s grumbles faded out in the darkness of the hallway. Apparently she was localizing the exit, not his flesh. When the pacing of his heart retuned to a healthier speed, he got up slowly, depressed from the frustrated event. He turned around and reached the Doctress’ remains. He cried for her death in silence, ignoring the other murder and its other prisoner. Maybe they deserved it. After all, their methods weren’t what you could say “legitimate”. But this couldn’t be. They were the good guys, right? They were just helping HIM…

He was becoming angry. Her favorite prisoner had escape, leaving him all alone in his sector. He must warn HIM. HIM would help him. Yes, HIM had to help. And the Jailor wasn’t going to be merciful anymore. He was taking revenge from his dead friend.

The true nightmare had just begun.

●  ●  ●

She regained some control over her body; the changing was finally fading out. When she recovered a bit of consciousness, she didn’t know where she was. Everything was blurry and confusing. She was dizzied, cold and tired. She kept on wandering towards the unknown for some time. She slowly reclaimed her senses, as well as her memory. When she finally cleared her mind, she felt sick. Her body was now completely normal, besides of the missing hair (it would take some time for it to grow again), but she wasn’t. After a slow, mental reproduction of the night, she felt even worse.

Remembering was always the worst part. She didn’t even know how she could remember such atrocities while in her state. It usually felt like someone else’s memories, all fragmented and unclear, like an old movie you used to watch as a foal but now you don’t even know what was it about…

But not this time. The pieces were as clear as glass, fitting together in a perfectly-shaped puzzle. She threw up in some bushes when her stomach recaptured her last meal. It wasn’t completely digested; she could feel the bones and hair going up and out her body, making her even queasier. When the vomiting ended, she sat on a fallen tree, hating herself even more for her frantic suppertime attempt. The moon wasn’t quite full, yet she could see some of the scenery. She must have walked for hours.

She was in some kind of forest; the humid and hot environment made her think of a jungle. The noisy insects and intense smells made her woozy again. She tried to calm down, thinking about the facts: she had escaped; finally escaped. Over the nausea and tiredness she had never felt such relief. After five years of pain and agony… After five years of suffering… After five years of deaths… At last, it was over…

Yet she still didn’t know where the heck she was. She was all alone, practically served in silver spoon for anything to have her as a snack. She tried to get up, but collapsed in the ground after the first attempt. She realized she wasn’t just tired, but completely exhausted. The dusty floor felt so comfy… she could just fall asleep there, laying in the moist, soft soil; let her mind being pushed into a land all pink and joyful, where everypony was happy and healthy, where nopony ever forced others to suffer; where she could be with her family again…

Her friends! Her family! She could see them again, for real! That simple and delighting thought made her a bit more focused. She needed a plan if she was getting out of this infernal place. She needed food, protection, water, a place to sleep safely… She needed help. But where? Not even the slightest dash of hope of finding civilization went across her head. She was weak, shattered and scared. She squeezed her brain trying to make a plan, but only received a terrible headache. In her state, not even magic could’ve save her… magic…

Magic…

Magic! She reached her horn nervously. The lock wasn’t there! She could use magic again! The lost hope that had vanished throughout the years returned, this time a hundred times stronger. But when she tried a few basic spells, she quickly saw how destabilized her head really was; the slightest attempt of magic made her world spin like crazy, making her vomit only acid this time. She collapsed again, crying, waiting helplessly for the night to swallow her with its black tentacles. She was going to die right there, right now, sadden by the dreams she would never see come true.

To top it off it started raining. “…Seriously?” she thought with her eyes closed; “At least it’s less hot now” She was now drifting irrationally inside her mind; “At least I’m dying cool and fresh, and refreshed, and recooled, and freshy and coolly refreshed…”. She was expecting losing consciousness by now, but instead of fading out in the darkness, her mind seemed to be clearing out. The cool dripping from the sky really was refreshing her. She opened her eyes, which now saw better. Her incomprehensible thoughts now became rational ideas. “I should be dead by now. Why I’m not dying?” She felt how strength returned from inside, flowing to her harmed legs and finally to her hooves. Cell by cell, she felt the warmness of her blood flowing at normal speed. “What is this water?” she thought, lifting her face at the sky. She noticed she hadn’t seen the clouds above her, which seemed to move and shake while pouring out their magical tonic. They looked normal in all other ways; just normal storm clouds. But they couldn’t be just normal. They were spinning and dancing above her head. They seemed to get lower and lower each second, closer to her. She now had enough strength to get up without downsides. There must be something in this water.

