The Black Abyss

All around is an empty void that feasts on the disheveled hopes of the fools trapped within it. Any light surrounded by the void dissolves quickly into scentless smoke. Even the wide circle of candles that mark a lining of life soon fades to expand the everlasting emptiness. Not one sound is tolerable inside the confines of such soulless an environment; however, the deformed sobs of an individual, who dances the tightrope of insanity, echoes deep in everyone’s mind.

Care not, want not, for there is no escape from the existential nightmare that this reality forms. Nothing one does can cause the most insignificant of annoyances to this plane’s plan. Those who reside in its stomach are just pawns of the being’s malicious game of make believe. Your fate rests in the clutches of demonic persuasion and is lost to the uselessness of its own existence.

The purity of the light circle is the only protection from such monstrosities; the mind-altering effects are lessened as it passes through the flames essence; though the current strength of the sticks has severely diminished from the extensive use and age.

Direly depressive is the only way to briefly explain the scene. Five mares sit in the innards of the candles. Tears drip from the sorrowful expression that gardens true pain. A little yellow pegasus cries profusely on the back of her pink friend; contrasting the yellow one’s tears, the shattered heart and broken spirit of Pinky pie mixed to form lifeless eyes that are transfixed on the infected nub that used to be her leg. Opposite to the conjoined mares, Applejack, Twilight and Rainbow Dash rest in wait for the anticipated end of another friend.

The contemptuous athlete, struck with the realization of her sinful deeds, contemplates the formulaic destruction of, not just her character but, her deservance of life. The Farm Hand, in an inward trance of churning emotion and disgust, peers the last moments of her wasted life. Each trickle of sadness caused slight tics to agitate below her eye; the constant rhythmic tone of tears pattering burros further into her lobes and she eventually snaps.

“For Celestia’s sake, will you stop crying already?!” the sobbing stopped, however the river continued to flow. “I mean, why can’t you face the fact that she’s already dead?!”

“How can you say that? We don’t know what will happen! There could still be a way!” Applejack was taken aback by the violent tenacity that Fluttershy seldom ever showed; naturally Applejack had given restraint to her impulsive urges; unfortunately, the silent grievance she harbored of a valued friend’s death had weighed too much -resulting in the bough breaking.

“There is no other way! Just look at her! If we don’t deal with it now, she’ll end up just like Rarity and Spike!” Applejack’s rightful fear of the situation was gradually getting the better of her.

The two proceeded to bicker and, uncontrollably, debate the ultimate end of the disconsolate, sugar crazed, party pony. Twilight Sparkle, leader of the Elements of Harmony, the mare who held her ground against the most horrifying entities that Equestria knows, and the prideful pupil of the most powerful princess in all the land, cements her hide onto the cold ground and watches as Pinky’s limb rots away.

The disease, though thought to have been dealt with from a prior amputation, has spread slowly past her elbow and engulfs a sizeable portion of her leg, deteriorating the fur to the follicles and causing a ghastly discoloration in her skin -that and a sickly fluid pressures itself out of the soars in the infected area. The sight was intolerable, but Twilight’s eyes could not move away. She knows where this came from.

“I’m so sorry, Pinkie,” Twilight shuffled, trying to be heard over the other two. “It’s my fault you got hurt.” The doomed princess holds her friend close and silently sobs into her mane.

“It’s fine, Twilight, you didn’t know this would happen. Heck, anypony could have done the same.” Pinky Pie turned to Twilight and reciprocated her emotions. “I’m happy enough to be with you all. My friends are what I need. I love you guys too much to be upset.” The two mares looked in each other’s eyes; the star student was blinded by tears and quivering pupils. The calm pony, who used to be so exuberant with energy, carried tired bags and exhausted glee.

“Pinky, get up -we’ll find a way out of here together!” Princess Twilight stood, pulling Pinky along with her. “Don’t give up yet!” Pinky Pie snatched her hoof back out of Twilight’s. “Pinky?”

