A constant clanging rang out all around Twilight.
That horrid sound that echoing constantly around her as she ran in this endless maze.
She ran and ran, constantly in motion, not daring to stop nor even glance back behind herself as she continued her blind gallop. Her focus solely on what is in front of her and never straying near the walls of the labyrinth she found her self trapped in. The walls of that cursed hell made of blackened brick and mortar, coated in blood new and old. They seem to be ever shifting, sometimes closing in so tight that she had to reduce her pace as to not touch the walls, to opening up into large spacious rooms where the walls weren't even visible, just suffocating darkness all around. Those decrypt looking walls harbored that of a deathly secret inside them, should one even barley nick the walls, they would release a sudden violent torrent of horrendous blades. These blades being small in size but razor sharp, cutting and stabbing anything it’s tiny terrible blades could reach, something Twilight found out for herself when she attempted a moments reprieve, suffering many small, stinging cuts. They didn't even seem to be made to kill, just to inflict even more damage upon the maze's prisoners .
Where the roof of that place should have resided was nought, instead an endless black abyss of shrieking terror and howling screams was put in its stead. Twilight have already realized that before long in her time here, that everything in this nightmare place is made to inspire horror and torture upon those placed inside its confines. At one point she had attempted to stare and study the floating abyss when she reached a large straight corridor, only to force out a strangled scream from her throat. Ghastly, demonic figures appearing in front of her wide eyes, their faces contorted into everlasting screeches of agony or smiles that seemed to split the specter's face in half. Since that experience, she deiced to never look up again at the pitch blackness out of fear of the figures doing more then just haunt her vision.
The clanging seemingly encroaching ever closer no matter how much farther she ran.
Twilight had to choke back a sob as thoughts surface about the others that had been here with her at the start of the horror. There had been nine others that she had awoken with in this place, the room she awoke in contained all of her new friends including Spike as well as her brother, her mother, and her father. All of them confused and scared of where they were and of what was happening. At one point their gaze was directed to the small, ancient sign that stood near the entrance to labyrinth, the sign reading, “One may finish this maze, others fall to the darkness inside.” Only when Applejack started to flail around wildly, gripping her throat as crimson blood spilled out and a large, dark entity behind her, did they run headlong into the evil place. At first they all tried to stay together, hoping that they could all make it out and make it harder for the monster stalking them to do harm, but after not long they were forced to scatter when her father was slaughtered before them. The beast having flung him against the nearby wall with enough force to splinter the wall while having a sicking crack permeate the air as every bone broke within his body, the blades coming out a moment later stabbing him and firmly anchoring him to his position in the wall.
After that she caught glimpses of what was left of her friends and family as she continued to gallop… or what was left of them. The sight of her brother lying cleaved in twain upon the ground, his entrails ripped out and lying around him in a scattered heap, made her vomit stomach acid up as she ran while trying to forget the sight. Rarity lay flopped on the floor, the front of her head covered in sever burns and ash caked everywhere. The source made obvious soon enough as there was a crater and smoke coming from where her horn should have been, at the sight, Twilight swore to not try and use magic. She caught sight of Pinkie and her mother against the walls, seemingly fine.
The sight made Twilight jump in joy before she sprinted over to greet them, only to notice the lack of motion from either of them. When she finally reached them, she found the cause that made her again vomit the nothing in her stomach. Pinkie was in a pool of her blood as her side was riddled with open wounds, one cut right into her eye, leaving what looked like a deflated ball in place with a white fluid leaking out. Her mother, Velvet, was not much better as the back of her head was jagged and broken open, pulped gray matter leaking out of the shattered skull, the both of them cut unexpectedly when catching their breath.
She happened upon Fluttershy at one point sitting upon the ground staring into the abyss, just as Twilight was about to continue her sprint as she did not wish to see what gruesome fate befell the kind, shy pegasus, she heard a sound of gentle breathing coming from her. Excited that her friend was still alive, she ran over to check on her and encourage her to keep going so that they would leave together, only to hear the insane mumbles she got in return. No matter what she tried Flutter would not budge and would only respond in insane mumbles along with twitching hooves and a thousand yard stare. Eventually she was forced to accept that her friend was a lost cause, having succumb to the madness that the horrid labyrinth inspired, she left with a sorry and tears in her eyes. She had long discerned the place in which she was trapped and knew of it's horrors. Twilight knew that now she had only Spike and Rainbow left.
She eventually once again gazed at the screaming dark sky to see if maybe there was not some magical exit or light that would banish the darkness. What instead greeted her was the sight of a familiar rainbow scale tail that belonged to the cyan speedster. Rainbow just hovered in mid air, her wings frozen seemingly in mid flap. She was facing down and seemed to have been trying to out run something, due to the expression of utter terror plastered on her face. She seemed to have lost to what ever was chasing her as blood openly flowed from somewhere on he back, creating a rain of blood onto the ground below her but the worse was the blood that leaked out from around her eyes and ears, small rivers running out of both.
Twilight was reaching the burn out stage of her body at this point, having long since been tired, but she never chance a rest as the beast ever seemed to be far off from her position. As she slowed down to a trot instead of a run, she found Spike, the sight more gruesome then most of the others. Spike was not even recognizable any more as he just a mass of red meat, sinew, and blood as well as the small bones sticking out in random places. The only way she was able to identify the mess as Spike was from his, still dripping, flayed skin lying a few hooves ahead of him. At the sight she once again broke out into a hurried, panicked sprint.
