The palace of needles

"Rarity? Spike, it's really none of my business, but can we actually trust your judgment on this? This is a very delicate situation, and we can't let our personal feelings get in the way..."

"Oh mare of little faith. Believe me, Rarity is just the pony we need. Besides, we'll have to tell everypony, sooner or later, so why not start with our friends?"

"First of all, we need to carefully plan our operation. Staying as discrete as possible. We can't have too many ponies involved at this stage."

"In any case, here we are."

"Where?"

"Oh, right, you can't tell. We're beneath Rarity's boutique. This trapdoor on the ceiling? It leads into her basement."

"You know, the thought that you have been sneaking around like this all along is starting to creep me out."

Spike pushed a button on the wall to open the trapdoor.

"You've seen nothing yet, sister... mind helping me up?"

He jumped on her back, and from there right through the opening.

"How did you get in before?"

"There is a tiny ladder. But I like this one better, hehe..."

"Very nice. Now how do I get up there?"

Spike lay down on his belly and reached through the hole.

"Gimme your hooves."

-

"MY BACK! This was NOT a good idea. Maybe you should consider going on a diet..."

"Oh shut up. With all these times I've been carrying you around, you owe me."

"With interests, apparently..."

"Shhh! I think I heard something.

It's so dark in here..."

"The stench... Twilight, I have a bad feeling about this."

"Rarity...? Is that you...?"

Twilight felt her little companion tremble next to her.

There was definitely something else down here.

Steps in the darkness. Hooves? No healthy pony would have walked like this.

"T-Twilight...? Maybe you should... you know... light... ?"

Probably. But Twilight Sparkle wasn't quite sure she wanted to.

"Well, here goes nothing..."

The unicorn pony's horn started glowing.

At first, the two intruders didn't see anything. But the sounds came closer, and then the monster stepped into the light.

Twilight started moaning. Her psyche was hurting.

This... thing was not a pony. For a nanosecond Twilight was trying to convince herself that it was just one of Rarity's dress forms, but of course she had seen it moving. And now it was coming closer.

It had leathery skin that seemed to have been sewed together haphazardly. It really could have been some sort of puppet... If it hadn't been for the bleeding wounds.

It had no mane or tail. It didn't even have a head.

A blind and deaf creature. How did it even know they were there?

It made a strange, clicking noise, and suddenly it seemed to hover slightly above the floor.

Twilight saw why that was: Each of the monster's stubby hooves had sprouted a long needle, and now it was walking on these needles as on tiny stilts.

The monster leaped forward, bound to stab Twilight with its front hooves on impact. The unicorn pony dodged the attack not a second too soon.

Now the monster was behind them, in the darkness outside their bubble of light.

"What IS that thing?"

"We have to get out of here! Where is the tunnel?"

"Wait, No!"

"NO?"

"Rarity is in here somewhere! We've got to find her!"

"Are you nuts? We're not prepared for something like... this!"

"It might be the only chance we get!"

There were noises all around them. So these creatures were pack hunters- whatever else they might have been.

Spike hopped on Twilight's back.

"Quick! How do we get to the boutique?"

"I don't... You know what? LEFT!"

Twilight dashed into the darkness. There were stilt monsters all around. Twilight even collided with one of them, but she managed to get up before the monster did.

And then she ran right into a wall.

"You said left!"

"So I should have said 'right'. Can we argue about that later? … WATCH OUT!"

Twilight leaped aside, and the front needles of the attacking monster got stuck in the wall.

"They walk slowly, but they strike fast. At least they don't seem to be very smart..."

"Look who is talking, Mister 'Left'! Now we do this my way!"

Twilight started running close to the wall. Through their tiny sphere of light, they could see that the monsters were trying to follow her movement, but as Spike had pointed out, their walk- and turn rate were rather slow. Finally, the stairs came in sight.

"Let's get out of here..."

Above the stairs, there was a trapdoor. Twilight pushed against it.

To no avail. It wasn't locked, but there seemed to be something heavy on top.

"No, no no no no no no no..."

The monsters were already gathering around the stairs. It was only a matter of seconds before they would start climbing. Or leaping.

Twilight was sobbing. She turned off the light and instead used her horn to work on the trapdoor.

She felt a sudden pain in her shoulder. Apparently one monster had attempted to pounce her and only missed her by an inch.