“Twilight, stop!” the circle dawned a veil of silence and the other three watched. “Just stop already. You need to realize that, no matter what you do, I’m not coming out of this. Even if we do get out, what are we going to do about this?” she raised the rotting stump “Applejack’s right, we don’t know what to do. I’m just another danger any way you look at it; I don’t want to hurt you like Spike did to Rarity… I’m going to lie down.”

Twilight was speechless. The mare she knew used to be so lively and full of goofy joy, but now she was someone else; someone she couldn’t recognize. Twilight tried to retort and show that there could be a way, but the energy had faded and a fog of drowsiness swamped her mind.

Rainbow Dash was left to her own devices, muttering inconsequential melodies in hopes to relieve the recent tormenting image of her white unicorn friend. Peppered within these tunes, rough whispers tiptoed behind her skull. She was at the mercy of the strange trickling’s that now rested in her ears. Rainbow knew not what to believe, the everlasting vacuum that fabricated unknown dangers or the voices, whose tongues were needles piercing her cochlea, that wanted sickening things to happen to her and the other, fortunately, deaf ones. The voices were more than sickening; they teetered the emotions of who the talk to. They trickle down your tubes and burry their message within each individual crease of your mind.

A strong nausea evinces a swelling behind her tongue that, in turn, fills her mouth with overflowing saliva. A cumbersome force weighs down upon the very vertebrae that holds her skull.

The voices now speak. “Why do you come?” Rainbow dash had no idea what the being was referring to. “Why did you summon us?” the voice said with a soft echo.

“I-I didn’t do anything!” the blue mare shouted, attracting the worried gaze of the others.

“You know who brought you here” the tone turned stern and aging, as if the voice was a disciplining parent. The pegasus listened intently and tried to comprehend these words.

“Twilight?” she whispered.

“Yes,” the ethereal voice hissed “she is the one who called for us.” Dash’s eyes widened. “She brought you here. She knows the way out. She doesn’t want to leave.”

The eyes of the pegasus were tearful and fell solely on the purple princess alicorn that sat miserably in the middle. “Why, Twilight?” the shaking voice of the mare behind her made Twilights skin shiver. The alicorn turned to see her rainbow maned friend. Her legs were wobbly, and face was sniveling.

“Rainbow? Are you alright?” she knew not the coming danger that was bubbling inside the stomach of her loyal friend. The one who taught her to fly. The one who endangers her own life to save that of those she loves. That friend was no longer to be seen. What is left only resembled the fragments of what was a beautiful past; now is just a hollow casing.

The unknown beast leaped at the purple mare and furiously berated her with powerful hooves, screaming obscenities and questioning why she, the princess, wanted them all to die in a soul corrupting place like this. Blood and mucus mixed together under her muzzle and pooled in her mouth. The reason still breaths is because the creature with fury in its eyes had been thrown off the pitiful pony and fell to the ground. The hunched monster rose and saw the sight in front of it. The entire group watched in horror as the alicorn coughed up the blood from her mouth. Applejack stood above her injured friend, caring for her wounds, but not keeping her eye off the psychotic beast.

the hollow cask’s clouded red rage dissipated from her vision and the consequence of her actions had been revealed. She couldn’t believe it. She wouldn’t believe it. The voices quickly returned, and she knew what they wanted. Kill! Kill! Kill! They want nothing but to kill. But Rainbow had enough. She was too tired. The only thing she wanted was rest and the only thing that would give her endless rest was the void.

The girls could only watch as their friend walked off into the boarder of candles. Twilight raised her hoof to protest her movements, but Applejack stopped her from doing so; knowing that this needed to happen.

Rainbow Dash crossed the line between safety and the unknown. Her body was consumed by the darkness and her soul swallowed by the emptiness. The further she traveled, the less the others could hear her steps, the less they could see her bright blue fur. The more time passed, the more she became nothing, the more she became one with the black void.