The sound was almost on top of her now, echoing from everywhere.
She shook her head to clear away the morbid memories of her dead friends and family, tears flowing freely down her face. The sound of that monstrosity grows ever more near to Twilight. She finally begin to slow down once again from the exertion of which she forced upon her body. However, a few more hooves ahead of her, she finally sees a light for the very first since she has been in here and thoughts run through her head, knowing that the hell is almost over. Over her shoulder she could hear they heavy footfalls and breathing of some large, lumbering beast. The light reminding her of The Solar Princess, Princess Celestia, the comforting though of her old mentor fills her with a small boost of energy. Not wishing to succumb to the darkness so close to the light, she forces her body to gallop full speed one last time to the source of the light. As she starts her sprint, the foot steps behind her begin to pick up in pace, the massive foot falls shacking the very ground as it ran as well to catch her. The light emanates from a large doorway at the end of the corridor, as she closes in on it, as massive solid slab of stone starts to shudder it's way down the doorway. At the sight of her only means of escaping hell closing right before her, she manages a final burst of speed. She just manages to dive into the doorway as it slams shut behind her, closing her out of the labyrinth and the beast inside.
Twilight heard it’s loud roar of feral anger before it stomped off, back into the cursed maze. she sat against the door as she sighed and wiped her head of the sweat from the running she was forced to endure. Every fiber of her being cried out in agony and fatigue as she just sat and caught her breath.
. . . . . . .
All is finally silent around her as she stares forward into the light and smiles happily. Tiredness soon catches up with her as she determines that she should be safe, before closing her eyes and rests for the first time in what seems like forever to her. As she rests, dreams of what lies outside this place, of going back to ponyville with everypony else being alive and ok. Her dream soon starts to shift as it goes back to her time in the deathly maze, remembering all of what she had seen in there. Images of dead and gutted friends and family everywhere fill her mind, causing her to cry out in her sleep, and the maddening echo of the screams of the damned. It shows her a scene of a large, burly beast, it's shape resembling that of a minotaur, however being much large and possessing a arched back with larger horns and more shaggy fur. In one of it's large, meaty hands was a great waraxe, it's two heads caked in blood and flesh. The beast bursting through one of the walls ahead of her, trapping her in as it closes the gap, the sound of it's heavy breathing and echoing stamps of it's feet fills the dream is the only thing that she could hear. Twilight's dream shifts yet again, back to more comforting memories of freedom before a terrifying thought grips her, causing her to sit up suddenly and shakily.
She had never seen what The Beast actually looked like, nor had see seen it like she saw in her dream.
Her eyes are open wide as she scans around the room in a panicked frenzy, all is the same as before expect the light that meant her freedom has dwindled down to nothingness and a large hole in the wall next to her. She sighs and look back forward again…
Only for her eyes to meet two large, glowing crimson eyes that burned like embers in fire pit lit the dark in front of her. She commanded her body to get up, to run away from this bringer of death, but it stayed as still as stone. Her body no longer having the strength and gripped with absolute terror to do anything but continue to breath. All Twilight can do is look on in horror as the dark being grunts in a laughing manner and brings his cruel weapon to bare before everything turned into darkness
. . . . . .
A constant clanging rang out all around Twilight.
Nightmare Moon stood over Twilight as she tossed and turned in bed, tears streaking down her cheeks. The Dark Alicorn leaned over the little pony, a sadistic smile on her face. She continued to watch the suffering unicorn, after a little while she leaned down further near the tossing and turning pony's ear before whispering into it. "You thought you could simply blast me with your pathetic elements and that it would get rid of me forever." Her face turned into a even more demented grin before she spoke again, "Well you were wrong, you may have weakened me, may have left me with out a corporeal form, but it will take more then that to put me down." If one would have taken a closer look at the Alicorn, they would have noticed she did not have hooves at all, instead her legs ending in flowing ethereal energy making her float above the ground.
She stopped for a moment to watch the withering Twilight, gaining even more self gratification at what she had caused to the one that had harmed her. "This is your fault you know, if you hadn't came along when you did, you wouldn't be forced to watch those you love die over and over." A forked tongue slithered out of her mouth for a moment before slipping back in just as fast.
"You may have even became MY student instead of that bigot Celestia." Her voice changing into a deep growl at the thought of the solar monarch before going back to normal, "But alas, you had to try and play the hero." She stared at her, "This is some of my best work if I do say so myself" she cooed into her ear, "It won't hurt you physically, but will break you mentally and no matter what it will just keep looping."
She stood to full height before letting out a deep, resounding evil laugh into the cold, dark night air. The sound ringing out all over the quiet town. Once done with her victory laugh, she looked back down at the unicorn before adopting a caring look, "Maybe after you finally break, I could fix you, make you see the beauty and power that is the night." Nightmare leaned down one final time and planted a small kiss on her forehead, the act causing the shaking Twilight to calm slightly in her sleep. "I have always wanted a student, some pony to show the arcane arts to, but even more then that, I have wanted someone to call my own, a daughter." She once again stood before moving over to the open window, the way she had came in. Sparing a look back towards the suffering pony, she uttered one last sentence before flying off into the night.
"Sweet dreams my little one."
Author's Note
So, first story, what you guys think? I want honest feed back on what you people think.