-

The door flung open, and they crawled outside.

They managed to close the trapdoor just in time before the stilt monsters could follow them.

Twilight used her light spell again. Sobbing and shaking and trying to catch their breath, they looked around and discovered what had been blocking their exit.

It appeared to be a giant lump of flesh, with iron chains wrapped all around it. It emitted deep, humming noises.

"I-Is it... alive?"

"Maybe it's sleeping... Whatever it is."

The windows seemed to have been sealed with metal plates.

"I've never seen something like this. That's not part of the system."

It was cold in the boutique. So very cold. Twilight could see her breath hanging in the air.

Spike didn't seem to care (which didn't surprise the pony, she had already seen him sleeping on ice as if it was a soft cushion), but Twilight knew she couldn't last much longer.

"S-Spike, I..."

"Already on it."

The little dragon pulled a large blanket from a nearby dress form.

"Here you go... Oh..."

The dress form beneath the blanket was missing body parts. And it started bleeding from its eye sockets as soon as the cover was removed. The blood was dripping on the floor.

"Oh Spike... what has happened to this place? Any chance this is all just in our heads?"

"I don't think so. We've got to find Rarity. Maybe we'll find her upstairs."

"That... thing just started moving.

And it's gaining... MOMENTUM!"

The lump was rolling towards them, apparently with the intend to crush them. Twilight discovered to her terror that her hooves seemed to be stuck to the ground. The humming coming from the monster's inside was spreading through the floor and right into her limbs.

"Twilight! Teleport!"

Right.

-

When she opened her eyes again, she saw that she had brought them into Rarity's atelier.

"Ooooh..."

"Let me guess. More monsters."

"I think I call them 'bag walkers'. It's always nicer when things have names, don't you think?"

They were coming closer from every corner. It wasn't possible to say anything about their anatomy, since they were covered from head (?) to toe (?) in baggy sheets. The air was filled with their sobbing and their moaning.

"Maybe they just want a hug."

"And maybe I don't want to find out. Are they blocking the path to the stairs?"

"Yes they are."

"Alright, then. Violence it is."

One of the monsters was approaching the pony from behind. She gave it a kick and sent it to the floor.

"Ouch. It's as if they were filled with sand."

She heard a cracking noise, and it was only by reflex that she lifted her right front hoof. Just in time: An incredibly long, nasty needle popped out of the laminate floor.

She was already hearing similar noises all around.

"Oookay... I can do this..."

Twilight sent a pair of scissors flying through the air, stabbing one of the covered monsters. She didn't quite see what came pouring out of the wound.

Spike was breathing fire, but his tiny flames didn't seem to have much of an effect. At least they acted as an additional light source.

"Can't you just teleport again?"

"It's on a cooldown, remember?"

Twilight screamed. This time, she hadn't been fast enough. She had lifted her left front hoof in time, but the needle coming out from underneath her left hind hoof struck home.

"Twilight! You have to get off the floor! Look at me!"

Spike had jumped off her back and right on top of one of the monsters. It was trying to shake him off, but he had already moved on to the next creature.

"Spike, I'm hurt...", she cried, "I can't..."

"You CAN! You must! NOW Twilight!"

Sobbing and her injured hoof throbbing with pain, she climbed on the back of a bag monster she had just knocked to the floor, and from there onto the next. It was like walking on a bouncy castle that wanted your death.

But this was no time for doubts. It felt like an eternity to her, but finally Twilight reached the stairs. Spike was already waiting for her.

-

The upper floor.

Twilight Sparkle and Spike went straight for Rarity's bedroom, though Twilight was very much in pain due to her hoof. They had wrapped it in a piece of fabric torn from her improvised cape.

They were trying to Ignore the blood that was dripping from the ceiling, the noises in the walls.

They also didn't look into the bathroom, even though they learned through their peripheral vision that the mirror was broken and that the bath tub was brim-full with water. There was something big and dark floating just beneath the surface, but that was a mystery that would be left unsolved.

-

Someone was singing in Rarity's bedroom.

It sounded like a child.

Twilight had thought that after all these things she had just gone through, nothing would give her the chills anymore. Silly mistake.

"Giggle at the Ghostie, eh Spike?"

"Giggle at the Ghostie."