The clouds covered the moon entirely, yet a subtle golden glimmer could be seen up above in the sky. The shining’s strength grew along with the mare’s, getting brighter with each raindrop that hit the soil. It felt amazingly calm, like a warm bath while in a snowy day. The mare closed her eyes with joy. She could’ve sworn that the rain was healing her old wounds as well.

Suddenly, the ground started rumbling, at first calmly, but gradually gaining force with the rain and shimmer. The damped soil started melting right below her hooves, taking her with it. She was stuck in it, barely able to move, and going deeper and deeper.

The mud kept on swallowing her with a dreadful slowness, making her panic. She wanted to scream, yet no sound was able to escape from her throat. When it was just above her legs, stifling her breathing, she started to sink faster, until most of her neck was covered. From a sudden everything moved fast and all the light disappeared; she was falling through the gigantic crack in the soil where all the mud was pouring in, screaming. She reached land within seconds, the mud in the floor saving her from a fatal freefall. She was in a stone cave where the only source of light was the hole in the ceiling from where she came from, from which was still pouring rain and dirt. The air was static and hot, and the odd carvings in the walls made the big room feel ominous.

Still fearful and covered in mud, the mare got up and made her way out of the sludge. She was now feeling at full, energized and curious. She looked at the strangely colorful drawings in the cavern. They seemed like pictograms, showing diverse unicorns casting different spells. Some of them looked as if they were in some kind of ceremony, like the Summer Sun Celebration (there was even an alicorn, much possible Princess Celestia). Astonished, she kept on going around the walls, watching as the spells shown grew in difficulty.

She was starting to think the entire room was some kind of magic reference sheet when she saw a drawing way too different from the others. In it there was shown a wheat field at sunset, filled up with the corpses of all three kinds of ponies. She saw shocked how the gigantic and gory illustration displayed a monster way beyond imagination. Huge and omnipotent, he was shown as a major tragedy to everypony nearby. The representation was horrific, and gave her chills even though it was a stone carving. “That must be HIM…” she thought, making her anxious and frightened. The image covered an entire half of a wall in the pentagon-like cave. In the lower half there were different carvings, undyed and continuous. Even though they were most probably letters, the mare wasn’t able to identify any of the glyphs; they seemed to state what happened that fateful day.

The mare stared at the image for a long time, feeling the misery and pain from each and everypony in there. When she finally turned away, tears rolling down her cheeks, she saw an entrance in the last wall, no door. She felt a tremendous curiosity to enter, but she could barely see anything than darkness. She decided it was too dangerous; she knew nothing about this place. She returned to her falling spot; the rain had stopped and the dirt was now stiffer and softer. She lay down and got herself comfortable. She wasn’t tired, yet she was feeling afflicted about the entire day and wanted to think what to do next; besides, it was very late.

Time flew in the cavern. When she finally felt how tiredness surrounded her with its majestic sweep, it was passed midday, but the cave was dark enough to sleep during the day. She closed her eyes slowly, letting herself drift by the sleepiness. But right before she totally blackout, she oversaw the crack in the ceiling getting narrower and narrower until being entirely covered by something. Then a face lit by a fire-like light appeared right from the darkness. When she tried to react and say something, she suddenly felt incredibly fatigued, and couldn’t bear it no more. The last thing she was able to perceive before falling asleep was a voice, a male one, which said something that would remain in her memory forever, yet she wasn’t sure if it came from her head or from the outside world. It said the time had come for the revolution to finally start. It said she was the keystone. It said her story was going to be rewritten.

It said history was going to be rewritten.