-

"Gasp."

"You can say that again."

Rarity's canopy bed had been replaced by something that looked like a cross between a sacrificial altar and a guillotine.

Where the walls and the ceiling met, dress-form monsters were dangling on iron chains, constantly moaning and swaying.

The chandelier had been replaced by a giant lump-monster, similar to the one they had encountered downstairs.

But all of this paled in comparison to Sweetie Belle, who was sitting on the monster bed, looking sickly and worn.

"Hush now, quiet now, it's time to lay your sleepy head... Hush now, quiet now, it's time to go to bed..."

"S-Sweetie Belle?"

The filly looked up, and her eyes filled with tears. Though she didn't seem to have that many tears left.

"They don't want to go to sleep..."

"Hush, Dear..."

Twilight pulled her away from the horrible altar and hugged her tight.

"It's all going to be okay. I'm here now. Your auntie Twilight, remember?"

Sweetie Bell nodded and buried her face in Twilight's mane.

"Sweetie Bell", Spike asked, "Do you know where your sister is?"

"She's everywhere", the little ponygirl cried, "Don't you see? It's all her!"

"Shhh... There now... We have come to fix this."

-

A horrible scream came from the wardrobe and made them all jump.

"It doesn't like you", Sweetie Bell whispered.

"What is in there, Sweetie...?"

But the filly was frozen with fear.

"Alright, THAT'S IT."

Spike pulled up his imaginary sleeves and waddled towards the wardrobe

"Spike! I don't think..."

"I've had it. We will get Rarity back, and we will get her back NOW. So... BRING IT ON!"

He flung open the doors.

The wardrobe was empty.

"Wow. I guess no surprise IS a surprise as well. Hm..."

He turned his back to the wardrobe, scratching his head.

That's when the giant scissor monster leaped out.

-

Its screams were shaking their very bones.

It had the body of a young pony girl, but the legs had been replaced by gruesome prosthesis made out of blades and scissors, with a mind-boggling number of rusty joints.

The eyeballs had been torn out, and replaced with long needles that protruded from the sockets like robotic antennae. Her chest was a never-ending fountain of blood. In seconds, the floor had become quite slippery.

Scissors, needles and blades were swarming around her like so many giant wasps.

Twilight put Sweetie Bell back on the bed.

The monster tried to spear Spike with her front leg. Not only did he dodge the attack, but he hopped onto the leg and started climbing.

"I do this for RARITY! I'll show you, you... bloody creep!"

But Spike didn't get far. The monster was moving just too fast, too spastically.

The little dragon was sent flying through the room, right into one of the trapped dress form monsters, which was instantly trying to strangle him.

"Spike!"

Twilight slipped and fell into a puddle of blood.

With a glowing of her horn, she tore the wall monster out of its chains and hurled it at the scissor beast. Spike landed right in front of her.

"Thanks for detaching me before impact. That's what I call quick thinking."

"Detaching...? Right. Just as I intended... "

When the wall monster hit the target, the two creatures seemed to fuse into a fleshy... disaster. It was both very fascinating an very disgusting to watch.

After just a few seconds, the scissor monster had completely absorbed the other and went on with its rampage. But it was much slower and clumsier now. The smaller monster had been converted into giant tumors that were protruding form the scissor beast's flesh.

"Okay. So I guess this is the way to go. Listen, I need you to distract the monster while I gather my strength to launch another projectile."

"You got it. No female of whatever species finds anything more... distracting than me."

"Even under these circumstances, I find that disgusting. -More so, actually."

Surely enough, one wall monster after the other was added to the count.

"And now, dessert", Twilight said to herself when she detached the chandelier lump.

-

Even under the weight of this last projectile, the monster was still trying to stand up.

Twilight had had enough. Covered in blood, her injured hoof throbbing, her horn as well as her eyes glowing, she stepped forward.

"Give it up! We are STRONGER than you! Rarity belongs to us!"

A giant scissor on multiple joints was coming right for her.

The next thing Spike saw was a flash of light.

-

"Wow. Now that was a rather unpleasant encounter."

Sweetie Bell sniffed.

"You call THAT unpleasant? You clearly haven't met Pyramid Pony."

-

Slowly, the horrors of the boutique were melting away. The entire place reverted to its former state.

They found Rarity downstairs, crying.